There are lots of places online where you can share your serial fiction these days, and new ones pop up all the time. We at Tuesday Serial are dedicated to helping out serial fiction writers, but you know where you like to post and why. You might know of some places we don’t!
Whether you post to your own blog, JukePop, WattPad, Serialities, Writeon.amazon.com, or somewhere else, we’d like to hear about it. Tell us what you like about your serial spot, and what you don’t like. We’re not looking for the “best” place to post, just the reasons you like your place! Don’t forget to include links; we want this discussion to be a resource for all our contributors.
The floor’s open…
We post my husband's serial to both his domain and to Wattpad. Having the story at http://peter-flanagan.com/majestic/ means everything's under our control, as much as a site not hosted on a person's own servers can be :-), which is a double-edged sword since it means any goofs or bad design is on me (he writes, I code). We cross-post to Wattpad (http://www.wattpad.com/story/12474984-weaver%27s-knight-~-a-web-serial) for the extra exposure. Whether the planned sequel series will also be on Wattpad is currently under discussion, but we may check out some other options based on what folks have to say.
I post From Winter's Ashes at fromwintersashes.wordpress.com
I like it because it is a trusted, "brand-name" provider online, and their hosting has been solid, and mostly very easy to use and configure. Their analytic metrics are AMAZING! It helps me target my promotional efforts and figure out what sites are trending traffic my way.
The only thing I dislike is that so much functionality is locked down behind premium services, and CSS modifications are troublesome. I had to hire a CSS coder to do what I felt should have been very basic things for my site, things I could have done in HTML, but CSS made much more complex and difficult.
I prefer to post on my own website (http://jamarlow.com). Then I can control how it looks, the navigation, scheduling, access to stats and so on. I don't like the idea of having to rely on another website, as, well, things can happen. What if you need to change? Then you are stuck, because leaving will leave behind your readership. With using my own domain name and website, I can put the links out there in the internet and not worry about that address changing in the future (I can't imagine trying to remember everywhere the links are to go back and change them. Ugh!).
That said, I do sometimes post on Wattpad (http://www.wattpad.com/user/JAMarlow) anything that I think might appeal to a younger readership, but the inability to schedule ahead of time is frustrating.
My serials are all on their own webpages, mostly WordPress sites; the very first one was home-HTML'd and is a little messy for it: http://www.addergoole.com http://www.edallyacademy.com/ http://www.jumpingrings.com/
By using my own server and domain name, I don't have to worry about anyone else's rules, and I can modify the site to my heart's content.
WordPress isn't the _best_ for serials, as you can only post linearly (i.e., no separate "next" buttons for a side story, and so on), but it's easy and can be updated anywhere and doesn't require FTP.
Until recently, all my serial activity has been on my blog — http://farmanor.blogspot.com/ — but I'm going to branch out in hopes of picking up some new readership and return my blog to (mostly) personal ramblings and the weirder-than-fiction reality of my life.
My "Blink" serial is moving to Writeon — mostly because I don't have to set up a new account. I like some of the aspects of the site, especially where the people running it are quick to respond to questions and suggestions. Here's the new home (I won't pull it from the blog, but updates will be here): https://writeon.amazon.com/read/story/Larry_Kolla…
Meanwhile, my co-op partner talked me into starting a zombie/pirate post-apocalyptic story over on Wattpad: http://www.wattpad.com/story/38875923-hell-or-hig… I don't know how I feel about WP just yet, either. I guess I'll have plenty of time to put them side by side, though!
My serial is on Wattpad – http://www.wattpad.com/story/42701344 – I chose this one mostly for the larger audience it and the community there which seems to be very active and supportive for the most part. It also allows those with a little more experience a chance to give helpful suggestions to young writers, many of whom clearly have talent but may struggle in technical areas.
I’ve just started doing serials, so I started my first one on my secondary blog (http://adventuresfromzephyria.blogspot.com/) where I had planned on putting all future serials and short stories. I had no idea about other options like Wattpad existed. I will most likely finish my first serial on my blog, and then post future ones on Wattpad or the like for more traffic.