Multi-chapter, multi-category story submission question

[DFWBeast]

Looking for some feedback from the community on a couple areas.

I have a multiple chapter/ multiple category story that I will be submitting for editing in a couples months. Interested on how I should submit it.

Probable story breakdown:

Chap 1 - wife's betrayal & husband's discovery- Loving Wives. (9k words)
Chap 2 - husband's revenge through bondage humiliation- BDSM/ Loving Wives. (7.5k)
Chap 3 - wife's apology letter, revenge went too far asks for divorce- Letters. (3.5k)
Chap 4 - husband wife hash out peaceful coexistence - Romance (10.5k)
Chap 5 - husband wife find out they love each other, work on issues - Romance (5.5k)
Chap 6 - couple reconcile - Romance (8k)

If I was to submit the story as a whole, I would probably be torn between loving wives and romance.

I don't want to lose readers because a particular category (unavoidable initially i know) and then lose even more because the story goes into a different category. What are your thoughts on multiple category stories and chapter sizes? What do think the minimum and maximum word counts should be for a chapter?

From what I'm seeing on the board, most would shoot for 6-9k chapters, and verdict is still out on whether or not to submit in multiple categories.

 

[NaokoSmith]

I deliberately submit my current story in multiple categories, partly out of interest to see how it goes. It seems to work fine. It's quite fun to see how differently people vote and comment in the different categories.

Laurel may take your submissions and put them in categories other than those you've chosen, she sometimes does that. Put in a note to her about the category in the Special Instructions box when you submit the story to discuss it. She has a lot of understanding about the categories, of course, so I don't mind when she moves mine round. I think they probably do better where she puts them.

 

[oggbashan]

You could submit the whole in Novels and Novellas, but that is less read than other categories.

 

[soflabbwlvr]

Looking for some feedback from the community on a couple areas.

I have a multiple chapter/ multiple category story that I will be submitting for editing in a couples months. Interested on how I should submit it.

Probable story breakdown:

Chap 1 - wife's betrayal & husband's discovery- Loving Wives. (9k words)
Chap 2 - husband's revenge through bondage humiliation- BDSM/ Loving Wives. (7.5k)
Chap 3 - wife's apology letter, revenge went too far asks for divorce- Letters. (3.5k)
Chap 4 - husband wife hash out peaceful coexistence - Romance (10.5k)
Chap 5 - husband wife find out they love each other, work on issues - Romance (5.5k)
Chap 6 - couple reconcile - Romance (8k)

If I was to submit the story as a whole, I would probably be torn between loving wives and romance.

I don't want to lose readers because a particular category (unavoidable initially i know) and then lose even more because the story goes into a different category. What are your thoughts on multiple category stories and chapter sizes? What do think the minimum and maximum word counts should be for a chapter?

From what I'm seeing on the board, most would shoot for 6-9k chapters, and verdict is still out on whether or not to submit in multiple categories.

I have submitted multi-chapter stories in multiple categories in the past with mixed results. As a result, I don't have a firmly held opinion on whether that is a good or bad idea. However, I do believe that your specific proposed category agenda will be problematic. I don't think there is a lot of overlap between the readership of some of those sections. I would guess that you will shed readers like leaves in autumn with some of those jumps.

I'm not trying to dissuade you from writing your story in the manner you see fit. Rather, my suggestion is that you re-think the category choices and maybe tighten up the structure a little. Also, if you are going to go this route, then I think it might help to publish all the chapters very quickly--no more than one day between posts. Readers will remember your story better, and may disregard the categories that subsequent chapters occupy.

 

[sr71plt]

I like the idea of matching a story put in one category with the letters involved in the story, which is placed in the Letters category. I have one that I want to do that way, but it's just been released to the marked in combined form and I won't want to post it to Literotica for several months. I'll watch to see if you do that and how it works out for you and would like to see anyone else who's already done that weigh in on that issue.

As far as multiple category serialization, I have done it, but have found it most successful by writing each story as a standalone that has expanded meaning/relationships when all stories are put together. Got Green E's for doing that with the "Tuscan Twilight" series that, variously, went the GM, Lesbian, Erotic Coupling, and Group Sex categories. I could see how each one of your chapters could be done as a separate, standalone, but related story.

 

[DFWBeast]

Thank you

Thanks Naoko, ogg, sofla and pilot for your responses.

Really dislike having to pigeon hole a story into a single category. But understand it. I hate reading stories that don't give me warning they're going into directions that I might find offensive or just plain don't care for.