Author:
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We might be living in the Golden Age of Authors on BC.
But - do we have enough readers?
And - what percentage of readers are total takers, downloading the stories with no intent of ever commenting or leaving a kudos?
There has NEVER been a high correlation between the number of kudos and comments and the quality of a story. That said. . .there have been some mighty fine stories posted lately that have gone relatively unnoticed. And - it seems to me the number of hits for stories seems to have gone down lately as well.
A lot of authors write mainly for personal satisfaction, which is as it should be. But - even the most introverted author needs feedback to keep an active imagined reader in her mind when writing -- to know what needs to be communicated and how.
Authors and readers are symbiotic. You can't have one without the other. Do we actively seek new readers? Do people have ideas how that can be done?
I'm elderly. A lot of readers and writers here are elderly. Are we attracting new younger readers and writers?
Jill
Comments
Some great points Angela
especially about the age profile of the visitors to the site.
Looking at the number of reads that my storied get, they do seem to have reduced over the last few years. I've nearly been posting here for 10 years and I have a screenshot that was taken when my first story recieved 100 kudos. It took a lot more reads than now.
Yes, my writing has imroved dramatically over the years but I think that I have one reason for the drop off.
I am very very choosy about what I read now. Anything with a character age under college mostly gets passed by. I'm 66 for heavens sake. Why would I be really interested in teenage antics? Don't answer that. It is just me that is wierd like that. I have almost always written for older people for some time now. The latest story that I'm writing has a female main character that has just turned 60. It has turned out to be a rather erotic love story and isn't TG.
We evolve as readers and writers but at my Creative Writing Course a few weeks ago we covered writing for younger people. While interesting, I realised two things. 1) that it really isn't my thing. and 2) I never really read what is labelled 'teen fiction' even when I was that age. I read Catcher in the Rye when I was 13. All of DH Lawrence including Lady Chatterly by the time I was 16.
sorry for the rather rambling reply but the question you pose are relevant and need considering.
Samantha
Younger or older
I don't know. I tend to write about younger characters because I just find them more fun to write about. Young people have more lee-way in what kind of activities or trouble they can get into than older adults. I can't be in that world anymore, so I have fun writing about it. What's to write about someone my age? Hell, two weeks ago I ruptured my Achilles tendon stepping off the curb. So I can't really do anything anymore that my characters do.
I guess in many ways I'm like my Dad. When just a kid in his 70's was asked if he wanted to go to the senior center, to which he replied, "I don't want to hang out with a bunch of old people." He gave up riding is motorcycle at around 93 and only because the traffic in our town had just become too dangerous. And after that is when he started to seem old.
Melanie
Motorcycles
Years ago my parents and I had a New Years dinner at a friend of my parents. Aftewards, this charming 60 or so lady showed me her Harley Davidson in the shed out back. Apparently she kept it there because it was out of site of her less mobile mother who lived in the house.
I still giggle when I think of a 60 year old hiding her motorcycle from her mother.
No matter...
... how seasoned one is, one is still one's parents' child.
-- Daphne Xu
Please Continue to Write
I read everything you write!!!!!
However - some of my best stories involve high school students. I'm just putting the finishing touches on a story about a boy who just graduated from high school. The recent story I wrote about the Civil War involved a boy who lied to get into the northern army. I think some of those characters had something to say.
I prefer writing about older people, but my muse dictates. Of the last twenty stories I published here it breaks down like this
Teens 7
20s 3
30s 5
50s 2
60s 3
Young Adult fiction is aimed at readers three to five years younger than the protagonist, so I get your point.
Like you I was thirteen when I read Catcher in the Rye. I had two older brothers and an older sister so I read what they read.
If my memory serves correct the current Kudos system started about ten years ago. Maybe more like eight years ago. It's gone through a lot of changes to get where it is today and is much better than the older systems.
My guess is people have figured out ways to rig the system because that is what happened with every other system.
Jill
Angela Rasch (Jill M I)
Amazing...
That you have tracked character age groups is impressive.
Donna
Authors & Readers
I have very similar opinions and also agree with Samantha. I joined and posted a story about 9 years ago. I never intended to be writing and posting stories I just decided to have ago then I caught the bug.
I write because I enjoy to make a story around somewhere I've been or a situation I've experienced. Sometimes I've been people watching and imagine their situation and how their relationship might develop. Sometimes it's a song that inspires me.
In truth the development of the internet and information on You tube provides so much choice these days that must have an effect.
We might not get as many hits these days to a story or a chapter but I still post and just aim for a reasonable % of kudos. Comments are a bonus.
Fitting the Demographic
Jill:
I think I have read most of your stories and all of them are good, and some are wonderful, mashallah.
My own stories have generally not done well to the extent that I have been quite hurt at times. I am thankful for several, very loyal and sweet readers, and they have kept me going. Part of my problem is that what I write often does not fit the demographic makeup of many of the
readers. I won't try to further identify them, though I have my own ideas, and my own opinion of those who do not contribute in any way is quite low.
I have been reading some of my old work and did find a story "Extreme" that needed a lot of editing. I was trying to write a story that was emotionally jolting but I found the sentence structure to be quite bad, and a challenge to read.
Others, "Moonlight",and "Captain, Oh My Captain", were from the depths of my own soul, and I would not change a thing about them. I think those two were very good, and it tore at me that they did not get a huge reception. Yes, they are unapologetically "bodice rippers". Many of my stories include "good" Arabs and Aliens. Those who can not accept that there are good folk of every race and planet, you are beyond help.
My stories these days come from sudden inspirations that have kept me up all night to get the rough draft out. In these times, I do not know if there will be more. To those who were supportive, I love you all.
Gwen
Your Perspective
I read your stories for your unique perspective. I've never found them the slightest bit offensive.
Jill
Angela Rasch (Jill M I)
Engaging the young ones
I have two comments/observations
Firstly; SamanthaMD age 66 - Oh you young thing you!
Secondly; engaging people is about their perceived relevance. After working internationally for 23 years I changed direction and taught in Secondary School (14 - 19 year olds) and then for 11 years at University teaching both undergraduate and Postgraduate, training of teachers in particular. I learned from my pupils and students that if they could see, or be shown the relevance of something to their approach to life then they valued the subject and materials being taught/presented. As a result I used many of my experiences from my years in industry, including the naughty bits (which they needless to say loved) and presented to and engaged with them using familar contexts and communications media. Bear in mind that this started in the late Eighties/early Nineties so well before social media and smart phones - we were just coming towards the end of mobile brick phone at that time and almost noone had heard of Bill Gates
Being an active researcher at University, I also found out that the concentrated attention span before needing re-focusing over the period. 2000 to 2012 reduced from 12 secs down to 8 seconds for general issues (http://hendrickscommunications.com/tag/attention-span/) I used this in my PGCE teaching sessions, so I will put it up on my www.Bis-Edavs.com website tomorrow morning - UK time
For topics that were of specific interest to the listener/reader/learner the attention span was 15 to 20 minutes
What I am leading up to is that whilst the underlying story may be timeless, the hook really needs to be immediate and relevant to the 'young'/new reader. Therefore the context might reflect this in terms of currency - e.g. social media,as much as one might not agree with them; modern views on life. Today is a hedonistic world and as such 'participants' demand immediate gratification and so, I am suggesting that this may be the route to engaging more and younger readers.
in the
15 plus years I've been posting on BC (yes really that long), reader numbers certainly have reduced but the Kudos have remained pretty static.
Most of my stories have main characters in the teen to mid twenties range, for whatever reason that's the age group I write best although I have some older characters that seem to be enjoyed by the cognicenti. I read a wide range of stuff, curiously pretty much the same as my daughter, the linking factor between the different writers is/are characters/plots that drag you in so the reader wants to know what happens next. This is something I try to emulate in my own scribbles, I think in these times of instant gratification of visual communication this is even more important if we want to attract younger readership. Its also really important to have some awareness of how younger age groups interact and if we are writing about them, avoid introducing your own fantasies of fashion or imposition of lifestyles - the kids just don't get them! The question to ask yourselves is, can the target audience relate to my character(s)/storyline? - you can experiment yourselves next time you are in a book shop, pickup any random book of fiction and read the first couple of pages, you'll see what I mean.
Its more than just the writing though, Millenials and even those in their 20's/30's live in a world fixated with F/book, Tinder etc - if its not there it doesn't exist for them. What I'm saying is, a standalone website without feeds from FB etc is doomed to die a slow death, you have to snag potential readers and drag them in not just hope they'll find you. I'm no expert on this stuff but I've seen it happen with special interest groups, sports clubs etc, without that media presence, and not just a placeholder but active content, failure is inevitable.
Oh and don't think that your target audience are all Trans queer, a good story will work across a broad reader spectrum so making it all about the Trans element will be a huge turnoff to many potential readers where a more subtle infusion will be accepted. I'm not saying don't write them, just don't expect a wider audience to laud them, younger audiences just don't have the cultural references for French Maids, smoking and so many other things that an older reader will have.
Well that's my two pennath,
Mads
Madeline Anafrid Bell
Paragraph Length
I concur entirely with your comments about attention span.
I read once that blocks of print are horribly off-putting to young people so I keep my paragraphs under three sentences. Maybe I should drop that to two?
The old rule of thumb was the most popular stories were around 5,000 words. I wonder if today's youth stops before that? Personally I like stories in the 10K to 25K length.
The old rules stated that you needed to have created your "new world" and made the jump to it by the time 5-7% of your story had been told. I wonder if the new readers want to engage with the new world much quicker. Interesting thoughts!
Jill
Angela Rasch (Jill M I)
readers
I leave kudos but few comments. As to demographic hetero male single with girl friend age 60. reason for reading is I enjoy a good story but I also read to my three grand nieces that are 6 yrs old they tend to like the fantasy, sci-fi, and action based stories. This site in spite of being based on concepts they do not fully comprehend has less sex drugs other than hormones and swearing than all but christian sites and their stories suck according to the girls. I grew up measuring people by the way they acted not by sexual preference or other desire.
Have a good day and enjoy life.
Simple Explination
Look at the number of authors posting their stories on the home page now. No one can read all the stories being posted. Then there are the same stories being told over and over again. How many different ways can a story be told, "i had a flat. The spare was flat. I was kidnapped and turned into a sex goddess when I tried to flag down a ride."
Hits as opposed to comments and knudos? I can't be the only one who drops a story after opening it, reading the first few paragraphs and realize that author's style isn't in my taste. The BCTS hit counter counts that as a hit. I very seldom sample new authors skills. I'll open stories from those I know have artistic talent better than anything I've ever read from the NYT Best Seller list. I know without a doubt I'm going to be entitled to a time out in my life as I'm pulled into their story and am trapped along with the actors and actresses.
A few days ago someone blogged what stories do you read again? If I had answered that I could name eight authors on BCTS who posted stories I have been pulled back time and again to read. The quality of writing and in depth story telling are a gift of these writers. This is in no way any to be construed the others un named are any less. As an example, Sarah Lynn Morgan's Emily has a depth of emotion in a story all the un named authors can claim.
The past week, I loaded up forty tons of hay, tilled the garden, and contemplated hanging myself before I had to repair the 18 ft bat wing mower. The small diesel lawn and garden tractor needs me to finish putting in a new engine. (I'm waiting on Jill. She promised she'd be by to help along with several of the other girls). Everyone has problems and mine are no worse than anyone else. However I want a release when I open up a story. I want it to take me away from all this if just for an hour or two.
As several comments have already mentioned, it's been years when I first dropped in. The same tale gets kinda old after that. But then what do I know. If your heart is in it. then write.
hugs
always
Barb
Life is a gift. Treasure it.
Oklahoma born and raised cowgirl
I have become selective
I have become much more selective in which stories I read. Out of necessity - living alone and being a single mom of 1.5 children - and because my interest changed after I started transitioning.
Where I used to at least start to read almost every story and sometimes got hooked anyway, I now often skip stories on flimsy criteria like just the taxonomy of sometimes even just the author. Sorry but some authors mainly write stories that are less interesting to me, not their fault either.
Anne Margarete
Same here
30 years of full-time, GCS etc.
I have zero interest in most stories here. It is somewhere in the realm of one in fifteen or less that I have an interest in.
To interest me, the story must meet the criteria of any ‘real’ author must meet, written as if their livelihood is dependent on it.
I think it is 2020
By that I mean, Trans is somewhat mainstream now. There are TG books for children on Amazon. There are stories/books in a lot more places than there was 20+ years ago. It just isn't a niche anymore.
When I started reading TG stories is was off BBS like Feminet or Compuserve. Myself, I've lost interest in TG stories as was pointed out, there is only so many ways to tell the same stories over and over. Young, small of stature, don't like sports...etc
BC is much more than just stories though, it is a support community for a very dedicated group of people, and that makes it special beyond a general story repository.
Hi
It's good to see you!
Love, Andrea Lena
Thanks
I'm here, just don't post much :)
Good to See You Too
I think of you when I hear about the covid hotspot.
Jill
Angela Rasch (Jill M I)
Why not both? (and then some)
I write, but I read more than I post. Even when I'm not writing, I'm reading. But it's vast here. There are authors whose works I'm painfully aware I'm neglecting, but you can only read one thing at a time, and often I find stories almost by chance.
There are some mechanisms here that direct readers to good stories -- on the home page there are Random Solos, and I've seen older stories pop up in Quick Cuts. Also, the comments and blog posts point us to stories. I've often gone to read a story or blog post because of a comment. Whenever I make a comment on a story, I try to give my comment an eye-catching title. There are two parts to a comment that appear on the home page: your name, and the title of your comment. I recommend that you try to make the best use of both of those elements, to help guide readers to stories you find worthwhile.
If you take a look at the comment section on the first page, you'll see that many have random, accidental, incomplete titles. If you're a writer, you can't let that happen.
Another way to guide readers to worthwhile stories is by making a list. Recently, kez asked people to list the Stories You Reread, and since then I've been reading a story recommended there, and I intend to use it as a source in future. We can all make lists of recommendations and link them to our author pages. I will start work on mine.
Another thing to try -- which just occurred to me, and now that I've hit upon it, I will start work on one -- is to write a piece, a review, an economium on a writer you believe deserves attention. We can promote each other. Not in the sense of advertising, or mush. Just honest, good writing, about an honest, good writer.
- io
Those Are Very Interesting Thoughts
Maybe Erin's people could make it easy to add a title to a list of favorites. . .somewhere.
Jill
Angela Rasch (Jill M I)
readers not leaving kudos or comments
I know that I was reading stories here for quite a while before I realized that I could leave kudos without signing up. I'm sure I'm not the only one. A lot of stories that should have gotten kudos didn't. Commenting without an account is difficult. Information on how to do it seems to be deliberately obscure, perhaps to discourage trolls. I only took the time to figure it out when I felt that I had relevant information to a question in the blogs column. Another factor may be simply not needing to comment on everything. I quit goodreads after a couple of weeks because I read fiction for pleasure, not to do a sixth grade book report and rate everything.
My own take....
I tend to ramble on at times, but i'm tired after a long day so i'll try to keep this brief. I still check BCTS usually on a daily basis, however after all the years that BC has been an entity, I have found that over time my interest in TG Fiction wavers. I am 20+ yrs post op and what story lines interested me once no longer has the same pull. For instance, where a number of the mature and exotic stories were of interest, I am more turned off nowadays. BCTS used to be a bastion from sifting through FM or Nifty. Not so much now as if I see a numerous number of fetish or exotic tags, i'm more likely to simply stop even reading through the listings of the week. That is more of personal tastes as everyone has their own desires and interests in reading material. I still like a good, solid story with a TG protagonist, just not one that emphasizes some of the TG tropes.
Another thing that has crept into my reading preferences is complete stories of a novel or greater length. To be honest when I see 90% or more of the latest "stories" are simply chapters ongoing, even some I would greatly care to read, I tend to not even click on them and move on to another story website or book seller. While I understand the need of many, including myself if I were to steer toward being an author, of chapter releases to help motivate me to continue, I would probably prefer to simply buy the completed story, if it were already written and being released weekly or in installments, than to slog through chapter after chapter after chapter on BCTS. This may not be possible for some and I respect that. I am simply setting out my own motivations or impulses when visiting BCTS nowadays.
As far as the average age of readership on BCTS as well as contributors? Yes we are all getting on in years and our interests and tastes change over time whether reading material, media content, etc. As someone may have already pointed out that younger viewership probably doesn't even know BCTS exists. With the prolific advent of social media sites, mobile applications, mega distribution sites (Amazon) and other avenues of research, materials and LBGTQ interests, BCTS may be lost in the shuffle. Erin and Co. have pioneered years and years of service to the community and put their heart and souls into their labors, but people are only human and have many and varied interests, knowledge and creative outlets.
I have learned other avenues for my creative outlets, interests and activities. I totally understand about getting your voice out to the masses or at least your own corner of the internet. Would I like to see mobile reading apps of BCTS like other story websites I have adopted over the years? Very much so. It would help keep up with the times and mobility of today's LBGTQ individuals. Should Erin and BCTS take on the monumental tasks needed to bring BCTS more into the current digital age? That is only a question that she and her associates, with hopefully input from BCTS readers, can answer. Do I think that they aren't trying? Hell no. They are still doing a phenom job of keeping things alive here and still making a living. However, while i'm sure some may not want to hear this, in my personal opinion? Erin and the others should sometime in the near future take a long hard look at their past endeavors here and what they hope to accomplish, realistically, in the future. I've seen major companies and their internet presence come and go many times in the years that Erin has had BCTS alive in all it's incarnations. They are only human themselves and time catches up with all of us as we get older and our interests and passions can waver over that time.
Erin? Piper? Everyone else involved in BCTS operations? You have greatly earned your rest. Please consider the future for yourselves and for your readers and authors. I apologize if my words offend or create any drama. That is not my intention. I am simply giving my opinion as a very long time visitor to BCTS and it's accomplishments over the years.
Blessings, peace and good health to everyone,
Beverly Colleen (of the long retired Beverly's Balcony website)
P.S. - Over the last couple of years, I have introduced my mother, of the completely computer illiterate genre as well as 72, to a tablet and the huge library of some of the best TG fiction of the last 20 years. She learned a great deal more about my own experiences of my life as a TG individual than ever in all the years of my growing up and into middle age from just her enjoyment of reading fiction created on this site and others. I simply gave her the tools she hadn't had previously. You gave her the art and experiences she now enjoys daily.
**********
I am a leaf on the wind, but someone turned the fan off.
"I tend to ramble on at times"
Oh really? "... but i'm tired after a long day so i'll try to keep this brief." Um...
Then there's the lawyers' "brief" -- the document typically submitted to a appellate court, with the lawyer's legal reasoning. One rule in Texas at one time stated this: "Briefs should be brief."
-- Daphne Xu
Writing....
You remember her works? The Importance of Being Ernestine... An Ideal Former Husband...Lady Windermere's Gaff....The Picture Of Dorian Post-Op....
Now from Trans De Pressed comes....
The only thing worse than being talked about is NOT being talked about.... oh and no kudos.... DERP
Now available on Kindle and in the Closeout Bin at Barnes and Ignoble...
Love, Andrea Lena
Another element in the calculation
Regarding readers, significant visits, and relevance, there is another metric: the authors who worked up a story here, then turned it into a book.
I have no idea how many BCTS stories turned into books, or how successful those books are, but I doubt that authors would be doing it if it wasn't worthwhile.
What I'd like to underline here, is that those books wouldn't be out and selling if it wasn't for BCTS. There's probably no relation between hits/kudos and the sales numbers.
- io
I had a cognitive lapse.
I had assumed that many/most of the readers were past College age. Perhaps that is wrong?
In my opinion, many of the very high scoring stories felt like they came right out of a Video Game. The closest I have come to one is that someone took all the video cuts from "Halo" and made a movie. It's the one were some primitives are trying to coexist with war robots. It was interesting. Perhaps that indicated a younger Author base, and younger readers?
Most of my stories were aimed at the 20-30 age bracket. Perhaps I just missed the mark?
Am I willing to try to write for a younger audience? We'll find out.
Gwen
Going against the mold here a
Going against the mold here a bit since I appear younger than most authors here (just turned 24 during my quarantine). I think I started reading stories here when I was 16 in high school. I can't say my taste in TG stories has changed much since then... mainstream book tastes definitely have though. So I guess as a whole BCTS has attracted at least one younger reader...
Can't tell a book by it's cover.
With the large number of stories (or chapters) being posted I find it difficult to select something I might enjoy and as a result, I often go back to old stories by authors I'm familiar with.
Story titles, pictures and tags only go so far in describing a story's possible appeal to a reader. I find it easiest to select a story when there is a sentence or two describing the story. As an example for "A Summer Tail" by Enemyoffun the story is described as:
This gives me a good idea of what the story is about but still leaves a mystery to be discovered by reading the story.
Michelle B
Hard to know if a story will be good by its title
I agree that it's hard to find/understand if you might like a book by its title, and often there is no quick blurb about the contents. You can waste a lot of time just trying to find a story you will like, which can get frustrating.
I'm an avid reader, however I'm an infrequent visitor here. I tend to come looking for a something new/good to read a few times a year. I hunt around trying to find something and then usually end up going back and rereading old favourites.
Someone mentioned that there are a lot of good new stories being added. I don't doubt that, but it's hard to know which ones they are unless you've been following them (unless I've completely missed a feature of the site).
I am not TG, so the support side of the site isn't the main appeal for me. I do donate on my infrequent visits because I do believe in supporting the community and in keeping it going.
Other sites that I belong to that have episodic story updates (I'm not sure what you actually call it) have best of lists.
For example:
- top 5 stories this week rated by views
- top 5 rated by number of kudos
- top 5 MF of all time
- top 5 FM of all time
This encourages people to read or explore some of the more popular or better written stories. That might get the view count and kudos up?
It is what it is.
Me I have not had time to really read stories lately from some of my favorite authors that drew me to this site years ago; Some stoped writing for a long time and started back up recently, others just seem to have stopped all together. Me it just comes down to the free time to sit or lay down and read. There is too much going on in my life and most of it is not good. Best I can do right now is patreon to the site each month.
I really think the situation is a massive mixed bag of answers.
"Cortana is watching you!"
One thing that I find
One thing that I find frustrating, as a younger user, is the following cycle: I come on to the site. I see a new story and read it. When I finish, I realize that I'm always logged out by default, and so have to log in. And then after logging in, I have to find the story again.
If logging in took you back to your previous page afterwards, where you could immediately comment and leave that kudos, I suspect that that would help with engagement.
Always Logged Out
If you're always logged out when you come in, you're probably clearing your cookies between visits. Put the site on your save/ignore/don't muck with list and your logged in status should remain.
When you log in
When you log in, there's a box to check to stay logged in. That setting lasts for two weeks. If you are not staying logged in after clicking the box, then it's because you are blocking cookies from the site or discarding them. Cookies are how we know it's you so you can stay logged in.
Hugs,
Erin
= Give everyone the benefit of the doubt because certainty is a fragile thing that can be shattered by one overlooked fact.
I try
Love, Andrea Lena
Finished My Box...
...in about two days, and it's not as though one can find a Girl Scout table under current circumstances...
Eric
Fresh and warm
I bake my own hard to beat fresh and warm from the oven dark chocolate cookie with semi sweet chocolate chunks soft not crispy.
Have a good day and enjoy life.
What you taught me
There's always, "My Account" then click "Track" and you can see where you have been.
Donna
why i don't come to BCTS much anymore.
i've more or less moved away from this site. There's just too few fictions that hold my interest anymore. I came here back when authors were creating whole universes for other authors to play in. There was the super-hero thing, then MAU, Whately, then Darkverse or whatever it's called...
back then authors were using their imaginations and creating beautiful fiction. Today, i log in and i see like 50 different versions of fictional reality...
No nanoplauges...
No space operas...
No superhero tales...
No magical fantasy's of otherworlds...
No tales of alien super-tech...
No, what we have dominating this site now is stories about how johnny went through his surgery and had to deal with his friends, family, and co-workers. It's way too real, and i honestly stopped giving a damn about stuff like that after like the twentieth story.
They still exist!
There are still some of us writing such stories! Elsbeth's The Lost Queen is one to watch for recently, the world building there has been a ton of fun.
And while my own books may be set in the Whateley U, they definitely play with myths and lore in a way not done yet in that setting while hopping through other realms...
A writer could fix that
Someone who is a writer, whose only limitation was their imagination, could fill the lack that Sadarsa pointed out.
- io
To a certain extent you are correct
There are far fewer storytellers here providing the exact techie, nerdie sci-fi etc type interest you are looking for but they are there.
However there is always an element of self help and release for people who write here.
If you are not trans or are post-trans then yes there is obviously less interest in those kind of stories.
Amazon has a large selection of stories that kinda meet your criteria and still have some kind of gender element to it but it is hit or miss just as much as it is here. It gets very expensive hunting for the next great thing there too with not even the possibility of a refund if it sucks. I’ve given up on it consequently.
Here, at least you can try it on for size and ignore it if you like.
A lot of competent authors here have moved on to selling only on Amazon or other paid sites.
BC has had a very long run but readership is literally dying or moving on due to different needs.
But really, what would you suggest as an alternative?
BC is kinda of a brick and mortar of the trans story world where people are free to browse and explore, getting an opportunity to refine or entertain themselves, try out your skills at writing at little cost, while being a part of a community.
If that community aspect is of no value to you then, yeah, there is a lot less value here.
It takes passion to support such a site and passion to inspire authors to expand there craft but without passionate and spirited commentary from readers to inspire them then a story may never reach its potential,
And I mean spirited.
If all that is offered in terms of commentary is ‘great story’ it just means you are entertained and a passive consumer of the product. A thoughtful commentary takes effort, I know, but it is the essential fuel needed to fuel the imagination.
Oh, and some the authors here from what I heard were driven away by demanding and insensitive readers who only respect their own pov in how a work should proceed to the point they just gave up too.
What a diverse set of views; great topic
I came to BC for the stories, points of view, information and eventually tried my hand at writing. So many factors to consider in answering your ratio of reader vs writers. "They" say attention span of the current generation is fleeting; staccato bursts of info on one subject and then jumping to something else. TV ads are 15 to 30 seconds. Perhaps the inability to concentrate (due to conditioning?) is part of the ratio.
Being older, that's polite term for being over 65, I have no interest in stories about magic, spells, furry animals... so if that is listed in the title area I look elsewhere.
I never really thought about the age of my characters... I just write.
I did experiment by writing the same story as a PG mild & same story sexed up in an effort to see which would get most views & kudos. 2,005 views and 75 kudos for the XXX version, 1,632 views and 77 kudos for the mild version. Anyone care to interpret this for me/us? The story(s) are: Acceptance: Spousal
I'm just grateful that I/we have an outlet such as BC to kick around ideas and stories.
I've been a cross dresser since I was 5 and had no clue that there other "different" people like me. I felt very alone and confused until I found outlets like BC, Tri-ESS, etc. Heck, TV interview shows began interviewing and presenting folks that were like me in certain ways. Glad to discover I was not that odd and not that rare.
I'm from the Empathy Press, Cathy Slavic era and I purchased & enjoyed many of their booklets over the years. Always sent in a plain brown wrapper to my PO Box.
The people involved here are extremely talented. I'm glad to have "rubbed elbows" with so many. I thank you all for your efforts.
Finally, could some differences be regional? Perhaps the Brit vs North America vs ?? is a factor. It would be interesting if BC could break out the demographics by reader general location, gender and age. Don't over noodle it.
It makes no big difference to me as I will always enjoy what BC has to offer. "I'll be back!".
Regards,
Dee
BTW how many readers do we have?
Donna