Question / Discussion for series writers

[Djmac1031]

I published the first installment of what became my longest series, The Jenna Arrangement, back in August of 2021.

A year and four months later, I just published chapter 25. (26 if you count the prequel chapter.)

In all that time it's managed to retain a small but loyal readership.

I've come to understand how LE works better, and fully understand how views / favorites drop off on series over time. The casual reader scrolling new stories probably isn't gonna click on PART 25 of something.

Still, whether it's 530 (the current "Favorites" count on part 1) or 50 (part 24, which has been up a few months now,) I'm happy the series still gets any attention at all.

It's been my most favorite to write, and it's always fun to see the rare but encouraging comments still asking for more.

This series, unlike other far shorter ones I've done, doesn't really have any kind of definitive endgame in mind.

It's more like a semi regular soap opera (sex opera?) with mostly fun, lighthearted adventures with an ever expanding cast of characters.

I've tried to keep a mostly realistic, or at least plausible tone to their adventures even as they grow and become more complicated.

I also try not to repeat scenarios too much, although there are recurring themes throughout.

I suppose this is less of a "question" thing and more just an invitation for discussion among other series writers about how you keep your series fresh, how to retain / grow readers, and your general experiences with them.

 

[KeithD]

Glad you and your readers are enjoying the ride. There's a place in literature for such ongoing series. That's more-or-less how I started out weaving stories, although I did it in my mind during my early years rather than in print. I write in much smaller chunks now, not offering anything to the public before I have written a conclusion to the work, but even when I started writing for publication, I wrote six novels to a series before reaching a conclusion even in my mind.

 

[Djmac1031]

Glad you and your readers are enjoying the ride. There's a place in literature for such ongoing series. That's more-or-less how I started out weaving stories, although I did it in my mind during my early years rather than in print. I write in much smaller chunks now, not offering anything to the public before I have written a conclusion to the work, but even when I started writing for publication, I wrote six novels to a series before reaching a conclusion even in my mind.

I was a VERY new writer when I started that series. It was only my 3rd story ever, and started with a very simple premise based on a fantasy of mine.

Afterwards, all I really knew was I wanted to write more about these characters if I could come up with ideas. And if people found it interesting, of course.

I'm no novel writer, I'm far better just keeping things short and simple.

Most of my other stories I do try to have an ending in mind for now; it's a mistake I learned from writing a couple other series I didn't really plot out further adventures for.

But I've always left the Jenna series far more open for simple, casual adventures and stories without over complicating things too much or worrying about some kind of conclusion.

Eventually it'll end, I suppose, when I run out of ideas, or people just stop reading them altogether.

But for now I'm just free flowing with it as usual.

 

[Lifestyle66]

I suppose this is less of a "question" thing and more just an invitation for discussion among other series writers about how you keep your series fresh, how to retain / grow readers, and your general experiences with them.

After I published the first five chapters of a series, I then re-wrote those chapters and added earlier ones to begin again with the "Lifestyle" series.

Rather than merely writing yet another "we're going to a house party to fuck others" story, I originally had my strip club story planned as a future chapter but separated it into a standalone story for the Pink Orchid challenge. Then I separated my planned "hall pass" story of the husband's surprise gift for his wife during her business trip, to turn that into the Amorous Goods magic story (she became possessed by an accompanying anklet he gave her.)

Lately, I've kept the original series going by deviating with the husband and wife returning to their hometown (ch 11) to describe their past and why they behave so wildly and unemotionally. Then with the latest Ch 13, I have another guy talking in his first person POV as he first meets the MFC wife at an airport, then finds her and her husband in a house party to discuss separately with them why they are in the swinger lifestyle.

I think that last one disappointed some of the trolls, because I used it to have the wife declaring she'd NEVER break up the good thing she has with her husband by cheating on him. They couldn't call her a cheating whore headed for divorce.

So, I try to find different situations for the couple to grow and meet new and different people to show more diversity, rather than two swingers just going to a club where everyone's fucking. These are not sex deviants, but rather realistic couple-next-door family types meeting others you might never guess were swingers.

I do have the ending story already in mind for this series. The final scene and closing is already rather set in my mind, and I'm sure it will disappoint the LW BTB trolls..

 

[BobbyBrandt]

I write predominantly longer "novel" length stories without much erotic content. Four of these I broke into chapters, or parts containing multiple chapters when I submitted them here. While they have done okay with the readers, the feedback I receive indicates that the readers preferred single submission of the complete story, so that's all I do now. That, and the new series management tool describes any multiple submission story as a "series", which my chapter stories aren't. Someone couldn't jump into them anywhere but the beginning and follow the sequential order if they had any hope of comprehending the plot.

I do have two "series" that I will add to as inspiration strikes. Each story in these is a stand-alone tale that follows the common theme of the particular series (Before They Were Stars and Uncle Sugar Daddy). These all contain erotic content and are much shorter.

 

[Jay142]

I can't seem to motivate myself to write more than a few chapters because of the serious dropoff in readership. I find it difficult to write more chapters if people aren't going to read them. I see some writers that have stories that have 50 or more chapters and wonder how they do it.

 

[Lifestyle66]

I can't seem to motivate myself to write more than a few chapters because of the serious dropoff in readership. I find it difficult to write more chapters if people aren't going to read them. I see some writers that have stories that have 50 or more chapters and wonder how they do it.

Don't be discouraged by the drop-off in views. My first chapter has 7.8k views and subsequent chapters dropped as low as just 2k views. But my latest chapter 13 has 8.7k!

So, there are other factors involved such as title, description, nasty comments, the category, or maybe even the day of the week it posts and where it stands on Day One among the New stories.

 

[Djmac1031]

I can't seem to motivate myself to write more than a few chapters because of the serious dropoff in readership. I find it difficult to write more chapters if people aren't going to read them. I see some writers that have stories that have 50 or more chapters and wonder how they do it.

I suppose for me; while I fully understanding the drop off in readership for long running series, I also still really enjoy writing it.

Yes, my audience is small, comparatively. But those still around read it loyally and consistently leave positive feedback along with encouragement to continue.

I suppose if NO ONE was reading it, I'd stop, or rework the ideas for the series into something new.

But for now I'm happy with continuing, and with the audience I have for it.

 

[Stephaniethemaid]

I can't seem to motivate myself to write more than a few chapters because of the serious dropoff in readership. I find it difficult to write more chapters if people aren't going to read them. I see some writers that have stories that have 50 or more chapters and wonder how they do it.

it is natural that readership dwindles with each chapter in fact it’s virtually impossible for chapter 10 to have more readers than chapter 1.

If readership is severely dropping that is sending you a message. It means That your readers are losing interest at some point and your story is losing steam and interest.

Are your chapters too long?

 

[BiscuitHammer]

I write mostly series, with the Alexaverse being my flagship story and series. It's not only at 55 chapters (and nowhere near done), but also has spawned some very popular spin-offs. I agree that the casual reader isn't likely to stick with a series, but what readership you keep for it can be surprising.

Category helps, of course. If you're writing an I/T series, you're gonna keep more readers. The other one that I find retains readers for series is Romance, since a certain type of person is reading it for a reason.

Novels/Novellas require a certain type of reader. I've considered dropping the entire Alexaverse inside N/N, since it has become a saga and touches on so very many categories. The only good thing about it being relegated to I/T is the traffic it sees. For everyone who skims by, I usually garner a few loyal readers. I'm somewhere just north of 4,200 followers now, and the Alexaverse has generated most of those.

I'm addicted to series writing, and I can't write a short story to save my life, the inability is bordering on genetic. The funny part is that I have a few one-shots, and readers are asking for follow-up chapters to them. Go figure.

As for whether there is a drop in readership and if it's worth it to keep going, allow me to paraphrase Ivan Drago: "I WRITE FOR ME!!!"

I don't do it for the likes or the clicks, I have these stories in my head and I've gotta get them out. If Lit didn't exist, they'd be getting written anyway, and be sitting on my hard drive for me to read. The fact that people out there want to read my stories is sort of a cherry on top.

All I can advise is that you consider the drop in readership when you're on top of your writing game and feeling very inspired. Don't do it when you're grinding slow or having writer's block. With the first mindset, you'll want to keep going no matter what. With the second, you're questioning if it's worth it. Factually, readership drops in a series. Just make it a damned good series, and readers will stay. I love reading series on here, as long as the grammar isn't atrocious.

The Jenna Arrangement is fun. And so was Discovering Amy. Keep at it.

 

[Djmac1031]

The Jenna Arrangement is fun. And so was Discovering Amy. Keep at it.

Thanks. And I'm glad you replied to this; I keep meaning to check out your Alexa series.

Got some free time after work today, I wanna dig into it.

 

[BiscuitHammer]

Thanks. And I'm glad you replied to this; I keep meaning to check out your Alexa series.

Got some free time after work today, I wanna dig into it.

lol, if you do that, message me first and ask what order to read in, it's become something of an ophidian tangle at his point. I should just rename the Alexaverse the 'Gordian Knotverse'.

 

[SimonDoom]

Whatever you're doing, it's working, so if you are getting creative satisfaction from it, keep doing it. Your chapter 25 has over 5,000 views in the Exhibitionist and Voyeur category, and it was only published a month ago. The scores are consistently high. The comments are positive. Readers obviously like it.

I have shied away from writing series for a few years after having jumped into a few series my first two years. I have two that are incomplete, and I feel I should finish them before I start another. A big part of my reservation is having difficulty trying to stay fresh. But not all series are the same.

There are two different kinds of series, to my way of thinking. One is the episodic, "TV show"-type series. With that type of series, I think there's no particular need to finish the series before publication, because you may not even know what the ending is. It may not even have an ending in a meaningful sense. It's probably clear to your readers by now that this is the case. The other is the continuous story-arc series, with a particular ending, and in that case I think it makes more sense--if realistic--to try to finish before publication. But it's not always realistic to do that. I've totally failed to do that, and that's partly why I'm stuck with two long-unfinished series with no clear timetable for finishing them.

 

[SimonDoom]

an ophidian tangle

My favorite phrase of the day. Never heard this before.

 

[Djmac1031]

I've totally failed to do that, and that's partly why I'm stuck with two long-unfinished series with no clear timetable for finishing them.

Trust me, I know that feeling. I have two "unfinished" series myself; Discovering Amy and The Doctor Is In...Me.

Both started simply; they were my first efforts at writing down my fantasies.

Both got sequels (Amy got 3) because 1: readers asked, and 2: I was a newb author out to please.

I had more ideas for Amy than I did The Doctor, which I probably should have left as a singular stand alone.

I may get back to Amy one day; it's a young love story, and I'm a slightly better writer now. But I want a definitive ending for it if I do.

 

[NikkiSparrow]

I have noticed a drop in readers as well, although each time I publish a new chapter in my series it gets an immediate response of positive comments and ratings. This response helps keep me going, but honestly I've got a definite end to the story in mind and I'm writing towards that goal.

Once my current series comes to its conclusion, it will basically serve as the origin story to the MC. I expect to continue writing her into more episodic stories that can stand alone or read in any order. I may do smaller multi-part stories of limited duration, such as 3 or 4 chapters, but I wouldn't want them to get much more involved than that at this point.

I like SimonDoom's analogy of a "TV-show" type series, which is what I'm ultimately moving this character towards. I love interacting with readers and making them happy, but as BiscuitHammer said above, I write for me.

 

[BiscuitHammer]

My favorite phrase of the day. Never heard this before.

I think I've used it once or twice in the Alexaverse, it's been a saying of mine for some decades now.

 

[Duleigh]

I have two series I'm currently working on, Stormwatch and We're a Wonderful Wife. (WaWW)

Stormwatch started out as a story for On the Job last year and the characters were fun, their location was familiar and the feedback was encouraging so I started adding episodes and as soon as Lit's Series function came online I cobbled the episodes together into a series. Before that they were individual stories that were semi-episodic, similar to Star Trek.

WaWW on the other hand started out as a single story - A Krissmas Karole. I wanted to do a fusion between A Christmas Carole and We're a Wonderful Life and as I studied the original work, they have a lot of similarities, so why bother. I wrote my version of A Christmas Carole for the Winter Holiday contest 2021 with a really decided twist, this wasn't about Scrooge saving Scrooge, this was Scrooge saving her neighbor after her neighbor's wife gets killed. The ghosts appear and show her neighbor and his wife from the day they met, through thick and thin until the moment she dies, then it's up to Scrooge to comfort the widower. And I missed the 2021 contest deadline, so I saved it for 2022.

Ok, story done, character killed, widower saved from loneliness and suicide. And I hated myself. I loved Lanh, the character that I killed, so to ease my conscience I began writing out the story of Don and Lanh, nerd sweethearts, and it was a big story so I broke it up into chapters. Don and Lanh had some very tough times and as I got closer and closer to Winter Holidays, I swore I gave myself an ulcer over it. Then one of my readers said, "You really hate these two, don't you."

That did it, I re-wrote the end of A Krissmas Karole and saved Lanh and WaWW is now charging on forward to a happily ever after that it never had before. And the fun part is that I get a lot of side stories out of this, "Blindsided by the Blind Guy" staring Lanh's sister and her blind boyfriend was written for last years On the Job event, this year, one marriage and three boys later, the same two characters will be in the April Fools contest in "Blindsiding the Blind Guy." I got a lot of wonderful feedback for Blindsided by the Blind Guy from blind readers of Lit and a blind writer for Lit.

So far I've written 5 side stories and they fit nicely into the timeline so using the Series feature I can slide them in there and WaWW with reach it's final episode with 20 episodes. It should end up with 400,000 words

 

[Djmac1031]

I like SimonDoom's analogy of a "TV-show" type series, which is what I'm ultimately moving this character towards. I love interacting with readers and making them happy, but as BiscuitHammer said above, I write for me.

Yeah, my series is definitely much like a TV show format; a different adventure each chapter, but also building off what's come before.

I'm wondering if I should start adding recaps now.

"Previously, on The Jenna Arrangement..."

 

[MelissaBaby]

I can't seem to motivate myself to write more than a few chapters because of the serious dropoff in readership. I find it difficult to write more chapters if people aren't going to read them. I see some writers that have stories that have 50 or more chapters and wonder how they do it.

You can take some consolation in that you may get a bump to the whole series once it has concluded. Some readers won’t read a series until they know they will get the whole story.

 

[Djmac1031]

You can take some consolation in that you may get a bump to the whole series once it has concluded. Some readers won’t read a series until they know they will get the whole story.

I'm not gonna claim it happens OFTEN, but I have, on occasion, picked up a new series reader after posting the latest chapter.

Although what happens more often is my series, and other older stories, see more traffic after posting a brand new story. New reader finds it, likes it, investigates my back catalog.

I'm sure many of you find that happens as well.

I just posted this the other day in the Comments thread, but I had a really good day watching this new reader binge reading my series in real time:

 

[MelissaBaby]

I'm sure many of you find that happens as well.

I just posted this the other day in the Comments thread, but I had a really good day watching this new reader binge reading my series in real time:

Yeah, I love it when that happens.

 

[BiscuitHammer]

Yeah, my series is definitely much like a TV show format; a different adventure each chapter, but also building off what's come before.

I'm wondering if I should start adding recaps now.

"Previously, on The Jenna Arrangement..."

Lol, I could use recaps with the Alexaverse, no doubt. As it is, I'm having fun using cold openings, and stingers at the end of my chapters.

 

[alohadave]

Although what happens more often is my series, and other older stories, see more traffic after posting a brand new story. New reader finds it, likes it, investigates my back catalog.

I'm one of those people. Sometimes I read something older instead of the newly posted story.

For series, I find stories all the time via the new feed, and if the story looks interesting, I'll go to the first chapter and read it through.

 

[JH4Fun]

I'm not gonna claim it happens OFTEN, but I have, on occasion, picked up a new series reader after posting the latest chapter.

Although what happens more often is my series, and other older stories, see more traffic after posting a brand new story. New reader finds it, likes it, investigates my back catalog.

I'm sure many of you find that happens as well.

I just posted this the other day in the Comments thread, but I had a really good day watching this new reader binge reading my series in real time:

I am just another reader. I fall into this category of readers who will binge on a writers stories after finding a good one recently posted.

I am not one to write because of the level of mistakes I make when writing. However, I do enjoy all of the new tales and series I find in this method. I want to say Thanks for taking yours and all the other writers who post your tales on this site.

Keep Writing
JH4Fun