Ask yourself -- if I tried to call up Big Closet on my computer and it was unavailable and appeared to be gone forever, what would I do?
If your answer is something along the lines of – that wouldn’t be a problem for me I would simply spend more time reading on _____ or writing stories for _____ -- then you are probably more of a taker than a giver in regard to this site – and that is understandable.
For me . . . the existence of BC is a huge part of my life. I give to BC to maintain that part of me.
If BC was to go out of business I would probably quit reading TG fiction and would no longer post the TG fiction I write. That makes my commitment to BC very strong. I understand that some will find this illogical -- but that is where I’m at.
I read TG fiction for about five years before deciding that a huge percentage of what was being offered to me was badly written. Also, I spent hours of wasted reading time on serials that were never ended, inferior plots with implausible endings, and deciphering grammatical errors. I first published on Storysite but found Crystal’s authoritarian style a huge turnoff. Then I published on Fictionmania until I could no longer stand the embarrassment of the genre of stories surrounding mine . . . mainly incest, child abuse, and bestiality.
For the last twenty years, I’ve been solely publishing on BC. I’ve donated over twenty novels to Doppler. As proceeds go to supporting this site. I’ve rarely questioned those decisions.
I’m too old now to go looking for a suitable replacement home for my stories. I’m also not remotely as eager to read drivel to satisfy my need to know I’m not alone in my trans nature.
BC offers a sense of community. At times that community is far less than perfect -- just like any other community. . .but it is a community and I enjoy being part of it.
I’ve never felt like Fictionmania offers community. It seems to celebrate its anonymity. Again, I’m too old to go community hunting if that becomes necessary.
Giving and taking isn’t defined by your propensity to contribute money to the site.
I was surprised to hear that Bubba Copeland wrote for Fictionmania. They did not write for BC. I wonder if anyone ever asked them to be a BC author? They seem like the kind of person who would have enjoyed our community. Perhaps with the support of the BC community, they could have dealt with their tragic circumstances.
We seem to have a lot of people within our community with computer expertise. Yet, our traffic appears to be becoming a problem with no one offering answers. A few days ago, I did Google searches on random phrases I thought might be used to find TG fiction. BC rarely was returned by Google in the top ten. How do new people find BC?
It sure seems like our average author is collecting social security. This is an obvious problem. Is this because our average reader is aging? It seems to me that twenty years ago we had a healthy mixture of younger and older authors. Would it make sense to develop writing tips - content to attract new authors? I’ve read well over a hundred books on writing fiction. There are many authors here with better ideas about writing than what was in those books. Together we would have something valuable to say.
It seems we need to survey current readers and authors to answer questions that will lead us to necessary actions to bolster new site participation. Does anyone have thoughts on how to put together a survey, compile the results, and develop action plans?
Thoughts?
Jill
Comments
Surviving in the Social Media World
I agree with what you are saying, Jill.
I have said it before - this really is a community, rather than just a website, but it is aging fast.
It seems that new generations don't even use search engines - everything is driven by social media. Research is dead. It is all about what your "friends" tell you.
I have made this point to Doppler as well. Survival depends on getting better connected. Don't ask me how - I hate social media.
Maryanne
P.S. I did post a blog about Rev. Bubba Copeland whom I prefer to refer to as Brittini Summerlin. Unfortunately I have lost the correspondence with her, but what a joyous and positive spirit she had. I am sure she read here. She only posted a few stories on FM now expunged in the moments before she took her own life. If only she had been tighter with us, I like to think that we could have talked her down. He last public comments were to say "what harm is there in what my wife and I do in private?" Exactly.
It's a different world now
I can see two reasons:
1. People my kids' age interact on more social media-like platforms like Discord, and in trans-friendly but not trans-exclusive discussion, gaming, etc. sites. BC is more of an old-school forum website.
2. The world of being trans has changed a lot in the past 10-15 years. My impression (based on the stories I've read) is that many of the authors (and readers?) grew into their trans feelings back when transitioning was difficult, dangerous, and required being stealth and fitting into the rather narrow and rigid standards of the medical profession and society at large. Many of the stories involve unrealistically rosy or even just plain unrealistic fantasies of "becoming a girl" (or "becoming a woman.") I frequently read postings whose authors say "I'm too old to transtion." (FWIW, I started my trans path at age 60 and transitioned at 63, and just got my SRS this year, at 70.) When reading, I frequently run into beliefs about being trans or transitioning that jar me, because they just don't agree with the lives of the trans people I know in real life.
By contrast, if you're under 30 or so, and you feel trans or otherwise non-cis, switching to living that way is a pretty realistic possibility, especially as compared with 15 or 20 years ago. Being trans, and the wide variety of ways to be trans, are as unremarkable to kids (cis or trans) in that age group as, say, Star Trek marathons. I think that the conflicts and worries protrayed in many of the stories here are foreign to many younger trans folk.
Some personal details w.r.t. "It's a different world"
I should add that my daughter is trans, and has lots of online trans friends; she is my informant about online life of younger trans folks. The pride center I go to has a vibrant youth program, managed by a trans woman who probably would not have been allowed to transition under the old Harry Benjamin rules, and most of the trans people I know there are something like 30 or more years younger than me.
Connection
Hi Asche — I was “chatting” with Jill about this issue a couple days ago, and my first thought was, we need to find a way to attract more younger authors, who will write stories that resonate with what young trans folks are going through today. Jill’s point in response brought me up a bit short: what if reading and writing trans-themed stories is itself not something younger trans people are doing? You have good connections— including the very best connection! — with a new trans generation. What is your sense? Does BC have something to offer them? Is there something we should be doing that we aren’t?
Emma
Discord.
Please forgive me for butting in. I consider myself an young author. I'm just an hair over thirty. And if I may, I would like offer some advice. And my advice would be to grow Discord. Transfiction, is very popular with young people, and internet fiction has grown. This community is wonderful with so many talented writers and so many people willing to give feedback. I myself discovered this community through an social link on a blog called Courtney's Clean Caps. I was then just under twenty three If I recall correctly, just kind of coming out of the egg, scared, confused and lonely. Anyway, back on topic, the Discord offers young people a chance to connect with the well known writers here. This social connection, this peer connection is what young people want in a community. They want to be known, to be heard and above all they want to understand. I see this site as a treasure, it was for a lost twenty three year old me, fresh from college, scared and in the egg. And I'm sure it will be for somebody else. But we just need to go to were the young people are and say "Hey" kind of in a loud voice. "Come join us in fun and fellowship!".
Just a thought. I'm sorry if I'd stepped on any toes. I'm still a bit shy and not the best example of a young writer, I read to many light novels, watch to much anime and often get lost in a world of day dreams. But I hope you guys will consider what I told you. My findings are based on the sheer number of genderbender manga's and animes out there.
Other sites used by younger TGs
FWIW, my daughter also mentioned "Sufficient Velocity" and "Archive of our Own" as sites with TG stories and discussion.
Disclaimer: I have not visited any of those sites. (I have visited Discord, but only for a group set up for out local TG support group.)
Do you know . . .
. . . if your daughter ever visits BC, and if so, whether it has things she is looking for?
Emma
What is
Discord? I have asked before and got no answer.
"Life is not measured by the breaths you take, but by the moments that take your breath away.”
George Carlin
Discord
It's a chat, like BCTS has a room in it.
BC Discord link
The BC Discord can be found via the Chat link in the top menu.
This is it: https://discord.gg/7jqV9HU
Hugs,
Erin
= Give everyone the benefit of the doubt because certainty is a fragile thing that can be shattered by one overlooked fact.
What is discord
Discord is a large site, a little like Google groups or Facebook, where people can create "channels" (I think that's the right word) for things that interest them. Within a "channel", there are what I'd call threads, which contain discussions, and people post comments on the thread topic (or something else :-) ) So you could have a BC channel, but there wouldn't be document-like posts, like on BC, but just comments, one after another, possibly with attached pictures or documents. I join one for people in my TG support group, which serves as sort of a continuation of our monthly Zoom meeting. I tried joining another channel on transgender topics, but there were zillions of threads, and even within one thread, comments came so fast, and were usually replying to something way up in the thread, that I couldn't figure out anything that was going on; I felt like the turtle in the old joke about a turtle mugged by snails.
Discord
Shiver me Timbers! I may have to step out of my comfort zone! :) Good thought, Sunflower — and no reason to be shy. Young authors like you are the future here, if we are to have one (and yes, at a hair over thirty, I think you can still claim to be a “young author”!).
Emma
Much of what you say
Chimes with me, Like Asche I'm 70 although I transitioned nearly 40 years ago, so I suppose I'm an old lady. I realise the readership has changed and I realise we have to change somewhat too in order to connect with them. Quite how we do that I'm not sure but I would hate to lose BC, I think the world would be a little poorer if it went.
Angharad
Computer expertise
for me is to do system adminstration work, build a PC from scratch and maybe write a few programs, etc. If you mean to say that BC traffic is too low then you need a media / ad expert, I think. Maybe try to add an entry on wikipedia?
I thought many times to write something myself, but many subjects are already "overcooked" to death. So when it comes to new things my muse is non-existent, it seems.
re: but many subjects are already "overcooked" to death
Hear, Hear.
I could not agree more with that statement.
Add to that stories that verge on child pron in some jurisdictions.
I do try to write about different things. At the moment, I'm writing a story that involves a Drag Queen as a central character. Naturally, this is a subject that is totally taboo in many 'Red' states but as it does not take place in the USA, all they can do is ban it but from where?
Anyway, I digress.
BC is the only TG website that I visit. I used to post on Crystal and FM but the audiences changed and got nasty. BC was much more welcoming and thanks to this site I have developed as a writer. What I write isn't classic literature by a long way but it makes me happy.
I would love for at least some of my stories to be published by Doppler and have the profits support this site. It needs an editor to do it. I'm not really interested in that part of the process.
I will continue to donate all my winnings from the UK Premium Bonds prize draw to the site. Sadly nothing this month but Sep and Oct saw £100 each head towards the sites coffers.
Samantha
I've written a few stories
Ever since my stroke I have been fighting brain fog. It radically slows my reading speed and prevents me from writing due to short term memory loss. Like you I always contribute when asked, and also put $25 into the hat box on the 3rd of every month or when I get paid which is sometimes a day earlier than I expect such as New Year's.
If you like this service I would suggest you do something similar.
Angela I have always enjoyed your stories. Quoth the Raven was one of my favorites.
Agreed
I find I agree with you. While most of us are up in years, I doubt I can point to a single overarching reason why fewer authors are of younger years. I have noticed younger people just don't find reading an enjoyable pastime. They'd rather spend a couple of hours on social chat saying nothing (so to speak) to other young people saying nothing return. It's part of the culture of instant gratification that is so wide-spread these days.
Another thing that is problematic is the emerging tendency of our authors to post stories on sites other than BC. No, I don' mean cesspools like FM or the like. I'm talking about places like Patreon, or behind pay walls. I know part of it is the search for extra income (can't blame them for this); but when a story is posted on Patreon for free, why not post it on BC instead, or at least in addition. You authors that are doing this are training the readers to look to other sites for something to read. This is part of the decline here at BC. Why should they read and/or write for BC when they are not posting on BC.
"Life is not measured by the breaths you take, but by the moments that take your breath away.”
George Carlin
"Saying nothing"
I remember people saying that about my generation, back in the Jurassic when I was young.
As for "saying nothing," that's been true of most conversation our species has been doing since before writing had been invented. It's how we humans create and maintain community. How and where we "say nothing" has changed over the ages and with the changes in technology (the invention of writing was a change in technology.) But there's a lot of content there, you just need to spend time in an on-line community and learn to understand what they're saying to see it.
Time available
Just wanted to add a thought to the discussion, but those who are (hopefully happily) retired have a lot more free time and 'spoons' with which to write. Therefore their output as authors will likely dominate on the main page more often than not.
I'm no young'n by any stretch of the imagination, but I still have a decade or two left of the ol' grindstone which is totally failing to reshape these nostrils into anything svelte. And thus my time available to really focus on writing is typically one full day on the weekend when manageable. On the flip side of that equation, I'm also too old to put in a proper effort in the evenings after returning home like I was once capable, as by then the brain has been reduced to tapioca.
Certainly there is no way I can even contemplate competing with the output of, say, our beloved Emma! I can't even keep up with reading her lovely contributions. :)
I do agree though that the struggles and issues of the current youthful generation regarding being trans have certainly changed, geographical (and therefore political) differences are quite starkly contrasted on this cultural front these days.
Couple of thoughts
I was wondering what search terms you used?
I'm thinking the emotional component probably isn't nearly as strong as it was decades ago. When I started looking for stories it was on alt.sex.stories.tg on the Internet. Genderserve (I think was the name) on Compuserve. Feminet and other BBS dial ups, when you paid by the minute for long distance calling. It was hard to find, and eventually websites started to appear. Storysite, Big Closet, Fictionmania.,etc. I think we find the sites and clung to them. Eventually BC became a community as well as a repository for the best TG fiction.
Now TG is generally out of the closet. It is recognized by society in a much more open manner than when all this started. There are Youtube pages of people telling of their journey. Amazon has TG stories. There are support sites and communities.
Its easier for me to see someone finding BC and falling in love with the stories, but it is harder to see them making the emotional connection to the community.
Strangely Enough
There must be a synchronicity here, because this was a topic of conversation between me and my BC besties just yesterday. Since then I have done a very crude comparison on the reception of my stories, hardly a statistical analysis, but I'm arrogant enough not to believe that the quality of my writing has deteriorated so much.
From 2007 to 2015 My hits averaged nearly 6500 per story.
From 2016 to the present they averaged just over 3000 per story. My latest has just topped 1400 and the trend is all downhill.
This indicates that our traffic has decreased significantly. Jill has been on to this for a while now, so the answer, if there is one, is to increase the site's traffic. I haven't had time to do a more definitive comparison with other authors, but, for instance, Emma Anne Tate's story count is not that far ahead of mine, and she should be leaving me in her dust, she's an order of magnitude better than me. I was looking at Angela's count but so much of her stuff is published that it's hard to compare, my point being that our stellar authors are not getting the recognition they deserve, and they're our lifeblood.
Like Jill I would be devastated if this site were to go under. I do not denigrate Erin's (and her colleagues) efforts to raise money every month. That's a vital and soul-destroying task, putting the begging-bowl out, time after time. It has to be done; without funds there would certainly be no BC, but there is the other aspect to keeping us alive, and that is encouraging participation amongst those who frequent this place.
The more people who come here and enjoy what is on offer, hopefully the more the money necessary to keep us alive will trickle in.
I have no magic solution to the problem, but a few suggestions to be tried.
As others have said we must increase participation by a younger element. I am not up with social media but I think we have to harness the contacts known to our younger members like Sunflowerchan, etc. There was a blog yesterday from DJdownunder asking if she could take our coverage to Aussie outlets.
I would also suggest that writers do not make a big deal about their works on other sites (sorry Maryanne) but concentrate their efforts here. I'm not asking anyone to stop posting stories elsewhere, but prioritize their works here and spread the word that this is their favourite place. It should be; where else do you get the number of hits recorded, the appreciation shown in the number of kudos (the pedant in me hates that term but the meaning is sound) and the back and forth of the comments on a story. It's a message worth getting across.
I've gone on long enough and I'm probably part of the problem, being 81. Any help will be appreciated and all suggestions should be up for consideration. I love this place.
Ask AI...
I agree with everyone's thoughts on this, especially the idea of losing BC being a tough pill to swallow. I know this topic has been kicked around a few times since I found this site and I don't think we ever came up with any clear direction / route / or plan as to moving forward having been shared. I get some of that, can't have every person who 'thinks' they know this all encompassing subject (what it really takes to keep a site afloat) running amuck w/in the bits / bytes of the hard drives that make it up or be pulling wires outta the back of some server stack. Got it... But there are things that can get thrown in a checklist of sorts and those running this site can certainly chime in on the ROI for any particular suggested effort. Maybe even give us a glimpse behind the curtain or thoughts about any plans (I think ppl care to know - especially those contributing time (readers / authors) / money).
Reading, in my opinion, isn't that escape it used to be like when I was younger. To many easier routes for users to let their minds be entertained (pick a social media channel). If my kids (and wife for that matter) are any example - Tik Tok sucks up easily an hour a day of their attention spans in a sitting. Often it's way more and annoying!
Here's what one AI brain had to say about how to increase a websites traffic:
There are many ways to increase traffic to a website. Here are some of the most effective:
Search Engine Optimization (SEO)
Content Marketing
Social Media Marketing
Other Marketing Strategies
General Tips
Not that AI is the "end all be all" and not like BC isn't doing some of this stuff (or needs to keep some of these topics on a need to know basis), but some of these suggestions are solid. But they take time and effort, and those things cost money and aren't likely something those holding the reins on this site are going to give some volunteer. I'ma guess the admins don't run their shop like a multi-million dollar IT shop might (Developers, QA Testers, Change Control, blah blah) and have lives outside of tending to this site.
Can BC compete? We've a stable of very talented authors and a catalog of stories that spans decades. Just need to get the eyeballs here to see this place is a supportive community AND there's plenty to entertain that gray matter between their ears.
Two quick points... FM (Fictionmania) and a few other sites are kind of gross (being polite here). That said, there's been talk about "sexual" content in stories being problematic / distasteful on this site. I get it - porno flick on and on and on in nauseum is pathetic. But sex happens folks and as said long ago "sex sells". Not advocating we become FM like, but by way of example I posted a SOLO story that leaned heavily in that content and in 3 days had more reads than any of my series posted here or there. Those are eyeballs, ppl reading, and traffic. Of course there was barely any feedback, so I know that story was feeding / entertaining a particular audience. And it likely did better because upfront I warned the content was explicit - I'm sure that drew them in. Would I want to post that story here? Ah, hard NO... I knew what I'd get on that other site and I knew I'd get ostracized / burned at the stake if that got posted here. Plus, that kind of thing isn't my jam anyway, but I caught a tickle and wrote it...
Lastly - I have a tiny, like very tiny footprint on Instagram. I recently put out a post about BC - likely barely seen. Until recently I didn't have any photos of me posted. Then I decided to post a few. Couple things happened - my followers jumped by a couple hundred (shocked), I was engaged in conversations a few times (more than pre photo post), and I noticed my stories on BC had a couple more reads (like 10 maybe - lol) because I said I post my dribble here. I tend to notice ppl checking my profile / stories out after I post some comment on a story or am mentioned as a resource used or whatever. Point is - it's possible to get eyes directed to BC off of other channels - can't discount that...
I don't have the answer to fixing this problem, but do believe those that care about BC should keep talking. Something may come out of our collective ponderings. Danka...
XOXOXO
Rachel M. Moore...
Great . . Perfect
The SEO parts of the discussion you posted are dated and probably not as helpful as the rest. Big Closet should have good online authority. It has been around for some time and has extensive content.
What I found most interesting was the suggestion to spur our current user base to use the site more often. That would create more hits.
Does anyone have suggestions how to do that?
Jill
Angela Rasch (Jill M I)
Create more hits
Only works to promote your site ranking in the eyes of 'Dear Leader Google' if you use a search engine to find the site. Coming direct does nothing wrt the gargoyle page rankings.
As I have Google blocked by my firewall, I don't give 2 F's about them and their data stealing empire. If I absolutely have to use it, then I do it via a private browsers and a VPN that gives my Internet Point of Presence as 40 Wall St, NYC or something close to it.
Samantha
Hate or love Google...
Google's nearest competitor in search engine use is Bing, with a market share of 9.19%. Other notable search engines include Yahoo! (2.72%), Baidu (2.21%), and Yandex (1.55%). Wanna guess who's over 91% of use by those world wide?
Yeah, I hate their 'Big Brother' spying also, but if I can USE them for my own gains / benefits - gonna do it. Just say'n... BOTS crawl sites and record identifying characteristics. If BC can play the game and it doesn't cost anything - why not?
Getting those direct paths in from outside of Google's eyes could certainly be a focus. IDK how exactly - I'm not skilled that much with that stuff. I've been coding since the mid-90's and my stuff has always been for internal use, so no emphasis on getting traffic has ever been in my playbook.
Think we all know the Big "G" is evil. I'd concur the absolute use of a VPN, Duck Duck Go!, and whatever else helps you stay under the radar. lol :-)
XOXOXO
Rachel M. Moore...
IMO, google no longer gives
IMO, google no longer gives relevant answers for any searches that slightly deviate from either 'popular' or 'current events'. This was steady decline starting around 2012 or 2013 (may be even earlier).
Worse - it no longer indexes some of the sites, just stores the most popular pages from them - to the point, that searching that site directly may be faster.
Even worse - there are rumors, that google modifies the output to give results that produce more valuable advertisement for it, instead of the relevant ones.
It is kinda ironic that google, which started and gained popularity as a search engine without paid results turned into this. :-/
Google is Evil
Eom
Jill
Angela Rasch (Jill M I)
Punctuation matters
“Don’t be evil” became “Don’t. Be evil.”
2 cents
Hope no one minds if I ad my 2 cents worth. My history here is a bit different.
I've mentioned before that a long time ago, I developed a thirst for TG fiction but the offerings were pretty dismal. Most was just fetish which didn't interest me. So I thought I'd try my hand at it to see if anyone else was interested in non-fetish material. Places to post were few and far between back then. There was a TG themed FTP site I posted to (anyone remember those?) And then I discovered Sapphire's Place.
I really enjoyed that site. It was easy to post and navigate and had a lot of writers I enjoyed. I have to admit that I never really got into Chrystal's Place. And then Sapphire's Place began to decline and seemed to have been taken over by a hacker that ruined the comments on stories. It was then suggested I post to Big Closet. The person who asked me to move to BC moved all my stories for me and I've been on BC ever since.
Lately, I've been submitting to Patreon for fun.
Odd though. I've never read any books on writing.
But I never think about is what I'm writing relevant or not. I just write and people seem to like it. I don't target any particular audience. Is that good or bad? I don't know. But yes, it would be a disaster for me if BC folded. I know the BC crew is working on ideas to increase readership.
Okay, I'm rambling...
Melanie
Back to Social Media
I am pretty much the same as you, Melanie - I write because I write.
But I think our joint concern here is to ensure that we will not be the last person to open our Big Closet before the light goes out.
What do we do about it?
I will say it again, In my view it is not about the search engines, it is about social media. To me Discord is more about chat. The big ones are still Facebook, X (Twitter) and TikTok. BC and Doppler have to be on that. That means material and somebody constantly inputting it. It might even be a labor of love for the right person.
As for whether people even bother reading these days, let me make two observations:
1. TG fiction is huge. Before I looked at my first site (Sapphire I think) I never would have thought it. The readership is not only TG people but people with a kink that way, or even no kink at all. The idea of switching gender is interesting and entertaining. Just open Amazon and look at all of the TG books. Look at all the sites including the TG captions, TG comics, etc. I don't think that is going to change.
2. I write short fiction. I do that simply because that is what I do, but maybe it is easier for people to take their dose in a small pill? Certainly the youngest writer I have met on this site (barely 20) was primarily a caption writer. I wonder if somehow reaching into some of those sites might spread the word.
I think that the hard part is that it needs a dedicated person, and the BC crew are already under work and money stress.
However, this blog has generated ideas and there is potential here to form a plan.
Is that what we want to do?
Maryanne
Problem with social media
> I will say it again, In my view it is not about the search engines, it is about social media. To me Discord is more about chat. The big ones are still Facebook, X (Twitter) and TikTok. BC and Doppler have to be on that. That means material and somebody constantly inputting it. It might even be a labor of love for the right person.
Biggest problem with social media (at least as a medium) to me, is that most of it is actively hostile to anyone without an account. And it is an ephemeral walled garden, you do not own the content, the social media does.
Try reading twitter without an account - it wouldn't allow it. Either forcing you to sign up, or login. Or wouldn't allow reading the threads there, just single post. At this point - I gave up on it entirely. (Not that it was useful, there were few interesting people there, but mostly it was litany of angst and suffering. Or insanity).
Facebook isn't much better "login, or else (we can't track you)". Other media did that too.
But then - I remember internet before social media turned it into a mess.
I was just posting stuff
I was just posting stuff related to this conversation on my own blog. heh... Anyway, I got my start here on BC decades ago. It was one of the first trans lit sites I found and I started posting my stuff here and at Sapphire's Place. This site has been good to me and helped me hone my skills. This site plus Whateley Academy really pushed my writing to be more professional. I also want there to be more readership of Trans stories, both the free stuff on offer here plus the books you can buy from Doppler, Bold Strokes Books, JMS Books and many other publishers. I want BC to be around for years to come, because it was so formative for me. I just wish I had any ideas to add to the mix.
Heather
We are the change that will save the world.
I Was Recruited
Someone from BCTS read one of my stories on another site and asked me to come here. I can not remember who that was and they no longer seem to be here using the same username. I am grateful for having been brought here.
A whole year later and I'm still a newbie.
Sorry folks if I am a bit late. Yesterday was treatment day for AMD and I just became able to read this morning. And I'm late in other ways. Next birthday will find me at 78. Although I have known about transgender life styles. That just isn't me. I'm bound to cross dress from time to time, but it is only for a lark. Neither effeminate nor macho I consider myself not one gender but both. I'm a husband for my bride of 53 years who prefers it that way. My daughter calls me "daddy" and claims to have caused several of my silver locks. Two sons, four granddaughters, two grandsons, A sister and three sister-in-law fill out my bona fides. And I read.
Do I ever! Any genre as long a as crisp, clear, and erudite. I like broad range human stories. Like the ones found here. And of course also the blog comments. Isn't it amazing how real writers have a facility for reality as well as fiction? I search here several time daily for new content. I kudo everything I read and comment When I have something positive to add.
I consider BC my community and contribute monthly to patreon. Please don't even consider leaving.
Ron
I'll insert a picture when and if I figure out how (help!)
Putting my money were my mouth is.
I decided to finally put my money were my mouth is, I have a small following on DevientArt, something around 666 followers. I can't wait to see what snark my mentor Emma says about that! Love you! Anyway, I've noticed that most of my Jamie and Madeline stories that I posted over there and here tend to have an higher view count than the stories I just post here. I was hoping to clean up my profile, since it's a mess, considering it not been updated properly in about two years, and I made it when I was 19. It's kind of a mess, anyway I'd hoped by cleaning it up, and networking with some fellow closet members there, we can send people from our profiles here! To encourage them to read the better written stories than I'm offering. And hopefully, they will stick around long enough to make a account, post some comments and in time become active members! I mean I would have never discovered this wonderful site if I'd not followed the link on blog that mentioned "Oh, Cheer!" so hopefully, we can network on DA and encourage others to check us out! Just a thought, feel free to dischard what I said or send me back to the kids table.
Excellent!
I think that’s a great way to get new people here! As for the 666 thing, the only devil you’ve got is that cute little one in the skimpy lingerie that sits on your left shoulder putting pepper in your prose and sass in your sarsaparilla. I’m not too worried about her, though — not with that gorgeous angel on your right shoulder. ;-)
Emma
A hydra-headed problem
I think there are multiple facets to this and it would be a mistake to lump all the issues together. What a person might hope for, they’re free to express – of course – but hope is not a strategy. I’m sure Blockbuster Video wanted to survive and thrive into the present day, but the world moved on just the same.
I can think of five issues, right off the bat:
Point #4 is more complicated than I have implied. For example, a story can be downloaded and held somewhere else, but did the author give permission for it to be hosted elsewhere? No. What about the comments? What about (if you care...) the ‘kudos’ that has been assigned? Keeping the text of stories online is not the problem: ever since GeoCities in 1994, people have had a way to put information online without paying fees. Transgender fiction can be free to host and free to read. The stories themselves aren’t the problem – but would a ‘lifeboat’ alternative site curate stories in a way that you like?
Would a mirroring, a merger, a buyout, a radical reinvention or whatever upheaval see stories behind a paywall? Or perhaps they’d be co-located with pornography and niche fetish material that you might be less interested in? There are good reasons to be concerned about where your stories might end up. Also, wouldn’t any new site disappear in due course, too? Nothing lasts forever and things fizzle faster in the digital world.
There’s also the nasty matter of the unknown person who looks gleefully upon each fresh obituary, selecting stories to steal and publish under a new name and title, via Amazon. If BC itself dies, expect an epidemic of stolen stories.
No doubt each of the other issues can be similarly unpacked, but I wanted to look at the survival of the stories themselves, since the fiction is primarily what I came here for, year ago.
Best wishes –
Bryony
Sugar and Spiiice – TG Fiction by Bryony Marsh
Continued Existence
Hi Bryony,
To me your issues 2 and 3 are the ones that need to be addressed, and they are connected. We need continued contributions and that will lead to readership, but I think that we need to build readership first.
I am not sure that BCTS is widely known about, and my previous comment about a presence on social media is a big part of that IMHO.
But I think that what we really need is youth. There are plenty of social institutions that were strong when I was a kid but are now dead or close to it because there was no next generation of involvement.
The good thing about the trans-community is that we are generally thoughtful and sensitive people. Perhaps we just have to reach out through the trans support networks?
I suspect that there are many who think that a modern transwoman might think that we have noting to offer in a world that accepts gender neutrality, but I don't think that is true. Their is still shared longing, shared experience and shared frustration.
The other issue that I raised is attention span. Do younger people even read anything more than a paragraph? I really don't know, but I keep y fiction short and I do have a readership.
On that subject, I have a story "Thai Plastic" that I have published on 3 sites. Here is has 4,185 hits, on Literotica 13,986 hits and on Fictionmania 23,206 hits. BCTS definitely has a smaller audience.
I don't want to change the nature of this snug little place. I just want to foster its continued existence.
Maryanne