Does the length of a web novel play into your decision to read it?

[kosamsel]

And if it does matter to you, what’s the ideal length you’re looking for, and how do you judge it? By word count, number of chapters, or something else?

Thanks in advance!

 

[Deleted member 84247]

I will typically judge by chapters, and I'll mostly not pick up anything longer than 500 chapters. Ideal length for me is between 100-300 chapters. By the way, I will also pick up novels in early development, and I can read things that are less than 30 chapters.

 

[l8rose]

Yes. I generally don't read anything under 10 chapters or over 500ish chapters. There are exceptions like translations that have been broken up into multiple chapters (even if that drives me nuts).

I have made mistakes in the past by reading stuff that was in the 1000s of chapters and they almost always just make me question when the story was going to end. They don't even feel like they should be broken into different books in a series, they just keep going and going.

 

[RepresentingWrath]

Probably won't pick up a novel that has less than 20 chapters. As for lengths or wordcount, I don't care. I read and liked longer web novels, 1k+ chapters, I read and liked shorter ones, 100 chapters.

 

[melchi]

I judge by consistency. If the posting schedule is all over the place I would probably not pick it up

 

[NotaNuffian]

Going by CN not EN.

No less than 100 chaptees and no more than up to 1000 chapters.

More than 100 chapters to show proper commitment and less than 1000 chapters to show that the author is not much of a feet dragger.

Also, the latest chapter must have been uploaded at most a week ago to show that the author is still uploading and it is not a dead work.

 

[Edenc2708]

no less than 100 chapters up to anything, preferably the longer the better

 

[WhaleSprite]

Yeah, I love binge reading. If I wait for a novel to update I will usually just forget about it due to my terrible memory. A lot of the time I won't start reading something until it's more than 100 chapters long. sometimes longer. I enjoy when there is a lot of content to read, as long as the writing hasn't become overly repetitive or boring.

 

[AstreiaNyx]

No, I read everything from one shots to serials, as long as they’re… completed.

I sort them by word count and save the longest ones for last.

 

[RainyLiquid]

The more chapters the better.

 

[Dec]

And if it does matter to you, what’s the ideal length you’re looking for, and how do you judge it? By word count, number of chapters, or something else?

Thanks in advance!

I don't care about chapter amounts nor their length, although I do prefer longer ones.
What I care about is quality of the story; character dynamics, their unique "me." I care about world building, the consistency of the plot, the ability to visualize and place myself in the world and see what characters see.
The story can have one long chapter, or 10k smaller ones -- I don't care. Gimme a good story that is nice to read.
Cause, you know, you can have any word/chapter count, but when the story itself is mediocre, the readers would drop it anyway. And they will stick with it if it is good enough.

 

[Rezcore]

1000 is the sweet spot. I'm reading one with 15K chapters. Been publishing since 15, and is on Naver

 

[Bald-san]

And if it does matter to you, what’s the ideal length you’re looking for, and how do you judge it? By word count, number of chapters, or something else?

Thanks in advance!

Not really, though I enjoy longer ones, if I need a palate cleanser I go for 200-ish and above chapters

 

[Kenjona]

10 Chapters, is my minimum start point for starting to read anything lately. To many Authors do only a few chapters for their "idea" and then drop what they are writing for lack of commitment to continue on their part for any of a number of reasons. As for length, meh do not care, as long as it interests me I will keep reading.

 

[foxoftheasterisk]

I prefer the 4-10 chapter range, but I also don't tend to rule things out on those grounds.

 

[CharlesEBrown]

If it's marked as Complete, then no. If it's live ... I don't want to get into something that I will never "catch up with"