Making the Most of CC’s Add Novel Feature
I joined CC in October, 2020, and it quickly became the website I stop by most. I particularly like CC’s Add Novel feature. I used the feature soon after joining CC, and as a newbie, I made plenty of mistakes. Some were humbling, and others cost me precious credits. This blog post describes what I learned, so others can avoid my mistakes. This post also gives tips that go beyond adding your novel and into tips for encouraging others to critique it.
Since I’m still new at CC, I don’t’ use much jargon and other terms more experienced writers might use. That might make my instructions clearer to other newbies, but my instructions might also have some mistakes. If you see any, please point them out in the discussion for this blog post, so I can improve these instructions.
Overview of CC’s Add Novel Feature
CC has some great help resources. The FAQ describes how to add a novel, and there’s also a video. As they describe, adding a novel creates a webpage just for your story. That page contains an overview for your novel, all your chapters, an overview for each chapter, and if you like, you can add a synopsis for each chapter. The webpage for your novel also has all the critiques for all the chapters with links to the critiques and critters who made them. There’s actually more on the webpage for a novel. I’ll stop here since I don’t want to get into a long list of technical bits. Overall, having a webpage for your novel gives you and others a single place to view key parts of your story.
The Add Novel feature is only for Premium Members. Part of my day-job has involved software development, so I respect that software like the Add Novel feature isn’t cheap. But honestly, the cost of a Premium Membership feels like it.
Of course, there are some disadvantages to the Add Novel feature. It provides many options, so it takes a while to learn them. The process of setting up a novel and getting people to read it takes a respectable time investment. A private queue can also be part of the Add Novel feature. Those queues have their own set of benefits and challenges, described later. Considering these disadvantages, you probably should not use the Add Novel feature if your story has a small number of chapters or if you’re satisfied with the critiques you’re getting on CC.
Even with these challenges, the Add Novel feature is still my favorite part of CC. Hopefully, the process described below will help you decide if you’d like to use it as well.
The Process of Adding a Novel
The steps below show a process for adding and getting the most of CC’s Add Novel feature, by including and building on what’s in the FAQ and videos. I tried explaining only the steps you need most. You can learn more later. This process assumes you have written some chapters in your novel.
Step 1
Critique several stories and pay attention to the number of words in the stories you critiqued.
- Ask yourself, “How many words are in the stories I like to critique?”
- You'll use the answer in the next step.
Step 2
Revise your first chapter(s) so their word counts are close to your preferred word count.
- After I completed this step and exchanged email with critters with years of experience, I divided my 6,000 word chapters into 3 chapters each.
- Dividing long chapters wasn’t easy, but like most of the hard parts of writing, I was happy with the result. Shorter chapters give readers more choices about where to pause reading.
Step 3
Create a private queue for your novel by following the instructions below
Step 4
Add your novel by following the instructions below.
Step 5
Add your first chapter to a public queue.
- It may seem odd to add it to a public queue when you recently created a private queue, which is also called a Custom Queue. Adding your first chapter to a public queue can help get people to join your private queue. This works best if you add a message to the “Submission notes for this chapter” asking people to join your queue.
- Here’s a revised version of the message I used, in case it helps.
Thanks for reading Chapter 1 of Cancer on my Bike.
Upcoming chapters wander away from sadness and into appreciating life, laughing more, and bring you along with while I cycle across the US. If you’d like to read more chapters, please consider joining my private queue. It's in the Queue classifieds, at the bottom of the main "Story Queue." My queue is called Cancer on My Bike – Memoir. Thanks again.
Step 6
Add the first chapter to your novel.
- While your first chapter is being reviewed in a public queue, add it to your novel, which is described in the Add Novel video and FAQ mentioned above.
- Make sure you do not add a new chapter. That would be a copy of the chapter already being reviewed and would cost you credits. Instead, look for the option to add a chapter from a public queue, which is also described in the video for adding a novel.
- CC FAQ: Adding existing submissions to a novel https://www.critiquecircle.com/faq.asp?all=&cat=10#313
Step 7
Now that your novel and private queue are set up, you need to work on getting people to join your private queue. This process is a bit like marketing a book, which we all need practice at. But in this case, you're marketing your private queue. Here are some options:
- Add your 2nd or 3rd chapter to a public queue and repeat steps 5 and 6, adding a message at the end of the chapter(s) asking people to join your private queue.
- Ask friends on CC to join your private queue.
- Add your private queue to the “Queue Classifieds,” which is also described in the video and FAQ for adding a novel.
- Add the first 1,000 words of your first chapter to “The Hook” Queue CC FAQ: What is the Hook Queue https://www.critiquecircle.com/faq.asp?all=&cat=7#411
- If you use The Hook, add a message at the end encouraging people to join your private queue.
I hope these instructions help you decide if you want to use the Add Novel feature, and if you do, I hope they help you get started. If any step is confusing, please ask about it in the discussion for this blog post.
I’ll end by asking you to consider joining my private queue. 
It’s in the Queue Classifieds and called Cancer on my Bike – Memoir.
Thanks for reading,
Steven aka CycleWritr