FictionPress: A Brief Guide

[CMTheAuthor]

Well, since I just got asked what FictionPress is (hey there, tmso! ), here is the answer.

FictionPress is a sister site to FanFiction.com (which I'm sure most here are familiar with) and uses the same basic software. However, while FanFiction.com is devoted to, well, what its name says, FictionPress is devoted to original fiction.

In short, it's a site where you can upload your work for free for other people to read and review. Of course, the content there, much like the indie e-book market, has lower quality standards, but such is the price of free use. I will also note that you can't upload commercially published stuff (so no novel excerpts), but it's perfect for short stories and such, which is how I am using it. In theory, you could also upload a serial novel on there, but I'm not doing that.

[tmso]

So, you mean, if I self-published something (even a short) on Smashwords or something, I couldn't re-post it there?

[CMTheAuthor]

Afraid so. Of course, there's nothing preventing you from putting stuff on there you haven't published elsewhere yet...but you'd probably want to take it down once you did so. (Doubly so if you're actually charging money for it!)

[PeteMC]

If it isn't a very silly question (which it might well be), why would you want to do this?

Once something has been made publicly available like this you have virtually zero chance of selling it later as it will be regarded as "previously published", which is why you have to be logged in to view the Stories sub-board of the writing forum, and sites like Critters and AW have passwords on their crit boards.

If you just want to give your work away for free for people to read that's great, but there are much more well-known places to do it where you're likely to get more readers (this very site, for example). Am I missing something here?

[tmso]

If you just want to give your work away for free for people to read that's great, but there are much more well-known places to do it where you're likely to get more readers (this very site, for example). Am I missing something here?

I kind of thought that too. There's Wattpad, too. Which seems to be the same sort of thing? I think? I joined Wattpad but haven't really done anything on it.

I agree that with all these sorts of sites out there, I don't really see the advantage. I mean, as Pete said, why not put it up here in the Stories section (as opposed to the Stories sub-forum for members only)? Or, for that matter, your own blog?

I guess it goes back to where you think you might get a larger audience? Or a new audience?

[CMTheAuthor]

Well, the other factor is the software each site uses, and the presentation it brings.

For example, the SFFWorld Stories section looks like (if I'm wrong on this, correct me at once) it automatically subdivides each story into "pages". That creates issues with the readability of the story, breaking it apart in places where I might not want to break it apart. And I certainly don't want to have to tailor the story to fit the software. More views doesn't mean all that much if the story doesn't read as well as on other sites. (No offense intended, of course.) FictionPress doesn't have that problem.

I hadn't heard of Wattpad, although FictionPress was not the first site of that type I've looked at. I'll have to check it out later, and see what it offers. It might turn out better than FictionPress, so we'll see.

[tmso]

Yes, that's one reason why I don't post anything to the Stories section here - it is just too cumbersome and if I recall correctly, formatting didn't transfer over.

So, yes, presentation is something to think about.

Wattpad appears to be geared towards the younger crowd (lots of YA romance). KatG may know more about it.

[PeteMC]

I must admit this the reason I don't read anything on the public stories section here - having to "turn the page" every hundred-odd words is a pain in the behind. I assume this is a limitation of the forum software, but if any of the mods/admins know how to change it to get more words on the screen at a time I think it's be a definite improvement to the site.