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I guess I will leave the writing to the professionals from now on. 847 people read my newest story and only 18 people thought it was good. I guess that pretty much tells me that the majority of you didn't like it. I haven't decided whether I have any muse left anymore. She seems to have abandoned me. Anyway, I guess I will sit back and watch and enjoy the talents of so many others. I am clearly not even close to being in the same league. I might start writing again sometime when I get some inspiration. Right now it seems to be missing. I will continue to enjoy reading so many of my favorites on here just like always. I am sorry that I disappointed so many people that read my story. I hope I can somehow do better in the future.
Comments
I'm not sure....
Is this a serious comment, or a joke. In the old days - that kind of ratio was not to shabby... If you used to have a much higher count, perhaps I was much worse than I thought.
That said, I don't normally "click" the button at the bottom of a page that I just enjoy. It has to reach out and really grab me. (No, I don't hit the button for most "Bike" episodes... (To be honest, I'm more likely to comment.) But back in the old scheme of things, I was fairly stingy with hitting the button.
So - if others are holding back, similarly, and you believe lack of button clicks says you're not good... You're probably wrong. Perhaps you're not the world's greatest author - but then, I don't know anyone that is... Tolkien didn't get "really popular" until he was dead. Asimov didn't get much recognition for his writing - until way late in his career.
Again, I don't know if your statement was serious, or intended as a joke of sorts, poking fun at some complaints we've seen in the past.
Best wishes,
Anne
Not Bad
Your numbers are not bad at all. There were pretty much about where mine were with the majority of my stories, with some, like 'Waltzing Matilda' averaging less then 500 reads. There is of course the issue of quality vs nature of the story. As I mentioned in a response to another blog eaker here today, the nature of TS/BC is changing. Readers here are being drawn to stories they enjoy, encouraging more writers to follow the popular genres. As I said before, I truely do wish them luck .
Nancy Cole
P.S. How do kids manage to type so bloody fast on these iPhone screens?
"You may be what you resolve to be."
T.J. Jackson
Haven't Quite Figured That Out Myself
I haven't quite figured that out myself. I have a Samsung flip phone with a camera on it and I don't even use the Texting feature on it. I have heard they get Carpal Tunnel in their thumbs after a while.
About the same
as mine too. Some times I get a lot of hits and sometimes I don't. I do try not to let the numbers get to me. It would be nice to get thousands of hits in a few days but not for me. I'm happy with my four to five comments, and even better with the few that gets more. I have a story to tell and so I share. I like telling my stories. Does it hurt when it doesn't get attention? Yeah, but then I'm writing anyways so really what does it matter? If writing makes you happy please don't make yourself unhappy by stopping!
Hugs!
Grover
Hurt Feelings
My skin is getting thicker, so it doesn't bother me as much as it used to. One note from 'Drea DiMaggio, Andrea Rubiero (sorry about the misspelling), Wren Phoenix, Bailey, and others is worth more to me than a hundred kudos, because those are real messages. Actually, since the kudos have been enacted, none of my stories have received more than two (really). Maybe we need a button that just says 'Thank you for posting'. I check my past stories daily, and have noted 30 or so hits a week for most of them. In all that time only three readers, Wren, Baily and Andrea have bothered to comment. I thank you publically for caring enough to write. I look forward to your notes. The fact I haven't posted anything lately means there won't be many comments for a while. I will be posting a major (to me at least) story in a few months. I know right now that it won't be popular with many of the readers here because it is not formulaic. It will have few of the hot buttons. If the handful (actually two hands full) of my faithful readers enjoy it, that is fine with me.
Portia
Portia
A correction - hope to ease you
Number of reads is not the number of people who read the story. Every time someone opens the story, the read count increments. And it means that people who read the story and then checked for new comments several times give you, say, five reads over a person. I know I did that. Next, there are those who opened it, went back to the previous story, and then came back for a renewed impression. Again, more than one read per person. :)
Faraway
Big Closet Top Shelf
Where you can fool around like you want to and most you get is some bemused good ribbing!
Faraway
Big Closet Top Shelf
Where you can fool around like you want to and most you get is some bemused good ribbing!
Average
The average reads per person is a little over 2, in my experience. The higher the number, the higher the ratio, so stories that have thousands of reads, the average approaches 3 or more.
My rule of thumb is in the first week, divide by two and subtract twice the number of comments (3x comments if you're one of those authors who answer every comment). You're then probably within 20% of the number of actual readers.
Hugs,
Erin
= Give everyone the benefit of the doubt because certainty is a fragile thing that can be shattered by one overlooked fact.
= Give everyone the benefit of the doubt because certainty is a fragile thing that can be shattered by one overlooked fact.
Glass half full
Personally, I think 18 people is quite a lot. If I were to invite eighteen people over to my house, I wouldn't have enough chairs. So I'd say it's pretty cool that 18 total strangers out there in internet land liked something you made enough to let you know. But if you need more encouragement than that, maybe you're right to stop publishing your stories here. But don't stop writing them; it isn't good to keep your creative spirit caged.
I can solve this problem...
The kudos and reader counts are not necessary, I could leave them off. Comments, too. I don't think anyone would be happier with that arrangement. :)
Write because you want to write. Write because you are a writer and writing is what you do. Write for yourself and any attention you get from someone else is bonus.
Hugs,
Erin
= Give everyone the benefit of the doubt because certainty is a fragile thing that can be shattered by one overlooked fact.
= Give everyone the benefit of the doubt because certainty is a fragile thing that can be shattered by one overlooked fact.
Don't give up!
So about 400 people have read your story, and less than 20 have clicked the Kudos button? So what?!
As others have said, different people have different attitudes to the kudos button. Some (like me) click it for every story they enjoy. Others only click it if they regard the story as exceptional (five star, ten out of ten, etc.)
I've said this to many authors and I'll say it again - if the sole point of you writing is to gather positive feedback, you're writing for the wrong reasons. You should write because you want / need to write - any positive feedback you get is a bonus. Look at it the other way - you have at least eighteen fans. If you could transport them into your living room, it would be a tight squeeze, and they'd probably be spilling out into the hall / dining room / stairs / kitchen (depending on the layout of your house/flat). The number may seem a low proportion, but don't confuse ambivalence with negativity. As far as I know, no-one was sufficiently motivated to write a comment or PM along the lines of "this story was rubbish - I hated the characters, I hated the plot, I hated the writing style - don't give up the day job!" If you haven't had comments along those lines, assume that most people liked your story. Besides which, say you've got eighteen fans now. If you continue writing (as well as reading other stories), as with any other skill, you'll improve and you'll grow your fan base.
Added onto which there's the factor of time of day / week / month / year the stories were posted, and the volume of other postings at the same time. If lots of people are releasing stories at the same time as yours, don't be surprised if the read counts are lower, as your story will have a lot more competition.
Oh, and I doubt many of the writers here are "writing professionals" - even for those that are, the stories posted here are spare time diversions. Just write because you enjoy writing - don't worry too much about the statistics of how many people have read it and how many have voted. That way, if a story proves popular, you'll be pleasantly surprised :)
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!
The comments are nice
as are the kudos, but I write because I enjoy doing so, I have characters who would drive me crazy if I didn't chart their activities - and possibly a few readers who would be upset if I stopped.
Do it because you want to, full stop, you don't have to be brilliant at it, I'm not and I get more practice than most. If you don't enjoy it, don't do it.
Angharad
Angharad
Writing
Everything I would have said has already been put down here more eloquently, by others. All I can add is my own personal take on things. I write largely for catharsis, to get stuff out of my system. I also do it for fun, and as Ang puts it I have characters who have their own life in my head and poke me with sharp and poyn-ted sticks to let them speak.
I have a number of regular commentators, who I deeply apprecate. I have a smaller number of regular correspondants who mail me more intimate stuff, as I like to think, in my vanity, that my wrting tends to the intimate, the deeply personal. The nicest comments I have yet received were not about the story, but about the feelings engendered. One lovely person saiid that as a result of my stuff they intended to do something to help out at a veterans' home.
I don't get huge numbers of readers. I don't get swathes of votes/kudos. What I do get is a series of postal hugs from people whose opinions matter to me because they can understand what I do,and more importantly why. They bring daylight to bear on my demons, and that is beyond price.
I'm with the
others but I'm wondering how did you know how many Kudos any one story got? I only see my kudos count in my account page.
Bailey Summers
Kudos
Look at the top right corner on each actual story page.
Kudos counts
Yeah, and that means you have to hit every story page you have up... and when you do that, of course, you have just increased the hit count of every page by another one.
I know it can't be done yet, but the only way round I can see is to have a Kudos column in the 'My Stories' list page.
Hmm. If that happens, Kudos will just have turned into votes...
Penny
Peer Pressure
What I think is happening is that some writers are starting to look at numbers more than what they are writing. We all feel it sometimes. Sure its great to have a high count but then when we don't get where we think it should be we get frustrated and then question ourselves about our skills. Sure I pulled my story off but that was my choice and I really am working on one now.
Like everyone else says "Don't stop writing." Do it for yourself. I have written some dark stories but have never been shown. Why? Because of things in my past and how I look at life. Its not good in some repects but they were therapy for me to get through.
Continue to write for your pleasure please. Don't look at the numbers but if you do just remember that if you have one thats better than none.
Dark stories
You have written dark stories in your past, things which ought not to see the light of day. I totally get where you're coming from. Every one has to start somewhere, everyone has weird things going on in their heads.
However, look at each of those stories you told, stand well back and think carefully about what might have happened instead.
You might find that you can use some of the plots to base other stories on, ones which you might find more acceptable to publish here. I speak from experience.
Penny
Dark Stories Don't Belong Here?
I'm not sure what you mean or if you're being facetious, but in response I'm going to write a dark story and post it ASAP.
Angela Rasch (Jill M I)
Angela Rasch (Jill M I)
Not mine
I say go for it. Mine don't have happy endings. Period. I'm working on changing that. Its hard.
Plus they wouldn't fit here anyway. I was at one time thinking of posting on Fic but after witnessing the MOSH war and its slid I decided not to.
I B 1 2 U S
Apparently I dreamed it >_>
Edit: Had a comment here about one of the best pieces of fiction I read on the site being a piece of forced fem. It was absolute macabre Horror at its finest, which is why I liked it, but I'm starting to think I either dreamed the whole thing, or saw it posted elsewhere and only thought it was here.
Anyway, it was a spectacular piece of work involving someone being buried alive in the end. :-) I'll keep looking, but in the meantime I'll add my support for the dark stuff.
I can't write it for diddly, but I certainly appreciate it, for what that's worth.
Well you didn't
Though it was not quite on this site. IIRC it was a story at FM with a name posted here, about how a husband was buried alive in a crypt, with a mask glued on the face... Or something like that.
Faraway
Big Closet Top Shelf
Where you can fool around like you want to and most you get is some bemused good ribbing!
Faraway
Big Closet Top Shelf
Where you can fool around like you want to and most you get is some bemused good ribbing!
That's the one! It must've
That's the one!
It must've been before I stopped visiting FM. That whole transition period's kind of a blur since I stumbled into TopShelf quite by accident, while looking for something anime-related, whereupon I discovered Sarah Lynn's stuff. But I digress. And drift :-D
Clarification
I don't think that's quite what I meant to say, and I apologise if I gave the wrong impression. Let's try again...
All of us, especially those who have got as far as BCTS, have a significantly high level of imagination. If we didn't we wouldn't be reading this stuff, would we? In our pasts, we quite likely had various fantasies surrounding our many problems and difficulties in life. Some of those are bound to be dark things we hide inside, never ever to see the light of day, not even when we talk to our mental health professional.
It's normal. I suspect most people have things going round inside of them. Most never go any further than the insides of our heads. (Okay, some might become axe murderers, but I digress.)
All I was suggesting that it might be possible to use these little things we have floating about as the basis for something that might be a bit more acceptable for publication. I know it's possible, I've done it. And there's no way you can tell which of my stories it is, either.
I wasn't suggesting that dark stories shouldn't be presented here. What I was suggesting was that the author might write a story she found more acceptable to publish here, rather than what she said she originally wrote.
I personally don't mind the occasional dark story. If everything that was published here was all sweetness, light and unicorns I would get bored very quickly. Light stuff has it's place, so does dark stuff. Variety is, after all, the spice of life.
Angela, looking forward to your story!
Penny
Penny Your Clarification Came Too Late
It's dark and it's posted. Forced fem involving a junior high student. Dark. Dark. Dark.
Angela Rasch (Jill M I)
Angela Rasch (Jill M I)
It sounds like you haven't
It sounds like you haven't totally given up, so you must get something out of writing. I know that, for myself, I just love to write. I've been making up stories for as long as I can remember. I'll freely admit that I love it when one of my stories gets lots of hits/kudos/comments, but that certainly doesn't happen all the time. And 847 reads and 18 kudos isn't bad, at all. I've had plenty of stories do worse.
I enjoy your stories, so I hope you do continue. Reads, in particular, are a poor standard to measure by. Before the voting system went down, there was a 'Most Popular Content' (or something like that) link that would show, among other things, a list of all stories/title pages/blogs sorted by number of hits. At the time the voting system went down and that page was removed, one of my title pages was around the third or fourth most viewed page on the site. That might make it sound like it was some kind of wonderful story, but it's very misleading.
You see, that title page showed up as the next link at the bottom of the page whenever I posted a chapter of Venus Cursed! Although I haven't posted a chapter in nearly a year, there are 112 chapters posted thus far. I would get at least a few hundred hits on that title page every time I posted a chapter of Venus Cursed!, so it's up to 29,506 hits at this point. But it's just a title page. That goes to show how deceptive hits/reads can be.
As for kudos, for some reason they aren't showing up in the same number as votes did. I'm not sure why, but judging by the number of votes I got before, and the number of kudos I get now, I'd say that stories are getting roughly 1/3 to 1/2 the number of kudos compared to the number of votes given before. At any rate, not that many people give kudos, so you can't judge things by them very well. Especially when a story can get a huge amount of exposure one time because of a catchy title or graphic, or because there just isn't much posted around the same time as that story, while another story gets shoved off the front page in mere hours and is overlooked.
Anyway, I hope your muse comes back for a visit soon!
Saless
"But it is also tradition that times *must* and always do change, my friend." - Eddie Murphy, Coming To America
Kudos/Votes
Don't forget that when an author voted, it was worth two votes. So that is going to skew the statistics somewhat.
Penny
Oh yeah,
I forgot about that. Thanks for reminding me. I think the kudos counts are still lower, even with that, but it does explain some of the difference.
Saless
"But it is also tradition that times *must* and always do change, my friend." - Eddie Murphy, Coming To America
Kudo button not always working?
"As for kudos, for some reason they aren't showing up in the same number as votes did. I'm not sure why, but judging by the number of votes I got before, and the number of kudos I get now, I'd say that stories are getting roughly 1/3 to 1/2 the number of kudos compared to the number of votes given before."
I think that the Kudo feature doesn't always work when I try to give one. It acts like the code behind the button doesn't get executed. I don't get the "Thank you for giving a Kudo" message (or whatever it says). I am logged in, so that's not the problem.
Kris
Kris
{I leave a trail of Kudos as I browse the site. Be careful where you step!}
Author's votes counted as 2 votes
in the system before instead of 1. Kudos are 1 for 1 votes.
Sephrena
My experience
is that kudos is only accpeted when I'm logged in. Earlier people could vote without being registered.
Bru
Reason
Not allowing unlogged in voters was because the kudos system is not as good as the vote system was in preventing double voting by non-members. Since we wanted to use the kudos system to vote on contests, too, I decided to not let unlogged in users see the kudos button. Saves a bit of processing time, too, though that isn't so important as it used to be.
Hugs,
Erin
= Give everyone the benefit of the doubt because certainty is a fragile thing that can be shattered by one overlooked fact.
= Give everyone the benefit of the doubt because certainty is a fragile thing that can be shattered by one overlooked fact.
Kudos (was Votes)
Perhaps some people merely overlook them. I hadn't noticed them for at least a year before I read a comment which mentioned them -- completely through accident. I use bifocals, and unless I make a special effort to scan around the page, I pretty much see only what I'm looking for.
It's not quite the same as looking it the world through a telescope, but not that far off either.
Hazily,
Liobhan
-
Cheers,
Liobhan