Serial Bootcamp
The Serials for Authors Bootcamp is all about helping you start and launch your serial (and hopefully get your first readers!) in just 5 days. We have helpful videos and tips that break down each day into actionable steps that take roughly 30 minutes to complete.
Here’s 3 things you should know about the Serials for Authors Bootcamp:
- The Serials for Authors Bootcamp can be taken anytime
. You can participate in the entire event asynchronously and even use the materials below to do your own mini-serial Bootcamp with a group of author friends. Never too late to start Bootcamp! - The Serials for Authors Bootcamp is directed towards authors who are new to serial writing or who haven’t launched their serial yet. Authors who have launched serials I am confident will still learn some things, but we are really focused on helping people get started with this Bootcamp!
- The Serials for Authors Bootcamp consists of three takeaways, action items, and a video workshop for each day. All of the resources will be linked down below… so feel free to engage with as much of the Bootcamp as you’d like.
And here is the outline of the Serials for Authors Bootcamp!
- Serials for Authors Bootcamp Day 1: Why to Write Serial Fiction
- Serials for Authors Bootcamp Day 2: Starting Your Serial
- Serials for Authors Bootcamp Day 3: Publishing Your First Chapter
- Serials for Authors Bootcamp Day 4: Marketing Your Subscription
- Serials for Authors Bootcamp Day 5: Supercharging Your Serial
P.S. If you want the ultimate education and community experience to help you take your serial to thousands and even millions of reads and beyond, you should check out the 1 Million Reads Serial Lab (only open for a limited-time!).
Now let’s get into it…
Day 1: Why to Write Serial Fiction
Day 1 Goal: to determine what your overarching goals are for starting a serial.
3 Things to Know:
1. Common serial goals include: having readers pay for early access to your chapters, build a community of superfans, or become a full-time author.
2. Serial readers tend to love shorter chapters (1000 – 2000 words) with cliffhangers to give them a strong reason to keep reading.
3. The currency of serials is trust. It takes a long time to build trust, which is why it’s important that you approach serials in a sustainable manner and focus on the long-term over short-term trend-jacking.
Action Steps:
Reflect and answer these 3 questions and share your answer as a post in the FB group:
1. What is your mission behind writing your stories? What impact do you hope your stories will have on your readers?
2. Where would you like your serial to be in 3-5 years?
3. What excites you the most about serials? What scares you the most or what are you uncertain of?
Day 2: Starting Your Serial
Day 2 Goal: Plan your serial schedule, how you’ll monetize, and how you’ll build your fandom.
3 Things to Know:
1. You don’t need to release a chapter every day to be successful. But you do need to find a release schedule that works for you and be consistent.
2. There are many ways to monetize your serial; including subscriptions, pay per chapter, tips, and reformatting your serial as a book.
3. Less is more. We always feel pressure to offer more chapters and to push ourselves to the limit. Serials should be sustainable over the long run.
Action Steps:
Reflect and answer these 4 questions and share your answer as a post in the FB group:
1. Who is the intended audience for your serial (aka what kind of readers like your stories or read in your genre)?
2. List how many chapters you can write a week (and be honest with yourself).
3. Do you plan on being active in your community (aka responding to comments on your serial and leaving author notes)? If so, what kind of approach will you take?
4. How will you monetize your serial?
Day 3: Publishing Your First Chapter
Day 3 Goal: Set up your serial so new fans can join.
3 Things to Know:
1. Set your schedule up, so your chapters release consistently. Sustainability is so, so, so important for your own health and for your business. Don’t burn out by writing chapters/episodes nonstop.
2. Your story doesn’t have to be perfect. Just start. Readers want to read stories. Not all care about it being perfect.
3. You DO NOT need years’ worth of content written before launching your serial. If you want to be ahead, you can have a few chapters pre-written or even your entire story plotted out. But if you need to use serials as a way to be consistent, then that’s fine too!
Action Steps:
Set up your serial share a screenshot of your serial as a post in the FB group:
Set up your serial on https://www.reamstories.com with the strategy you created yesterday!
Tutorials here: https://www.youtube.com/@reamstories/videos
Day 4: Marketing Your Serial
Day 4 Goal: Launch your serial and get your first readers!
3 Things to Know:
1. Readers love content. Don’t worry about your chapters being perfect. You can edit them later. All readers want from you is a good, well-told story. And drama…readers LOVE drama.
2. Leave author notes. What are these? Short notes by you at the end of every chapter. Ask questions and get the conversation going, so readers feel comfortable being part of your community.
3. The launch is just the beginning. If this is your first serial, it’s going to be a learning process. That’s okay! Trust the process. If you’re a seasoned pro, well…you got this!
Action Steps:
Reflect and answer these questions and share your answer as a post in the FB group:
- Determine your initial goal. Are you trying to gain more followers?
2. Are you hoping to convert followers to paying members? Or maybe you just want people to engage. Your goal determines how you analyze your serial data tomorrow and further improve, so this is very important!
Day 5: Supercharging Your Serial
DRUMROLL PLEASE! You made it to the last day of Serial Bootcamp!
Day 5 Goal: Analyze what has worked and what hasn’t worked during Serial Bootcamp, so you can make your serials even better in the future.
3 Things to Know:
1. Be part of the community. Most readers enjoy interacting with their favorite authors.
2. Pivot and adapt. If a strategy isn’t working for you, that’s okay. Pivot to a new one!
3. Retention is everything. It’s great to get new fans in the door, but it won’t mean anything if you can’t keep them happy in your story. The biggest secret to this? Never stop working on your craft!
Action Steps:
Reflect and answer these 3 questions and share your answer as a post in the FB group to determine how you will move forward with your serial:
1. How did the Serial Bootcamp go for you?
2. Moving forward, how much time do you have to devote to your overall publishing business each week? How about specifically for serials? Will you be able to stay consistent? If not, think about how you can stay consistent. Maybe this means shorter chapters or releasing less often.
3. What was the response from readers to your serial? If you got a lackluster response, why do you think that is? Were clicks low in your newsletter, conversions low on your story, or was it tough to get enough eyeballs on your story to begin with?
With these reflective questions, hopefully, you have some steps to improve your serials and grow even more in the future. You can do this!
It’s been SO much fun doing bootcamp with all of you!
If you want to dive even deeper and get the ultimate advice, mentorship, and personalized feedback on writing, marketing, and making money from serial fiction then we have just the opportunity for you.
The 1 Million Reads Serial Lab is designed to help you go from zero to 1 million chapter reads on your serial without spending dozens of hours per week writing or spending thousands of dollars in ads.
In fact, we can help you grow your serial readership and write amazing stories in just a few hours of time per week with personalized mentorship, tons of foundational insights, and a community of authors looking to accelerate toward the same goals as you.
If you want to join the 1 Million Reads Serial Lab you can do so here.
Just take a peek at the awesomeness that’s inside!
