I need help with my first story

[Fantastic_Raven]

Hello, I'm a long time lurker here that's just posted my first story here. It's not the first story I've created, but it is the first one that meet's Lit's terms of service. So, I created a new account and made my first post!

Well, at least I think it meets the TOS. I did try to read the legalese, but blood shot out of my eyes. Time will tell, I guess. Hopefully that's just "new author" jitters. Anyway, the story is complete, and the prologue and chapter 1 of "Brian's Choice" is up. But that's not what I need help on.

When I first submitted this, I submitted only the prologue. I figured, the story is over 750 words even if the prologue isn't. REJECTED. Okay, my bad; it's 750 words minimum per part. So I attached chapter 1 and resubmitted.

The thing is, the prologue is incest-heavy and the rest of the story isn't. Incest does come up, but the primary characters aren't in an incestuous relationship. So when I had submitted the prologue, I filed it under "incest". And when I resubmitted it with chapter 1 attached, I could swear I changed it to Romance. I remember this because I was debating between Romance and Erotic Couplings.

But, now that the story is up, it's still under incest. I guess my noobishness screwed that up somehow.

So...

What do the incest people think of this? What about the Romance and Erotic Couplings people? Is it okay with everybody that it stay in incest, or should I get it moved elsewhere? Where should I move it to? And how do I go about changing it?

And, regarding chapter 2, should the category still match wherever Ch00-01 went?

Any advice is appreciated. TIA!

 

[ElectricBlue]

Laurel (the site editor) will put a story where she thinks the subject matter best fits, so if the first chapter is dominated by incest, that's where it's going to go (since it's all she has, right now).

If later chapters move right away from the incest theme, you could shift those chapters to their dominant theme, but then you'll be category jumping, which is guaranteed to lose readers at a fast rate.

Have you got the whole story written? If so, what's its dominant subject matter? - and why is the incest there? Is it really needed for the rest of the story to make sense? If you do have the whole story written (although I suspect you don't) you could tweak your content, delete the first chapter, and start over.

Based on what you've indicated so far, you've given your story a double poor start. If the incest doesn't continue, the I&T readers will most likely get upset; and if other readers don't like incest in their stories, they're not going to even look at it.

 

[AlinaX]

Hi, welcome, and check the many useful threads in Author's Hangout.

Laurel, who decides all, will override your choice of category at times, especially when stories feature gay sex (i.e., MM), incest or non-consensual. She may, sometimes, keep the requested category but add a disclaimer ("Editor's Note: This story contains incest or incest-related content" or similar).

This can, as in your case, present a dilemma. If the first chapter (and yes all parts, chapters, submissions, have to 750 words or more, thus the current 750 word story challenge for authors) contains incest, and gets filed under Incest, but subsequent chapters don't, then you'll probably find that you miss out on a lot of readers. Any multi-part story that jumps categories will run that risk.

As a very general rule, 5000-10000 words is a good length to aim for. Anything under 3750 (ish) will be a single-page story, and while these can be good they do feel short. Anything over about 20000 words becomes a major undertaking (for both author and readers).

 

[Nylonian]

Hello, I'm a long time lurker here that's just posted my first story here. It's not the first story I've created, but it is the first one that meet's Lit's terms of service. So, I created a new account and made my first post!

Well, at least I think it meets the TOS. I did try to read the legalese, but blood shot out of my eyes. Time will tell, I guess. Hopefully that's just "new author" jitters. Anyway, the story is complete, and the prologue and chapter 1 of "Brian's Choice" is up. But that's not what I need help on.

When I first submitted this, I submitted only the prologue. I figured, the story is over 750 words even if the prologue isn't. REJECTED. Okay, my bad; it's 750 words minimum per part. So I attached chapter 1 and resubmitted.

The thing is, the prologue is incest-heavy and the rest of the story isn't. Incest does come up, but the primary characters aren't in an incestuous relationship. So when I had submitted the prologue, I filed it under "incest". And when I resubmitted it with chapter 1 attached, I could swear I changed it to Romance. I remember this because I was debating between Romance and Erotic Couplings.

But, now that the story is up, it's still under incest. I guess my noobishness screwed that up somehow.

So...

What do the incest people think of this? What about the Romance and Erotic Couplings people? Is it okay with everybody that it stay in incest, or should I get it moved elsewhere? Where should I move it to? And how do I go about changing it?

And, regarding chapter 2, should the category still match wherever Ch00-01 went?

Any advice is appreciated. TIA!

Yeah if your story changes down the line then other parts of your story will belong in other categories. It depends on what the mods/reviewers think of your story and what category it should belong in.

 

[Fantastic_Raven]

Thanks for your help, guys. Brian's Choice is all up, now - aside from a post-mortem that I'll submit next week (which belongs in yet another category).

Seems the best place for the remaining chapters was non-consent. Go figure. But it's not like I crafted the story with a category in mind. I write what the muse gives me to write, instead. It is what it is, I suppose.

It doesn't really bother me, but yes, I've noticed the huge drop in readership after chapter 1. I prefer reading stories by tags rather than by category, but I guess I'm in the minority for that. Noncon, romance, and incest are all tags I was sure to include. And with that, I guess I've learned something new.

@electricblue66, the incest is there because it was the best fit I could see at the time, and it became a theme that would lead into the sequel I'm writing now. And yes, I write complete stories, albeit one book at a time. Your comment makes me curious, though - I'm guessing most people don't do that.

@AlinaX, Yeah, my stories have been "hit" with editor's notes, not that I mind. I guess using the story tags isn't enough. And thanks for the notes on word count. Brian's Choice came in at 27k words spread out over prologue and 4 chapters. The sequel has been averaging 5k words a chapter, and I'm now working on the third of possibly 6 chapters total. So, that's a bit longer than your recommendations. I blame my muse, because: plot. Those who read chapters 3 and 4 of Brian's Choice will quickly grok that I place plot over porn, thus sometimes the porn is lacking due to the plot (I do try to include some porn in each chapter, though). And I expect that too will cost me readers. I've definitely seen the difference in the ratings. Oh well.

Now to figure out how to choose an editor here; I'm down an editor at the moment and could use a replacement. But I look at the list, and I have to pick just one category? Manually matching an editor to multiple categories is going to take time I'd rather spend writing (or on any of my other projects). I guess I'll just have to buckle down and do it.

Thanks again for your advice!
-Raven

 

[yukonnights]

Fantastic Raven,
For what it's worth, I and many others opt to write chapter style stories in a way that all all chapters are complete prior to any submission. One of the benefits of this is that we have a complete story to write and review, which helps continuity and editing. Also, it's easier to submit the several chapters since you're already there and have all the info at hand — it becomes like a single submission in some ways. After that, the chapters then automatically post out in order every 2 to 3 days which keeps the story on the new list and satisfies those reading it. We can also put a note to the reader upfront to inform them of this is a completed story, which helps them decide if they want to start the story. All in all, I think you'd find this relieves some of the stress you've had on this first chapter style story.

PS: It'd be helpful if you put a link to your stories in your signature space — helps others find you and your stories. Good luck and I hope things get easier after this.