Attention Authors with Series

[Myr]

If you have series currently in the system, please get yourself prepared for the update that is coming soon by writing a description for your series.  You can think of this as the book blurb you'd see on a series box set.  The description is your opportunity to interest people in your series. 

Some things to keep in mind:

• Be descriptive of your series, without giving away spoilers
• Make it sound interesting, but don't describe it as something it is not.
• Use some of your feedback(comments/reviews) from the different stories as an idea starter for what you can include in your description.  (Ex:  if a lot of comments are about your characters, mention 'deep characterization' or some such in the description)
• Write a little hook or something that draws the reader to find the answer.  (And make sure your story answers that hook!)

 

[Myr]

In case you missed the announcement, if you have a series story, you can now update it.  Be sure to at least add the description.

[Brayon]

@Myr I've been looking for a way to break a series apart. I can't find a way to do it. I remember you mentioning an X next to the Up and Down Arrows, but it seems to be missing. Here's a Screenshot of one of my series.

[Myr]

Hmm. a bug.  I'll report it with the others.

[Brayon]

3 minutes ago, Myr said:

Hmm. a bug.  I'll report it with the others.

Thanks, Myr. Don't mean to add more to your plate with this.

[Myr]

Well... we can only test so much with test data... the real world tends to shine light on stuff quickly. lol

[Brayon]

Just now, Myr said:

Well... we can only test so much with test data... the real world tends to shine light on stuff quickly. lol

Happened frequently with the Games Servers I volunteered on. Nothing more annoying that someone demanding something gets fixed RIGHT NOW, when they are playing for free, and the staff is all volunteers.

[Timothy M.]

Will it cause notifications to people following a story in a series when we add a series description ? I don't want readers to think I've add a chapter and get disappointed.

[Myr]

There is not a separate follow on Series/worlds.  You must follow the story or the author.

So, no, I don't think there is a notification of series edit.

[Brayon]

2 hours ago, Timothy M. said:

Will it cause notifications to people following a story in a series when we add a series description ? I don't want readers to think I've add a chapter and get disappointed.

 

9 minutes ago, Myr said:

There is not a separate follow on Series/worlds.  You must follow the story or the author.

So, no, I don't think there is a notification of series edit.

I believe Myr's right about no notification. None of the dedicated readers of my Tampa Chronicles Stories has mentioned an update notification when I did a description and the banner.

[Timothy M.]

What happens when you add a contributor to your series ? Can I add a story from that author to my series or should I create a world for that ?

 

I want to add @aditus's Cupid Central to my series https://www.gayauthors.org/stories/browse/series/viking-valentine/ which features the angels I borrowed from Aditus.

[Myr]

 

5 hours ago, Timothy M. said:

What happens when you add a contributor to your series ?

Right now?  If you add an author as a contributor to either the series or World, then you can add their stories to your series or world.  We have a patch coming that triggers approvals

That is I add Tim and he gets a PM saying I want to add you as a contributor to my series or world.  He approves.  I can then see his stories to add them to my series or world.  When I add them, we'll get another PM saying, Myr wants to add this story to this series or world.  If you approve, it gets added.

 

Is his story a required part of reading your stories?  IE, is it a series?

Or is his story existing in the same World as it shares characters? 

 

If it's part of a series, then you should add as a series.  If it is part of a world, you should add a world.

 

(Again, using Marvel as an example... Iron Man 1, 2 and 3 are a series.  They exist in the "Marvel Cinematic Universe"  World, along with things like Black Panther and Dr. Strange.  Iron Man 2 does not make as much sense without Iron Man 1, as they are series... Dr. Strange can stand by itself)

[Timothy M.]

15 minutes ago, Myr said:

 

Is his story a required part of reading your stories?  IE, is it a series?

Or is his story existing in the same World as it shares characters? 

 

Yes, Aditus' story Cupid Central must be read before reading my three A.I. stories. I have added a link to the story in my story notes, but it would be neat if it could be seen as part of the series.

Edited October 17, 2018 by Timothy M.

[Myr]

Just now, Timothy M. said:

Yes, Aditus' story Cupid Central must be read before reading my three A.I. stories. I have added a link to the story in my story notes, but it would be neat if it could be seen as part of the series.

Then yes.  Add him as a contributor to the series.  Then go to that story and add it to the series with the plus button.  Then order it properly using the up and down arrows.  (If a number jams, remove it from the series and re-add it)

 

[Timothy M.]

5 minutes ago, Myr said:

  Then go to that story and add it to the series with the plus button.  

 

I can't find the plus button.

 

Oh, I found it - it was the manage button under my series.

Edited October 17, 2018 by Timothy M.

[Myr]

It should show on the story listing for stories you are allowed to add to your series:

 

Failing that, you can use the manage button on a world/series to add a story.

You will have to type the title and it should pop up as you type.

 

[Timothy M.]

7 minutes ago, Myr said:

 Then order it properly using the up and down arrows.  (If a number jams, remove it from the series and re-add it)

 

Yeah, they jam.  I'm a bit worried about removing all three short stories and re-adding. I'll try another day.

[Myr]

Just now, Timothy M. said:

 I'm a bit worried about removing all three short stories and re-adding

See last post...

 

[Timothy M.]

1 minute ago, Myr said:

Failing that, you can use the manage button on a world/series to add a story.

 

You will have to type the title and it should pop up as you type.

 

Yeah, that worked perfectly. Thanks. No green plus buttons visible on Aditus' stories.

[Timothy M.]

On 10/11/2018 at 11:10 PM, Myr said:

When you come across this issue, just hit the X button on the story to remove it from the series and then re-add it.  

 

 

It's a bit scary to hit the red x button and say yes when you're asked if you're sure you want to remove it. What if it deletes the story ?  

But I guess it's safe if you say it's OK. 

[Myr]

Just now, Timothy M. said:

It's a bit scary to hit the red x button and say yes when you're asked if you're sure you want to remove it. What if it deletes the story ?  

But I guess it's safe if you say it's OK. 

the system doesn't allow authors to delete stories.  only staff get to.  makes it much easier to feel safe...

[Timothy M.]

So I deleted the first two of my A.I. stories and added them again. They are now number 6 and 7, and Aditus' story stayed as no 5. I can't delete number 4 (the third A.I. story), and I can't move it down either. So now I've messed up both the story numbers and the sequence. I'm feeling a little stupid, but I'll try again tomorrow. Thank for helping with answers, Myr.

[Myr]

25 minutes ago, Timothy M. said:

I'm feeling a little stupid, but I'll try again tomorrow.

Don't.  congratulations, you found a bug tied to the permissions system.  Since you are adding stuff in various categories  (anthologies and contests) and some of those categories are locked, the new series update didn't fail gracefully.  I've added the bug to the list.  The programmer is going to come along and poke at it, so don't do anything else for now.

 

[Timothy M.]

19 hours ago, Myr said:

 congratulations, you found a bug tied to the permissions system.  

 

   

 

Well, nothing is perfect until exposed to users doing weird stuff. I'll wait for you to tell me it's safe to proceed.  

[Timothy M.]

Somehow everything got fixed with Cupid Central and the three Anthology stories. But the first story https://www.gayauthors.org/story/timothy-m/thecardmakerandthecaretaker/ is no longer part of the series, even though the number one spot is not taken. Weird...