Why You Should Cross-Post Your Stories
Even without this blog, I think it is very obvious to many writers why cross-posting is a good idea. However, procrastination might be your biggest enemy because it is difficult to get started without knowing what sort of 'perks' you would gain from doing such a tedious thing.
In this blog, I shall address the dos and don'ts of cross-posting to save you time and kill that procrastination bug!
Patreons to credit: -This could be you. Join now.-
Part 1: What to Cross-Post
In part 1, I will explain the certain limitations of cross-posting e-fiction. Royalty and copyrights are some of the worst worries of new writers as they have no idea what would be considered an infringement of rights. While I don't know the exact contents of the contract you signed, here are some of the things that most contracts have in common that you can look out for to help you consider cross-posting on different e-fiction platforms.
#1: Non-Exclusive Contract Works
This is the contract that pays you royalty shares per read while allowing you to own rights to your work. However, each non-exclusive contract is different so here are some of the terms and conditions you should ask your content editor of that platform you signed your non-exclusive contract.
1. Allowed to publish on free reading sites? If so, until which chapter or the whole book?
2. Any chapter limitations in cross-posting to other sites? Eg: Need to be 2 chapters in advance on the contracted site compared to the other sites with cross-posting.
3. How many sites can you cross-post to? Must you update the company of the sites you are intending to cross-publish with?
4. Are you going for another non-exclusive contract for your same work upon cross-posting? Any conflict with the existing non-exclusive contract?
#2: Exclusive Contract Works
This is slightly trickier. As the contract is only effective upon the date of signing, if you have cross-posted previously, you should be checking with the editor of the platform what you should do before signing the contract. From understanding, some platforms allow cross-posting of unmonetised chapters on other platforms while others strictly do not allow. Here are some questions to check with the content editor:
1. Can I publish my free chapters on other sites to advertise?
2. Must I include the official platform's name on the cross-posted chapters as part of the copyright agreement?
3. Can I monetise the chapters on cross-posted sites?
#3: No Contract Works
What? A story posted on sites without contracts? But why?!
Originally, this is how writing was meant to be. Commercialisation was the death of originality in many 'writers' these days. I used to enjoy reading but now I read to filter what I want to be reading. Yes, it is possible for you to cross-post even without a contract. In fact, why stop at cross-posting? Take it all the way to Patreon or Amazon and make it into an audiobook if you want! It's yours!
Part 2: Recommended Sites to Cross-Post
This part is a little tricky to recommend because every writer's book is different. Thankfully, I already explained this in detail in my live stream and previous blogs for ML books and FL books. Please refer to them and weigh the pros and cons yourself to decide what platforms you'd be creating accounts on.
Oh, I would also recommend you to keep a master list of the platforms you will cross-post to with the usernames and passwords. It gets confusing after 4 and I wish I did that before I hit the double digits back when I had to mass cross-post three different books.
Part 3: Tricks & Tips
#1: Master List of Passwords
You can save it in notes, excel or in Google Drive with an encrypted password that you are familiar with. Alternatively, use the chrome's password save feature or create an account with your Facebook log in. Honestly, simplicity is best. You're not going to be logging in very often so it's better to record it somewhere before you forget.
#2: Choose Sites that Schedules Chapters
Some sites do not have a scheduling function to publish chapters on a future date. Honestly, save yourself the trouble and either publish it all at once on that site or skip it entirely. You might want to decide on the frequency of the chapters to be scheduled on those cross-posted sites as well.
Keep track of the ending dates for all these cross-posted stories when the last chapter will be posted. You might need to go back to them a day after the last chapter had been posted to mark it as completed work. You can note this down on a calendar or even together with your master password list.
#3: Make Enough Time
It might sound simple enough to copy and paste the same content over and over again. However, when you do mind-numbing tasks like this, it could take you hours as your internet lags and you make scheduling errors.
Mistakes can happen and they can eat into your hours. Avoid cross-posting in a r