How do you structure your publishment?

[CheertheSecond]

This is just something I want to talk about to compare and exchange knowledge.

Also, I don’t mean how you structure your novel or your story. I mean to ask how you publish your story.

I have seen a lot of structure for publication with prologue, epilogue, extra chapter, half chapter, quasi chapter, or fractional chapter. Technically, I have no deep knowledge about any of those. Thus, I do things my way. Do make comments because I want to know if I am doing things the normal way or not.

In my case, I structure it like this.

My story starts with chapter 1 and end at the last chapter.

There is no half chapter like chapter 1.5 or chapter 2.5. My story will only involve chapters that are denoted in integer. The exception would be when I publish them in two different platform with one platform I publish 2 half chapter per week vs the other with one whole chapter per week.

I don’t use prologue or epilogue since they are not true indicator of a chapter or anything involving the main story.

Those and bonus and extra chapters remain as optional reading materials, and optional materials mean readers should not need to read them to understand what is in the story. It should be just titbits for hardcore fans.

Bonus chapters are for fanservice, and extra chapters are about events that are not important to the story but may provide extra details to the trivia.

 

[RepresentingWrath]

No prologues, no half chapters, yes bonus\side\extra chapters, maybe epilogues.

 

[Representing_Tromba]

I am not quite sure what you're asking for. Though I hope I can help as I am currently working through the steps for self-publication myself and would have loved for someone to have explained it to me beforehand.

 

[Corty]

Prologue (sue me ) with setting up the world where the story will take place. Then normal chapters from then on. Half-numbered chapters are for extra. Usually, if I decide, I include smut. They get their own chapter with a .5 numbering, so people who don't want to read it can entirely skip it, and the story remains coherent all the same.

Labeling extra chapters as that. Extra chapters. Something that is not mandatory to know how the story goes, or it is about some background info or some extra worldbuilding stuff. In my current book, I mostly call them Codex Chapters.

Then there are the normal chapters that sometimes have brackets signifying they are the ending chapters of a volume. The last one of these is also the ending chapter of the whole story.

 

[melchi]

Carefully

 

[Empyrea]

Mostly just regular numbered chapters for me, although I did recently finish my first non-numbered chapter. It's not numbered because it has a different format from my other chapters, mostly being written notes by one of the characters. I could probably number it like normal, but I was feeling bold. Its contents are important to the plot, and not just extra info for die-hard theorists. I'll see how it goes when it hits SH.

 

[proxybaba]

prologue - hinting what to come and where it all began
numbered chapters - the actual content
after every arc, a non-numbered chapter - recap and map update
at the end epilogue - like Marvel end credits since I'm not finished with the story

 

[Iamnotabot]

I can't say anything since i didn't even finish my story.

 

[Sebas_Guzman]

It kind of depends on which novel series I'm working on.
My baseline structure for all of them is the one below. When I say baseline, I mean this is what all of them will have
Thank you Note-> Chapter-> Epilogue 1 and 2->Afterword

Series 1 will typically have Intermission Chapters because series one tends to have books that are over 120K words. Then there will be chapters titled Battle, so you get Battle 01, Battle 02, and I only do that so readers know we're moving in different parts of a battlefield.

Series 2 so far has the only .5 chapter. And I did that just because it was short and weird to make it its own chapter.

Series 3 and 4 have shorter books, so I don't feel the need to do anything amazing

 

[RepresentingCaution]

I daydream about writing while my kid is sucking on my nipples. When Grandma and Grandpa are watching him, I go to my office and stare longingly at my notebooks for a few seconds before I start editing the manuscript I couldn't resist signing a contract for because the author was inspired by my fanfic. Then, when I meet my editing goal or I get too exhausted to work on it, I browse for toys online until I find a deal I can't resist. If I've completed an order recently, I read articles on parenting or look up fun activities for toddlers on Youtube, daydreaming about the day when he'll stop grabbing my pencil out of my hand every time he sees me trying to write.

 

[Rezcore]

I like to add an introduction. I don't do prologues, though technically my current story SoL is a prequel to a 8 story saga spanning 2 world's and 8 MCs

 

[Deleted member 54065]

Prologues > Main Chapters > Side Chapters (If Applicable) > Interlude (If Applicable) > Epilogue

Usually, my side chapters are events in the story that are important, but less important than the events written in the main chapters. I use interludes in some of my volumes to mark 'sub-arcs'/transitions in the story.

I still have 'extra chapters' though it's for filling up my target chapter count per arc, like for the first, second and third arcs, each with a hundred parts.

 

[ArchlordZero]

Nowadays, I make my 1st chapter my prologue/foreword/some author's notes. I still number them in order regardless of main/side/extra chapters because I often get confused when publishing my works on other sites. Sometimes, my novels on RR or Webnovel need to catch up with my Scribblehub and Wattpad chapters, and it helps me keep track of things without memorizing anything :3

 

[Ilikewaterkusa]

This is just something I want to talk about to compare and exchange knowledge.

Also, I don’t mean how you structure your novel or your story. I mean to ask how you publish your story.

I have seen a lot of structure for publication with prologue, epilogue, extra chapter, half chapter, quasi chapter, or fractional chapter. Technically, I have no deep knowledge about any of those. Thus, I do things my way. Do make comments because I want to know if I am doing things the normal way or not.

In my case, I structure it like this.

My story starts with chapter 1 and end at the last chapter.

There is no half chapter like chapter 1.5 or chapter 2.5. My story will only involve chapters that are denoted in integer. The exception would be when I publish them in two different platform with one platform I publish 2 half chapter per week vs the other with one whole chapter per week.

I don’t use prologue or epilogue since they are not true indicator of a chapter or anything involving the main story.

Those and bonus and extra chapters remain as optional reading materials, and optional materials mean readers should not need to read them to understand what is in the story. It should be just titbits for hardcore fans.

Bonus chapters are for fanservice, and extra chapters are about events that are not important to the story but may provide extra details to the trivia.

Foreword. 15 thousand words. repeat

 

[Gibbs505]

I misread the question, I thought the question was about punishment!!

In which case, I consider the usual is apporpriate, you know: stocks, whipes etc!!

 

[BlackKnightX]

You have to understand that web novels are usually serials. They're not the same as regular stand-alone or series in the book form.

You don't have to worry about it too much. You are free to do whatever you want here, but if I have a say in this, then I'd advice you to always keep it simple.

No prologue, no epilogue, no bonus chapter. Just keep it simple (chapter 1, chapter 2, chapter 3, and so on...).

 

[ThrillingHuman]

In which case, I consider the usual is apporpriate, you know: stocks, whipes etc!!

you force people to buy stocks for cleaning whipe manufacturing companies? You monster.

 

[Akaichi]

Just number them.... And add a not very spoilery chapter title, they are helpful a lot snd are a usfull hook!.
the first thing i do when i search for s novel to read is to check the titles for the first few chapters... i usually skip novels without that.... but that's my prefrence.

 

[Gibbs505]

you force people to buy stocks for cleaning whipe manufacturing companies? You monster.

Well, everyone has their on pervese way of getting kicks you know!

 

[Tenebram]

I always write a prologue first that's usually from a different POV than the rest of the book. Of course, there's also some exposition in the prologue to set the tone.

After that, it's just Chapter 1, Chapter 2,...