NOVELS: Guidelines for pitching to Premium

[domisotto]

The completed novels run far shorter than comics if they are ready to go. So if you post the minimal required word count novel of 80K in daily installments for the best chance to stay in Fresh, you have 80 days run. Even if it is an awesome novel, it is not going to pick up a lot of subs in that span, particularly on a site where the novels is a nice side-line.

[TL_Shay]

What Domisotto said was correct.
They used to have a 300 sub minimum for novels.(If I'm remembering the amount correctly) By the time I'd get my subs, my stories were around 80k and pretty much finished. There were many more stories that others finished (and never received 300 subs) that I thought were far superior to my own work.
Also, I would think that there is much more competition for the premium slots for comics than for stories, but that's just my own conjecture.

[katiemcguire]

Hi, all! To catch up on a few questions:

@arayakim I see someone was kind enough to share the comics guidelines (thanks, @Aykay!). To answer your question about exclusivity, we're happy to work with creators on either an exclusive or non-exclusive basis.

@neardrive Yes, I'd recommend waiting until you hit 80k in English.

@RosesnWater At the moment, it's the more the merrier. Let me read all your words!!

Keep the questions (and submissions!) coming

[domisotto]

heh, number obsessed me: darn, I am 2 short!!! even though it doesn't exist. Smthng... can someone please vacuum my brain?

[RosesnWater]

You’re always so helpful! Thanks again ️ Im relieved to hear that

[yelt]

Just emailed my pitch!

I'm so excited, but regardless of what happens, I want to thank y'all for this great opportunity.

[arayakim]

Thank you, @katiemcguire!

That is good to know!

[WolfUnderTheMoon89]

Congrats on taking the leap! Good luck!

[yelt]

Thank you! I have my novel posted here already if you are interested!
It's called Cargo.

[Danny_C]

Is the minimum amount of subs needed in pitching a premium series still at 300, or has that changed?

[katiemcguire]

That's changed! There's now no minimum subscriber number for novel submissions.

[WriterLinXiaolong]

Are 5 Tapas chapters enough? Because I read that Tapas prefers 500-800words, I split my early chapters so 5 Tapas chapters isn't even 5 chapters in original manuscript

[Danny_C]

Wow, that's actually a really big change.

[Possum]

This is an insanely useful post. Thank you so much for posting! I'll be repitching and pitching a new book soon so I'll defo be reading this over and over!

[ThatFanwriter_EV]

@katiemcguire Thank you so much for answering all of our questions!! I have an ongoing novel that I would love to pitch! I'm wondering if I can keep posting updates to that story after my submission. And if my story were to get accepted (one can dream) would I then need to stop posting updates until the story gets relaunched?

[hannahlaine]

I would love to know more about this program and read some of the fine print. Is there somewhere I could learn more about this?

[katiemcguire]

@WriterLinXiaolong Yes, sending 5 Tapas episodes is absolutely fine! Feel free to link to your novel, too, if you'd like.

@ThatFanwriter_EV You're welcome, I hope it's been helpful to read through You can definitely keep updating after the submission, and I think it's okay to continue posting until your premium status starts, too. Let me confirm that point and I'll update this post!

EDIT: Just confirmed, during the pitching process, you're welcome to continue updating your series, but once you sign on for Premium, we ask that you stop updating until the new launch.

@hannahlaine Absolutely! Check out our articles about Premium here.

[ThatFanwriter_EV]

Awesome, thank you so much for the response Katie! And yes, the thread has been super helpful!

[Danny_C]

Wait a second! If there's no minimum, does that mean we're allowed to pitch a novel whenever we want?

[linaket]

Hello! It's nice to have a forum topic here to be able to communicate questions regarding premium pitches!

I have a few questions that haven't been answered, I don't think.

I noticed you said that you work with both exclusive and non-exclusive contracts. I had plans to ultimately release a print edition of my work, and Tapas is one of the ways I plan on getting word out about that. Would I be allowed to advertise this external project in the story? I ask because I have heard from premium authors that they "turn over" their chapters, and then they don't have any control after that, which is a bit... worrisome to me. Does this mean I would not be able to create an ad, as I can on free to read? Would I be able to edit/update authors comments to direct to physical prints?

Again, on the "hand off the chapters" aspect: I tend to be more careful with my use of whitespace, and I've found ways to modify the Tapas code in order to get the "look" and presentation that I'd like for my work, including changing text alignment. I think, my main question, is that If a story is accepted, what control does the author have over what is presented to the audience? Beyond in-episode issues, do we have any say in cover art, for instance?

I guess I would like to know what the process is once something is accepted as premium. If it is handed to an editor, is it then given back to me to get a say, or do I have to live with someone else's final decision?