Where to Publish Your Web Novel: 8 Reasons for ChapterChase
The best place to publish a web novel is one where you keep your rights, can post for free, and can take your story elsewhere if the platform changes. That's the short answer, and it's why this guide starts with two serial fiction platforms that shut down rather than with a feature list.
ChapterChase is built on that principle. Authors keep ownership of the text they post and grant only a non-exclusive license, so you can publish here and anywhere else at the same time. Below, you'll see what the Kindle Vella and Radish closures teach serial authors and what the Authors Guild says about rights. Then come eight reasons to publish on ChapterChase, an honest note on who it may not suit, and a checklist for staying portable.
Key takeaways
- Serial platforms can close: Kindle Vella stopped selling episodes on February 26, 2025, and Radish shut down on December 31, 2025.
- A non-exclusive license lets you post the same story in several places. The Authors Guild says a grant of rights should be limited to the specific formats in which the publisher may distribute the work.
- Publishing on ChapterChase is free, authors keep ownership of their text, and the license is non-exclusive.
- Readers can support authors with Pran Points, and authors get chapter comments, reviews, a forum board per novel, analytics, competitions and paid promotion tools.
- Our advice wherever you publish: keep your own backups, read the license before you post, and be wary of unpaid exclusivity.
What Kindle Vella and Radish teach serial authors
Even well-funded serial platforms can close, and when they do, your own plan matters more than the platform's. Two closures in 2025 made that very clear.
Amazon launched Kindle Vella in 2021. In its Kindle Vella Update FAQ, Amazon said the program "didn't catch on as we'd hoped." December 4, 2024 was the last day to publish stories or buy tokens, as Engadget reported. The wind-down took effect on February 26, 2025, after which episodes were no longer for sale. Readers kept the episodes they had unlocked, unused tokens were refunded, and Amazon encouraged authors to republish their stories as ebooks.
Radish followed a different path to the same end. According to Publishers Weekly, Kakao bought Radish for $440 million in 2021 and took a $325 million impairment in 2023 related to Radish and Tapas. Kakao announced the closure in July 2025. Radish closed on December 31, 2025, and after that date unlocked chapters and coins became inaccessible.
The lesson isn't "never use a big platform." It's that the platform's business decisions are outside your control. Amazon's advice to republish as ebooks is easy to follow only if you have clean manuscript files and your rights aren't tied up elsewhere. Amazon also removed the Vella reports dashboard, so authors who hadn't kept their own records lost that view of their numbers.
Serial fiction is still large, but the numbers move in both directions. Wattpad's brand page reports around 89 million monthly users (Q1 2024). China Literature's 2025 annual results report 400,000 new writers and more than 800,000 new novels that year (company-reported figures). The same results show combined monthly active users falling from 166.6 million in 2024 to 137.8 million in 2025. Audiences move, and so do platforms. Your stories should be able to move too.
Why a non-exclusive license matters
A non-exclusive license is permission to display your work that doesn't stop you licensing it to anyone else. An exclusive grant is a transfer of specific rights that only the licensee may then use.
The Authors Guild's Model Trade Book Contract is a useful benchmark. Its grant of rights section says the grant "should be limited to the specific formats in which the publisher may distribute the work." It adds that the author should retain all rights "subject only to the rights specifically granted," and that rights can be exclusive or non-exclusive. That guidance is written for book contracts. In our view, the principle carries over to any site where you post fiction: give away only what's needed, and know exactly what that is.
ChapterChase's Terms of Service follow the narrow approach. Authors and translators retain ownership of the original text they submit. By posting, they grant ChapterChase a non-exclusive, worldwide, royalty-free license to display, distribute and promote the work on the platform. In plain terms, ChapterChase can show and promote your story, and you remain free to post it on your own site or another serial platform, or to publish it as an ebook.
Our advice: if any platform asks for exclusivity, treat it as something with a price. Exclusivity can be a fair trade when it comes with real compensation. It's a poor trade when it's simply the default for posting.
8 reasons to publish your web novel on ChapterChase
These reasons stick to what the platform offers today, and none of them requires you to leave another site.
1. You keep ownership and can publish elsewhere
You keep the rights to your original text, and the license you grant is non-exclusive. If you already serialize somewhere else, you can mirror your chapters here. If you later want to publish an ebook, the license doesn't stand in the way.
2. Publishing is free, on your own schedule
It costs nothing to publish. The creator workspace lets you create a novel, add a cover, write a blurb, choose tags and post chapters whenever it suits you. For a step-by-step walkthrough, our guide on how to publish a web novel online covers setup from the first chapter.
3. Readers can support you with Pran Points
Pran Points are ChapterChase's platform currency, bought in bundles such as 500 for $5.00. Supporting authors directly is one of their core uses. Readers also spend them to unlock bonus chapters, side stories and concept art, and to vote in polls that shape story outcomes. The core library is free to read, and Pran Points pay for optional extras. See Pran Points explained for the details.
4. Feedback where your readers already are
Every chapter has its own comment thread, so reactions land exactly where they happened in the story. Novel pages carry reader ratings and reviews. Each novel also gets its own forum board with per-chapter discussion threads and megathreads.
5. Analytics that point to next actions
The creator analytics page has four sections: What changed, Next actions, Top novel and Top chapter. In our view, that framing helps, because raw numbers rarely tell you what to write next.
6. Readers can find you through filters, tags and rankings
Readers have several ways to find stories on ChapterChase. The filter page lets them combine search, status (ongoing or completed), genre and multiple tags, then sort by options such as Most Views, Top Rated or Recently Updated. Tag pages and ranking lists such as top novels and latest updates give your story more routes to a reader. Our advice: accurate tags and a sharp blurb help you make the most of all of them.
7. Writing competitions
ChapterChase runs writing competitions, with entries and winners collected on their own page. In our view, a competition can give you a target to write toward and a reason for readers to look at new work.
8. Promotion campaigns and Author Pro
When you're ready to pay for reach, you can run a promotion campaign with Pran Points. You choose placements (site-wide, homepage, chapter pages, novel pages, listing pages, forum pages or blog pages) and set a total budget of at least 500 Pran Points. The builder shows a reach estimate before you commit. New campaigns go through review, and reports show impressions, clicks, click-through rate and remaining budget. A campaign is shown to the same browser at most three times per session.
The optional Author Pro is ChapterChase's $9.99-a-month creator plan. It adds 1,000 Pran Points per month, a monthly "Recommended" placement, advanced creator analytics, visibility boost tools, priority email support and an Author Pro badge. See the Author Pro plan details. It's optional, and publishing is free without it. Read how to promote your novel on ChapterChase before spending on ads.
Who ChapterChase suits, and who it may not
ChapterChase is a good fit if you want to publish free, keep your rights and build a community around a serial. It's a weaker fit if you need things it doesn't promise.
It suits you if:
- You're starting your first serial and want a free place to post and get chapter-by-chapter feedback.
- You already publish elsewhere and want another home for the same story without signing exclusivity.
- You enjoy talking with readers in comments and forum threads.
- You'd like readers to support you directly, and may try small ad campaigns later.
It may not suit you if:
- You want an advance or guaranteed income. Nothing here promises a fixed payout.
- You'd rather not read or respond to feedback. Comments, reviews and forum boards are a big part of the site.
- You've signed, or plan to sign, an exclusive deal elsewhere. Check that contract first, because an exclusive grant may forbid posting the same story on other sites.
To compare platforms fairly, judge each one on the same points. This table sets ChapterChase's terms beside the questions we suggest asking any other platform.
| Point | ChapterChase | Questions to ask any other platform |
|---|---|---|
| License | Non-exclusive; authors keep ownership of their original text | Is it exclusive? Which rights and formats does it cover? How do I end it? |
| Cost to publish | Free; Author Pro is optional | Is anything required to post or to reach readers? |
| Discovery | Filter page, tag pages, ranking lists and paid promotion campaigns | How do readers find new stories, and what does visibility cost? |
| Reader support | Readers can support authors directly with Pran Points | How do readers pay authors, and how are authors paid? |
| If the platform closes | You own your text and the license is non-exclusive, so you can republish from your own files | What happens to my chapters, readers' purchases and my records? |
Our web novel platform comparison checklist lays out these criteria in more detail.
The portable-author checklist
Staying portable means you could move your story to a new home quickly if you had to. This is our advice for any platform, including ChapterChase:
- Keep master files off the platform. Write in your own documents and keep at least two backups, such as a local copy and cloud storage.
- Read the license before chapter one. Look for three things: exclusive or non-exclusive, which formats or rights are covered, and how you end the arrangement.
- Avoid unpaid exclusivity. The Authors Guild says a grant should be limited to the specific formats in which the publisher may distribute the work. Our advice: only accept exclusivity when it comes with clear compensation.
- Save your own numbers. Note down (or export, where a platform allows it) reads, earnings and top chapters regularly. Vella authors lost their reports dashboard when the service closed.
- Keep a publishing log. Record which chapters are live on which sites, with dates, so you can republish or update quickly.
- Give readers a way to follow you, not just the platform. A personal site or newsletter link in your blurb, or wherever a platform lets you add one, helps readers find you if a platform changes.
Start your novel on ChapterChase
If the fit sounds right, the quickest way to judge it is to post something. Set up your novel with a cover, a blurb and honest tags, publish your first chapter, and see how readers respond.
Create your novel on ChapterChase and publish your first chapter
Frequently asked questions
Where can I publish my web novel for free?
ChapterChase is one option: creating a novel and posting chapters costs nothing, and the core library is free for readers too. Before choosing any site, compare the license terms, since "free" and "non-exclusive" are separate questions.
Can I publish my web novel on multiple sites?
Yes, as long as none of the sites holds exclusive rights to it. ChapterChase's license is non-exclusive, so you can post the same story here and elsewhere. If another platform's terms are exclusive, check them first.
Do I keep the rights if I post my story online?
It depends on the site's terms. On ChapterChase, authors keep ownership of their original text and grant only a non-exclusive license.
What happened to Kindle Vella stories?
December 4, 2024 was the last day to publish stories or buy tokens, and episodes went off sale on February 26, 2025. Readers kept unlocked episodes, unused tokens were refunded, and Amazon encouraged authors to republish their stories as ebooks.
Can you make money publishing a web novel?
You can, but income is never guaranteed. On ChapterChase, readers can support authors directly with Pran Points. Our advice: treat income as something that builds with your readership, not something to count on at launch.
How we wrote this guide: the ChapterChase editorial team checked every statistic against the linked source and labels our own advice as advice. Spotted an error? Contact us, or read more about us.
The bottom line
Choose platforms that let you keep your rights and leave when you need to, and keep your own copies whatever you choose. ChapterChase gives you free publishing, reader support through Pran Points, and tools for feedback, discovery and promotion, under a license that leaves you free to publish elsewhere.