Readership decline throughout a series

[Sinisterinfant]

So I've just stated to submit to the site and its been maybe the most rewarding and positive experience since I put word to page.

I've put out two stories in a series and notices that the first really took off and a bunch of people read it, way more then I ever thought would ever read anything I ever wrote. Watching those metrics tic up everyday has been so cool.

When I put out the second part I still got a lot of really great feed back with people who favorite and who rate, but the overall page views is down almost exactly 50%. I haven't been discouraged because the rest of the feed back is so exciting. It was just weird to me that not everyone who saw the first went o the second an that the divide is basically half as much.

Is that normal for a series on the site? Am I whittling down my readers to some kind of core? Just trying manage my expectations as I continue submitting stories. Any perspective from some of the more experienced authors would be appreciated. Thanks

 

[johneb87]

It seems to be normal. Not only does it happen with mine, but I've seen a decline of vote counts and comments in later chapters of other series. But keep the motivation to continue your story, even if there is some time between updates. There seem to be many good series that abruptly stop and die out unfortunately.

 

[damppanties]

John's right, there's usually a decline throughout the story but there might be a few things to think about too. What was the gap between the two releases? Sometimes, a gap of more than a week means the readers who read the first part either forget or wander away. Letting readers know on your author page when the next installment is coming out might be a good idea.

Another reason for the drop in readership is that first time readers are more likely to click on "Sex Story Ch. 1" in the New stories list than "Sex Story Ch. 2," so ch. 1 gets more reads. Also, the first timers who want to read ch. 2 will most probably click through to your author page and read ch. 1 first, further boosting up its views.

 

[sr71plt]

There's more than a month gap between the posting of chapter 1 and 2. It's a stretch to expect folks to sit hanging that long and remember they were reading the series--and new folks can't be counted on to open a chapter 2 from the new list.

 

[johneb87]

There's more than a month gap between the posting of chapter 1 and 2. It's a stretch to expect folks to sit hanging that long and remember they were reading the series--and new folks can't be counted on to open a chapter 2 from the new list.

Haha, so at six months I'm screwed.

 

[slyc_willie]

Haha, so at six months I'm screwed.

Honestly, yeah, there's a good chance. I learned what happens when you leave loyal fans of a series hanging for too long. Because of that, I decided to pull an entire (almost entire -- it's still unfinished) series I had started way back in 2008. But better to do that than leave it unresolved. I've lost quite a few fans because of it, but I felt I had to do it. Fans are fickle. Keep them happy and they'll stick around. Make them wait too long and they'll look for someone else.

 

[sr71plt]

Haha, so at six months I'm screwed.

I would think so, yes. And you wouldn't get any sympathy from me. I would think that readers are getting tired of investing time/effort in series that never finish--which are legion on Literotica--or that they have to keep straight in their minds for months before they see another installment. I'd just give all of those a pass as not reader friendly.

I'll continue to suggest that you not start posting until it's all done and both you and the reader can be confident it's going to be completed. Lately on my series, I've been posting in front of the first chapter how many chapters there are and a time frame for the posting of the last chapter--and I submit a new chapter immediately after the previous chapter has posted and I've seen that there were no problems in that one posting.

 

[johneb87]

I would think so, yes. And you wouldn't get any sympathy from me. I would think that readers are getting tired of investing time/effort in series that never finish--which are legion on Literotica--or that they have to keep straight in their minds for months before they see another installment. I'd just give all of those a pass as not reader friendly.

I'll continue to suggest that you not start posting until it's all done and both you and the reader can be confident it's going to be completed. Lately on my series, I've been posting in front of the first chapter how many chapters there are and a time frame for the posting of the last chapter--and I submit a new chapter immediately after the previous chapter has posted and I've seen that there were no problems in that one posting.

I will probably do that with my next series. This one I didn't even expect to continue. I thought the first chapter was going to be a flop and would have moved on. Luckily I still have a few loyal readers that I keep in contact with and have also been making updates to my bio and story comments to remind them that I am still working on it. I just write reeeeaaaalllyyy sssslllloooowww.

 

[Bramblethorn]

When I put out the second part I still got a lot of really great feed back with people who favorite and who rate, but the overall page views is down almost exactly 50%. I haven't been discouraged because the rest of the feed back is so exciting. It was just weird to me that not everyone who saw the first went o the second an that the divide is basically half as much.

Is that normal for a series on the site? Am I whittling down my readers to some kind of core? Just trying manage my expectations as I continue submitting stories. Any perspective from some of the more experienced authors would be appreciated. Thanks

That's about what I experienced. I posted a 14-chapter story, about a month between instalments. Chapter 1 has 33k hits/366 votes, Chapter 2 has 22k/317, down to 6k/159 for the final chapter.

I imagine part of that's due to readers dropping out along the way, but part is also due to the older chapters having been up longer. Chapter 1 got 22k views in its first 285 days (when I started keeping count) and picked up another 11k in the next 200 days.

 

[NaokoSmith]

Haha, so at six months I'm screwed.

Is that a wish or a hope? LOL.

My series has loads more downloads for Chapt 1 than later chapters. I think some people gave it a go then decided it wasn't their thing, which is . I also think that sometimes people go back to read through the earlier chapters when a new one has come out, to remind themselves of the story. Some of the chapters are just storyline; the ones that have got sex in seem to jump in numbers of download too for some reason.

That's great that your story has had such good feedback . I do find this site really for providing warm friendly encouraging feedback. When you get critical feedback it can often be very helpful, too. I have had some really nicely put critical remarks on some of my stories.

Apart from in Loving Wives, of course, which is just for big game hunters.

 

[soflabbwlvr]

All points are spot on, and good advice provided. The one thing I would add is that you can sometimes see a dramatic swing in both directions if you post your story chapters in different categories. I'm not recommending that anyone do so, but I have seen later chapters score significantly higher views/votes/scores than earlier chapters when they were posted in categories with larger readerships. Also, getting lazy and then becoming more ambitious in your tagline can also result in an upswing for later chapters.

 

[sr71plt]

My chapters, posting within three or four days of each other, don't follow a steady drop-off pattern. Views, votes, and scores vary wildly from chapter to chapter. I put them all in one category.

 

[MatthewVett]

I think it's inevitable. People are less likely to start a movie half an hour in than from the beginning. The good thing, though, is that you tend to get a lot of repeat readers who loved the first one, and so the score tends to go up, even as readership goes down.

 

[Bramblethorn]

All points are spot on, and good advice provided. The one thing I would add is that you can sometimes see a dramatic swing in both directions if you post your story chapters in different categories. I'm not recommending that anyone do so, but I have seen later chapters score significantly higher views/votes/scores than earlier chapters when they were posted in categories with larger readerships. Also, getting lazy and then becoming more ambitious in your tagline can also result in an upswing for later chapters.

It can also depend a lot on where your story shows up when it's first posted. I've had chapters that sat at the top of the "New Stories" list for a day, and others that got buried halfway down page 2 by a flood of contest entries, and it certainly makes a difference to the hit count.

 

[lovecraft68]

Yes, as a series moves on you lose vote totals and views.

However the reward is you end up with only people who are truly invested in the series and your scores should go up.

First chapters will normally be the highest viewed and with the highest total of votes, but many times a lower score than higher chapters.

 

[JAMESBJOHNSON]

You peeps give readers too much credit for brains. I suspect that the average reader has no idea how to find new chapters.