How long do you wait between uploading chapters?

[Robot_Shark]

Just what it says in the title. Is there an appropriate length of time between introducing new chapters to a story? Do you write the whole story ahead of time, then upload, or do you upload your chapters as you complete them?

I have several "...Ch. 1" submissions that I've never taken any further, usually because progress stalled somewhere in the middle of chapter 2 and so much time has now passed that I wonder if anybody would care.

 

[SusanJillParker]

Just what it says in the title. Is there an appropriate length of time between introducing new chapters to a story? Do you write the whole story ahead of time, then upload, or do you upload your chapters as you complete them?

I have several "...Ch. 1" submissions that I've never taken any further, usually because progress stalled somewhere in the middle of chapter 2 and so much time has now passed that I wonder if anybody would care.

In depends on the story. Sometimes I submit them the next day, one chapter after another, before they've had a chance to post. Other times, I'll wait a couple of days to hopefully leave a span in between stories.

Only, there's no telling when Laurel will post a story. Sometimes, no matter when they were submitted, she'll bunch them up and post them one after another.

Contest stories usually post the very next day. Typically, it take 3 to 5 days to post a story but I've had stories post in 1 or 2 days and stories post 7 to 10 days.

Seemingly, there's no magic formula.

 

[oggbashan]

A day, a week, a year, a decade, sometimes never...

 

[HeyAll]

From my experience looking at this site everyday...the sooner....the better....

Chapters tend to see a big decline in view/votes/favs the longer time passes.

The exception to this is if you're a popular author, or if the series you write is popular. If you're not popular, I'd suggesting writing the whole thing and submitting each chapter a few days after, while it's still fresh in people's minds.

Don't forget, there are tons of stories on Lit.

 

[JackLuis]

I think that posting the whole story is good, though trying to hit a Friday release may make for better readership. Chapters that release in the middle of the week don't get the weekend crowd who look a the New Lists.

The faster the better, if your Muse will cooperate.

 

[NaokoSmith]

The faster the better, if your Muse will cooperate.

I used to think there was a weekend readership too, but Laurel once said something to me which suggests the weekday crew are heavier Lit readers. LOL@them downloading smut in the office! or maybe to get through the evenings after work.

I have a half-finished werewolf series and feel bad for the readership of that. (I will get back to it!) When I posted my novel I made sure it was all complete and ready to post, and in the first chapter I put a note to say it was all there, and that I would definitely post it right through to the end.

(BTW, JackLuis - it's listed twice on my submissions list because the site did that, it's not something I have done.)

I used to post a chapter a week, sometimes two per week. Readership and votes were in low numbers but that's common on Novels and Novellas. I had a faithful few who would look out for it and read it, and who gave me great feedback. It was a good feeling sharing it with the readers, especially watching out for how they would react to certain chapters. It was comfortable knowing that it was all written out, and I could just give a quick proof read to each chapter as it was posted.

 

[Carnevil9]

I have trouble maintaining enough discipline to finish all chapters before beginning to post, so most of my "serial" stories have exponentially declining readership with each chapter. But... the one time I knuckled down and wrote all four chapters ("You have to go to Mass!") and then submitted them each three days apart, the readership seems to have actually remained fairly stable from chapter to chapter. So that's what I'd recommend.

 

[sr71plt]

When one chapter has posted, I submit the next one.

 

[Ennis Piceo]

I have a related problem. I just completed a 65K-word erotic novel. I submitted the first episode as a separate story to see what the reaction would be, and to help me figure out the submission process (this was my first submission). I titled it "First Day in the Caribbean." Response seems to be good, and now I'm inclined to submit the whole thing, a chunk at a time. Trouble is, the story takes place during a two-week period! Calling it "First Day etc" doesn't seem right. Can I change a title? (I'm thinking maybe to "First Time in the Caribbean" so I could just put chapter numbers at the end and the whole story would alphabetize together.
Here's another newbie question: Is there a place to see the tags I listed when I submitted my story? I didn't think to jot them down on paper, and I think the coming chapters should have the same list of tags. I'd also like to list the same tags for my edited first episode (I found a typo) and it hasn't been looked at yet, perhaps because the edited version has no tags on the submission page.

 

[JackLuis]

I used to think there was a weekend readership too, but Laurel once said something to me which suggests the weekday crew are heavier Lit readers. LOL@them downloading smut in the office! or maybe to get through the evenings after work.
-
(BTW, JackLuis - it's listed twice on my submissions list because the site did that, it's not something I have done.)

Novels and Novellas is a low reader class generally. My first story which grew to be 40 chapters struggled for a long time to get over 1000 reads for most of the chapters. However the reedited version, where I compressed it into seven sagas surprised me with over 5000 reads of Saga #1 in the first week!

It was posting about one Saga a day for a while and I thought I'd hit this weekend with #6 and 7, alas, it looks like that is not to be.

My Sagas are listed in the original chapter series and as their own series on my submissions page. I PM'd Laural about it but got no reply. It must be a "Bot" thing in the system.

As has been mentioned, the later Saga's got progressively fewer readers, but still did better that the Chapters version. Saga #5 only has ~1300 reads, which is still pretty good, for me in N&N.

It amazes me that in order to hit the Top Lists you need a 4.7 or 4.8 to even break into the top 250 all time. And the Most Read list takes years to make, even in N&N.

 

[CharlieB4]

Public holidays

I think there is definitely a bigger reading audience around public holidays partly because new stories may not get posted so stories stay at the top of the boards longer. Many well known authors seem to target these times.

On the posting of chapters, I now submit a multi chapter story all at once. They then usually get put out on consecutive days. I also put a small intro in front of each chapter to let readers know the story is finished and all chapters are submitted.

Another question would be when is a story finished?

I have submitted a few where I thought I had the ending all tied up in a neat little bow but still got comments saying I should finish the story. What am I supposed to do? Follow the characters to their grave?

I used to think there was a weekend readership too, but Laurel once said something to me which suggests the weekday crew are heavier Lit readers. LOL@them downloading smut in the office! or maybe to get through the evenings after work.

I have a half-finished werewolf series and feel bad for the readership of that. (I will get back to it!) When I posted my novel I made sure it was all complete and ready to post, and in the first chapter I put a note to say it was all there, and that I would definitely post it right through to the end.

(BTW, JackLuis - it's listed twice on my submissions list because the site did that, it's not something I have done.)

I used to post a chapter a week, sometimes two per week. Readership and votes were in low numbers but that's common on Novels and Novellas. I had a faithful few who would look out for it and read it, and who gave me great feedback. It was a good feeling sharing it with the readers, especially watching out for how they would react to certain chapters. It was comfortable knowing that it was all written out, and I could just give a quick proof read to each chapter as it was posted.

 

[PervOtaku]

The typical practice is all of the above. Some folks post chapters as soon as they are written, and the next one comes whenever. Some folks finish the entire story first, and then post on some schedule that seems appropriate.

Here's another newbie question: Is there a place to see the tags I listed when I submitted my story? I didn't think to jot them down on paper, and I think the coming chapters should have the same list of tags. I'd also like to list the same tags for my edited first episode (I found a typo) and it hasn't been looked at yet, perhaps because the edited version has no tags on the submission page.

I suppose you'd have to go check in the story itself. Tags are listed at the bottom of the final page on the right-hand side, IIRC.

 

[lovecraft68]

I agree with Friday release being the best day from my experience.

I want to add to not submit a chapter until the previous has posted. The reason is say you submit three, then four the next day.

If for some reason three is rejected and you're not aware of it right away(because you are not notified of this) then four could post before three was read and fuck up the whole series.

 

[TxRad]

I like a Wednesday release. It's the day I see the most new favorites on my stories overall. Friday during the day is good but after that it seems dead as everyone goes out for the night. Saturdays during the Summer are dead and Sundays used to be a good day but since Laurel quit releasing stories for contests on that day, it has dried up.

 

[JKendallDane]

Release day often depends on the category also. Factor in what can be expected as far as the number of days you should stay on the new story front page in the category hubs.

There are twenty "new stories" slots now so if you are submitting to a category with typically low quantities of new story offerings every week (like Gay Male), I've found Wednesday or Thursday postings pay off the best as far as views. Wednesday and Thursday should have you in the top half dozen "new stories" listings. Plus, hitting on those two days should keep you up front through the entire weekend when traffic hits the heaviest.

It's all about grabbing those eyeballs and as many as you can.

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