I'm baffled

[NotWise]

Why don't I get reader comments? The trend toward no comments at all seems to be growing.

My most recent story posted this morning (in I/T) and I've had a good number of views--12,000 or something so far today. To go with that I've had 60 votes and a grand total of three (count them, three) reader comments. One of those wasn't even pertinent to the story.

So that's a grand one vote for every 200 views and almost nothing for comments. This was the end of a two-part story. About one out of nine or 10 of the people who viewed this story followed the link to part one. In the absence of anything else I took that as feedback. Anything in a vacuum, right?

I actually came to Lit to get feedback on my writing. This is really annoying.

 

[Tio_Narratore]

Back under Dubya's reign in Texas, the State went for "accountability" in education. Success was measured by multiple choice tests, and schools that scored high received bonus funding. The Principals generally used the bonus to buy software that would help boost their m-c grades even higher for more bonus money. But there was a price for it.

The Texas Board of Regents ended up complaining that the high school grads entering university were all very good at multiple choice; they could read a short story, and identify the plot from a list of five possibilities, but they were completely unable to write the plot in their own words.

The problem is, of course, more extensive, and I think this is what you're facing. Readers can pick the number of stars reflecting their view of the story, but are completely incapable of formulating a statement about it on their own.

You might try offering a list of possible comments for readers to select from to give you "substantive" feedback.

 

[sr71plt]

What baffles me is authors expecting they're going to get many comments at all on a sex reading site that puts no pressure on a reader to provide reaction. This baffling thought that there should be more comments--often expressed like it was a right for the author to get comments if the story is opened--just goes on and on over the years without producing more comments and or the acceptance that comments are going to be rare on a Web site set up as Literotica is.

 

[NotWise]

You might try offering a list of possible comments for readers to select from to give you "substantive" feedback.

I don't expect the readers to give me "substantive" feedback. That ain't their job. ANY response from the readers would be a change. "You should die and I want to rape your daughter." Even that would be feedback.

Suddenly I'm understanding the appeal of LW.

 

[Tio_Narratore]

I don't expect the readers to give me "substantive" feedback. That ain't their job. ANY response from the readers would be a change. "You should die and I want to rape your daughter." Even that would be feedback.

Suddenly I'm understanding the appeal of LW.

My suggestion was offered facetiously, and I would consider "you should die and I want to rape your daughter" as substantive, if not literary, feedback. Most of that sort of comment I've received has been on LW, where the readers seem prone to believe we're writing non-fiction.

 

[NotWise]

What baffles me is authors expecting they're going to get many comments at all on a sex reading site that puts no pressure on a reader to provide reaction. This baffling thought that there should be more comments--often expressed like it was a right for the author to get comments if the story is opened--just goes on and on over the years without producing more comments and or the acceptance that comments are going to be rare on a Web site set up as Literotica is.

Pilot, I counted like 50+ words in that second sentence, and maybe 3 different ideas. Talk to your editor.

I'm baffled because my experience and input from this forum leads me to expect more feedback than I'm getting.

 

[TxRad]

I'm baffled because my experience and input from this forum leads me to expect more feedback than I'm getting.

You want comments? Give the reader something to comment on. Sounds simple but it ain't. Some stories that I thought I did that got nothing and then another story that I expected nothing got dozens of comments. Baffling? Yes.

Given that the average reader here is more interested in getting off than reading a complete story, I'm surprised we get as many votes as we do. Large numbers of comments may be asking too much of the average reader.

 

[sr71plt]

Pilot, I counted like 50+ words in that second sentence, and maybe 3 different ideas. Talk to your editor.

I'm baffled because my experience and input from this forum leads me to expect more feedback than I'm getting.

Your bafflement borders on not being the brightest bulb in the chandelier.

I'll ignore the nasty crack about my not writing for elementary school students and just repeat that readers aren't required here to give you a lot of comments on your stories, and you can certainly be baffled for twenty years here if you like, but it's your problem and isn't likely to change. It's getting more than a little tiresome that you and other authors can't recognize reality and your lack of entitlement in this regard.

The question was asked elsewhere on the forum today why more substantive discussions aren't coming up often here anymore. My response to that holds--it's largely because those who could talk deeper substance get "he just can't accept reality and get the system here" complaints like that of your thread two and three times a week. You pull the forum down by droning away on not just being able to "get it."

You aren't entitled to either a vote or a comment on your stories and that's reality on Literotica. Your complaint about that is tiresome.

 

[geronimo_appleby]

Your bafflement borders on not being the brightest bulb in the chandelier.

I'll ignore the nasty crack about my not writing for elementary school students and just repeat that readers aren't required here to give you a lot of comments on your stories, and you can certainly be baffled for twenty years here if you like, but it's your problem and isn't likely to change. It's getting more than a little tiresome that you and other authors can't recognize reality and your lack of entitlement in this regard.

The question was asked elsewhere on the forum today why more substantive discussions aren't coming up often here anymore. My response to that holds--it's largely because those who could talk deeper substance get "he just can't accept reality and get the system here" complaints like that of your thread two and three times a week. You pull the forum down by droning away not just being able to "get it."

You aren't entitled to either a vote or a comment on your stories and that's reality on Literotica. Your complaint about that is tiresome.

why do you do this? ^^^

why?

 

[sr71plt]

Because someone has to be the voice of reason here. We can't all be back-biting one-liner cunts like you.

 

[geronimo_appleby]

Because someone has to be the voice of reason here. We can't all be back-biting one-liner cunts like you.

LOLz. deluded.

 

[SilenceDances]

As someone who was a reader for a long time, only a writer very recently, and only joined the forums a few days ago... At first, I thought that WaterBurn (one of the first authors I read here) was just being over-the-top when she would talk about wanting comments. Until I read end-notes that explained what commenting and voting did for the author, I had no clue that it meant anything. I would only comment when I was so in love with the story that I didn't want it to end.

As for voting, I wouldn't vote unless the story deserved a five, because I didn't know that authors needed more votes rather than higher votes.

 

[geronimo_appleby]

As someone who was a reader for a long time, only a writer very recently, and only joined the forums a few days ago... At first, I thought that WaterBurn (one of the first authors I read here) was just being over-the-top when she would talk about wanting comments. Until I read end-notes that explained what commenting and voting did for the author, I had no clue that it meant anything. I would only comment when I was so in love with the story that I didn't want it to end.

As for voting, I wouldn't vote unless the story deserved a five, because I didn't know that authors needed more votes rather than higher votes.

sometimes a simple comment can be a boost.

 

[NOIRTRASH]

Growing up my feedback was based on performance and the conventional wisdom of IT IS WHAT IT IS. There were no participation trophies, and close didn't count. I never got picked for sports teams, but always got elected to leadership positions, because I know what people like to do, I know how to make events interesting.

In sixty years we've gone from performance based feedback to affirmative action where all get trophies and kind words, and seldom is heard a discouraging word. Suggest to the writer they rely too much on telling, and you invite trouble. I suspect readers are weary of kissing our asses, yet have no fugging clue how to express where our wares fail or can be improved. Plain speaking is rude and discouraged.

Try asking for feedback from writers you respect. Send them a PM for a look-see and a brief opinion that's useful. I prefer USEFUL to CONSTRUCTIVE.

 

[oggbashan]

Many of my stories have been posted for years without attracting a single comment.

I tend to get more comments on contest entries than on stories posted outside a contest. Some of my non-contest stories took over a year to reach 10 votes.

Even anonymous who doesn't like Femdom has read the story before he (presumably he) comments. Why read a story when you don't like the theme? I don't know but at least he makes the effort to express his opinion in coherent sentences. Thank you - I think.

I used to post stories on Yahoo Adult Groups. With a few shining exceptions, most of my stories passed without any notice being taken of them. I felt that I was expending a massive effort for no response of any kind. At least on Literotica I get a view counter and votes. Comments are a bonus.

 

[tomlitilia]

I think my average is around one comment per 5000 views, so yours doesn't seem low to me. For the one LW story I've posted, I got about a 100 comments after 120000 reads, but we all know how "variable" those comments can be. I'm not sure it's what you're looking for.

 

[Kantarii]

I've come to accept the fact most people aren't going to comment or vote on my stories I write. That alone will never discourage me from a passion I enjoy. One meaningful comment is worth its weight in gold to me compared to no comment or 1,000's of bullshit comments, let alone the bullshit silent vote.

 

[tomlitilia]

There is also the feedback forum you can try.

 

[HandsInTheDark]

I don't expect the readers to give me "substantive" feedback. That ain't their job. ANY response from the readers would be a change. "You should die and I want to rape your daughter." Even that would be feedback.

Suddenly I'm understanding the appeal of LW.

When I got here, I did a lot of checking and determined that about 1 reader in 100 was voting and far fewer were commenting. It's gone down over the last couple years. I don't care about views and scores anymore, just red H's, so I wouldn't attempt to say how much it's gone down. But 1:200 seems like a fair guess. No idea what's behind the trend or how universal it is. (Unless Lit 2.0 is much, much better at sharing data with authors, I'm not going to put effort into tracking these things.)

Maybe your category is part of the problem? I don't read or write Incest myself so I'm guessing here, but I don't see that reader group as fundamentally thoughtful. Try romance or reluctance; there are likely more females reading and females seem to be better at providing comments, and presumably scores.

Remember that views don't correspond to people who read all the way through. In a two part story, I take the number of views on the 2nd chapter to be roughly proportional to the number who actually finished the first. As a rule of thumb, 1/2 to 1/3rd of people who read chapter 1 go on to chapter 2, for me at least. The decline continues (much more slowly) across later chapters. Maybe few very people ever see any stars to click on.

It's simplest to not expect much, and then to be surprised and pleased if you do get feedback. My stories have put me in contact with a small handful of people (and one in particular) and that has made me very happy. Red H's generally make me smile. Other metrics... who cares. The site's not good at giving them anyway.

 

[HandsInTheDark]

As someone who was a reader for a long time, only a writer very recently, and only joined the forums a few days ago... At first, I thought that WaterBurn (one of the first authors I read here) was just being over-the-top when she would talk about wanting comments. Until I read end-notes that explained what commenting and voting did for the author, I had no clue that it meant anything. I would only comment when I was so in love with the story that I didn't want it to end.

As for voting, I wouldn't vote unless the story deserved a five, because I didn't know that authors needed more votes rather than higher votes.

This. Readers have no idea where votes go or why they matter to anyone. Maybe Lit could put a standard plea by the stars, something like

"Authors rely on these stars and comments for improvement and encouragement. Please rate this story! By doing so you keep the interest of writers engaged, get them writing more stories, and help out your fellow readers. Thanks."

I bet that would raise voting a whole 5-10%. Maybe.

By the way, Silence - gorgeous avatar. That's exactly how I imagine my readers after reading one of my stories.

 

[Bramblethorn]

I think my average is around one comment per 5000 views, so yours doesn't seem low to me. For the one LW story I've posted, I got about a 100 comments after 120000 reads, but we all know how "variable" those comments can be. I'm not sure it's what you're looking for.

It seems to vary a LOT by category and story type. Looking through mine, I have one that has 60k views but only 8 non-me comments (so about 7300 views/comment) and another with 13 comments off just 4k views (330 views/comment), with the rest falling somewhere in between those.

The first of those two is one where I did a bad job at blurb-writing. The blurb makes it sound like stroke, which it isn't, and I suspect a lot of people were pulled in by the blurb and lost interest when they realised it wasn't what they were looking for. It gets more views than any of my other stories and it's also the lowest-rated.

The second is romance/fantasy, posted in SF/F. I squeezed a fair bit into that one (poetry, riddles, religion, two romances, djinn) so there's a lot for people to comment on aside from the sex.

I suspect that stroke-y content and taboo-ish categories are very good at drawing readers but that a lot of those readers will be shy about commenting. People may feel less embarrassed about saying "hey I loved the poetry" than "hey I love incest stories and this did it for me!" But I'd be interested to hear whether stroke/taboo authors have that experience.

 

[geronimo_appleby]

It seems to vary a LOT by category and story type. Looking through mine, I have one that has 60k views but only 8 non-me comments (so about 7300 views/comment) and another with 13 comments off just 4k views (330 views/comment), with the rest falling somewhere in between those.

The first of those two is one where I did a bad job at blurb-writing. The blurb makes it sound like stroke, which it isn't, and I suspect a lot of people were pulled in by the blurb and lost interest when they realised it wasn't what they were looking for. It gets more views than any of my other stories and it's also the lowest-rated.

The second is romance/fantasy, posted in SF/F. I squeezed a fair bit into that one (poetry, riddles, religion, two romances, djinn) so there's a lot for people to comment on aside from the sex.

I suspect that stroke-y content and taboo-ish categories are very good at drawing readers but that a lot of those readers will be shy about commenting. People may feel less embarrassed about saying "hey I loved the poetry" than "hey I love incest stories and this did it for me!" But I'd be interested to hear whether stroke/taboo authors have that experience.

comments usually come in via email. occasionally - especially with first-person pieces - the reader will confuse me (as the writer) with the principal character. assuming it's auto-biographical.

it's been known, under those circumstances, for them to then request a story tailored to their specific ... uh ... 'needs. Which can lead to a wtf moment. i've been very glad of the internetz as a 'buffer' at times!

 

[HandsInTheDark]

it's been known, under those circumstances, for them to then request a story tailored to their specific ... uh ... 'needs. Which can lead to a wtf moment. i've been very glad of the internetz as a 'buffer' at times!

Yeaaaaah. Many fans are people I never want to meet and am nervous about sharing a planet with. It's a mistake to check out the favorites list of a fan. Finding out which authors you share a reader with and what they write about can be beyond humbling, and gets down into disturbing at times.

My bio has a list of topics I will not touch. It's cut down on the weird requests.

 

[NotWise]

I think if I were to average it out across my stories (except the chapter story), it takes about 5000 views to get one comment. I see other stories in the hub with a large number of comments and wonder why.

I've been getting about 40 view per vote on new stories. That number drops off over time. Readers seem more prone to vote on new stories than on old stories.

My most recent story isn't getting anywhere near one vote for 40 views. Over its first 24 hours it got one vote for ~180 views. It looks like 1 in 10 viewers are following the link to part 1 of the story and not voting or commenting on the new story. Over the same 24 hours, the old story got one vote for every 80 views, more or less, and it's been up since last Halloween.

You want comments? Give the reader something to comment on.

I have a decent number of comments on some earlier stories where I did give them something to comment on. Bad endings seem to be most effective that way. Stupid mistakes get a response, too. Maybe I should just take a lack of comments to mean that I didn't give them a bad ending or make many stupid mistakes.

 

[oggbashan]

I can't see your problem.

Many of my stories have 400 to 500 views per single vote and 20,000 views without a single comment.

Edited to add: My worst comment figure is 72,000 and no comments at all, or 72,000 to 90,000 with a single comment.