An artist writes a chronicle... Wrong?

[crkunferman]

It all began with art.
Next thing I know I had a slew of unique characters, and an outline for a really cool story to go with them.

I started releasing 1 chapter a month, for free. I'm also writing bonus content, symbiotic to the chapters and including it with artwork.

5 months later...

Not only am I starting to feel confident in my writing, but I'm starting to feel guilty, almost like I'm doing it wrong? Like I should have approached distributing it differently.

I'm curious to hear what your thoughts are on doing it this way. How bad did I screw up? Have I shot myself in the foot?

 

[The Judge]

Hello and Welcome to the Chrons!

I'm curious to hear what your thoughts are on doing it this way. How bad did I screw up? Have I shot myself in the foot?

It all depends on what you want from your writing:

• If it's the thrill of writing unique characters and good stories and sharing them with other people, with no other aim beyond that, then you've certainly not screwed up -- you're doing marvellously!
• If you were wanting all that plus being getting paid for your work, then you may well be en route to getting that if you handle all the business end of it right, so again you're doing well.
• If, though, you were wanting to be published by one of the big name publishers, then things don't look quite as rosy, at least with this particular story you're writing, since most publishers won't look at a self-published work unless it does very well indeed and they think they can cash in on it.

It also depends on what you think about your writing and its development:

• some people just want to write stories quickly and move onto the next one, without worrying about style or content etc -- the process is important, rather than the finished product. If you're one of these, again you're doing marvellously!
• some people want to learn and improve their craft, and don't want to produce what they feel is sub-standard work. If you're one of these, then you may come to regret publishing your early writing like this if you ever conclude it isn't up to the standard you'd have wanted.

There is no definitive wrong and right in this situation, only what's right for you at this time. If you're happy with your writing and your interactions with your readers then you're already a success -- so just enjoy it!

 

[Wayne Mack]

Starting as a web serialization can work. It may be rare, but the biggest example was Andy Weir's The Martian. He started it as a web serial. The Martian (Weir novel) - Wikipedia

 

[Fiberglass Cyborg]

TBH, this actually sounds amazing! Both as a way to learn fiction writing, and for the readers who have two different ways to enjoy your characters. I guess the time to re-think what you want to do with your writing would be when this current story is coming to an end.

 

[BAYLOR]

It all began with art.
Next thing I know I had a slew of unique characters, and an outline for a really cool story to go with them.

I started releasing 1 chapter a month, for free. I'm also writing bonus content, symbiotic to the chapters and including it with artwork.

5 months later...

Not only am I starting to feel confident in my writing, but I'm starting to feel guilty, almost like I'm doing it wrong? Like I should have approached distributing it differently.

I'm curious to hear what your thoughts are on doing it this way. How bad did I screw up? Have I shot myself in the foot?

Guilty about what ? Showing your work in progress ?

There's nothing wrong with that. Your a writer , you want people to know what it is your doing .

 

[THX1138]

Many of us here on Chrons can relate to you, and there are a few who are doing something similar, but in their own way and formats.
@AnRoinnUltra Nancy Goodaim, Space Ranger audio series comes to mind. It's done in several small instalments.

A few others are writing several novellas (small novels) based on one main character or world ideas. @Rafellin comes to mind.

You are in good company!

 

[AnRoinnUltra]

How bad did I screw up?

I don't think you screwed up at all, but then again I'm doing the same thing, like @THX1138 mentioned. I also did something similar with my last book 'The Turd Prophecy', only I didn't think to post it online as I wrote. You mentioned your confidence increasing as you progress, which to my mind tells you the way you are working is right for you.
The only thing I'd change is to do a creative writing course part time as you go if you are new to writing. It helps bring in other stuff (poetry classics/ different genres) that you may or may not have experienced. Keep going -the stuff gets better, it has to, and if ya can grab an audience early on they're if for months of even better storytelling

 

[Astro Pen]

I think it is an interesting concept. A new fusion,
Okay you have probably blown it with publishing houses with this particular work as it is already published.
However it will serve as a showcase for your work. Keep the next series private and hawk it around.
Nothing stops you setting up your own imprint if you are getting enough interest. The margins are far better self publishing and you retain control.

 

[Rafellin]

It all began with art.
Next thing I know I had a slew of unique characters, and an outline for a really cool story to go with them.

I started releasing 1 chapter a month, for free. I'm also writing bonus content, symbiotic to the chapters and including it with artwork.

5 months later...

Not only am I starting to feel confident in my writing, but I'm starting to feel guilty, almost like I'm doing it wrong? Like I should have approached distributing it differently.

I'm curious to hear what your thoughts are on doing it this way. How bad did I screw up? Have I shot myself in the foot?

Given the way the digital world is hybridising approaches all over, trying new distribution set ups is never a bad idea. Yours seems to lean into the fan fiction model, but that in no way invalidates it. (As you do art as well, you might want to look over tumblr fiction/art groups as a possible extra channel.)

Because, in reality, the next Tolkein has already been written, and Stephen King's successor is three books in, but because they have no budget for marketing and no reach, they can't get their seminal works in front of the people who would love them.

There are no invalid methods of getting your stories out there. Just more of them. So keep going.

Just write. Never stop. Have fun.

 

[crkunferman]

I think it is an interesting concept. A new fusion,
Okay you have probably blown it with publishing houses with this particular work as it is already published.

^^^ Most likely to be the source of my guilt.

Very sound and sage advice here! Thank you all for your feedback. I really appreciate it, and I am feeling far more comfortable in what I'm doing thanks to this thread.

 

[Laura R Hepworth]

Nope, absolutely nothing 'wrong' with the method you've gone with. Yes, traditional publishing is less likely to pick of that particular work unless it explodes in popularity, but it's not an impossibility and it doesn't prevent you from approaching them with other projects. Also, even with serializing you still always have the indieauthor route of publishing which many who serialize go with (just keep in mind if you go that route and want to get into Kindle Unlimited that you'll have to pull the serialized version down first).

I also have some stories that I've gone with serializing the chapter drafts of before pulling them all down and releasing the final polished version on Amazon. It can be a very effective route and help get some eyes on your writing for early feedback and hone your skills. It can also help you build a readership. So, no, there is nothing for you to feel guilty about. Just have fun and evaluate later on whether this method is something you want to do again or not.

 

[crkunferman]

Nope, absolutely nothing 'wrong' with the method you've gone with. Yes, traditional publishing is less likely to pick of that particular work unless it explodes in popularity, but it's not an impossibility and it doesn't prevent you from approaching them with other projects. Also, even with serializing you still always have the indieauthor route of publishing which many who serialize go with (just keep in mind if you go that route and want to get into Kindle Unlimited that you'll have to pull the serialized version down first).

I also have some stories that I've gone with serializing the chapter drafts of before pulling them all down and releasing the final polished version on Amazon. It can be a very effective route and help get some eyes on your writing for early feedback and hone your skills. It can also help you build a readership. So, no, there is nothing for you to feel guilty about. Just have fun and evaluate later on whether this method is something you want to do again or not.

I was looking into this and signed up for a creator account. At first I was excited when I saw the option to release serialized episodes. Then the documentation I read slapped me in the face. Something to the effect of "We require that the work is not publicly available, or free to download."

Is it safe to simply pull them all down and go that route or am I already floating down a river towards a waterfall?

 

[Laura R Hepworth]

I was looking into this and signed up for a creator account. At first I was excited when I saw the option to release serialized episodes. Then the documentation I read slapped me in the face. Something to the effect of "We require that the work is not publicly available, or free to download."

Is it safe to simply pull them all down and go that route or am I already floating down a river towards a waterfall?

For KDP Select you mean or is this for Vella? Yeah, it's normally fine to do that. Sometimes, Amazon will make you verify that you have permission to publish it with them if you've previously serialized it, but that doesn't always happen. I just did this and they gave me no issue at all (and it even turned out I still have some chapter drafts posted up on Buy Me a Coffee that I forgot to remove). Pulling the chapters down from your other sites (and this includes Patreon even if they're behind a paywall) is only required for KDP Select though as you're choosing to make the ebook exclusive to Amazon for however long you decide to remain enrolled in the KDP Select program (it's for 3 months at a go, but you can cancel anytime or just choose not to renew it). It's not required to just publish through Amazon though. You'd just opt out of the KDP Select program, in which case, you can have your ebook content anywhere you like including leaving it up on the serial sites (and some do). On occasion, you'll have issues with pirate sites, but this is more likely to be a problem with popular serial fiction. A lot of writers on sites like Royal Road and Wattpad do this all the time going from serialized to publishing on Amazon, some go KDP Select for getting into KU and others just do the regular KDP and do wide publication with the ebook instead.

If Vella, again, you can just pull all the free-to-read chapters from other sites (Vella does allow you to keep them up on other sites if they're behind a paywall) and you'll be fine. Amazon does have rules though for going from Vella to KDP Select and vice versa, but I can't fully remember them right now so make sure to double check them (I think it's that you can go from Vella to KDP and KU, but not the other way around).

I know of a lot of writers that do this. So, no, it's not an issue.