I'd say PDFs would be better for the 'long' stuff (5+ full pages, maybe more), as i guess most people are likely to browse FA for stories on the PC (FA on mobile is atrocious), and most browsers that i know of, if you have the adobe addon/plugin or similar installed can let you view the whole pdf in a browser tab without having to download the file (most times).

For the shorter stuff, TXT would be fine. And for the really, really short stuff, may as well use the description directly.

PDFs are perhaps the nicest file type to look at, but otherwise I don’t have much of a preference.

Putting the story in the description is nice if there’s lots of italicized content, multiple font sizes, or other things in the file version that you want to strip out for whatever reason (or vice versa). Normally I just open the file though since I tend to read on mobile, where it opens in browser.

Heh, "size theft aplenty" lol

PDF for sure in terms of best file type. Can also doubly post the story in the description as well, that way there are both options people can explore.

Typically from my experience like everyone else has said PDF is pretty much the universal accepted file type. ePubs are probably a little more visually aesthetically appealing but aren't as easily accessible since most people don't have a default ePub reader. Word documents are basically the same thing except they're not as pretty. They're kind of a pain in the ass to be honest. Well most people typically have a program that can open them by default the quality of the reading experience reading something with those programs varies wildly and just generally isn't as neat or clean either format-wise or aesthetic wise not to mention more minor annoyances that aren't deal breakers and of themselves but kind of add up the inconvenience. Like not really being able to properly scroll with the arrow keys for example cuz it tries to move the cursor in the window instead of just scrolling the window down. Little stuff like that. PDFs on the other hand look nice are designed to be presentable like that, blow file size and pretty much every single web browser has a built-in PDF reader that is at the very least acceptable and it's become pretty common for people to have their own standalone one that is better. Personally I use foxit reader.

But if you're trying to maximize readership then no file type is typically best. I think it's actually a rule of internet browsing but I can't remember what it's called but basically every time someone on the internet has to click an additional button, download an additional file, or do basically any action more complicated than scrolling then the engagement whatever follows is reduced. It's not a commentary on people it's just how the internet has wired our brains, We are I don't want to say lazinessarly but we've unfortunately been trained for instant gratification. And especially in the furry community where it's already hard enough to get people to sit down and spend the time and effort to read and enjoy a story when the community at large has typically been trained almost entirely with the instant gratification of visual artwork that you can see enjoy and move on from at a glance. Plenty of people will be willing to push that extra button but there's always going to be some that won't not even as a conscious decision just their subconscious doesn't want to put in the effort so they move on.

So that in mind ideally your best bet would be to put the story in the description. Even if your story is too long for the description for maximum viewership you're probably best served by putting at least a good chunk of it there and then at the end of that chunk have a little note that says something like download PDF for full story. Because if they read through that they're invested enough that they'll want to download it and see the rest. And if you can fit the whole thing in there it's just convenient for people that don't want to download the PDF but still having that option is nice for plenty of people. Although one thing that at least is a personal pet peeve of mine that I would imagine lots of other people share is if you're going to put the story in the description make sure you have the actual description you're giving for the story above that. So if you're going to say a story is like a wacky adventure between a dragon, an elf, and a sentient bucket make sure that is at the top of your description and then put the story below that after like a line break or something because like I'm sure you know that little short synopsis description is supposed to be the hook that gets people to read your story. So if they can't see that before they have to read your story then you don't have a hook and you're going to lose more viewership.

You basically just have to make things as widely accessible as possible while still doing what you can to have quality options as well

Thanks for the detailed response! That certainly all makes a good deal of sense - accessibility and ease are key.