Question about categories?

I've not been on the site long but I've seen a lot of people complaining about low their views are and they tend to be way higher than mine. I was wondering if some categories are just way more popular on here? Or are my standards super low?

Also have seen comments mentioned often and while I'm not super disappointed with 2 was wondering if comments were also more likely in certain categories?

I've posted all but one of my stories in romance and they have half the views of the voyeur/exhibitionist.

There's a vast disparity between the readership size of the various categories. Romance is actually one of the middling ones, while E&V is on the upper end of that middling scale.

The top three for views are ( from my experience, in ascending order ) Mature, Loving Wives, and Incest.

Every readership has its own quirks as well. Romance readers aren't overly concerned about sex in a story, and overloading one with sex may actually get you marked down. Those readers are there for the "chase".

E&V readers are looking for an element of danger -- the chance of getting caught.

Incest readers are looking for blood relations within the nuclear family, and they expect detailed sex. Lose any of those elements, and you lose readers. What's left may still outnumber what any other story will garner, but it's still a loss.

I have a fairly wide range of categories and track my numbers quarterly, so you can see an example of the variance between categories.

http://darkniciad.com/hotlink_pics/All_3_Names_02_04_15.htm

Gulping goldfish! That link should come with a warning.......The following is sure to give amateurs an inferiority complex! Click at your own risk.
Seriously though thanks for answering my question.

And yet, I still have 8-year-old stories with fewer than 25 votes.

That's the difference in the categories. 8 years in humor can't make 25 votes or 10k views, but 24 hours in incest can be over 1000 votes and 100k views.

wetandwhat said:

I've not been on the site long but I've seen a lot of people complaining about low their views are and they tend to be way higher than mine. I was wondering if some categories are just way more popular on here? Or are my standards super low?

Also have seen comments mentioned often and while I'm not super disappointed with 2 was wondering if comments were also more likely in certain categories?

I've posted all but one of my stories in romance and they have half the views of the voyeur/exhibitionist.

Click to expand...

Here's a tip: a Lit writer posts a story in Romance because it's the best-fitting category out of the kitchen-soup story he/she wrote. Although the story has an HEA, the Romance reader had to read through a 40k story that went through a gang-bang, a whiny protagonist who begged, a whiny protagonist who continues to whine, and then voila, the whiny protagonist ends up with a nice guy who put up with her shit (and continues to put up with her shit). Meanwhile, the author has never read a romance story before he/she wrote a Lit story.

My point is this: regardless of genre, or platform--the story better damn well fit the category and the genre.

wetandwhat said:

I've not been on the site long but I've seen a lot of people complaining about low their views are and they tend to be way higher than mine. I was wondering if some categories are just way more popular on here? Or are my standards super low?

Also have seen comments mentioned often and while I'm not super disappointed with 2 was wondering if comments were also more likely in certain categories?

I've posted all but one of my stories in romance and they have half the views of the voyeur/exhibitionist.

Click to expand...

Yes and yes to your questions.

When I first joined there were only 30-40 stories posted each day but now, with the site's success, it can be nearly 100 stories a day. As a result, attracting browsing readers gets more and more difficult.

I think the site should classify new posts more clearly. Seven days is a bit short to browse 500+ titles.

Romance is a strange category. Does it just mean little sex?

The successful romance writers here seemed to build up their client base with multi-chaptered stories and a strong story line. Get 'em and keep'em.

RejectReality said:

http://darkniciad.com/hotlink_pics/All_3_Names_02_04_15.htm

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Interesting Data, RR. It supports my theory that if you want a lot of views, write an incest story with the word "Mom" in the title.

The two stories on your list with the most views are "Mom's Second Chance" and "Mom's Stocking Stuffer".

AZMotherLover said:

Interesting Data, RR. It supports my theory that if you want a lot of views, write an incest story with the word "Mom" in the title.

The two stories on your list with the most views are "Mom's Second Chance" and "Mom's Stocking Stuffer".

Click to expand...

Having it in the description line outside of incest also draws extra views. My mature category stories typically top out at around 80k, but when "Mom" is in the description line, such as "Hot Mom's witch costume gets her a bone for her cauldron," they break 100k.

That one in particular is creeping up on 200k, but it may just have struck a chord beyond the description line, because it's one of my highest viewed/voted stories outside incest on 3 different sites.

AZMotherLover said:

Interesting Data, RR. It supports my theory that if you want a lot of views, write an incest story with the word "Mom" in the title.

The two stories on your list with the most views are "Mom's Second Chance" and "Mom's Stocking Stuffer".

Click to expand...

The buzz words in the title get the max results.

My first mother/son story here was called "Weekends With Laura" even though its over four years old its numbers are below anything I've done the last couyple of years because....who the hell is Laura?

Granted, it was in the incest section, but people skim the list and they look for certain words.

MY first brother/sister story(after SWB) was called Anniversary to remember....again nothing that quickly called it out for what it was and the numbers showed that.

Its a shame people don't take a little longer to look, but that's how it is

I hope titles aren't important - mine are as boring as paint drying.