- Try and build a back log of episodes for emergencies. You never know when you are going to get sick, or something might come up with family or work. Write a bunch of episodes when you’ve got the time so you can post without worrying about creating new content.
- Plot! If you plot everything out in advance, it’s going to be easier to stick to a schedule. My days off are usually Mondays and Tuesdays so those are usually when I post or in the afternoons when I’m not working because I work early mornings. But I always make sure I at least have a loose plot because it helps me keep on track and not get writers block.
- Treat it like a blog. The more you update, the more followers you will get. This is where having a backlog of episodes will come in handy.
- Serial fiction is not like novel fiction. You don’t have the luxury of long chapters if you want to keep a readers interest. I always recommend having a word count for your chapters. The longest you can go on Kindle Vella is 5,000 but most people will be reading these during breaks or in line or waiting for things. For this reason I always recommend 1,000 words per episode. Its long enough you can have a lot of action happen but short enough you won’t lose their interest. Sometimes you can get away with 2,000 or maybe fifteen hundred depending on what’s happening. But 1,000 is a happy medium. Remember when your teachers had you write 1,000 word essays? That’s why. Because that’s how long you can keep a readers attention before they get distracted by something or someone else. And with todays world of instant media access, you’ve GOT to do everything you can to keep a readers attention.
- Find away to interact with readers. A blog, a website, twitter, facebook, instagram, tiktok. You don’t have to to all of them but at least do two. Its a great way to build an audience. Remember, they take time to read your work and spend money on your writing. You WANT them to come back. You want them to ask for more.
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Published by cambriacovellauthoroffical
Cambria Covell is the prize winning author of Royals and Rebels: The Series, The Endless Series, The Dragon Queen, and Her Billionaire Vigilante. She writes for the digital publisher platform, Dreame.
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Great tips here. And Kindle Vella really looks to be interesting. I’ve never tried serial fiction before, but I might actually try it now. Thanks for this post!
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Thanks! Enjoying your comments. Give it a shot. I actually like it a lot more because it means I don’t lose interest in projects trying to get published. And I’ve got a lot more control.
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