Jyvur Entropy's Blog, page 26
March 23, 2021
WWW Weds: Furry VNs on Itch and Bloodlines!
Another Weds, bookosphere!
This is a weekly meme hosted by Sam at Taking on a World of Words.
Three questions and lots of rambling about books!
What Are You Currently Reading?
I’m still working my way through the 3rd book in Emily Hurricane’s Bloodlines series.
She just released book 4! Woot! If you love werewolves and the apocalypse, make sure you check it out!
It’s so super fun to read a werewolf story that isn’t a romance. It’s just so different. Like there is romance in the story, but it’s not the main plot thread. I don’t think I’ve read werewolf fiction outside of the romance genre. The creativity of this series is so neat.
Also, to all my fellow book bloggers out there, if you want to get a free arc (or a chance at some giveaway goodies), Emily has book one going on tour with Silver Dagger soon. You can sign up to review ‘The Beginning of the End’ and get the first book for free, while also helping out an awesome indie author 
If you don’t have time to read it, but still want a chance at winning the giveaway, you can sign up to do a spotlight and just blitz out the book with images and info from the media kit.
(Pssst! Click here! I love this series and this author!)
I’m also still reading this book and just….I don’t know what to say. There are a fuckton of characters. The POV keeps changing. I can’t keep track of anything. I’m incredibly fucking confused.
Luckily for me, my husband decided to buddy read it with me.
Anyway, he’s smarter than me. He’s more detail-oriented than me. He’s gonna read the damn thing and explain all the shit I didn’t understand. I really hope he can find a plot somewhere in there.
Lastly, this may not officially count as a book, but since I’m kind of on the writing team for one now (and have seen how much actual writing skill and storyboarding is required) I’m gonna start counting VNs as books.
I started playing around on itch.io and checking out furry visual novels, to learn more about the genre, since I was invited to help out with a furry visual novel. It’s so fun!
So I’ve been making my way through this VN: Psychic Connections.
This story is so cute and funny, and I am loving the immersive format! It’s like a more interactive choose-your-own-adventure novel.
I think Quinn is my favorite character so far. And the way the choice in that first lecture is worded XD “Distract me, Daddy!” I was sort of living for it.
What Did You Recently Finish Reading?Well, again this week, no books. I finished reading no books….and that is two weeks in a row.
But I have a good excuse! I was beta reading. I did some beta reading of the script for the furry VN I’m helping out with and I beta read another writer’s entry in an erotica anthology I’m involved with.
So many fun projects! I’m so grateful people keep inviting me to collab on such neat stuff! Like especially considering I very publicly lost my mind a few months back, I’m amazed people still want to work with me. Maybe everybody is under the impression I’m one of those insane people who is also a brilliant creative genius and to be honest…..Fuck, I hope that’s the case.
Otherwise I’m just a noisy idiot….
What Do You Think You Will Read Next?Well, I’ve had the furry VN ‘Tennis Ace’ recommended to me, so I plan to check out that visual novel next.
And of course, I need to hurry up and get on to book 4 in the Bloodlines series!
That’s it for me! What are you reading this week!
‘Queen of Thieves’ Coloring Book: Book Tour & Giveaway!
OnTour with @SilverDaggerBookTours | #SilverDaggerBookTours
~~🕮🕮~~ #BookTour & #Giveaway ~~🕮🕮~~
•¨) ★
¸.•*´¨
) ★.•*
★(¸.•
´ •*¨) ★•*´¨) ★.•*´
★(¸. QUEEN OF THIEVES COLORING BOOK
by C.J. Kavanaugh
#Fantasy #FracturedFairytale #ColoringBook #QueenOfThieves @claeriekauthor
A companion book to the YA fractured fairytale retelling Queen of Thieves.
If saving your family meant becoming your nightmare, could you do it?
Everyone knows Yaksah, The King of Thieves, is not to be trifled with. His swiftness and stealth are legendary. Nothing valuable is safe from his nimble, sticky fingers.
But the King and the city of Vymn aren’t all they appear. Yaksah has a secret… and Ahd, a simple woodcutter, could expose it to the world. Keeping it though gives Ahd an upper hand over Yaksah like no one’s ever had. It may save his life… or destroy them both.
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/57188712-queen-of-thieves
Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Queen-Thieves-Coloring-Fractured-Fairy/dp/1736701002
~~ 🕮 ~~~~ 🕮 ~~~~ 🕮 ~~~~ 🕮 ~~
C.J. has spent most of her life telling stories. She was captivated by the written word at the age of seven, when she read her first Magic Tree House book, and has ventured to countless far off places since. She loves to travel and explore new cultures. When she’s not writing or dreaming of new book ideas, you can usually find her helping other authors polish their works as a freelance editor–and singing while doing so. Broadway musicals are her soul-food, something her mother and sister know well. She constantly blasts the newest soundtrack through the halls of their Missouri home, much to the chagrin of her very sassy and spoiled cat.
Author Links
Website: https://www.claeriekavanaugh.com
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/claeriekavanaugh
Twitter: https://twitter.com/claeriekauthor
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/claeriekauthor
Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/C-J-Kavanaugh/e/B07NGHZ1XS
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/18822125.C_J_Kavanaugh
~~🕮~~~~🕮~~
GIVEAWAY
$25 Amazon
Follow the tour HERE for special content and a giveaway!
https://www.silverdaggertours.com/sdsxx-tours/queen-of-thieves-coloring-book-tour-and-giveaway
~~ 🕮🕮 ~~ HOSTED BY:~~ 🕮🕮 ~~
Silver Dagger Book Tours: https://www.silverdaggertours.com/
March 19, 2021
What I’m Working On Right Now
I’m still working on building my smut backlist under a new pen name (for amazon reasons). It looks like the alien mad scientist one will be the first ready for publication. I’ll definitely update everybody when that’s ready to go. I plan to run a promo and give it away for free for at least a day or two to give myself a boost in the algorithm.
My main goal with this experiment is to see if I can get a passive income going. Writing full-length novels isn’t super financially lucrative. And that’s mostly okay with me. I’ll keep writing more serious works, because I love it. But I think by jumping into a smutty niche, I can probably make like a part-time retail job level income with a solid backlist.
Anyway, it looks like the second one that will be ready for release is my yeti story, ‘Frosting the Abominable Snow Woman.’ I’m waiting on the cover a for that one.
Other monster girl smuts in the pipeline include: Vampire, Banshee, and Phantom.
Well, wish me luck! After years of being artsy-fartsy and writing for more literary purposes, I’m going after that bag! But don’t take that to mean I’m not enjoying this. I fucking love writing monster girl femdom. Like, the femdom element, the writing from a male POV, the pulp-y mass market vibes I’m going for the horror tropes and the cover design. Like I’m jamming. If I make no money, this was still fun as hell.
That’s it for me! Any monsters you think I should smutify? Let me know in the comments 
The Walking Dead but No Zombies and All the Characters are Werewolves
Bloodlines is a series written by Emily Hurricane and it is like nothing I’ve ever read before. The best way I can describe these books is The Walking Dead but no zombies and all the characters are werewolves. It’s an incredibly creative blending of the apocalyptic and the paranormal.
The series takes so many fun and exciting elements from both genres and blends them into something fresh and new. We get all the desolation of a world abandoned: empty convenience stores with hot dogs rotting away in display cases, barren highways, bodies of virus victims rotting away in the homes that Daphne breaks into for supplies. It is all very gruesome and gritty. From the werewolf genre, we get all of the supernatural mystery and intrigue, an exploration of super-human abilities, and a fresh take on pack lore. Combining these two genres was a risky move, but Emily Hurricane pulls it off spectacularly.
I read the first book in the Bloodlines series, The Beginning of the End, last month and I loved it.
I’m now about halfway through book three, A Tale of Two Fathers.
Now, this is a novella series, so each of the books is a little over 100 pages. These are short reads, but for so short a word count, Emily sure packs a lot into these stories. Each book has loads of tension and intrigue.
The Beginning of the End starts right after the end of the world, and Daphne commemorates leaving behind her now completey-dead-except-for-her town by burning her town to the ground. It’s a hell of a way to start a story and really sets the scene and shows us what kind of tale we are in for.
The story continues as Daphne searches for her real father, tests out her super-human abilities, and explores the desolate world around her (complete with motorcycle joy-rides).
I highly recommend the book to anyone who loves werewolf lore, books about deadly viruses and the apocalypse, or creative genre-blending.
If you want to check this book out, but you’re pressed for time, Emily Hurricane just released the first audiobook in the Bloodlines series!
You can listen to The Beginning of the End on Audible.
For any book bloggers or book reviewers who’d like to receive an arc of the audiobook in exchange for an honest review, you can email Emily Hurricane to get an Audible promo code for an audiobook arc. She can be reached at emilyshurricane@gmail.com
The narrator of the audiobook is Jenna Hanchey, and while I haven’t had a chance to listen to the book myself yet, I hear she did a fantastic job.
And if you end up loving The Beginning of the End, I’ll tell you right now, Southern Ice is even better. Lots of new characters and new situations to navigate.
Okay! All the links!
The Beginning of the End on Audible
About the Author
I hail from rural Nova Scotia, curled up on a tree stump with a bubblegum pink notebook and a steaming mug of french roast coffee. I’m a thirtysomething mom of two humans and a furbaby. My lumbersexual husband doesn’t actually work in lumber anymore, but he still wears the plaid and the beard.
I’m an established self-published author, freelance editor, and ghostwriter. My books range in genre from Romance and Erotica to Horror and Science Fiction, and everything in between.
When I’m not writing and/or momming, I’m sipping espresso, crocheting, and listening to audiobooks.
Have you read any of the Bloodlines books? What did you think of them? Let me know in the comments!
March 16, 2021
WWW Weds: The Book I’m Way Too Stupid For and Furry Smut
Weds party people!
Okay, okay, we know what’s up, but obligatory explanation for the new kids on the wordpress block. (Oh! and speaking of new wordpress writers, let me just take a second to shout out a brand new bookish blogger. My buddy Mikayla, a fantasy romance writer, wattpadder, and lover of all things ocean-related, has started her own blog. It’s super duper brand new, so please check her out and welcome her to the book-blogging community!)
But on to the www deets!
This is a weekly meme hosted by Sam at Taking on a World of Words.
It’s just three questions:
What are you currently reading?What did you recently finish reading?What do you think you will read next?What Are You Currently Reading?Listen y’all, I’m too stupid for this book. I can’t keep track of anything. There are so many characters. All of the scenes feel super disjointed. There are a lot of battles and death, but I can not keep track of a main plot thread.
All I’ve really got so far is Perrin is a general and a noble and somebody tried to kill him and the sorceress (Tattersail?) saved him.
Aside from that….I mean….
What he said.
This book is way too damn much for me and I’ve never been so confused by a novel in my life.
Daniel Greene says that what he hears most often about Malazan is “It was great. I have no idea what happened.”
And now I know why.
I may end up sharing Daniel Greene’s opinion: “I respect it, but I didn’t enjoy it.”
I’m also reading the third novella in Emily Hurricane’s Bloodlines series (if you want to get an arc of book one, be sure to sign up to do a review for her official blog tour through Silver Dagger. Here!)
This book is so interesting, because it follows a brand new character. Books one and two followed Daphne. Book three follows Killian, the pack alpha.
I think I might do a deep dive into werewolf lore on my booktube channel. So I have an excuse to promote my friend’s book, but also because I think that video could be neat. I could cover the evolution of the werewolf mythos from old-school horror monster to the eroticized version that may or may not have started when Twilight kickstarted the werewolf paranormal romance genre to the weirdness of the omegaverse, there’s just a lot to get into. Also a friend of mine sent me this article about the appeal of sexy monsters and it’s super interesting.
What Did You Recently Finish Reading?Ummm….nothing.
Well, I finished no books this week.
But I have a great excuse. I’m busy AF.
I love the writing community. Because when I had my very public mental breakdown semi-recently, so many people popped up to talk me down, get me to stop doing some dumb shit, and also, throw some collab opportunities my way. I like to imagine everybody got together and said something like “Jyvur’s going crazy again. Does anybody have anything to keep her busy?” XD I’m totally kidding. And I’m so appreciative that I have a lot of projects keeping me occupied right now.
I’m helping out with a furry visual novel. I’m learning so much. So a visual novel is basically a video game that is also like a choose-your-own adventure novel. It’s so fun to learn from the guy leading the project. I’m stoked that he asked me to be involved.
So really the only thing I officially “finished” reading this week was a few snippets of the script for beta reading purposes.
My goodness, this man is turning me into a furry XD
I joined a furry visual novel discord to learn more about the genre and all the moving parts that go into it (seriously: coding, artwork, writing, music, WOW-visual novels are a whole other fucking thing. Way more goes into it than a print novel).
The next phase of my learning plan here is going to involve me playing a bunch of furry visual novels on steam and a few other sites that were recommended to me.
Also, after being asked the hypothetical question: ‘What would your fursona be if you had one?’ I’ve now created a whole freaking fursona in my head. (It is a spider monkey-A mint green and coral pink spider monkey, with one arm, holding an AK-47, wearing a Die Antwoord hoodie, skinny jeans, and uggs).
So I guess I’m turning into a furry XD I’m not mad about it.
This has been hella fun and I’m getting to learn a whole new format of storytelling.
I’ve got myself a furtopia account, a Fur Affinity account; I’m ready to go!
I’ll be cowriting some erotic shorts with the project lead and this will be released across my platforms as well as his, so nobody be surprised when you start seeing furry smut on my wattpad profile.
Also, I loved the response I got from another friend of mine when I told her I was helping out with all of this. She said, “You are the most interesting friend I’ve ever had. I never know what you’re gonna do next.” I sort of love it that’s the perception of me. What a nice thing to say
I still have to get to this arc
And I put this book aside and need to get back to it!
And after reading ‘Music of the Night’ by Angela Ford, I NEEDED to get my hands on another of her books. So I ordered myself a copy of ‘Realm of Beasts.’ It came in the mail yesterday and I’m stoked!
That’s it for me! Now I’m off to learn more about furry VNs! Bye!
March 15, 2021
‘When the Darkness’ my science fiction collab story is updated on wattpad
‘When the Darkness’ is a sci-fi collab story that I’m working on with Emily Hurricane. The book is split between our two profiles, with readers needing to alternate between our profiles for each chapter.
The basic premise of the story is that the world is going to end when it is swallowed up by a black hole. The catch is that it won’t be happening for 15 years. So everyone in the world just has to live with the fact that there IS no future and yet carry on with life as normally as possible.
I’m so incredibly proud of the shape the story is taking. I feel like this is my most deeply-felt work since ‘Combustion.’ It’s incredibly honest and emotionally vulnerable. (Okay, maybe it sucks and I’m really feeling myself way too much right now lol).
Anyway, the title “When the Darkness Takes Us” has a bit of a double-meaning, because obviously there is an imminent black hole that will quite literally take them, but also both protagonists have to deal with their own “darkness.” Both main characters are incredibly flawed and do many things to create their own problems.
The book probably has its flaws, as I did make an attempt to abstract some events from my own life that were emotionally painful and revealed to me a lot of ugly stuff in my own character. The problem with that is that nobody is truly objective about their own behavior. Ever. Our brains have ways of convincing us we are the victim, even when we’re the antagonist. So as honest as I try to be, it will never lose that lens of subjectivity. There will always be somewhat of a veneer of dishonesty on it. There just isn’t any way for me to ever truly tell which parts are dishonest. I view the world with myself as the main character, and I don’t know what it looks like to other people.
But then, that’s why I love fiction. It’s a way to briefly get out of your own head and into someone else’s.
Anyway, latest chapter is here
March 12, 2021
Wattpad Alternatives: The Good, The Bad, and The Scammy
I love wattpad. They’ve been making some questionable decisions lately (for real, when will you guys bring the newsfeed back??) but they really are the best of the best when it comes to serialization.
Wattpad has a reputation for being a site that only has cringy fanfiction and werewolf and bad boy romance. That stuff is there, but there is also every other genre you could possibly think of. People only focus on the weird fanfiction and content written by teenage girls because it’s easy to dunk on (get less lazy, you salty motherfuckers).
Wattpad has plenty of high quality stories written by adults. In fact two of my favorite wattpad writers are traditionally-published, in addition to putting their stories on wattpad. These are Shimaira and Pixie Stormcrow.
Shimaira writes horror and gothic romance and is published by the small press Gurt Dog Press.
Pixie Stormcrow writes BDSM romance and paranormal romance, but no it’s not bad boy! (And okay, she has one werewolf story, but it’s like really good).
Basically, wattpad is a vibrant community with PLENTY of well-established authors. Some are rocking amazon self-publishing and some have books published via trad-pub. Anyone who believes wattpad is “all teenagers writing weird fanfiction” is being willfully obtuse. There are tons of people on wattpad in their 30s, like me. Many who are much older.
I like wattpad best for a few reasons. One is that it’s reputable. There’s also the vibrant and positive community (although wattpad has really been doing everything it can these past few months to kill off all social aspects of the site-first trashing the forums and then the newsfeed feature). Still, the community is there and it is hella supportive.
Wattpad is also established enough to provide many different opportunities to writers. They partner with different brands, publishing houses, movie studios, and streaming services, giving opportunities to their writers not likely to be found on other serialization sites.
After started as a Harry Styles fanfiction and now it’s a traditionally-published series with a major motion picture to boot.
The wattpad story Light as a Feather was adapted into a Hulu series.
Not everybody who shares their work on wattpad will find fame and fortune (and yes, there are still loads of literary agents and publishers who won’t even consider your book if it has been posted to wattpad and that’s something to consider), but the chance for greater visibility and opportunities is there. That’s something wattpad has over all the other serial sites.
That being said, there’s no reason you can’t play around with multiple serial sites. I’m currently using both wattpad and Inkitt. I have friends who toggle between wattpad and radish. Some use both wattpad and tapas. There’s no reason you can’t diversify your online presence with a mix of serialization sites.
But how do you know if a site is worth using? How do you know if it’s right for you?
I decided to make this post to give a quick breakdown of some of the serialization sites out there.
Let’s get into it!
Summary: It’s a widely popular wattpad alternative. It’s main claim to fame is that stories with the most engagement get a shot at being published (apparently Inkitt has ties to several traditional publishers). Romance tends to do the best on Inkitt, but what’s new? Romance is always the most popular genre on any platform. Even in trad-pub, romance consistently out-sells every other genre. It’s because romance is awesome. That being said, I’ve also found many unique horror stories.
UI: Easy to figure out. I’m a tech idiot and I navigate the site with ease. With their alogorithm, it’s also much easier to get noticed than on wattpad.
Reputation: Great. People love Inkitt. It’s a trustworthy site that many established indie authors use in addition to wattpad and amazon.
Community: Fair. It’s not super bustling and vibrant from what I can tell, but it’s there. I’ve only been using Inkitt for my own work for a little over a month and already I’ve had a few people chat with me and reach out to leave messages on my wall.
Cool Features wattpad doesn’t have: You can leave a full review of a book, just like you would on amazon or goodreads. You can rate it between 1-5 stars. I freaking LOVE this feature. I love being able to leave my full thoughts on the work as a whole and leave a star rating. I always thought this was a feature wattpad should have.
While researching for this blog post, I was also informed Inkitt has an app called ‘Galatea.’ This is a system that uses coins and has a plethora of different stories, including text stories and interactive stories with elements like sound effects.
Justin Mark Antony of wattpad had this to say about the Galatea app:
This app requires writers to sign a contract. The stories that become popular are the ones adapted to become immersive (with sound effects and other cool features added).
So it seems like Inkitt is offering a service comparable to Radish with this Galatea app.
Speaking of Radish….
Summary: Radish is a serialization site that has a higher bar for entry than wattpad or Inkitt. You have to apply and send them the first 30 pages of your story. Then you are either accepted or rejected. My friend Emily Hurricane had her story Wrong Number accepted as a Radish serial. Me, on the other hand, I keep getting rejected by them. Gah! So, it can be frustrating if you don’t make the cut. On the other hand, both as a reader and a writer, when using Radish you know the stories have been vetted to a degree. The stories are likely to be more cohesive and have less spelling and grammatical errors. Radish has some free stories and some that are paid. There are some that have creative monetization options, like you can wait a certain period of time and the the chapter will be free, or you can use some coins and unlock the story right away. I’ve been told by authors who use it that the royalties are quite fair and above average for industry standards. The genre that is most prominent on Radish is romance. It’s known as a romance serialization site and rarely do I find stories of other genres.
UI: I’m personally not a fan. Mainly because, like Instagram, you can only use Radish on a mobile device. I prefer to do almost everything on a laptop. I find it much more comfortable and I like having a full keyboard to type with. The design is sleek (I could do without the hyper-feminine hot pink, but aside from that). I’d just enjoy Radish a lot more of they had a desktop version like wattpad does.
Reputation: Great. It’s seen as a much more professional option for indie romance authors looking to serialize. Authors (from what I have seen) generally trust Radish and feel they are treated fairly by them.
Community: Dead. I’m told by friends who write for Radish that comments from readers are rare, and when they do get comments, it’s usually from wattpad readers who followed them to Radish. Don’t expect high engagement on this site. Ghost readers are the norm.
Cool Features wattpad doesn’t have: Many monetization options, a higher barrier to entry, and a more niche audience (almost exclusively romance readers).
Summary: This is a niche serialization site with a primary focus on fantasy (especially LitRPG) and fanfiction. No other serial site has such a strong focus on fantasy. Here is an explanation of Royal Road’s niche focus, taken from a reddit post by a newish Royal Road writer:
“For example, RoyalRoad focuses mainly on progression fantasy, with a heavy emphasis on LitRPG and a lighter one on cultivation, reincarnation, dungeon core, and a bunch of other sub-genres. I got lucky writing a xianxia(well, it’s really a xuanhuan, but nobody really knows that term here) on there, because I probably wouldn’t have gotten nearly as much of an audience if it was on, say, wattpad (I actually did try posting my xianxia on wattpad once, but that’s a different story)“-u/Nameless3002
UI: It’s great. It has a sleek design and the site is very easy to navigate.
Reputation: Great. Fantasy writers and fanfiction writers alike hold Royal Road in high regard. In fact, it was a fanfiction writer who made sure to ask me if I’d be including Royal Road on this list. RR is a beloved pillar of the fantasy writing community.
Community: The community there is quite active. However, the community is generally not viewed as especially positive. It’s not exactly toxic, but can be quite critical, gatekeep-y, and harsh. Royal Road has forums, something wattpad recently did away with, and many of the more professional serialization sites (like Inkitt and Radish) don’t have forums. I am very much pro-forum, so active forums with engaged users shows is a real indicator of community health imo.
Cool Features wattpad doesn’t have: Forums, the ability to give stories a star rating, the “surprise me” feature that gives you a random story, and the niche fantasy and LitRPG focus.
Summary: Of course we can’t talk about serial sites without talking about fanfiction.net! As for my own experiences with this beloved dinosaur, I started playing around on fanfiction.net when I was in middle school and I became part of a friend group that included several girls who wrote fanfiction on fanfiction.net. I didn’t get into writing fanfiction myself. I’ve never felt a strong pull to write fanfiction. But I did spend a good chunk of one summer (the summer between my first year in 8th grade and my second year in 8th grade-I repeated the 8th grade for….reasons. Not academic reasons. I was in gifted classes in 7th and my first year of 8th grade. I had many emotional difficulties that made my middle school hesitant to send me off to high school-anyhow…) reading Harry Potter fanfiction on fanfiction.net. I read the fanfiction of my friends and fanfiction written by strangers. I got pretty hooked on reading HP roleplays. I tried to work up the nerve to jump into a roleplay once. I was super nervous. I sat staring at the keyboard for ages. Finally, I typed out one line introducing my OP. One person responded and I was so overcome with anxiety that I logged of fanfiction.net and shut the whole damn computer down. I was a weird child and did not have an aptitude for interacting online. Although this was in 2002, so it’s not like the internet was as ubiquitous a part of daily life for kids as it is now. Anyway, that’s my own experience with fanfiction.net. Like many other millennials, this site plucks a few nostalgia cords for me.
UI: I’m not a fan. The design hasn’t been updated for YEARS. It looks nearly identical to the fanfiction.net of the early 2000s. It’s hard to find anything. The design is boring. I’m not a fan.
Although others enjoy that the site hasn’t changed.
And there is a perk to the fanfiction.net user interface that I didn’t know about. My friend Emily Hurricane (who has been using the site since she was a teenager) had this to say about fanfiction.net’s UI.
Reputation: Great. Fanfiction.net is a beloved pillar of the fanfiction community. It’s an integral part of many fandoms. People love this site for what it is. You’d be hard pressed to find a fanfiction writer who doesn’t have something fond to say about this site.
Community: VERY active and vibrant. I don’t see this community dying anytime soon. Emily Hurricane had this to say:
Cool Features wattpad doesn’t have: It is much easier to get your story noticed. Other features would be the nostalgia factor and the niche focus on fanfiction (which provides ample opportunity to connect with countless fandoms).
Summary: This is a subscription based serialization site. I wrote for Channillo years ago (I want to say for about six months in 2016). I’d never heard of serialization before Channillo landed in my Twitter DMs. I was naive little idiot back then and actually believed I was being contacted because a Channillo rep had read my stories and found them valuable. I never imagined a serial site might just be spamming any and every writer they come across, without giving a single fuck about the quality of the writing or the brand of the author.
When I got a message saying, “You stories would be a good fit…” it just didn’t dawn on my that this might be bullshit and they might not know anything about my books.
Some people have called Channillo a scam or a pyramid scheme. Eh…it’s not quite that nefarious. But it’s also not really worth your time.
They act like there’s some barrier to entry with their application process, but I can assure you there isn’t. One scroll through their current serials and you’ll see they are aiming for quantity not quality. I’d also bet they’re banking on the writers they “publish” buying subscriptions. I’d bet money most of Channillo’s revenue is made off the very writers TRYING to make money by publishing their books and columns on Channillo. It’s not exactly a pyramid scheme, because there is nothing that says their writers HAVE to buy a subscription. In fact, this is from their FAQ page:
It’s also not a scam. It is possible to make money via Channillo. It just isn’t very likely.
Channillo is very small, very obscure, and has a very poor reputation.
They do not have a reputation for curating quality content. Take exhibit A….
Really, what in the GRAPHIC DESIGN HELL are these things? These are meant to be book covers? Like a couple of them are okay. Most of these though….look, I suck at graphic design too. I get it. But y’all really got to hit somebody up on Fiverr, before you go spending any money on a Channillo subscription. Here, I’ll even shout out the cover artist I use most often. Pro ebook covers is amazing and she made my gorgeous book cover for Combustion.
I wasn’t always at a point in my writing career where I cared enough to commission a real ass, sleek and professional looking cover.
Back when I was an amateur, I fucked around and added font to a shitty photo and called it a day.
So this is nothing against those indie authors with those crappy covers. They are amateur now, just like I was amateur once upon a time. This is more a mark against Channillo. They curate amateur writers. They don’t provide valuable content to subscribers and even if they DID curate quality content, their subscription model makes little sense.
Here is a comment from a reddit thread about Channillo:
And that’s a good point. Why pay $5 a month for very amateur self-published books? Why do that when TONS of content is available online for free? And sure KU is more expensive, but they have self-published authors AND traditionally-published authors. Channillo just isn’t worth it for readers. As a writer, it’s unlikely to help you earn money, yet it IS likely to hurt your reputation, as your work is listed alongside very sloppy and amateur works (nobody go getting their feelings too hurt. I DID admit I used to write for Channillo. I was sloppy and amateur at one point too).
What caused me to stop writing for Channillo was somewhat silly, but I still stand by the point I made to the Channillo staff. At the time, they had the rule that anything published on Channillo could not be available for free anywhere else on the web. It didn’t say you could publish samples or a certain percentage of the work. Their rule was that you could publish the work elsewhere, as long as it was not free.
One day, I stumbled across a book on wattpad that I recognized from Channillo. I was floored. This was a MASSIVE wattpad writer (in fact, he is still pretty popular today, and a big part of me wants to say who it is and label him as the dirty, rotten rulebreaker that he is! but alas…I will try to have some chill, especially considering this all went down in 2016). I couldn’t believe somebody would outright ignore the TOS. Like here I was, getting no reads on my Channillo serial, making no money AND getting no readers. Yet I wouldn’t dare put it on wattpad, because I have respect for the agreements I sign. This guy was breaking the rules and getting an advantage that I wasn’t. That’s so scummy! It’s scummy to ignore a contract. It’s scummy to knowingly double-dip, knowing that the Channillo writers who have respect for the TOS can not reap the same benefits.
Anyway, I reported that book.
A couple of weeks later, I found another Channillo book on wattpad. This time I tried to have a tad more chill. I told the writer he was breaking TOS. He argued with me and said that it was “only a sample.” I pointed out that nowhere in the Channillo TOS did it say that writers could offer free samples on other platforms. In fact, this argument made no sense, because he had no links to his Channillo page. I think he just got called out before he could upload more chapters.
So I also reported him to Channillo staff. I received in response the snarkiest email. They said something like, “We already took down the other story you reported. This story is only a sample, so it’s fine.”
Umm…why are they acting like they’re doing me a favor? That response made it seem like having a TOS violation reported to them was some kind of annoyance. I responded by pointing out that nowhere in their TOS do they say free samples are okay or specify what percentage of a work would count as a sample. Then I immediately canceled my serial, forfeiting the $7 I’d made (because it needed to reach $50 before a payout), and canceled my subscription.
The whole thing was so unprofessional.
You either have rules or you don’t.
But I felt like I was being punished for following the rules, while other writers just did whatever the hell they wanted, and then the people who MADE THE DAMN RULES acted like I was being an annoying snitch. Well, just don’t have the fucking rule then!
And I guess that’s the conclusion they came to, as they no longer seem to have a rule against offering content from Channillo serials for free.
This is from their current TOS:
But yeah, the whole thing pissed me off and that’s why I quit, but I probably would have moved on eventually regardless. Channillo is really a waste of time.
UI: Their UI is fair. It’s very basic, but the site is neat and clean. It’s very easy to navigate.
Reputation: Very poor, for all of the reasons already covered. Working with them is likely to hurt your reputation.
Community: Semi-active, both on Channillo and on Twitter, but the community is small, full of newbie writers who still have a lot to learn, and criticism and improving one’s writing are generally not a focus.
Cool Features wattpad doesn’t have: For monetization, the barrier to entry is much lower. Wattpad has their Paid program, but it is notoriously difficult to get into. Writers probably won’t make much through Channillo (if anything), but it is easier to get the opportunity to monetize (although all of that said, there’s nothing stopping writers from skipping serialization and going straight to KU if monetization is really the goal).
Summary: This is a site, I’d never heard of before I started planning this post. When I asked my discord for suggestions of wattpad alternatives to cover, one of my discord members suggested Scribblehub. Since I’d never heard of it, I had to a little investigating. I read a number of reddit threads and explored the website a bit. From what I can tell, this is another fantasy-centered serial site (although they technically have all genres) and it appears to have the most overlap with RoyalRoad.
UI: Clunky and ugly. The site has an archaic and disorganized look. That being said, discoverability is one of the elements users love about Scribblehub.
What clysmic is saying here is that there is a section on the home page for ‘latest updates.’ This is a feature that a lot of Scribblehub users love. It gives undiscovered writers the chance to get more eyeballs on their work.
Reputation: Fair from what I can tell. They are a small and obscure site, but I didn’t find any major red flags about their reputation in my research. Every thread I found about Scribblehub was generally positive, even when spoken about by those who prefer its primary competitor Royal Road.
Community: The community is very active and positive, although it is quite small. This would be a good fit for someone who prefers a lot of interaction within a smaller group. There is a widespread consensus among Scribblehub users that Scribblehub has a much more kind and accepting community than Royal Road. In fact, many Scribblehub users are Royal Road refugees who got sick of the more critical and gatekeep-y nature of RR.
Cool Features wattpad doesn’t have: Forums and the ability to have your story listed on the home page, for at least SOME length of time, every time you update. It’s also a super new site (only about 2 years old) so getting in early can often be a great way to become a larger creator in a community. Also star ratings for all the stories (I REALLY wish wattpad would implement this feature).
Summary: This was another serialization option that I hadn’t heard about until I asked my discord to pitch me ideas for this post. So I had to dig in and do some research. According to Publisher’s Weekly, SwoonReads is “an online community, in which writers submit manuscripts directly to the publisher, and readers participate in the publishing process by reading, rating, and commenting on submissions. The manuscripts that achieve the highest ratings by readers and the Swoon Reads editorial board are published in print and e-book editions, with additional community input on cover design and marketing plans.”
So SwoonReads is niche, only publishing YA and NA, and they’re technically an imprint of Macmillan, so stories with a lot of engagement are likely to be considered for additional publishing opportunities. That’s pretty neat (although not an entirely unique concept to SwoonReads. Wattpad now has a publishing imprint and Inkitt also provides trad-pub opportunities to writers with stories that perform well).
UI: Look, all I know is that I was able to access every other site today except for Swoon Reads. I’m over here trying to research, but the website won’t load on my computer. I’m not having internet issues as far as I can tell. I’m able to get onto every other website. That being said, maybe this is rare for them. I only know that I can’t get on the site to form an opinion of the UI.
Reputation: Automatically high and trustworthy, as it is owned by Macmillan.
Community: I have no idea [image error] A lot of my research for this post was done via reddit threads, but there is very little on reddit about SwoonReads, and like I said, for some reason I can’t get on the website.
Cool Features wattpad doesn’t have: Being owned by one of the Big 5 is a pretty big deal. There’s also a higher barrier to entry, as there is an application process. It’s much closer to the querying process than to the application process of most serial sites (they expect the story to be done before you apply).
Edit: Important info! Someone informed me that the reason I’m not able to access Swoon Reads’ website is because they are no longer taking submissions.
Shyauthorwrites, author of Waveborn, had a conversation with a Swoon Reads rep in February and found out they aren’t taking new submissions.
So, we have to edit that reputation. It’s absolutely wild that I was over here trying to get their site (that is still linked in the bio of their ACTIVE twitter account) and the site just wouldn’t load. When I google Swoon Reads, nothing comes up telling me they are no longer taking submissions. They should at least have their website redirect to an announcement of some kind. They should also have something in their twitter bio. Making it so difficult for people to figure out what the hell is going on is obnoxious. As is leaving messages from users on read for TWO MONTHS. People were actively using Swoon Reads, and they just fucking ghosted their entire user base, only to keep using the brand name for their imprint and carrying on via Twitter as if nothing happened. How….fucking sketch and strange for a brand that should be incredibly reputable, considering its Big 5 ties. (Also, the wording of their message to Shy Author is super weird. “The best way to support our books”??? Why on earth would your audience be in it to support YOU. The audience is there because they get something of value-some entertainment or service. It was just an odd word choice, considering the context. Your audience is always there to get something for themselves. They aren’t concerned with giving you anything, “support” or otherwise. You have to offer something they want or need, and they are, essentially, your customers. Making it that difficult for your customers to get fucking answers drives home the fact that it really doesn’t seem like Swoon Reads (aka Macmillan) cares very much at all about offering a valuable experience to its customers).
Summary: Sweek is a site for free stories that is very similar to wattpad. There are all genres. The site has been around for years, but is still somewhat obscure and unknown. I played around with reading on Sweek for a little bit back in 2017. It was okay, but ultimately didn’t hold my interest. They have contests where they partner with brands and publishers (much like wattpad did before launching their own publishing company and movie studio). It’s basically like 2016 wattpad, except that nobody fucking knows it exists.
UI: The design is gorgeous. I absolutely the color scheme (I love teal and blueish green). The layout is sleek. The site is very easy to navigate. It’s intuitive and you can quickly find whatever you’re looking for (I actually love their UI WAYY more than wattpad’s-really? Orange?? Are you Home Depot? Who picked that color?)
Reputation: Poor…ish. Honestly, just nobody fucking knows about Sweek. The best I could find in scouring reddit was basically “What’s Sweek? Oh…yeah, I don’t know…seems weird.”
Community: Dead. Nobody has heard of Sweek. Back when I was playing around with it years ago, I remember they didn’t have an in-line comment function and figuring out how to leave comments in the first place was kind of confusing.
Cool Features wattpad doesn’t have: They have a print-on-demand self-pub option. That’s kind of cool.
I don’t know if it has anything over amazon or lulu and the other POD platforms, but it’s neat they have that feature. I haven’t seen a serial site implement a POD function until now.
Summary: This is a serial site that mostly caters to graphic novels. You can find fiction on there, but it’s mainly for manga and comics. It’s similar to Webtoon. I played around with this site back in 2018, when a wattpad writer I liked started serializing one of her works on Tapas. I experimented with putting a few chapters on ‘Combustion’ on Tapas, but in the end, decided serializing on Tapas wasn’t for me. I did, however, enjoy reading on Tapas, particularly some of the manga series. Some are incredibly well-done and professional. Tapas has some monetization options as well.
UI: It’s fair. The design isn’t the cutest or most-eye-catching, but it’s not hideous either, and it’s easy to navigate the site and figure out where everything is.
Reputation: Fair. It’s not super beloved, but I’ve never heard anything bad said about Tapas. It’s not as obscure as Sweek, so it does come up in writer communities from time to time. That being said, it pales in comparison to the reputation of webtoon. The only aspect of Tapas that beats out Webtoon is the community.
Community: Tapas has a small, but very active community. Unlike Webtoon, they have forums (made with discourse software.) The community is generally positive and supportive.
Cool Features wattpad doesn’t have: A UI that is made for graphic novels. While you may find some graphic novels on wattpad, they are incredibly rare, and they never really shine with the wattpad UI. This is also a site with graphic novels and mangas as the main niche, so if this is what you write, Tapas may be the place to find your target audience! Tapas also has monetization options, which, as we’ve already covered, is not something easy to come by on wattpad. There is a high barrier to entry for monetization on wattpad.
Summary: Webtoon is really THE place to go for any kind of visual storytelling. If you create graphic novels or manga this is the hub of the visual storytelling community.
UI: It’s great. The site is very eye-catching and professional in design and everything is very easy to find.
Reputation: Outstanding. This is the most highly-regarded graphic novel/comics/manga serialization site there is.
Community: Fair from what I can tell. They don’t have forums, but the community is large and enthusiastic.
Cool Features wattpad doesn’t have: A niche focus on graphic novels and other forms of visual storytelling. Monetization options.
Summary: This is bargain brand fanfiction.net. Many people prefer A03 over ffnet. But let’s call it like it is. This is another fanfiction.net. Some fanfiction writers say that A03 is better for fiction of modern fandoms, whereas (since ffnet has been around since the 90s) fanfiction.net has a better selection for older fandoms. Fanfiction.net also has more rules about what can and can not be posted (although how strictly these rules are enforced is up for debate), so if you’re looking for fanfiction of the smutty variety, far freakier stuff can be found on A03.
UI: Somehow worse than fanfiction.net and that’s really saying something. It’s just as ugly as ffnet, without all the nostalgia that makes users willing to overlook it. That being said, I’m told the tag system is on-point and fanfiction.net can’t hold a candle to their search functions.
Reputation: Great. A03 will never have the kind of respect that fanfiction.net has, simply because ffnet was the firts of its kind. Yet, newer fanfiction writers are flocking to A03 and it’s become a staple of the fanfiction community. Speaking of community…
Community: Very vibrant and active. You have all the enthusiasm and chatter that you’d expect in a community built around fanfiction.
Summary: This isn’t really a serialization site per se, but I have seen Tumblr used to serialize fiction (I’ve also seen reddit and wordpress used to serialize fiction. I guess I just fucking felt like including Tumblr :P). Tumblr is a chaotic site full of bullshit, anti-capitalism, and utter pandemonium. It was once a site used almost exclusively for porn. Then they banned porn. Now it’s a mish-mash of memes, fandom communities, shitposts, and random columns and blogs.
UI: Fair. There are some great elements and some not so great elements. Because aesthetically there isn’t really anything wrong with Tumblr’s design. In fact, it’s pretty cute in a lot of ways. But also it took me fucking forever to figure out how to operate Tumblr. Also, when I tried to delete an old Tumblr blog (with my previous pen name attached to it), it kept telling me I’d deleted the blog, but then the blog was popping up in google and then the page would briefly open for a second after I clicked it. I had to go through a whole thing with submitting a ticket to get the blog taken down for good. There are some interesting UI features though, so I’ll give credit where it’s due. I like their reblog feature. And I like all the different options for creating posts (text, video, image, etc). Also the posts themselves are incredibly aesthetically pleasing. I like how they show up in completion in the newsfeed. And it’s very easy to create posts on Tumblr and then snag the code to embed it into a different website. I embed posts from my Tumblr advice column here on this blog all the time. It’s super easy and it shows up looking very cute.
Reputation: Erm….I…ah…I legitimately have no idea how to answer this. Tumblr’s reputation is…Tumblr. There’s no other way to describe it. From the Columbine fangirls and serial killer stans (do not go looking, you WILL find the Columbine suicide photos memed) to the Tumblr witch who stole actual human remains and then Tumblr memed the fuck out of it, to the rabid SJWs, to the shitposts that reddit fucking WISHES it could compete with, it’s like….how do you describe Tumblr??
It’s a fucking mess, but it’s a mess you really want to witness firsthand.
Community: Fuck Tumblr. The community is active and hilarious, but literally, fuck those guys.
Now onto the sites so scammy, they do NOT get a full breakdown. Just ignore them when they spam you on wattpad or whichever other legitimate site they’re trying to poach users from like the leeches they are.
These serialization sites that I urge you to avoid are:
-Dreame
-Rnovel
-Hinovel
-webnovel
-ringdom story
-Kahaniya
-Eglobal Creative Publishing (legit have no fucking idea what this is, but they sent me this message and any company that spams like this is bad news)
Here is something I’ve learned to look out for with unsolicited messages like this: did they mention anything specific about my book? Anything specific about me as a creator? No? Then they don’t know or care who the fuck I am and they are not worth any time.
You may be asking why Channillo did not make the “scammy” portion of the list. It’s because Channillo (as far as I know) doesn’t break competitors’ TOS by spamming to try and poach via competitors’ websites. All the sites listed above spam on wattpad like a motherfucker. That screams scummy to me. You just don’t go around spamming on wattpad when wattpad’s TOS clearly prohibits that. At least Channillo has the good sense to keep the spam to Twitter!
That’s it for my breakdown of wattpad alternatives! Any that I missed? Any you plan on checking out? Let me know in the comments below
March 10, 2021
WWW Weds: I FINALLY finished The Great Hunt!
Holy fuck, I am so damn excited that today is Weds, because today-just this morning-I finished reading the second WOT book ‘The Great Hunt.’ Ahhhh! Oh my gosh, I have been reading that book for over a year. Mainly because I kept putting it aside to read other books. Epic fantasy is my most challenging genre. But I’m done. I did it.. And I loved it!
But I’m getting ahead of myself.
WWW Weds is a weekly meme hosted by Sam at Taking on a World of Words.
There are three questions to answer:
What are you currently reading?What did you recently finish reading?What do you think you will read next?Let’s jump into it, so I can talk WOT!
What are you currently reading?The second I finished The Great Hunt, I jumped into the first Malazan book. I want to keep challenging myself with epic fantasy, but also wanted to take a bit of a break from Wheel of Time before jumping into book three.
Malazan is known for being one of the most challenging epic fantasy reads. Not only is the series long with word counts to hold its own against the works of Jordan and Sanderson, but the worldbuilding is INTENSE. What I hear most often about Malazan is that the world is absolutely massive and no other epic fantasy series holds a candle to the level of detail and the scope of the Malazan world.
I first became interested in reading this series after I stumbled across r/malazan. The subreddit probably popped up on my radar because I was spending so much time on r/fantasywriters and r/WOT. After spending some time on that subreddit and getting a feel for the community, I plopped Malazan on my TBR. I’m drawn to this series for the same reason that I was drawn to WOT: the fandom. I love a vibrant and interactive fandom. Nothing sparks an enthusiastic fandom like an expansive and well-imagined world to fall into (okay, I’m starting to lose my dislike of secondary world fantasy and intricate worldbuilding. Could you tell? lol)
Malazan is also known for being very dark. Much more so than WOT. Even more so than the works of Joe Abercrombie. Yeah, I can take my fantasy a little dark.
I’m only a few chapters in and already there is a lot of death and piles of corpses and bloody battlefields.
I’m not complaining.
Now, this is not a book, but…
I’ve been spending a lot of time reading the Monster Girl wiki.
I realized that a lot of my male readers (I write gentle femdom romance) list my book on wattpad alongside monster girl smut. This sent me down a whole internet research rabbit hole which ended with me discovering there are a lot of dudes into monster girl femdom.
I thought this was just about the best thing ever, and long story short, I started writing monster girl femdom smut which I plan to release on amazon, as a way to get a passive income going. When I started talking about this, a guy in my discord was nice enough to steer me towards the monster girl wiki. The characters in the wiki are copyrighted material (at least…I’m like 95% sure they are and I play it safe with copyright), so I’m not straight up taking the characters, but I am getting inspiration and learning more about the preferred tropes of men who enjoy this genre of smut. Like, reading this wiki has taught me a lot about my target audience.
Anyway, my yeti smut ‘Frosting the Abominable Snow-Woman’ will be coming to amazon soon!
(Also can anybody tell me if I’m writing ‘Snow-Woman’ right? Like, that should be hyphenated….shouldn’t it? Idk, it looks weird to me).
Tangentially related to my new monster girl smut backlist plan….I might in the semi-near future be working on a monster girl visual novel!
I was asked to come on board and help out with a furry visual novel and eep!! It’s so fun. It’s very challenging, because it’s basically part choose-your-own-adventure novel and part video game, so there are a LOT of moving parts. (Let’s just say, diagrams have been drawn). But I’m so thrilled to be a part of it and learn about storytelling in a new format.
In discussing possible compensation, the guy spearheading the project and I got to talking about the possibility of him helping me create a visual novel of my own imagining (basically a ‘I’ll help you with your furry VN if you help me create my own VN’ sort of thing) and yay! Right away he was like ‘you could do a monster girl VN’ and I was just….GAH! How are you reading my mind, dude?
So that may not be for quite some time, and for all I know could end up being one of my many shelved projects, but for now the possibility is being kicked around and I’m super stoked.
So that’s it for what I’m currently reading. Lots of projects on my plate (which I’m super thankful for), so not reading as much as I normally would.
What did you recently finish reading?
The only book I finished this week was the second book in Emily Hurricane’s Bloodlines series. This is a series of novellas centering around a group of werewolves in a post-apocolyptic setting. Yes, you read that right. Werewolves and the apocolypse. Take The Walking Dead, but no zombies and all the characters are werewolves. It is absolutely fucking brilliant and a super fun read. I urge anybody who loves post-apocolyptic novels or paranormal novels to check it out. Book three will be released shortly, so you have just enough time to read the first two novellas before that drops.
What do you think you will read next?My review of this book (which I received via Netgalley arc) is due soon! From what I can tell it is a sweet Amish romance and I’m in the mood for something wholesome.
Next, I’ll be diving into book three of the Bloodlines series, since I am on Emily Hurricane’s arc team
Book two ended on a real cliffhanger. I’m excited to see how Daphne’s meeting with the alpha goes and I’m still waiting to find out which (if any) of these werewolves is her real father.
And then, I have this arc, also due very soon.
I received this arc via booksprout (which is my preferred platform when I distribute arcs myself). The review is due today, so I’ll be doing a marathon read!
That’s it for me! What are you currently reading right now?
If you are a reader of mine, just a reminder I am currently running a book merch giveaway exclusively through my newsletter (which means you must be signed up for my newsletter to get the rafflecopter link). You can sign up now if you want to enter that giveaway and get free book swag.
https://mailchi.mp/df0cd22d1cfc/jyvur_newsletter
If you are already signed up and haven’t gotten the March newsletter, be sure to check your spam folder. I’m trying to correct the issue, but a lot of times my newsletter gets sent to spam.
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