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Hey Phoenix –
It’s really hard finding audiences for prose vs. webcomics. If I had to do it over, I would have started my serial on wordpress.com before moving it to my own site (using wordpress.org) because there are readers lurking out at wordpress.com .
But that said — when I started serializing I used Project Wonderful ads on specific sites that I thought had readers who would probably like my stories. (I looked for sites that featured “serials,” “fiction,” and “fantasy.” )
I also posted my story on Wattpad as I thought it was worth trying.
There’s really little cross-over between my website and Wattpad. (I sometimes catch traffic from people coming from my profile in Wattpad but it’s very rare.)
If you have an active fanfiction account you might also link your profile to your work. I haven’t been active in maybe seven years or more but I still get people who click over to my new site from there and my fanworks.
If you have enough installments posted, consider getting listed at Muses Success and Webfiction Guide. It may take weeks to months to get listed though — those directories are all run by volunteers. You may also think about Tuesdayserial.com . (My list of webfic sites is here: http://theonlinenovel.wordpress.com/where-to-read-or-list-serials/)
Ah, yeah, I’m a music-nerd too so I really enjoy this so far… aside from Nodame, I was reminded of Victorian Romance Emma. Mostly just the attention to interactions between people and the particular attention to the music.
Speaking of music comics, I actually really would like to see someone take on a slice of life marching band/concert band based comic. Band was such a drama-fest… far more crazy than orchestra from what I recall of my music days :)
ahh, sorry — yes Chihayafuru seasons 1 and 2 are on Crunchyroll. Series is still going on via manga and Kodansha ignores all my tweeting campaigns about bringing it over. It’s too bad — I’m bummed that I can’t get either the manga or a legit dvd for the series :/
I finally finished Norrell and Strange — a very ODD sort of Victorian fantasy. It starts off really slowly but eventually I found myself unable to stop reading it!
What else? Watching Nobohiro the Fool (because I like Kawamori’s trolling), Mushishi (new series), and an anime about a magical high school (whose name I forgot).
:3 Goblinmaiden: Is that Okita Souji in your avatar? Nothing further needs to be said. I’m a Meiji era otaku.
I hope this isn’t too much of an intrusion. I wasn’t quite sure whether it was okay to chime in.
This month I saw two serials (with angsty, female protagonists with hero-like powers) ground themselves at the 50-70k word mark. The two authors stated in their announcements of either a hiatus or abrupt ending that they probably didn’t have a clear enough direction (or outcome) from the start.
In light of that, several months planning is not a very long time if it gives you a path to follow and helps you avoid writing yourself into a corner.
Regarding info-dumping, I’ve hung around fantasy writing boards for a while and have received this general advice. (I’ve paraphrased it from memory.)
* An interesting world can never make up for a lack of engaging characters.
* Avoid clumps of info and try to avoid it coming all at once. Give sips, not huge drinks.
* If you don’t need to give it now, consider not including it. What you find interesting might be boring to others.
* If you want to make it more palatable, consider having it come out through a character filter as opposed to directly from the author. For example, you might say “He needed to wear the hat against the poisonous radiation from the sun.” THis is better than me the omniscient narrator explaining that the atmosphere had evaporated and the sun’s radiation directly hit the earth.On the other hand, I think if you genuinely enjoy your worldbuilding and find some element of it exciting or intriguing, your excitement translates through your words to your readers. You can make it work!
Okay, ninja-ing back out now :o
I’m trying to decide what is a suitable end for August. The man who plays with his toys… is it enough to deny him his toys? (Or have the toys rise against him?)
Or would it be better to turn the trap against him.
So far this thread has been pretty revealing as to the most popular couple ;)
Nice narrative voice. The writer has a style that lends itself to being read aloud. I rather like that there is something a nit manipulative about Toivo… Not much else to say except that this one interests me!
Nah – don’t mind whatever you guys decide to do. But to those who have yet to post… hint: BISHOUNENssssss
Rose needs an Eigen :)
Had to catch up via transcript so I could be ready for the next installment but all I could think is that the AI is partially responsible for the dead body.
I mean… why do people always assume the computer is somehow neutral? One of the classic sci-fi tropes is technology turning against humankind. However, in this case, it’s quite possible that PErsephone simply planted a concern or seed of doubt in someone’s head.
The aggression detection thing really set off a few flags for me. It almost sounds like a means of controlling the crew and/or a possible justification for extermination/putting someone forcibly to sleep.
Catching Fire for the book fans probably was a tough movie (as things changed) but compared to the adaptation of the Hobbit for its second round, I thought it was still an entertaining film. (I really did not like the Hobbit as an adaptation as it felt just padded with randomly movie-type things that seemed more theme park oriented and toy-oriented than anything.)
Admittedly my reading has dropped a lot. I find it hard to commit to books when writing one. I tend to go for things that I can watch quickly or read in one short sitting more as a reward/distraction . And I definitely avoid a lot of fandom activities related to these things because fandom takes time and while it may be rewarding to get a bump of viewers/watchers/followers from those efforts, I can’t keep up with the pace that fandom likes (i.e., almost daily posting).
This year I actually spent a lot of time looking at anime again. Aside from faithfully watching Space Brothers, I obsessed over Chihayafuru (looooove this) and enjoyed watching a bunch of different kinds of anime that were missing the past few years. This includes suspense/noir type shows like Psychopass and Blast of Tempest. That said, I still like slice of life shows (e.g., Non Non Biyori) and vaguely weird mystical shows like Natsume Yujincho, Gingitsune, and Kyousougiga.
TV-wise, I caught up with BBC Sherlock and binged watched Doctor Who, Elementary , and that was pretty much it. I was tempted to watch Downtown Abbey but after hearing how they dealt with the departure of one of the guy characters, decided the writing would piss me off and watch parodies on SNL instead xD.
Gaming: Oh, tried to do the FInal Fantasy thing but knowing the horrible endings I would face, have avoided completing XIII-2. Really am nervous about XIII-3 because it sounds like it’s undone everything in terms of characterization so far of 2 ;_;
Comics: While there’s less manga I”m reading (barely skimming Shonen Jump), I still collect Blue Exorcist, Yotsuba, and Skip Beat. But this year I went hardcore on Tezuka thanks to all the lovely Kickstarters spurring an interest on my part in reading Tezuka. I love his stuff! HE’s so into different genres and he’s just FUNNY (in a weird Asian way) to me. Restarted Marvel X-men comics and then quit in disgust after they all got derailed by a poorly written book-wide event.
Other books: I collected way too many anime art books this year. IT’s embarrassing and vexing since my shelves are now busting with oversized books. The weird thing is that sometimes I don’t even really know what it is. For example I picked up Hakuoki Urakata stuff because I still maintain a website for Bakamatsu related stuff(http://red-bird.org/meiji2/anime/), some Uta no Prince-sama stuff, and several too many issues of PASH!
I just played one otome game as an Android app. I love the entire concept of otome games but because most are on PSPs, have never touched them until they appeared on the smartphone/Tablet market. I can’t recall what it was, but I think it was a VOltage game about arranged marriage. It was really too slow for me (i.e., I wanted to play it in speed mode) so I couldn’t quite muster enthusiasm to continue with all the various storylines.
I still want to do my own someday with an alternate universe drawn from my original works… I’m interested to see how the shifty look folks handle it.
I think any sort of link/ visual to the activity on the board would benefit the board. I get what you’re saying Nonane — that’s how I think boing boing handles comments now– so with the unhide/hide there is a way of keeping a clean look and yet letting people see something is up.
and Lianne -that’s fine. I didn’t realize you were still solo on the editing. whatever /whoever is interested I can also work with by setting up interview questions if that’s easier for then to sort through
The blog audience is primarily aspiring authors. To that degree, most already understand that writing a serial is masochistic :)
I think the one perspective missing so far from the blog would be an editor. (If that weren’t possible — someone who completed navigating their way through the submissions process and got to an approved concept. )
The editor — I believe — is where Chromatic is different from some of the other serialized content players.
Jukepop serials doesn’t do any editing. It’s “you’re in on the basis of your sample chapters” and nothing happens beyond that.
Wattpad = no , no editing.
Amazon – yes, Kindle Serials does throw you into a partnership with an editor but their pace is punishing. (You are supposed to update twice a month with the editor involved in this process. )
(Skipping more minor players but there are several…)Other ideas:
Talk about experience/ philosophy about paywalls and such. These are not common in serial prose circles.
Challenges in selling the serial vs. webcomics. (Like if you talked about engagement and feedback and hits of one medium vs. another. That too always interests people.)Or talking about how it’s been curating a host of content /serials. Very few authors have ever aspired to go “collective.” (THere’s only one I know of operating right now in some kind of magazine form, “Chimerical Tales.”)
Or one of your team could just come in and talk about the short prose submissions and what you’ve learned so far the past few months too :).
MOre or less I’ve just had a lot of Jukepop folks all over the blog and I’d like to hear other voices once in a while .
NoNane: You reminded me of two places that I think always did a good job of linking updates to the forums– CBR (comic book resources/reviews) and the old AnimeNewsNetwork.com page. Example — see review post and bottom link to “Comments” aka the specific forum thread? http://www.comicbookresources.com/?page=user_review&id=6728
And for an example of an integrated forum/social login — see http://www.momocon.com/wp-login.php?action=register . That still allows you to watch commentors but with that option makes it easier for community members to get in/out of a forum .
…
As for the author community — I’m not quite sure exactly how to nail down serial writers. There’s some that manage to find Goodreads (there is one group there) and some end up at Webfiction Guide . The paths between don’t intersect very much but certainly there are far more authors at Goodreads than other places I frequent.
Would any of the creative (prose) folks wish to guest blog or something at online-novel.com about what you are hoping to find? While I don’t usually like flat out commercial posts, I’m open to smart content that provides some insight into your challenges (as you look through the slush pile) and obvious links to what you’re working on. If yes, let me know and I’ll set up a guest account for drafting of a post. Usually my only edits are to suggest things like social network links or clarify things I don’t quite get. (CA Sanders probably handles it best — see http://theonlinenovel.wordpress.com/author/craigasanders/ ) Let me know!
