Just finished submitting my first series!

[sarah_shriner]

No one will probably care but I just finished submitting my first series

And I think the response has been generally positive.

Thanks to everyone who has given me advice and helped with the process. (HeyAll, JB, LAHomedog and others).

Some lessons I learned from this experience:

1. Finish the entire story first before starting the submission process. I had to deal with some personal stuff after my first submission and there was a 4 month gap. That wasn't great.

2. I think my submissions may have been too short in length. It's tricky to decide how many chapters to include per submission but apparently 5000 words is the minimum.

3. Have stronger disclaimers about all characters being above 18. One of my submissions was sent back and had to be resubmitted.


I have an idea for the next story but it might be a month or two before I get that completed.

 

[BiscuitHammer]

Congrats on the submission. I wish I'd known five or so years ago what I know now about submitting a series, because my earliest chapters in a very long series are now out-of-date concerning canon in my story, and I need to reboot the early stuff to make sense.

Submitting a series is a commitment, so good on you for seeing it through. I hope it does really well.

 

[EbonyKat]

A big congrats! I've only been able to finish one and that took months. Other life things kept me from finishing it. I have so much respect for the authors on here that can pound out quality story after story so quickly. Wish I had that kind of free time.

Katy

 

[sarah_shriner]

thanks guy! and yes, finding the time to write is the biggest challenge. i'm also not the fastest typer AND I'm very indecisive about plot points

 

[Rustyoznail]

We’ve all been there, finger hovering over the submit button, wondering what the response will be.

Congratulations on taking the plunge. Don’t forget to place a link to your stories in your signature so we can easily find them.

 

[sarah_shriner]

oh thanks for the tip. I edited my signature now.

 

[TarnishedPenny]

Congratulations, Sarah! And welcome to the AH. I look forward to hearing from again.

 

[SouthernCrossfire]

Congratulations, Sarah, and great advice.

I particularly adhere to the first one, having just finished the rough draft on my next one in 4 parts (33K words). Parts 1 through 3 are edited, polished, and ready to go, with part 4 being an easy edit, so they can go out a few days apart without long delays.

Like you, I learned that the hard way a few years ago on a 14 or so chapter story on another site when there were long delays between a couple of chapters and readership suffered as a result. Three days to a week between releases gives people plenty of time to read but not forget your story while also maximizing your time on the new listing for maximum exposure.

 

[HeyAll]

Great job on it.

I think you're a really talented author with a lot of potential.

 

[SimonDoom]

Congratulations!

Suggestion:Add the link to your story submission page to the bottom of the signature line of your posts here. That way people can find your stories more easily.

 

[MillieDynamite]

No one will probably care but I just finished submitting my first series

And I think the response has been generally positive.

Thanks to everyone who has given me advice and helped with the process. (HeyAll, JB, LAHomedog and others).

Some lessons I learned from this experience:

1. Finish the entire story first before starting the submission process. I had to deal with some personal stuff after my first submission and there was a 4 month gap. That wasn't great.

2. I think my submissions may have been too short in length. It's tricky to decide how many chapters to include per submission but apparently 5000 words is the minimum.

3. Have stronger disclaimers about all characters being above 18. One of my submissions was sent back and had to be resubmitted.


I have an idea for the next story but it might be a month or two before I get that completed.

I just started writing my first series for here. I completed the first chapter, part, story, whatever. I want to write the tales, so you don’t have to have read the preceding entries before you read any single account. I’m not sure that will work, though. They are being written in chronological order. The stories titles will tie them together, “Ryann Payne: The Current Account.” No, the Current Account is a title in the series. It’s just a placeholder.

I don’t know how much time I’ll devote to the series, though I intended several tales in a row to get it started. With that said, I don’t like to write the same things all the time. I enjoy a change of pace in my life and writing.

My question is, did you complete the whole series before publishing the first story? Is that really the way to go? I admire your sticktoitiveness in having the patients finish the entire thing before you post a single part of it.

 

[sarah_shriner]

I just started writing my first series for here. I completed the first chapter, part, story, whatever. I want to write the tales, so you don’t have to have read the preceding entries before you read any single account. I’m not sure that will work, though. They are being written in chronological order. The stories titles will tie them together, “Ryann Payne: The Current Account.” No, the Current Account is a title in the series. It’s just a placeholder.

I don’t know how much time I’ll devote to the series, though I intended several tales in a row to get it started. With that said, I don’t like to write the same things all the time. I enjoy a change of pace in my life and writing.

My question is, did you complete the whole series before publishing the first story? Is that really the way to go? I admire your sticktoitiveness in having the patients finish the entire thing before you post a single part of it.

I had completed 90% of my story before I submitted the first part. So I was pretty confident that I'd finish it and publish the rest soon. But life happened and it took me a while before I could finish the remaining 10% and edit my work.

Like the others have said, readership numbers will suffer if the gap between submissions is too long. But if each of your submissions is self-contained, it might not be an issue. I'm too new to answer that though.

 

[MillieDynamite]

I had completed 90% of my story before I submitted the first part. So I was pretty confident that I'd finish it and publish the rest soon. But life happened and it took me a while before I could finish the remaining 10% and edit my work.

Like the others have said, readership numbers will suffer if the gap between submissions is too long. But if each of your submissions is self-contained, it might not be an issue. I'm too new to answer that though.

Thanks for the input. I have to consider this before I post the fist part.

 

[ElectricBlue]

Thanks for the input. I have to consider this before I post the fist part.

If you post as you go, you put pressure on yourself to to keep your output steady and quality consistent, especially if the story hits a chord with readers and you set up expectations.

Often it's best to get it finished first, or be less ambitious and build up a following with shorter stand-alone stories. Walk before you run, and do your apprenticeship before you write the next greatest novel. And check your spelling. I'm sure you meant 'first part', but I might be mistaken .

 

[MillieDynamite]

If you post as you go, you put pressure on yourself to to keep your output steady and quality consistent, especially if the story hits a chord with readers and you set up expectations.

Often it's best to get it finished first, or be less ambitious and build up a following with shorter stand-alone stories. Walk before you run, and do your apprenticeship before you write the next greatest novel. And check your spelling. I'm sure you meant 'first part', but I might be mistaken .

Probably weren't mistaken, but this is writing, it's posting. And I have very fast fingers and a very slow brain. Or is it Brain? Oh, well, it's one of them.

 

[ElectricBlue]

Probably weren't mistaken, but this is writing, it's posting. And I have very fast fingers and a very slow brain. Or is it Brain? Oh, well, it's one of them.

Paging Mister Freud, you have a new patient .

 

[MillieDynamite]

Sigmund, or his ilk, and I go way back.