tl;dr - checked FAQs but just to be sure: if I set my story's status to COMPLETED can I set it back to ONGOING in the future?


So I've just completed the third instalment in my story - it now has two books and a novella.

I am going to add further novels to the series in the future - I'm plotting book 3 now and also have an outline for 4.

However, until I do add the next book, the story is complete. Therefore I want to update the status to COMPLETED so it doesn't end up as HIATUS, as I'm informed that is seen as a negative thing by readers here.

If I do so, though, can I set it back to ONGOING when I start posting chapters again?

Many thanks (and apologies 'cos this is no doubt the eighty-millionth time this question has been asked but I did read the FAQ and do several searches first, honest guv).

I think the status switch is automatic. Otherwise check the author dashboard. Scroll down the menu on the left hand side. The option, if it exist will be there. Lastly, if none of those work, open a support ticket.

Yes, you can change the status again after setting it to Complete.  Indeed, if you release a new chapter after setting it to Complete, it will automatically change to Ongoing. But generally, you can manually set it to every status (I think). 

Yes, but I don't recommend it. 

I had a similar logic as you, "Oh, I have a complete novel, so I'll mark it Completed!" but the Completed tag is searchable and has higher visibility. You might think that's good on face value, avoiding the terrible Hiatus tag which generally means "Dropped", but I was getting some people reading through the story and marking it 0.5 stars because it wasn't a complete series, just a complete book....

Absolutely your choice whether you want the Completed tag benefits or not. I just wanted to share the drawbacks since I learned those by experience.

OK, thanks everyone.