Web Serial Fiction discussion
Serialize a Book?
date
newest »
newest »
message 1:
by
Anne Louise
(new)
Sep 26, 2014 11:14AM
I've got my new mystery Fascinating Rhythm coming out in mid-November. Would it make sense to socialize it on my website? Or should I do the sequel (which needs work and copy editing)
reply
|
flag
wattpad lets you serialize it there. and you could serialize it on your website if you wish.
>>Would it make sense to socialize it on my website?<<What do you mean "socialize it"? Did you mean "serialize"?
ARK
>>wattpad lets you serialize it there. and you could serialize it on your website if you wish.<<Amber, I've wondered whether serializing something on Wattpad would prevent you from publishing it in other places? Wondering whether they have an exclusivity provision or anything like that in their TOS.
Just curious about this, as I am considering publishing my new story as a serial.
ARK
For those wondering: wattpad doesn't have any sort of exclusivity clause in their TOS nor does Jukepop Serials. And for those who haven't heard of Jukepop it is like a curated version of Wattpad. It has editors who accept and reject stories (Wattpad lets anyone publish at any time). Jukepop is still free for readers, but the site actually pays its top ranked writers, and all writers who are accepted get paid for their first chapter regardless of how their story does in the future. For those curious about Jukepop you can check it out here: Jukepop.com and if you want to check out a serial there mine is Blade's Edge (because why not take a chance to self promote, ;-P).
In answer to the OP: serializing your novel on either one of those sites gives you much higher visibility than simply serializing it on your own website and there is no clause in either one that won't allow you to do both. The benefit of Jukepop is getting paid, and the benefit of Wattpad is the huge possible audience (though in either case it takes a lot of work to get paid or attain that larger audience). Jukepop is a growing community but Wattpad is already huge. (There's nothing stopping you from publishing on your website, and to jukepop and wattpad as well.)
As to whether or not you should serialize at all, the question is what your goals are. Serializing for free (as in wattpad, jukepop, or your own website) is a great way to gain readership, and there are still plenty of people who don't like to read on the computer so they are still likely to purchase the ebook or physical copy just to have a traditional reading experience. The benefit of serializing the first book in the series is that then you can direct readers of the free serial to book two, which they are more likely to pay for if they enjoyed book one for free somewhere.
All of this works on the assumption that you are self-publishing your novel. If you are publishing through a publishing house you should make sure you still have the rights to publish it elsewhere (chances are good that you don't).
Virginia -- Thanks for clarifying those details about Wattpad and Jukepop -- very helpful. From the other side, though, what about Amazon's TOS? If you've already serialized a book through a medium like Wattpad or Jukepop, would Amazon bar you from offering it there as an ebook?ARK
I've also serialized at my writer's page here on goodreads too and got readers on it too. I just write for fun though.
Nope. The only thing it would bar you from on amazon is going into KDP Select. KDP is the standard ebook publishing system for Amazon and they don't care where else your ebook has been published (though if they find it cheaper elsewhere they may pricematch down to that price no matter what you've set your price to originally).
KDP Select on the other hand requires an exclusivity agreement. KDP Select allows you to run promotional sales, and allows you to earn the highest royalties per unit sold, but in return you have to agree that the only place people can find that particular digital version of your work is through amazon.
Thanks, Virginia. The original question here was about serializing a story on one's own web site. Sounds as if there a lot of possibilities beyond that!ARK
Certainly! And you can mix and match most of those options as you like. :-)
Ugh. I meant serialize, not socialize. What I ended up doing was a straight publication of Fascinating Rhythm, which will be in full release in early February. I'll be doing the KDP Select thing in the meantime, with some free days right on top of Christmas and Boxing Day, so all those folks with new Kindles can put something on them. As for what's next, I have a few other projects to clean up, then put up on my site and possibly Jukepop and Wattpad, as well. Thanks for the thoughts!
