Advice for first time author

[ReclaimingLostTime]

I've ben a long term reader but am just finishing my first story for publication. It is long and will be broken down into 10 or 12 chapters. Is it better to publish all at once or release one then follow up with others later?
Secondly each chapter could fall under several of the categories. Is it best to publish under Novels & Novella or pick the most relevant. Personally I rarely read stories under N&N picking them from my favourite categories instead.

 

[lovecraft68]

One at a time and don't submit the next chapter until the other is already live.
Reason is if something goes awry you could see, for example, Chapter four go live, but three is stuck in pending for some reason.

 

[SimonDoom]

It's fine to submit it in the form of multiple chapters, but don't make the chapters too short. Since it's a longer story anyway, you might as well take advantage of the fact that Literotica readers tend to prefer stories that are over 2 Lit pages, meaning over 7500 words. So I recommend carving up the chapters so they are AT LEAST that long.

 

[Candy_Kane54]

I second what lovecraft68 said. Definitely wait for the previous chapter to go live before submitting the next one. Since you are a new writer, the process will be slower until Laurel gets a feeling for your writing.

 

[Duleigh]

I've been putting chapters out one every 20 days or so and it worked quite well, the faithful readers can't wait for each chapter as they come out. I also put a release schedule in my profile, I don't know if anyone cared about that. I did that because the multi chapter story was the back story for a contest entry so I had to time their release.

 

[SimonDoom]

I agree with LC's recommendation regarding the timing of publication of chapters. Here's why.

If you submit the next chapter right after the publication of its predecessor, it means the stories will be published 3 to 5 days apart. The story will still be fresh in the mind of those who read it, and you won't be keeping them waiting too long. At the same time, you wait just long enough that each chapter gets its due near the top of recent story lists, and your entire story's visibility will be stretched over a longer time than if you were to submit them all at once and ask them to be published one day after the other. Visibility on lists is the key to getting your story read. If you wait too long between chapters, however, the earlier chapter will have long since dropped off the new lists and lost visibility, and you won't have anything to replace it with. Some readers will have forgotten your story or lost interest in following it. I don't see an advantage doing it that way.

 

[Voboy]

What's the total word count? If it's less than 25k or so, I'd just go ahead and post the whole thing as one story. Or, at worst, say five chapters, with each one being reasonably self-contained.

I'm not "every reader," nor even close to it, but any time I see "ch 3" or more on the New list, I seldom even think of clicking on it. Ch 7/8 or so? Forget it. You'll never catch my eye. I want a cohesive story that I can digest in one sitting, and I want it to be worth my while. Unless I already know and trust you (and you're new, so I don't), I don't want to read niggling little one-pagers that don't give me a payoff until, say, chapter four. Which will come out in maybe 12 days.

Nope.

Welcome to Lit!

 

[lovecraft68]

I agree with LC's recommendation regarding the timing of publication of chapters. Here's why.

If you submit the next chapter right after the publication of its predecessor, it means the stories will be published 3 to 5 days apart. The story will still be fresh in the mind of those who read it, and you won't be keeping them waiting too long. At the same time, you wait just long enough that each chapter gets its due near the top of recent story lists, and your entire story's visibility will be stretched over a longer time than if you were to submit them all at once and ask them to be published one day after the other. Visibility on lists is the key to getting your story read. If you wait too long between chapters, however, the earlier chapter will have long since dropped off the new lists and lost visibility, and you won't have anything to replace it with. Some readers will have forgotten your story or lost interest in following it. I don't see an advantage doing it that way.

Good points on the lists and visibility. I was just focused on avoiding the mishap of one posting out of order.

 

[alohadave]

I'm not "every reader," nor even close to it, but any time I see "ch 3" or more on the New list, I seldom even think of clicking on it. Ch 7/8 or so? Forget it. You'll never catch my eye. I want a cohesive story that I can digest in one sitting, and I want it to be worth my while. Unless I already know and trust you (and you're new, so I don't), I don't want to read niggling little one-pagers that don't give me a payoff until, say, chapter four. Which will come out in maybe 12 days.

I must be a weird reader because if the title/description look interesting, I'll look at the author's page and start at the first part/chapter. But I read a fair bit of serials so not having an ending for every story is normal for me.

I also trawl through the new stories list almost exclusively, so I'm always seeing new stories and stories that might not have been update in a while.

 

[Winter_Fare]

I've ben a long term reader but am just finishing my first story for publication. It is long and will be broken down into 10 or 12 chapters. Is it better to publish all at once or release one then follow up with others later?
Secondly each chapter could fall under several of the categories. Is it best to publish under Novels & Novella or pick the most relevant. Personally I rarely read stories under N&N picking them from my favourite categories instead.

In my (limited) experience you lose readers crossing categories. If there's a single category that suits the whole story I'd put it in there as a whole, or put all the chapters there.

Nothing wrong with breaking it into chapters at all. There's a big demand for chapter stories, 100%, as long as you post regularly and include something satisfying in each instalment.

 

[Voboy]

I must be a weird reader because if the title/description look interesting, I'll look at the author's page and start at the first part/chapter. But I read a fair bit of serials so not having an ending for every story is normal for me.

I also trawl through the new stories list almost exclusively, so I'm always seeing new stories and stories that might not have been update in a while.

This is why I'm curious about the total word count. I was the same way as a new writer: my second and third sets of submissions were chaptered, because I thought that was "the way things were done." I now realize that's not always necessary; long pieces do extremely well here, if they're well written.

I feel that a lot of the "need" to post in chapters, and where the writer chooses to make the transitions between them, ought to be governed by the need to keep each one reasonably self-contained.

I'm with you on using the new stories hub, but unlike you, seeing a subsequent chapter does not make me investigate. There are always more fish in the sea, and most of them won't require me to take the extra step of futzing around with links to earlier chapters that might or might not give me a payoff.

There's a big demand for chapter stories, 100%, as long as you post regularly and include something satisfying in each instalment.

This is why I never got into series: so many writers think it's best to end on a cliffhanger, just before a fuckscene.

No. This is an erotica site. Don't tease me, or that's the last of your stories I'll click on. And over time, that happened enough times that I started seeing all chaptered entries as a waste of my time.

Again, OP, I'm not every reader and I don't claim to be. But it's a point of view, a data point for you.

 

[Winter_Fare]

... writers think it's best to end on a cliffhanger, just before a fuckscene.

No. This is an erotica site. Don't tease me, or that's the last of your stories I'll click on. And over time, that happened enough times that I started seeing all chaptered entries as a waste of my time.

Ah. So, you read chapters that didn't satisfy you, and that's what put you off. I mean, I've read longer stories that didn't hit the mark, but I don't write all long stories off as failures just because of a few bad apples. The nice thing about this site is that there's something for everyone, writers and readers alike. I don't understand why people have to trash the stuff that doesn't work for them.

 

[Voboy]

Ah. So, you read chapters that didn't satisfy you, and that's what put you off. I mean, I've read longer stories that didn't hit the mark, but I don't write all long stories off as failures just because of a few bad apples. The nice thing about this site is that there's something for everyone, writers and readers alike. I don't understand why people have to trash the stuff that doesn't work for them.

I'm trying NOT to trash. You do you and I'll do me. There are a number of readers like you, but we have to assume there are a number like me. I'm not passing a value judgment; I'm just providing a data point.

I'm telling the OP what works for me and what doesn't work for me. It's not helpful for her/him to hear a bunch of the same advice over and over again.

 

[Winter_Fare]

I think the category choice has an impact on whether the same story will be more successful/well received as chapters or a single submission.

Top lists in some categories are saturated with chapters. Most popular writers in sci-fi, non-human, non-con, mind-control, lesbian sex, interracial, incest, group-sex, exhibition/voyeur, erotic couplings, and yes, even novels and novellas seem to have built up a loyal following that way. In other categories there's a fair mix of complete and chaptered stories in the top lists.

Among top rated authors, there seems to be a preponderance of series among their early works, which suggests that it's a good way to build up an initial following

 

[lovecraft68]

The question here was how to release the chapters they'd already broken the story into. Talking about the advantages of, or how readers react to the stories is a different, and beaten like a dead horse topic.

 

[Winter_Fare]

The question here was how to release the chapters they'd already broken the story into. Talking about the advantages of, or how readers react to the stories is a different, and beaten like a dead horse topic.

I mean, it does no harm to chat about how things are received be different readers.

The point has already been made that if you release the chapters all in one block, they might be published out of order, or that a chapter or two might get held back out of sequence for some unforseen issue.

Voboy made the valid point that when he started out he thought chapters were the only way, so it's worthwhile mentioning that long one off stories can do well.

 

[Voboy]

The question here was how to release the chapters they'd already broken the story into. Talking about the advantages of, or how readers react to the stories is a different, and beaten like a dead horse topic.

Sure. But you don't think they're related?

My own advice, if the total word count is not egregiously long, is that chapters might not be necessary, or advisable. It's a point of view, whether you agree with it or not.

 

[lovecraft68]

Sure. But you don't think they're related?

My own advice, if the total word count is not egregiously long, is that chapters might not be necessary, or advisable. It's a point of view, whether you agree with it or not.

They said they already had them broken up so I answered the question of should they submit them all at once. I'm not going to debate whether they should be broken up or not because its not my story, and unlike many here, I don't tell people what they could or should do unless its a direct question.

To me after the initial question was answered now we just have the usual over thinking, the same points, and eventually the same squabbling.

This is why I never understood the big deal over New years. Nothing ever changes other than the calendar.

 

[Voboy]

They said they already had them broken up so I answered the question of should they submit them all at once. I'm not going to debate whether they should be broken up or not because its not my story, and unlike many here, I don't tell people what they could or should do unless its a direct question.

To me after the initial question was answered now we just have the usual over thinking, the same points, and eventually the same squabbling.

This is why I never understood the big deal over New years. Nothing ever changes other than the calendar.

Okay.

 

[RejectReality]

I'd be looking for an umbrella category other than N&N as opposed to hopping categories. Hopping categories rarely results in picking up new readers, you just end up losing the readers from the previous category who aren't interested in the next one.

Is it an older man/woman getting with younger people? Put it in Mature.

Is there a lot of multi-partner sex and is the final scene group sex? Put it all in group.

Is the POV character an exhibitionist/Voyeur, then put it in E&V.

If the parts aren't actually chapters ( reading the previous part is not required to understand the current one ) then you can do better with category hopping. Title the submissions individually rather than giving them ch.xx designations, put them in the most appropriate category, and link them with the updated series feature. Each story stands on its own, but those who are enjoying them can find all the rest of the stories as well. The series can have a timeline, but each story in the series should be self-contained with a beginning, middle, and end.

 

[BobbyBrandt]

I'm once again in the minority, but I'll share my thoughts anyway...

I have posted several long stories (Novels and Novellas) in multiple parts and never have any of the submissions posted out of order. I submitted them at one time, one chapter after the other and they trickle through the system day after day until all get posted.

I tried to keep each submission to 2 or 3 Lit pages. My readers tolerated that process, but the overwhelming preference of the readers who follow me and comment on my stories was for me to not break my stories up and post them as a single large submission (75K+), which is all that I do now.

I also would never hop categories with chapters from the same story. I would select a catch-all category and submit there even if sections of the story had strong genre-specific content. I view the entire work and which category best represents my vision over what some readers might have preferred for a particular chapter.

In the end, I tend not to cater to the whims of readers here unless they are loyal followers because the rest are beyond my control. The only thing that I control is my writing and how I decide to share it. That remains my focus.

 

[Djmac1031]

On the topic of series / chapters; I only have one that's gone well over three parts.

But that particular series is designed to be serialized; and each chapter, while part of on overarching tale, contains it's own mini story with a beginning, middle, climax and ending.

My audience for it is small, but loyal. And that's fine by me.

That said, I am trying to get away from chapters and sequels.

Many of mine went that direction mainly because the first story I wrote did well, so I decided to write a part 2 or 3.

Bit I'm trying to focus on more single, self contained stories that I feel stand alone and won't NEED a sequel.

I'd say if your story is already complete, post it as one long tale.

My completely novice opinion is you might get a higher volume of readers to read the COMPLETE tale, while publishing chapters might net you decent numbers at first that would trail off as the series continues because yes, many readers have short term memories and will never bother looking for the next part.

Of course, there is a market for serialized stories, and there ARE readers who stick with them if they like your writing.

It's a toss up either way, really.

In the end, go with your gut.

 

[yukonnights]

I believe there is an important reason to sometimes breakup a longer story into more manageable bites. I have four stories broken into chapters; there are two 7-Part, one 4 part and one 3 part. The primary reason for breaking a story into chapters is to offer a longer story to readers who may not have the time to sit down and read a long story. For what it's worth, every chapter in those stories has the red H except for one.

Every one of the multi-part stories were submitted at one time. Lit has never "lost" a chapter or a story in my experience. I typically put an "Author's Introduction" at the top of the first chapter explaining that the story is completed and should post out one every few days.

 

[PastMaster]

I will add one piece of advice that you have not asked for, as I believe that others have answered your actual question. Don't let the trolls or ratings affect your opinion of the story. There is a massive difference between constructive criticism, and some of the vitriol that is poured on writers by idiots who lack the imagination to write for themselves. Dont let it get to you, or dissuade you from writing in future.

Good luck and well done.

PM

 

[ReclaimingLostTime]

I will add one piece of advice that you have not asked for, as I believe that others have answered your actual question. Don't let the trolls or ratings affect your opinion of the story. There is a massive difference between constructive criticism, and some of the vitriol that is poured on writers by idiots who lack the imagination to write for themselves. Dont let it get to you, or dissuade you from writing in future.

Good luck and well done.

PM

Thank You. I've published three pieces now, not the story I was originally talking about which is sitting on the books waiting for the right moment, and have been massively encouraged by the comments and scores I have received. One anonymous comment did get to me for a while, but I much appreciate your words.
RCL