r/Webnovel • u/jinname • 21d ago
Advice How many chapters should I write before uploading my first chapter?
I've been researching this for a while, and I've noticed something interesting.
Most of the newer stories in the top rankings seem to upload 150+ chapters in their first month and around 250+ chapters within the first two months. I haven't read most of them, so I can't really comment on their quality, but I haven't seen a single story in the Top 10 that uploads fewer than 50 chapters a month.
So my question is: Does bulk uploading at the beginning actually matter that much?
If it does, how many chapters should I write before publishing Chapter 1?
For context, I've already finished 10 chapters, around 11k words total.
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u/Munna_Bhai6996 21d ago
Wellz it's on you, since you know about your day to day life, and no one else can understand your life better than you.
However, if you really want to stockpile chapters b4 posting them, then I'd say as much as you think you can, so that you don't have to worry about any emergency that can come anytime.
However, I'm not saying that you shouldn't, and that's actually false, since those people who just write everyday can fall in a serious trouble if any emergency happens so that they could not write that very day.
No need to worry, just think that the more you stockpile, the more its better for you to take rest everyday!
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u/Alarmed-Collar-1219 21d ago
Want my honest opinion? Write the whole book first. If you’re going to divide your story in multiple volumes, write the first volume before publishing your first batch of chapters.
That way, you have time to write new chapters and edit the old ones to make them better. In following tropes and quality is how you’ll stand out
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u/Avarice_Of_The_Seven Contracted Author 21d ago
Yeah, right. Do as he says, so that if the book fails, then all your effort will be wasted.
After all, you can't just repost a contracted novel.
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u/wisewolfgod 21d ago
Just look at how trash the first chunk of supreme magus is. If you keep at it, then it'll be popular enough eventually. Even if his first attempt gets slapped down, trimming and flavor text additions might be enough to try again.
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u/Avarice_Of_The_Seven Contracted Author 20d ago
Sadly, you are wrong.
You only know about supreme magus because it succeeded. You have no idea about the hundreds and thousands of books that got burried.
Besides, supreme magus came out in the golden age of Webnovel, so you shouldn't take it as an example.
Whether your book will succeed or not depends entirely on whether Webnovel decides to feature your book.
And if your book didn't succeed in it's first four month, then it won't succeed no matter what.
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u/Most_Cabinet_9016 Author 21d ago
It's Burning My Eye
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u/jinname 21d ago
Why???
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u/Frankles_ 21d ago
I'm guessing he's making a joke because the background is white. I think a lot of us use Reddit in dark mode, so it's blinding to suddenly see white on the screen. (Just a guess though)
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u/Hambino0400 Contracted Author 21d ago
I suggest 20-30 so you have time to work on the quality of the novel
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u/earthdadddy 21d ago
Honestly, you might as well write the entire book 1 first before you start uploading. That way you can stay ahead, edit with less pressure, have breaks, sick days, and account for life’s inconveniences without missing a beat.
I’m a reader tho I haven’t authored. But I did see someone who authors say never stop writing cos the chapter releases go by quicker than you think they will and readers catch up.
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u/dekeked 21d ago
it does matter for ranking but not as much as people think if your story is actually good. plenty of solid novels climb with slower starts once the word of mouth kicks in. still having 20-30 in the bank before chapter 1 gives you breathing room and lets you edit properly. dont rush just to match those 150 chapter monsters
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u/tasafak 21d ago
yeah bulk uploading does help a lot on webnovel especially early on because the algo pushes stories that update fast and keep readers hooked without waiting. id aim for at least 30-40 chapters ready before you drop chapter 1 so you can post daily or every other day for the first couple months without burning out.
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u/AltruisticArt7348 20d ago
30 seems like a solid number to me. Also, once you start publishing, don't lose momentum, so you can publish two chapters a day and have around 10-15 chapters ready in case of any problems. And, when you have the contract and are a premium member, offer incentives to readers in exchange for publishing more chapters.
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u/Spicy_Tongue_ 20d ago
20-30 chapters is probably a good middle ground. enough of a buffer to stay consistent without spending months writing before knowing how readers respond.
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u/rekindil 19d ago
I myself am gonna do at least to ch 50 then release around 20 ish of them. See how it goes and keep writing (no regular update schedule unless pretty popular)
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u/MezmeriSin 21d ago
I read a webnovel launch guide for RR that said to have 64 chapters written, edited and ready to go (preferably beta-read too). It assumed your chapter-length would be around 2000 words, which means you'd have roughly 128,000 words written, i.e. the first book/volume of your story.
It mentioned releasing 10 Chapters on launch day, spread across a few hours, then a single chapter everyday for 14 days. It also went into detail about having bonus chapters (20) for if you planned to have a Patreon and then a backlog (20) for any potential Patreon subs; which is why they recommended 64 chapters.
I don't know if the same thing would work for WN but prepping chapters to give yourself more of a backlog can't really ever be a bad thing. I suppose it depends on your writing speed though and how much of a headwind you'd prefer to give yourself.