Advice from a Master

  It's just so cool I had to share it with you.  As you know, I recently started publishing my first novel for free online.  I thought it would be wise to seek the advice of someone who has been through the process before and could give me some advice.  I turned to one of my favorite authors and guess what?  He emailed me back with some words of wisdom!  I'm not gonna drop names (out of respect for him and cuz that's just cheesy), but I wanted to provide here my email and his reply:

Hi, _____-

  I am a fan of your books and have written a novel of my own. I'd like to do what you did, and would appreciate any helpful advice you could give me about the process. I am a great admirer of your work and have been inspired by your success as well as your subject matter and original takes on familiar creatures. I look forward to meeting you some day.
Hi, Paul-

The mechanics of putting a book online are pretty straightforward--you want some blogging software, and there are some great free resources out there.  After that it's pretty much a matter of sticking with it.

My best advice is to make a schedule and stick to it.  People appreciate it when you post on a regular basis, so they know when to come back and read the next chapter.  I posted every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday.  Twice a week, or even just once a week, is probably fine.  The key thing is to post on the same day(s) every week.  That way people make a habit of visiting your site on the days they expect an update.  If you don't post for a protracted length of time, typically people will start drifting away.

It's a lot of hard work, but it's quite fulfilling and you'll learn more about writing than you ever will in a workshop or just writing for yourself.  I wish you much luck with it!

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  Now, if only someone other than my dad would read my book (and he didn't even like it!).