When does a multi-chapter story need to go in the "Novels & Novellas" category?

[yoursilentknight]

When does a multi-chapter story need to go in the "Novels & Novellas" category?

I have authored a story series that, so far, has been well received. To date I have categorized it under the "Group Sex" category because that is the most predominate theme story as a whole. There are other themes that emerge throughout the story as well as non-erotice plot elements.

So my question is, at what point should a multi-chapter story series be bagged and tagged under the "Novel & Novellas" category rather than just a standard category?

I ask this because I am planning a follow-up series and am unsure if it would be more appropriate to upload it under 'novel' rather than 'group sex.'

 

[Darkniciad]

While most likely intended to be the place where all multi-chapter stories were supposed to go, that's not been the case for years.

N&N nowadays is more or less a place to put long stories that genre-jump too much to safely categorize each chapter within some other category. Reason being that the category is a reader wasteland.

 

[emap]

Completely untrue. I put my western stories in the novels section and I get readers. Not as many as the stories I have in other sections but it's a western, not everybody wants to read one.

Novels is where you put a story or series that is 8000 words or higher. In other words if you get wordy you can put a story there. You don't have to, the only requirement to be in novel is 8000 words or more. If I remember correctly the FAQ says that novel is there for the longer stories that do not really fit in other categories. Western qualifies for that so I stuck it in there. Not fantasy or sci fi and definitely none of the others but there is sex, fitting to the time frame so it's older romance novel sex but it's there.

Not all of what goes in to novel either, if you are doing a longer series and can manage to get 8000+ words a chapter you put the first chapter in the fitting category and the rest goes in novel. If you want, no category has a top word limit so put the stories where they fit. I mean if there was a western category or historic I would move my westerns to there.

 

[MSTarot]

I have to agree and disagree at the same time with this.

I've placed a few stories in there (for the reason Dark mentioned) and for the most part while they have not received the views that you get in say Incest /taboo (they are in the 5000- 12000 range for mine) the comments on them seem to be a bit more... well I guess 'adult' might be a good way of putting it.

Maybe it's the fact that anyone going there is looking for the long slow read not a quick stroke, but I have in general not had any problems with feeling like the story is not being read.

With the length of some of these stories ( I think I've heard 80 chapters plus) it would be nice if they were all in novel form. Click on one title and pop there goes the whole list for you to see. Just pick you section and continue where you left off.

a section of the site where you could put up long stories for sale would be nice as well, maybe earn a few coin for those hours of work.

Oh well off to dream more impossible dreams.

 

[Darkniciad]

The problem with the category is that it's on a site with categories.

Readers here are used to reading those genres that they like, and ignoring everything else. N&N is a bucket of everything, and readers have limited information to determine whether anything placed there is something they might like.

I would daresay that most reads you get in that category are from readers already familiar with your work. That makes a big difference when all they have to work with otherwise is the title, tagline, and perhaps an author's note. ( Maybe tags, if they're willing to go to the trouble to find them )

Like with anything else, there are probably readers who check the category regularly, because they prefer longer reads. I'd be willing to wager that the number of them is a drop in Lit's bucket, though.

Both most likely contribute to the feedback being more substantive - or at least less vitriolic than it can be in other categories.

The example of a Western is an outsider, and fairly easy to identify if the author utilizes the title and tagline correctly. It's a popular genre with no real home on Lit, and those readers may very well locate such stories from the new stories list, when identified in the title and tagline as such.

There are probably other genres that would likewise catch underserved readers on Lit.

In context of the original question of the thread, however, none of that really matters. A story that is primarily group sex but branches out a little into other kinks and a deeper story is undoubtedly going to perform better in categories related to the content, rather than in the bucket that is N&N, and it's certainly not a requirement to put it there.

 

[yoursilentknight]

Most of the chapters range between 6,000 and 10,000 words. I guess I will just continue with the current "branding" and leave them as-is.

Thanks for the insight.

 

[sr71plt]

8,000 words is very low for consideration as a novella or novel. That's barely into page three at Literotica. Even for an e-book, novel classification doesn't start until 40,000 words (60,000 for print).

 

[emap]

Oh dangit I knew I forgot something, never listen to sr71plt, he has shifty eyes.

Also correct but we are not talking about what commercial sites consider to be novels and novellas. 8000 words is the requirement on lit, I think it is actually 7500 but 8000 is a better number to say.

Side note, nobody seems to care that I put in chapters of the western and they are 2-3 pages posted in novels and novellas. I posted a full hunt at 9 pages and nobody complained on it being long. Other categories you get numbnuts that can't read more than a page or two but can go all the way to the last page and say it's too long.

 

[yoursilentknight]

8,000 words is very low for consideration as a novella or novel. That's barely into page three at Literotica. Even for an e-book, novel classification doesn't start until 40,000 words (60,000 for print).

Are you saying that each chapter of a novel is 40k words? Or the novel as a whole is 40k+ words?

I ask for clarity because as I said, each of my chapters are 6,000-10,000 words. That would make the story as a whole well over 120,000 words when all is said and done.

So in other words... if I am submitting each chapter as a stand-alone story (6k+ words at a time) it goes in one of the other categories. If I were to upload the entire story at once (all 120k+ words) it would go into the novel category?

 

[oggbashan]

...

So in other words... if I am submitting each chapter as a stand-alone story (6k+ words at a time) it goes in one of the other categories. If I were to upload the entire story at once (all 120k+ words) it would go into the novel category?

If the whole story falls into one category, it would probably get more attention in that category instead of in Novels and Novellas.

Novels and Novellas is only useful if your story covers several categories.

 

[sr71plt]

Are you saying that each chapter of a novel is 40k words? Or the novel as a whole is 40k+ words?

I ask for clarity because as I said, each of my chapters are 6,000-10,000 words. That would make the story as a whole well over 120,000 words when all is said and done.

So in other words... if I am submitting each chapter as a stand-alone story (6k+ words at a time) it goes in one of the other categories. If I were to upload the entire story at once (all 120k+ words) it would go into the novel category?

No, the total minimum for e-novel wordage is 40,000. And you can submit to the Novel category chapter by chapter (and in your case, I would--what reader wants to open a file and find that it's 120,000 words long and that they'll have to bookmark it somehow and keep coming back to it and finding their place before they can finish it?). A chapter of between 6,000 (2 Literotica pages) and 10,000 (3 Literotica pages) words would be right in keeping with the Literotica norm.

And, e-map, if I ran across an 8000-word standalone in the Novels category, I'd think that the author seriously misunderstood what that category was for.

 

[yoursilentknight]

My thing is I don't want my story to disappear into the novel/novellas category, but at the same time I don't want people looking for a quick 'stroke story' to get turned off by the non-sexual plot elements in the story or when a sexual element that doesn't fit the main category props up.

Maybe I'll just be more diligent with my prefaces and my key-wording.

 

[sr71plt]

My thing is I don't want my story to disappear into the novel/novellas category, but at the same time I don't want people looking for a quick 'stroke story' to get turned off by the non-sexual plot elements in the story or when a sexual element that doesn't fit the main category props up.

Maybe I'll just be more diligent with my prefaces and my key-wording.

Or maybe write a different story altogether if the ratings are that important to you(?)

The old adage "you can't have your cake and eat it too" springs to mind.

 

[Bramblethorn]

My thing is I don't want my story to disappear into the novel/novellas category, but at the same time I don't want people looking for a quick 'stroke story' to get turned off by the non-sexual plot elements in the story or when a sexual element that doesn't fit the main category props up.

Maybe I'll just be more diligent with my prefaces and my key-wording.

For reference: my first-and-so-far-only story here has 14 chapters, totalling 99k words, of which about 15% is sex. I posted it all to Lesbian because it's about a same-sex relationship, but some parts involve bondage and one chapter has no sex at all. I noted at the beginning that it was going to be slow and talky. Readers seemed to cope with that pretty well - I think quite a few who read chapter 1 decided it wasn't for them, but plenty stayed too.

Minor nitpick: "predominant", not "predominate".

 

[yoursilentknight]

Or maybe write a different story altogether if the ratings are that important to you(?)

The old adage "you can't have your cake and eat it too" springs to mind.

It's not about ratings. I am just trying to figure out how to appropriately categorize the story so that the right readers see it and the wrong ones don't pester me with unnecessary 'feedback'.

For reference: my first-and-so-far-only story here has 14 chapters, totalling 99k words, of which about 15% is sex. I posted it all to Lesbian because it's about a same-sex relationship, but some parts involve bondage and one chapter has no sex at all. I noted at the beginning that it was going to be slow and talky. Readers seemed to cope with that pretty well - I think quite a few who read chapter 1 decided it wasn't for them, but plenty stayed too.

Yeah, I think a good preface is key. I know I appreciate knowing what I am getting into when I start a new story series. Most short stories are straight forward enough.

Minor nitpick: "predominant", not "predominate".

And that's why I need an editor.

 

[emap]

I would wonder on an 8000 word stand alone story in novels too.

Maybe we haven't been explaining this right. Novels and novellas is in essence a category to be used when a long story doesn't fit in any other category. Like my western series, they are about a whoring married bounty hunter gal. The only category that would come close to covering that is loving wives and none of those guys want to read it. Well probably.

There is no top word limit to the stories on lit, you can write a story that is worth two War and Peace and post it in erotic encounters if you want. Laurel may not post something that long, she has to read it first, but you are able. Novels and novellas is where you can put a story that is above 7500 words long, doesn't matter what the story is about. FAQ says to post the first chapter in a relevant category so the people who like that will look for it. I'm not real sure it matters on that but novels is there to catch what doesn't fit elsewhere.

 

[sr71plt]

I would wonder on an 8000 word stand alone story in novels too.

Maybe we haven't been explaining this right. Novels and novellas is in essence a category to be used when a long story doesn't fit in any other category. Like my western series, they are about a whoring married bounty hunter gal. The only category that would come close to covering that is loving wives and none of those guys want to read it. Well probably.

There is no top word limit to the stories on lit, you can write a story that is worth two War and Peace and post it in erotic encounters if you want. Laurel may not post something that long, she has to read it first, but you are able. Novels and novellas is where you can put a story that is above 7500 words long, doesn't matter what the story is about. FAQ says to post the first chapter in a relevant category so the people who like that will look for it. I'm not real sure it matters on that but novels is there to catch what doesn't fit elsewhere.

I think it's you who has "story" mixed up with "chapter."

Your "I would wonder on an 8000 word stand alone story in novels too."

contradicts your "Novels and novellas is where you put a story that is above 7500 words long."

Now it's your turn to be bitchy and make a personal jab. But your own words in the same post shows you are mixed up.

 

[SecondCircle]

Or maybe write a different story altogether if the ratings are that important to you(?)

The old adage "you can't have your cake and eat it too" springs to mind.

Easy now, Pilot. "Old Adage" is a redundancy. ; )

 

[sr71plt]

Easy now, Pilot. "Old Adage" is a redundancy. ; )

OK, then. How about an "adage old"? That has a bit of flare to it.

 

[SecondCircle]

Hmm, I dunno. Maybe I'll sit down and think thoughts on it for a brief minute.

 

[sr71plt]

Hmm, I dunno. Maybe I'll sit down and think thoughts on it for a brief minute.

I'd feel more assured (insured? ensured?) if you took a long minute.