What is the maximum length a short story can be to post it? Some writing sites suggest 2000-3000 words or else no one will read it and some don't care how much you post. Just want to be clear about this before I copy+paste. Thanks.
There is not a specific limit. There is a post size limit in characters, but I don't recall exactly what it is. If a story won't fit into a single post, you can spread it over a couple posts in the same thread (and PLEASE keep all parts of a story in the same thread; post revisions or additions as new posts at the end of the thread). HOWEVER! The longer the excerpt you post, the fewer people who will be willing to slog through it, especially if you haven't been around much yet. The Review Room forums are NOT for posting stories for display purposes. You have a member blog for that. The Review Room is a writing and critiquing workshop. So all writing posted to the Review Room is to look for ways to improve the writing. In most cases, a short excerpt is the very best way to start, and will provide considerable opportunity for feedback. After you have worked out low level issues like grammar and sentence structure, the time will come to post a longer excerpt to work on things like plot and character development that are not as apparent in shorter excerpts. By then, enough people will already be involved with your writing that they may be willing to chew on a larger hunk.
and keep in mind that most publishers won't buy a story that's available for free on the net... some even considering works posted in supposed 'locked' sections as having used up their 'first rights' and thus being of no value to them, since only a rare few will publish 'reprints'... that's why the wisest course is to just post brief excerpts for feedback on the quality of your writing, or help with a particular problem and to never post a complete piece, if you hope to sell it later...
I agree with cogito... unfortunately a lot of people, including myself, just don't want to read something very long. Though, it does help if you have a gripping beginning. I don't mind reading something long at all as long as it's interesting. That's why titles and opening sentences are important. But that's getting into technical details.
Speaking of titles - if you attach phrases like "Please critique" to a title, chances are you will have the opposite effect. If it's in the Review Room, it is there for critique. If you throw that into the title, it's just like proclaiming that you don't understand that that is the purpose of the Review Room, that you really don't understand how the workshop operates. The same is true of thread bumping. Not only is it against the rules, it's announcing, "Hey you, never mind everyone else, pay attention to ME!" Good reviews take time, and overt impatience is more likely to get you passed over.
