Is the Novels and Novellas the best place for longer works?

[Sextified]

Is the Novels and Novellas section the best place for longer works?

Hello everyone!

It has been a very, very long time since I first posted here on Literotica.

I had a short series that started here, and then I moved it over to another story site when I decided to rework it into a much longer project. I kept posting in both locations for quite awhile, trying to decide where I should make my literary bed.

At the time, I was getting much better reads, interest, votes, fan emails and constructive criticism over there, so eventually I wrote for them full-time. Their author community was also very strong, and I seemed to fit right in.

I'm taking a deliberate break from my huge non-erotica project, and have decided to revisit and rework the older books in this genre.

My series turned into a world building exercise, and learning that niche and applying it to erotica was both a great comfort and an interesting exercise for me.

Writing helps me in so many different ways, and I am sure that some of you feel the same way. But working in a vacuum isn't much fun. Nor is building up chapter after chapter, and only letting them gather dust, with no one to enjoy them.

Question: On Literotica today, is it better to place random chapters in the sexual category that each one fits best in, or are there enough supportive readers of longer works to justify keeping a true novel length story entirely in the only section designed for it?

Thanks in advance for your help.

Sextified

 

[ElectricBlue]

Probably not. Think of your over-riding category first. I have a 103,000 novel over thirteen chapters in Sci-Fi and Fantasy, because that's the ideal category.

The only thing to really think about is whether you have one huge story submission (the longest I've seen was 80+ Lit pages (> 300k words) or break it up into good sized chapters.

 

[MelissaBaby]

I think most of us who have published in the Novels and Novellas category did so based on two criteria; our stories were long and didn't fit any obvious category.

It's a pretty low-reader category. If you use it, accept that you will likely get fewer views than if you post elsewhere.

 

[sirhugs]

I agree with the earlier comments, but on the other hand, the readers that you do get come prepared, so won't complain when it is not a 750 word stroker.

 

[Sextified]

Using the word counters over at ES, the three books clock in at about 1.3 million words combined.

If I had to pick one overall category, it would be BDSM, which is where I have it now. But I purposefully wrote it so every single category allowed over there would be at least touched on.

Its filled with one overriding key main character, a dozen or so others worthy of Main status themselves, and maybe thirty others that hold their own.

In scope? Think Melanie Rawn's "Dragon Prince" double trilogy, or one of L.E. Modesitt's "Magic of Recluce" story arcs.

It just needed that much space to get it all in, and I didn't do the first book of the erotic series justice by any means, which is why I am revisiting it.

ES has changed, a lot, and in my opinion gotten very slow and doesn't even have a place where the authors and writers can talk anymore. The loss of the Forums over there really disappointed a lot of the more serious writers, editors and collaborative readers.

I'm not looking for a blockbuster response, here or anywhere else.

I realize all the pitfalls that go with a longer work, where sex is only an equal part of the makeup of the story. Characters need room to outgrow their author. To develop minds of their own.

I like to let even minor players carry the full load of the narrative at times, letting the story arc swing thru different groups and combinations of groups as things progress.

Not something that I was able to achieve, do well, or consistently while learning so much about them all in the first book.

I guess I will try the second chapter in BDSM, too, then consider moving them to the Novel category based on how it goes.

Thanks so much for your responses. I'll keep listening here.

Sextified

 

[Abbafan]

I agree that I'd probably put it in another category if it will fit there as well. Especially if its a category that many see as kind of extreme or off putting, like BDSM or incest.

 

[Haulover]

...
...
then I moved it over to another story site...

Using the word counters over at ES...

'Scuze my obvious ignorance, and going slightly off-topic - but what is that "other site" you're referring to? ("ES"??)

 

[Sextified]

'Scuze my obvious ignorance, and going slightly off-topic - but what is that "other site" you're referring to? ("ES"??)

Sorry, I was just trying to be polite and not directly mention another website.

I meant EroticStories. The newly posted stories there are free to view for a month. Then the better stories are moved to the paid part of the site. The submissions that weren't read enough, had enough votes, or weren't highly ranked are simply removed.

Once an author gets a story into the Archives, they get a free account.

So obviously, successful longer stories over there have a built in problem. The older chapters are locked away from the general public after thirty days. But for most other works, and writers, it can be a good system. For paying readers, the Archives represent a much smaller "pre-sifted" batch of the "better" stories, and that takes them less time to find the ones they want to read. The general public still gets to see and read everything, but only for that first month during the voting.

For me?

It was a quiet place to "hide" the books and short stories while I was learning and experimenting.

Sextified

 

[Haulover]

Many thanks for the info.

Sorry, I was just trying to be polite and not directly mention another website.
...

Good point - I hope neither of us crossed any lines by mentioning a competitive site. I probably shouldn't have asked

Feel free to delete or edit the post if you think that would be appropriate.

 

[BuckyDuckman]

I've posted several of my longer stories in Novels and Novellas. Partly because of their length and partly because they were genre spanning works that would have been difficult to pigeon hole.

I also have stories sprinkled over a variety of categories from when I used to do the "Survivor" contest. I'm happy with the readership my N & N stories have received.

 

[Sextified]

Thanks to everyone for the solid advice! I appreciate it very much!

I went back and reread the first chapter, with a much more critical eye. I've been hacking and slashing it back into shape ever since!

Thinking of the series as a whole, I think its best for me to go thru and rework the initial chapter, and then look for some outside help. The goal is to refashion the original first book to better mimic the eventual style and pacing of the next two much more flowing and focused works, WITHOUT losing the immediacy and drive that made it popular in the first place.

Most authors just write off their early works, and start from scratch on entirely different projects! Now I know why!

But if I ever want the much better follow up books to be read, this first mess has to be fixed!

When it is all polished up, I will repost it under the correct original title in the Novels section. Once it's up, I'll try to contact those people who favorited it, then delete the one I am so unhappy with. Trying to "artificially" tie all the loose original ideas back to the following works caused more problems than the rewrite attempted to fix.

Normally I wouldn't have made that mistake.

I forget how used to I was to having a revolving door of about five loyal "Pre-Readers" who got to see an early copy of the text, and how valuable their input was. Even if it was just a brief message saying things like; too wordy, consistent misspelling of these two words, tense issues in the third paragraph, character names got switched, expand the end of the scene, switch perspectives more, end with the woman's thoughts not the man's, etc.

One of my favorite "catches" by a pre-reader was them simply asking a question: "How did everyone trying to help the Rescuer, later on in the following scenes, already know what to do?" When I reread that section it was clear that to the readers things were suddenly just happening out of thin air. So in the building that was still under construction I placed one working phone, and referenced that my main character was having a few "off screen" minutes.

Just by having him ask for a paper and pen while picking up the phone, where the readers could learn about that missing step I forgot to put in, solved a whole horde of issues later on.

I didn't have to spell out or spoil anything for anyone, but as new characters came in to the story with far too intimate knowledge of the tragedy that had just happened, the readers were already expecting to see the results of those efforts.

It'll take me awhile to hammer the first chapter back in shape, then get it looked over, but what I am (re)learning will certainly help my other project when it comes off hold.

Any suggestions on how to find both an editor and pre-readers would be appreciated.

My old websites forum section was removed, and that is where I used to find them before. Or I would simply add a note at the end of the chapters, and ask my current readers for volunteers. They would get to read the next chapter a week earlier than everyone else, in exchange for some brief comments.

How does finding that kind of help happen over here at Lit?


Thanks again!

Sextified

 

[ElectricBlue]

My old websites forum section was removed, and that is where I used to find them before. Or I would simply add a note at the end of the chapters, and ask my current readers for volunteers. They would get to read the next chapter a week earlier than everyone else, in exchange for some brief comments.

How does finding that kind of help happen over here at Lit?

Start a thread in the Editors' Forum, tell folk what you're looking for. And probably wind back your expectations that someone's going to tackle a really long novel, as you're describing here. Good luck, though .

 

[Sextified]

I really never expected to get free editorial help as the first book wrapped up, nor for the second and third books, but I usually got more than enough to keep me on track.

The most important thing for me was to always have another set of eyes on the Feel, Direction, Continuity, Expectations, Detail, and Depth of the project.

With so much planning, backstory, and self editing going on, its way too easy to get lost on what was actually making it to the page. Having someone who only knows the story by what they have read, and give me fresh feedback on their own unique reactions to it, is what I have missed the most.

Once or twice I wrote something that seemed out of character for a participant in a scene, knowing what was going to happen to them in the next book, and the pre-reader caught that. It was who they were GOING to be, not who they actually were DURING that point in their arc.

On several other occasions, a character seemed to get lost, suddenly becoming fickle for no reason, and I got called out on it. That was good, because I had yet to place them in their role in the next book, and they were sort of just "wandering around" in the story line. So for one character, I moved their part to push along the overall narrative to another more logical actor. For a different player, I had to sit down and really decide what was going on in their head, and fix my portrayal of them.

Either way, having a few male and female pre-readers look over things before they get posted always helped me.

The heavy duty editing and polishing is for someone that is going to get paid, but I never minded having my bad habits pointed out so I could make that job easier someday.

Once I get the tricky opening figured out, I'll post in the "Beta Readers" thread, and in the general editing help area.

Thanks!