How do you promote your Webnovel?

Zaboem 2020-10-08 19:17:12 UTC #21

Contrary to the majority opinion, I do not recommend promotion here in the forum. It's a closed circle with a very limited number of creators, each trying to get each others attention. Reaching outside of Tapas and bringing a new audience to the website or apps serves the entire community, a tide that rises all the ships. If you just want helpful feedback and a handful of readers, then maybe mining the forums is what's best for you.

Instead of sub-for-sub or similar, I suggest reaching outward. I've gone into more detail on this theme in other threads more than once. To summarize, here are a few options: establish a presence in social media and Goodreads; when you physically publish attend a local convention in the artists' alley; locally reach out to publications like magazines, school newspapers, and talk radio with offers for interviews; non-locally, reach out to podcasters, writing groups, et cetera; and lastly hire an agent to fill any gaps you could not do yourself.

PorcheJ 2020-10-08 19:22:37 UTC #22

Everyone has great feedback here. And I agree with @Zaboem. Going to other social media platforms such as Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram definitely helps. Hopefully, when the pandemic ends, places like comic conventions (with Artist Alley) will reopen. They're helpful as well.

rizamasuyama 2020-10-08 19:33:16 UTC #23

As much as I am on Twitter (lol), it's also something that I learned recently. It's why I thought it helpful to pass along! Hope it helps

KaraKuriKurari 2020-10-09 03:07:51 UTC #24

Is this a hashtag for twitter?

KaraKuriKurari 2020-10-09 03:08:16 UTC #25

Thank you for the recomendation!

KaraKuriKurari 2020-10-09 03:12:31 UTC #26

This is also a question floating in my mind, I mean most of the people going to this forum is also looking for subs them self, and it makes a closed environment, meaning that who ever reads your book is probably not in it to read it seriously. Getting loyal readers are really hard!

drcharlotterodricks 2020-10-09 03:50:15 UTC #27

Yes it is..something i've seen the past one week

Teddy-Stonehill 2020-10-09 04:12:50 UTC #28

I'm also new to Tapas, so I don't have any particular advice, but I was reading through to pick up some tips myself. A few people have mentioned Reddit as a good place to promote. Are there any particular subreddits that are good places for webnovels? I've never been a big Reddit person so I'm not sure I'd know where to go.

The_Book_Keeper 2020-10-09 11:38:25 UTC #29

Visit the forum posts which ask for novel or comic recommendations from creators.
If you want to then post a link to your work in the reply.

elisabeth_ist 2020-10-09 13:29:00 UTC #30

I honestly don't know! I try various new things from time to time, and I have no idea what works and what doesn't. So far, the thing that's helped most is getting featured on Tapas. I do struggle because I don't want to put my novel on my personal social media pages, so I don't have all that many avenues I can pursue. But Reddit's been surprisingly useful -- if you can find a sub that might be interested, topic-wise, in your novel, that could be a good route to try.

KaraKuriKurari 2020-10-09 13:48:52 UTC #31

How did you get featured by Tapas?

domisotto 2020-10-09 13:56:58 UTC #32

They have a staff member looking at the stuff that is being posted, and feature a few novels every week (and comics, obviously). So you don't have to do anything for it. If they like your story, they will feature it.

elisabeth_ist 2020-10-09 13:59:28 UTC #33

What @domisotto said! I didn't even know I'd been featured until my novel had been on the homepage for about a day. I'd say just keep writing and posting, and you have a strong chance of having that happen at some point.

alharingrey 2020-10-09 15:56:35 UTC #34

Honestly, I find persistence is key. I advertise my work a lot on social media. I have a Facebook page and Instagram dedicated to my author-based works and happenings. For the completed novel on my Wattpad, I actually dropped a little money running a Facebook ad campaign to really promote it. But I wouldn't say I recommend that, to be quite honest.

Forums, Discords, they all help. But the main thing is to remember: you get out what you put in. Yes, it might feel like you're pouring hours into your work and few people are noticing, but keep at it. Make it so it is impossible for your work to be ignored! Make it stand out from the masses!

Alongside this, give back to the community that you're asking something from. Readers (and people in general) seldom give up their time without getting something back. Now, you might think the joy of reading your work ought to be enough. It would be...if your audience were primarily readers. But the fact of the matter is you are pitching your work to an audience/market that is saturated with writers-who-read-too as opposed to readers. "Sub-4-subs" mean nothing. Do something of value for others. For example: I am a copy editor as my day job. So, I offer editing services sometimes in return for someone reading my work and giving me feedback (editors are only human. We aim for 80% perfection, haha. Even we make grammar errors and miss typos sometimes!).

As silly as it sounds, what I'm trying to say is: don't just promote your work. Promote whatever kindness you're willing to give to others in return! Maybe an in-depth read of one chapter with X amount of comments as feedback beyond "I love this", for example. Banners or covers, perhaps, with a payment system of reading a chapter of your work?

I hope this helps! I'll round off with a cheeky plug for my current ongoing work, oh ho ho ho!