Forum: Author Hangout

Thanks, Jason. This is kind of the way I was thinking about approaching it. I definitely feel more comfortable writing the whole thing before releasing it to the world, since this is a single cohesive narrative, and not a series of episodes. However, I was wondering about what kind of release approach would maximize readership and engagement. How does the scheduling work?

How you post is very much a personal choice. Many like spreading it out, so that readers not only have a chance to notice it, but have time to anticipate the next chapters (which builds suspense, adding to the story's own suspense).

Some also post all at once, or a chapter a day, to get through it as quickly as possible. I've always favored twice a week, which allows me to post chapters as pairs, hopefully with any cliffhangers posting just before the longer weekend (again, giving readers time to process and anticipate the resolution). But again, how long you wait between each chapter is a matter of taste, but you need to make it long enough that your scores increase, but not so often that those who don't visit regularly don't miss it.

I appreciate the insight, especially on the pacing of the release. That makes total sense.

How does the scheduling work?

Scheduled Posting is a newly implemented feature on SOL (thanks, Lazeez). The rules for implementing it are included here, but basically you insert the following just after each chapter title:
o after the first chapter/section title include the following: { date:=yyyy-mm-dda}, which is when the story should begin posting. Note that you can use either a (a.m.) or p (p.m.)
o If you want to post the next chapter on a different date, include the following (just after the chapter title): { date:+#a} where "#" is the number of days to wait before posting the next chapter, or enter the same date format for a definitive date (by the way, ignore the space immediately following the "{ ", as that's due to the Forum's inability to differentiate the brackets use in discussions from an actual in-line command).

Thus if you want to post once a week, you'd specify: { date:+7a}, you wanted to post twice a week (say Tuesday & Thursday), you'd specify { date:+2a} and { date +5a}.

That's basically all there is to it, but it's generally best to state you intentions when you submit your post, so the admins can review and correct you in-line instructions, if necessary.

you'd specify { date:+2a} and { date +5a}.

I haven't used the consolidated file process for scheduling story chapters. What you said is a bit confusing. If I understood Lazeez's post:

1. Lazeez's forum description said the first chapter/section date is set by the wizard and any date: code added to the first chapter/section is ignored. The date: code only controls posting of the 2nd and subsequent chapters.

2. He said to put the date: code on the line following the chapter title, not immediately after it on the same line.

3. I saw nothing about the use of { date:+2a} and { date +5a}. Not saying it won't work, but it is confusing. Are you saying { date:+2a} will cause the next chapter to post two days after the first chapter in the morning? Is there supposed to be a space between { and date:

Assume the first chapter is posted on a Tuesday. { date:+2a} for Chapter 2 would result in a post on Thursday. So to post Chapter 3 on Tuesday of the next week, you have to enter {date:+7a} and for Thursday { date:+9a}. Is that correct?

If I understood Lazeez's post:

1. Lazeez's forum description said the first chapter/section date is set by the wizard and any date: code added to the first chapter/section is ignored. The date: code only controls posting of the 2nd and subsequent chapters.

1. Not quite. I just posted my first scheduled posts , but the initial date specifies when the story first posts (ex: if you want to post the story just before entering the hospital with Covid-19). Then (on the second { date:} form tells the system/admins when each separate piece posts.

The key is, if the story doesn't post on time, then every single chapter will post on the same day, ignoring ALL your date fields, so you want to ensure you post the collected work early.

2. You're correct. When I mistakenly said "immediately after" I was thinking of immediately after that line. My bad!

3. I picked the { date:+2a} and { date:+5a} because each week is an odd number of days, so to schedule posts you'll have to count how many days are between each posting. And no, the space after the "{ " is only there because the 'curly' parentheses is viewed by the system as a command, and won't display unless you put in the trailing space.

In your final scenario, if the very first chapter posts on a Tuesday, then you'd use { date:+2} to post on the following Thursday, followed by { date:+5} to post on the following Tuesday (i.e. 2+5=7). The system essentially keeps a running counter on the current date for you (don't ask how it's implemented though). Specifying { date:+7a} would cause the third post to post 7 days after the last post, which would be the next Thursday in your example.

So far, that usage works, though my story is only on the second posting date.

Very interesting! Thanks for the pointer to the docs, and the explanation. I'd never seen this feature before.

I definitely feel more comfortable writing the whole thing before releasing it to the world, since this is a single cohesive narrative, and not a series of episodes.

Depending upon where you are in it - if you have a large enough buffer - you can start posting before the end of things. I made that mistake with my first story, in thinking that a dozen chapters was a big enough buffer. My chapter sizes were also half the size they are now.

My second story I had nearly complete before starting to post, and I pretty much went for the once per week thing, with the occasional extra post. 33 chapters, from August of 2019, until February of 2020, for posting 2,326 KB.

The one I'm posting now, I've got 27 complete chapters, and I'm posting 2 per week. I was planning on finishing it completely before posting, and I've got it plotted out how this book will finish, it's just getting there. As I have a bit more time to write now, it makes it easier to do so.

Thanks for the insight here. What you mention was exactly the thing I was worried about if I started posting too soon. The last think I want to do is have big gaps in between. This is all leaning more towards a solution of write it all, and then post chapters on a schedule to maximize readership.

Depending upon where you are in it - if you have a large enough buffer - you can start posting before the end of things. I made that mistake with my first story, in thinking that a dozen chapters was a big enough buffer. My chapter sizes were also half the size they are now.

I understand your point, as that's typically what I do with feeding my story to my editors, as once I get 7 chapters ahead, I'll start feeding chapters to them a chapter at a time, which is generally enough time for them all to respond.

However, for those of us who prefer completing the entire story before we post, it's more about completeness than it is posting efficiency. Since you know how the story ends at that point, you can then go back and provide any necessary foreshadowing required so that your ending makes sense. Also, since we sometimes cut loose any thread that doesn't pan out in a story, very often we authors will need to cut out whole chapters at a time, which is difficult to do when you're actively posting each week.

The issue that this addresses is not how fast you can write, but rather how long it takes to write, clean up your story, have your editors review it, submit their edits, and then you incorporate those changes, all before you start posting.

But, very few of us actually stick to the 'complete the story before posting, so your strategy will work for most SOL authors, though it may fail if you or someone you know gets sick and you have to visit, recuperate and take care of them. With the scheduled posting, you can now grantee that the entire story will continue posting, whatever happens to you.

I understand your point, as that's typically what I do with feeding my story to my editors, as once I get 7 chapters ahead, I'll start feeding chapters to them a chapter at a time, which is generally enough time for them all to respond.

I think one advantage I have in that area is that I generally by the time I have 4-5 chapters done, I have almost the entire storyline already laid out in my mind. Both the beginning, middle and end.

Now of course things will change when writing. But for the most part, it almost never has any real impact on the earlier chapters and I can work around them later. And I generally leave 3-4 other storylines dangling here and there, so I can generally work things later on back to what I had originally envisioned.

And I can always go back and do a retcon if needed, I have done that once or twice actually.

That also allows me to go back and make changes in a previous chapter before I post another one based on what I have added in later chapters.

An example of this (in the case of those of us who prefer completing the entire story) is in my newest story, The Holes Binding Us Together, the original story was titled Holes to Other Worlds (I know, a horrid title), but near the end, I hit a passage where one character summarizes what caused so many of the protagonist's new 'friends' to gather around and support her. But, aside from changing the title, I needed to add a few references (and a few more personal faults) in each of the characters, so the title—while better—actually made sense to the readers.

@Puella Magi,

This is all leaning more towards a solution of write it all, and then post chapters on a schedule to maximize readership.

Another benefit to completing the full story before posting is that you're already well into your next book.

One thing I typically find is that once I complete a book, I have to decompress for several days (more like a week to a week-and-a-half) where actually writing anything is akin to pulling teeth. You generally don't want to encounter that when you're posting two or three chapter a week.

But, just as some authors love to write from a predefined outline, detailing what happens in each chapter, many of us are 'pantsers', who write by the seat of our pants, knowing where the story is eventually going, but we're unsure how the character will actually get there. Neither the pantsers nor the plotters are wrong, just as the post-each-chapter-as-you-write it nor the complete-the-entire-book-before-posting is 'wrong'. It's just that some people work better one way than they do the other.

Pit is also an actor.

This pitiful discussion about pits is the pits! Though a debate about the merits of holy holes is wholly appropriate.

My apartment has shag rugs. And the sign says Senior Housing Assistance Group.

They provide shagging assistance at your Senior Center? Sign me up! Mine just serves tepid pudding.

Not everyone who downloaded your stories did so by mistake...

Actually, for one of my stories, I should probably be more concerned about the readers who didn't download it, by mistake, because the title was 'misleading' and 'deceptive' ;)

Assuming I ever finish it, the next one's title will be equally problematic - while it accurately describes the story's main plot device, I reckon most readers will expect something completely different.

AJ

So don't title it, "Assembly Instructions", you should know that no guy willingly reads them...

It's not that we don't read them, it's just that we 'choose' to ignore them. Many of us prefer to figure it out on our own, since most instructions are so convoluted. Directions: that's another matter entirely.

Were you just larkin' about? ;)

AJ