Tag Archive | crowdfunding

A beginning of a basic overview of starting a webserial

Sep19

I am in the process of starting two new webserials – Angry Aetherist (Edally Academy) and Jumping Rings (Inner Circle) – and thought the steps I go through might be useful for someone else.

This is by no means comprehensive, but it’s a base list to start from.

  1. Have a serial idea, title, and a buffer. At least a month’s worth of material to post is a good rule of thumb.
    1. No, really, have a buffer.
    2. Know when and how often you’ll post and stick to it. Once a week regularly is better than “three times a week” that turns into “when I can make it.”
    3. It helps to google the title – something I wish I’d done with Inner Circle – to see if it’s already in use.

  2. If you can, have a dedicated site with an easy-to-remember/type URl.
      Things that help to have on the site:

    1. Links to your other fiction
    2. A table of contents or
    3. Readily visible link to your starting page & easy navigation buttons

  3. You have a site up? Good! Start posting your story. Make sure your posting schedule is visible on the site and stick to it.
  4. Once you have 3-4 installments up, start promoting yourself:
    1. http://webfictionguide.com/
    2. http://muses-success.info/
    3. http://www.epiguide.com/forums/local_links.php
    4. [community profile] crowdfunding and crowdfunding
    5. http://www.projectwonderful.com/ (although ads are a subject all in themself)
    6. Twitter – esp. the #weblit hashtag. Promote each installment, but be careful not to overspam people.
    7. Link to your serial from other sites – your writing blog, if you have one, other serials you’ve written… you get the idea.

  5. Continue to post on your posting schedule.
  6. If you’ve linked to your serial at sites like Web Fiction Guide, it doesn’t hurt to ask your readers for a review; the reviews put your story on the front page, which drives traffic.
  7. Speaking of readers: Engage, but don’t fight. Chat in the comments but don’t yell at people.

I know I’m missing steps, but this is a beginning, at least.

Can you think of anything obvious I’ve missed?

This entry was originally posted at http://aldersprig.dreamwidth.org/813232.html. You can comment here or there.

Patreon Page

Jun18

I have opened a Patreon Page here:
http://www.patreon.com/aldersprig

Words will continue to appear on this DW regardless of the success or failure of the Patreon, but I am curious to see how it might work.

This entry was originally posted at http://aldersprig.dreamwidth.org/737277.html. You can comment here or there.

Be a Part of My World: An Auction for Edally Academy (my upcoming webserial)

Dec9

I have opened up an auction post for my upcoming webserial, Edally Academy.

Edally is a Steampunk Boarding School, set in a fictional semi-fantasy setting on a continent called Reiassan. It’s a setting I’ve used often for fantasy stories in earlier eras of the setting (see the Reiassan landing page), as well as exploring the steampunk era.

The auction offers up a wide range of people, buildings, and things within the setting and the story to name – the House of the school the protagonist is part of, the Head of her House, the classroom Hall she studies in, the food she has for dinner.

Proceeds from this auction will work as a start-up fund for the webserial – art, advertising, domain name, server space, and so on.

Even if you’re not interested in bidding, please boost the signal.

Thanks!

CFC Recent Projects of Interest?

Jan30

[personal profile] ysabetwordsmith has posted in [community profile] crowdfunding here asking:

What cyberfunded creativity projects have you recently donated to or participated in as a fan? What have you viewed? What prompt calls have you sent inspiration? What made them special enough to attract your support?

What do you want that you haven’t been seeing, or would like to see more of? Do you have ideas that you want to prompt, but aren’t sure what creator would be a good match for them?

Go check out the post!

This entry was originally posted at http://aldersprig.dreamwidth.org/465853.html. You can comment here or there.

Drakeathon! Livewriting Flash Fiction – the details!

Feb7

What’s Livewriting? 1889ca’s webpage describes it as “the act of writing a book or story within a set timeframe, with live updates for an audience that also participates by suggesting directions the story might go.”

What’s Flash/Microfiction? Flash fiction is generally defined as short-short stories, under 3000, 1500, or 1000 words. Microfiction is generally short, complete stories under 500 words.

What’s the Drakeathon? The Drakeathon will be two 4-hour sessions in which I ask you, the audience, to prompt me to write short fiction. I’ll ask for audience participation as I write, and post the stories as I complete them.

But, since this is an ‘thon, I’m trying to earn a little money, too (in this case, for Drake, the above-pictured kitty, who has recently been diagnosed with diabetes). At least the first three prompters each hour will have 50-word microfics written off their prompts, but those who sponsor the ‘thon will get more bang: each $5 sponsorship will get 300 words, up to a 3000-word story (anything over 1000 words will be completed in the weeks immediately following the ‘thon).

Note: I’m still ironing out details. But!

As sponsorship goals are met, those who have donated will get bigger perks:

If I reach $20, I get a pizza
If I reach $75, everyone who donates will get a printed-and-snailmailed or pdf-and-e-mailed prettified version of the story from their prompt
If I reach $150, there will be an e-book of the stories from this anthology; sponsors will get a free copy
If I reach $225, the e-book will include a never-before-seen short story of 1500-3000 words written for this anthology
If I reach $300, there will be a print book, and donors will receive a discount on said book.
If I reach $375, the e- and print book will have professional art for the covers & a second new short story.

TL:DR Summary: Throw prompts at me, get microfics.
Throw money and prompts at me, get longer fics.
If enough money is thrown at me, there will be shinies

This entry was originally posted at http://aldersprig.dreamwidth.org/5357.html. You can comment here or there.

Resources for Online Fiction readers and writers #weblit #webfiction

Feb5

Recently I have been made aware of just how many barely-connected circles there are of fiction on the internet. I can’t connect the circles, but I can offer up a clearinghouse for resources, so that is what I’m doing.

If I’ve missed something, please tell me about it.

For readers and writers:
http://muses-success.info/ – rated & reviewed listings of online fiction
http://www.epiguide.com/forums/ – a community devoted to original online entertainment
http://community.livejournal.com/crowdfunding/ – a livejournal community for all things crowdfunded
http://crowdfunding.dreamwidth.org/ – Crowdfunding community on Dreamwidth, thanks [personal profile] clare_dragonfly
http://webfictionguide.com/ – rated & reviewed listings of online fiction
see also
http://novelsonline.info/ – Web Fiction Guide listings by rating
http://topwebfiction.com/ – Web Fiction Guide listings by reader votes

For writers:
http://weblit.us/ – WebLit, for marketing, promotion and cross-promotion for web literature

For readers:
http://www.ergofiction.com/ – ErgoFiction, a magazine for readers and fans of webfiction.

On Twitter:
Hashtags for finding online fiction include:
#weblit
#webfiction
#webfic
#tuesdayserial
#amwriting (for writers)
#fantasy (or #scifi, or #spec/#specfic and so on)

Most importantly: forums, blogs, twitter chats – other people. I have connected to more stories, and gotten more readers, simply chatting with other people online.

This entry was originally posted at http://aldersprig.dreamwidth.org/4376.html. You can comment here or there.

New Routine, and things

Jan25

My morning now has a new routine: get up, feed cat wet food, shower, put in contacts, take meds, inject cat with insulin, praise cat and tell him he’s a good boy, get dressed, find car, brush it off, go to work.

My kitty Drake http://twitpic.com/1l2n6u is a good kitty. We’ve had him since he was a kitten, something like 10 or 11 years ago, and I love him dearly. We lost his foster-brother Gatsby http://twitpic.com/ks6hh this summer, so when Drake started getting sick, I sort of flipped out a bit. We caught it early enough that it’s completely treatable, but it’s going to be expensive.

I’m pondering doing a live-write-athon to raise money to cover vet fees, but that’s about all I know so far about that one: something like $5 buys you 500 words on any topic. That’s… 30,000 words, I think, to cover the vet bills & insulin.

I think I need to get my personal author page re-set-up first, though.

Okay, enough blather. The world can normalize for a few days please?