Partial vs Full Story Submissions

[lex ludite]

I agree completely with what Alex has said, and would like to add another one to the pot. The turnover in this site as far as posting is extremely rapid, two to three days in some cases. In addition I've seen as many as 34 stories, either starting or being updated in a single posting. The chances of developing any audience for one's work if you are competing against hit and run artists is close to nil. I remember sitting down and reviewing one story that ran over 200Kb. I was glad I did it because at least the poor guy that wrote it managed to get some type of timely feedback even if it was from yours truly. That, by the way was the only input he received, how very surprising. Personally I would like to see the lower limit, now set at 10Kb and violated with impunity, set much higher, perhaps 25 to possibly 40K to make it interesting for those of us into writing serials, to perhaps give the loyal readers enough time to decide what is wheat and what is chaff.
While I'm on my soapbox, I'd like to see a rule that forbids new authors from dumping their entire backlog of stories on the unsuspecting public in one fell swoop. I have adopted a policy of reviewing one, if appropriate, and leaving the rest to gather dust. I can handle a philosophy that allows a thousand flowers to grow, but I draw the line on fields of weeds.

[Garmonbozia]

I always check the size of the story before I invest my time reading it. If it is ten chapters long and only 20k I won't bother. I approach serials the same way. I usually wait for a few chapters to be posted and then I will start to read. There are quite a lot of stories that start but enver progress past 2 parts and that is simply frustrating for me. I want to see that an author is willing to invest their time and stick with a story and they haev at least some idea of what they are doing.

I actually much prefer serials, as long as I can get that commitment from the writer that he won't stop all of a sudden after 2 or 3 chapters.

Jason