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I don't know if I am unique, but I am not keen on books being issued a chapter at a time. I want a good read, not having to wait for hours or days for the next installment. I know that there are some stories where there is no ending and like Soap Operas go on for ever and ever; and I know that Charles Dickens published many of his books in parts, and I am sure that many people enjoy this format, but when a story really is finished; I would love it if the author would repost it as a complete story.
Anyone else feel the same way?
Columbine
Comments
I used
To do this but stopped as most readers don’t have the time and repeat visits somewhat skew the read count. Not only that but it’s not a simple job if you want all the formatting to be right - each Gaby chapter takes @30 minutes to format, multiply by a typical 40 chapter book and that’s a lot of time!
You can read a completed book easily by following the links at the end of each chapter.
Madeline Anafrid Bell
Two sides to the story...
As a reader, I agree with you that I love a good read, particularly when it's a really good story that has you engaged. Getting to the end of a chapter and having to wait till the next chapter is put out, can be a drag. I've often wished that BC would notify me if a story has continued that I particularly like.
From the authors side, having feedback about each chapter would definitely provide motivation to continue and becomes the reward for contributing the stories, that are otherwise free for us to read.
I'm somewhat self conscious and having my illiterate dribble of a comment added to someone's masterpiece doesn't feel right. I do press the kudos button every chance I get, and think the author a happy thought, but should press myself to comment more.
Lastly, I'm very aware the the better authors on BC let us read the chapters for free before wishing them off to Amazon etc, in their full versions and if we want to, we can get the completed work, at a small cost. Unfortunately, the list of kindle stories on the BC page somewhat smothers the new chapters, and makes me a little sad at all the stories that I can no longer read for free.
I just keep reminding myself that it's a privilege to read these authors chapters for no cost, as I'm not very financial, and that any money made in the kindle sales that helps keep the site going is a blessing.
Hope that gives you some thoughts,
Best regards from New Zealand!Kiwi
Just Ask
I will send you any of my stories that are published on Kindle and no longer on BC at no cost to you.
Just send me a PM.
Jill
Angela Rasch (Jill M I)
Always give the author page a second look
when you see we have a Kindle book out, just in case it's one that didn't have to be removed or limited to preview chapters.
The kindle books being shown on the front page aren't leading to us dropping other stories faster than normal, either: the front page's list of stories is extended to accommodate them, not the other way around.
Melanie E.
Wouldn't know how to do that!
I didn't even know that was an option, and wouldn't know how to do it. I'm still very much learning how stuff works here!
That said . . . I'm actually not sure how I feel about it. I try to binge read some of the amazing stories in BC's archives when I have a little free time -- all stories that have been finished and complete for years. And when I do, I like to make a point of commenting. Generally not on every chapter (that might get a bit obnoxious; I get anxious when I flood the comment board!). But when something in a chapter really strikes me, I like to post a comment. The result is that the story gets a new moment back in the public view, and maybe some BC readers who aren't familiar with it feel inspired to take a look. If I was just pulling a complete book, I'd have one hit at best, and there's a good chance very few people would even see the comment (they only stay on the front page for a couple hours, most days).
Anyway -- just another way to look at it. What you're suggesting is probably very advantageous for folks who download things to read later. I tend to have a pretty continuous connection to the internet, so I mostly don't care about that when it comes to my own reading.
Sending hugs,
Emma
With you on this
I never read serials. Too many times, I've seen a story go unfinished or it's taken a turn that doesn't match the categories or the tone of what I started reading, so nowadays I look for complete books.
Of course, an author is unlikely to amalgamate all their chapters and delete the original bits and pieces because that'll destroy all the comments they received, wipe the view count and (if on here rather than FM) those 'kudos' things as well. So, bascially, it's always going to involve a bit of digging to find a good story... and it's been that way ever since the alt.transgender.stories on BBS in the early nineties.
Worth a look around, though - and some of the solos here are great.
Sugar and Spiiice – TG Fiction by Bryony Marsh
If it helps
We DO have an option for a writer to mark a story "complete" when it's finished. I'm not always the best about doing so myself -- it can be a little bit of a pain -- but as a reader, if you're wanting to know if a story is complete, either looking for that tag on the last chapter or, if you're not opposed to minor spoilers, seeing how the last chapter closes out can help you find longer complete stories.
There's nothing stopping authors from posting a "complete" version of their stories once they've finished all the chapters except for effort and return on the investment. From my experience, stories that are a longer single-post tend to get less engagement (for a number of reasons) than stories that are put out in multiple posts.
Melanie E.
I've only published one serial.
I published " If It Was Your Husband " as a serial. If you want to read it all in one go (40+K words) you can do it here. https://bigclosetr.us/topshelf/print/book/export/html/99322 .
That link is obtained by clicking the "Printer-friendly version" link on the first chapter. I just checked and it works for Emma Anne Tate's "Maximum Warp" so I assume it will work on all serials.
HugsPatricia
Happiness is being all dressed up and HAVING some place to go.Semper in femineo gerunt
Full text of serial
If you go to the beginning, the title page or first chapter of any story, up in the upper right corner is the printer-friendly link. This will produce the entire work as a single post. It's also possible to download this.
Hugs,Erin
= Give everyone the benefit of the doubt because certainty is a fragile thing that can be shattered by one overlooked fact.
This is a cool feature for most stories
Would not recommend though, for Bike .
Personally I like to read chapter by chapter; I less often forget to leave kudos when I do so. Authors deserve kudos.
Wow - This is an amazing feature.
I had no idea 'download all' was possible by 'printing' the first chapter. I took me less than 5 minutes to download a multi-chapter story to a PDF and put it on my kindle (I think 3 minutes of this time was spent looking for my Kindle). The formatting isn't perfect but it works well. Thanks for the heads up Erin.
Very nice feature
I didn't know that. Thank you.
Sugar and Spiiice – TG Fiction by Bryony Marsh
Stories in parts vs Solos.
I am pleased that my query has raised such a useful set of comments. Thankyou to everyone who has responded. I have certainly learned new things about the website.
I have noted that several members have commented that readers seem to be discouraged by longer stories. I am all for long stories - at least 100 pages, preferably much longer. I understand that everyone is different, but I don't see what is discouraging about a novel length story?
Anyone any ideas?
Columbine
i read
i read only longer stories i dislike short storys and ignore them completely even if they are from a favorite author .they never give me enough ,i want to care about the peeps in the story short storys just dont do that .
The only bummer
The only thing that's bad about long stories is that you can't read them in a single sitting. That means if you are reading them online it's tough to find where you left off when you have to take a break from reading them.
Back in the day, when I was an AOL customer on dial-up, I used to simply download the story and pick it up in my word processor. I then would log out of AOL so they wouldn't restrict my time for tying up the portal and to free up my phone line. I could then read the long stories using *** as a book mark when I had to take a break from the reading.
No such options when reading online. You can still download longer stories and read them in your word processor, but most people find that a hassle, so seem to prefer shorter stories or stories posted in chapters.
As a writer, I refuse to post a story that's not compete. I have too many stories that have been sitting on my hard drive that are decades old and unfinished after a great start. Occasionally, I'll pick up one and finish it. See " Grandma's Gift " and " Dumb Bet " as examples.
Each of those were started when my 25 year-old granddaughter was a baby. Sometimes I'll get involved in writing project with a group and need something to contribute so I'll pull something out of the bone pile and make a few alterations so it will fit the theme. But not often.
The whole point here is that if I'd started posting chapter by chapter, they'd be sitting here unfinished and frustrating people who started the series only find it abandoned. That's a frustration when, as a reader, I encounter that and I won't do it to my fans.
HugsPatricia
Happiness is being all dressed up and HAVING some place to go.Semper in femineo gerunt
Just speculating . . . .
So, I have absolutely observed that kudo counts tend to be a bit higher on short solos, all things being equal, than on serial chapters (except, sometimes, the first chapter), and that serials -- often even later chapters -- garner more kudos than anything longer than a short story when published as a single posting. It's been my experience with my own stories, but also those of other writers -- even truly exceptional writers.
That's a general observation, and of course there are exceptions. As to why, I can only speculate. For the most part, I assume that reading TG fiction is something that most folks who visit the website are squeezing into lives that are jam-packed with a wide variety of other things. People are busy. And, honestly, for trans folks who are deeply in the closet, time alone for somewhat revealing reading is scarce.
Before I retired, I only logged into BC once in a while, and when I did, I would take a quick look through the most recent solos, because that's all I had time to read. If I started a serial or a longer work, I wouldn't necessarily be able to pick it up again for quite a while. So, solos it was.
But again, that's just speculation. The real reason may be completely different.
Emma
Reissuing Full Length Novels - As an Author on BCTS
Apologies for only getting to this now, I took a break from writing I didn't know I needed until I was in the middle of it. If I saw this topic when it went live I'd have been all over it. Also, apologies for the rambling. I didn't get very good sleep last night.
Firstly, about the full length stories being released once completed, that's entirely an entirely valid request, and one I would am fully supportive of — if it fits how the author wants to work. And what they're capable of.
This is how I intend to work. Once Allison Zero - Book 1 is completed it will, as far as my plans are now, be given a proper editing pass and turned into a complete novel, in (digital) novel form. Whether I go the Amazon route or simply make a download link available for free I don't know.
It wasn't until you mentioned making the full "download" available that I realised some people might want this. Up until now my plan was to leave the story here on BCTS for a while, and if I make it pay-for book elsewhere to take it down. It would have been freely available while the editing passes are done and then the edited "novel" format is the appeal to buy for people who've read it already, while the listing in a store is to entice new readers. I'll also say I have never, not once, refused to make my work available to someone who wanted to read it as long as I felt the request was genuine, and this was mostly in the sense of privacy and security concerns. I don't tell my friends about everything I write, but there are one or two, who I feel safe with, that I would share almost anything with, if they wanted it. If someone's read Allison Zero on here, can't afford the "novel" (when/if it's released,) just send me a message and I'll send you the epub or mobi. Writing's main purpose — for me at least — is to be read, not to make money (money is pretty nice, though.)
With Toni With An i I have similar plans, but that'll be my only serial. At the moment I feel like there's two novels worth of work already done, with some reworking. The first bit that gets "turned into" a novel will always be free, as advertising, from then on I'll charge for the novels after. But the same applies as with Allison, send me a message and I'll send you an epub as an attachment. I'd just ask in both cases not to distribute it, people can come to me if they want it.
All of this is subject to change. I might just leave things as is. It's just what I'm kicking around in my mind at the moment and there's no final decision.
Secondly, however, is about "completed" stories. There's two main reasons I write here; the subject matter of what I write, and the way I can publish. If it wasn't trans fiction I was writing there are other sites I could publish in a similar manner, I assume (based on a little research.)
This is not "traditional publishing." It's not even "self publishing" in the sense of Kindle books or the like. In those you pay money and you receive a story. That's the transaction, at least if it's honest (there's con artists and thieves, of course.) That works for some people, or for some of the time.
The way of publishing on here is different, and it's allowed by the site. I couldn't envisage serials happening in another format unless it was in the likes of a magazine, or a form of lit journal. Unless we went back to very old methods of publishing novels chapter by chapter in weeklies, etc. there's no other space for that at the moment. Some of the greatest "novels" of all time were published that way originally.
However no-one is giving me money to publish what I do publish on here, what I am getting from publishing on here is the potential of readers (and I have gotten readers,) and the ability to publish chapter by chapter, bit by bit. Really, though, I'm not guaranteed anything much like a reader isn't guaranteed anything.
Basically, in return for the freedom to work in a way I like I'm getting some readers and occasional encouragement (to put it very simply.) Readers are getting free things to read, both good and bad (which is subjective.) Along with the risk that something they enjoy might be abandoned. Or "go" a direction they don't like. (Which is the same with any work of art or artist.)
Both forms of publishing have their upsides and downsides, for readers and writers. As I writer I hope there's enough readers who enjoy what I do, on here, and I would hope for a reader there's a writer who links in with your preferences. No-one expects every writer and every reader to connect. If there's a few who meet halfway that's a success to me. And even more I believe it shows the continued success of sites like BCTS.
When requests are made there are some things I won't sacrifice. If I had to change the nature of my work, or work in a way that doesn't "work" for me, I simply wouldn't do it. This isn't my career or livelihood. Feeling like there are obligations in your creativity is a surefire way to kill that creativity, I feel. However there have been many requests I am happy to work with, and allow for. And assurances I'll make based on the circumstances at the time. Mainly because I didn't know they were wanted until they were asked for. And some of those requests are perfectly valid.
Your request to make a "final" novel available for a while? If I have the time and money to make things into a novel I'm happy with, definitely. I will 100% do it. It's a great idea, for both me and the reader. Maybe not for other authors but for me it links in nicely with what I want to do. And I was probably going to bring it up at some point later in my own blog, so I'm really glad you brought it up here. You are not the only one thinking what you're thinking. And it's not just readers thinking it. I can guarantee you that.
Which is the unmentioned upside of this way of publishing (at least on BCTS.) Most people, author and reader, are happy to have this type of interaction. It's built into the website. Not everything is guaranteed a response, by anyone, but I mostly look at them, at the least. The back and forth is part of why I write here. I enjoy it. It is a good experience. I broadly like the readers here. If I can make it a good experience for someone else I feel like that's all part of the lot. That is why I write; to create, express, interact, communicate, and enjoy. So far BCTS has allowed that. It's pretty good!