Less Intimating Means of Labeling Series

[Priscilla_June]

So I was thinking, chaptered stories often lose readership after the first chapter. But sometimes I have a series of stories with the same characters that are just as good by themselves as they are in sequence, would it be better if I avoided chapter numbering.

Perhaps using a:
Title: Sub-title

This approach may draw more readers for subsequent iterations of the story. Thoughts?

 

[Emilymcplugger]

Yeah, I know what you mean.

I’d think if you’ve read one chapter you’d want to find out the rest, so it then makes little sense when future chapters get more views.

I’m still getting my head around it.

 

[NotWise]

So I was thinking, chaptered stories often lose readership after the first chapter. But sometimes I have a series of stories with the same characters that are just as good by themselves as they are in sequence, would it be better if I avoided chapter numbering.

Perhaps using a:
Title: Sub-title

This approach may draw more readers for subsequent iterations of the story. Thoughts?

Both the readers and the site may see through your ploy.

I've done it, and I'm not sure it does any good. In both cases ("The Third Ring" and "His Father's Lover"), the site groups them together on my profile page as if they were a series, and the second story has about half the views of the first.

 

[Emilymcplugger]

So I was thinking, chaptered stories often lose readership after the first chapter. But sometimes I have a series of stories with the same characters that are just as good by themselves as they are in sequence, would it be better if I avoided chapter numbering.

Perhaps using a:
Title: Sub-title

This approach may draw more readers for subsequent iterations of the story. Thoughts?

Some people put different chapters in different genres to increase readership.

Maybe give that a try.

 

[BobbyBrandt]

You can see examples of the series (Before they Were Stars) that I have posted HERE.

My stories posted in chapters are also there, along with stories that are grouped in parts consisting of multiple chapters each.

My suggestion would be that if you are concerned about views dropping off in subsequent chapters, wait and post the completed story as a single submission.

 

[soflabbwlvr]

It could work, if the installments are not sequential. But if they are, how would a new reader know where to start or the proper sequence?

 

[Priscilla_June]

It could work, if the installments are not sequential. But if they are, how would a new reader know where to start or the proper sequence?

Oh… good point…. Hmmm

 

[lilshymynx]

From a reader's perspective...

Are the stories truly standalone? By that I mean can I pick up one of them and read and enjoy it not having read any of the others? If that is the case then you could give them a similar naming scheme (think 'The Girl with The Dragon Tattoo, etc. but not an actual series) to let readers know they are interrelated, but not necessarily sequential.

However, if they are dependent on each other and if I pick up the 3rd one by chance and I am lost then it would be frustrating to me and I might walk away anyway. So you are shooting yourself in the foot by naming trickery.

If you do want an example of a way to 'break' the algorithm for grouping stories, look at WaxPhilosophic's "Amber From Marketing" stories here and they way they were titled

 

[SamScribble]

Pricilla June, I think there's a model to be found in TV shows.

If the show is in the form of what used to be known as 'a serial', then the viewer wants/needs to watch the episodes in order. What happens next?

But if the shows are a series of stories around a core group of characters in an 'anchor' situation (a business, a hospital, a village, or whatever), then it doesn't much matter which order the viewer views them in as long as the characters stay 'in character'.

 

[NotWise]

From a reader's perspective...

Are the stories truly standalone? By that I mean can I pick up one of them and read and enjoy it not having read any of the others? If that is the case then you could give them a similar naming scheme (think 'The Girl with The Dragon Tattoo, etc. but not an actual series) to let readers know they are interrelated, but not necessarily sequential.

. . .

It's hard to write stand-alone stories in a group or series. That implies that the repeating characters are developed in every story. You can't assume that the readers know who they are.

I tried to do that in my six "Pixie" stories. It's hard to find six different ways to flesh out the same character. It was not an interesting challenge for me, and it probably made boring reading for anyone who read more than a couple of the stories.

 

[Priscilla_June]

So understandably it sounds like there just isnt a good way around any of it then hehe. Maybe its just time to hunker down to get folks attention.

 

[ElectricBlue]

So understandably it sounds like there just isnt a good way around any of it then hehe. Maybe its just time to hunker down to get folks attention.

Hunker down.

Good writing is the key, that's what good readers go for. Don't worry that Views drop off over chaptered stories (because they don't always, but mostly they always do), and don't ever kid yourself that you'll get more "readers to the end" with stand alone stories, because you never ever know how many finish the story. The site stats don't show us that information - the site knows how many turn the last Lit page, but we authors don't know that.

Chaptered stories give you a bit of a clue, stand alone stories give you no clue at all. My guess, my assumption (from analysing my own chaptered stories) is that maybe one in five opening Views will finish a long story, regardless whether it's in chapters or one long piece. Views do not equal Reads. Don't ever think that.

The stats are fun, but they're not the end game. If you just want high numbers, write incest stories and be done with it. If you want lots of comments, good and bad, write LW stories and go over that bridge.

Decide what your purpose is, in writing smut, and get good at it. Good writing should be able to survive well in any category - you just need to see that the categories are vastly different to each other with their reader dynamics, and you can't really compare one to another.

But we all know good writing when we see it.

Good luck, write more, get good at it, and you'll get the followers you want.

 

[TheRedChamber]

I asked a similarish question recent and got some good answers that might be relevant to this thread.

Advice on Writing an Episodic Series

 

[BobbyBrandt]

I did a little analysis of my multi-part/chapter stories. Since I've been playing around with which method of breaking up a story would work best, I thought that I would share my data:

"Change" was submitted in eleven parts, each containing three chapters. The second part has 31% fewer views (15,004) than the first part (21,885), and the subsequent parts ranged from 38% fewer views than the first part to 25% fewer views. The last part had 74% of the views from the first part.

"Elements" was submitted in three parts, each containing seven chapters. The second part has 50% fewer views (6,717) than the first part (16,584) and the third part has 61% fewer views than part one.

"Heavy Traffic" was submitted in twenty chapters. The second chapter has 35% fewer views (36,961) than chapter one (56,989), with subsequent chapters ranging from 39% to 49% fewer views that the first chapter.

"Searching" was submitted in eighteen parts. The second part has 54% fewer views (13,333) than part one (28,997), with subsequent parts ranging from 55% to 65% fewer views than the first part.

An interesting side note is that with each of the stories listed above, the vote count remained relatively consistent, which makes the votes-per-view numbers higher as the view count decreased. Comments-per-view also increased. Obviously, those readers who stick with the story are the ones who will make the effort to vote and provide feedback.

 

[Seadog777]

I myself personally, am not a fan of long erotica stories.

3 pages a story is the max for me when it comes to reading erotica stories.

I actually prefer it to be broken down into chapters.

Just me though. Seems like I might be in the minority on this one.

 

[Emilymcplugger]

I did a little analysis of my multi-part/chapter stories. Since I've been playing around with which method of breaking up a story would work best, I thought that I would share my data:

"Change" was submitted in eleven parts, each containing three chapters. The second part has 31% fewer views (15,004) than the first part (21,885), and the subsequent parts ranged from 38% fewer views than the first part to 25% fewer views. The last part had 74% of the views from the first part.

"Elements" was submitted in three parts, each containing seven chapters. The second part has 50% fewer views (6,717) than the first part (16,584) and the third part has 61% fewer views than part one.

"Heavy Traffic" was submitted in twenty chapters. The second chapter has 35% fewer views (36,961) than chapter one (56,989), with subsequent chapters ranging from 39% to 49% fewer views that the first chapter.

"Searching" was submitted in eighteen parts. The second part has 54% fewer views (13,333) than part one (28,997), with subsequent parts ranging from 55% to 65% fewer views than the first part.

An interesting side note is that with each of the stories listed above, the vote count remained relatively consistent, which makes the votes-per-view numbers higher as the view count decreased. Comments-per-view also increased. Obviously, those readers who stick with the story are the ones who will make the effort to vote and provide feedback.

My first story had 5 parts and readership went like this…

1 high views.

2 less views

3 less views

4 Loads of views (you old romantics, you)

5 less views.

I guess if people like certain sections they’ll come back to their favourite parts. 4 is pretty good with lots of romantic stuff in and it seems people in GS really responded to that.

How ironic.

 

[lilshymynx]

It's hard to write stand-alone stories in a group or series. That implies that the repeating characters are developed in every story. You can't assume that the readers know who they are.

I tried to do that in my six "Pixie" stories. It's hard to find six different ways to flesh out the same character. It was not an interesting challenge for me, and it probably made boring reading for anyone who read more than a couple of the stories.

That's basically what I was getting at...it's one thing to think that a story is standalone, it's another thing to truly be standalone. As you've said, unless you are targeting for that and make your individual stories into neat packages it won't work. There's also the fact that if you DO write with that intent, you may end up getting complaints that they are repetitive. It's a tough task either way.

 

[oggbashan]

Instead of using numbered parts you can use: Title: subtitle.

If the title is exactly the same but the subtitle differs, they will appear together. If the series has alphabetical subtitles they would appear in order.

Our Story: About us.
Our Story: Beginnings
Our Story: Connections

etc...

 

[Priscilla_June]

I myself personally, am not a fan of long erotica stories.

3 pages a story is the max for me when it comes to reading erotica stories.

I actually prefer it to be broken down into chapters.

Just me though. Seems like I might be in the minority on this one.

As a reader I am the same way, 3 pages max. I guess its interesting more folks arnt that way. I would figure most have low attention spans. And i don’t think there is a good way to bookmark in longer works?

 

[NotWise]

As a reader I am the same way, 3 pages max. I guess its interesting more folks arnt that way. I would figure most have low attention spans. And i don’t think there is a good way to bookmark in longer works?

I break longer stories submitted in one piece internally into numbered and sometimes titled chapters. That should make it easier for readers to pick up where they left off.

The concept is there, but there's no evidence readers actually use it.

 

[ElectricBlue]

As a reader I am the same way, 3 pages max. I guess its interesting more folks arnt that way. I would figure most have low attention spans. And i don’t think there is a good way to bookmark in longer works?

There Is no way to bookmark which page you are on, no. You'd just have remember where you were up to.

For novel length pieces, I'd chapter them as a convenience to readers. For novella length, I've done both - either internal chapter headings in a single submission, or separate chapters. Of course, there's no way of knowing from the former approach how many people read the whole thing; but with a chaptered story, you can see that.

 

[Seadog777]

As a reader I am the same way, 3 pages max. I guess its interesting more folks arnt that way. I would figure most have low attention spans. And i don’t think there is a good way to bookmark in longer works?

In my case, I'm on-call 24/7.
I don't have the time to spend on a long story.
When that pager goes off or my phone rings, I gotta throw my gear on and get my ass outta there. LOL.

 

[BobbyBrandt]

There Is no way to bookmark which page you are on, no. You'd just have remember where you were up to.

For novel length pieces, I'd chapter them as a convenience to readers. For novella length, I've done both - either internal chapter headings in a single submission, or separate chapters. Of course, there's no way of knowing from the former approach how many people read the whole thing; but with a chaptered story, you can see that.

Where there's a will, there's a way.

Depending upon which browser you are using, you likely have the ability to "pin" a tab. This will keep the web page open at the same spot until you "unpin" it. Even if you turn your computer off, the pinned tab will be there when you return. I have two longer stories pinned right now so I can go back to them whenever I want to continue where I was.

 

[ElectricBlue]

Where there's a will, there's a way.

Depending upon which browser you are using, you likely have the ability to "pin" a tab. This will keep the web page open at the same spot until you "unpin" it. Even if you turn your computer off, the pinned tab will be there when you return. I have two longer stories pinned right now so I can go back to them whenever I want to continue where I was.

Might be in your browser, not on mine, and most likely, not on a phone (seems many readers access the site on a phone). The point is, the site doesn't bookmark within a story, so a chapter is a convenience to readers that an author can offer, with a long story.

 

[BobbyBrandt]

Might be in your browser, not on mine, and most likely, not on a phone (seems many readers access the site on a phone). The point is, the site doesn't bookmark within a story, so a chapter is a convenience to readers that an author can offer, with a long story.

Again, it depends. Some stories and categories lend themselves better to single, long submissions than others. From my own experience, many of the readers who take the time and effort to comment and vote on my stories state that the prefer them in a single submission. Some of that preference is due to the way that Literotica spaces out the publishing of posts, even if they are submitted one after another on the same day. Readers get impatient having to wait.

There is no hard and fast rule since readers vary and their preferences can change based upon what they are reading at the time.