Novella Posting

[BilyumQ]

I need some feedback on posting novellas. I have a very long story that strictly due to it's length should be posted as a novella. My question is on chapters, do I decide where the chapter breaks are, which would be my preferences, or do Literotica editors do so?

I guess my question stems from the submission page which shows only a typical submission form, not something that allows for chaptering.

Is the point to post the story as a novella, one chapter at a time?

I've really kicked this around for a couple of weeks now. I really hate the idea of having to break up the story because I feel the pace, tempo and flow of the story would be affected. But I also realize that no one’s going to sit and read a story of this length in one sitting.

I look forward to your advice.

Thanks,
BilyumQ

 

[Guest]

Novels and Novellas are generally posted one chapter at a time, the title to each chapter (each an individual submission) is identical except for the reference to Ch. 1, Ch. 2, etc., as can be seen by the many examples posted on Lit in this category. This means you'll need to break your single story down into a number of different files (chapters) each labeled as an individual submission for upload separately, obviously starting with Chapter 1 (although it is certainly possible, ala George Lucas-Star Wars, to start with Chapter 4 and eventually work your way around to the prequels).

You, as the author, decide where the appropriate chapter breaks or interruptions should be, just as any author would when writing a novel or novella. I would suggest, however, if it was not your original intent to subdivide your story, consider where the breaks should go after you re-read your story--from a chapter-level perspective--then make edits to enhance the newly defined transitions. That is, this additional editing should be done in a way that will not only provide a framework to set off each chapter as a major story element, but also to bridge adjacent chapters for continuity's sake, important for the pace, tempo, and flow, as you suggest. A little work on your part will be appreciated from Lit's more savvy readers, in my view.

If you are prepared to post your entire story (as opposed to some other authors who write and post one chapter at a time, with weeks or months gaps between chapter submissions), I would agree, the average reader may not read it in an entire sitting. Then again, so what? Your story, once posted in chapter format, will provide the reader with a convenient bookmarking tool to pause (eat, handle an issue in R/L, sleep, go to work--whatever) before coming back to finish.

Good luck in posting your story and welcome to Lit.


Manxy

 

[Weird Harold]

I need some feedback on posting novellas. I have a very long story that strictly due to it's length should be posted as a novella. My question is on chapters, do I decide where the chapter breaks are, which would be my preferences, or do Literotica editors do so?

Lit won't break a single submissionin to chapters but will add "page breaks" every 3,767 words or so -- the exact page break point is variable, depending on paragraph breaks and non-printing content like embedded HTML formatting codes.

Fans of the novels and novelas category expect long stories with many Lit Pages and can bookmark individual pages to pickup near where they left off when they return to the story.

Lit treats each separately submitted chapter as a separate story with with its own scores, public comments and vote totals and does NOT provide a direct linkage to other chapters. Breaking a story into chapters when it isn't originally written for serialization is generally counter-productive, IMHO.

On the other hand, serializing your novella will keep it on the new Stories list longer and give it more exposure to new readers because Laurel tends not to post all of the chapters at once to avoid flooding the new stories list. Unless otherwise requested, chapters submittd all at once are usually posted at the rate of one a day. That keeps at least one chapter of your story in the place most people look for something to read for as many days as there are chapters plus the seven days any story stays onthe new stories list -- as opposed to the seven days total a single submission gets on the new stories list.

You need to balance the importance. to you, of presenting your story as a single coherent story with the increased exposure to potential voters that serialization brings and the potential for confusing readers who pick up the story late and read the chapters out of order.

If your story is NOT written to work effectively as separate submissions, the easiest course is to submit it as it was written. Modifying it for serialization isn't particularly difficult, but not modifying it and simply breaking the story into pieces is likely to pretty much nullify any publicity advantage gained by serialization.

 

[LadyCibelle]

Thanks PM and WH

I couldn't have said it any better than you two....who am I fooling here...I NEVER would have been able to explain it as well as you did!!!

WH: Do you mind if once in a while I call on you for a question someone ask me if I don't know the answer or am just not too sure of it? I've noticed that you seem to be very knowledgeable and instead of saying things half-accurate or not all (depending on the case) I'd rather run it by someone who can tell me if I'm right or wrong.

 

[Weird Harold]

WH: Do you mind if once in a while I call on you for a question someone ask me if I don't know the answer or am just not too sure of it?

Sure, no problem. You can PM or use the e-mail link frommy author's page (My forum e-mail link is supposed to be enabled, but forum e-mail links don't seem to be working last I heard.)

 

[BilyumQ]

Thanks for the feedback

I appreciate the feedback both you and WH provided, it's been most helpful. I believe in the long run the best thing to do is re-edit the story so it can be serialized.

The story is complete as it is but from comments WH made it appears that posting one chapter per week would be most practical in maintaining an interest in the novella.

Again thanks.