I recently posted an older story, New Job, here. I must admit I was disappointed by the response. Although 2,000 readers opened the first chapter and 1,000 the last of five, there were very few comments. I suppose I should be used to that, every author ultimately gets less feedback than she would wish, but based on past reactions, I was hoping for more than just hitting the floor with a thud.
Now I have a new story, even more grounded in realtiy than New Job. Is that what you girls like, or are you more into froth, like Rules Are Rules and Show Me the Money, which are entirely sweet, but none too realistic.
Is this the end of Kelly Ann? It could be.
Comments
Must I
Love to read only one kind of story?
Will admit to NOT reading some stories (sorry, but was not drawn into the story for whatever reason ie:emotional state at the time, prudish mentality (too much sexual description) or lack of interest in who knows at the time (may give it a go at another time).
And by the way ........ I get enjoyment from the above mentioned stories.
OMG! Did I prattle this long?
Hugs, Fran
Hugs, Fran
Maybe it's just me.
Maybe it's just me but it seems like there is a technical problem with some of the links to that story.
Comments can be hard to come by sometimes.
I've posted 2 stories, and got a total of 12 public comments, ( not counting my own comments ), all but one from people I have met face to face ( 4 ), or have corresponded with for some time. Did it discourage me? No. I haven't posted anything since the first one, but will post at least one more story in the series, and have a couple of things I want to work on that are totally unrelated in the fire.
I also received private emails from half a dozen readers, as well. I suspect that may be because they didn't want anyone to know they read the type of story my first two were. I'm not a Little Kid, but an adult who understands them pretty well, and likes them. This is just another facet of being transgendered. If we, as TG, are a rare breed, they are just rarer, but if anyone should know not to look down on them, we should, for they are part of us.
I did make one new close friend through the one comment from a total stranger, which is wonderful.
I was hoping for some open comments from more people I didn't know, as I did get over 1500 hits between the two stories. It would be nice to knw how mny who started them, read them all the way through, but I know better than to expect that. I've talked to too many authors here and elsewhere.
It hasn't discouraged me. Don't let it discourage you.
Holly Hart
It's nice to be important, but it's more important to be nice.
Holly
I'll admit to disliking
I'll admit to disliking stories with graphic sexual content. Although my first few stories did contain some sex scenes I've largely abandoned them in my writing. Part of it's because they can be repetitive, but I also feel that they let us down a little - it's hard to convince people that tg isn't necessarily fetishistic when a sizeable proportion of fiction produced within the community falls between erotica and downright pornography.
I'm not a huge fan of transition as bildungsroman, but possibly that's because it's outside my life experience; similarly I can't really identify with stories of childhood as I remember so little of my own (I remember all the books I read however). My only other peeve is magical transformation, but that's down to personal taste really. I do like upbeat endings, but then in the wider world they are so few and far between.
Readers will read what they want to,
I have several series on the go and vary from fantasy with occult overtones to a daily romp, which no one takes seriously. By contrast, my least read story Charlotte's Tale, after a contrived start, is the most realistic and I am now aware some people can't read it because it pushes their buttons. It also get the fewest comments.
Comments are nice, it's an opportunity to interact with the readers, but what counts most is the numbers of readers. Zero comments I can live with, zero reads - would make it seem a pointless exercise.
Angharad
Angharad
Then I won't read this...
...Just to see if I can push your buttons.
NB
Sorry
I am sure I already read this elsewhere. But, if it will help, I will start opening it and leave a small comment, but what with all the other stories you have out there, I don't want to risk overinflating your ego past the size needed to enter BC and post the story chapters I must have to survive :D
Diana
Pleasant Surprises
Readers can can pull off pleasant surprises too. I didn't expect 'Roni Gwyn' to prosper, with a non-TG central character, a TG element only kicking in about two thirds of the way in, and the final plot twist, but it generated more comments than anything I've posted so far. Bizarre.
.
I went back to review the "New Job" story to see if I'd looked at it and I believe I had. I didn't continue reading that far into it, though, because of a number of factors. I *am* a rather prudish person, not to mention almost asexual as well, so a lot of sexuality does tend to alienate me... but I don't generally mind it. What bothered me about the New Job story was the fact that there was apparently a heavy dominance/blackmail theme going on (at the beginning, at any rate - I didn't read the entire story since it wasn't initially matching my tastes). The fact that the main character had also fallen into the role of an abuser (with those in the office) killed any sympathy I'd have for him as well. Still, some people are into those kinds of plots and some aren't. Your writing was fine. I generally won't leave a review if I haven't read an entire story, though.
As far as the question about froth... I think a lot of people do like that sort of story to an extent. But I firmly believe that anyone is apt to get more enjoyment out of a story if that story contains grim, dark situations along with moments of victory and triumph. To me, if a story lacks moments of dismay to equal the moments of jubilation then it's too one-dimensional. People *do* like the moments of triumph, though... it's just that such moments are sweetened considerably if they're contrasted against darker moments of conflict and whatnot.
So I wouldn't shift your writing to be more saccharine if I were you. Then again, I know I'm probably not representative of the majority in my views, so who knows.
You already know my views on your writing.
In short - I like and enjoy it. It's always difficult posting an old story on a different site because there's a fair overlap in readership. Most people here will have read it on FM and commented there if they were going to. I posted an old story of mine here that attracted a reasonable (though hardly stellar) response at FM but virtually none here. I wasn't too bothered, as I'd only posted here for completeness and my output is somewhat sparse at best.
This isn't the end of Kelly Ann at all. Unless, of course, Kelly Ann wills it so.
Geoff
Sorry, but I like froth
Wow Kelly, I know Show Me is froth, but I like writing it, and it's fun to read. The funny thing about Show Me is that it gets comments like crazy and over a thousand reads every time a chapter is posted. Personally I think some of my other stories are better, and one of my favorites only got two comments after monthes of writing, but like they say, ho hum. Don't take things so personally and your story was posted some time ago on FM. I've found new works tend to get more comments on this site than FM, which is why I post Show Me here and then at FM. When I started the series I found that there weren't many comments, but I was posting it first at FM. I wanted to see how many reads the chapters were getting so I moved the first posts here. By doing that I could see the increase in readers from the first chapters, and could tell that many of the readers went back and forth between the sites. Don't lose heart, and continue to write, and do it for yourself, and if other people like what you've written, then so much the better. The only reason I started writing was that I couldn't find the stories I liked so I wrote ones that appealed to me. When I did, I found that I liked writing. I know my stories will never be published, but it's fun just the same. Getting comments is a plus and it's good for the ego, but I doubt I would quit writing because no one commented on my stories. Once it's in your blood it's hard to quit. Arecee
Sorry
Arecee,
I love Show Me the Money!!!
As I said, I was having a bad night.
Show me is a delightful, joyful transition story. It just melts my heart. If only I could have had that life. My stories are more intense and my characters struggle more, mostly because I did.
So enjoy your success. You surely deserve it, and I guess it doesn't say anything good about me that I haven't added to it myself.
Let's see how my next one goes.