Series without matching titles

[bumpercars]

Is there a way to mark two stories as being part of a series without giving them matching titles?

I wrote a story a while back with a unique title, and it wouldn't make sense for the new one to be [Original Title] Chapter 2, but I'd like to give some indication that the two are related.

 

[RejectReality]

Currently no way to do it. It's part of the phase 2 plans for the author control panel, but that could be a long way off.

Best you can do is hit it with an author note at the beginning. If you end up continuing with several connected stories with unmatched titles, you might also want to put a chronology ( if one exists ) in your bio and point to that with your author's note.

 

[NotWise]

Is there a way to mark two stories as being part of a series without giving them matching titles?

I wrote a story a while back with a unique title, and it wouldn't make sense for the new one to be [Original Title] Chapter 2, but I'd like to give some indication that the two are related.

They don't have to be chapters.

I put one story up as the start of an anthology. When I put the second story up I asked Laurel how to associate the two stories. She renamed the second story [anthology title] - [story title]. The title that way may have been too long for me to enter myself. Laurel did it.

You may have to put a note to Laurel when you submit your stories to say that you want them associated.

 

[ElectricBlue]

You need a common title first and then it sorts alphabetically. For example:

The Floating World - Annabel
The Floating World - Ch.1
The Floating World - Ch.2
The Floating World - Ch.3
The Floating World - The Madelyn Chapters Pt.1
The Floating World - The Madelyn Chapters Pt.2
The Floating World - Xander Escapes

They will appear together, in the order shown, in your story listing, and in this case, the two stories with more than one chapter will be sub-clustered.

 

[oggbashan]

You need a common title first and then it sorts alphabetically. For example:

The Floating World - Annabel
The Floating World - Ch.1
The Floating World - Ch.2
The Floating World - Ch.3
The Floating World - The Madelyn Chapters Pt.1
The Floating World - The Madelyn Chapters Pt.2
The Floating World - Xander Escapes

They will appear together, in the order shown, in your story listing, and in this case, the two stories with more than one chapter will be sub-clustered.

Or, if they are not chapters - use Part (or Pt.):

The Floating World - Pt. 01 Annabel
The Floating World - Pt. 02
The Floating World - Pt. 03
The Floating World - Pt. 04
The Floating World - Pt. 05
The Floating World - Pt. 06
The Floating World - Pt. 07

BUT - there is a limit on characters in the title field. The constant title should be very short e.g:

Float - Pt. 01

 

[ElectricBlue]

Or, if they are not chapters - use Part (or Pt.):

The Floating World - Pt. 01 Annabel
The Floating World - Pt. 02
The Floating World - Pt. 03
The Floating World - Pt. 04
The Floating World - Pt. 05
The Floating World - Pt. 06
The Floating World - Pt. 07

BUT - there is a limit on characters in the title field. The constant title should be very short e.g:

Float - Pt. 01

The title character limit, from my tests, is 35 characters, which isn't enough to be really useful - that's where the sub-title has to do more work.

My alpha plus chapter/part numbering technique allows stand-alone stories to exist within the same overall "collection" (or in my case, "world") but breaks the nexus where readers might mistakenly think, "Oh, that's one big long story, I won't even start."

Most of my stories inter-relate in one way or another anyway, and I hope followers enjoy finding those interconnections (which mostly revolve around my Alex or Adam characters).

I've gone explicitly meta in my Hyacinth House series, where I blur my character with me/him, the writer; and I had the idea recently of bringing all of my separate "Adam" women together into the same story. Where of course they must prove themselves to the Cain matriarch, Alexandra, as a suitable match for her son. That will test my ability to portray their individual personalities and character traits.

"Christ on a bike," said Suzie. "Will I get involved in that?"

"I'll ask Simon," EB replied. "A cam girl with perky tits would add spice."

"I'd better start working out," said Suzie. "That Maddy, she's a gun!"

 

[bumpercars]

Thanks for the suggestions, folks. I appreciate it.

 

[TarnishedPenny]

The 35 character limit is flexible. With my House of a Feathers series (each chapter having a subtitle), Laurel was kind enough on a couple of occasions to allow me a few more. A note in the Admin box was sufficient and it was never too many extra.

 

[ElectricBlue]

The 35 character limit is flexible. With my House of a Feathers series (each chapter having a subtitle), Laurel was kind enough on a couple of occasions to allow me a few more. A note in the Admin box was sufficient and it was never too many extra.

Yes, I've found that with some of my multi-parters. Laurel can tweak the settings. The low limit is a legacy of the original pre-2000 database design, I'm guessing.

 

[Salacious_Scribe]

I have a series I posted under another user name. They were an anthology, no common characters except one minor one, who was only a voice on the phone.
Each had a common title, with a unique subtitle Ie Star Wars, A New Hope, Star Wars Return of the Jedi, etc...