402 / 466
Apr 2018

I finished The Gaulheim Hit in time for the deadline, and posted previews of act 2, Project Einherjar.

Being dissatisfied isn't any less wrong an outlook as being content with mediocrity. I can juggle statistics and feelgood writing philosophy, or I can bust my ass on my work and want it to be noticed -- either is fine, even if I'm not successful at the latter. I create things to entertain myself first and everyone else second, which is the only really good writing advice I can give, because otherwise the creative process is soul-crushing. "Just be satisfied with your own work regardless of how few readers you have" doesn't work for people who want to do it for a living, who have to actually promote their work every way they can so that it gets as many readers as possible to generate their income. I don't care about that someone who does it better than me, because their career is removed from my own; I care about whether or not I can actually make a name for myself. Maybe I never will because I write weird niche stuff.

It's okay to be content. It's okay to be frustrated. Either one is human.

Also, beware those bestseller lists people speak so highly of. They're an invention to sell books, nothing more. A lot of those books made the list before they were available to the public -- how can it be a bestseller if no one's actually bought it yet?

I know, I found about the competition after I posted my first chapters.
I didn't know Tapas existed until last month and doubt my odds were good vs. established writers here =-p
Only 845 views and 63 subs, Haha x-D

Thank you for the opportunity! It's been a while since I've tried stretching out my writing arms, this is a good learning experience for me, the best of luck to everyone! :smiley:

Im super late, but im just gonna leave this righttttt here

It's a Cyberpunk story filled with violence, sex, drugs, and poltical struggle within a criminal underworld in a Neo-Dystopian America. It's pretty cool, got some fantasy stuff in it to. The main characters are sprinkled in as the story goes on. But as of now im just focusing on Keyome and a few others. Part 8 is where the story really begins so i sent that portion to you!

@serena Just want to clarify, is it OK to continue publishing new chapters after the 19th? I would like to continue the story, but can wait if that's against the rules.

You can continue writing your series! However, we will only be counting the series that have completed the submission requirements by midnight on April 19th, so make sure you meet the minimum requirements before then!

We've finished our submission. A one-shot lesbian romance set in the 1800s written by one of our writers Pepper. I hope those who will read will enjoy it.

So I only found out about the contest 24 hours ago. And I was like "damn, wish I had known of it sooner so I could participate". But then I thought, hey I could at least try for the kicks. Even if I don't make it, it would still be fun and fullfiling. And I have been wanting to write again for a while now.

So here you have it: https://tapas.io/series/A-Villainous-Plot-Of-Heroic-Proportions6
Ten chapters at least 500 words long each. Phew.

Gay space vampires. Actually, it's more like cyberpunk horror future vampires...

Congrats @ISNEKO

I wish my word count was that impressive, I'm a little over 6.5 k. You have a full novella while I'm a not quite short story. But I can't wait until next camp to make a longer piece.

So when I started this story I had already made up my mind that I was not going to win...due to several obvious factors

Firstly I am Italian and even though I grasp English decently my command of the language will never be as good as that of a native speaker and as I noticed my story (SURVIVORS) isn't making people go crazy

Secondly i also just joined about a month ago tapas so.....no one knows me and to make matters worse I am kind of an introvert,I observed the thread for weeks but only had the will to even comment seriously now

Lastly there obviously are several people way better than me and my references to European places obviously would confuse /chase the American readers.....which is too bad

So my opinion on this is basically that I did this for the experience and so should the rest of us.

I feel you buddy. I can't grasp how tenses works and my writings have some weird phrasing and all, but hey, it's all for the experience.

Also, WELCOME TO THE COMMUNITY! :laughing:

I feel you, too. But hey, the more you write, the better you will become. English is not my native tongue either, so I find it useful to copy and paste some small phrases (2-4 words) into google if I'm not sure I'm making sense, if any other text in english has used my wording I just keep it, otherwise I adapt it a little. Also, in portuguese (my mother tongue) I think I'm a pretty good writer, but when it comes to english somehow my vocabulary seems a little limited so I always keep a tab open to look up some synonyms and such.
Also, even if your story is not being a huge hit, I think it is nice to complete it, for both you and the readers. I plan on finishing mine, even if no one pays it any mind. And I plan on reading the other stories people submited to the contest, it would be fun and grant me some more experience.
And welcome. I'm also new to the forums.

I feel you on a deep level! And let's be honest. You obviously have a better grasp of the English language than several native speakers do, believe me.

Welcome to the community, mate! Hope you enjoy it and wish you the best of luck on Tapas.

The final post for the contest has been submitted. It's essentially Act 1
Good luck to the rest of you who submitted as well. I look forward to finding new and wonderful things to read.

Just uploaded a two-parter for my final chapters for the contest! I'm so happy with the reception my novel had so far, and I'm super excited to write more, regardless of the results!

The submission period officially closed last night! Thank you so much for all of your participation. Well over 100 of you submitted your stories, which is absolutely amazing. Our first Writers Camp couldn't have been a success without all of you. I know you all worked really hard, and I appreciate how active the Tapas novels community has been both on the forums and off during this time. The way everyone has been lifting each other up and thinking about ways to strengthen the novels community, novels creation and sharing tools on Tapas, and Writers Camp itself has been really heartening to see for me and the rest of the novels team.

We are going to be reading the qualifying submissions over the next few weeks and will be announcing the winners on May 1st, so watch out for that announcement!

We are also planning on putting together another Writers Camp in a few months, hopefully before the end of this summer. We'll keep you posted! Make sure to check the newsfeed31 for those announcements.

Thank you again! :sunflower: