I’ve seen many people recommend directing readers to Patreon. I’ve tried that myself, but not a single person has gone to Patreon to read my novel. I have lots of readers for the chapters I post on Scribble Hub, and now I’m feeling lost—could anyone offer some good advice?
What platforms do people usually drive traffic to from this site in order to make money?
- Thread starter Barnett
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Corty
Ra’Coon
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This will sound harsh. But it is the reality for most people.
You won't make money off your stories with your current stats. And reader numbers mean nothing. I'm past 10k, all sites considered, but that's nothing. Follower count is also useless.
I didn't even bother setting up a Patreon until I was about 3.5 years in and had built a consistent following that I could tell I wasn't just a one-hit wonder. Even then, it is not a guarantee, and although I get some money from it, it would not be enough to support me fully. Even after setting it up, Patreon also needs to grow, and you must have an enticing reward for each tier.
I tried a few things, but honestly, the advanced chapters were the most effective. That is the only thing that works; don't even try to bother with anything else until you have a good number of supporters already.
As for the advertisement part, it is useless to try any other sites to shill patreon as people won't subscribe to it, prior to knowing who you are. And they will know who you are through your novels. Ergo, what you can do is to push patreon on chapters. Place a banner after the chapter, linking to your patreon, especially after a cliff hanger. Make sure you tell them that they can read 15-20 chapters more than what's public, etc. That is what makes them consider signing up.
Also, Patreon is oversaturated. Every novelist has one, every story has one, and readers of multiple fics will choose which one they want the extra chapters from. It is a competition, not just for getting subscribers, but also for keeping them.
Living off content is the most volatile thing, ever.
You won't make money off your stories with your current stats. And reader numbers mean nothing. I'm past 10k, all sites considered, but that's nothing. Follower count is also useless.
I didn't even bother setting up a Patreon until I was about 3.5 years in and had built a consistent following that I could tell I wasn't just a one-hit wonder. Even then, it is not a guarantee, and although I get some money from it, it would not be enough to support me fully. Even after setting it up, Patreon also needs to grow, and you must have an enticing reward for each tier.
I tried a few things, but honestly, the advanced chapters were the most effective. That is the only thing that works; don't even try to bother with anything else until you have a good number of supporters already.
As for the advertisement part, it is useless to try any other sites to shill patreon as people won't subscribe to it, prior to knowing who you are. And they will know who you are through your novels. Ergo, what you can do is to push patreon on chapters. Place a banner after the chapter, linking to your patreon, especially after a cliff hanger. Make sure you tell them that they can read 15-20 chapters more than what's public, etc. That is what makes them consider signing up.
Also, Patreon is oversaturated. Every novelist has one, every story has one, and readers of multiple fics will choose which one they want the extra chapters from. It is a competition, not just for getting subscribers, but also for keeping them.
Living off content is the most volatile thing, ever.
Zenftiy
Filthy member
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At this point, just write some junk food with 500word per chap. Update everyday, and make sure it has 18+ thing.
The most important thing is that you're writing for you, not for the money. If you try to write for trends, it's very easy to burn out and start dreading having to sit down to type. In my experience, if you have a decent following, you may end up with some patrons. But popularity isn't the only factor, it's the kind of reader you attract and how they react to your story. Some people hated my story while others absolutely adored it to the point of joining as a patron and paying above the tier requirements. Other stories I engineered to gain more readership and they sure the heck did but I gained no patrons from them despite being more popular than others. Use ScribbleHub as practice for when you're ready to publish for real, have a patreon or a Kofi so people can throw money at you if they want to but if you're writing on scribblehub, you're not likely to make much and almost definitely not a substantial amount to really supplement your income for real. Authorship is an art, and it needs time and dedication to develop yourself.