Is it ok to 'remaster' a series?

[The_inspector_and_the_fish]

I started submitting stories over 10 years ago, including 5 parts of a series. Then I had a very long hiatus, and only got back into writing stories this year. I submitted 2 more parts to the series in July and another 1 this week. I'm aiming to submit more regularly, and have another part in the works.

I'd love the series to get read by the widest possible audience (who doesn't) and get that people might not be keen taking a punt on a series when they're jumping on at episode 8 or 9.

Would it be bad form to 'remaster and re-release' the series? Combining say 2 parts into 1 editing and improving them and resubmitting them, clearly titled to distinguish them from the originals. I don't want to break any unwritten rules in the community so thought I'd float the idea here first. Thanks!

 

[Katie_Mae]

It is not allowed to condense chapters through the edit function.
I believe it is not allowed to have two versions of the same story up at the same time (someone correct me if this is wrong)
I believe you are allowed to delete and repost, but I'm not sure if you're allowed to have the same title. Hopefully someone else can correct this aspect.

As to "should you" there will probably be strong opinions either way, you do what you prefer.

Welcome back

 

[Bamagan]

I started submitting stories over 10 years ago, including 5 parts of a series. Then I had a very long hiatus, and only got back into writing stories this year. I submitted 2 more parts to the series in July and another 1 this week. I'm aiming to submit more regularly, and have another part in the works.

I'd love the series to get read by the widest possible audience (who doesn't) and get that people might not be keen taking a punt on a series when they're jumping on at episode 8 or 9.

Would it be bad form to 'remaster and re-release' the series? Combining say 2 parts into 1 editing and improving them and resubmitting them, clearly titled to distinguish them from the originals. I don't want to break any unwritten rules in the community so thought I'd float the idea here first. Thanks!

You can edit (or remaster) your older works, but that probably won't get more eyes on them, because they won't be on the new lists. Anyone who is interested enough in the new chapters will probably go back and read the old ones, though. And if they're not interested based on the description, or because they don't like starting unfinished series, it wouldn't much matter what you did with the early chapters anyway.
It's probably not worth it to 're-master' a few chapters at a time. I'm doubtful any piecemeal approach to updates and edits would be allowed on the new lists. If you're serious about starting fresh, I'd suggest wrapping things up, asking for the old versions to be removed, and then perhaps submitting the whole work as a single submission, maybe in the novels and novellas category. The site might be willing to let the completed work (with new content added) be on the new list in a different category.

 

[Katie_Mae]

The site might be willing to let the completed work (with new content added) be on the new list in a different category.

Oh, sorry to derail the OPs question, but this implies it's possible that a new work posted might not be on the new lists. Is this possible? (crazy question I know, but I'm working on a story that needs to be posted in parts, but I plan on finishing it prior to positing, but the category it has to go in is very slow and I don't want to b discourteous and flood out the new list. It's not a now problem, but I have wondered what possible solutions are out there)

 

[ElectricBlue]

It is not allowed to condense chapters through the edit function.
I believe it is not allowed to have two versions of the same story up at the same time (someone correct me if this is wrong)

I believe that's correct, unless it's accidental, and no-one spotted it. Happened to me once, and it was months before I realised and got it removed.

I believe you are allowed to delete and repost, but I'm not sure if you're allowed to have the same title. Hopefully someone else can correct this aspect.

Can't see why not. There are plenty of stories with the same or similar titles.

As to "should you" there will probably be strong opinions either way, you do what you prefer.

My view would always be, why bother futzing with an old story when you can write a new one. That way you have two stories.

 

[Katie_Mae]

Can't see why not. There are plenty of stories with the same or similar titles.

My thoughts too, but I once had a rejection which included some boiler-plate copy-paste text suggesting otherwise. But it was awhile ago and I can't remember exactly what it said.

 

[ElectricBlue]

Oh, sorry to derail the OPs question, but this implies it's possible that a new work posted might not be on the new lists. Is this possible? (crazy question I know, but I'm working on a story that needs to be posted in parts, but I plan on finishing it prior to positing, but the category it has to go in is very slow and I don't want to b discourteous and flood out the new list. It's not a now problem, but I have wondered what possible solutions are out there)

Any new story, even if it's a rework of an old story (but not an edit) will get a run on the new lists. You'd have to delete the old one first, but it would be start all over again.

There are plenty of multi-chapter stories that get published with each chapter 24 hours apart. You submit them all at the same time, and Laurel just sets a release clock. I published a 104k novel that way, with twelve chapters.

 

[Katie_Mae]

There are plenty of multi-chapter stories that get published with each chapter 24 hours apart. You submit them all at the same time, and Laurel just sets a release clock. I published a 104k novel that way, with twelve chapters.

That would normally be my plan, but the new list of the category the story has to go in has stories dating back to October, and that's without clicking the "see more."

My story would flood out the new list for months.

 

[BobbyBrandt]

It is not allowed to condense chapters through the edit function.
I believe it is not allowed to have two versions of the same story up at the same time (someone correct me if this is wrong)
I believe you are allowed to delete and repost, but I'm not sure if you're allowed to have the same title. Hopefully someone else can correct this aspect.

As to "should you" there will probably be strong opinions either way, you do what you prefer.

Welcome back

This works through Laurel. However, a "series" should be treated differently than multiple chapters of a single story. You could do a compilation of multiple series episodes and that bundle could then be submitted to REPLACE your previous versions of these individual series stories.

I asked Laurel to replace my chapter submissions of four long stories with a single published submission for each. Once I sent her the single file, she published it and removed the individual chapters. The name of the stories remained the same, just the title numbers no longer existed. Laurel did warn me that the stories would not be eligible for any contests since they were republications of previous work.

 

[Bamagan]

That would normally be my plan, but the new list of the category the story has to go in has stories dating back to October, and that's without clicking the "see more."

My story would flood out the new list for months.

If the category sees that little traffic from authors, it's pretty clear you won't be stepping on anyone's toes if you take over the new list. Toes from October have gone numb by now.

 

[Bamagan]

Can't see why not. There are plenty of stories with the same or similar titles.

The site's software doesn't allow an author to have two stories with the same title. It'll want you to put a chapter number, or Redux, or whatever. I presume it's for database reasons. But yeah, if a hundred authors want to call their story the same thing, that's not an issue from a technical standpoint.

 

[MelissaBaby]

My view would always be, why bother futzing with an old story when you can write a new one. That way you have two stories.

You might have a revised version you want to publish elsewhere, and don't want two versions out there.

You are retconning it so that it is not in contradiction to a more recent story.

 

[ChloeTzang]

My view would always be, why bother futzing with an old story when you can write a new one. That way you have two stories.

Normally I'd 100% agree but I was so bugged by this year's Winter Holiday's story that I'm rewriting and editing it right now and I'm going to submit a second and majorly rewritten version. Never done that before but I was pretty unhappy with the version I ended up submitting.

 

[ElectricBlue]

Normally I'd 100% agree but I was so bugged by this year's Winter Holiday's story that I'm rewriting and editing it right now and I'm going to submit a second and majorly rewritten version. Never done that before but I was pretty unhappy with the version I ended up submitting.

Rushing to meet deadlines? Self inflicted wound, I'd say .

 

[ElectricBlue]

You might have a revised version you want to publish elsewhere, and don't want two versions out there.

I guess I did that to some extent when I prepared the Dark Chronicles for publication. The only difference is that version is better proofread, but it took too much time.

You are retconning it so that it is not in contradiction to a more recent story.

But the more recent story hasn't been written yet, because some authors seem to think the last one is so good it needs rework (which is in itself a contradiction in terms), and spend all their time futzing with it. But it's fundamentally the same story, and they still only have the one. I'd rather have another story, move on.

 

[THBGato]

It is not allowed to condense chapters through the edit function.
I believe it is not allowed to have two versions of the same story up at the same time (someone correct me if this is wrong)

I have seen this, in the case of two collaborators both having the same stories up on their profiles. One of them has been going through an re-editing the version under their username so that there are now considerable differences between the two versions.

I've also seen it where a writer has expanded a shorter story into a longer, novel version of it, while leaving the original short version up: https://www.literotica.com/authors/KillerRomance/works/stories

Again, not saying whether you should or not, but I've seen it. Perhaps they got special dispensation from Laurel to do it, or the rules have since changed, because they aren't hiding it.

 

[ElectricBlue]

That would normally be my plan, but the new list of the category the story has to go in has stories dating back to October, and that's without clicking the "see more."

My story would flood out the new list for months.

How many chapters are you thinking of, and how long is each one?

Remember, in six months the number of chapters doesn't matter, because the whole thing would be published; and in a year, it matters even less, because people would be reading it like a book and the chapters would just be convenient.

 

[Katie_Mae]

How many chapters are you thinking of, and how long is each one?

Remember, in six months the number of chapters doesn't matter, because the whole thing would be published; and in a year, it matters even less, because people would be reading it like a book and the chapters would just be convenient.

Seven, if I can do it in that few. It's an illustrated story, so it's not the wordcount, but the file size that limits me. It's not a now problem, as it will be months away, but it is something that occurred to me.

 

[ElectricBlue]

Seven, if I can do it in that few. It's an illustrated story, so it's not the wordcount, but the file size that limits me. It's not a now problem, as it will be months away, but it is something that occurred to me.

If it's Illustrated, just do it. Lit's not set up well to cater for illustrated stories, so I wouldn't be worrying about that.

If it's going to be huge, file size wise, I'd have a conversation with Laurel to figure out any technical limitations ahead of time, also to make sure it gets published together. Otherwise, you could end up with months between each chapter, which wouldn't do the story any favours.