How To Make Money Off Your Web Novel

Yorth

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Disclaimer: This list isn’t some scientific thesis on how to guarantee maximum profit from posting web novels. It’s just a list that I and many other authors go by when posting a new story and trying to make a profit off it. One other major thing, I will not talk on this list about Kindle Unlimited due to my lack of knowledge on its inner working. However, I do encourage you after reading and following this list to do your own research on KU. Most pro self-publishing authors make 60%+ of their incoming through it, so you definitely cannot ignore it.

Now, with that out of the way, let’s start with the list.

  • Cut your losses
This advice is specifically for writers who are either just starting out or don’t have much money, to begin with.

If you don’t make money off writing, then why the hell would you sink hundreds of dollars on it when you’re not sure you’re even going to make your money back? Do not fall into the trap of thinking that you need a custom cover for people to check out your story. Just look at your competition, most people just steal some art and slap it on their story like a sticker. Now, you don’t need to stoop that low. You can easily get decent covers for free and legally.

  • Choose your cover from stock images
If the image of a smiling businessman in a black suit and white background just fleeted through your mind, then you’re not alone. Stock images have been correlated with shady business websites and Shopify dropshippers since the beginning of time. However, that’s not the only use of stock images. Sites like Depositphotos have an excellent collection of pictures that you can use as your cover. Just look at this deathknight in a sakura field with giant swords behind him, doesn’t he look cool?
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  • Make a catchy title
Suffice to say, your title is your most powerful free marketing tool after your cover. It should roll well off your tongue, give an idea about what the story will be to any potential reader, show its brilliance. Something that not only makes potential readers ask themselves questions, but also gives them enough information on what this story could be potentially about, and whether they would be interested in that.

  • A good synopsis/tags
Now that both your cover and title interested your to-be-reader, it’s time for you to close the deal. Now, writers might think that the first thing a reader will do after clicking on your story is to read your synopsis and see if it interests them, right? Wrong. Readers are picky about what they read, they want something they’re familiar with, something that has already proven to be something they enjoy. So, they check your tags first. Yuri, harem, litrpg, isekai, action, etc… If your tags don’t suit their particular palette, they’re not even gonna glimpse at your synopsis. That’s why it’s important to use tags that are popular. Harem instead of polygamy, for example. Tags that readers can look at and immediately know whether it’s something they enjoy or not.

Now that your tags are on point, let’s talk about your synopsis. Here, the more personal it is, the better. It should, in a few words, both catch the reader’s attention and spark their interest, but also give them an idea about what the story will be about, plotwise.

Warning: Do not tag exploit. That means use only the tags that respresent what the story is about. If you bait your readers, Armageddon will fall on your head. The sky will be falling down and the cavalry of hell will come for your soul.

  • Have a backlog of chapters before publishing
This step is of critical importance. Having a backlog of chapters is extremely crucial. Even if you learn nothing from this guide other than to have a backlog, that’s already enough to give you an edge over all other authors.

When you just start writing your novel, your ideas are fresh, you put great care into your first chapters so as they be as good as they can. However, that is not something that can continue. Once the chapters start rolling, the time you have to prepare for each of them becomes more and more limited. As such, they are fated to be of less quality.

Having a backlog gives you the breathing room you need to think about the bigger picture. You’re not forced to post the chapter you’re writing in one day so you do not have to rush it. You can take your time, discuss with your friends or fellow authors, get some inspiration and then continue writing when you have an idea that you’re satisfied with.

This advantage alone makes having a backlog a necessity, but what it actually offers is more than that. Patreon. The whole concept and idea of patreon from a web novel perspective is to give readers advanced chapters. This plays on one of the most known and ancient business concept: exclusivity. People love being special. They love the idea that they’re unique, that they matter and that’s what you’re providing: Exclusive access to chapters that no one should have.

I’ll talk more about how to optimize your patreon in the next sections so stay with me.

  • Make a patreon with advanced chapters and advertise it
We already talked about how patreon thrives on the idea of exclusivity. Now, let’s talk on some of the details concerning the platform and some of the pitfalls of new users.

One of the biggest mistakes that I see writers make ALL the time when making their patrons is the privileges they give to each tier. “I’ll name one of my characters off you”, “exclusive art!”, “You’ll get Hero of the world tier on discord”, while all of this is cute, that’s not what 95% of your patrons are interested in. They want chapters! Whatever tier gives them the access to most chapters is what they’ll flock to. That’s why you, as the writer, need to understand that. Give them what they want.

The second biggest mistake is pricing. People don’t want to be scammed. If you put access to 2 chapters at 1 dollar, and 3 chapters at 5, they’ll feel duped. They will not want to buy the 5 dollar tier because they think that they’re being duped, that it’s a bad deal. That’s why don’t make it a bad deal. Make it a good deal! Don’t make a 1 dollar tier, just go straight for a 3 dollar one. Have the 3 dollar tier give access to 1 chapter, and the 5 dollars one gives access to 3! In their minds, the 5 dollar tier instantly becomes a great deal! You get 3 chapters for the price of 2!

Okay, now that you have a patreon that looks good, what next? Well, it’s time to publish your story and advertise it.

  • Publish every day for the first month to get the ball rolling
Scheduling. Scheduling. Scheduling. Scheduling. If there is anything that comes close in terms of importance to having a backlog, it’s scheduling. The power of building a habit, having a clear time in which your story is posted, is something that cannot be understated. Your readers need to know when your next chapter is going to be posted so that their minds always remind them of you whenever the time comes. This is how you get loyal fans, folks.

Other than the immense advantage scheduling betow upon you by giving you a horde of readers eager for the next chapter spamming the refresh button whenever it's close to your scheduled time, it’s important to understand that webnovel sites like royalroad and scribblehub work in a snowballing fashion. Readers attract more readers. Now, what do I mean by that? In royalroad, there is this trending page. You can get into by having a massive influx of ratings throughout a whole month. Once you’re in there, you stay on the page for another full month. This means that for a full 30 days you’re getting free promotions that would give you potentially thousands of readers. Naturally, there is no need for me to tell you how that affects your patreon.

For scribblehub, it’s kinda the same. Rising gives a lot of power to new authors. It gives you a score based on the number of views/comments/favs and ratings you received through the day, and then it compares it with your score yesterday. If the difference is big enough, you make it to the front page and get a full 24 hours of free promotion.

  • Encourage Ratings/Comments/Reviews
There is no need for me to tell you how important these three things are, we already talked about it in previous sections. However, what I will tell you is how you can effectively encourage them.

Bonus chapters. For someone who is broke but really loves your novel, there is a no bigger motive for him to rate/review you than bonus chapters. You need to understand that your loyal fanbase extends further than just your patrons. Some people live in Thailand, are 15 years old, and don’t have a debit/credit card. That doesn’t mean that they don’t like your novel. They do, in fact, they might love it even more than the people that pay you money for it. Harness that energy. Use it, and in exchange, give them something that they think is worthwhile.

  • Use the money you got from patreon to get a custom cover
It’s the middle of the month, things are going great. Your novel has taken off, the public loves it and you got a few patrons off that. Now that you have a bit of money, you can finally invest it. I have talked with a lot of authors with very successful patrons, @Ace_Arriande is one of them, they all agreed that having a custom cover will attract more readers and as such more patrons.

Having a custom cover makes your novel stand out, visually, from the rest. It makes it look more professional, and as such, more people are willing to pay. It will also help a lot when you finally decide to publish on Amazon.

  • Slow down your release to a schedule you’re comfortable with
If posting daily is normal for you, then just skip this section. However, most stories that upload daily that I know of are of low quality. Now, that doesn’t mean that people aren’t gonna pay for it, some definitely will. However, I noticed that the number of people who do pale in comparison to stories with a slower frequency but much higher quality.

Plus, you don’t want to suffer from burnout. Having your whole life revolve around the characters in your head isn’t the most healthy thing to do.

  • Make a website and create an email list
For this, you either need to know how to code or pay someone who does. In my opinion, having a website is important, but not at the cost of your story. If you don’t have the skills to make a website, then you don’t need to do it so early. Wait until you’re in a more comfortable situation, with your patreon bringing in bank, and then pay someone to make it for you.

Having an email list will prove to be crucial later on when you want to post for amazon. The list will give you prime candidates who will be interested in buying the ebook version of your story. This will give you a much-needed boost in sales early on so that Amazon start to organically promote your book for you.

  • Grow your ARC team
ARC stands for Advanced Review Copy. These are people who you give a free copy of your book to so that they can review it. As long as you don’t tell them to give you a positive review, this is totally legal. An ARC team along with an email list of potential buyers is a very lethal combo in Amazon marketing.

There is this urban legend that says that 50 reviews is the magic number for a book to get more visibility. Now, I’m not sure if this is true or not, however, knowing that amazon’s machine learning algorithm for suggestions works like that of youtube, it makes sense to me.

  • Post your book in Amazon
The time has finally come. All your preparations, your days of hard work, all of them are for this moment. You enter amazon, you submit your fully formatted book and you hit on the button. Now, it’s time for you to advertise your book like a maniac. Subreddits, royalroad, scribblehub, your email list, your ARC team, even your mom and dad should know, and fully appreciate, that you just posted your book in Amazon. Armageddon is here and you’re the savior. Screech with the fervor of a thousand bloodhound. Make a 48-hour blitz run where your book is discounted. Use services like Freebooksy or Bargain Booksy for your promotional run. Post about it on social media. Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, hell even myspace if someone still uses it. Use every last bit of your last breath to make sure that someone, somewhere buys your goddamn book!



That’s it, folks. You’ve done it, you made your dream a reality. You got a bazillion dollar off your writing career and the only thing that’s left is for you to enjoy the sunset in a beach at the Bahamas while snorting c*caine off t*ts and booties. Please, remember us when you make your one hundredth million.
 
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kira

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Wow! That is so cool of you to make this thread! Thank you for taking the time! My novels on SH are fluffy and fun to write so I do it for my entertainment happy others like it too. But my latest I want to monetize if I can... I have a very serious travel addiction and my next desination is pricey haha😺 I love the Bahamas ( Bali would be cool) but will skip the (I believe you meant *snorting* rather than *snoring* I don't think in that situation a person would be sleeping) rest of your scenario... hahaha
 

Yorth

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Wow! That is so cool of you to make this thread! Thank you for taking the time! My novels on SH are fluffy and fun to write so I do it for my entertainment happy others like it too. But my latest I want to monetize if I can... I have a very serious travel addiction and my next desination is pricey haha😺 I love the Bahamas ( Bali would be cool) but will skip the (I believe you meant *snorting* rather than *snoring* I don't think in that situation a person would be sleeping) rest of your scenario... hahaha
goddamnit, grammarly "fixed" that one. But yeah, glad you find the thread interesting.
 

kira

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Only thing worse than auto correct is google translate🐒 haha.. I wanted you use some French dialog in my story apparently according to my French readers my attempt was an epic fail haha...
I will check out your novel too!😊
 

Yorth

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Only thing worse than auto correct is google translate🐒 haha.. I wanted you use some French dialog in my story apparently according to my French readers my attempt was an epic fail haha...
I will check out your novel too!😊
hmm, come to discord. There are people of multiple ethnicities so when you ever try to incorporate some language, you can always ask.
 

LinMeili

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Thanks for the advice! How many readers do you need before you start Patreon?:oops:
 

Razmatazz

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Thanks for the advice! How many readers do you need before you start Patreon?:oops:
0. There is no real guideline. It could be that you only have one single reader, but they're absolutely mesmerized by your work and crave more. Your story clearly already has a good following though, so you could definitely consider it honestly. There's nothing here to lose. Take a day to make your patreon page look pretty. Get some advance chapters ready if you don't have them and then let your readers know that you're open for business :blob_cookie:
 

LinMeili

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0. There is no real guideline. It could be that you only have one single reader, but they're absolutely mesmerized by your work and crave more. Your story clearly already has a good following though, so you could definitely consider it honestly. There's nothing here to lose. Take a day to make your patreon page look pretty. Get some advance chapters ready if you don't have them and then let your readers know that you're open for business :blob_cookie:
Really? I thought I'd need like 1k readers.

Thanks, I'll give it a go when I have time.
 

Razmatazz

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Really? I thought I'd need like 1k readers.

Thanks, I'll give it a go when I have time.
Well having more readers helps of course, because each reader is another potential patron. It's a numbers game in the end. Just remember that it's a slow growing thing usually, so be consistent with your work and show your readers that they can trust you with their money. Good luck! :blobthumbsup:
 

KiraMinoru

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Personally I couldn’t deal with the Patreon stress and feeling of obligation that came with it in the past so I went with Amazon. But Amazon is a whole other beast of stress. You never know when you’re going to catch the eye of some elitist reader group(off RR in particular I’ve noticed) or competitor authors who you’re not part of their little circle and can’t stand to see you do decent. They can slowly barrage you with 1 stars on Amazon over an extended period of time for it to be less suspicious and in doing so deter people from reading your story which leads to eventually being pushed off the algorithm. Unless you make your own little circle for Amazon it’s like swimming up a waterfall.
 
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