How are people finding my story?

[TaniaTulle]

So I recently posted my first story in the non-con/reluctance genre. I was really pleased with how it turned out overall. Just before publishing, I went back in to punch up the dialogue—unfortunately, I did it a bit too late at night, and ended up leaving in a couple of small errors: a few typos and a minor grammar mistake. Nothing major, but enough that I can see it affecting the score a little (fair enough—note to self: don't edit while sleepy!).

The story got off to a great start with strong view numbers and a solid early score. But then the rating started to dip, and now I’m just clinging to 4.5—my lowest so far. I’m guessing that’s partly due to the genre shift (I usually write in a different one), and perhaps people tend to score more critically in this category, and of course there were the aforementioned minor errors. That said, all the comments have been nothing but kind and positive so far.

Here’s what’s puzzling me: days later, the story is still pulling in really strong view numbers—around 8,000 views in just a few days and still going. It’s not featured on any of the top or new stories lists any more (due to the score), and it’s not in my usual genre, so I wouldn’t expect my regular readers to be driving the traffic. It's getting more views than many of the stories posted just before and after in that catagory.

The title is ok, I wouldn't say its one of my best (I found out I was the 10th story to use that title ). Again intro is ok. Nothing I can see particularly standing out. I did use tags, and picked the most popular ones as I always do. Did I get the mix just right?

The only thing I did differently this time was post in the New Story Advertisements forum. Could that be the reason? Lots of people post there, does it have the same effect?

I know there might not be a clear answer to this, and I really wish we had better insight into where views come from (and whether people are just clicking on page 1 and bouncing). I’m certainly not complaining—the response has been great and I’m proud of the story—but I’m just curious how visibility works here once you drop off the front page and aren’t on any featured lists.

Has anyone else seen something similar?

 

[StillStunned]

There are so many factors that come into play with view numbers that it's impossible to give a reason. Category, title and tagline are factors that you can control. But factors beyond your control include what day your story is published, how high up on the New Stories list it appears, how long you stay on the category front page (old layout), whether you feature in the "recently popular" or "recent comments" list and who's looking at the time, whether your story is recommended as a "similar story", and probably many more.

Just enjoy the success and hope you experience it again with other stories.

 

[ElectricBlue]

The only thing I did differently this time was post in the New Story Advertisements forum. Could that be the reason? Lots of people post there, does it have the same effect?

Has anyone else seen something similar?

I think the New Story Advertisements thread is always worth it. Unquantifiable, but it can't hurt. I post a link to every new story there, as soon as my story goes live.

 

[TaniaTulle]

There are so many factors that come into play with view numbers that it's impossible to give a reason. Category, title and tagline are factors that you can control. But factors beyond your control include what day your story is published, how high up on the New Stories list it appears, how long you stay on the category front page (old layout), whether you feature in the "recently popular" or "recent comments" list and who's looking at the time, whether your story is recommended as a "similar story", and probably many more.

Just enjoy the success and hope you experience it again with other stories.

Oh definitely not complaining at all . Just wondered how the heck they were finding it still as it's dropped off all the lists I can see for the last couple of days (which is normally how my stories have got the big viewing bumps).

 

[BobbyBrandt]

This appears to be your first story that isn't in the Transgender category, so it's reasonable to assume that your 300+ followers are fans of that category. I don't know how these readers feel about Non-Con, so assumptions that the readers of your new story are from your followers is just that - an assumption.

Your story is still listed in the Reluctance/Non-Con category for stories published within the last 7 days.

 

[Voboy]

You never do know. I've recently received a rash of attention for two older stories, each of which picked up a couple of comments and several "favorites" this week.

Both are about detectives, so my thinking is that they both showed up on the "similar stories" list at the end of someone's newer submission. It's all speculation.

 

[NotWise]

It's hard to pin down all the possible factors.

Views are mostly a product of the category, the title and short description, and maybe your name. The story's title is popular. It's a leading short description (which doesn't always work). This is the story's third day, so it's still relatively visible.

One reason that views last after the first day is that people will bookmark and come back later. They can do that in their browser (the only option if they aren't logged in), which leaves no other record on your stats. I used to think that was probably a trivial effect before one of my followers posted that he had 30,000 bookmarks in his browser that he was transitioning to lists.

The story can also get visibility in sidebars like "similar stories" and you'd never know.

The typos probably don't effect your score. I think most voters respond with whether they like your story, not with a critique of the quality of your writing or your editing.

I don't find it odd that your score dipped as the views mounted. When you cast a wider net you also bring in voters who aren't prone to liking your story.

 

[SimonDoom]

I assume you are referring to the story Trophy Wife?

It's always difficult to pin down why a particular story does or does not get a lot of attention, but having quickly scanned some things about the story, I think you've scored high on the "SimonDoom story marketing checklist test."

Nonconsent is a popular category, so it's not surprising that your first story there might do better than other categories.

The title Trophy Wife is very good. It's exactly the kind of simple title that would draw attention.

Your tagline "She'll do anything to protect her perfect life" is great. It's a sentence in the active voice, and it is tantalizing. Right away, people want to know what she's going to do: "anything" suggests that boundaries will be pushed, and that's what Lit readers want.

Your tags are good. Some people probably find stories through searching tags.

You jump into the story. There's no needless backstory. Within four paragraphs I can tell your prose style is markedly better than the norm at Literotica, so I'm interested.

Another possibility is this: Your use of tags, particularly the tag "blackmail," might have resulted in the story ending up on "Similar Story" lists at the end of some other popular stories, so people who like and read blackmail stories found your story.

 

[TaniaTulle]

Thanks so much for all the replies—really helpful and much appreciated!

 

[TaniaTulle]

It's hard to pin down all the possible factors.

Views are mostly a product of the category, the title and short description, and maybe your name. The story's title is popular. It's a leading short description (which doesn't always work). This is the story's third day, so it's still relatively visible.

One reason that views last after the first day is that people will bookmark and come back later. They can do that in their browser (the only option if they aren't logged in), which leaves no other record on your stats. I used to think that was probably a trivial effect before one of my followers posted that he had 30,000 bookmarks in his browser that he was transitioning to lists.

The story can also get visibility in sidebars like "similar stories" and you'd never know.

The typos probably don't effect your score. I think most voters respond with whether they like your story, not with a critique of the quality of your writing or your editing.

I don't find it odd that your score dipped as the views mounted. When you cast a wider net you also bring in voters who aren't prone to liking your story.

Hadn't thought of the bookmark thing...

 

[iwatchus]

I know when I was purely a reader, I would often look at the list of random stories it would give me in my category de jour

 

[NotWise]

Hadn't thought of the bookmark thing...

I'm an incurable geek, so I've built a way to estimate how many votes come from the major links like the New list, contest pages, and so on.

"Primary" views are from the New List and category hub (I can't distinguish those two). Typically they produce half of their votes within less than a day. The rest are spread out over the following week, sometimes more. "Secondary" views are from people who've bookmarked the story and/or viewed it multiple times. They usually take place over a period of weeks to months after publication. I pulled up one case as an example, and in it the secondary views total a little under half of what came from the New List and the category hub combined. In the long run, the "At Large" views from the ether can be larger than all other sources.

But that's just a model and all models are wrong.

 

[iwatchus]

"Primary" views are from the New List and category hub (I can't distinguish those two).

I wonder if Manu tracks any of this by link. He certainly could gather data in much more detail than we can ever guesstimate.

Both as an author and as a data geek, it would be fascinating to know more precise information.