[Novel] Can an existing series not be pitched to premium anymore?

[LostSpirit]

But that's a bit counterproductive, isn't it? A webnovel is only as successful as its audience. Why would Tapas want you to stop as you pitch, potentially alienating the very readers that form the ecosystem of their business model?

They used to have a barrier of 300 subscribers to see if a story could win an audience, like market pre-approval. It still exists for webcomics, albeit at 2,000 subscribers. Editor adjustments are a component that every writer has to go through. It could occur with webcomics as well. I don't know.

Even without any changes to the pre-released chapters, Tapas would still have signed a creator with a highly engaged audience that could convert to potential buyers for future chapters. I think that's the idea they went with initially.

[Penni]

If it's accepted as Premium it's going to re-launched. So I don't imagine that Tapas would want you to continue to update something that is going to be relaunched with a paywall. They aren't going to look at entire series during the pitch, they are going to look at what is provided to them, so temporarily stopping updates shouldn't make a difference.

Like I said, I don't know if that's the answer, but that's what I would do. That way, you're saving more of the story for when it's being paid for (and you're getting paid too)

@KRWright might be able to shine more light here

[LostSpirit]

I see your point. I suppose we just might have to wait for Tapas to answer that question!

[RandomKelsey]

I don't see why it would have to be relaunched. TBATE has the first 55 chapters available for free. Granted, I wasn't around when the story was launched so I don't know if the whole thing started out as free and they started putting the chapters behind a premium payment once it got popular or if they always planned it like that. However, it seems more reasonable to leave the chapters already available as free and charge for all new chapters going forward or to set a number, like 55, and just make sure accounts marked as having read the chapters already will have those chapters still unlocked. Relaunching the series entirely would alienate current readers, like LostSpirit said, and I feel like that would be a bigger hit to any gain than simply leaving a couple dozen chapters free.

[KRWright]

The way it's currently worded however, makes it feel like Tapas is only going to accept completed, or near-complete works.

I submit all my works as completed manuscripts and have been allowed to finish my works for free before monetising them. I see it as a reward for the people who have supported me throughout the serialisation process that they get to see the ending for free, and then if they discover it after the paywall.... well... Sorry. But I have other free works that they can read. Not sure if this is official policy - but it is fairly standard in novels publishing to have a novel completed before querying. With webserials, I think they'd look more at whether or not you had a significant number of chapters serialised, the frequency of posts, or if you'd satisfactorily completed 'acts' of a novel.

Tapas generally doesn't seem to care if you've finished or not when you pitch, but it definitely helps your sales to have a completed work is what I'll say.

[KRWright]

Oh and I've seen another point about relaunching - yes when undergoing premiumisation your book is relaunched. While your initial however many chapters are left up for free - all the ones behind a paywall are reuploaded fresh (thus missing your previous engagement metrics). So basically your work is re-serialised again on the platform behind the paywall. That's how it's worked for me at least.

[LostSpirit]

Tapas generally doesn't seem to care if you've finished or not when you pitch

Okay. This clears a ton of my worries on the matter. I suppose I can live with losing all that engagement, given the ultimate goal of having my work become a premium title. Might sting a bit. Haha, I think.

Anyway, thanks for getting back to me on the matter, KR!

[desktop_dragon]

Hello! Novels team content editor here answering the questions I've seen in this thread:

• Existing, ongoing projects on Tapas (and any other site) are more than welcome to be submitted! It puts the series on our radar, which is definitely a good thing. But we usually don't offer a contract unless a considerable standalone segment (first volume in the series, etc.) of a story is complete or near-complete.

• If it's a longer series we'd be happy to serialize on an ongoing basis depending on: (a) the author's writing/update speed, and (b) how much backlog currently exists (~80k words is a good starting point).

• For the question about progression, we do ask for an outline, and it helps out a lot for us to know that the author has future plot points/character arcs planned out. A well-plotted outline wouldn't convince us to sign on an unfinished work for premium serialization. I'm not sure if that answered your question -- feel free to clarify!

• While your pitch is being considered, you're more than welcome to continue releasing updates for your series!

Let me know if anyone else has questions about premium submissions for novels! Hope y'all are having a wonderful day.

[WillowTree]

Would having a successful free story (decent amount of subs, good level of engagement, etc) increase chances of a second story being considered for premium?

I don't really want to make The Love of a Werewolf premium, but I was thinking about pitching a side project I've been working on once I get it finished.

[desktop_dragon]

If a series was successful while free that definitely improves its chances of going premium! A series which did well on the free-to-read side of things will likely do well as a premium series too. At the same time, if a submitted story isn't doing well on our free-to-read side that'll be taken into consideration, while taking into account confounding factors which might be changed during production such as the cover, blurb, logline, general presentation, etc.

[LostSpirit]

how much backlog currently exists (~80k words is a good starting point)

Hello! Thanks for such a detailed answer!

But two quick questions here! I promise I'll try and not ask more ^_^

1. ~80k words. Just confirming. By this, do you mean to say that roughly 80k words (completed) is a good starting point for a conversation on whether the story is viable for premium serialization?

2. desktop_dragon:

   A well-plotted outline wouldn't convince us to sign on an unfinished work for premium serialization.

I might have not understood this correctly. But did you mean "would convince" here?

[nostalgicroxas]

~80k words. Just confirming. By this, do you mean to say that roughly 80k words (completed) is a good starting point for a conversation on whether the story is viable for premium serialization?

They were referring to a backlog.
ie On Tapas (or another site) currently is a finished arc that is 50k words long, but the story isn't finished, and you have 80k words ready to be released that are sitting in the Schedule feature. So 50k of the story is public, and another 80k the public has not seen.

I might have not understood this correctly. But did you mean "would convince" here?

No, they did mean "would not". They simply meant that "just because you have a well-plotted outline and know where you're going does not mean that novels submitted to us with poorly organized outlines will be rejected." In that sense, the outline is important, but the organization or "fullness" of it is less so. They just want to see where you're planning to go moving foward.

[MiniSheepPencil]

"just following the topic"

However, I find pitching a story super intimidating and scary and also, how many writers sit with a backlog of 80k+ words?

[nostalgicroxas]

casually shoves a backlog over 150k to the side
I actually know a few writers who churn out 50k a month on the regular. They just love to write and commit themselves to it. It is their job outside of their 9-5 job.

[MiniSheepPencil]

... I feel lucky if I ever get past 1k in just a month...

Sadly, it's impressive and demotivating at the same time. However, I guess it is the same for artists trying to keep up with their respective elites?

[LostSpirit]

If that is indeed the case, then it's a good thing that it's not a hard rule. I can't imagine having an 80k backlog, not with my job. I maintain a 15k buffer for the benefit of my readers. Can't hope for much more.

But at least this feels like they're open to checking things out as long as it fits into their business model. That's good news!

[nostalgicroxas]

I'm having internet issues, otherwise I'd link you to my thread about "share your writing tools" where I literally have images breaking down my stats of how many words are in a "finished" chapter and that those can take weeks to accomplish. I may have a huge backlog for tapas only but not for other sites. I'm just utilizing the Schedule feature to release 500~ words or so at a time.

[MiniSheepPencil]

I'm having internet issues too atm (or at least the server for this forum is having issues)

When you see this message, I would love for you to share the link! I'd love to get some more insight!
I recently began breaking up chapters into smaller bits of about 400-500 words to make it more consumer friendly for readers on Tapas.

[nostalgicroxas]

Maybe the servers for the forum are in line of the tornados, fires, or whatever else is hitting the US. It's been hit or miss alllllll evening on this site for me (lots of 500 errors).
I was able to grab the link! https://forums.tapas.io/t/lets-share-our-story-building-tools-spoilers/48287
I have noticed that through my binge readers that the 500 or so word mark is perfect at about 5-8 minutes of reading, some faster and some slower. So that's likely the right "digest" size for Tapas's viewers.

[MiniSheepPencil]

Thank you!
and yes, the 500 errors kept hitting me too