Hello everyone! I’ve just made this topic to see what everyone’s view was on promotion and the way it works in this community. I’m a new author on episode and though the process to master coding was vigorous, I think it’s a really fun way to get good stories out there. I completely understand that episode is a huge community with loads of great stories, so it’s quite daunting to try and put your self out there in the sea of stories alike. I feel like it’s one thing to have written something great and fun and it’s another thing to promote it when you barely have a network; I’m no good at social media really so I feel as if this also acts as an obstacle.
I was wondering if anyone else feels the same, or if anyone has an experience they’d like to share with promoting their story and getting results. Any advice from already established authors is also appreciated greatly!
But anyway thank you to anyone who read this and good luck with your stories out there!
Moved to Episode Fan Community since this is not for story promotion. Make sure to check out our Forum Tutorial for more info about creating topics, and feel free to PM me if you’ve got questions.
There are several ways to promote your story.
One of them is posting it here on the forum. You can ask to do R4R or G4G with other authors and post your story on any other promote your story thread if the OP allows it.
If you have Instagram, I would recommend posting some sneak peeks every now and then, find an R4R group and make use of the many support groups that do shoutouts and reviews and some of them also do R4R/G4G.
You can also promote your story on Reddit if you have it.
Watch threads on Reddit and on the Forum asking for story recommendations. And recommend yours if it fits what they are looking for.
If you are in a bookclub, you could also ask if your story can be picked for the next challenge.
Hope some of this helps.
create your own post in the Promote Your Story section and offer “read for reads” and if you are able, gem-for-gems which will help you gain readers.
If you have IG or create one, there’s a huge episode fanbase to discover on Instagram you can post previews, SS, art etc and create a hashtag unique to your story to generate interest and a following that likes your story. It’s a great way to interact with your readers, grow a fanbase, promote your new episodes and/or other promotional things like giveaways and stuff like that. You want to post regularly to your IG and IG stories-- some ideas for your story is to let people ask you questions and answer them in your IG story
Find and follow the various review accounts and request reviews. Will every reviewer give you a perfect score on their review card? Probably not. Will it get you free exposure to all the people following the review accounts? Absolutely. Even if you get a 16 out of 25 and they explain that maybe they didn’t like a fast pace, or your art scenes while giving people the ability to CC etc- you still get an honest opinion that you can take or leave and still, free promo to hundreds of accounts.
There are some writers with bigger followings that will post stories sent to them by their followers (most require that the author sending the info to follow their accounts etc) but when you’re just starting out, giving someone with 20k followers an extra follow to have 20k people see your story’s cover and name? Worth it.
Post your story link, description (feel free to elaborate more because on the forums there are no ‘character limits’ the way the description in-app works) your cover, author name (on app) and any special features (ie. CC, choices matter, Choose your body/gender/preferences etc) to any and all “I’m promoting my story, promote yours here!” Forum posts, and to any that ask for story recs if your story fits what they are asking for. <<< I, personally, find it annoying to see someone ask for an action stories or thrillers and every other post is “mine’s sort of actiony with romance” with titles like :My Mafia Lover’s Brother’s Cousin Got Me Preggers.
Like, bro, no, that’s clearly not what they’re asking for.
And be patient, I know that’s an annoying piece of advice, especially since you’ve done all the hard hard work in the portal and want the world to read it, patience is key. Sometimes, if your story meets all the guidelines, they will review and add it to a shelf which is great in-app exposure but 90% of all your promo-ing will happen on the Forums, your social media accounts, reddit or other blog sites that are episode oriented.
When I first starting coding I felt the same way. I was scared to put myself and my stories out there. But then I just decided to go for it. I made me an Instagram account and I started gaining followers:relieved:. I also did r4r that helped me a lot:purple_heart:. I also managed to make good friends:orange_heart:. Moral of the story is don’t be afraid to put your stories out there!! Because someone will love your story or stories:face_holding_back_tears:!!! And if you make an Instagram I will follow you🩷. Because it is really hard once you first start:sob:.
!!! And if you make an Instagram I will follow you🩷. Because it is really hard once you first start:sob:.