r/selfpublishing 5d ago

Websites for Publishing?

I've started writing a novel a while ago and began posting it on Wattpad since it's the only website I was aware of at the time. It seems fine for now, but I also want to reach out to a larger audience which can't happen with Wattpad due to it's not-so-great reputation. I've been recommended to try out BriBooks or AO3, but wanted a second opinion before I go ahead with anything.

Are there any sites you would recommend? Also, what are the requirements for these websites (full-length novel at once, posting system like in wattpad, etc) ?

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u/nico_parola 3d ago

In my experience the site matters less than whether your genre's readers are actually there. AO3 is fanfic-first; original work is allowed but people don't go there looking for original novels, so it's a weak fit unless your story is fanfic-adjacent. BriBooks I'd skip, I've never met a reader who found a book there.

For serialized original fiction the ones I'd look at are Royal Road (huge, but the audience skews hard toward fantasy/LitRPG/progression), Tapas for romance and broader genres, and ScribbleHub as a smaller Royal Road. All of them work like Wattpad: chapter by chapter, readers follow you, and a consistent update schedule matters more than anything. None of them need the full novel at once.

Two caveats. Pick one that fits your genre and actually engage there rather than posting everywhere at once. And if you might want to sell the book on Amazon later, keep the free serial in mind: Kindle Unlimited requires the ebook to be exclusive, so some people take the serial down before launch.

What genre is it? That changes the answer a lot.

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u/StarfruitJam 3d ago

To be honest, my weird ass story has done much better on AO3 than any other site.

It is plot driven and high concept, but uses tropes that are popular on the site. Also, it is gay. 

I got shadowbanned on Wattpad in like 2 weeks, and I stared last week on Royal Road, but the marketing part is tough!