A Hope that got your attention. LOL
I like every other writer out there does this for free, nada, zilch, zip, nothing! Well, except for one thing, your comments and Kudos!!
I was looking at the numbers on the stories currently being offered and I noticed something. Well, it's not REALLY hard to guess, but there is no correlation between the number of comments or kudos AND the number of readers. Sooo...
What I'm requesting is simple. If you LIKE a story, leave a comment. If you HATE the story, leave a comment, Heck, if you're so lukewarm that you neither like nor hate, well in that case...
It would just be nice to know that out of almost 700 readers more than 6 people commented, loved (Yeah!! 16 Kudos so far) or hated a story. Or, out of over 30 thousand reads my stories have a whopping total of just over 125 comments. That translates to less than one half of one percent of my story reads have generated comments.
That's depressing.
I am certain that I'm not alone.
So...
Would you think of the poor dumb and deluded author(s) (Me) out there writing their fingers to the bone; typing, re-typing (okay RE-re-typing again when I lose my only backup!), editing, proofing and all the research, and all the blood, sweat, and tears (wait, that's Churchill isn't it? or was it a rock band?) that go into writing a story and PLEASE let us (OR AT LEAST ME) know that you're reading and enjoying what we (I) offer you ???
Thank you,
Beth
Comments
comments and kudos
I know how you feel hon. I am like that too. There is nothing like getting zip as a response to make a writer wonder what went wrong. But like most writers, I NEED to write, I HAVE to, and i am slowly getting better at making my own joy at the creative process my focus. Not that I still don't have a desire to have my stories praised, but I am trying to have so much FUN writing that it is not a chore, and then let the chips fall where they may in terms of response.
"Treat everyone you meet as though they had a sign on them that said "Fragile, under construction"
dorothycolleen
Counting readers
Be careful what numbers you're looking at. I don't think all the readers are human. One of the chapters of my serial gets around fifty hits a day, but it's chapter 10 of 23 (so far - Episode 24 is coming soon). I suppose it's possible that some human really likes rereading the middle of my story, but I think it's more likely that some kind of bot is hitting that page all the time.
Pearls before Swine
Uhmmmm. I recently posted a story for someone else. It was called A Christmas Story and obviously was written by a pro writer,
It drew only 816 hits and 46 kudos.
Kudos seem to be more about the size of your clique of friends than it does quality of writing.
Number of hits is a capricious thing based mainly on what competition you have the day you post.
Sorry to be so cynical, but what is . . . is.
Authors should write for their own amusement and fulfillment. Placing ANY importance in kudos, comments, or hits is entirely up to individual translation but should never be taken as a negative because it is so damned gossamer.
Angela Rasch (Jill M I)
Angela Rasch (Jill M I)
Sorry Beth
If I read a story and like it, I hit the button. If it is a new author and even if it is so-so but with editing could go somewhere, I hit the button. If I really like a story I hit the button several times even though I know it won't work it makes me feel good :)
If it does not appeal to my tastes or I would not read the next chapter, no button even if it were very well written.
It would be a very rare occasion I would write a comment if I did not like a story. Firstly it is against the rules here to say anything negative even if it is an honest appraisal in the opinion of the commenter. Secondly I don't need to ruin some creative persons day just because my tastes and their's differ.
On those rare occasions that I do comment it is because they come easy to me. I feel there is no point in straining to force out a comment. That would be insincere and forced; thats why I am a reader and not a writer. Some people are Chatty Cathys when it comes to comments or blogs, not a thought passes through their minds without puking it all over the net, others could not hit the "good story" button if you put a gun to their heads. I am somewhere in between. We don't all come out of a mold. If I -had- to be effuse with my praise in order to encourage the creativity and hard work you and others poured into your work I would read less. It is much like paying to read. I do not, would not, cannot do that.
I am sure as an author that Kudos and comments are very rewarding. I have made a conscious effort to hit the button. It is the least a reader can do. I guess in a round about way I am trying to say I am terrible at expressing myself writing unless it is a direct response to a question or comment and even at that I'll give you an ADD version of a tangential roundabout dog's holiday. Or some Tough Love.
Statistics
Admittedly I'm only an occasional writer, but analysing my statistics (discounting title pages etc.):
30,036 hits
156 comments
172 kudos
So that's about 5.2 comments per 1,000 hits, and 5.7 kudos per 1,000 hits. Oddly enough, that's not too far off your statistics...
But you shouldn't regard any of the statistics as entirely reliable. If you view a story, that's one hit. Refresh the page, that's another. Each comment added will bump up the hit rate - not necessarily because more people are reading the story, but more people are accessing the page to read the comments. Quite often, a story will only have a few comments initially, but then if someone posts a particularly poignant / interesting / controversial comment, they will dramatically rise.
Kudos means different things to different people. If I read and like a story, I'll hit the button. Others will only hit it if they consider it very good (say, 9 or 10 out of 10).
The statistics can also vary according to the time the story was posted, whether it's a solo or part of a series, how often parts are posted if it's a series, how many other stories are being posted at the same time (i.e. how quickly it drops off Quickcuts or the front page), how many people are visiting the site, and probably dozens of other factors.
Be grateful for every little bit of feedback you get. Don't think in terms of 692 readers not clicking kudos - in reality that's probably fewer than 100. Think instead in terms of 16 readers enjoying your writing. You're not writing into the void - you have at least sixteen fans. It's not large, but would you rather sixteen fans or six fans? Or even none?! :)
There are 10 kinds of people in the world - those who understand binary and those who don't...
As the right side of the brain controls the left side of the body, then only left-handers are in their right mind!
Breaking it down
Not sure if this has any relevance. If you broke the stories down into genre's and then the statistics within each genre, first the same people generally read the same genre of story so if Chaty Cathy is an avid diaper & hair salon fan then those two genres would benefit from her enthusiasm, while Silent Samantha reads forced femme and BDSM stories but can't stand the diaper pail set. Unfortunatly there would be a lot of reads yet no comments. Maybe Sweet & Sentimental readers are the more gregarious type and will make many comments?
Could there be a corelation between genre and willingness of their readers to comment?
Expectations and comparisons may not be fair to your hard work and creativity. Please write for your own need of self expression first.
"Write for your own need"
That's a brilliant point. We should be writing because we want / need to, and if anyone else thinks our stories are worth a read, vote or comment - well, that's an added bonus :)
Hopefully none of us are so egotistical that the primary reason for our writing is to garner reads, votes or comments. While it's nice to receive them, it's worth remembering that we're dong this as a hobby - not a profession! The worst thing we could do is say "Story A got P hits, Q kudos and R comments, whereas story B only got S hits, a dismal T kudos and a pathetic U comments; therefore in future I'll only write stories similar to A."
Write whatever you feel motivated to write about at the time, and don't give a stuff about how popular / unpopular it is. Unless it's controversial enough to spark a flamewar (mercifully, for both us contributors and the admins, I think it's been a while since we last had one of those!) :)
There are 10 kinds of people in the world - those who understand binary and those who don't...
As the right side of the brain controls the left side of the body, then only left-handers are in their right mind!
comments
Hi Beth,
I have left comments for different authors and seem to have those serials die soon after.
Your great story is a good example. Since then, I have started to file stories waiting for their
completion to begin reading - that means I don't start a story to leave a comment about.
Eagerly awaiting more of Comdex,
Chac