New writer, how does anyone get readers here?

[Corty]

I usually ransomware infect through spam emails and then force people to make an account here and read my stories to get their files back.

 

[Eldoria]

Hm.....i guess you didnt see a good enough prologue. Or a prologue that isnt obvious enough to scream in the face of readers "I AM A PROLOGUE TO INTRODUCE DETAILS BEFORE THE MAIN STORY START ! AND IM TOTALLY DIFFERENT THAN THE MAIN STORY !".
(btw not criticizing you nor mocking, just caps for importance and how obvious it should be. Also now i think about it, its true that nowadays i didnt see a lot of prologues like that)


Basically imagine this. Its a story about a policeman or killer. (dont criticize i will totally invent/plagiarize this on the spot and i sucks)

Prologue or ch0 if you prefer, you get the pov of a man running away, sweating, saying : if i cant escape i will die ! he will kill me !
his leg is pierced by multiple thrown daggers
he sees a shadow approach
eyes dilate seeing it
dies before he can says anything
the mysterious man say : target eliminated.
and goes away.
While the dead man eyes reflect the face of its killer, a person with a mole under its eyes.


Ch1
Police department.
Hello chief ! said a bunch of people as XXXXX walked through the corridors of the police station.
Handsome as ever chief! said a woman seeing XXXXX pass by, while smiling at him. Looking at its charming face. Beautiful eyes and one mole under one of them.
XXXX smiling sunnily replies : You too #####. Still as beautiful as ever.
and continue walking to his office.

I've read prologues with 4K words that provide info dumps that new readers don't even understand why they should 'care'? Or conversely, short prologues that only provide a glimpse of the scene (usually an epic battle).

Well, people are free to make any kind of prologue, but again. If the prologue can't hook the readers to 'continue reading', then it's not a good prologue.

I personally use the prologue as a moral premise for each arc that will be the gateway to the arc's main conflict. I don't know if it can really provide a hook for new readers. But then again, if they are not interested in reading the main conflict offered by the arc, then they are not the market segment. On the other hand, if they are interested, then they are the market segment. After all, the best a story can offer is how the conflict will be presented to the readers. imho

 

[CharlesEBrown]

I usually ransomware infect through spam emails and then force people to make an account here and read my stories to get their files back.

Your post moved me - I could visualize someone using ransomware to infect other computers. I think we could work together to great a great manga. Instant message me on my MySpace account if you'd like to hear more.

 

[Enkiari]

I don't understand why people differentiate between prologue and chapter 1? For me, prologue is chapter 1. Prologue is not just a promotional tool, but in my view, prologue is a moral premise that represents an arc. If a novel (series) is divided into several arcs, then each arc has its own moral premise explained in the prologue. So what's the difference with the synopsis? The synopsis becomes the moral premise for the entire series. While the prologue only represents the moral premise of the arc. This is my view and I don't know other people's views.

Its the format.
Web novels are not classical books where somone has already taken time/money to get it and thus, has investment to give it a proper try.
People online have no such investment.
They will click on a story, see whats there and if you dont capture them right away, they will click away. Or just skip prologue to get to the 'actual' story.
And most prologues I have seen does nothing for the story.

 

[QuillandGraphite]

So I posted my story, its game of thrones with fantastical elements of lord of the rings. I think it’s quite good, and would love to have a few readers to check it out… how do I go about that?

I'm new here too. I believe if one posts regularly, writes interesting content, has a compelling cover and blurb, and most importantly, does not leave unfinished stories, one can get a good number of readers. After all, what really matters is not the number of read we get but how much we are satisfied by our own writing, and how much pleasure it brings to us.

 

[GabbySullivaan]

Hey! New writer here. Just wondering how many words does one chapter typically have?

 

[JayMark]

Hey! New writer here. Just wondering how many words does one chapter typically have?

1,000 to 4,000. I find around 2k words tends to be the sweet spot. I write sparsly and edit my chapters harshly so my average is 1.6k words.

 

[Corty]

Hey! New writer here. Just wondering how many words does one chapter typically have?

Aim for 1500 at a minimum. 2k if you can.

 

[GabbySullivaan]

1,000 to 4,000. I find around 2k words tends to be the sweet spot. I write sparsly and edit my chapters harshly so my average is 1.6k words.

Okay! Thank you!

Aim for 1500 at a minimum. 2k if you can.

Great! Thanks so much!

 

[Eldoria]

Hey! New writer here. Just wondering how many words does one chapter typically have?

It depends on how you define chapter 1. If it's a prologue (as I consider it): 600 words - 1,500 words is my recommended amount. Don't write 4,000 words; new readers rarely can endure a prologue that long for a new novel. For comparison, a normal chapter is recommended to have at least 1,500 words on various platforms.

 

[LuoirM]

(In regards to the conversation about why Prologue even matters)

Do you know that meme about author wanting to write a scene they have imagined in their head but the obstacle's the fact that they have to write an entire story to get to that scene?

For my story personally, I used the prologue to write out that scene I have in mind first, here:

Then, only in the next chapter do I start from the beginning as every novel does, and at chapter 4 I'm back at that scene, changing the word choice a bit and voala.

 

[DireBadger]

my chapters tend to run from 3000-7000 words, but that's too long so I split them at natural breaks for scribblehub, usually between 600-2000 words. Unlike RR, this place isn't choked with ads, so people are usually fine with reading 2-3 chapters a day instead of 1

 

[Pausting]

I asked the same thing. If you click in and out of your works to 'check' on them, it can be counted as a view as well. There is an algorithm of sorts, like 30 second of viewing a page to get the view, or something like that.

for the OP;

Just write. Viewers will slowly come, as long as what you write is interesting to them anyways.

Thank you so much for the answer!

 

[V8485]

This may sound foolish, but I always believe if you write what you want to see, then people will read it. Maybe not many but if it's just one person reading, and enjoying it, then I'm happy.

As I said, just a foolish man's belief.

 

[HisDivineShadow]

i dont

 

[Sylver]

I've read prologues with 4K words that provide info dumps that new readers don't even understand why they should 'care'? Or conversely, short prologues that only provide a glimpse of the scene (usually an epic battle).

Well, people are free to make any kind of prologue, but again. If the prologue can't hook the readers to 'continue reading', then it's not a good prologue.

I personally use the prologue as a moral premise for each arc that will be the gateway to the arc's main conflict. I don't know if it can really provide a hook for new readers. But then again, if they are not interested in reading the main conflict offered by the arc, then they are not the market segment. On the other hand, if they are interested, then they are the market segment. After all, the best a story can offer is how the conflict will be presented to the readers. imho

Interesting perspective ?

My prologue is very out of the ordinary, taking a first person perspective of a mystery character, The Reader, entering a library and being pitched a fantasy romance story by the Librarian. The Library is full of Monster Girl stories, and each book narrates the adventures and challenges each monster girl has faced. She offers him a beginners story about a Cat Girl suffering memory loss and her developing relationship with a young peasant that takes her under his care, and that's when the real story begins.

It's a bold take because this chapter only receives continuation as the Epilogue once the main story concludes. I have an ambitious idea of an overarching narrative that unfolds with every sequel of my story series, as more is revealed about The Reader and their purpose behind exploring these stories.

But my readers won't know any of that, so for now it stands as an odd prologue that sticks out from the rest of the story.

I guess I wanted to share this to know your thoughts and perspective. Because after reading your comments, it made me realize how vital a Prologue is to attract new readers, and thinking it hurt my chances of gaining traction.

 

[Eldoria]

Interesting perspective ?

My prologue is very out of the ordinary, taking a first person perspective of a mystery character, The Reader, entering a library and being pitched a fantasy romance story by the Librarian. The Library is full of Monster Girl stories, and each book narrates the adventures and challenges each monster girl has faced. She offers him a beginners story about a Cat Girl suffering memory loss and her developing relationship with a young peasant that takes her under his care, and that's when the real story begins.

It's a bold take because this chapter only receives continuation as the Epilogue once the main story concludes. I have an ambitious idea of an overarching narrative that unfolds with every sequel of my story series, as more is revealed about The Reader and their purpose behind exploring these stories.

But my readers won't know any of that, so for now it stands as an odd prologue that sticks out from the rest of the story.

I guess I wanted to share this to know your thoughts and perspective. Because after reading your comments, it made me realize how vital a Prologue is to attract new readers, and thinking it hurt my chances of gaining traction.

Your prologue seems more like a gimmick than a moral premise. A gimmick packaged as an interaction between the reader and the narrative, exploring a glimpse of the story's mystery. I've never written a prologue that uses a mystery gimmick before, so I can't comment further on whether your prologue has a strong hook for new readers.

 

[ak47_1511]

You can add pictures to engage ?
my work

---

Spoiler

Kalki: The Ashes

Worlds split. Realms bleed. And through it all flows Prāṇna - the breath of life-the last thread holding existence together. Only the rarest warriors can master it, soul-forging weapons with focus so absolute that a whisper of doubt shatters it. Each strike carves a piece of their life. Here...

www.scribblehub.com

 

[DaydreamingScribe]

Lol, literally came to the forum to ask this. I've just been posting without putting effort into marketing. I thought it would be kinda dead, maybe one day a few people would read it. But it's been doing far better than I expected.

 

[FRWriter]

So I posted my story, its game of thrones with fantastical elements of lord of the rings. I think it’s quite good, and would love to have a few readers to check it out… how do I go about that?

You didn't select any fandoms for your story. That's probably one thing that will immediately get you 5x-10x your current readers.