Do readers really read a series?

[TammyTrueheart]

I am in the throngs of publishing a series. I drop hints and clues along the way that if you don't read, you will miss out on the humor in later chapters. My second story got more reads than my first which begs to ask the question: How many people or percentage actually read a series for the story and what percentage are just going through catagories looking for spanking material and when they don't find it, they give a vote of disappointment? I know this is impossible to answer because there is no way to tell, but I think some series authors would have a feel. I am thinking about adding a second series that continues on this one.

 

[Madisonn3]

I can't answer for everyone of course. But I like to read series. Both here and with books in general.
I have discovered that the second story in a series often gets a bit more traction, especially if it's a fresh author. They need the first story to find their style. I still start with the first story though

 

[Rob_Royale]

It's all about the quality of the writing and the story. I'll start a series if the title and description grab my interest.

 

[Madisonn3]

It's all about the quality of the writing and the story. I'll start a series if the title and description grab my interest.

Agree 100%
But when it does, I start with the beginning.

 

[OddLove]

My experience has been that Part 1 gets the most eyes, then it's a constant downhill from that point.

And to support your suspicion that many are just looking for the spanking material they fancy, I have had four spikes where the a chapter out performs the previous chapter in the series.

The first one was Part 6 where "brutal whipping" was in the description.
The second one was part 8 where "pain slut" was in the description.
The third one was part 10 where "pain slut" makes another appearance in the description.
And the fourth one was part 12 where "dungeon" was in the description.

I imagine a big part of those spikes in views were people who are specifically looking for brutal Femdom sex scenes. But since the story is heavily focused on the characters relationship and sex scenes aren't prioritized, it doesn't grab those people.

It's more likely the majority of the views are people who started from part 1 and got invested in the characters, especially since some of the chapters go upward of 40k words and have maybe 5k of explicit sex and/or kink in them.

There's some series on here that seem to be rated damn near perfect and have obscene viewership though, so I'm obviously not saying my experience proves anything. It's just one example among tens of thousands.

 

[Britva415]

When I see a part or a chapter later than "one" on a story title in the New Stories lists, I ignore it.

So, you have one chance to capture a reader like me.

And even if I do click on it (due to compelling title, description and tags), I'll be skeptical that there will ever be a second part or that the series will ever be concluded.

If I can see from the author's story list that they have a track record of continuing and concluding their series, AND if part one is compelling enough, I might follow them to be notified of subsequent parts being published.

 

[Britva415]

you have one chance to capture a reader like me

I am thinking about adding a second series that continues on this one

Sounds like cheesing the system in order to try to get two chances. If I were to click in to a story marked "chapter one," and find that it actually is the continuation of a series in progress, I'd nope out.

 

[crookedletter]

My second story got more reads than my first

A distinction that might be relevant: "view" numbers count page visits, not necessarily reads. It could be that your second story had a number of people click into it and then click out once they realized it was part of a part of a series.

 

[Stanfield2025]

My experience has been that Part 1 gets the most eyes, then it's a constant downhill from that point.

And to support your suspicion that many are just looking for the spanking material they fancy, I have had four spikes where the a chapter out performs the previous chapter in the series.

The first one was Part 6 where "brutal whipping" was in the description.
The second one was part 8 where "pain slut" was in the description.
The third one was part 10 where "pain slut" makes another appearance in the description.
And the fourth one was part 12 where "dungeon" was in the description.

I imagine a big part of those spikes in views were people who are specifically looking for brutal Femdom sex scenes. But since the story is heavily focused on the characters relationship and sex scenes aren't prioritized, it doesn't grab those people.

It's more likely the majority of the views are people who started from part 1 and got invested in the characters, especially since some of the chapters go upward of 40k words and have maybe 5k of explicit sex and/or kink in them.

There's some series on here that seem to be rated damn near perfect and have obscene viewership though, so I'm obviously not saying my experience proves anything. It's just one example among tens of thousands.

Something to keep in mind is that some people might be rereading the "spanking material" chapters. In my series, chapter 12 consistently got higher views and more votes than previous chapters.

I'm no expert, but I doubt people decided to read your part 6 out of context and reacted well to it. I'd bet those are people coming back to reread those sections because they're spanking material.

 

[Writer61]

I think the main point of a series here is to help with discovery, but that is not the whole story.

Of my nine series here, only three follow the dictum that the first part = highest readership. Which I cannot explain.

1st part = 3 series
2nd part = 2
4th part = 1
5th part = 2
7th part = 1

 

[TammyTrueheart]

I do not have a catchy title. It is simply "Heather." I think what would really help is if the series beta cover and description still in review mode would be approved which gives more detail as to where the story goes which is not apparent in the early chapters.

 

[Kumquatqueen]

Some do. Some will dive in whenever they see a chapter and then go to the start if they like it.

It's great when you get a comment on a final chapter "I was late for work because I had to see how this ended."!

 

[Qky75]

I do if it's good! Loved The Shack series, Alistair, the Shepherd series, and the sci-fi series by Snek that I can't remember now...I stopped after 8-9 chapters into Home For Horny Monsters and a couple other forgettable ones designed with unending story arches. Sometimes it starts to feel aimless and repetitive.

 

[EmilyMiller]

Do readers really read a series?​

Some data for you. This is votes, not views. Votes are a more reliable indicator of reader engagement. Part I is set at 100% and the succeeding Parts are shown relative to this.


Each Part - except the last which is a little shorter - is around 15,000 words.

At least in this instance, nearly two thirds of the readers who voted on Part I stuck around to the end.

 

[anthrodisiac]

I do if it's good! Loved The Shack series, Alistair, the Shepherd series, and the sci-fi series by Snek that I can't remember now...I stopped after 8-9 chapters into Home For Horny Monsters and a couple other forgettable ones designed with unending story arches. Sometimes it starts to feel aimless and repetitive.

Some readers like the unending book 40382 chapter 10^9, but I think it's mostly a handful of very devoted fans who are heavily invested, and most of the time it's the writing trying to cash in on their success with a series, and instead of ending it properly, it spirals out of control. It takes an enormous amount of focus to make something like that work, and I don't have enough confidence in hardly anyone, on this site or otherwise, to be able to maintain that. Series that have clear goals and horizons and endings though, those can be quite good. But if they just keep going, how much character development can you really do? How long before you become formulaic? The scale has to keep increasing, stakes higher than the last one or else it feels bland and uninteresting by comparison. I think the vast majority of readers aren't interested in that, no matter how good the series is. It can be kinda boring to be stuck with the same people for too long, no matter how much you like them. It's why I mostly write short stories or one-off novels; I have so many other things I want to explore instead of being stuck with Jim and his harem of monster fembois for 5 million words.

 

[SinclairGroupLLP]

I hate to give you a lawyer answer, but my experience is that it depends.

My three series never get the same number of clicks as my standalones, not even close. That being said, I have a hardcore bevy of fans of the series who read them and wait for them the minute they come out. Back when I started and things were easier (less plot, more stroke) I was getting a story out every day or two. Now that I'm down to one a month if I'm lucky, the numbers have fallen off (as have the ratings, although there's something going in IR that I can't put my finger on).

I do think a number of people won't start a series until it's finished, which can be a deterrent and I think that's for good reason. Since most of us are going this for fun as a hobby, the incentive to get things completed in a timely fashion isn't always there and many folks don't want to start something they're concerned will never get finished. That's one of the downsides to series writing.

 

[WittyUserName]

I am in the throngs of publishing a series. I drop hints and clues along the way that if you don't read, you will miss out on the humor in later chapters. My second story got more reads than my first which begs to ask the question: How many people or percentage actually read a series for the story and what percentage are just going through catagories looking for spanking material and when they don't find it, they give a vote of disappointment? I know this is impossible to answer because there is no way to tell, but I think some series authors would have a feel. I am thinking about adding a second series that continues on this one.

There's no way to tell what percentage of people actually read a series, but I do get the occasional comment from regulars. I wouldn't put too much faith in the view count. As far as I know, just opening the story counts as a view. Someone waiting for a new chapter might read the most recent, or maybe they closed it and opened it again. As you said, it's impossible to answer. You should add the second series. There are definitely people who eagerly await new chapters.

 

[anthrodisiac]

I am thinking about adding a second series that continues on this one.

If you want to add a second series, you should add a second series. We say this a lot around here, but this is a hobby, you should write what you want to write, and if that's a second series, by God, you write that sucker! But if you're doing it because you're looking for engagement, or because some people want you to, and you're luke-warm on the prospect, I would advise against it, because there are few things more miserable than writing something you don't have your heart in.

 

[TammyTrueheart]

I have completed writing the series. I am putting out a chapter a day. Since my series page is still in moderation, people will not know it is complete. The first six chapters are a build up to when the actually killing starts. I have several options where to go on a second series and would like feedback and suggestions.

 

[anthrodisiac]

I have completed writing the series. I am putting out a chapter a day. Since my series page is still in moderation, people will not know it is complete. The first six chapters are a build up to when the actually killing starts. I have several options where to go on a second series and would like feedback and suggestions.

If you're looking for ways to continue the series, you can try Story Ideas, that's the main area for spitballing these things.

 

[ElectricBlue]

I have completed writing the series. I am putting out a chapter a day. Since my series page is still in moderation, people will not know it is complete. The first six chapters are a build up to when the actually killing starts. I have several options where to go on a second series and would like feedback and suggestions.

I wouldn't wait for reader feedback as to the future direction for a story: a) because you'll be waiting for a long time; and b) the feedback will be, "great story, please continue," but you are most unlikely to get useful suggestions..

It's better, I think, especially when starting out, to write new stories, not continuations of existing ones. That way, you get a bigger corpus of stories, faster, and that's what brings more readers.

 

[THBGato]

I read a hell of a lot... But if a series has more than 10 chapters I have to really trust the writer.

 

[TammyTrueheart]

PLOT SPOILERS: Brief plot. Heather is recruited by a secret organization because of her specail sexual talents, some of which she learned from her mother Tammy Trueheart. Her old college roommate ends up as the lesbian lover of a rival organization. They start killing off prominent memebers of the other group in pulp fiction fashion. At the end Heather realzes she was lied to about the goodness of her organization. She and her Yonis, Sarah, Meagan, and Devon (named after the names of the actresses who played 3 of the D.E.B.S.) They want to kill their leader Jordana Diamond (Jordana Brewster who played Lucy Diamond combintaion). However this does not happen because she happens to be Sarah's old lesbian lover. They end up killing the leaders of her order. Heather is left in charge of a company owned by her dead husband. What it does TBD. The order believe the bad guys werw satan worshipping vampires. It was a running joke. Our 3 heroines save the world and end up in a lesbain threesome. While Heather and her old roommate Julie (Hitomi Tanaka look-a like) are sleeping, the thirs person in the party, Sofia Falcone, grows vampire fangs. She did thei from eating Heather's magical pussy which is believed to bestow special powers, suck as ability to deep throat. In the final scene she bites the two sleeping women so they can maintain their beauty forever.

 

[Five_Inch_Heels]

When I see a part or a chapter later than "one" on a story title in the New Stories lists, I ignore it.

Nawh, I've stumbled into a couple of good ones like that.

Maybe I haven't looked at New in a while and I see a title/subtitle that gets my eye, but it's chapter 5. If that's OK, I'll go back one and try it, then maybe back to the beginning. I've found them that way via the related stories at the bottom of the page also.

 

[Stanfield2025]

Maybe I haven't looked at New in a while and I see a title/subtitle that gets my eye, but it's chapter 5. If that's OK, I'll go back one and try it, then maybe back to the beginning. I've found them that way via the related stories at the bottom of the page also.

This is my first time hearing of anyone doing this. I'd think the lack of context would hinder enjoyment.