Blog Publication Follow-Up: Was This What I Expected?

If you've been following along with me these past few months, I made the decision this year to serialize and publish a YA science-fiction novella that I'd written for a previous competition, Grave Diggers. Since the novella didn't win the contest, and the word count is a bit too long for most short story publications, The Writing Desk Blog seemed like the perfect place to share some of my work and send Grave Diggers out into the world.

With the final chapter posted last week, I finally felt some of the worry over how it was being received lift. The entire story is out there. Some readers may like it, and for others it might not be their cup of tea. But the point is, I set a goal for myself and I (mostly) stuck to the publication schedule I created. It's a good feeling!  

I honestly wasn't sure what kind of feedback I'd receive. Despite the fact that I wrote this novella over three years ago, it does happen to touch on some current hot-button issues in the media. But overall, the response has been positive and I'm so grateful to my fellow writers and readers on Instagram and Twitter for supporting me as I've prepared and published each chapter!

We'll see what happens as feedback continues to trickle in, and now I'd like to know what everyone else thinks. Have you ever published a short story or novella online for public critique? What platform did you use and what sort of response did you get from readers? Do you feel it was beneficial to you as a writer?

Have a great weekend, everyone!

*****

Did you miss any chapter of Grave Diggers? Fear not! I've linked them all below for you:

Part I
Part II
Part III
Part IV
Part V
Part VI
Part VII
Part VIII
Part IX
Part X

© Courtney Carter, http://writingdeskblog.blogspot.com, 2018