Promotions and Pay-walls
Scroll down the page for details of our pay-wall and promotional opportunities.
Pay-walls
We believe that writers should have the right to earn money from their artistic labours. You wouldn't expect a musician to upload his or her tracks to the Internet, for all and sundry to enjoy, for no monetary gain. The same applies to writing. Writing a novel typically requires a huge degree of time and effort, and in recognition of that we offer writers the opportunity to impose a "pay-wall".
What does that mean? Simply, if a reader wishes to read a serial behind a pay-wall, he or she must pay in order to do so.
How does it work? When a pay-wall is imposed, access to all or some of a specific serial is password protected. Only paying readers will receive the password to access the page.
Can I keep some of the serial free? Yes. In fact, you may wish to keep the first few installments free, to get readers interested, and then charge for the remainder.
Is the charge on an installment-by-installment basis? No. The reader pays once and once only, and then has access to the entire serial and any future installments.
How much to charge? It's up to you, although we recommend you think carefully before choosing an amount. Unless you have a dedicated following, and/or are an established writer already, £1 / €1 / $1 may be a useful starting point. The minimum charge is 20 pence (GBP) or its equivalent in other currencies.
Can I adjust the amount? Yes. At any time you can contact us to change the amount charged. This will only apply to future paying readers, so anyone who has already paid will not receive a further charge / refund.
How much do I get? Serialise retains the higher of 40% and 20 pence (GBP) of whatever is charged. So if you impose a 21 pence pay-wall you will receive 1 pence in respect of every paying reader. If you impose a £2 pay-wall, you will receive £1.20 in respect of every paying reader.
When do I get it? Serialise prepare periodic activity statements for all writers. For writers with serials behind a pay-wall, these activity statements will also include payment statements. Actual payment is made on or slightly after the date the statement is sent, via electronic bank transfer, and using the account details provided when the pay-wall was instituted. If these have changed, contact us to let us know.
If you have any other questions on pay-walls, please contact us.
Promotion
Whether or not you have a pay-wall in place, you may wish to promote your writing. For 99 pence we will feature a link to your serial on our homepage for a period of one week.
What are the advantages of promoting your serial? Featuring your serial on the Serialise homepage can drastically increase its exposure and general readership. If you have a £1 pay-wall in place, for example, attracting just two readers would pay for the cost of promotion. Every reader thereafter would result in a net income stream.
Can I promote someone else's serial? Anyone can promote a serial, whether or not they are the writer. However, if a story is promoted by anyone other than the writer, and that individual has not elected to make the payment anonymously, as a courtesy we will email the writer to inform them.
Are there any other ways to promote my serial? There are many ways. We will shortly be introducing a promotional feature via our Twitter account. Alternatively, you can share a link to your serial through your own social media accounts.