How did you personally qualify?
Is 300 gem choices hard to get if you just have the “support the author” choice?
Is it easier to get them with a points system where the reader pays gems to max out points?
Were any of your stories featured or contest winners?
Any suggestions on how to promote a storyif it’s not for a contest?
Also, if I have like 20 chapters pre-written, how quickly should I publish them?
@Sandrag.stories She probably won’t respond, but she is part of the program and does have almost all of her stories featured.
I wouldn’t try and go for the diamond option, they’re significantly harder to get than reads. Have a good cover. This is VERY important. People love stories with good cover art.
I’m not in it for money, I very well know that I can make a lot more money doing other things. I just love creating visual novels. I always thought it would be cool to make an “anime” or a movie, but I never had any art skills or anything, so after I discovered episode, knew I wanted to write for it.
But it gets a bit expensive paying for art scenes, so I want to make sure I maximize my chances of qualifying for the writer’s program.
then dont have art scenes, they are kind of useless anyway.
but I wont shame you for paying, actually find that really amazing of you, a lot just expect that for free and I am really happy you support artist.
Moved to Episode Fan Community since Community is for discussion of specific stories. 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. 
I think this is rather harsh to say. Whilst it is a huge target to hit, especially within a short time frame. It has been done by many people. It takes hard work and a good story. But it’s not impossible, even with a first story if the author throws all of their effort into it and is lucky enough to get some excellent exposure.
Just because someone asks a question about the payment programme doesn’t mean they are only writing with the hopes of getting paid.
More importantly It’s not very nice to come in with the attitude of dashing someone’s hopes of success with their story. It’s no one’s job to put someone down on their goal, no matter how unreachable they may seem to you. It is hugely disheartening to be told you can’t do something.
So Instead of saying flat out that they have no chance, give advice or leave it alone maybe.
@Streampaw I can’t give advice on the situation as I am not part of the paid programme. However @Talu is, not through gems, but maybe she has some insight on reaching the target that could still help.
As for promotions… Instagram is a great way to go, considering a lot of people use Instagram to look for new recommendations, and post screenshots etc. Make the most of appropriate tags that support your story, keep them relevant, not just popular ones that don’t fit your story. Review groups can give great feedback on your work, and can be a helpful assist to self improvement and also getting your work out there if they like it and shout it out.
Give back!! That’s a great step too. Help to showcase others, and bring an audience to you. People will see your page, and your recommendations, and will see your work too.
You can also do giveaways and offer up unique prizes. And special sneak peaks etc.
Best of Luck.
I agree that instagram is helpful, but I have no clue how ppl unlock payments in first story. I didn’t until my third story after I built up a bit of a following. 
I have no idea either. But I guess anything is possible.
I believe a lot more people have gotten into the program since the gem choices option was introduced. 300 choices selected apparently used to be super easy to get, but now that more people can actually see gem choices, it’s probably going to be harder.
I actually qualified a different way, but I never would have gotten in via the 500k route, but I probably would have qualified via the 100k gem chapter read route.
You won’t show up in the trending sections until your story has been reviewed, but I’d recommend publishing 3-5 initially, then 1-2 episodes a week.
I qualified through reads. And I did it through mass uploading. I’m talking 3-5 chapters a month, for two stories. I’ve never used gem choices so I can’t comment on that. None of my stories have won contests but two have been featured on shelves.
Definitely upload once a week, if you have the chapters ready to go.
Thank you, that is helpful. I will definitely try to upload quickly.
Do you have any more advice on how I could get my story out to more people? I feel like story shoutouts, r4rs, and promoting my story aren’t really doing much for me. Sometimes it just makes me feel down and almost try to compare my success to other stories like my story isn’t good enough.
That’s really discouraging.
I think its better an be realistic from the start, instead of trying to work for something you won’t be able to reach,
Overall you’ve been kind of discouraging throughout this whole thread. I’ve seen a lot of authors get 600k+ reads with their first story, even with just like 10 chapters? It all comes down to marketing.
Why do people always have to make simple questions/threads, depressing, discouraging and plain rude? The forums is to ask questions and advice as well as help, not to complain whenever someone makes a harmless thread for god sake. 
Is there another way to qualify other than the 500k reads/100k gem reads?
It’s 500k reads over 60 days or 100k reads + 300 gems options. Other than that, there’s no other way to qualify at this time.