So - What's the deal with the Novel/Novella Category? Success Stories?

[Theylo_Bleu]

So,

As a writer, I am a world builder, it's my thing. So my stories are all intended to be a part of a series. They run the gambit of categories, but they're connected enough that I have wondered about the novels and novellas category to keep them more bound together.

Is this a bad idea? Have there been any successes in that field?

Thanks,

TB

 

[MelissaBaby]

So,

As a writer, I am a world builder, it's my thing. So my stories are all intended to be a part of a series. They run the gambit of categories, but they're connected enough that I have wondered about the novels and novellas category to keep them more bound together.

Is this a bad idea? Have there been any successes in that field?

Thanks,

TB

It depends how you define success. Views are relatively low, but the readers are generally generous on ratings.

If you publish in chapters, you will probably see your views drop and scores rise with succeeding entries.

I have submitted both series and stand alones in the category and have been very comfortable there.

 

[Theylo_Bleu]

It depends how you define success. Views are relatively low, but the readers are generally generous on ratings.

If you publish in chapters, you will probably see your views drop and scores rise with succeeding entries.

I have submitted both series and stand alones in the category and have been very comfortable there.

thanks for the feedback, very helpful. Oh the whoas of writing and posting.

 

[Duleigh]

The advantage is you can put anything you want in there and the readers are not going to expect a 900 word "stroker"

I loved every minute that I wrote We're a Wonderful Wife and since it was all one big story, I could break off chapter whenever I wanted, a proper story needs a story climax and resolution, you only have to do that onece in a 34 chapter novel. The type of person that reads a Novel/Novella is not in a hurry so your view count is going to be low.

 

[AchtungNight]

I have many novel and novella length favorite stories. Not all of them are officially in that category. Many are just multi chapter works in Group Sex, Incest, or Celeb.

 

[Theylo_Bleu]

The advantage is you can put anything you want in there and the readers are not going to expect a 900 word "stroker"

I loved every minute that I wrote We're a Wonderful Wife and since it was all one big story, I could break off chapter whenever I wanted, a proper story needs a story climax and resolution, you only have to do that onece in a 34 chapter novel. The type of person that reads a Novel/Novella is not in a hurry so your view count is going to be low.

That all makes sense for sure - I wonder how useful the tags are in finding stories outside of a given category. If a chapter is exhibition heavy for example, will folks into that find it? these are questions haha

 

[Duleigh]

That all makes sense for sure - I wonder how useful the tags are in finding stories outside of a given category. If a chapter is exhibition heavy for example, will folks into that find it? these are questions haha

I tailored the tags for each chapter. Some chapters were hot and sexy like when the MMC and FMC got married, and some were very, very sad, both the MMC and the FMC nearly got killed at different times. Those chapters have lower readership.

 

[Theylo_Bleu]

I have many novel and novella length favorite stories. Not all of them are officially in that category. Many are just multi chapter works in Group Sex, Incest, or Celeb.

That's currently what I've got going on. I'm getting nervous as different spin offs in my series have different flavors which means different audiences

 

[Theylo_Bleu]

I tailored the tags for each chapter. Some chapters were hot and sexy like when the MMC and FMC got married, and some were very, very sad, both the MMC and the FMC nearly got killed at different times. Those chapters have lower readership.

I might have to check this thing out!

 

[Duleigh]

I might have to check this thing out!

Please do, I want to write more but I promised myself and my readers 14 chapters.
Here's the kicker, it is the back story of a contest entry, A Krissmas Karole, and look - both got nominated. I must have done something right

 

[PennameWombat]

That all makes sense for sure - I wonder how useful the tags are in finding stories outside of a given category. If a chapter is exhibition heavy for example, will folks into that find it? these are questions haha

If readers do a tag search, yes, they can find stories with that tag across multiple categories. But, HOW readers find stories here is an evergreen debate, if you scroll down this Forum a bit, you'll find recent threads on 'getting rid of categories' and 'story tags are a mess' and so on. There have been many past discussions.

Short answer is... no one knows. The authors who post on this Forum discuss how WE find stories, but given that such authors are a small fraction of even the authors who post stories[1], we're not exactly representative. And the site doesn't really publish any sorts of stats or info that provide solid insight into what leads readers to stories. That said, we pay attention to Category and to use of tags, but it's all dark arts.

About the only factor that seems solid is that the 'New' flag catches people's interest. So the first week after a story's publication is usually its biggest view collection.

[1] Some time ago, I tracked a few days worth of new stories (not during a Contest submission period) and compared the authors to the posters here in AH. We were, on that sample, single digit percentage of the authors who'd published those stories. Do some more of those authors lurk here and just not actively post? Maybe, but I've no info on that. It's also possible some of those authors published under a different ID than they use to post here. But I kind of doubt that'd make any major difference in the stats.

 

[AchtungNight]

That's currently what I've got going on. I'm getting nervous as different spin offs in my series have different flavors which means different audiences

If they like you as a writer, hopefully they will follow your vision across categories. If not, well, their loss.

 

[M_K_Babalon]

So,

As a writer, I am a world builder, it's my thing. So my stories are all intended to be a part of a series. They run the gambit of categories, but they're connected enough that I have wondered about the novels and novellas category to keep them more bound together.

Is this a bad idea? Have there been any successes in that field?

Thanks,

TB

I think it depends on how you do it. How readers take and deal with it are another story.

 

[oneagainst]

I'm currently 23 ch in to Only Consenting Adults in Novels & Novellas. It was diverse enough that this was really the only place to put it. Views and ratings have been steady throughout, comparable to noncon and nowhere near LW etc.

Seems a reasonable crowd.

 

[BobbyBrandt]

I live primarily in the Novels/Novellas category with the scores ranging between 4.63 and 4.89.

This past summer, I had Laurel remove four of my stories that had been posted in chapters and replace them with single submissions of each. Bear in mind that I always wait to post any part of a story until the entire thing is complete and the chapters would roll out day after day each time, but readers would still make comments requesting single submission of longer stories, so I made the changes.

I believe a lot of readers have the same reluctance to start reading an incomplete story that I have, so seeing it as a single post is reassuring to them that they will get the full experience at their own pace. That sucks for the impatient writer, but this is a site primarily for readers and their whims rule.

I have found that views of a longer story (up to 81 Lit pages for one of mine) does influence the number of people who will view it, but the votes/view percentage and feedback from readers is slightly higher than other categories for me. I have one story from earlier this year that has been viewed less than 800 times but it has almost 500 votes and 18 positive comments from those views.

Every one of my stories in this category except one has some tie in with the others through the characters and often the premise as well, yet they are all stand-alone in their own right.

 

[Theylo_Bleu]

If readers do a tag search, yes, they can find stories with that tag across multiple categories. But, HOW readers find stories here is an evergreen debate, if you scroll down this Forum a bit, you'll find recent threads on 'getting rid of categories' and 'story tags are a mess' and so on. There have been many past discussions.

Short answer is... no one knows. The authors who post on this Forum discuss how WE find stories, but given that such authors are a small fraction of even the authors who post stories[1], we're not exactly representative. And the site doesn't really publish any sorts of stats or info that provide solid insight into what leads readers to stories. That said, we pay attention to Category and to use of tags, but it's all dark arts.

About the only factor that seems solid is that the 'New' flag catches people's interest. So the first week after a story's publication is usually its biggest view collection.

[1] Some time ago, I tracked a few days worth of new stories (not during a Contest submission period) and compared the authors to the posters here in AH. We were, on that sample, single digit percentage of the authors who'd published those stories. Do some more of those authors lurk here and just not actively post? Maybe, but I've no info on that. It's also possible some of those authors published under a different ID than they use to post here. But I kind of doubt that'd make any major difference in the stats.

the amounts of sleuth work are admirable. Stats would be a good addition, especially for the posting users of this site.

 

[Theylo_Bleu]

I'm currently 23 ch in to Only Consenting Adults in Novels & Novellas. It was diverse enough that this was really the only place to put it. Views and ratings have been steady throughout, comparable to noncon and nowhere near LW etc.

Seems a reasonable crowd.

23 chapters, well done! That sounds like the right move. And the reward of writing a good tale

 

[Theylo_Bleu]

I live primarily in the Novels/Novellas category with the scores ranging between 4.63 and 4.89.

This past summer, I had Laurel remove four of my stories that had been posted in chapters and replace them with single submissions of each. Bear in mind that I always wait to post any part of a story until the entire thing is complete and the chapters would roll out day after day each time, but readers would still make comments requesting single submission of longer stories, so I made the changes.

I believe a lot of readers have the same reluctance to start reading an incomplete story that I have, so seeing it as a single post is reassuring to them that they will get the full experience at their own pace. That sucks for the impatient writer, but this is a site primarily for readers and their whims rule.

I have found that views of a longer story (up to 81 Lit pages for one of mine) does influence the number of people who will view it, but the votes/view percentage and feedback from readers is slightly higher than other categories for me. I have one story from earlier this year that has been viewed less than 800 times but it has almost 500 votes and 18 positive comments from those views.

Every one of my stories in this category except one has some tie in with the others through the characters and often the premise as well, yet they are all stand-alone in their own right.

Oooo, what a journey! Getting that strong reader base, that's awesome. I also like the idea of having a chapter exist by itself in the larger context and be worthy of fleshing out when it hit on a subject that really got the readers excited.

What was your experience changing/editing your work through resubmissions? I tried once but it was a bit more complicated than I thought, but I also may have done it wrong, despite following the FAQ on edits. I fi Were to relocate my current catalog of stories into N/N so that I could let them just ne their own material, I feel like that would be a daunting edit on the sites part, no?

 

[MillieDynamite]

I prefer a novella posting for long stories when each chapter depends on the last.

 

[BobbyBrandt]

Oooo, what a journey! Getting that strong reader base, that's awesome. I also like the idea of having a chapter exist by itself in the larger context and be worthy of fleshing out when it hit on a subject that really got the readers excited.

What was your experience changing/editing your work through resubmissions? I tried once but it was a bit more complicated than I thought, but I also may have done it wrong, despite following the FAQ on edits. I fi Were to relocate my current catalog of stories into N/N so that I could let them just ne their own material, I feel like that would be a daunting edit on the sites part, no?

I gave Laurel a heads-up through a private message and asked her advice of on the best way to replace the chapters with a single submission. She told me to submit the single post following the "Edit" process with a note to the admin and she would handle deleting the chapters once the new version posted. I lost all votes and comments associated with the stories, but I was fine with that. The new versions are also not eligible for any contests since they are considered re posts. All four stories got updated at the same time, which was about three weeks after I submitted them.

All of my chapters were already posted in N/N, so there was no difference in the category involved in the changes.

I am not a practitioner of "posting to see what the readers get excited about", and I don't encourage it. IMO, that's what beta readers are for. I understand that many feel that the readers here are their beta readers, but I try to separate the two.

 

[Bodington]

With the exception of a six part series submitted in the Group Sex category and my one contribution to the Loving Wives category, all the rest of my submissions have been submitted to the Novels and Novellas category. My output now consists of nine separate novels. Incidentally, in my view a novel should contain at least 100K words, but I understand publishers will advertise a book as a novel if it contains at least 40K words. In any case all my novels meet my personal criterion except one, “Vivian Travels to Estonia”, which contains some 97K words. But that was because I had to shorten and revise my original submission, due to Literotica’s rejection alleging a description of underage sex.

I write novels mainly for my personal enjoyment. If your concern is for readership views and comments, then Novels and Novellas is not the place for you. Lately when I first submit a chapter I average about 300 hits within the first twenty-four hours of publication. This compares to 12K views within the first twenty-four hours of my submission of "Gift of Love" in the LW category. My high total mark to date is the first chapter of “Mothers and Daughters" with about 98K views compared to the first part of my group sex stories which has been viewed 173K times.

As for comments they are few and far between. To date my Loving Wives submission has garnered 24 comments and the first part of my Group sex stories has seen only six comments. The rest of all of my submissions contain either two or one comments. But almost 200 of my 246 total submissions contain no comments whatsoever. However, some of the comments have been pleasingly laudatory. For example, my very first novel. “Chloe’s Sex Lessons”, published in January of 2010 received this comment from a reader about a year ago:

“You've set the bar high on your first offering! I try to read an author's first posted story upon finding them on Literotica. I must say this story has all the hallmarks of being a captivatingly epic tale. It is truly well thought out and written with great characterization, background, angst and a sensitive treatment of an innocent's entry into womanhood. I appreciate your and your Muse's imagination (memories?) and abilities to bring it to your story. Thank you for sharing your vision and talents.”

A satisfactory comment like that certainly brightens my day.

 

[intim8]

There are "novel" and "novella" tags you can use for long-form work in other categories. I have no idea how many poeple search them.

But ultimately, the more time you demand from your customers, the fewer customers you will have, regardless of how much the customers you do have like it.

Does the SFF category get more readers interested in long-form submissions than other categories (other than Novels) do?

 

[lovecraft68]

Brief synopsis would be low readership, but they tend to be a high voting readership because most stories there have multiple(to endless) chapters so once the dedicated readers are locked in the chapters will see good ratings.

 

[ElectricBlue]

Does the SFF category get more readers interested in long-form submissions than other categories (other than Novels) do?

I think so. Readers expect the world-building, and don't mind if the sex is slow to arrive.

 

[TheNightPorter]

It depends how you define success. Views are relatively low, but the readers are generally generous on ratings.

If you publish in chapters, you will probably see your views drop and scores rise with succeeding entries.

I have submitted both series and stand alones in the category and have been very comfortable there.

Hallo. May I ask a question? How long does it take for each entry to get published under “Novels & Novellas?” I am new here but I have one old account. Never submitted under this category. Doesn’t it get stuck in “pending” for ages?