Since completing - nominally, anyway - Somewhere Else Entirely, I've been keeping an eye on the read counts. I know that some of you like to wait until stories are complete before reading so I expected some extra traffic. I also know some of you like the story enough that you are re-reading it again. Me, too! Sometimes I still can't believe I did this.
I have noticed that the total read counts vary between ~2,000 and ~5,000 (ish) for most chapters, which is only to be expected. #1 is slightly different (12,905), but that's because a number of people have dipped in and decided it wasn't for them. Fair enough. But three chapters have read counts way greater than the normal spread and I don't know why.
Edited due to poor research :(
The first of these is #76, Revelations. This has 17,549 reads, the most of any chapter. I cannot see any obvious reason why the counts for this chapter should be so high.
The next is #83, Into the Wild with 10,066 reads. This one I might understand as it is the one where Garia and party trek off to the head of Blackstone Vale. But in that case, why don't #84 and #85, which describe the battle at the Ptuvil Stones and the immediate aftermath, have similar read counts?
The third is #99, Stories and a Banquet, with 16,606 reads. This one is the chapter before the Battle on the Highway, in which case I might expect the read counts on #100 to be higher as well.
I can't explain any of this. I wondered if people had bookmarked these places because they represented times when I had been for one reason or another unable to post but no, in each case the next chapter follows 8 days after the indicated one.
So, I have no idea why the counts are as they are. I wonder if any of my readers can offer suggestions.
Incidentally, one chapter, #139, has (at time of posting) 130 comments, the highest I have ever seen. I can't think of any story posting I have read which has comment counts into three digits.
Penny
Addendum: Looks like my finger slipped while researching the above figures. Chapter #83 is Thunderbolt, which is the battle at the Ptuvil Stones. People re-reading that chapter is understandable!
Comments
Logic eludes me
I agree that the apparent readership of multi-part stories does not make sense. I have noticed this before.
I enjoy your stories, once in a while I have gone back a chapter or two to get back into rhythm - but generally not. I do not understand a reader of a series such as yours NOT ticking them off one by one. But this would NOT affect the readership in the way that you have noticed.
Perhaps I might re-read the whole bang shoot as a printer-friendly download!! - but I can't kudos that nor count it as a read-per-episode; which is a shame.
I accept that as I enjoy the whole package so I should kudos almost every time - but I slip too often.
Just a note - for me, the Overseers are a step too far. For me I repeat, apart from them, the story as a whole is well up with equivalents by slip-history authors such as Harry Harrison, H Beam Piper, Sprague de Camp and others.
Well done.
Thanks
Alys P
Two things
What sometimes happens is that someone links to a particular chapter on social media somewhere causing that chapter to get outsize reads. The other thing is that occasionally a rogue bot breaks through our firewalls and runs readcounts up for lots of things with no logic whatsoever.
Check the kudos on such chapters, both of the above happenstances usually do not elevate the kudos. Bots can't see the kudos button at all while random visitors might occasionally hit it.
Hugs,
Erin
= Give everyone the benefit of the doubt because certainty is a fragile thing that can be shattered by one overlooked fact.
Perhaps
Perhaps it is because of users revisiting via the comments?
Anne Margarete
I can only talk about my own reading...
On a number of times, I found I needed to go back and reread chapters. Sometime this caused me jump every other chapter or more to find what I needed. Then I would go back to that chapter as much as a dozen time. Combine this with reading on multiple devises, I likely causes some 20 to 30 counts to be added. Number 76 is one of those chapters. Sorry, if I can not remember exactly why.
I also found my phone would reload the chapter. I use my phone when I an out and about; waiting in line. This means I might get a paragraph or two read before being distracted. The next time might be ten minutes or more later. If I checked a texted or had received a phone call, my phone will have to reloaded the page. This might inflate the count at least another 20 to 30. These chapters would likely appear somewhat random. I had change the setting on my phone to solve a issue I had; so, this mostly happens after chapter 50.
Possibly
Perhaps the chapter was a bit longer than average and maybe a number of readers didn't finish and had to come back a second time to read it all?
Hugs
Patricia
Happiness is being all dressed up and HAVING some place to go.
Semper in femineo gerunt
Ich bin eine Mann
Word Counts
None of the three chapters quoted have particularly large word counts.
I made a policy decision when writing SEE that I would have a minimum chapter size of ~6,000 and a maximum of ~10,000. As far as I know, one chapter is less than 6,000 and maybe two are greater than 10,000.
I can only find the final word count for a chapter after I post it, as the numbers are slightly different between OpenOffice and BCTS. These numbers aren't available in the "My Stories" list so it is necessary to open each chapter and scroll to the bottom to find out.
Question to Erin: Can the word count be added to the posting summary at the top of the right column, please? That might help readers when particularly long posts are encountered.
As for the specifics:
Chapter 76 is 9,123 words
Chapter 83 is 6,975 words.
Chapter 99 is 8,766 words.
None of which to me seem particularly large. In fact, considering how much happens in #83, I'm surprised it is so short.
Thank you for the comment, it was a point I hadn't considered so was worth checking.
Penny
Re: SEE #139 Comments
If it weren't for Captain Brittles, I would have to apologize. I am personally responsible for thirty (30) of the one hundred thirty (130) comments on SEE No# 139.
I posted a total of twenty-three (23) comments on SEE #139. Seven (7) of the remaining comments were direct responses to one of my comments. Therefore, I am responsible for 23% of the total comments on SEE #139.
Twelve (12) of my comments were regarding my list of ten (10) movies that I would select to bring back to Anmar if I were Garia. The remaining eleven (11) comments were regarding other threads.
There were also thirteen (13) comments (not including one of mine) on the subject of "Cigars".
Counts
I am a (minor) cause of read counts in stories where I post comments. Sometimes I will start posting a comment and hit preview, so that I can open another window and refer to an other chapter or another website to assist myself in composing my comment. After my "research", I go back to the original window to complete my comment before hitting save. Once, in composing a comment on a chapter of Ilos, I re-read nine (9) entire chapters to find some character names!
After posting a comment on a chapter, I revisit the chapter for several days to check if there is a direct response to my comment. In the case of SEE #139, I probably checked this chapter over twenty (20) times (including tonight)!
I wonder if there are others who engage in this type of behavior???
One possible aid to you is to check your 'Track' list.
If you go into 'My Account' and then select the 'Track' tab, then you get a list of all the stories you have commented on, posted, blogged etc etc. There is a column in there (headed 'Replies') that tells you how many of the comments there are for any one piece of writing, and how many of those you have yet to read. That saves just revisiting the (in this case) SEE chapter over and over again. Just wait until a number appears to the right of the 'comment count' and click on it - you will be taken straight to the 'new' comment.
Example:
Fred and Freda ...... 123/6
means that there are 123 comments on 'Fred and Fred', 6 of which you have not so far looked at! Click on the '6' and you will be taken directly to the first 'new' comment in the piece.
Cheers
Julia