Wondering about something...puppies and kittens and BOOBS

So during the month of November I wrote most of a novel. I've edited what I've written so far, and I'll finish the rest of the story this week.

I never intended for it to be published commercially--I wrote it as a present for my dad. But it strikes me that some folks here would enjoy it too, and I'd like to sort-of self-publish it so that those who wish to do so can read it.

A number of options have occurred to me:

1) I could start a blog, and publish a chapter per post. The problem is that my chapters are probably in the 2500 word range, which is a bit long for blog posts.

2) I could put it up in a web site, but it would need to be a free one, and I don't know how to make it all pretty. If this is the route I choose to go, help and advice would be appreciated.

3) I could post it somewhere on the boards, like the two ongoing stories in Office Party. Share Your Work isn't really appropriate, because I'm not doing it for feedback, at least not for any feedback I would improve from.

I was wondering if Office Party would be the right place for it, but unlike Fajita Sunrise and Evil Stalks the Castle, though it has characters from AW in it, it's not really about happenings at AW.

Then I had a thought: The Sims2 boards have a specific section for storytelling, and I was wondering if a sub-forum where we could post longer stories that aren't necessarily meant for anything more than fun would be appropriate for here too.

Or should I just post in Office Party?

Thoughts appreciated.

If I changed the title of this thread to include the word "puppies" or "kittens," would it get more replies?

I knew this thread would get more replies with a different title...

And just so's you know, the thread title is not exactly misleading, as my novel has all of the above, though the puppy and kittens are grown up.

The other thing my dear Ally thought of is having it available as a PDF file, which is within her capabilities, at least.

scribd looks like a definite possibility. I'll explore it more thoroughly when I'm awake. Bit by bit on a blog seems to be a good possibility too. I'll have to decide whether I'm going to release the whole treat at once, or a piece at a time. (I'm still leaning towards a blog and a piece at a time, because the blog leaves room for comments.)

I've decided during the time since I first posted that I'm not going to post it on AW, as it may be considered fanfic by some. But it's good fanfic, and believe it or not, my characters don't spend the whole time in Middle Earth.

She_wulf said:

As long as they don't all look like Haggis...

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Highlight for mini-spoiler:


Um, well actually, the puppy IS Haggis...

James81 said:

I gotta be honest, I came in here because "BOOBS" was in the title.

Anyway, you should go all out and do it right. Find a host, get a domain name, and put the story up on a webpage. Think of it like this, what better way to get your work read than to have your very own site.

Not only that, but you could do your own full bio and just have all your writing resume right there for people to see. Plus, most hosts have blog patches that are very easily installed. You could have your own blog, your sample novel, and your writing bio and all that all in one neat place.

Click to expand...

I finally made the decision to go with a blog for this one, posting it bit by bit, and dividing up the chapters. The intro and the first two installments are up, and the link's in my sig.

But I have more writing--shorts and stuff, that are too good to hide on my computer, but that I've realized aren't going to get much payment. It's true that I could submit them and submit them and submit them, but I could also do as you suggested and make my own website.

Which I'll probably do a little later on this year. Keep your eyes on my sig, folks!

soapdish said:

OK, I will admit...I came for boobs too.
I work in the lactation field, so I am kind of drawn to them : )
Side note--I do web design too and can help you make a "pretty" one if your interested.
I am now very interested to read your story too! So let us know what you end up doing and where we can go to read it.

Click to expand...

Don't give up on the boobs. They make an appearance in Chapter Eleven.

And thanks for the offer! I may take you up on it sometime in the next couple of months...

Thanks for all the encouragement, folks.

As I said, the first three posts are up on the blog--go have a read. There'll be more in the near future. Since it's mostly all written and edited, I'll have them up faster than one post per week. Perhaps a post every couple of days...