Novellas vs Chapters vs Long story in best category

[DreamInNoir]

I have previously published a single story that is 29k words. Sometimes I wonder if it would have been better in chapters, but it's doing well and I have no complaints.

That said, I have a longer story that I've written but am still rewriting and editing. I am strongly thinking of doing chapters, so much so that I am reorganizing the story and adding in stuff so that I have at least one erotic scene per chapter and do my best to end the chapter, hopefully, with the reader excited to read the next one.

However, I'm indecisive.

For one, I don't want to wait to start publishing. I want to feel prgress and accomplishment, lol, and think that chapters will push me to complete it. But I wonder ...

If I publish one chapter per month, is that too slow for readers?

Is it better to pump out chapters only when the entire story is 100% complete?

If I did one large story, do you think it's more of a turnoff for readers to see that many pages/words?

What about the Novella category versus a more specific genre-oriented category?

Just wondering what other authors and readers have experienced via publishing and reading. It seems that most things outside of the taboo category have such a low volume of readership, and I'd love to get exposed to the most readers I can.

Ty for your thoughts if you can spare the time.

 

[liliput1]

What drives me nuts is a chapter story where one chapter is 9 pages, most of them are 5-6 and then one chapter is two and a half pages. What happened?

Most of the chapter stories have at least one chapter other than the first where no sex happens, though intimacy or yearning build.

 

[Bamagan]

I have previously published a single story that is 29k words. Sometimes I wonder if it would have been better in chapters, but it's doing well and I have no complaints.

That said, I have a longer story that I've written but am still rewriting and editing. I am strongly thinking of doing chapters, so much so that I am reorganizing the story and adding in stuff so that I have at least one erotic scene per chapter and do my best to end the chapter, hopefully, with the reader excited to read the next one.

However, I'm indecisive.

For one, I don't want to wait to start publishing. I want to feel prgress and accomplishment, lol, and think that chapters will push me to complete it. But I wonder ...

If I publish one chapter per month, is that too slow for readers?

Is it better to pump out chapters only when the entire story is 100% complete?

If I did one large story, do you think it's more of a turnoff for readers to see that many pages/words?

What about the Novella category versus a more specific genre-oriented category?

Just wondering what other authors and readers have experienced via publishing and reading. It seems that most things outside of the taboo category have such a low volume of readership, and I'd love to get exposed to the most readers I can.

Ty for your thoughts if you can spare the time.

In the end, it doesn't matter much which you do. Some people nope out of anything that's too long to read in one sitting; others prefer that. Some people nope out of any chaptered works, either because they know it's not finished or because they figure it will be very long despite the bite-sized morsels; others seem to want a 200 chapter ongoing wagon train. The readers of Novella category do tend to be fans of longer stuff, unsurprisingly. In that case, I do recommend finishing the story first, and if you still do it chaptered, say up front how many and what your expected pace of publication is. Doing that in any category is not a bad idea, of course.

 

[Rob_Royale]

There's no perfect answer here.
My two cents?
If it fits nicely into a category, put it there regardless of length.
A stand alone story will always get more attantion.
Readership for sequels will drop by 2/3 across the board in most any category.
So in my opinion, if you want people to enjoy your complete story, put it in the proper category as one complete story, regardless of length.

 

[AStrangeDesire]

I can also see both sides.

I've got one series that's ongoing (really chapters) that I'm about to finish. The benefit to is that I was able to make changes to my writing style and approach as I've gone along. But as mentioned, readership really drops off over time.

I've got another series where I'm posting stories with the same characters, but trying to make them stand-alone enough that they can be read independently. I did that on purpose as I know some of the future stories will be in different categories.

As a reader, it really sucks when a series I'm enjoying is unfinished, and the author stopped writing. So I appreciate why some folks don't want to start something when they feel they've been 'burned' before.

So, many different ways to slice this, none of them perfect.

Good luck!

 

[NotWise]

For one, I don't want to wait to start publishing. I want to feel prgress and accomplishment, lol, and think that chapters will push me to complete it. But I wonder ...

If I publish one chapter per month, is that too slow for readers?

You will probably lose a lot of readers between chapters. I think the common recommendation is to release them every day or up to a few days apart.

Is it better to pump out chapters only when the entire story is 100% complete?

Yes. That not only guarantees that the story is done, but it lets you use a short lag between chapters.

If I did one large story, do you think it's more of a turnoff for readers to see that many pages/words?

You will get views either way. "Sources" say that engaged readers may only read about two Lit pages in a single sitting, but Lit chapters are commonly longer than that, so I wouldn't use that as a constraint. I have had readers complain that long stories should be broken up.

What about the Novella category versus a more specific genre-oriented category?

Readers in N&N expect longer stories, but there aren't very many of them. Depending on the alternative categories, N&N is likely to yield fewer views.

Just wondering what other authors and readers have experienced via publishing and reading. It seems that most things outside of the taboo category have such a low volume of readership, and I'd love to get exposed to the most readers I can.

the T/I category produces a lot of views, but readers there have a lot of stories to chose from, so they may not be as engaged as readers in other categories. Reader engagement is a good thing.

What other category would the story fit into?

 

[Mastered_again]

I can only speak from my own experience with a 25 chapter work

1. Have everything ready to post before submitting the first chapter. I made this mistake thinking I could continue writing at the pace I'd established. Life had other plans for me and there was a long hiatus between chapters 9 and 10. Readership declined significantly. That said, views declined over the first 9 chapters anyway ( as seems to be the rule for works presented in chapters)

2. All chapters need not be the same category. I hit 8 different ones over the course. Some categories are more widely read than others, but there seemed to be a "devoted" group of readers who didn't mind the variety. The entire work followed one couple's journey exploring what life has to offer, so that may explain the decidedly small group who read every chapter, being interested in the characters beyond their sexual encounters.

3. There was even one chapter without sex per se, just discussions about it, which may explain its lower rating in comparison to other chapters.

 

[EmilyMiller]

I broke my novel into six chapters, each of of more or less 15,000 words. I did it as I knew some of my existing readers sometimes skipped my 30,000 word novellae, as they were looking for something shorter.

There was some logic. Each chapter was either at a location or travelling to it (or both). It was published over six days and a lot of people read each chapter as it landed.

But I still get people who read all six chapters in a day, or over two days. That tells me that I could have published it en masse.

What I regret more is putting it in Novels & Novellas. The readership may be attuned to longer works, but there are like three of them.

I hesitated to put it in Lesbian Sex as a) it has some hetero sex as well (not as much, and none of the sex scenes are long or detailed - unlike much of my work), and b) I felt it was giving away some of the plot.

Having spoken to more than one LS luminary, I think that was a mistake. The readership would have been like ten times more.

You live and learn, I guess .

 

[Carnevil9]

I have found that while it is true (as stated several times already) that readership declines with later chapters, scores tend to go UP with later chapters. I suppose because a greater percentage of story readers have already read the previous chapters and already decided that they liked it.

 

[BobbyBrandt]

With 11, and soon 12 novels published here (averaging 95K words each), four of which were originally submitted in parts, I can offer this advice:

If it fits nicely into a category, put it there regardless of length.

You're taking a chance. Readers who seek out stories in the Novels/Novellas category do so with the full expectation of encountering longer tales. Assuming that readers in other categories share the same expectation or tolerance could come back to bite you in the hiney. There are no absolutes, but don't discount reader expectations.

The four novels that I originally published in parts (chapter or multiple chapters per submission) were each submitted on the same day, with one piece after another being sent. The pieces rolled out day-after-day until the entire story was published so the readers never had to wait an extended period of time to maintain the flow of the tales.

Now, where these four stories were concerned, they all did well, but the overwhelming feedback received from readers was that they preferred stories to be single submissions, regardless of length. When I had all the pieces of these stories removed from the site and replaced with the single submission, the scores on all of them increased about a tenth of a point. I should also mention that these stories had very little sexual content, if any.

My next seven novels, also with little or no sex, were published as single, longer submissions. I have never had any readers complain about the length of my stories, with the only comments about length being related to the reader not wanting to stop reading and losing sleep, etc.

 

[Writer61]

As a reader, a 100k story puts me off in a way that a 10k chapter of a ten-part story does not. I know that is illogical; I could read the first 10k and decide to continue, or not. But my head doesn't work that way.

 

[DreamInNoir]

Thank you all for your thoughts and experiences. They've really helped!

 

[DreamInNoir]

Is possible to put out a story in chapters in a specific, fitting category, and then also publish a novella length story of all chapters combined in the Novella category? Does that go against the "don't publish the same thing twice" rule?

 

[EmilyMiller]

Does that go against the "don't publish the same thing twice" rule?

Yes… but.

I published a ten chapter police procedural / neonoir / love story under my @RolloJTomasi account.

Then I collated all of them, added maybe 3,000 words, rewrote sections, made plot points more clear, interleaved some explanatory scenes, and wrote Laurel asking if I could publish it as a novella on this account, without deleting the originals.

She agreed, I guess mostly as the second version was at least 30% different (according to my calculations).

 

[BobbyBrandt]

Is possible to put out a story in chapters in a specific, fitting category, and then also publish a novella length story of all chapters combined in the Novella category? Does that go against the "don't publish the same thing twice" rule?

You cannot have the same story published twice on the site. That's why I had to have all the parts of my four stories removed before Laurel would publish the single file for each.

 

[DreamInNoir]

Yes… but.

I published a ten chapter police procedural / neonoir / love story under my @RolloJTomasi account.

Then I collated all of them, added maybe 3,000 words, rewrote sections, made plot points more clear, interleaved some explanatory scenes, and wrote Laurel asking if I could publish it as a novella on this account, without deleting the originals.

She agreed, I guess mostly as the second version was at least 30% different (according to my calculations).

That's fantastic to hear. I apctually have scenes that I've deleted from my rewrites that I was considering attempting to add-on as deleted scenes like on DVD s. I wonder if that would work on top of doing some rewrites and clarifications or adding something to make the storyline more clear if something popped up, as you did.

 

[EmilyMiller]

That's fantastic to hear. I apctually have scenes that I've deleted from my rewrites that I was considering attempting to add-on as deleted scenes like on DVD s. I wonder if that would work on top of doing some rewrites and clarifications or adding something to make the storyline more clear if something popped up, as you did.

Only Laurel can decide

 

[Stanfield2025]

1. Have everything ready to post before submitting the first chapter.

I cannot second this enough. I found this out the hard way because I found something wrong with my first three chapters, so I deleted them and started again.

2. All chapters need not be the same category. I hit 8 different ones over the course. Some categories are more widely read than others, but there seemed to be a "devoted" group of readers who didn't mind the variety. The entire work followed one couple's journey exploring what life has to offer, so that may explain the decidedly small group who read every chapter, being interested in the characters beyond their sexual encounters.

I considered spreading out the categories of my chapters, but ultimately did most of the chapters in one category. Sometimes I wonder if I should've spread it out.

 

[ElectricBlue]

If I publish one chapter per month, is that too slow for readers?

I think so. That's a long weight between feeds. Readers will treat each chapter as a standalone. My latest is weird, Chapter 2 has 20k Views, whereas Chapter 1 only has 10k. Usually it's the other way around.

I'd aim for a week or two, if the whole thing is sequential. But, 30k is not long, by Lit standards.

Is it better to pump out chapters only when the entire story is 100% complete?

Generally yes, if you can. But I'm forever breaking that rule, so maybe the better answer is, sometimes.

If I did one large story, do you think it's more of a turnoff for readers to see that many pages/words?

No. Readers can manage long stories. 30k is a good length for a single story, or maybe three or four chapters.

What about the Novella category versus a more specific genre-oriented category?

I wouldn't put anything into novels and novellas, because it's not a sexual indicator. I'd always publish in a category that clues in the reader about the kink. Others will say something different.

Just wondering what other authors and readers have experienced via publishing and reading. It seems that most things outside of the taboo category have such a low volume of readership, and I'd love to get exposed to the most readers I can.

Don't compare other categories to I&T reader counts. It's not a representative category in that sense.

Think it the other way around. Other categories don't get "low" view counts, they get "normal" view counts. Taboo gets "high" view counts, is all. If all you want is high view counts, then stay with I&T.

 

[Voboy]

You'll end up having to use your best judgement, OP, because whichever way you choose to present your story is going to have pros and cons for different types of readers, and you have no way of knowing which readers are which.

I tend to write longer pieces instead of breaking them up into chapters simply because, when I read, I tend to avoid chaptered works. So, alas, your multi-chapter story would probably go unread by me. But you have no way of knowing that.

You've also heard from posters saying the opposite, that they'd shy away from such long pieces. So, catering to my likes will alienate those readers, and you won't even realize it.

My advice is always to write material you'd want to read, yourself, packaged in the way you'd like to consume it. That way, at least you know you've satisfied ONE fan right out of the chute! But there's no right answer. Hell, even my own catalog is inconsistent: I've produced chaptered works, from time to time, that I might not have chosen to read!

 

[ElectricBlue]

That's fantastic to hear. I apctually have scenes that I've deleted from my rewrites that I was considering attempting to add-on as deleted scenes like on DVD s. I wonder if that would work on top of doing some rewrites and clarifications or adding something to make the storyline more clear if something popped up, as you did.

Don't think it would work very well. All you'd have is a bunch of disconnected bits and pieces, not a coherent story. Put the energy into writing new stories, don't stay wedded to your old ones.

You could go on and perfect the 750 word concept, and turn it into an art form. You can get traction doing that.

 

[DreamInNoir]

You could go on and perfect the 750 word concept, and turn it into an art form. You can get traction doing that.

Go on ...

(I saw one person had a 750 word story on their works page, didn't know what it was about... the 750 part)

 

[JGittes]

Go on ...

(I saw one person had a 750 word story on their works page, didn't know what it was about... the 750 part)

There is an annual 750-word author challenge. That's the minimum number of words Lit will accept for a story submission. It's an interesting exercise to try to create a coherent and relatively complete story in 750 words. I've done it once, but my inclination is to write long (25k, plus or minus), and since I'm old, I don't want to spend the time seriously learning to craft 750-word stories. It was worth it once, but not my thing.

My stories are long, have done well, and on a couple of occasions have caught some sort of magic. I am OCD about collecting data on them. (I was a geologist before I retired, and although it is the least mathematical of the sciences, it's still mathematical.) Based on my data, longer stories do not receive the same readership that shorter stories do.

Self-reports from others on the AH indicate that they receive an average of 1 actual vote per 100 views their story generates. (Keep in mind that a view is just a click on the first page of a story.) When I've looked at the length of the stories those authors write, they're in the 7k to 10k range. Others have analyzed the story database and determined that 3 Lit pages (7k to 10k) are the length "sweet spot" for views, scores, and other metrics, which correlates well with 1 vote per 100 views.

My stories receive 1 vote per 250-300 views (clicks). My interpretation is that readers click on a story title, see how long the story is, and click out. The Lit audience for longer works is a fraction (a half to a third) of the audience for shorter stories. That being said, if a reader engages with the story, they are generous in their assessment.

Chopping a 'true' long story into somewhat arbitrary chapters to get to that 3 Lit page sweet spot has its problems as well. Relying on self-reporting here on the AH, many readers just won't click on chaptered stories, for whatever reason. I published my first story in six chapters. My experience of decreasing views with each subsequent chapter is consistent with other authors' experiences. Chapter 2 views will decrease by a third to a half, and chapter 3 by that much again. Views generally stabilize at the third chapter. There are exceptions, but that's generally what happens. My interpretation is that readers who engage with the story continue reading; those who don't engage stop reading. Not a very profound analysis. The scores also increase for later chapters, for the same reason I expect.

Most here in the AH interpret the decline in views of chaptered stories as a way to gauge how many readers actually read through an entire story. Interestingly, both methods of analysis lead to a similar conclusion. My long stories get about a third as many votes per view as shorter stories, and long stories broken into shorter chapters end up with about a third as many readers by the end.

 

[liliput1]

There is an annual 750-word author challenge. That's the minimum number of words Lit will accept for a story submission. It's an interesting exercise to try to create a coherent and relatively complete story in 750 words. I've done it once, but my inclination is to write long (25k, plus or minus), and since I'm old, I don't want to spend the time seriously learning to craft 750-word stories. It was worth it once, but not my thing.

My stories are long, have done well, and on a couple of occasions have caught some sort of magic. I am OCD about collecting data on them. (I was a geologist before I retired, and although it is the least mathematical of the sciences, it's still mathematical.) Based on my data, longer stories do not receive the same readership that shorter stories do.

Self-reports from others on the AH indicate that they receive an average of 1 actual vote per 100 views their story generates. (Keep in mind that a view is just a click on the first page of a story.) When I've looked at the length of the stories those authors write, they're in the 7k to 10k range. Others have analyzed the story database and determined that 3 Lit pages (7k to 10k) are the length "sweet spot" for views, scores, and other metrics, which correlates well with 1 vote per 100 views.

My stories receive 1 vote per 250-300 views (clicks). My interpretation is that readers click on a story title, see how long the story is, and click out. The Lit audience for longer works is a fraction (a half to a third) of the audience for shorter stories. That being said, if a reader engages with the story, they are generous in their assessment.

Chopping a 'true' long story into somewhat arbitrary chapters to get to that 3 Lit page sweet spot has its problems as well. Relying on self-reporting here on the AH, many readers just won't click on chaptered stories, for whatever reason. I published my first story in six chapters. My experience of decreasing views with each subsequent chapter is consistent with other authors' experiences. Chapter 2 views will decrease by a third to a half, and chapter 3 by that much again. Views generally stabilize at the third chapter. There are exceptions, but that's generally what happens. My interpretation is that readers who engage with the story continue reading; those who don't engage stop reading. Not a very profound analysis. The scores also increase for later chapters, for the same reason I expect.

Most here in the AH interpret the decline in views of chaptered stories as a way to gauge how many readers actually read through an entire story. Interestingly, both methods of analysis lead to a similar conclusion. My long stories get about a third as many votes per view as shorter stories, and long stories broken into shorter chapters end up with about a third as many readers by the end.

I will confess that when I see a story with 12 chapters that gets a bit daunting as well. I assume I'm not the only one. And if you've done 3x12 that's "only" 36 pages, which could work as 9 or 6 posts. I've seen one or two highly ranked authors put chapter breaks into their stories and have multiple chapters per post. Not unlike how the Lord of the Rings is actually 6 books in 3 volumes.

 

[JGittes]

I will confess that when I see a story with 12 chapters that gets a bit daunting as well. I assume I'm not the only one. And if you've done 3x12 that's "only" 36 pages, which could work as 9 or 6 posts. I've seen one or two highly ranked authors put chapter breaks into their stories and have multiple chapters per post. Not unlike how the Lord of the Rings is actually 6 books in 3 volumes.

Yeah. A big problem is the platform, and I don't mean Lit per se. I engage with Lit exclusively on a laptop (writing and looking at the AH; I don't read many stories), but I understand that most readers use their phones.

I can't imagine trying to read a 30k story on my phone, let alone figuring out how to keep track of my place in it. I know there are lots of ways to do that (multiple open tabs and such), but they all require some work and planning. In a TikTok world, work and planning are scarce commodities.