Revising previously published work
I published my zombie love story as a serial blog while I was writing it. Now that it's done, I'm revising and building a completely new, static website, but this raises all kinds of questions in my mind. When I publish something online, I have the ability to make changes after the fact, improving the story and presentation, but what does that mean for people who already read it?
There's kind of an implied contract between readers and authors that by the time something is presented, that's the form it's meant to be in. When I post something, is my obligation to then leave it alone? On the other hand, does weblit even need to take a final form?
On my new website, http://www.nightofthelovingdead.com, I added a note in the corner of the front page indicating that it's still in beta. I'm trying to decide when I have a satisfying "1.0" story, to get more people to read for the first time, but what if I do a 1.1?
The other issue is, I started posting this a long time ago, and now I have successive drafts floating around different places on the internet. Should I update those with the latest changes, or make an attempt to preserve them as a record of internets gone by?
Yeah, if you want to show just the best of you, then either remove the drafts from the web or limit access to them. Personally, I edit posted work as typos and errors are brought to
my attention. I even encourage my readers to look for such mistakes and reward them with points for helping me. I made it clear on my website that newly posted work is first draft, or even second draft work at best, and my story is at different stages of the editing process--what I mean is that my first chapter is in its FOURTH draft while my second chapter is in its SECOND draft and my latest installment is only a FIRST draft.
Previously I had intended to just have my drafts free and my final draft pay only, but recent business tips have illuminated me to the fact that this may make long-time readers resentful. This may not be the case though.
I think it's cool to have old drafts still available to show the growth of a story. For my part I just edit as I go and my readers don't seem to mind. Granted, I let them know when I make changes to previous chapters so that they aren't left out.
I am publishing as weblit a massively-revised version of works I published as dead-tree books in the early 90s. My readership is mostly new people, but there are some who read the paper version. The reaction to the changes has been universally and unequivocally positive.
Then I've gone and made more revisions to the posted work. Maybe this is because of the kinds of revisions I make--I know MeiLin caught flak from her readers for changing the name of a country, and I've done nothing like that--but if anything, they like and appreciate the changes. In my experience, readers generally enjoy being witness to the creative process in action.
Actually I don't think the flak's been too bad. The original name was horribly silly. 
It really was and I for one was delighted to hear that the name was being changed 
oh yay!
Now I've changed the name of the BOOK, and they're all peeved with me. Or at least TheBoy is peeved with me. When they read the finished version, they'll understand why it changed.
If I left the History alone, I'd be a very embarrassed writer. It's crap. It was a first draft.
At some point, you have to decide, "This is it. I'm done with it." This is true for all fiction, not just web fiction. So get the story to where you want it, offline, and then post it as a final piece. Then walk away.
If you want to keep your drafts available, do that, but I'd put some sort of wall up. That way people won't stumble on it and think it's the best you can do. I'm putting my drafts behind a pay wall. If you want to see how bad they are, you'll have to pay for my humiliation.
In fact, I think they'll be going behind the wall around the same time the presales for book one end, around 7/15.
ETA: This is not to advocate against posting first drafts. The first draft of the History is how I gained a readership. I'm saying, don't keep them up in a publicly accessible place once the finished work is done.
An Intimate History of the Greater Kingdom
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