Novel v. Genre

[PriestOfIshtar]

So, the story classifications offer a "Novel/Novella" category, but of course people post series long enough to meet the criteria in the genre categories also.

I am curious as to what rationale people use in selecting the Novel category for a longer series vs. a genre category?

I find myself writing in the longer form, and my first series has spanned several categories... but the stories that are "out of the main category" tend to land as duds, so it seems like it would be a better experience for readers to keep to one genre.

If an individual chapter doesn't fit that genre, however, maybe the whole series would be better off in Novels.

But I worry that things published in Novels section will also disappear, because readers generally tend to look for the *type* of fiction, not just the length-of-fiction.

Bit of a rambling post, but perhaps you can discern my dilemma.

Open for all guidance.

 

[TadOverdon]

But I worry that things published in Novels section will also disappear, because readers generally tend to look for the *type* of fiction, not just the length-of-fiction.

Yeah, the couple of chapters of a book that I posted in "Novels/Novellas" got a lot fewer looks than the rest.

 

[KeithD]

Under a previous account I put an epic in Novels that moved across quite a few categories.

 

[NotWise]

Open for all guidance.

You can post long stories in any category.

Novels and Novellas (despite the name) is mostly for stories that cross genres or otherwise don't fit in a specialized category. The drawback to posting in Novels and Novellas is that there aren't many views.

I put one story in Novels and Novellas because I had advice from a very respected beta reader that its ending wasn't really HEA. The alternative was probably non-human because it was a ghost story.

In retrospect, I'd probably put a notice at the beginning that it was a ghost story, and then post it in Romance. The line between Tragedy and Romance can be very thin. Emotionally, it may be non-existent.

The score in Novels and Novellas is great, but not many people have seen it.

 

[PriestOfIshtar]

Thanks for your insights.

 

[ElectricBlue]

I drop my novel and novella length works into a kink category. Novels and Novellas isn't a kink
- unless you set everything in a library, but even then...

 

[Bramblethorn]

Yeah, I view N+N very much as a "when all else fails" category. I read a lot of novels and novellas, but that's not how I navigate this site.

 

[Zeb_Carter]

I use N/N category for posting really long, single shot stories all at once. So if you find one of mine there, it's complete in one published work.

That's what I would think a category titled Novels & Novellas is, long stories NOT broken up into PARTS published as a single entity.

 

[Privates1stClass]

I worry that things published in Novels section will also disappear, because readers generally tend to look for the *type* of fiction, not just the length-of-fiction.

Bit of a rambling post, but perhaps you can discern my dilemma.

I've posted two series in the Novels and Novellas category. The first one, "Sarah's Stallion," was the first story I posted, and I didn't realize a multiply-chaptered series could be posted in different categories.

My second series, "Lucky Beyond Belief," involved so many categories, I gave up on choosing any particular one and just posted it in the N&N category.

Although fewer readers go to the N&N category, I've found the comments and scores I've received in that category have reached, or exceeded, the number I've received in other categories.

In my opinion, well-written stories with interesting characters involved in sexual activities will do well, no matter what category they are posted in.

 

[BiscuitHammer]

I've started to use Novel/Novella a bit more, because I'm finding my stories are spanning genres. One of my flagship stories is a romance, and I would prefer to have it in THAT category, but a secondary couple in the story has a taboo relationship that I often describe, and the whole shebang got moved to I/T after some slope-headed Pakleds threw tantrums about it.

So I'm gonna move the whole thing to Novels. Yes, readership will go down, but it's about what suits me that counts here. Not to mention several of my stories are becoming much longer than I anticipated, so there's always that.

Mostly, though, I refuse to limit my writing, except maybe for a rare one-shot, to one arbitrary category. I just don't have what it takes to write that way.