Is it worth publishing your novels on other sites?

[Possum]

Point is pretty much in the title. I've been told a few times I should upload Demetori (webnovel) to a site called RoyalRoad? I don't really know much about other sites other than tapas because I read most of my content here. Are there any benefits to managing your project on multiple sites? It just seems like a chore. Wattpad especially as it doesn't have a schedule posting option and the site itself is exhausting.

Yeah, more serious than my usual posts but I keep getting mixed opinions from sources. I can see the benefit of posting comics on other sites as things like Webtoon have a massive audience. Novels however, no clue.

[LostSpirit]

I've used RoyalRoad. And I made a lot of friends there as well. The reason why people upload across different platforms is because each platform brings a unique set of readers to the table. The RR crowd is big on fantasy and action, well-written isekais and the kind. LitRPGs are also very popular there.

Those same friends don't enjoy using Tapas because they didn't find the readers here to be conducive to what they were writing. And they're immensely popular there, for example. Likewise, you might be huge on Wattpad or Tapas, but crash and burn with the RR audience.

If you're starting out, dip your toes everywhere. It's more important to find where your core audience is at. And RR has scheduling, and its editor is a lot more advanced than Tapas - alignment, tables, all that jazz. I'd recommend trying at least

[lilithfairenwrites]

Royal Road is one of those sites where pretty much the only things that get reads are male-focused power fantasies—LitRPGs, xianxias/wuxias, reincarnation, etc. I used to post there, but my main stories received very little attention compared to poorly-written generic isekais, so I eventually decided it wasn't worth trying to find an audience there.

[joannekwan]

Yeah RoyalRoad is very heavy in genres that are popular in East Asia and that's what its audience wants.
I started posting my webnovel there 17 months ago and have been stagnant at 31 subscribers for more than half that time.

[indysyew]

The thing that put me off Royal Road was it's possible to copy & paste the writing there. Now I'm happy to give away my work if it's my decision to do so, but the notion anyone can rip you off at any time just blew my mind ...

[indysyew]

I've heard others reference Wattpad as exhausting - is this simply a reference to the fact you can't schedule there, or other things too?

[nostalgicroxas]

As someone who's posted on other sites the first 5 or 10 ch of the same novel to test the waters, I can officially say that most sites outside of fanfic are largely dead unless you're really lucky, super lucky, or writing smut. You are either chasing whatever the audiences like and hoping they click through to your serious work, or are stuck in read-for-read inauthentic hell.

Tapas is the real site I've come across where R4R are either largely ignored, or are only done by a few, and the community as a whole deal with them with the caviate of only do it if you REALLY genuinely want to. I'm not sure how that will continue into the future with Tapas now changing it layout to make "likes" prominent on the page where you scroll through titles. Like 4 Like is not a system unfamiliar to the usership of Wattpad and other similar site refugees, so to speak. Whether or not they embrace it is yet to be clear.

[sxxaint]

Wattpad is exhausting, especially as the official forums are dead now (although there is a user-created one now here but it's much less active). You really have to grind for new reads, but if you're serious about receiving feedback, it can be quite helpful when you find the rare people who do give really useful critiques due to the in-line commenting, which is the main reason I've carried on pursuing it.

My novel didn't really go anywhere elsewhere, but you've probably got a better bet on RoyalRoad than I did because your novel is fantasy.

[CarltonIsaac]

KDP Select on AMAZON. Nice roll of income each month.
Only Downside is - the enrolled novel can't be hosted on any other platform online.

[WillowTree]

Hello!
So... I've been posting on Tapas since August 11th. I have a little over 1,500 views, 269 likes, and 108 subscribers, and 70 comments (~half of those comments are me replying.)

On RR I posted on 17th of August and I've only posted 7 chapters there. I have 503 views, only 3 followers, and 9 comments. (7 of those 9 is one lovely reader who commented a 'thank you for the chapter' on every chapter).

On Inkiit I also posted first on the 17th of August. I've only posted 3 chapters there because I've gotten a total of 8 reads... all from 1 person. This person commented on every chapter, favorited it, and reviewed it so I'll probably upload a couple more and see if ever takes off, but Inkiit was definitely not the best site to gain a following on.

As you can see by the stats above, Tapas has been the best in terms of gaining subscribers/followers and having an active base who will comment on and like your stuff. I'm focusing mainly on Tapas. Since everyone here has been so welcoming and kind (readers and other creators), I want my stuff to go up here first for awhile before publishing the chapters elsewhere and there also just hasn't been enough of a reason (in terms of stats) for me to be overly concerned with continuing to post on the other two sites as well.

Edit to add - It's not that exhausting to upload on multiple sites because it's just copy and paste and double checking the formatting is correct. It's takes barely a minute to get a chapter posted on either RR or Inkiit.

[domisotto]

Royal Road is a bit tricky in that you need to be approved to both post a story on there and get it deleted.

It is a good site for:

--izekai
--boy's gaming fiction
--litrpg with a light plot
--anything that may be appealing to the gamer-gate style men-gamers

It's better not to post on RR if you have actual developed female characters vs chainmail bikini ones, BL or sophisticated writing style

[domisotto]

No, getting the reads. If you think Tapas is hard to get the reads on, Wattpad is about a million times worse and it doesn't have any real circulation as well. Its main genres are contemporary YA/High School and shades of forbidden romances (teen preg, teacher, rape-abuse, etc)

It's an exact opposite of Royal Road in terms of audience.

[babywolf121]

I'm here from Wattpad, I'm basically done with the site and once I've edited my stories from there I have every intention of shifting over to Tapas completely. Wattpad is exhausting for a lot of reasons like the tag system is a disaster, recommended never really works, if you don't do the bad boy tropes you're pretty much nothing over there. Overall, I can't suggest Wattpad anymore.

RR I've heard personally and read things about how rough it can be. I was talking to a friend of mine last night about it because she posts there and I was considering getting into it. However, I'ma bit more hesitant now that I've heard her comments on it and others here in your thread. It is very male-dominated so any romance tends to get no love at all. Their review system is what makes me interested since I'm always trying to grow as a writer and better my writing, but apparently it isn't the best. People will use it to troll you for whatever reason of their choosing which is unfortunate. But I'd say give it a shot anyway. Worst case scenario you find out you don't like it and you delete your account.

[cherrystark]

I agree with what other people have said about WP. I've read some great stuff but I've reads tons of ick stuff (*by ick - decent idea but needed TONS of rewrites and TLC) Tapas has been great for the social aspect. I've been able to talk with a lot of kind and fabulous people. The reads have been genuine and people keep reading because they like it and not because of some deal.

I have stuff on Inkitt. I've gotten some really encouraging reviews but my reads have stopped. The only stories that I've seen do well on the site are the werewolf stories or any story about an "average" woman meeting an incredibly gorgeous man who is obsessed with her and she'll most likely get magic powers. Those stories do great and the authors have gotten deals. Since my story is not either of those things, I'm probably not going to post more stuff there.

[cherrystark]

Its main genres are contemporary YA/High School and shades of forbidden romances (teen preg, teacher, rape-abuse, etc)

Oh my yes. Those stories are everywhere. I'm always game from a good romance but there is a lot of stuff with unneeded smut and when they could easily end the story 2/3 through the book with a solid ending. But no... we have 20 more chapters to include the female MC gaining super-duper powers and a nonsensical battle.

[HeienJie]

I post on three sites, Wattpad, Tapas and Scribble Hub. My stories are mainly a slice of life with BL romance.

I've been a member in Wattpad for many years now.

Pros
Since it mainly caters to novels, there are a ton of choices to read. With millions of users in that platform, there will always be a reader for different kinds of genre.
Also, fanfictions are faring well there. The trick is to use tags that are popular.
Although no published work is truly secure from being stolen, I appreciate that it has a copy protect feature.
In line comments allow readers to post more reactions.
You can post images directly.
It is straight forward and easy to use since there are less functions present.
No word limit.

Cons
As it stands, there are also a lot of competition. But that is the site where I generate views, votes, and comments the most.
No scheduling of chapter release.
It is filled with stolen translations, something that I do not condone.
Vulnerable to bots. My account has been attacked twice. The comment section in my books were bombed with malicious links directing unsuspecting readers to a sex trafficking site disguised as a dating site.
The tags suck. They rarely give readers the kind of stories they truly want. Instead, the system promotes only what they deem popular causing lots of good books to be buried deep into the ground.

Tapas, I only recently joined this year thus it's of no surprise that my stats are still small.

Pros
What I appreciate is the scheduling and the separate box for author's notes/ episode description.
Also, it has a copy protect feature.
You can upload images directly.
The sound cloud feature, I haven't used yet as I usually use music from youtube. But I still appreciate this feature.
Lots of reminders in the forums to make the community neat and harmonious.

Cons
Also, it is more geared towards comics. There are less readers of novels here so do what you can and use the forums to promote your work.
No inline comment.
Reader engagement is moderate, probably due to the lower number of audience for novels.
Tags don't really do much. So pander, pander, and pander.
The character number limit breaks off the emotions that you are trying to invoke from your readers, making the chapters feel watered down.

Scribble Hub

Pros
As I have heard, it is geared towards stories that have an eastern influence (CN, JP style novels). This is largely due to the influence of Novel Updates, a site dedicated to promote translated novels.
As they say, isekai, LitRPG are popular in SH.
You can schedule the release of your chapters.
The review feature is also worth noting.
No word limit.
Lot's of functions for those who like to experiment with their page/chapter release.
The forum is more active.

Cons
The readers are generally quiet. There is not much reader engagement in the comment section apart from the blobs and readers that thank you for updates.
Reader count does not really mean anything.
There is a glitch that rates your work as 1 star when you first start your work.
A story needs approval from the mod before it appears in the site.
There is no copy protect feature in SH.
The only thing you can do is to release your stories before others post your stolen work in other sites.
It does not host images.
It takes time to get used to the functions.