This blog's views, thoughts, and opinions belong solely to the author and not necessarily to the management of Big Closet, the Writing Contest committee, or any other group or individual.
I have long contended that there is very little correlation between the number of kudos, hits, and comments received and the quality of the story.
To date, the stories generated by the Writing Contest have received an average of 92 kudos, 14 comments, and 1,105 hits.
Does that mean that if your story received less than 92 kudos, it's a sub-par story? Not at all! It means you received 92 kudos and very little beyond that.
I have scored 87 stories from 1 to 100.
Eleven stories received a score in the sixties. Thirty-one stories received scores in the seventies. Twenty-five stories received scores in the eighties. Twenty stories received scores in the nineties.
The following are averages for the segmented stories:
Kudos
Stories in the Sixties 90
Stories in the Seventies 90
Stories in the Eighties 85
Stories in the Nineties 106
Comments
Stories in the Sixties 13
Stories in the Seventies 13
Stories in the Eighties 12
Stories in the Nineties 17
Hits
Stories in the Sixties 1,128
Stories in the Seventies 1,097
Stories in the Eighties 1,036
Stories in the Nineties 1.165
You can draw your own conclusions.
It appears that the statistical difference between the highest-scored stories received in kudos, comments, and hits and what the lowest-scored stories received isn't significant.
The New Year's Resolution Writing Contest has resulted in the following to date:
New stories – 93 . . . 87 Contest Qualified
Hits – 102,793
Kudos - 8,580
Comments – 1,294
New authors - 5
Comments
Wow!
Hugs.
Erin
= Give everyone the benefit of the doubt because certainty is a fragile thing that can be shattered by one overlooked fact.
It's a scandal, it's an outrage!
Any [author] will tell you it’s true! (With apologies to Oscar Hammerstein II).
Well, I don’t suppose it is, really. Hits, kudos and comments are bestowed for all manner of reasons that don’t necessarily relate to ranking stories in a writing contest. Still, it’s fun to think that maybe we can manage to be just a little scandalous. Not “hang-your-head-in-shame” scandal. More like, “shockingly short skirt” scandal, or perhaps, a truly daring neckline. You know — the fun kind! :)
Emma
Another term
You know, it's a shame traveshamockery didn't catch on. ;)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t6waGyhZ6XE
1200 Joanne
That's a lot of comments to collate, score, rank and come out with a winner Joanne! :DD
DeeDee
(Sigh!)
Somebody's gotta do it, Dee.
That'll teach me to volunteer,
Joanne
Volunteer?
Surely you're being paid big bucks for your herculean efforts! :DD
DeeDee
Hehehehe!!
You're not going to believe this one! Jo, is paying to take part.
So is Emma!
Hehehehehe. Can you believe that?
Wait? What? You say I'm also paying?
Huh! Nevermind.
Jill was
Angela Rasch (Jill M I)
My Theory
I have at times tried my hardest to put together a story that would please the most readers. It is a fools errand.
Readers
Just write to please yourself and let the readers take care of themselves.
Melanie
Data
Thank you for the crunchy data. It's always nice to see solid data points instead of off the cuff guesses/etc.
Edit: Forgot to add, at least with comments lots of times there will be a comment that already says what I would want to say so I won't comment unless I've been especially moved. With regards to kudos I try to ping any story I find even mildly entertaining, the author put the work in to post it and I put in the effort to read it.
No complaints
As long as there are Kit-Kats and Mountain Dew in the Vending Machines in the Break Room (Virtual sweets deemed safe for us Type-IIs).
Love, Andrea Lena
Scores
Will Authors be able to see their scores and why after the contest is over with? I am asking for a friend. ;)
I See Nothing Good Coming Out of That
Judging a story is highly subjective.
If you asked a hundred BC members who their favorite author is, you might get four of five to agree. Then. . .if you asked those four or five to explain why -- their answers would vary wildly.
I've worked with dozens of authors. If your friend is looking for growth as an author, I'd happily comment on their work in detail.
Even then . . . I could only suggest to her how I would write it. I would talk about writing norms.
Disclosing scores would only create pointless arguments and harsh feelings.
Thank you for asking.
BTW. . .that's only my opinion. There are two judges, and Emma might feel differently.
How much a writer should care about one person's opinion is conjecture. There once was a young writer who very badly wanted to get published. He'd published one tiny story in a magazine, but everything else had been rejected. He worked on a novel for years before sending it to dozens of publishing houses and literary agents. All rejected it. He threw his manuscript in the trash and gave up his dream. A few months later, he received a check for $300,000 for his initial payment for his novel. His wife had taken his manuscript from the trash and sent it to another literary agent. The novel was Carrie, and the author was Stephen King.
Jill
Angela Rasch (Jill M I)
I know that I for one, have
I know that I for one, have always appreciated your constructive criticisms of my work. Any time that I could work with you as an editor in advance, I always felt that the end result was better. Note that in all of those cases, I appreciated the suggestions, some I took, others I chose to ignore, and still others, I listened to and came up with something even better.
I would really like to hear privately your thoughts on both of mine (or possibly a third one that I am working on) when the contest is over.
And Emma - I would like to hear your thoughts as well. I'm not worried about the contest "score."
But I had not written anything in years, and I respect both of you enough to know that I can learn to improve my work from both of you.
Kristy
That's How It Should Work
Note that in all of those cases, I appreciated the suggestions, some I took, others I chose to ignore, and still others, I listened to and came up with something even better.
Any editor who attempts to change your story is crossing a line.
Jill
Angela Rasch (Jill M I)
One thing that might be interesting
when the contest is over would be some comments on how stories scored overall in each category you listed earlier. This might help authors know where look at their own stories in the areas that most people have the most difficulties with. No need to do a mathematical analysis unless you enjoy that kind of thing, just your general feeling of where the groups strengths and weaknesses are.
Scoring
That's a very good idea!
I will be happy to do that, and I'm sure Emma also will.
Right at the top of the list would be a lack of characterization. Too often, for my taste, authors are content to allow their characters to be cardboard cutouts. Characters need to jump off the page so that the reader wants more when the plot has been resolved -- because she loves the characters.
I will put together a complete discussion of my thoughts. People can take them to heart. . . or ignore them. I've been paid to write . . . so I am a professional. But I wasn't paid much or that often.
Jill
Angela Rasch (Jill M I)
I agree with Jill
I won’t share numbers, but I will be happy to PM with any author about their story once the contest is over, to discuss what I thought worked and where I might have seen problems. But understand, it’s just one reader’s view and, as Jill says, different readers would all reach different conclusions.
Emma
One other thing about average hits
That's an interesting analysis! There was one other thing that jumped out at me from your numbers. You say overall there have been 93 stories and 102,793 hits, which means that on average a story in the contest has received 1,105 hits.
But if you look at the average hits for contest entries with scores from 60-100, they're not far off from that mark. Which tells me that the higher-scoring stories aren't significantly pulling up the average. Which to me suggests that people are likely giving most or all of the contest stories a try, not just the "really good ones" as identified by other readers.
Of course hits don't equate to someone reading a story all the way through and enjoying it, but it's pretty terrific that people seem to be sampling all the stories. Speaking as an author who can sometimes be a proud purveyor of Green Eggs and Ham, seeing that people are at least willing to try a story is pretty awesome!
Thanksll
Thus is a writing contest but it is very much a reading-centric community.
Without the thousands of BC readers writing would be much less enjoyable.
Later today I'm going to analyze the impact of a cover. I assume having an attractive cover greatly improves hits and contingently kudos and comments.
Jill
Angela Rasch (Jill M I)
Does it really?
I guess that it depends how you check which stories are published?
I usually look at what is new in on the front page, and if I see a story written by an author I like, or an intriguing title, I'll give it a go.
Personally I never scroll down the front page far enough to see the covers, despite the work that has obviously gone in.
After all, do you judge a book by the cover, as ABC said in the 1980s?
Lucy xx
"Lately it occurs to me..
what a long strange trip its been."
Free Stories Page(s)
I look at the contents grid on the front page because it's convenient to see what's new in one place, and I'm there anyway for the blog and forum entries. But I do all my story selection -- including going back to read new comments -- on the Free Stories page -- or pages, since there've been enough stories since the contest started to reach the second page and still have comments I haven't read.
Anyway, the point -- and the reason I bring it up here -- is that having to scroll through all the covers of Kindle books on the front page isn't very productive for me. I'm sure it's profitable for the site to have them there with covers shown, but I prefer to opt out.
I can't think of any stories where my decision as to whether or not to read them was consciously based on the cover picture or its absence. (I understand that "consciously" is a key point here; if it's happening subliminally I can't tell.) And when it comes to new stories, I don't think even an ugly cover has caused me to avoid one. (Certainly not the lack of a cover. The lack of a teaser, yes.)
Eric
(The other thing about the "Free Stories" header: just about every time I see it, my mind shouts "Free Huey!" I suspect you have to be over 65 and have lived in the San Francisco Bay Area around half a century back to run into that.)
Free Eric
I'm in your corner, Eric.
For years, I did covers for my stories when I printed them for friends. But. . .electronically they seem superficial.
Yet, numbers don't lie.
Jill
Angela Rasch (Jill M I)
Complicated question!
If I was analyzing that question as a legal matter, I would try to do a regression analysis to isolate the impact of covers, and would probably conclude that the data set is too small for statistical significance. At which point I’d shrug my shoulders and retire to the bar.
Even as a “simple” anecdotal matter, it’s a hard question. For instance, I did some nice cover art for For Us, the Living, but not for Resolving Reese. Both stories by the same author, similar lengths, both involving a trans woman and a New Year’s resolution plot element. So, about as apples-to-apples a comparison as you can find. Reese has 1686 hits, 131 kudos and 18 non-author comments; For Us — with its spiffy cover — has 997 hits, 75 kudos and 22 non-author comments. Without more data, one might conclude that that the presence of a cover drove readers away.
But the critical difference in the two stories is that Reese was a fun, happy tale, and For Us dealt with the aftermath of death by suicide. People in our community are generally careful about reading the cautions, and quite a few wisely avoided the harder story, having more than enough darkness in their own lives.
But, I admire your willingness to plunge into the analysis. Good luck!
Emma
You Say Potato; I say
Your experience is what we call a statistical anomaly in my world.
It is much more likely that the failure of two great stories by the same terrific author drawing vastly dissimilar results is more evidence of the fallacy of the rating system.
But. . .you believe what you want. That's the beauty of it all.
Jill
Angela Rasch (Jill M I)
Analysis of metrics
As I have repeatedly stated in comments before: Using the kudos to hits/reads proportion as a metric to measure the quality or popularity of your stories, is setting yourself up for despair and depression!
That is because the hits counter does NOT count how many distinct individuals have read the story from start to finish. But rather, how many times was the story opened for reading or checking out!
So, for a novel length story posted in one go, that could easily mean that one and the same reader has opened the story 20 times until reaching the end of the story and hitting the kudos button. That, right there, is a 1/20 proportion.
On the other hand, a short story that can be read easily in one sitting of about 10-15 minutes, one reader might like it so much that he comments, checks the comments, responds to other comments, and re-reads the story a few times, but can award only one kudos. So, again we might have a 1/20 proportion for this reader.
Also, over time the hits counter will increase proportionally faster/more than the kudos counter. Because once a reader has registered his kudos, that is IT! There are no more kudos to be awarded, while the hits counter increases every time that same reader opens that particular story to check the comments left by others or to re-read the story/chapter.
Case in point, based on an unscientific observation as I was binge-reading the Danny series by Roberta J Cabot (bobbie-c): The first six parts have been posted as novel length single installment posts, that take a non-trivial amount of time to read. Part seven has been serialized in chapters that still take a significant amount of time to read. And part eight is still ongoing with the first few serial chapters posted.
The first part was posted almost 20 years ago, with the next five parts posted in approximately one year intervals. Part seven started posting just over five years ago over a span of almost a year and a half.
For the first six parts I noticed that even with kudos in the 350-400 count range the proportion to the hits count was only in the 1-2% range. For part seven the kudos count was in the 200-250 count range while the proportion to hits was in the 7-10% range. Meanwhile the recently posted part eight chapter had less than 100 kudos but the proportion to hits was around the 15% range.
My point is: Shorter posts seem to generate a higher kudos to hits proportion. And over time the kudos to hits proportion will decrease. That leads to the conclusion, that a continued decrease of the kudos to hits ration over time (as in several years) indicates that the story is being re-read again and again by the readers.
Another factor
Another factor to consider is that only registered BC users who are logged in will have a kudo “stick.” If you hit the kudo button and you aren’t signed in, the number will go up by one — but if you refresh your browser, you’ll see the number go back down. As far as I know, however, the “hits” counter registers every time the story is opened by anyone, regardless of whether they have a BC account or are logged into it. Since the population that can leave kudos is substantially smaller than the population that can register “hits,” comparing the two numbers is (even more) meaningless.
Emma
Statistics
Statistics logistics
logistics statistics
let's just post some music and pics!
Love, Andrea Lena
Disregard this comment!
I no longer agree with what I originally posted but I cannot delete it. ::shrug:: Oh well.
Happy writing and reading!
Monalisa