Is there a technical reason for the 10,000 word maximum? I realize there has to be an upper limit, but why only 10k?
I attempted to submit the first "chapter" of a three part story, but it got returned because it was 13k words. I wasn't aware of this word limit, especially since I've had stories published here previously that were over 10k words without it being an issue. The solution suggesting that I break it into smaller parts doesn't really work for me. The whole piece was constructed with an intentional structure. If I break it into two parts, the first part will be all mounting action with no climax. This will result in justifiably lower ratings and a consequent loss of readers both for this first part and subsequent parts. Meanwhile, the second part will be all climax, which will be just as unsatisfying for the reader. Both parts will be out of balance and the quality of the story will be lessened, giving readers a poorer experience as a result.
Many of the comments in this thread declare personal preference for shorter, longer, or mediumer length stories. There are people who never read long stories, but at the same time there are people who only want to read long stories. The limits shouldn't be evaluated in terms of subjective preferences. In light of this, the 10k limit feels somewhat arbitrary in that it doesn't function to serve the author or the reader, but rather a seemingly abstract guideline.
I think it less about words than it is about the story itself. Tell it well, and your readers will stay with you. Leave a single dead spot, a place where the reader's mind can wander, and you've lost them.
Make sure each chapter is complete. Make sure it has a point. If you digress, you waste your readers time. You must stay on point. Stay focused on the overall arc and don't allow yourself to drift away. At the end, complete the part you set out to write, but leave them just enough questions they they want to return. That is how you keep readers engaged and interested.
If you do all of that well, word count means very little over all. Your series will succeed. Fail at any point, and you are done.
I write multi part stories. I currently have two on this site. For me chapter length has more to do with continuity. A chapter should be a concise telling of a segment of the story. Lush has a 10,000 word limit for each submission so there are times when I have to turn a single chapter into two or three chapters. When that happens I try to post them in rapid succession.
The chapter I'm currently working on for one of my stories is now over 16000 words. I haven't posted it, because I haven't yet completed telling that segment of the story. Eventually it will be posted as three chapters. When I finally post it everything will be complete and the chapters will be posted in quick succession.
The current chapter for my other story is complete. I am about to post it. While it is only about 3900 words, it is a complete segment of the story.
My current offer stands at 90,000 so far, separated into 27 chapters of around 3,500 each and is still not complete. Reader figures are not high but I know that those who are still with me are genuinely enjoying the story and not just getting off of a piece of gratuitous porn. Ok, there is nothing wrong with that but is it what you want? and if so, why are you complaining, Dirty minded Mom?
I don't know if this will help anyone, but my own guide for chapters has less to do with length, and more to do with where is a good place to break the story. For example my longest chapter story, "Conversations with Amy" has eight chapters, and they range from 5000 to over 9000 words each. What was important to me was to make each chapter a complete story rather than an obvious 'Continued in the next chapter". Oh, there are story threads that link the whole, but each one has to feel like a solid story and part of the overall. Using word count as a way to divide up a story just never works well for me.
Another example is my "Is Being Used a Bad Thing?". Only four chapters (so far) and each one is just under 2000 words. But each one is a distinct story, connected true, but each one has a unique aspect of it and each ending is a solid end point for that part of the story. I know I could have lumped them all together into one long story, but I liked the chapter idea for this one, it made them more individual to me. I didn't plan on less than 2K words per story, the end points simply were a natural spot to end a chapter. I don't know how long the next chapter will be, but I will still try and make is a unique take and an appropriate ending, even if it's less than 2000 or more than 9000 :-)
I guess I should really mention that Conversations with Amy is actually part of a larger story, which also consists of Conversations with Jessie, Conversations with Donna, Conversations with Katherine, and Conversations with Greg. I've been working on and off with a Conversations with Gem. The stories all share a common set of characters and there is some overlap between Amy and Donna's stories. Writing chapter stories is pretty challenging, there is so much happening and so many characters. but totalling out over 100,000 words might make it a bit long, but it was a fun set of stories to write up. (Yes, the last part is a shameless plug, so sue me!) LOL!
Good luck to all who attempt chapter stories,
Brooke
Meddle Not In The Affairs of Dragons, for we are Crunchy and Good with Ketchup!