Marketing a web novel is not for the faint of heart. Writing one is already a marathon, my own manuscript for The Vengeful Scribe topped 250,000 words in just five months (the equivalent of more than two full-length novels). But once the writing is done, the real uphill battle begins: getting people to actually read it and then make writing pay.
I publish under the penname E.M. Dash on Royal Road, one of the most popular platforms for web novels. After months of experimenting, I’ve discovered that effective marketing for a web novel boils down to just two main strategies:
Advertising directly on Royal Road – Yes, paid ads work. But they can quickly become expensive, so it’s important to track results carefully.
Networking with fellow authors – Building relationships with other writers and linking to each other’s stories creates valuable cross-promotion that readers genuinely respond to.
And that’s pretty much it.
The Reality of Discoverability
While there’s a massive global audience for web novels, the odds of a casual reader stumbling onto your work through external channels, say, a positive review or even posts to X (where I have 36,000+ followers), are slim. Social media visibility doesn’t always translate into platform traffic.
Yes, there are dedicated Reddit communities for nearly every web novel genre, and they can be great places to connect with passionate readers. But marketing on Reddit comes with its own set of challenges. The biggest risk? Rating bombs. If you rub the wrong group of users the wrong way, a wave of retaliatory 0.5-star reviews can follow you back to Royal Road. These artificial rating drops can severely damage your novel’s visibility and long-term growth on the platform.
The real discoverability engine is the web novel platform itself. Readers come to Royal Road already primed to consume web fiction, and if you can gather a few thousand loyal followers there, that’s where opportunities start to snowball.
Monetisation Potential
The exciting part? Once you establish a dedicated audience, you can direct them toward monetisation platforms like Patreon. Some of the top authors on Royal Road are making over $70,000 per month from Patreon subscriptions alone and that’s before factoring in book sales and other revenue streams.
For smaller creators, even modest Patreon support can cover costs or provide motivation to keep writing. The model works, but only if you build your core readership where they already live: on web novel platforms.
What’s Next
The next logical step after gaining traction on Royal Road is to branch out to additional web novel platforms. Each has its own community and quirks, but the marketing lessons remain the same: focus on visibility inside the ecosystem, and build relationships with fellow authors.
Are you publishing a web novel?
I’d love to hear about your experiences, progress, or marketing tips, drop a comment and let’s compare notes.
Good luck, and happy writing.
E.M. Dash
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