Multiple category stories and publishing chapters

[LetsMisBehave]

I am playing around with a story where a upper sixth form party/senior high school party (anyone who is portrayed as doing anything sexual will be over 18) has a major impact on the lives of about ten of the participants. Five hours which fundamentally change lives.
The storylines include the most sexually promiscous attendee playing fairy godmother to the true (if randy) lovers who don't realise the other one loves them (potentially three POV chapters). two participants plotting to ruin the reputations of two of the guests (three/four POVs), two true believers in MMF trying to convert women to their point of view without damaging their reputations etc. Only one attendee is a total shit (and I'm still working on making him a sympathetic damaged character) The mood swings in trying to write this as a single story means it doesn't work (and is too long) and when I having tried them before multiple POV stories only work for me with a maximum of two POVS (down to my incompetence as a writer).
i have decided that the best chance of making this work is to write POV chapters for each main and major supporting character and have them only noticing what others are up to if it would be totally implausible for them to be oblivious. This avoids having non-consent incidents in the same story as romance/first time. It also needs at least a couple of set up chapters as to why the main protagonists is going to the party
I would be grateful for feedback on
(a) is this just a bloody stupid idea,
(b) should I publish every chapter at the same time (which probably mean around 100,00 words)
(c) should I publish the four main chapters and the set up chapters at the same time and then add in the minor characters viewpoints on a weekly/daily basis
(d) should the POV chapters be put into first time, group sex, non-consent etc catgories or should I go for Novels/Novella.
(e) any other thoughts
I had a first go at this some time ago with a story called the birthday party which disappeared without trace, but a recent comment on the story which said that there was a sweetness about it encouraged me to revisit the set up.
Like most of us, I am open to constructive criticism. If any of you have read my stuff and like the ideas and set up but hate the execution I would love to know why.
If it helps, I was partly inspire dto write on this site by TheRachelChronicles work. I enjoy ambivalence

 

[Djmac1031]

That's...a lot to try and process.

Here's my simple opinion:

If you're going to make it a series, that's fine.

Establish it as a series early on for readers so they know what they're getting into.

Also establish early the idea you will be switching categories per chapter.

As long as you keep the Story title the same and label them part 1, 2 etc it shouldn't be a problem.

I have a long running E/V series but finally came to a chapter where there was sex but nothing to do with exhibitionist or voyeur, so I just put it in EC.

None of my readers complained.

 

[LetsMisBehave]

That's...a lot to try and process.

Here's my simple opinion:

If you're going to make it a series, that's fine.

Establish it as a series early on for readers so they know what they're getting into.

Also establish early the idea you will be switching categories per chapter.

As long as you keep the Story title the same and label them part 1, 2 etc it shouldn't be a problem.

I have a long running E/V series but finally came to a chapter where there was sex but nothing to do with exhibitionist or voyeur, so I just put it in EC.

None of my readers complained.

Thanks for the constructive comments. Is EC basically the place holder for anthing that does not clearly fit in with the other categories and do people recognise that? I used it for my first few stories
I will try warning people in the first chapter that some later ones will move into other areas but will be mostly logically progressing from the earlier ones. In retrospect, in some stories where I have moved between categories I did not give enough warning in advance.

 

[Djmac1031]

. Is EC basically the place holder for anthing that does not clearly fit in with the other categories and do people recognise that?

Yes and no.

In the series I mentioned, every chapter before had some kind of E/V element to it, as that has been the series main theme.

But that particular chapter had no E/V. Instead it featured my main characters having their first threesome.

The sex was pretty straightforward, so EC was the best choice.

A more recent single story of mine features several categories throughout, although none were the main focus.

EC was the only place it made sense to put it because the only other place it would have fit was Sci Fi / Fantasy and while it was a fantasy in a way it didn't really seem to fit there either and I thought it might get a better audience in EC.

 

[Bamagan]

Setting it up as a Series may be your best option, with a given chapter categorized by whatever seems to be the most limiting kink (i.e., things like non-consent bother a lot of people so it may help you avoid negative feedback of the destructive variety, as opposed to constructive). Depending on how much the events of one vignette/chapter affect the others, you might even treat it as a kind of shared universe where people can read the series Intro on the main page and then find whichever categories they're most interested in, or skip the ones that are outside their preferred zone. That may not be an option for you, of course, depending on how thick of a narrative thread you have connecting each shift in character and POV.
I think you might be better served to publish it piecemeal, if it's that long, and especially if it veers in wildly different directions in terms of the kinks featured in any given part. You can put a disclaimer at the beginning of a novel to explain potential triggers, but I doubt most readers are going to sit down and digest all 100k words in one sitting, which means they might forget the content warnings by the time they wander back. I think doing it in smaller chapters also can help you find an audience more easily, as people who are principally checking for new additions could easily miss a single instance of it while it's featured as a new work, whereas breaking it up into ten or however many chapters gives you more chances to be found by casual readers, and those who are looking for a relatively quick read and would pass by a novel might give a chapter a try and get hooked. People clearly have success with both strategies, though, so there's no reason to assume my strategy would work well in your case. I wish you success either way!

 

[LetsMisBehave]

Thanks for the suggestions. Maybe i should investigate how easy it is to amend existing works as I am tempted by the idea of having at the start of each chapter a hint as to would be the main player in the other chapters and the category it fell into. Perhaps I could prewrite the whole and then publish with a gap of a few days each chapter. that would allow me to have the guidelines in the early chapters.

 

[Djmac1031]

Thanks for the suggestions. Maybe i should investigate how easy it is to amend existing works as I am tempted by the idea of having at the start of each chapter a hint as to would be the main player in the other chapters and the category it fell into. Perhaps I could prewrite the whole and then publish with a gap of a few days each chapter. that would allow me to have the guidelines in the early chapters.

It really depends on how you break the chapters down and what's featured most prominently.

Example:
In chapter 3, the main focus is an anal sex encounter.
Obviously Anal would be the best catagory.
Chapter 4 features incest. Again, obvious catagory.

It gets trickier though when you start combining things. What if it's family members having anal?

The answer is: it goes in Incest but tagged with Anal.

Now here's the REALLY tough question:
What if Scene 1 in chapter 4 features Anal, and Scene 2 features a completely different couple having incest?
And, just to complicate things, Scene 3 features lesbians?

That's where EC is both a blessing and a curse. You can kinda dump those types of stories in there if they don't fit one particular catagory.

But you run the risk of upsetting/triggering readers that don't like a particular kink that crops up in the story.

 

[BobbyBrandt]

(a) is this just a bloody stupid idea,

Not if thought out, which it appears to be what you are doing.

(b) should I publish every chapter at the same time (which probably mean around 100,00 words)

If all chapters are part of the same story and not stand-alone components of a series, I would post them all together as a single story submission. 100K is large for many categories, so that would need to play into your decision. All of my 100K+ stories are posted in Novels/Novellas, which they fit into well.

(c) should I publish the four main chapters and the set up chapters at the same time and then add in the minor characters viewpoints on a weekly/daily basis

IMO, that would depend upon the reaction and feedback from the readers. If they are clambering for more of the story sooner rather than later, be prepared to adjust. Either way, just make certain that the story is complete before you start posting or you will eliminate the options for posting alternatives.

(d) should the POV chapters be put into first time, group sex, non-consent etc catgories or should I go for Novels/Novella.

A completed story should only fit into one category. Scenes and events within it might include different genre tropes, but the story as a whole and all of its parts should be fixed into one category. You don't find chapters of a book about travel to Greece partly in the map section and partly in cookbooks section just because it has travel directions and recipes included in it.

(e) any other thoughts

Be patient and let the story get completed before posting. I'm sure that you wouldn't have much trouble finding beta readers here who could advise you more effectively once they are able to read the completed work. Good luck.

 

[LexxRuthless]

You can absolutely publish a series in multiple categories. With my very first submissions to the site, I did that intentionally, thinking it would draw readers from each of those categories and draw more eyeballs to my writing. To some extent, it worked. However, I did not realize at the time that the majority of Lit readers DO NOT LIKE SERIES and WILL NOT READ THEM. My subsequent standalone short stories drew far more attention, and eventually some of those readers decided to give my earlier series a shot.

 

[LetsMisBehave]

It really depends on how you break the chapters down and what's featured most prominently.

Example:
In chapter 3, the main focus is an anal sex encounter.
Obviously Anal would be the best catagory.
Chapter 4 features incest. Again, obvious catagory.

It gets trickier though when you start combining things. What if it's family members having anal?

The answer is: it goes in Incest but tagged with Anal.

Now here's the REALLY tough question:
What if Scene 1 in chapter 4 features Anal, and Scene 2 features a completely different couple having incest?
And, just to complicate things, Scene 3 features lesbians?

That's where EC is both a blessing and a curse. You can kinda dump those types of stories in there if they don't fit one particular catagory.

But you run the risk of upsetting/triggering readers that don't like a particular kink that crops up in the story.

That's one of the reasons why i want to divide things up into single POVs a chapter who have tunnel vision. I did one story which was fundamentally a love story with group sex and ambigously consensual sex going on inthe background and in retrospect I get why that satisfied no one.

 

[LetsMisBehave]

You can absolutely publish a series in multiple categories. With my very first submissions to the site, I did that intentionally, thinking it would draw readers from each of those categories and draw more eyeballs to my writing. To some extent, it worked. However, I did not realize at the time that the majority of Lit readers DO NOT LIKE SERIES and WILL NOT READ THEM. My subsequent standalone short stories drew far more attention, and eventually some of those readers decided to give my earlier series a shot.

i have one series where I varied categories and it is weird to find a later chapter has more reads than an earlier one because it was in a more popular category. I suppose for me series depend on the length. No problem with five, happy to try the first few of a ten, but fifty is OTT.
Actually writig teh question and reading the responses has focused me on the fact that my best rated stories are the ones which keep it simple. My characters are not being stupid but they are reacting to what is immediately going on

 

[LetsMisBehave]

Not if thought out, which it appears to be what you are doing.

If all chapters are part of the same story and not stand-alone components of a series, I would post them all together as a single story submission. 100K is large for many categories, so that would need to play into your decision. All of my 100K+ stories are posted in Novels/Novellas, which they fit into well.

IMO, that would depend upon the reaction and feedback from the readers. If they are clambering for more of the story sooner rather than later, be prepared to adjust. Either way, just make certain that the story is complete before you start posting or you will eliminate the options for posting alternatives.

A completed story should only fit into one category. Scenes and events within it might include different genre tropes, but the story as a whole and all of its parts should be fixed into one category. You don't find chapters of a book about travel to Greece partly in the map section and partly in cookbooks section just because it has travel directions and recipes included in it.

Be patient and let the story get completed before posting. I'm sure that you wouldn't have much trouble finding beta readers here who could advise you more effectively once they are able to read the completed work. Good luck.

Thanks for the feedback. It has helped me think more deeply about the issues for which I am grateful. One of my problems is that I have been stupid enough to go for an interlocking universe where characters with different foibles and moral values interact and think that the others are nastier than they really are. Exploring their interaction and mutual incomprehension is part of the fun of writing, but makes the stories hard to categorise. i am also mystified as to why some stories get plenty of readers but bad scores and others get good scores but few readers.

 

[MelissaBaby]

IMO, if it is a series of loosely related stand alone stories, the sensible thing is to place each in the most appropriate category. If they are chapters in a continuous narrative, they should all be in the category that is appropriate to the overall narrative, unless there are multiple erotic themes, in which case, I would put it in Novels and Novellas.

 

[AchtungNight]

I like to think Celebrities is a safe category for some of my story series. I was exploring different categories throughout my writing. I think over time I’m more into storytelling than smut. But if I can incorporate smut…

 

[BobbyBrandt]

IMO, if it is a series of loosely related stand alone stories, the sensible thing is to place each in the most appropriate category. If they are chapters in a continuous narrative, they should all be in the category that is appropriate to the overall narrative, unless there are multiple erotic themes, in which case, I would put it in Novels and Novellas.

I can't disagree. The underlying problem is the inconsistent use of nomenclature and the ability to clearly distinguish between what constitutes a series of related stories versus a chapter story.

I tend to consider, "How would I structure these pieces if they were going onto a bookstore shelf?"

 

[LetsMisBehave]

Thank you all for your constructive replies. I suppose that I see it as a series of separate but interconnected stories where for each participant the evening fundamentally affects at least the next few months of their lives. I've seen it done on TV where the same scene is portrayed from different viewpoints and that while each chapter is stand alone, the knowledge of what the people in the background are up to enhances the experience. That is why it is tempting to try and publish say the set up chapter and the first four POV chapters simultaneously. I am leaning to putting each POV chapter in the appropriate category although perhaps giving a heads up at the end of the chapter to where the POV story of the main supporting character can be found.