Posting a Fanfic Novel: The "How To"-Poll

[rheasilvia]

Dear fanfic fans, I have a question. In your opinion, what is the best way of posting a very long piece of fanfiction (think novel, 150.000 words or more)? Please take a sec to let me know!

Poll #1694 Posting Systems for Fanfic Novels

Open to: Registered Users, detailed results viewable to: All, participants: 10

View Respondents

When I read novel-length fanfic, I:

View Answers

don't care if it's posted whole or in part. I check out any story that sounds interesting.
1 (10.0%)

prefer it when the story is broken up into several parts and posted over a period of time. Much more convenient, dontcha know.
1 (10.0%)

am fine with the story being posted in several parts, as long as I know it's complete and parts will be posted regularly.
3 (30.0%)

am a completist. I wait until every part has been posted before I start reading.
5 (50.0%)

loathe it when the story is broken up into parts. Stories should not be incomplete. Ever.
0 (0.0%)

soon stop again anyway! I prefer shorter stories. Less trouble all round, if you ask me.
0 (0.0%)

Your limited poll options restrict me. I will take my opinion to the comments!
0 (0.0%)

I prefer the individual parts to be:

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short and sweet, just enough for a quick coffee break (around 1000 words; example: The Broccoli Conundrum)
1 (10.0%)

enough to settle down with, but not too much to handle (roughly 5.000 to 10.000 words; example: A Comedy of Errors)
5 (50.0%)

long enough to really sink my mental teeth into (around 30.000 words; example: First Contact)
6 (60.0%)

It's all or nothing for me, baby!
3 (30.0%)

Your limited poll options restrict me still. Comments, here I come!
0 (0.0%)

Ideally, new installments should be posted:

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once a week
0 (0.0%)

twice a week
3 (30.0%)

every day
3 (30.0%)

every other week
1 (10.0%)

Your limited poll options are seriously cramping my style. Comments FTW.
3 (30.0%)

The best day for posting is:

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Friday
2 (22.2%)

Saturday
0 (0.0%)

Sunday
1 (11.1%)

Monday
1 (11.1%)

Tuesday
0 (0.0%)

Wednesday
1 (11.1%)

Thursday
0 (0.0%)

Eight days a week
6 (66.7%)

I have posted long fanfic myself, and will tell you how I did it in the comments!

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I'm feeling generous, so I'll even tell you why I decided to post it the way I did.
0 (0.0%)

I am the very soul of generosity and will also let you know how that turned out for me and my readers.
1 (50.0%)

Yes, I am aware that you will love me forever for this.
0 (0.0%)

Please do.
0 (0.0%)

Please don't.
1 (50.0%)

Why I ask? Because I'm in the process of writing a very long piece of fanfiction, and would like to post it in a way that agrees with the readers. :-) I won't start posting before the novel's finished, by the way, so readers can be sure the story won't remain incomplete. I won't leave anyone hanging; I know how frustrating that is.

Thank you very much! :-)

Comments

[torch]

I posted in parts back in the dark ages, but over the past ten years or so, I haven't posted long stories unless they were complete, and mostly I've posted them in one part on my website; when lj happened along, I also posted an lj announcement. Worked fine for me, but I have no idea what the experience was for the readers. ;) I've posted stories in one piece because that is how I prefer to read them myself, although I'm getting more used to multiple parts on a journal (but if they're very short, I'm outta there, really). I just think lots of story posts at once on a private journal would be overwhelming, and I'd rather post everything at once. Hence web site posting.

[solo]

Sorry to thread-crash, just ... well, this is of interest to me, too. What would you recommend for people without a website? (And no, 'get a website, idiot' is not an acceptable answer. *g*) Do you think posting in chapters of around 10,000 words average is acceptable?

[torch]

Well, some people like reading in parts on lj, I've heard. ;) I think a useful compromise might be a fic journal, and an announcement/master post on the regular journal. And as far as I'm concerned, 10,000 words is a fine chapter length. But I'm just one person. :)

[rheasilvia]

I haven't ever posted in parts before. The longest fanfic I've written so far was a little over 120k, and I posted that all in one go. However, it had been out as a zine first, so the situation was different; it wasn't published all at once, over and done with in an instant.

Now that I'm writing something even longer, I find that I am reluctant to end a writing process of years with a single moment of posting. Posting is, in one sense, letting go of a story - declaring it finished, over, sending it out into the world and shutting the door behind it. After having poured so much time and passion into it for so long, I would like to linger over this process a little bit.

Perhaps I am just weird, though. That's entirely possible, too. ;-)

Thank you for your thoughts! :-)

[the_shoshanna]

I won't read something unless it's complete, and I prefer longer chunks if it's posted in chunks -- but I don't really care how long it takes for them all to be posted, because the story's not going on my radar until it's complete anyway *g*. And I don't care about day of the week.

I dislike it when headers don't say how many pieces the story's divided into; I fume when each piece doesn't have at minimum a link to the next at the bottom (and ideally a link to the next, a link to the previous, and a link to an index of all pieces); and I was pretty damn startled last week when a story whose header said "1/1" turned out to be multipart!

[rheasilvia]

I used to be pretty consistent about not reading stories until they were complete, but my stance on that has changed somewhat over the years... although I still do and always will prefer larger chunks. *g*

Yargh, yes, header confusion and lack of links - scourges of the fanfic world. I recently came across a story that started out at "1/?", went on to "4/8", then turned into "5/6" and "7/7". At which point I tentatively concluded it was over. Not that I was entirely sure.

All good to know! Thank you for the input. :-)

[ranalore]

I don't start reading until the story is complete and completely posted (or I do, for some authors, but I still resent it in my black little heart of hearts). If the whole story is done and ready for posting, I don't see why an author should parcel out the parts over several days, weeks, or months. Post it all at once, even if it's in parts, says I!

[rheasilvia]

I certainly understand the wish to read a story from beginning to end, with no interruptions. :-)

Thanks for this!