Do you have a preference for the amount of chapters released before deciding to read a story?

[MesaMesa17]

Hi everyone!

I heard some readers only pick up stories when they see that the author has already released a certain amount of chapters, so I'm curious to hear any thoughts from you guys regarding this topic~

 

[Hans.Trondheim]

It's always one volume of manuscript for me. How do I determine this? I already planned my volumes, and know when to end them. Once I reached the end of my planned manuscript, I simply go back to the entire work to edit possible plot holes before I release online.

 

[greyblob]

i filter by 10k words minimum. when im stuck and really want to find something new, i lower it to 5k. I do not even glance at anything below

 

[MesaMesa17]

It's always one volume of manuscript for me. How do I determine this? I already planned my volumes, and know when to end them. Once I reached the end of my planned manuscript, I simply go back to the entire work to edit possible plot holes before I release online.

Sorry, I mean if you're browsing stories to read, do you take the number of released chapters the author has already published into account when deciding to read it?

 

[yanyanwrites]

That's true. Most of the time, the number of chapters is not what matters but whether the novel is completed or not. I like to binge read a book I find interesting, so I can't stand being left hanging. It will kill me if the author goes on hiatus.
But to answer the question, at least 10 chapters for me and the update is at least twice a week. Also, the chapters should not be very short. Around 2k words per chapter is ideal for me.

 

[Hans.Trondheim]

Sorry, I mean if you're browsing stories to read, do you take the number of released chapters the author has already published into account when deciding to read it?

Ah yes. Means there's much to read and less risk of 'getting the short stick' because I got to read more and learns more about the story.

Also, having more chapters mean that the author is invested in that work, so readers are highly likely to pick it up.

 

[Rhaps]

23, not 25 but 23.

 

[Deleted member 84247]

I have an opposite thing where too many words make me hesitant.

 

[LilRora]

Depends. If I find a story that interests me that has one chapter, I'll check it out, but I prefer to have a good amount of content to start with, so I usually try to look for stories that have at least 5~10 chapters (also might depend on chapter length).

 

[Dark_Phoenix_Zaetyk]

I prefer more than 100 chapters,even when i find a story interesting i wait until it reaches that level

 

[Daitengu]

1. Complete or twenty chapters+ with consistent releases.

2. I won't read anything from an author with four or more active stories, as they tend to drop or have bad release times.

3. I won't read anything from an author if they bait to another site.

4. I won't read anything from an author with a half dozen dropped stories unless complete.

5. I drop stories with authors who ghost for over a month as most stories are dead at that point. (If ya post a reason, I give up to six months)

6. I drop stories from translators who try to pass the story off as their own work.

 

[Peter3135566]

Normaly 3 chapters if the last 2 werent released togeder and fhe first i saw in the recently updated thingy a previes time, 5 or so if several are releasd mostly back to back. Unless the title or name have fox's or something else i realy like imight just give it a try right away...

 

[RepresentingWrath]

No.

 

[2wordsperminute]

I do not speak for the majority of readers, but personally I will pick up a story if I find it interesting enough to read (and I'm not currently reading something else) even if it only has one chapter. Actually, if I'm currently reading something else, I'm more likely to start reading something if it has a very low chapter count because there's less I need to catch up on. But again, this probably isn't how most readers are, at least on this site. Even I have an exception to this, and that exception is JoJo's bizarre adventure. No part 9 for me until it reaches like 30-50 chapters.

 

[Astrolust]

Chapter amount is deceiving. It's all about that word count. Anything I read less than 20k (unless completed) Is such a bummer to get into and then lose it. Even 20k is low though.

 

[MesaMesa17]

Chapter amount is deceiving. It's all about that word count. Anything I read less than 20k (unless completed) Is such a bummer to get into and then lose it. Even 20k is low though.

thats a good point

 

[melchi]

I don't think it matters that much. What does matter is word count. Someone that writes 5 minute chapters may have 100 chapters and 100k words, someone that writes 15 min chapters would have the same amount of story with 33 chapters. Usually when I'm browsing stuff I sort by word count. Yeah, sometimes I'll see something with a neat title and add it to my reading list but if the chapters are in single digits I'll wait until there is more before starting it for real.

 

[3guanoff]

if it's a mate's story, 20 (min 20k words).
if not, at least 50 (50k words). But that's only for stories with great synopsis and tags. Otherwise, 100k words.
Of course, if the story is completed, I don't care how many words there are. I will read a 20k completed story all the same.

 

[CharlesEBrown]

I am more likely to look for a story with very few chapters posted to get a feel for it and see if I want to go further myself, but I'm probably an odd duck.