HALP!!!

[mijan]

Okay, my fellow Trekkies and fandom brethren... I need advice.  I have time, so it's not an emergency, but I refuse to wait until the last stinkin' minute to figure this out.

I have approximately 126K words of (hopefully) decent-quality fanfiction that I would like to present to you in a few short weeks.  I need to figure out how best to present it to you.  How would you prefer to read such a fic? 

I've already figured out that posting to LJ would be evil and cumbersome and difficult.  If I had been posting it in sections, daily, I'd certainly do it that way, but I'm posting this all at once.  Even if I break it into pieces... I can't handle getting that many LJ entries cross-linked and activated within that short amount of time.  And yes, it MUST ALL BE POSTED IN ONE DAY.   Trying to do that on LJ would be evil.  Does. Not. Want!  So... how shall I do this?

Options:

1. Archive.  Broken into short pieces, maybe 10K to 15K each.
2. Archive.  Broken into longer pieces, maybe 20K to 30K each.
3. Self-designed web-page, hosted on a server, kinda like last year, but broken into maybe four pieces.
4. Self-designed web-page, hosted on a server, kinda like last year, but all in one gigantic page of doom.
5. Another amazing idea that Mijan has not yet considered.

If I do an archive, which one?  I'd really rather NOT use fanfiction.net.  It's kinda... just no.  So are there any archives that you guys particularly like?  That are easy to use but not crap-tastic?  That the Jim&Bones folks seem to like?

Also... here's another piece of bait... this isn't just a sequel to last year's fic.  This is part 2 of a trilogy.  Yeah, guys, I'm writing a trilogy.  Each step leads to the next step in character and universe development, and it all goes together.  I've had it planned that way since last year.  Whatever I end up doing in terms of posting technique/location, I'm going to want to post all of my fanfic in this trilogy arc to the same website.  I'll probably post AAtKM there before Crossfire goes up.  But before I do any of that, I need to figure out where and how to make this happen.

Ideas?  ANYONE?

HALP???

Comments

[mintcloud.livejournal.com]

I highly recommend Archive of Our Own - I host most of the stuff I actually consider quality writing there. I'm not sure about chapter word limits, but I know it's massively bigger than LJ's and is really easy to use and navigate, too.

Also, trilogy? Did you say trilogy??? *flips the fuck out*

[mijan.livejournal.com]

Yeah, trilogy. I've been sitting on that little nugget of information for a long time. It's one fic per year of Jim and Bones at the Academy. Once I've finished those fics, I might write some vignettes to fill in the time around them.

And that doesn't even count the prequel... "All the King's Horses," which goes back to Tarsus IV, told from Toland's point of view. I've written the first part, but put it on hold to write the other stuff.

[mijan.livejournal.com]

Also, dude, seriously - why are you never on instant messenger anymore? LONELY OVER HERE.

[ratcreature]

Archive it at a place like AO3 where you upload it in chapter pieces as you want and readers can read it in chapters or display as a whole page or download as ebook or whatever is best for them. That has the advantage that you can comment there directly too.

[mijan.livejournal.com]

AO3? Where/what's that? And... comments. I almost forgot about that. I have to admit it, but I get this deep satisfaction in seeing the comments on an LJ page. Sad, but yeah, I have to accept that I can't do that this time. LJ pages are so good for comments.

[froggie.livejournal.com]

I vote #3--for some reason, 4 parts is such a nice, manageable-sounding number. :)

[mijan.livejournal.com]

The problem is that I suck at those sorts of things, and I'd need someone else to help me with it. I can't code. A very kind and generous friend who took pity on me did the coding and posting for my fic last year.

[alphabet26.livejournal.com]

You could also start posting it to LJ now and just mark it as private. Then, on the day, all you'd have to do is unlock the entries. It would keep you from flooding your flist with chapters. You could even futuredate it, if you want it to show on your LJ on the date you actually make it available.

If you do want to go to AO3 and you don't have an account, I have an invite I can give you, just let me know! :)

ETA: AO3 is HORRIBLE for getting comments, though. Just terrible. People I know who prefer AO3 in almost every other way still crosspost at ff.n because at least they get comments there.

Here is the linke for AO3: http://archiveofourown.org/

[mijan.livejournal.com]

But here's the question - if I future-date it, it won't show up on my friends' f-lists in order, will it? Or would I just have to worry about the Master Post?

AO3 - is that the Archive of our Own thing? Thank you for the offer of an invite!

Also... poor Riker. He's so hot. (And Jonathan Frakes is SO FUNNY.)

[mijan.livejournal.com]

Eeeer.... okay, I admit, I'm a comment WHORE. Yes, I'll admit that. I would avoid AO3 just for that reason.

[ruric.livejournal.com]

Put it up on A03.

Not only are their posting limits large but your readers also have the opportunity to download it as a pdf or onto ebook readers which is fab *G*

And, as far as I can tell, it's really easy to crosslink to prequels and sequels and the uploading interface is ncredibly simple.

[mijan.livejournal.com]

Yes... but as I was just told... it SUCKS for comments. *sadface*

Also, a friend of mine is creating a Kirk/McCoy archive.

Maybe I'll post partially on LJ, using a technique someone else suggested, and then after a month, post to AO3 so people can do their ebook thingy.

[thistlerose.livejournal.com]

Also recommending Archive of Our Own. It's very easy to upload, you can keep your chapters together without having to create links, and you can arrange your stories by series. Plus it's easy to bookmark stories, and I like the way it looks.

The only real downside, as someone else mentioned, is that people tend not to leave comments. Which doesn't make sense since it's as easy to leave comments at AO3 as it is to leave them on LJ, but for whatever reason, people just don't. But there are hit counters on the fics.

Also, eeee! Trilogy!!

[mijan.livejournal.com]

I think I might take someone's suggestion for posting to LJ (setting up all the posts as private, unlocking them the Day Of, and posting the Master Post the Day Of), and then post to AO3 after maybe a month. Because yes, I am a comment whore. I LIKE knowing what people thought of it! One comment is probably worth easily five hundred "hits" to me. Greedy, I know, but true.

[lothy.livejournal.com]

I don't really like reading long stories on LJ - it's good for comments, but that's about the only thing it's good for IMO.

Any of the other options sound okay. I quite like AO3 these days, or just a plain html file is great too although I know that would be more work for you. I do love reading on fanfiction.net but I know some people don't like it, and if you're story's adult-rated it wouldn't be allowed anyway.

There's a Star Trek archive around somewhere isn't there? No idea what it's like to use though.

I'll read your story whereever you end up posting it though!

[mijan.livejournal.com]

Yes, it's good for comments... but think about it this way. I just put months of time and energy into the story. If I never hear what people think of it, it's really disheartening. If I'd posted it as it was written, piece by piece, I would have had feedback every day. Instead, I've been quietly writing for months, stressing about deadlines, to write what's essentially a complete novel. And instead of the ongoing feedback that people get with WIP's, I get one shot at feedback. Yes, it's greedy, and I know it is, but it's something I really love. It's part of the fandom writing experience for me.

I'm thinking about all the options right now, seeing what people like. I might do more than one thing.

Also, my fic is PG-13. At worst, it's R for language and some graphic/traumatic stuff. No "adult" content, though.

I'm glad you'll read my story wherever it ends up, though. That's very reassuring. :) ♥

[b-dsaint.livejournal.com]

Two ways to do it --

1. Post the story to Archive of Our Own, with a master post on LJ that links to AO3. At the bottom of your story on AO3 you can include a link back to your masterpost on LJ (and people do tend to return to LJ to comment)

2. Break your story into how ever many Livejournals posts you need, and start posting them private locked. Maybe do a post a day, so that you don't need to mess with dates or anything. Tag it, include your links to each post, however you want to set it up, and (just like if you were posting it daily in parts like you said), because they're private they wont show up on your flist, but you can still mess with them.

On your posting day, all you'll have to do is make your Master Post, with all your headers and links to the private-locked parts (like however you want to set it up). Then you go back and unlock all the parts of the story (a little annoying, I know, but doesn't require any coding). They won't show up on your flist, and you don't have to mess with any backdating. :-)

[mijan.livejournal.com]

I do like both suggestions. I didn't know you could link from AO3 back to LJ for reviews. That might make a difference.

And you know, I could post to BOTH on the same day. Do you think that's a good or bad idea?

I have a Saturday posting date, which I think is awesome. I hope it rains EVERYWHERE that day. *is greedy*

[suddenlyswept.livejournal.com]

*is so excited for fic*


also, whenever (if ever) you decide on getting AO3 account (which yeah, i would totally miss the comments) let me know. I just got one and I will send you an invite. Or I can send you one now and so you can fiddle around w/ it first :D

[mijan.livejournal.com]

Hmmmm... maybe I should get an AO3 account. I'm debating the posting options. I might post to both on the same day.

Also... that picture of Captain Fine is just... *guh*

[krichardson.livejournal.com]

Hi, I think this is the first time I have posted here. I'm way excited over the Trilogy news. :D I do have a request or at least something you should consider while posting. I live in China. I have no way to access AAtKM through the website that currently hosts it. I managed it barely through cache-viewing but then China put the stopping on that a month after AAtKM was posted. 126K is mind-blowing but worth it. All of the archives mention so far I have access too. It would be awesome if it was on AO3 because the formatting is really nice and easy on the eyes. (I think the commenting issue is getting better. I know I'm getting better at it.) I promise to comment too. :) Regardless, could you offer your story to be downloaded in one big chunk? Thanks.

[mijan.livejournal.com]

Oh my, I never thought about places where certain websites were blocked! Now I feel like an inconsiderate asshole. I'm so sorry! Forgive me? ♥

Do you still have a copy of AAtKM? Would you like me to e-mail you the original file?

I will make sure that I post it on a website that you can read, and also one where you can download the whole thing. I'm going to do that with AAtKM, too.

[shinya-diey.livejournal.com]

Posting sth like this on LJ would be hard. My best guess is Archive of Our Own or web-page, like last year. AO3 has many nice solutions that are good (from reader's point of view XD) so it' my favourite option :)

[mijan.livejournal.com]

I think I might actually use both - AO3, and LJ. I've got a plan now! :D

Thank you! ♥

[syredronning.livejournal.com]

Here's what I will do with my (hopefully) upcoming 80K story.

EDIT Just saw you need to post all on one day *palmface* So just go to b)

a) Post it to LJ one part a day. Because YES, a writer wants comments after months of agony, and that's a good way and also a reasonable chunk size.

It still means about 10 parts for 80K (10K words is the limit per lj post but chapters rarely break exactly at 10K, so you usually need some more), and it's really hard to read&follow for future readers.

It also has the drawback that readers can't save it in one file, so I totally recommend...

b) Post to A03 in one part in the end. I don't know where their posting limit is but it's definitely > 80K.

Please, offer at least one way to get the complete story because so many people read offline.

Also, looking forward to this part SO MUCH!!! ♥

[mijan.livejournal.com]

*giggles* Yeah, I know - if I could post in parts, I'd be totally comment-greedy and post one 10K section every day for a couple of weeks. Ooooh, that would be so self-indulgent, wouldn't it? The long, slow orgasm of reader comments... *sigh*

:D

I'm going to actually do both. Post to LJ using the technique a few people recommended above (setting up all the posts privately, and then unlocking them the day of posting, and post the Master Post with all the links), AND posting to AO3 or a similar archive. Multiple options!

Readers will get their fic-gasm, and I'll get my comment-gasm. And all will be happy in fanficland.

[liamgolucky.livejournal.com]

I have no useful comments other then
FKJSADHFLKJAFHG;FAFGJKLSDFHGKJSDFLHGJKDSFHGDJFSGBSDF.
FUCK.
YES.

Okay, we're done now. HGLAKDFJHGLKJSDF.

[mijan.livejournal.com]

Hehe... excellent.

[weepingnaiad.livejournal.com]

Just wanted to chime in for Archive of our Own Ao3 and if you need an invite, I have a spare one.

Good luck with whatever you decide!

[mijan.livejournal.com]

I think I'll do that. I'm going to ALSO post to LJ, but yeah, I think I can handle AO3. :)

[foxestacado.livejournal.com]

I would say AO3 too. I like the format, and it looks like it's here to stay. I hate it when archives go under. And maybe also host it somewhere you normally host? Maybe multiple pieces on a separate LJ site?

[mijan.livejournal.com]

I'll probably post on both. And yeah, I hate it when archives - or any good fannish site - disappears.

[aliciajd]

I'll take anyway you want, but number 4 would really work great for me.

[mijan.livejournal.com]

I think, because it's so unwieldy, I'm going to chop it up somehow. Just need to decide the size of the pieces. But I just feel like it's too big to put on one page.

[anruiukimi.livejournal.com]

AO3 is my vote as well. I also post to ff.net, but it's the last in the line after LJ and AO3. (I have no problem with the place outside it's slightly irritating layout, and I've got a chunk of dedicated readers there, but I know not everyone likes it. :P )

So yes, AO3! It has great features and you can split it into chapters if you want. :)

<3

[sylk.livejournal.com]

Dude. I have no suggestions but I am so bummed to see in your comments that you're posting Nov. 6th because I have things to do that day (like get married) and won't be able to read it until later! :( I wish your date was a week earlier so I could blow off the final planning and read it instead.

I am looking forward to it. Can you tell?

[mijan.livejournal.com]

Oh dear! That's... kinda inconvenient.

Hmmm... send me a PM, okay? ;)

[grey-hunter.livejournal.com]

AO3: you can post in chapters and if one likes, it can be displayed all at once.

Also, I think DW allows longer entries than LJ but I'm not 100% certain on that info.

[mijan.livejournal.com]

I think Dreamwidth allows longer entries, but it seems like too much hassle to get a DW account just for this.

I've got a plan now. No worries anymore! Just need to do it.