Congratulations on making the choice to self-publish your novel! It takes a lot of guts to strike out on your own, and I commend you for deciding to take the leap. Unfortunately, deciding between pursuing traditional publishing and self-publishing is just the tip of the iceberg. There are still tons of choices to be made on your self-publishing journey, and one of the most important ones is how you choose to self-publish your book. Do you want to publish a finished product, or post online as you write? And no matter which way you decide to go, it can be tough to figure out which are the best places to publish your book online.
There are advantages to both publishing routes. I published my sci-fi novel Viable and my fantasy novel Vita and the Monsters of Moorhouse as finished products on Amazon KDP and have enjoyed access to an international market, profits from book sales, and the opportunity to hold my actual, physical paperbacks in my hands. But before that, I published my very first epic fantasy novel chapter by chapter on FictionPress.com. Posting my story as I wrote it was a great way for a beginner like me to become familiar with the self-publishing process and receive invaluable support and feedback from readers.
FictionPress isn’t as active as it once was, but there are still tons of fiction platforms out there that are ideal for publishing your book in installments as you write. Here are 3 of the best places to publish your book online chapter by chapter.
If you’ve done much research on posting your novel online, it’s likely that Wattpad was one of the first sites to pop up in your search results. Since it launched way back in 2006, this online fiction platform has become one of the most popular places for authors to self-publish their work.
Becoming a writer on the site is extremely straightforward—you just need to create an account, click on “Write” at the top, and select “Create a new story” from the dropdown menu. From there, it’s simply a matter of filling in some important info like your title and description and bam! You’re ready to post your first chapter. Wattpad even makes Canva’s free book cover maker available for you to create your book cover without having to leave the site. Once you post, readers are able to not only comment on each chapter but on each paragraph, providing you with a treasure trove of useful feedback.
However, if you are hoping to make money from self-publishing, Wattpad may not be the platform for you. It can also be tough to get noticed in such a huge pool of talented writers. But if you’re mainly looking for support and feedback, and maybe a shot at getting noticed by a traditional publisher or movie studio, Wattpad could be a great fit.
You’re probably already familiar with Amazon KDP, considering that it is possibly the most well-known self-publishing platform there is. But you may not realize that in spring 2021, Amazon launched Kindle Vella, which allows authors to release serialized stories one “episode” at a time.
To post your first episode, just log into your Amazon account, go to your Kindle Vella Library, and click “Start a story”. Then fill in your title and other relevant info like your description and tags, and you are ready to publish your first episode. Unlike with Amazon KDP, you don’t need to fuss with having a fancy book cover designed. Instead, all you need is a striking story image, which you can easily download for free off a site like Pexels or Pixabay. Readers are able to start reading your story for free, but will eventually have to buy tokens to unlock episodes in order to find out what happens next. You earn royalties when readers purchase tokens, and those readers can follow your story so they receive a notification whenever you update.
Even though Kindle Vella is so new, it has quickly become very popular. While that kind of exposure can be great, this makes the Kindle Vella crowd another one that can be easy to get lost in. This platform is also only available to US authors, and episodes tend to be much shorter than your typical chapter in a book. So if you live outside the US and/or enjoy writing longer chapters, Kindle Vella probably won’t work for you. But it’s an exciting new platform for American authors who want to release their stories in bite-sized episodes.
If you’d rather not go to the effort of seeking out a platform where you can publish your book online, you’re in luck! You can publish your book chapter by chapter right here on Fictionate.Me. While some authors (myself included) publish their completed books all at once on the site, posting as you write tends to be the more popular option on Fictionate.
Setting up your book on the site is extremely simple. Just create an account, click your account icon in the upper right corner, and select “My Books” from the dropdown menu. Then click “Add Book” on the upper right and fill in info like your book’s title, synopsis, and tags. You can use resources like Canva’s free book cover maker or Pexels for your book cover, and then you will be all set to start posting your first chapter. Readers can comment on and heart each story, and your book’s popularity will land it on the list of “Trending” titles on the site’s main page, which gives you a chance to attract a wider audience. There is also a list of “Consistent Writers” which rewards authors who update regularly with more exposure. Unlike with Wattpad and Kindle Vella, you get to set your price tier for your book and keep 100% of any profits you make.
Being a newer site that lacks the promotional force of an e-commerce giant behind it, Fictionate doesn’t offer the same level of exposure as Wattpad or Kindle Vella. This can actually be a huge advantage since, as mentioned, it can be easy to get lost in the crowd. If a huge audience is what you’re looking for though, you may not find it here. Popular stories also tend to have longer chapters, which doesn’t make it ideal for writers who prefer shorter ones. But if you want a real chance to stand out in a smaller pool of authors and keep all your profits, there’s no better option than posting your story right here on Fictionate. You can find more information on how to publish your book on Fictionate.Me here and here.
There’s never been a better time to become a self-published author. Whether you’re looking to publish a finished product or chapter by chapter, there are a ton of great options out there for you to choose from. I hope that this post will help you to narrow down your search and find the perfect writing platform for you.