Do you have a following of loyal readers

Several times I've seen writers talk about 'their following', as in readers that seek them out by name instead of random story searches or selecting from The Top ___ lists.

Apparent the only 'following' I have is that one person named Anonymous. S/He must be bipolar since one day my stories get praised and the next they call my writing scum.

How do you know if you're building a fan-base?

CeasarBoobage said:

Several times I've seen writers talk about 'their following', as in readers that seek them out by name instead of random story searches or selecting from The Top ___ lists.

Apparent the only 'following' I have is that one person named Anonymous. S/He must be bipolar since one day my stories get praised and the next they call my writing scum.

How do you know if you're building a fan-base?

Click to expand...

I have 5 fans. They send me messages. One of them is my husband. Probably not the helpfulest answer.

I'd like to think I do, now that I think about it.

You know because you start having the same people comment on your stories. Or, you have people emailing you telling you that they love your work.

It's kind of odd when people call themselves your "fan" or "fanboy". But it's flattering. You only start seeing those kinds of messages after you've submitted enough good stories in a particular category.

patientlee said:

I have 5 fans. They send me messages. One of them is my husband. Probably not the helpfulest answer.

Click to expand...

It helps us learn that you have sex with your groupies and you're a teacher who makes up her own superlatives.

SandraMustard said:

It helps us learn that you have sex with your groupies and you're a teacher who makes up her own superlatives.

Click to expand...

I make up a lot of words. In three languages. It's part of my charm.

As for sex with the groupies? I'd be much more popular if it wasn't just that one!

There are a few names that pop up as favourited one of my stories on a regular basis, but I'm not sure I'd call then loyal readers. I don't post stories in the popular categories so I don't have high expectations about such things. My stories appeal to a niche market, not the mainstream.

I tend to write darker storylines, with a lot of rape, domestic abuse, violence, etc.

I've been called out for it once or twice in the past (I started putting up warnings that things would get dark, and that helped) But I found my true fans with my most recent series, 'Onus'.

The story is about a world where aliens didn't try to take over the world, but they released their spores in the atmosphere, and it got most of the fertile female population pregnant with hybrid alien babies. The aliens are almost universally hated and given no rights because they caused most of those pregnant women to die from complications over the years.

Anyway, the main character has been a couple of different flavors of sex slave now, with some of his captors being worse than the others.

It's a pretty dark story so I left a warning, and now on the first installment I have not one, not two, but five negative comments (out of thirteen) about the depravity of the story. I would understand it more, but I put a specific and explicit warning at the beginning of the story. When people complain about that shit, I kinda want to smack them upside the head. It's like walking into an x-rated theater and complaining about the nudity.

One of the comments was myself saying that I write dark stories and I warned them. But the other seven comments were from true fans. They really stepped up that day.

Yeah, I've got quite a few. Favorited as an author over 4700 times at last count.

It starts with the favorites, then the recurring comments from the same readers. The ones who read everything in every genre. Some like it all, more often they'll express disappointment if they don't like it and ask you to get back to their favorite stuff.

I don't do the whole flirting email bit. Well, let's just say very infrequently. My emails tend to be about the stories, and those are the ones I respond to, typically less than a dozen a day, except right after I've posted something. Then I might get a flood.

I think the previous FAWC was a good example of fans. While the story was anonymous, a few of the readers recognized it as my work, and said so in the comments. Once it was announced who the writer was, and the byline went up, my views doubled and the score went up. It took a couple of weeks for the fans to see the story under my profile list. I didn't win the contest, but a month later it's the highest scoring chain story. That's the fans at work.

And fans don't just read your stories, they vote. I'm convinced that's why so many of my stories get good scores, the high number of votes offset the trolls. If most of the stories get hit by the same trolls, but my fans drive up the vote count, my score will be higher. Some of my more popular stories have 5 or 6 thousand votes. At that point, your score is pretty much set in stone. It's not going to waver more than .01 without a concerted effort by very determined trolls.

During the Halloween contest I received a lot of comments that at 15 pages, they wouldn't have read the story if it wasn't mine. Honestly, I appreciate that. I like my fans.

Of course with the fans and added exposure, you get the troll-fans. I just ignore them for the most part.

CeasarBoobage said:

Several times I've seen writers talk about 'their following', as in readers that seek them out by name instead of random story searches or selecting from The Top ___ lists.

Apparent the only 'following' I have is that one person named Anonymous. S/He must be bipolar since one day my stories get praised and the next they call my writing scum.

How do you know if you're building a fan-base?

Click to expand...

I wonder if it is helpful to have a fan base. As I see it, a fan base locks one into churning out the same thing over and over in order to retain the following. In time it becomes a negative and unhelpful. For me writing is perhaps more selfish, I want to develop skills to become a good writer. I don't want to have a repetition of ordinary. For me, once I have done some thing I think it ordinary.

When my approach changes I wonder whether a fan base would follow. I suspect it would rapidly fall away, a little like the experience of JKRowling, I guess, if one needs an example to illustrate the point. I also wonder how a fan base impacts an author- do authors develop arrogance? I think I could name a few who have.

I also wonder if it's really the author they like or whether it's the subject matter and I suspect the more taboo the subject matter the more likely it is to acquire a following which, to me, reflects a shortage of people stupid enough to write the crap. Is there any point to developing a fan club of which one wouldn't personally want to be a member?

When I see people indulging in the mention of their "fans" I often wonder so many things and struggle to think of any thing that may be good. Perhaps it is just me.

I'd just be glad if my stuff gets read at all.

I dunno if I have a fan base or not, since I write in several different categories. That being said, a lot of my stories have been "Favorited" by some folks as I have been as an author. I'm just pleased that someone reads what I've written and enjoys it.

It's my impression that many people are using the favorite function as a form of "bookmarking" for stories and authors. So I don't know how many fans I have, but I have been bookmarked a few times...

Yes, I seem to have a small but loyal following. I also seem to have a growing battalion of one-bombers. (I wonder if they realise that their votes are generally - although not always - swept at the end of the month?)

Yes, also small.

I've got followings in all three pen names. For the most part, they don't cross over.

That's intentional.

I found out early on that the fans can demand a single track. They want what they're comfortable with all the time. Having multiple pen names lets me cater to each set of fans, but still branch out and write whatever tickles me. I assign each story to a pen name based upon how I expect the three groups to react to it.

How do you know? In general, your stats improve. The fans score high, countering lower votes from casual readers. The views go up, because the fans are always there, even when your story posts on a crappy day or in the middle of the afternoon. They're more likely to comment and send emails.

Despite the desire to get what they're expecting, there's always a core group of those fans who will branch out to read genres and story lengths they wouldn't normally look twice at because it has your name on it. That's when you know you've really captured someone.

Darkniciad said:

I've got followings in all three pen names. For the most part, they don't cross over.

That's intentional.

I found out early on that the fans can demand a single track. They want what they're comfortable with all the time. Having multiple pen names lets me cater to each set of fans, but still branch out and write whatever tickles me. I assign each story to a pen name based upon how I expect the three groups to react to it.

How do you know? In general, your stats improve. The fans score high, countering lower votes from casual readers. The views go up, because the fans are always there, even when your story posts on a crappy day or in the middle of the afternoon. They're more likely to comment and send emails.

Despite the desire to get what they're expecting, there's always a core group of those fans who will branch out to read genres and story lengths they wouldn't normally look twice at because it has your name on it. That's when you know you've really captured someone.

Click to expand...

That core is nice.

I'll always just be a niche, but I'm okay with being a niche. Those comments calling me out for being too violent, they all dangled the 'you'll be more popular' carrot in front of my nose.

It's true, out of all my GM stories, the 2 lighter romantic lines have way more votes and views than my darker ones.

But where are they going to get the dark, if not from me?

I'd have to say I have a growing fan base. When I started both of my series, I was looking at a steady viewing of 200-300 readers. That's grown now to several thousand steady readers in each one. I get roughly the same number of votes per chapter and it's the select few that consistently send feedback and comments.

How many readers are actually fans, I couldn't say, but I'd like to think they all are.

I suspect that a good series hooks a lot of followers. I don't think I have that in me though.

Find a niche that appeals to you, and is scarce at LIT. Hungry readers will find you.

How dare you

CeasarBoobage said:

Several times I've seen writers talk about 'their following', as in readers that seek them out by name instead of random story searches or selecting from The Top ___ lists.

Apparent the only 'following' I have is that one person named Anonymous. S/He must be bipolar since one day my stories get praised and the next they call my writing scum.

How do you know if you're building a fan-base?

Click to expand...

How dare you hijack Anonymous he's MY reader. MINE I tell you. I will not stand for others stealing my readers like this. How am I supposed to get any groupies if you keep stealing them

I don't have a fanbase i dont think. My stories (3 out) have been favorited 20 times ish in total across the board... i dont know how to find out if i have been favourited as an author.

I have had a few emails from people and conversed.

i would say i have one fan that likes my work, but i would call him more of a new friend that is supportive, i dont know.

good luck everyone

DeYaKen said:

How dare you hijack Anonymous he's MY reader. MINE I tell you. I will not stand for others stealing my readers like this. How am I supposed to get any groupies if you keep stealing them

Click to expand...

Actually he's mine. And he has given me so much useful advice over the months I've been on Lit in his untiring strife to help me improve as a writer.

Like:

"Eat shit and die."
"Go f... yourself n.gg.r-lover."
"Your just another cuckie a..hole."
"What an idiot."
"Boring."
"Unreadable."

... and my favorite...

"Learn to spell properly, moran."


And of I really do take the criticism of my fans to heart. In fact last week I ate a serving of my mother-in-law's meatloaf. I didn't die though...

hey! he helped me too!

it must be the same person, he told me to "go fuk my golry hole."

Mmmm...there is the entire male population of England. Every month at the Kindle store they purchase 100's of copies of one of my short stories over there. And I mean hundreds of copies.

As for the rest, they do okay, but not like that one.

Favs

I don't know if any of the more established writers on here have considered this or not, but as a new writer I want to learn from the best. Like the Renaissance painters, I study the Masters, and I read anything they have written, regardless of genre, and always give them 5 stars whether the story was my cup of tea or not, because I appreciate the effort that goes into it, and now as a newbie writer myself I understand just how hard that is to do.

As an example only (please don't take offense anyone), I just finished reading Tx Tall Tales' story The Last Boy Scout which was submitted/posted like 3 years ago or something like that. Group sex ain't my thing, but Jesus! The writing was soooo great and so f'ing HOT I honestly soaked a pair of panties reading it. When I finished I was bewildered as to how someone could crank out so many pages and keep it going as such a real page-turner! I could not stop reading it until I read the whole thing, which I'm guessing was way over 150 pages or so on a computer program like Word. So is Tx Tall Tales one of the masters I study? Yes he is. Do I affect his scores? At this point probably not.

There are several others as well, who I consider Masters, and read everything of theirs as well, and likewise vote 5 stars too. I really don't want to name names, but man am I humbled in their presence. Their writing just consumes we with a sense of awe and if I'm am ever half that good I can die a very happy camper.