So, you’ve slayed the beast (aka completed your manuscript) and are now wondering how to get your novel published online. Here are the best practices for getting your work out into the digital space and onto readers’ screens.
Prepare to Post
I know, I know, you spent weeks, months, or years perfecting the story arc, rounding out the characters, and thinking up clever twists. You’re eager to finally hit ‘submit’. But before you rush into self-publishing, you’ll want to be sure of a few things…
Is my novel error free? After you’ve been staring at the same words on the same screen for eons, some things sneak past you. Be sure to self-edit, run your novel through Grammarly, and have a friend’s assistance before submitting. (If English is not your first language, editing software will help you iron out those tricky past participles.)
This step is hugely important because many online publishers do not allow you to revise your book once it’s been posted. And there’s nothing more aggravating than spotting a mistake once it’s too late.
What genre is my novel? Obviously, you know the blanket genre (i.e. fiction). But are there other subgenres your work could fit into (i.e. urban fantasy)? Many online publishing platforms will ask you to tag all applicable genres so that readers will be able to find your piece more easily. You may even be able to enter certain in-platform contests based on your tags.
Where should I post my book online? Great question! The answer depends on what kind of book it is.
Like traditional publishers, some online publishing platforms have a specialty. For example:
- Teen Ink is for, well, teenage authors.
- Leanpub is mostly for academic or informative writing.
- Penana is mainly translated novels with a high concentration of Asian mythology.
Before submitting your work to a platform, browse the categories and read some of the other content to see if yours aligns. Platforms with curated or niche content have a concentrated audience, and if your novel fits in, you’ll connect with the right readers.
The following three platforms have a wide readership and publish a diversity of novels. Each platform has a different method for posting/publishing your novel, so read on!
Top Three Places to Post Your Book Online
- Movellas
Avid young adult fiction readers know and love Movellas. Their site is crisp and easy to navigate and their inventory of online reads is burgeoning. If you’re looking to get your YA novel published online, this is the ideal platform.
Why? Movellas understands its audience. Because Movellas is targeted towards Gen Z and Millenials, there’s a strong emphasis on social media and sharing. This means authors are able to gain greater exposure through the site’s natural multiplicative effect.
We also love Movellas for its international presence and array of genres: fanfiction, love stories, poems, diaries, crime stories, fantasy, and more. Authors can publish their novels chapter by chapter and watch their fan bases grow, using Movellas. Create an account to publish your novel!
- Fictionate.Me
Vampires, fairies, wizards, changelings, and assassins all roam the fantastical internet realm of Fictionate.Me. If your recently-completed novel involves something that exists outside of reality, this is the perfect place to post it.
On this platform, authors are able to post their novels as complete manuscripts or post chapter-by-chapter.
We love Fictionate.Me because it takes excellent care of its writers—not only does the site have trending tags and competitions to boost new writers’ exposure, but it also gives all authors their full royalties. (The only thing subtracted from your total is a 2.9% payment processor fee!) The day you self-publish your ebook on Fictionate.Me, you can begin earning from it.
What makes Fictionate.Me really stand out is that the authors hold the power. They can decide if their book is placed behind a paywall. (And if so, they can choose if it’s pay-per-chapter or a lump sum for the entire novel.) Fictionate.Me has a wide and loyal fanbase who are always looking to tear through the next great ebook.
Here’s everything writers need to know about getting published on this platform.
- Feedbooks
With thousands of ebook selections in English, French, German, Italian, and Spanish, Feedbooks was created for a remarkably diverse readership. Nearly any kind of novel could find its home on this online platform with twenty subgenres of fiction and an equal amount for non-fiction.
Readers enjoy this barebones platform and appreciate its compatibility with smartphones, Kindles, and tablets. Some books are placed behind paywalls while others remain free.
Authors benefit from using Feedbooks, because this platform takes special care to highlight new releases and award groundbreaking writing. Here’s how to get your novel published on Feedbooks.
How to Gain Traction After Posting
Many online publishers have tactics to help the ebooks on their site gain popularity, like seasonal competitions, new writers highlights, reader rankings, and other methods. Once your ebook is published, you can boost its exposure by sending the link to friends and family members, asking them to read it, share it on social media, and leave comments on chapters (if available).
There are also a number of websites where you can post a link to your ebook to increase its potential readership. Be sure to research which websites and Facebook groups most align with your novel and stick to those.
To Wrap it All Up
Your novel is like your child: You raised it up from nothing and now want to give it the best possible future. Here’s a recap on how to get your novel published online:
- Edit your manuscript (again) and ask friends and/or grammar robots for editing help. Oftentimes when you publish online, you cannot go back and change things.
- List all the subgenres your book could fall into and use that to determine which online publisher to choose
- Select the best online publisher for your book specifically. Go through each platform’s current content to see if yours aligns, read their royalties policy thoroughly, and submit when ready.
We wish you all the best!
Author’s Bio:- May Gauthier is an Orlando-based freelancer, who feels exceptionally weird writing about herself in third person. She frequently collaborates with fictionate.me, one of the top websites for posting your fiction books online, which features everything from vampires and zombies to evil koalas. She hopes you found this article helpful and wishes you luck on your publishing journey!
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