Pros and cons of Tapas for novelists (or in general)?

[Testaccount]

Of course, there is, but for me, I suppose it's different. I aim to publish one day, so posting my work online for free, in its first draft form kind of hurts me.

One of the only reasons I'm posting my work online is to build up a platform since agents want to see that. Once I create a decent platform, I don't plan to publish any of my long-form works online anymore.

One writer friend I had on Wattpad was super popular (her story had over 4.5M reads), and her story concept got stolen by another popular writer. As you know, you can't copyright an idea, so there wasn't anything she could do about. Personally, I don't want my ideas to be taken before I even get a chance to do anything with them, so I plan to cut back posting online in the future.

I may post short stories and novellas online, but that's it. In the end, it all depends on your goals and what you want.

[SoFt]

I agree with and empathize with your sentiments here. I think you might feel better if perhaps you produced works for online publication that you didn't necessarily need to get published. In my case, while I'd love to publish Sanguine, it isn't my Magnus Opus. Neither is my Mythologia series, nor my Cannibals series, nor my series on the Nascent Gods. I hold back those works that I find deepest and most demanding and share those which I find fun and easier to crank out.

So yes, I aim to publish, but I also like writing for fun and engaging with a community of writers and readers. If someone steals something I post up here, I'll be displeased, but I can at least enjoy two factors: 1) my favorite works are not here, and 2) I made something that someone thought was worth stealing.

[spicy_sweets]

Does tapas count as published if you earn income through ads and tips?

[Testaccount]

From what I understand, anything you post online first is considered published. I heard agents are ok with stories being posted on Wattpad, but I don't know about Tapas.

Since tips and ads aren't really paying for the story content, I'm not sure. If your work is "premium" where readers are charged for chapters, then I know that counts for sure.

The only writer I know who is premium on this website doesn't plan to try for publishing, so being premium works for her, but hmm, this may be something I should check into you.

[ChristodeBoyet]

If it happens here. Be aware that you can report it to the Tapas staff and they'll work with you. If you believe it needs to be taken down, I think they will do it for you. Essentially you're self-publishing your work, so you actually do have the rights to it.

[Testaccount]

Thanks for understanding =)

That's exactly what I plan to do - I plan to keep my serious works offline and keep them to myself. As for a community, yeah, it's fun interacting with other writers and readers.

I'm not a fan of the drama, though. On Wattpad, the threads were just battlegrounds, and if you didn't agree with everyone, you were instantly attacked and shunned.

I do love interacting with my readers here =) I get so much fulfillment in knowing that my story makes people happy and excited.

[Testaccount]

Thanks! I hope I never have to deal with plagiarism here, but I already know a few people who have been "inspired" by my story, so we'll see what happens.

[SoFt]

I can't speak to Wattpad; I've never had the stones to share much of my writing outside of RP until this year, really x) . If that's how it is, though, I'm glad I happened to skip it. People here seem to genuinely enjoy chatting with one another for the most part, and that's valuable; you can learn a lot by receiving, reading, and providing cogent critiques.

Having written a couple of feedback bits here since I got started, I've come to feel that the process of breaking down what does and doesn't work about a story helps to solidify understanding of what makes a story good. You can use the insights you pick up as you play here to strengthen the stories you choose to share as you write them. More importantly, you can use them to punch up the held back works that you believe in the most .

[Testaccount]

Yes, I agree; the users on this website are friendly and helpful.

I do love analyzing what makes a story great, so I definitely enjoy reading the feedback people receive here. What I like most about Tapas is I can enjoy novels and comics. I feel each medium can help me learn the craft of storytelling.

[Rhombik]

I'm not a fan of the drama, though.

Funny. I was talking to somebody today about just this and we came to the conclusion that it doesn't matter where you are, there's always that one person doing stuff just for attention. None of these people really bother me though. They used to a lot more but I think I've gotten a lot better at noticing when what somebody does makes zero sense unless what they really want is everybody to look at them. I think I can tune it out.

Luckily, I think creative communities like Tapas are some of the best places for this. People are generally too busy making stuff to go off at other people all the time or post constantly about themselves or turn every little molehill into a mountain.

[spicy_sweets]

Ahh, that's actually why I'm digging Tapas more. It's a lot more welcoming from what I can tell. Plus the forums are organized nicely.

[lil-sea-salt]

I actually published my work on several websites and found Tapas is small enough that there isn't too much drama, but also it's big enough that there is room to grow. The staff is incredibly kind and lovely. If your work is good they'll help promote it.

Readers for the most part are nice and supportive. If you want to chat more PM me. I was here since novels were started last year.

[Zaboem]

I would count that as "self-published" personally. What are your thoughts, Spicy?

[Zaboem]

Oh, I encourage plagiarism of my stories. Everything I'm publishing on Tapas comes with a Creative Commons license. The last chapter of my current story will probably be a copy of the actual license itself.

[spicy_sweets]

Huh. I thought it was a form of traditional publishing because you'd be working with Tapas under a contract.

[Zaboem]

I would like to take a step back for just one minute and observe something. The publishing business is so screwed up right now that we are having a serious discussion about what the word PUBLISH means.

[joe_galindez]

Prime r/showerthought right there.

[arushiangelica]

As far as the technical aspects of the site is concerned, it is amazing. Super easy to use and publish. Haven't experienced any glitches yet.

Now let's talk about readership. Most of the readers over here are for comics. Novels are sort of secondary as this is a new category. I am sure this will change down the line.

I started publishing my poetry comic Existentialist Crisis and slice of life novel Beautiful Rebellious Brainiacs around the same time. My comic has way more views and subscribers. Of course this is not directly indicative of readership. I have more chapters in my comic and maybe my novel isn't that interesting.

But as a reader, I am quicker to subscribe to comics than to novels.

@Zaboem Well that doesn't mean the industry is screwed up but rather is radically changing.

[spicy_sweets]

Thanks for your input! Honestly forgot I made this cx

[psynoid_al]

not sure when this comment was posted, but I'm using chrome and can place graphics in my novel, no problem