Hey! I am currently writing an episode story and have been making great progress! I hope to be able to share it with everyone soon
As I’ve never published anything before, I have a few questions for those who are more experienced with this; is it better to publish only the first chapter, wait, then the second etc? Or better to publish the first three together? Do readers like to CC at the very beginning or throughout the story as the characters appear? Any “marketing” strategies known to be useful in pubbing your story?
I currently have an Instagram (@mochii_writes) with like 4 followers haha. Ofc I haven’t actually posted or done anything with it, so should I do teasers? Character intros? I’m not really sure!
If anyone has any tips at all I would be so super grateful:) Best of luck to everyone out there also planning on publishing a story soon!
When you say character intros are you talking about in the story? Then I suggest you shouldn’t do that, because no used.
Though yes I’d like to see trailers of wats the story is about. On your Instagram you can also post what your characters look like and like their info
I’ll answer your questions in order and suggest some tips; hopefully this comment helps! : )
(The tips in this comment should apply to all your stories, not just your current WIP.)
Answering your questions:
In order to publish that first episode, you have to publish three; you can’t publish just one. I would recommend not only preparing the first three chapters, but also preparing a few more, so that you don’t have to worry as much about taking too long to update.
Most readers like having the ability to customize their characters, but your story doesn’t need CC to be great. If you do choose to include CC, you might want to consider the effect you want to give when considering when you let the readers customize your characters.
The best way to promote your story is to post often about it online. Post about your story when it releases, when new episodes are available to read, and sneak peaks to build hype.
The Episode forums are better for promoting your story when it first releases, whereas Instagram is better for posting all updates. Instagram is not great for finding R4Rs, beta readers, and proofreaders, but the Episode forums is great for that.
Avoid character intros if you can. They tend to disturb the pacing of a story and can be pretty annoying. The readers will learn about your characters as they read, so instead direct your attention to scenes that show who your characters are.
Some extra tips:
Avoid using tropes/stereotypes. Most people will want to stop reading if they see an author rely on tropes and stereotypes to write characters. Take the time to research different communities, and apply what you learn to what you’ll write.
On a similar note, when you get around to writing characters from different communities (racial/ethnic, religious, etc.) don’t be afraid to ask people within those communities to check your work to make sure that it isn’t offensive.
Don’t constantly use miscommunications, misunderstandings, or incompetence to progress your plot. It’s alright to have these things occasionally, but keep in mind how often you use them as plot devices. It’s frustrating to see characters get upset by their own assumptions. It’s also frustrating to see characters that are incapable of doing anything themselves.
If something isn’t working in your story, don’t be afraid to make changes. Yes, it’ll be extra work for you to make those revisions so that your story does work, but it’ll be a lot easier to finish your story after making changes and it’ll be more enjoyable to read.
Allow yourself the freedom to enjoy what you’re writing, especially when it comes to your first draft. While you want to create a story the reader will enjoy, don’t forget that writing is, first and foremost, a means of expressing yourself. Prioritize writing a story you’ll enjoy writing in the first draft. Future revisions will focus on adjusting your story to be more enjoyable for the reader.
I think it’s better to publish all three together. It is more common that readers CC in the very beginning of a story.
You totally can! If you want to do teasers, go for it! It gives readers/followers something to wait and be excited for.
I would recommend writing a thread here on the forums for R4R or/and G4G when you publish your story to promote it. I believe it helps alot.
Another thing I recommend is when posting about your story on Instagram, use hashtags used by community authors, readers, etc. You can see those hashtags mostly on authors posts.
You can also look for episode related accounts on Instagram where they do reviews and shoutouts, and request either. I believe this helps aswell.
I think we all need to know about copyright disclaimer for the first time to publish anything. We all need to know all the rules and regulations for sharing anything on internet.
thank you so much!! 