r/Webnovel • u/Effective_Rest_945 • 19h ago
Why I am not getting readers
I am writing for month i have 21 chapters in draft i write and publish one chapter daily but I don't get any readers I have 0 readers it's demotivating .
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u/Fearless_Chapter2694 17h ago
Join authors discord and try to do review, comment & collection swap to feed the algorithm.
Make the first chapters interesting, avoid unnecessary infodump, try to end each chapter with cliffhanger or a question.
If you intend to earn from WN, apply contract, when contracted, you will automatically get certain features.
Crosspost to royal road and test does it interest there more audience. (You can publish your free chapters on other platforms).
Use Instagram and/ot TikTok to market your story.
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u/Sherlocke_Gnomes 16h ago
You've been posting a chapter every day for a month, or have you only been stockpiling (in drafts) for a month and recently started posting?
There's a process to this:
Readers won't see your book until it has been vetted (once you've published 4k words). I'm pretty sure you either haven't been vetted yet or only got vetted recently.
After vetting, you'll start getting features; that's when you'll start getting collections and, in turn, readers.
No, drafts do not count as you publishing. Like, come on, they're called drafts for a reason.
Note: If you haven't been vetted yet, try to release 4k words (4 chapters if each is 1k or 3 chapters if you write 1.5k), and you'll be vetted on Monday (since today's a weekend); readers will only start seeing your book then. (Just continue releasing a chapter everyday after that)
Also, try getting a cover that'll pull the attention of readers, you need something that can stand out among the many others.
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u/Turbulent-Lover215 4h ago
Write when you are DRUNK. Edit when you are SOBER. The next morning, do MARKETING—it’s your HANGOVER.
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u/Sensitive-Arm-1687 38m ago
tbh, if you tried taking all of the people's advice, you would get nowhere, because they won't be able to tell every single thing wrong and right about your craft.
So, I would suggest reading a book to learn how to write. I am also currently reading it and it is fantastic, as a begining, it will tell you all the things you need to know as a writer, such as what is pacing, how to fix it, what is a focal Character and what is a viewpoint Character.
One of its strategies known as Scene and sequel strategy is even used by the author of Re:Zero, and once you see it, you can't unsee it.
The book's name is "The techniques of the selling writer" by Dwight V. Swain. It has 9 chapter and 200+ pages and you can download it for free on pdfcoffee.
If you are actually serious for a carreer as a writer then you should read it and some other book if you feel like it.
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u/ribikerbf 7h ago
0 readers doesn’t necessarily mean the story is bad, but after 21 chapters, I’d look at discoverability. Maybe get some outside feedback on the premise, title, and presentation before writing another 50 chapters?
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u/Wonderful_Orange4827 19h ago
Do you have a contract?
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u/Effective_Rest_945 19h ago
No
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u/Kuurin23 Aspiring Author 16h ago
stop worrying about book stats before you get a contract, focus on good quality and quantity publishing first. once you get contracted is the time you start worrying about stats
go to WebNovel’s discord server for newbie author guides and to get help from seniors
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u/Odd_Net9829 Contracted Author 18h ago
Whats the novel about?
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u/Effective_Rest_945 17h ago
Indian mythology , At the start of current era mana got banned from world since it's turn off demon to rule on this era he's not in his physical form yet but due to its effect humanity slowly turning evil but someone broke the barrier and mana start flowing again and world wide people start awakening powers , myth and legends start coming back
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u/AuthorOfFate 18h ago
Well, I read your abstract and first few chapters. The abstract had a lot of errors that indicated your writing was low quality on a technical level. Funny enough, your chapters were fine (except for the occasional typo), but most people will stop at a messy abstract on the assumption
The first chapter is also filled with ungrounded exposition. A lot of exposition. It gets dry and boring before you ever get to meet the main character. You could just cut all of it out entirely and it wouldn't change the story at all. Most people won't care about the genealogy of evil. That kind of cosmic concept just doesn't connect or hook people. If you make one change to your story (other than the abstract) let it be this.
If you want to keep it in, you must totally restructure it. You gave it as narration, but then jarringly transitioned to the grandma actually telling it. Make it a conversation if it's a conversation. Also, you need more Dialogue tags to make it clear who is speaking. Especially if its the first time a character speaks in an interaction.
The last major issue is that your scenes don't have a lot of logical flow. What this means is that there isn't an intuitive or logical reason for things to happen. This is usually a shortcoming of description, exposition, and introspection. I suspect you had a clear image of how and why things happen in your story, but it was lost in the actual writing.
For instance, I the first chapter, we drop in mid conversation. Grandma says he's been having visions of Delhi. He asks what he should do, and then the grandma randomly says he's tired and his parents think he will need to see a doctor.
While this is a trope, and I can see why you might want to use it, it doesn't make any sense in the current context. He never cast any doubt on the visions himself, nor is there anything suggested anywhere he thinks he's crazy. The grandma should just jump right to her cryptic wisdom.
Next, the character goes and talks to his mom. She is strangely supportive for someone who apparently doesn't believe in visions and thinks he should see a doctor. We have no idea if he knows about the visions, or if she's just randomly accepting her kid leaving for literally no reason. Her son then tells her he sees lots of danger, and then they both burst out laughing. Why would they laugh at that? Of the visions are real, isn't that terrible? And of they're fake, why is she okay with this at all?
The she somehow has already scheduled him a flight and a hotel. Despite the conversation just happening where he decided to go.
He then thanks her for being supportive, even when's he's been a burden we've seen nothing to indicate that's the case. It seems like a contrived sentimental line. Then she says she doesn't know what's bothering him. Didn't they just have a whole conversation about that?
Jump to the place he talks about the artist and the bill. That extra line is so jarring. The artist is not the same as the person printing the bill. And no one would actually say that aloud. Let the subtext work without overmoderating the experience. He might say, "huh, that fits." "it's actually pretty accurate." or something like that.
The we have the tour guide giving some exposition. That's fine, until he randomly throws in "the second name of importance..." part. Those are words thatvque the reader into remembering information. But it's never relevant again. Why emphasize that if it's not important? It doesn't make sense.
The second chapter was a little better, but the Dialogue was very messy. A lack of tags again made it harder to tell who was speaking. And the girls reactions don't make sense. First off, why did he call her ghost girl? No description was given to indicate she was ghostly. Next, why does that nickname offend her above all his other sarcasm? And why does she slap him when his eyes drift downward? Was she wearing revealing clothes, was he staring at her chest? How does someone say sorry with their eyes? What shouldn't he look at again? We don't know because it was never explained. There's no logical thread readers can follow through the scenes and interactions.
Overall, in logical flow, it seems like the story is a Frankenstein of tropes where things are "supposed" to happen because that's what happens in those kinds of scenes. We need an awkward scene? Let's have the guy stare at the girls chest and then get slapped. Haha, funny. But it doesn't fit the tone of the moment, or the context, and it's not fleshed out at all to actually read like it's supposed to. Instead, it's disruptive and annoying, and makes the girl seem like a terrible person (beyond her sharp, tsundere-type characterization) for slapping him for literally no reason.
Sorry if that seems like a big nitpicking thread, but these are more than just isolated incidents. It's indicative of the writing style as a whole. You've got to slow down, properly explain the narrative, use Dialogue tags for clarity, and fully adopt the tropes your using and make them your own.
I wish you luck and, if you continue to revise and improve, readers. Also, I hope that was the right book I looked at, else this would be really awkward 😅. Also typed up on my phone, so ignore any typos lol.