So, wait - are you:
1. Running the panel and asking what to ask the attendees -- or --
2. Polling the forum for how we would answer these -- or --
3. Asking us how YOU should answer these?
if #1 then I'm not sure that "noveling" is a word (and it probably would have a double ell - "novelling" if it were but... maybe you're creating a new word here and, as its creator, you get to choose the spelling). There are two facets to writing for the web - writing a novel (finite length fictional story) or writing serial fiction (which has story arcs with end points and may even have an overall conclusion, but the goal is to keep going as long as possible; some end up well over a thousand chapters in length!). Both are "webnovels" though very different beasts.
If #2 ... well, would need more details.
If #3 ... you really should know the answers already!
How do you want to be identified in the panel:
Corty
Your writing experience:
I have been writing since the mid-2000s, but life happened, and I only got back to it in 2020. As a non-English speaker, it was my first time doing it outside of my native tongue. I have been writing every day since then, and I mean every day.
A realm populated by mortals, where demigods and gods were beings of fables and legends only. This peaceful and mundane world experiences an irreversible change that gives rise to not just cultivators but brands of new lifeforms. Demons rise up as animals transform and gain intelligence, and the...
The Realm of Meriath. A world populated by four species: Humans, Beast Folk, Beasts, and the Undead. Four thousand years ago, the world almost ended as the intelligent species of Meriath knew it. They were on the verge of being overrun by the Undead hordes. It was only averted thanks...
Leon was a robotics engineer with a bright future, until he was run over by a military truck and killed on the spot. But death wasn’t the end. Thanks to a cosmic glitch and to an idiot, Leon wakes up in a new world, reincarnated as the son of...
Carried away by a raging river, Elian was sure he would die. Yet Death decided it was not his time, and when he reopened his eyes, an unfamiliar blue sky greeted him, and a little fluffy creature who was calling him a Hero. Maybe he did die. Perhaps it was...
Humanity was close to conquering the Galaxy at the peak of its power. All the other species were either absorbed into the fold, becoming citizens of the Hegemony of Men or were pushed towards the edges of yet-to-be-explored parts of the Milky Way. But everything has its end... and the...
When the First Wizarding War ended, and Lord Voldemort chased out Dumbledore from Hogwarts, he became the undisputed leader of the Wizarding World, cementing his rule as the new Minister of Magic. Yet everyone in power knew the war was far from over; it was now waged behind closed curtains...
Fifty years after the Battle of Yavin, the galaxy finds itself in a fragile state of recovery. Scarred by the Yuuzhan Vong War and Darth Caedus’s reign, countless worlds and individuals struggle to rebuild from decades of devastation. Amid the fractured alliances of the reformed New Republic...
There is a place between realms where an unusual duo of master and disciple lives, running their family operation. Their services are not for the regular people but for gods and transcendent beings, 'fixing' problems in the aftermath of great battles within their realms. Their latest tip from a...
Auriel spent his entire life playing by the rules. He worked hard, helped others, and believed in the power of the law. The world repaid him with betrayal, exploitation, and, ultimately, with a pitiful death. But fate had other plans. Just as one life ended, another immediately began. He was...
www.scribblehub.com
Look, some of them have 18+ stuff, but they are not focusing on it. 18+ stuff includes swearing and gore, too. Anyway, they are story-focused, not sex focused. If you are afraid, take the first two as examples.
Preferred site to post on:
ScribbleHub
Advice for new writers:
Don't expect success from the start. It doesn't come easy, nor does it come instantly. You must put in great effort, and even then, it is not guaranteed because you need a bit of luck to make it, too. The best advice I can give is to keep up a consistency. Sit down and write every day. I built my following because I did so, and I posted every day. Sooner or later, if readers see your book pop up all the time, they will click on it to check it out.
Advice for traditional writers moving to web noveling:
Think in chapters. Web novel is all about chapter-to-chapter interaction. To have a good chapter and make it so the people come back for the next one to see how the story plays out.
Advice for those looking to monetize their novels:
Build up a following first. It took me about 3 years to build up a following large enough to start a Patreon and try to monetize my work. Don't sign any contract willy-nilly if you care about your stories. I have been poached by Webnovel twice; their contract would have taken over my IP completely, giving them everything I built up. So, if you value your stories, always read your contracts. Otherwise, the only thing that can bring people over to Patreon is advanced chapters. That is a must.
The biggest pit falls you’ve experienced:
Chasing trends without thinking it through. Yes, following trendy stories can help you get discovered sooner. But if you get into a story without having an idea what end you want for your story, you won't have a good time. Always have an idea for an end for your books. Because if readers check your profile and they see a bunch of abandoned books, nobody will waste time on you. Time is more precious than money... and that can't be refunded.
What are you currently working on/ advertise your platform:
I currently work on five different books at once, publishing about 12 to 14 chapters collectively per week. I am active on SH and I write different genres, mostly original books, creating my own fantasy universe with overlapping storylines.
Anything else you’d like to add:
Writing is hard. And it won't be easy. Nothing is. If you are in it for the money, don't. You better not even start, because then, you are destined to fail.
So, wait - are you:
1. Running the panel and asking what to ask the attendees -- or --
2. Polling the forum for how we would answer these -- or --
3. Asking us how YOU should answer these?
if #1 then I'm not sure that "noveling" is a word (and it probably would have a double ell - "novelling" if it were but... maybe you're creating a new word here and, as its creator, you get to choose the spelling). There are two facets to writing for the web - writing a novel (finite length fictional story) or writing serial fiction (which has story arcs with end points and may even have an overall conclusion, but the goal is to keep going as long as possible; some end up well over a thousand chapters in length!). Both are "webnovels" though very different beasts.
If #2 ... well, would need more details.
If #3 ... you really should know the answers already!
Good question! The focus of the panel is to introduce people interested in writing to writing online. I will be writing the panel based on my experience. Starting with what web novels are and what to expect. Moving on to good writing practices and pit falls to watch out for with a focus on the uniqueness of writing on line. Finishing with different ways to monetize.
I will use the answers given here to show consenting and dissenting opinions through out my panel provided by other authors. Then give the links to the authors who participate out to those who attend as a thanks for helping with the panel.
How do you want to be identified in the panel:
Corty
Your writing experience:
I have been writing since the mid-2000s, but life happened, and I only got back to it in 2020. As a non-English speaker, it was my first time doing it outside of my native tongue. I have been writing every day since then, and I mean every day.
A realm populated by mortals, where demigods and gods were beings of fables and legends only. This peaceful and mundane world experiences an irreversible change that gives rise to not just cultivators but brands of new lifeforms. Demons rise up as animals transform and gain intelligence, and the...
The Realm of Meriath. A world populated by four species: Humans, Beast Folk, Beasts, and the Undead. Four thousand years ago, the world almost ended as the intelligent species of Meriath knew it. They were on the verge of being overrun by the Undead hordes. It was only averted thanks...
Leon was a robotics engineer with a bright future, until he was run over by a military truck and killed on the spot. But death wasn’t the end. Thanks to a cosmic glitch and to an idiot, Leon wakes up in a new world, reincarnated as the son of...
Carried away by a raging river, Elian was sure he would die. Yet Death decided it was not his time, and when he reopened his eyes, an unfamiliar blue sky greeted him, and a little fluffy creature who was calling him a Hero. Maybe he did die. Perhaps it was...
Humanity was close to conquering the Galaxy at the peak of its power. All the other species were either absorbed into the fold, becoming citizens of the Hegemony of Men or were pushed towards the edges of yet-to-be-explored parts of the Milky Way. But everything has its end... and the...
When the First Wizarding War ended, and Lord Voldemort chased out Dumbledore from Hogwarts, he became the undisputed leader of the Wizarding World, cementing his rule as the new Minister of Magic. Yet everyone in power knew the war was far from over; it was now waged behind closed curtains...
Fifty years after the Battle of Yavin, the galaxy finds itself in a fragile state of recovery. Scarred by the Yuuzhan Vong War and Darth Caedus’s reign, countless worlds and individuals struggle to rebuild from decades of devastation. Amid the fractured alliances of the reformed New Republic...
There is a place between realms where an unusual duo of master and disciple lives, running their family operation. Their services are not for the regular people but for gods and transcendent beings, 'fixing' problems in the aftermath of great battles within their realms. Their latest tip from a...
Auriel spent his entire life playing by the rules. He worked hard, helped others, and believed in the power of the law. The world repaid him with betrayal, exploitation, and, ultimately, with a pitiful death. But fate had other plans. Just as one life ended, another immediately began. He was...
www.scribblehub.com
Look, some of them have 18+ stuff, but they are not focusing on it. 18+ stuff includes swearing and gore, too. Anyway, they are story-focused, not sex focused. If you are afraid, take the first two as examples.
Preferred site to post on:
ScribbleHub
Advice for new writers:
Don't expect success from the start. It doesn't come easy, nor does it come instantly. You must put in great effort, and even then, it is not guaranteed because you need a bit of luck to make it, too. The best advice I can give is to keep up a consistency. Sit down and write every day. I built my following because I did so, and I posted every day. Sooner or later, if readers see your book pop up all the time, they will click on it to check it out.
Advice for traditional writers moving to web noveling:
Think in chapters. Web novel is all about chapter-to-chapter interaction. To have a good chapter and make it so the people come back for the next one to see how the story plays out.
Advice for those looking to monetize their novels:
Build up a following first. It took me about 3 years to build up a following large enough to start a Patreon and try to monetize my work. Don't sign any contract willy-nilly if you care about your stories. I have been poached by Webnovel twice; their contract would have taken over my IP completely, giving them everything I built up. So, if you value your stories, always read your contracts. Otherwise, the only thing that can bring people over to Patreon is advanced chapters. That is a must.
The biggest pit falls you’ve experienced:
Chasing trends without thinking it through. Yes, following trendy stories can help you get discovered sooner. But if you get into a story without having an idea what end you want for your story, you won't have a good time. Always have an idea for an end for your books. Because if readers check your profile and they see a bunch of abandoned books, nobody will waste time on you. Time is more precious than money... and that can't be refunded.
What are you currently working on/ advertise your platform:
I currently work on five different books at once, publishing about 12 to 14 chapters collectively per week. I am active on SH and I write different genres, mostly original books, creating my own fantasy universe with overlapping storylines.
Anything else you’d like to add:
Writing is hard. And it won't be easy. Nothing is. If you are in it for the money, don't. You better not even start, because then, you are destined to fail.
Thanks, I have no problem with 18+ content. Just that the panel is not 18+. I personally only consider erotic material to be 18+ but I suppose you're right that gore is often rated that way in movies. On a quick glance they are probably fine. Thanks for the response!
If you are aiming to be a traditionally published professional author, your career usually starts by submitting your manuscript to the publisher and undergoing the editorial review process, which should determine if your novel is worth the effort, what to change, what to keep, and more importantly, what the publisher thinks it would make them money.
In 99.9% cases, the editor just throws your novel into the bin literally after reading the first sentence.
Once you pass, however, the handling it further would be in the hands of the publisher, which would prefer to handle the public relation to you and your book...
Ultimately, as the traditionally published writer, it's up to you to please the publisher. They have certain experience what sells and if you pass their review process, they believe you would sell. Selling, however, is up to them. Once you deliver them the novel they (the publisher) want, it's over for you...
...but in case of being the web novel, there is no publisher and thus, no reviewing process.
Anyone could start publishing because you just post stuff on the Internet, bar of entry is low, but there are also no rules.
You would handle the angry crowd of the readers yourself and they would see that is basically your first, or second draft. There is no one between you and the audience, there is no one handling the marketing or public relation, it's just you, and them. And they cannot be reasoned with (like all the angry crowds)
If your aim is to try the waters, consider carefully where do you post, because if you are a web novel author, and it doesn't matter if it makes you money or you just do it as your hobby, your audience is everything. If you pick the wrong crowd, they will stomp over you (like all angry crowds).
So, if you are starting, pick whichever site has friendlier people.
It would be the first draft phase for you, and you couldn't expect to be a miracle writer from the start, so, well...
How do you want to be identified in the panel:
Envylope
Your writing experience:
A cumulative of at least 5 years.
List of novels: (please no 18+ novels)
Overpowered Witch Reincarnation
Reincarnated as a Vampire Princess
Preferred site to post on:
Scribble Hub
Advice for new writers:
Be very careful with receiving writing advice. Every advice you receive requires you to understand the principles behind them. Basically, use your critical thinking cap to any information you receive.
Don't start trying to learn detailed information without understanding fundamental concepts. It's just like learning chess. You don't learn a ton of openings, you learn opening principles. The principles allow you to understand the process, which is more important than learning the rules themselves.
Advice for traditional writers moving to web noveling:
Web novels are much faster paced, and in order to keep readers, you must maintain their attention from chapter to chapter. In some ways, writing web novels can be more challenging. To maintain a good readerbase, you should write often and release often, while maintaining a level of entertainment.
Advice for those looking to monetize their novels:
If you want to monetize your novel, you will likely have to compromise with readers and meet them halfway. It's one of the fundamental things of any artistic profession, if people don't like your style, they won't pay. Find the readers for the genre you want to write, and deliver them something that is good for you and them.
The biggest pit falls you’ve experienced:
Don't try to maintain a level of impossible quality if you're web noveling. It's much easier to do this in traditional novels when you have time, but you don't have the time to be a perfectionist as a web novelist.
What are you currently working on/ advertise your platform:
I'm working on a blogging site and hoping to make it good for hosting my novels too. I'm using wordpress, and the site is: https://envychan.blog/
Anything else you’d like to add:
Don't take criticism from people too personally and try to recognize if it's helpful or pointless.
Henry Rider: Clown Hunter
Henry Rider and the NuYu Prescription
Skinwalkers
Skinwalkers: Distant Thunder
Juryokine
Juryokine: Exile of Heroes
The Gray Ranger: Unforgiven
The Slayer and the Sphinx
The Protector and the Peacemaker
Staying Human
Amber Silverblood
Amber Silverblood: Silverpack
Amber Silverblood: Rogue Wolf
Don't post or publish your first book. You might be (and should be) proud of it, but it's nowhere near as good as you think it is. Keep writing, and when you come back to it four or five years from now, you'll be glad you never showed it to anyone.
Finish writing the entire book before you start uploading it. It'll take longer to get it out there, but at least you won't have to scramble to write new chapters when your buffer starts to run out.
I'm currently writing the third book in my Henry Rider series, working on a huge and awesome new project I'm hoping to release mid to late 2026, and I'm coauthoring the latest book in the epic Last Fables series!
If you like writing, keep doing it. If you want to write, you'll give up other things to write. You'll give up time to keep improving, study, and do whatever it takes. Put work and effort behind your ideas to make them uniquely yours. Learn to feast on hard work, sacrifice, minimal rewards, and dissapointment. Don't give up if you are passionate about writing and your health and schedule can sustain you.
I just got here myself. It's great to be able to go directly to the audience. Let's face it, new fiction writers without organic contacts have NO chance in traditional publishing. But they do in web noveling. It isn't easy. Consistency is the most important. Then quality. Then everything else is trends and luck. Readers can be cruel and have eccentric demands, and they empowered by the oversupply. Develop a thick skin but be grateful for kindness. Don't fall in love your fans though, they'll come and go as they please. Work hard, plan, strategize, the move on and try not to worry about what you can't control.
Don't think that there are no 'good ole boy/girl' clubs in web noveling. There are. They are tough to break in to. Some sites are more prone to them than others. There are too many writers competing for too few readers. Various readers have specific and conflicting tastes and are demanding about it. Make sure to label your book properly. The space is ruthless. If you want to break in, it's a full time job.
I wrote and published my first two novels in 2012 and 2013, and continued to write after that but didn't publish my manuscripts until the first book of my series Pacle in 2024 (all in French). Now I'm writing 2 webnovels in English on ScribbleHub as well as translating Pacle
-La Guerre des Loups : Reflets de Lune
-La Guerre des Loups : Souffle d'Esprit
-Pacle 1 : The Sun Was Blinding Me So
-I Blinked And Now I'm Famous
-Living Inside The Protagonist's Head
Starting is easy. One day, you have a sudden idea and you write a chapter. The more diffucult thing is to continue. Writing everyday is excruciatingly hard, and you have to do that, or at least write often, when you start a webnovel, because for people to see your novel and read it, you need to post at least a chapter per week. So you have to make sure that you are writing about something you like and you won't be bored of in a few weeks. Writing what is trending is good if you like it, but forcing yourself because you want to be popular and rich is the worst idea. It could make the difference between a book that will never be finished and one that you can actually publish, be it on Internet or on paper.
You have to interest people constantly. With a traditional novel, people buy it either way, so even if the beginning is a bit slow, they will eventually finish it. But with Internet, people will cloe the tab really quickly if you aren't interesting enough and will never come back to your novel again. So you have to rewire your brain to make each scene interesting.
Also, remember that with webnovels, people are reading on a screen, propably on their phone, so it must be easy to read. No 3 pages descriptions, no big paragraphs, make it light and accessible.
You could, but don't expect to live off of it, honestly. I mean, you could either post on a subscription based site like Patreon to offer more chapters, or chose a website that gives readers the possibility to pay to unlock more chapters, but in both case you won't become rich. It's very rare to make more than 500$ per month, and that's not enough to pay for rent and food. But if you are only searching for a way to make ends meet, it's not bad !
Taking a break. If I don't write for a day it's ok, but for more than 3 I completly lose track of the story and my ideas, so it takes forever to get back in the groove and write again. Also, even if you discover that a story you are writing is not original, write it anyways. It doesn't matter if the destination is the same as another book, what matters is the journey your are taking your readers on.
For an english speaking audience, I can only advertise my ScribbleHub account, where I post new chapters very two days ! My two webnovels are I Blinked and Now I'm Famous, the story of a normal French girl who suddenly obtains a game-like system giving her cool abilities and she progressively becomes famous, and Living Inside The Protagonist's Head, the tale of Thomas who is one of the many personalities inside a girl's head, and who freaks out when they are suddenly transmigrated into a dating game. There is also a chapter of Pacle posted every week, the story of a military general in a fantasy world, who has to strengthen his belief in the governement while fighting an opposing nation on a battlefield.
All over the place.
Oh, you mean duration? First published work was an adventure game module in 1989. Second and third were adventure game modules in 2005 and 2006 IIRC (may be off by a year on either or both), also have done some uncredited editing and credited proofreading on a few role playing game products between 2004 and 2008. Was also a member of an Amateur Press Association for most of the 90s (kind of proto-bloggers but still in print). Started writing serial fiction in March of 2024 and publishing it (for free so far) two or three months later.
The only ones I have that are not 18+ are one on Royal Road (True Blue though the gore level in the opening chapters kind of pushes the boundaries!) and one on Honeyfeed (The Kaiju System).
Though Jack Diamond (Diamond in the Rough, Blood Diamond) tries to keep his stories family friendly, he's got too much pulp (especially pulp horror) and noir influence to really manage. Strange Awakening is definitely not quite "kid friendly" as it touches on a bunch of adult content. Between Worlds is about a group of attractive "twenty-somethings" who ... act like what they are (including a lesbian couple) so it pretty solidly falls in 18+
Read any and all advice offered - and throw out half of it. Most of the advice is how to write like the person giving the advice, so unless you want to mimic them (which, honestly, is how a lot of writers got their start - but the more successful ones then realized how to move away from this and develop their own voice).
Always keep a sense of humor about you - it makes taking criticism a little easier and allows your work to flow more naturally (even if you don't make use of it in your writing).
