Would I get more readers to look at my fanfic on Ao3 if I uploaded my complete story all at once?

[Silver7]

Would I get more readers if I uploaded my 129K word fanfic all at once or would I get more readers if I uploaded new chapters each day?

[kyupol]

I think it's better to upload little by little

[bumbleybee]

yeah, probably better to do it chapter by chapter. daily, or even weekly, some ao3 readers will wait for a while for more chapters! personally, some of the stories I've been the most invested in and recommended to others the most spaced out updates instead of releasing the whole story at once (I think the trick is giving people more time to get invested without giving them so much time they forget about it, but I could be wrong)
And congrats on 129k, that's pretty impressive!!

[CarltonIsaac]

Would I get more readers if I uploaded my 129K word fanfic all at once or would I get more readers if I uploaded new chapters each day?

You get more readers if you schedule episodes of 1500 words, set every two days. Your novel will be on the Fresh list constantly and visible to potential readers all the time.

[LemmeGetCoffee]

personally, I only read completed stories on ao3. rarely ever unfinished stories because by the time an update rolls around (no matter if it's next Tuesday), I've already replaced the scenario in my head with another fic I've started reading so it would take a bit of re-reading to get back into the plot of the previous fic. (does anyone else have this problem or is it just me? ^^')

my advice is just not to think too hard about the statistics. create what you love, put it out into the world and like-minded fans will find it.

[LunarScyphozoa]

For tapas, yes, that is how it works, however ao3 doesn’t have a fresh section as far as I know.

[Silver7]

(does anyone else have this problem or is it just me? ^^')

I have a similar problem

[abigaillmartin]

Just uploaded the first three chapters of my Houdini fanfic on there. Dunno how I’m going to have people read it though

[CarltonIsaac]

ao3

Never head of it. But will have a looksee.

[Steampocalypse]

I've been writing fanfiction for some years.

You definitely want to go with the second, since Ao3 automatically sorts by date updated. While you're publishing, you will get new readers each chapter, and once your story is complete, you will then get the readers that only want complete works. Your second option is the best of both worlds.

Keeping your stuff "fresh" is less vital than on Tapas, since people frequently scour the archives, and there's no need to keep your chapters short like another commenter suggested, for that reason and because readers on Ao3 often prefer more thoughtful, longer chapters.

[abigaillmartin]

It’s called Archive of Our Own.

I put my fanfiction Bound to be Together on there. You need to get on the waitlist to have an account. Mine took about a week I think? Two?

I don’t remember

[ShidoDraws]

It depends.

Authors on some websites like Tapas would benefit from uploading weekly/biweekly/monthly. But sites that don't have a pushing algorithm that suggest from recent updated like AO3, it wouldn't matter as much. Unless you have a following and that following needs something to nom on while you work on other stories, it would benefit for upload the story in parts/episode/chapters.

Now, I haven't used AO3 in 5 years so I'm kind of out of the loop with the site.