Hi Everyone,
I am in the process of publishing a "novel" - a story with 15 chapters. But at the same time, I am working (off and on) on a sci-fi story that promises to be much longer. My question is how long do you feel a story can get before it gets boring and readership fades? I know one thing is the writer's ability to hold the reader's attention, but is there a point where you should just drop it and walk away? What is the longest story here on Lush already? Not that I want to go for a record I just want to know if I should continue this endeavor. I am on the 10th chapter and still have lots of ideas left for it!
No clue where I lie in the "longest" hierarchy, but my Adam series ( Incest category ) is certainly long as hell for here.
There are sixteen chapters total. Four in the first, seven in the second, and five in the third. They're all somewhere between 5 and 6k words in length. So it's somewhere between 80 and 90k words total.
The first chapter of the first series has 28 votes, 11 comments, and 11k views. The last chapter of the third series has 12 votes, 5 comments, and 3600 views. First chapter posted on the 3rd of Dec. 2017, the final posted on Jan. 01 of 2018.
My Magic of the Wood series is actually longer, but it's Supernatural, so there's no data of any real use to draw from that. A couple of my other fantasy stories are almost that long, but again, that's a desert category where there's no real data of use.
You'll absolutely want all the chapters to come out predictably, and in a reasonably short period of time. Any lapses are almost certain to kill your retention. So, obviously have the full story complete before you post the first chapter.
That's at least one data point for you to weigh.
Word of warning - sci-fi isn't a great category if you want lots of votes / comments. I'm on chapter 7 of my War of the Worlds sequel (two chapters of which are RRs) and actually feel kinda happy if any bugger turns up and scores / comments. Not sure how much longer I can do it though.
Completely slipped my mind that you said the story was Sci-Fi while I was digging through my stuff looking for multi-chapter data. Guess I'll put up those Fantasy and Supernatural stories, even thought there's little to go off of.
For all of these, the chapters/stories posted more or less daily.
To Catch a Merchant Princess is 6 chapters of 8-9k words each, and came out in 2013. First has 8 votes, 7k views, and 2 comments. Last has 9 votes, 4k views, and 4 comments.
Lowborn is 10 chapters of around 5k words each, and came out in 2014. First has a whopping 2 votes, 3600 views, and 1 comment. Last has 1 vote, 2100 views, and no comments.
Blackhawk Hall is 6 chapters of 7-8k words each, and came out in 2014. First has 4 votes, 4780 views, and 3 comments. Last has 2 votes, 2900 views and 2 comments.
My Magic of the Wood series is 8 stories, comprised of 14 parts. Only the first two fit within a single submission. All the rest had to be split into two pieces each. One of the stories ( both parts ) got an RR, and it came out in 2014. First story has 7 votes, 4700 views, and 3 comments. Last part of the last story has 2 votes, 3400 views, and 1 comment.
