Reads, kudos and comments

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So you've just written a story. Well done! Now, you understandably want to obtain some kind of measure of how popular it is with the readers. So you look to the three statistics above. But what are they, and what do they mean? Can they give any indication of how good or popular your story is?

Reads

This is simply the hit count of the page. If someone reads the story - one hit. If they then refresh the page to see if anyone's commented yet, another. If they write a comment, that will probably generate one or two more. So while it is an indication of how much interaction there's been with the story, don't misinterpret it as the number of readers. It will always be higher than the total number of readers - but as different people interact with the story in different ways, don't think dividing by two or three will give you an accurate reader count, either.

Kudos

When you post your very first story, you'll notice that the "Good story!" button is greyed out. You'll also notice that your story is flagged up as "New Author" but not your user name. Don't panic! What happens behind the scenes is that one of the site admins will manually upgrade your account to "Author" status. That adds you to the author list, enables editing, and also enables kudos.

So, now that's settled, what is kudos? Different people have different attitudes to the button. Some will press it whenever they've generally liked the story. Some will only press it if they think the story's excellent. Some may even abstain from using it at all, for various reasons. So, if anything, it's an underestimate of the number of readers that have enjoyed the story.

Comments

If someone has really enjoyed the story, it's possible they may like to share exactly what they liked about it, and offer encouragement to the author. Some may also have questions about plot elements, others may even speculate as to future developments. And a few may poke holes in the spelling, grammar, editing or formatting.

Just because a story hasn't had many comments, it does not necessarily mean the story is unpopular. It may be that people haven't got much to add to what others have already said, it may be they don't feel confident enough to write a well thought out piece of prose, or they may be waiting for others to get the ball rolling.

Needless to say, authors are able to comment on their own stories. Sometimes they prefer to put "fourth wall" information in a comment rather than at the top or tail of the story itself. Sometimes they may be responding to readers' questions or to say they've fixed spelling / grammatical / continuity errors.

Overall

Reads, kudos and comments can give an indication of how well read or interacted with a story is; but none of them will give any indication of how good the story is or how many people actually like it. Bear in mind that the statistics can be altered as much by the time of posting (bear in mind we're an international community - with readers in at least four continents), the number of other stories posted around the same time, the moods of the readers, or a whole host of external factors other than the story content itself. Multi part stories often have varying numbers of RKC across the chapters, with no clear trend.

Finally, if you're despairing because you don't think your story is popular; don't! Even if you "only" get 100 reads, your page has been looked at a hundred times. There's probably at least a dozen people on the site that have read your story. You have (hopefully!) provided a few minutes of reading pleasure for about a dozen other people. Also have patience. As I said above, we're a global site. Wait a few days - you may have acquired a few more readers. And if you feel motivated enough to post a second story, chances are that will direct a few more readers towards your first effort. I'd probably go as far as to say that virtually everything that gets posted here is appreciated by the majority of readers.

(Have I covered everything?)
(Written in response to someone else asking why they can't kudo a new author)

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Also on the hit counter

Also, the more stories you post the more hits your earlier work will get. I notice whenever I post something new, people go back and read some of my other things. That happens if you post a serial or chapter novel (which I generally do). People, and very smart dogs who know how to read, go back to earlier chapters (I suppose to refresh their memories), so that adds to the hits. But they will also read other stories, if they like your style, premise.

You can also inflate you numbers by refreshing your story. Each load counts as a read, so if you really need numbers, have fun.

Comment numbers can also be inflated (I do this a lot) by responding to every post individually.

To be a really good author (sometimes I delude myself into thinking I am one) really takes longevity. The more you post and the more people read of you, you will establish a readership. Also sticking to one site (if you just want numbers) can help. I have been posting stories since 2001 (yes, that long) but I also had a 8 year break in there where I hardly posted anything. People generally know what they're going to get and if your new, it may take people I while to realize who and what you are. With me, people know they are going to get real-life drama, a lot of psychological insight, and most of my stuff plays on the emotions of the reader (yes I have gotten people to cry over a Gatorade bottle, and that makes me smile). People tend to stick to what they know... the Lord only knows I've heard... I want to read your stuff, but I have to catch up with Bike first.

Another way to get reads, produce good stuff. When I first started, I would type one draft, and post it. I wouldn't even proofread it. Beyond spelling and grammar mistakes... I even got a character's name wrong for four paragraphs... real good way to make sure people don't read you.

Katie Leone (Katie-Leone.com)

Writing is what you do when you put pen to paper, being an author is what you do when you bring words to life

Thanks for mentioning

The unreliability of kudos. They seem to be a big subject for discussion lately. I've seen three, or is that four systems used on BC, for various reasons. That means all the votes registered under the previous systems have disappeared. Most votes occur during the first few days, so there are a lot of great stories here that have no votes under the current system. In short, kudos are (barely) worth the paper they are printed on. I've been around her for 4 years or so, I think that qualifies me as an old-timer, or at least middle-aged, and personally I don't bother with kudos. History indicates there is a high likelihood another system will replace this one sometime in the next year or two, and all the kudos will disappear. So do as you like, leave them or not, but understand they have no real meaning in the long run.

* * *

"Girls are like pianos, when they're not upright they're grand!" Benny Hill

Karen J.

"Life is not measured by the breaths you take, but by the moments that take your breath away.”
George Carlin

I much preferred the Star System

That the site had back around the time I first started posting. It was a little more capable of giving an accurate depiction of how people liked or reacted to one's story, at least when people bothered to use it, though even then a story would rarely drop below a 3-star rating. Come to think of it, I can't remember a single story having a ranking that low. Hmm.

Anyhow, yes. The only really reliable indication of a story's worth is how happy you, as the writer, feel with its progress. Readers are a fickle lot, and might not read something excellent simply because it isn't to their tastes or isn't in season on the site (the first occurs a lot for me, while the second seems to for most of the unnamed visitors.) Just keep working at it, and you'll eventually attract the crowd that will be receptive to your writing.

Melanie E.