The serial or serial novel was a form popularized by Charles Dickens where readers received portions of a novel in installments, building excitement and anticipation between installments. Appearing in print magazines, the installments or episodes drew public feedback, and Dickens often factored in that feedback when writing the subsequent installment to his serial novels. Today’s audience is familiar with the serial form mostly as reincarnated on television. JukePop Serials, however, believes that readers and writers are ready for a resurgence of the serial in written form.
You can read the 1st chapter of any serial w/o having an account. But an account is needed for continuing with the story and for meaningful activities like +voting, commenting, and add to bookshelf.
+Voting is a quick and easy way to let authors know that you want to read more of the story or just simply that you enjoyed reading it. +Voting is by chapter, and is always at the bottom of screen as you read. It is also the only way for serials to rise in ranking and be eligible for monthly cash prizes. So it doesn't matter if you leave a glowing review or comment, if you don't vote, your favorite serial may not continue.
It's the author's call but they are aware of two incentives to release often and regularly. 1) there must be 1 new chapter per month to be considered for cash rewards and 2) writers can only get 1 +vote per chapter, so if more chapters released = more +votes.
JP 30 indicates that serial is in the top 30 serial that month. Rankings change in real time so make sure you add serials to your bookshelf when you find the ones you like!
You can see how many chapters are currently in the serial by going into the serial and checking the reader control at the bottom of your browser screen. Serials with only one chapter will say "1 of 1" vs. "1 of X" for more than one chapters. If you're clicking on the arrow to goto the next chapter and it doesn't work, enabling "cookies" and clear you browser's cache will usually fix the issue.
JukePop Serials is dedicated at finding great stories, period. We don't look down on a genre just because there may not be millions of existing readers. We think authors, whether they write for large or small audiences deserves a start - and we pay to help authors get started. Once the author starts with us, it's up to the community to decide how to reward the authors via chapter based voting.
First, we provide a platform for writer development. During our current beta phase we will be paying accepted serial start submissions up to 2 cents per word for up to the first 3,500 words. So now is a great time to start submitting up to three serial starts. Review our Submissions page for details.
Even during our beta phase, writers can earn cash by encouraging the readers to vote for the stories they like. The top 30 (JP 30) most voted serials will receive monthly cash prizes along with biannual cash prize. Besides the monetary incentive, we encourage our readers to comment on the stories they are reading. Writers seldom receive feedback during the novel writing process, but at JukePop Serials, you will have the opportunity to write a novel one chapter at a time while building a readership and benefitting from your readers’ comments, feedback, and suggestions. Comments provide writers insight into reader taste. Furthermore writers can see how they are doing relative to other serials and learn from other similarly accomplished authors. With every new chapter, authors can tailor, pivot, or continue their stories to best please their audiences.
When a serial's submission status changes you will get an email from us and it will be reflected in "My Accounts" -> "My Submissions" page. We typically get back to writers within 6-8 weeks of submission date. If the serial has been approved, visit "My Accounts" then "My Submissions" page, click on the "Publish" button under the serial and follow on screen instructions.
Only one requirement, the image has to be a minimum of 600 pixels wide by 800 pixels high and have the same ratio of width to height (3:4). The files can be any size, it just may take longer to upload.
JukePop Serials is build using HTML5, thus some features require the latest Firefox, Safari, Chrome, and IE. If you are seeing weirdness, check to make sure you have the latest browser version.
No, if an serial is discontinued or stalls, it is most likely due to lack of reader interest or engagement. Nothing motivates our authors to keep writing like reader appreciation. So be sure to +vote for the serial you want to keep reading!
Because monthly rewards are based on a serial’s rank by accumulated +votes, the longer authors write and the more frequently new chapters are added, the more likely they will be able to earn monthly cash rewards. Plus if authors embrace our interactive features, they will be able to harness reader feedback. To be eligible for the monthly awards writers must submit at least one new installment to their serial(s) per month.
Foster a relationship with your readers and make your chapters more reader friendly by 1) Use Twitter, each serial has a twitter stream from its author's twitter account. 2) Responding to comments. 3) Have a "What happened last episode" section before each chapter. 4) Include an "Author's Notes" section at the end of every chapter for general queries or teasers is also ok!
Authors are not required to do so, but they understand sensitivity to readers will maximize their opportunity to build a readership and earn monthly cash prizes. Good authors will address reader suggestions via their writing, comments, or twitter accounts.
Writers who are accepted will receive detailed Terms & Conditions and will have a chance to agree to them before being published on the site. High level terms that writers tend to worry about are:
Q) Who owns the rights?
A) Writers own the rights, JukePop Serials does not claim any ownership rights to your story.
Q) Can I publish else where?
A) Yes, we only ask for a short period of exclusivity to be respectful of our readers, after which writers can publish anywhere and in any format.
You can find it at the top of the page by clicking "Submit" if you're just visiting. If you have an account, you can find it under "My Account" -> "Submit", then click on "Terms of Submission". In short though, we're paying accepted serial start submissions up to 2 cents per word for up to the first 3,500 words.
Your first chapter is your "pitch" to potential readers - use it wisely. If you have successfully hooked the readers, the readership you build in the next two to three chapters will be the cornerstone of your fan base. Your chapters should not be too long, 1500 to 2500 words per chapter is a comfortable, one sitting chapter. Do not assume that your readers will remember what has happened because it could be a week or two before you are ready with the next chapter. A quick remind at the beginning of a new chapter is just being "user friendly".
JukePop Serials encourages readers to vote, provide feedback, and share their favorite story with others. Additionally JukePop is working hard to attract interest from a broad range of reading communities to this new presentation of a classic and popular form. Particularly for work accepted during our beta phase, authors will have an early advantage in building an audience. After that, the quality of the work and sensitivity to the serial's audience will maximize a serial's potential.
Pure and simple, accumulating +votes is the only way to rise up in ranking. We make it easy for your readers to +vote on a per chapter basis. Since not all readers like to leave comments or feedbacks, this is the most popular way readers can tell JukePop Serials which authors they'd like to reward. Authors adding at least one new chapter monthly will remain eligible for month-end rewards based on serial ranking. Since readers +vote on a per chapter basis, the more chapters a serial has, the more likely it will attract reader votes. +Voting is very important from a reader’s perspective as well: their ability to +vote or leave feedback/comments can influence the direction of a serial by providing an incentive for writers to consider their audience’s suggestions.
JukePop Serials will always tally up votes on the last day of the month, precisely at 11:59PM, PST. (1st - 10th place gets $30, 11th - 20th gets $20, 21th - 30th gets $10.) Every 6 months we'll also reward $500 to the serial that was live in the same period with the highest accumulated +votes.
Tags are useful if the serial is beyond the definition of a certain genre. It is also useful for authors to associate their serial(s) with words readers would use to find stories with specific elements they want to read, i.e. a "ghost" story, a story with "dragons", a story with "aliens", etc etc.
