otosewrites
Member
- Joined
- Jun 29, 2022
- Messages
- 12
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- 18
Hi fellow authors!
Yesterday I launched my first web series on ScribbleHub, and (to my surprise) it did pretty well. I got 776 views and 27 readers on the first day, which is better than some of the other first-day stats I've seen. So I thought I'd write up a post to share what I did right and what I did wrong.
Here's the series for reference: https://www.scribblehub.com/series/519362/jiro-and-the-bathhouse-of-desire/
What I did right
On day one, most people will find your novel through the Latest Releases section of the website. All that shows up there is your book title and your cover, so I made sure that these were good.
That's it! That's all I did: I picked a good title, made a good cover, and wrote a good blurb.
By the way, doing a rough calculation, about 10% of people who saw the blurb clicked through to read my first chapter. And of those people, about a third decided to follow my novel. I don't know if this is a good number, but I did try really hard to make Chapter 1 interesting enough to hook the reader.
Another thing I did was post three chapters on the first day. I'm not sure how important this is. It's probably a good idea because it will encourage new readers to follow you (just one chapter probably isn't enough).
What I did not do
Here are some things I've seen other people do that I did not do personally.
One thing that I think I did wrong was to write a blurb that was too long. If the blurb is too long, then part of it is hidden from the reader when they look at your novel page (on mobile at least). Maybe this isn't so important, but I do think one should make it as easy as possible for the reader. In the end, I edited my blurb to be short enough so that all the interesting parts appeared "above the fold."
Actually write a good story
This goes without saying, but you need to be able to write well before any of this matters. In the long run, I'm guessing that's what really matters. Having a good story. However, in the short run, doing well at launch can help keep you motivated to write more.
I hope that helps! Also curious to hear about how you guys launched your series.
Yesterday I launched my first web series on ScribbleHub, and (to my surprise) it did pretty well. I got 776 views and 27 readers on the first day, which is better than some of the other first-day stats I've seen. So I thought I'd write up a post to share what I did right and what I did wrong.
Here's the series for reference: https://www.scribblehub.com/series/519362/jiro-and-the-bathhouse-of-desire/
What I did right
On day one, most people will find your novel through the Latest Releases section of the website. All that shows up there is your book title and your cover, so I made sure that these were good.
- For the title (Jiro and the Bathhouse of Desire), I tried to pick something that would (a) make potential readers curious and (b) also hint at the kind of content inside the book.
- I did the same thing as above for the cover. I used Canva software to make the cover, and it probably took thirty minutes or less in total. Many people seem to post books without covers, but (for better or worse) the cover makes a huge difference in whether people will click through.
That's it! That's all I did: I picked a good title, made a good cover, and wrote a good blurb.
By the way, doing a rough calculation, about 10% of people who saw the blurb clicked through to read my first chapter. And of those people, about a third decided to follow my novel. I don't know if this is a good number, but I did try really hard to make Chapter 1 interesting enough to hook the reader.
Another thing I did was post three chapters on the first day. I'm not sure how important this is. It's probably a good idea because it will encourage new readers to follow you (just one chapter probably isn't enough).
What I did not do
Here are some things I've seen other people do that I did not do personally.
- I didn't write to meet demand. I don't like the idea of writing just to get views, so I picked a story concept that interested me personally. It's a mixed-genre piece that's probably different from what people are used to reading, but the idea of doing a web series wouldn't have been interesting to me otherwise. If you're someone who has interests that align with the most popular genres, then lucky you!
- I didn't swap reviews or ask for shoutouts. Because I'm naturally a shy person. But also because asking people to do this makes me feel uncomfortable.
One thing that I think I did wrong was to write a blurb that was too long. If the blurb is too long, then part of it is hidden from the reader when they look at your novel page (on mobile at least). Maybe this isn't so important, but I do think one should make it as easy as possible for the reader. In the end, I edited my blurb to be short enough so that all the interesting parts appeared "above the fold."
Actually write a good story
This goes without saying, but you need to be able to write well before any of this matters. In the long run, I'm guessing that's what really matters. Having a good story. However, in the short run, doing well at launch can help keep you motivated to write more.
I hope that helps! Also curious to hear about how you guys launched your series.
