How many days should I wait to post between chapters?

[Need_a_bedtime_story]

I've written a 9 chapter story with each chapter containing approximately 10K words. My goal is to get as many views across the whole series as possible and remain visible for a little while.

I feel like if I opt for "one chapter every day", the entire story comes and goes in a small time frame and barely remains anywhere. But at the same time, a week seems too long and I'm afraid people might lose intrest. Would 3-5 days be best? I usually get a hot stamp so I would love to have at least one chapter at the 7 or 30 days "top story" list for a little while. With 3-5 days I could stretch the whole story to be uploaded in 1 or 1,5 months, instead of 9 days. If one chapter a week is fine, that would be 9 weeks which is even better.

What do you recommend?

 

[RejectReality]

The best retention and engagement strategy that I've tried is twice a week. Submit the first on Saturday, and barring any extreme circumstances, it will come out Monday or Tuesday. Submit the next as soon as that one posts, and it will most likely come out on Thursday-Saturday.

 

[Need_a_bedtime_story]

The best retention and engagement strategy that I've tried is twice a week. Submit the first on Saturday, and barring any extreme circumstances, it will come out Monday or Tuesday. Submit the next as soon as that one posts, and it will most likely come out on Thursday-SaturdI was thinking the same thing.

I was thinking the same thing: wait for the story to be uploaded and submit the next chapter right after. Thank you for your insight!

 

[SinclairGroupLLP]

I just did two 20 chapter series. At first, I was pumping chapters out almost daily. My fans liked that pace, but it was totally unsustainable on my end, especially when the stories went from 6k or 7k words to 15k and then 25-30k for the end chapters where the drama would get resolved.

I’m about to launch my third series in this trilogy, also with 20 chapters, and I am planning for a weekly release. I think that gives me the best bang for my buck - you get the ‘new’ tag for most of the time until a new piece is out, and at least in my area, which can be sleepy some days (I write in interracial even though it’s not a typical interracial series), it will likely stay on the front page until the next chapter is out.

Some people are just not going to read chaptered stories until the entire thing is done.

Remember that whatever pace you start, folks - if the like it - are going to start to expect the stories on that pace and if life gets in the way as it always does, get ready for the inevitable “when’s the next part coming!?” comments.

 

[Need_a_bedtime_story]

I just did two 20 chapter series. At first, I was pumping chapters out almost daily. My fans liked that pace, but it was totally unsustainable on my end, especially when the stories went from 6k or 7k words to 15k and then 25-30k for the end chapters where the drama would get resolved.
...
Remember that whatever pace you start, folks - if the like it - are going to start to expect the stories on that pace and if life gets in the way as it always does, get ready for the inevitable “when’s the next part coming!?” comments.

I had this problem at first too so I decided to finish writing the entire story before uploading anything. I will not have to stress about keeping the pace in this case.

 

[RejectReality]

I had this problem at first too so I decided to finish writing the entire story before uploading anything. I will not have to stress about keeping the pace in this case.

Absolutely the best policy. Life gets in the way, and when it stomps you in the nuts and proceeds to do a pirouette, you're left with the story hanging over your head, unfinished. That kind of guilt/anxiety is not conducive to fixing the problem.

 

[Need_a_bedtime_story]

Absolutely the best policy. Life gets in the way, and when it stomps you in the nuts and proceeds to do a pirouette, you're left with the story hanging over your head, unfinished. That kind of guilt/anxiety is not conducive to fixing the problem.

Right! I felt so awful for the readers who absolutely LOVED the story and sent me emails asking me when/if I'd be back to finish the story. As much as it flattered me intensely, it also unintentionally made me feel guilty, which in turn made the writing process more difficult. My dear readers deserve better.

 

[Otto26]

I thought I got good results with one chapter per week, always on the same day of the week.

 

[ElectricBlue]

One or two days apart, but don't get hung up on it. In six months the release rate is irrelevant, because the whole thing is published. Think long term, not just next week or next month.

 

[TheWritingGroup]

I've been told here on the forum that you could upload all the chapters the same day, and request Laurel space them out as "every Sunday and Wednesday" or whatever. She can schedule publication far in advance.

-Annie

 

[Voyeurkenneth]

I did 2x a week, not necessarily on consistent days. Hard to say if it worked "the best" but I have no regrets. The chaptered story was my first work, had a non-catchy title, had an average of 11k words across 15 chapters, posted in E/V. I'd say it didn't catch on fire in terms of views or comments, but that could be due to any of the reasons I stated, not to mention the "quality" of the storytelling itself.

If I ever did a chaptered story again though, I'd try for once a week for the reason @Otto26 stated.

One strategy I might do next time is that for every subsequent chapter, I might hyperlink Chapter 1 at the beginning in an Author's Note for those lazy readers who can't be bothered to go into your Works tab to start from the beginning.

 

[ElectricBlue]

I've been told here on the forum that you could upload all the chapters the same day, and request Laurel space them out as "every Sunday and Wednesday" or whatever. She can schedule publication far in advance.

-Annie

Correct. She sets a clock, usually 24 or 48 hours, and they publish automatically.

 

[TiberiusPrime]

Submit a chapter, wait until it's published, then submit the next, and so on and so forth.

 

[Gamblnluck]

The best retention and engagement strategy that I've tried is twice a week. Submit the first on Saturday, and barring any extreme circumstances, it will come out Monday or Tuesday. Submit the next as soon as that one posts, and it will most likely come out on Thursday-Saturday.

If you already have your story written and edited, you can look at your pending page. At first it will show you you have the story submitted. Once it shows the date the story will be posted is when you can post the next chapter. They will not overlap and you can be assured the audience is kept looking for the next chapter.

 

[RejectReality]

If you already have your story written and edited, you can look at your pending page. At first it will show you you have the story submitted. Once it shows the date the story will be posted is when you can post the next chapter. They will not overlap and you can be assured the audience is kept looking for the next chapter.

That's just a little too frequent in my experience. The extra length of exposure from just a little bit longer between chapters tilts the scales, because the difference between the level of engagement and retention was negligible when compared to twice a week.

 

[lovecraft68]

Not sure anyone has mentioned an important detail.

Do not post a chapter until the previous one is published. These days there is a lot of people saying their stories are taking forever to post, so you don't want to submit a chapter, then two days later put in another one because one could get stuck and the other one released and now out of order

 

[RejectReality]

Would you say once a week is better rather than twice a week then?

The level of engagement and retention drops enough at once a week vs. twice a week to be statistically relevant. This is all just my experience, though — and mostly in Sci-Fi&Fantasy. That readership is more into long stories, so your mileage may vary.

I certainly wouldn't stretch out any more than once per week. That feels like a really long time to wait for a new chapter. A week's wait is at least something the older folks ( and let's face it, most of the readership is on the older side, as are the authors ) have imprinted on them from television, so that feels familiar.

 

[Need_a_bedtime_story]

The level of engagement and retention drops enough at once a week vs. twice a week to be statistically relevant. This is all just my experience, though — and mostly in Sci-Fi&Fantasy. That readership is more into long stories, so your mileage may vary.

I certainly wouldn't stretch out any more than once per week. That feels like a really long time to wait for a new chapter. A week's wait is at least something the older folks ( and let's face it, most of the readership is on the older side, as are the authors ) have imprinted on them from television, so that feels familiar.

Thank you! That is very helpful.