Stat Junkie: when does it end?

[Rockofmarriages]

As a new author I'm fascinated (obsessed?) with tracking the stats on my stories.

I'm finding:

Number of Views:
Wow, really? That number of people actually read my stories? Crazy.

Scores & Voting:
Both a source of pride and worry. I'm probably a bit hyper-competitive.

Comments:
Actually encouraging; I'm ignoring the negative ones as I have no clue as to why someone would bother finishing a story they don't like.

For those authors that have been around the block a few times. Do you continue to keep an eye on the metrics?

RoM

 

[Nezhul]

Number of Views:
Wow, really? That number of people actually read my stories? Crazy.

Viewed, not read. As I understand, if your story is 7 pages long and 1 person reads it once, you get 7 views. Something like that.
If a person opens your story and closes it after 15 seconds, you get a view too.

 

[TxRad]

Viewed, not read. As I understand, if your story is 7 pages long and 1 person reads it once, you get 7 views. Something like that.
If a person opens your story and closes it after 15 seconds, you get a view too.

Nope, both of those are wrong. one view per story, regardless of number of pages on said story clicked.

There is no time limit on how long you are on a page. The initial click is what counts as a view.

Some views are bots but over the last few years a lot of those have been eliminated.

 

[ElectricBlue]

For those authors that have been around the block a few times. Do you continue to keep an eye on the metrics?

Yes, but not obsessively. Every six month or so i update a spreadsheet with the latest number of views, the latest score, number of faves for all my stories. I calculate some simple metrics which sorta kinda tell me something - I pretty much track the relative "success" of different stories against each other. But I've got too many submissions now, so it takes too long. I keep a rough mental eye on the stats, so I can see any shift in trends. Not that I can do anything about it.

 

[Nezhul]

There is no time limit on how long you are on a page. The initial click is what counts as a view.

I must have said it wrong. I didn't mean any time limit. I meant that someone may not have read your story, but that counts as a view.

 

[NOIRTRASH]

Stats are for mediocre scribblers.

The best writers obsess over quality.

 

[TxRad]

Stats are for mediocre scribblers.

The best writers obsess over quality.

And you have proof of those two statements where?

 

[TxRad]

I must have said it wrong. I didn't mean any time limit. I meant that someone may not have read your story, but that counts as a view.

That is correct, just a click is a view not a read.

Views doesn't mean reads and votes doesn't mean a sale.

 

[Emmeline]

I'm a stat watcher as well. For me the compulsion does lessen over time. I still give them glance over every few days.

 

[NOIRTRASH]

I cant tell you the name of the black guy who beat Clay Aiken for AMERICAN IDOL champ. Whoever he was vanished without a trace after he was crowned, Clay had real talent and lasted a lot longer, but wasn't the champ

Reuben was the name!.

 

[riverboy]

I just write what I like, and keep working at getting better. I have comments turned off, so that tells you a little about what I'm obsessed with. I keep an eye on vote scores, but not obsessively. Red H's make me happy, so maybe there's more to it than I want to admit. The occasional comments I get by email inspire me.

Keep writing. Write what makes YOU happy.

 

[sunandshadow]

Have you considered playing an MMO instead? They have enough stats for anyone.

 

[JackLuis]

I was tracking my Spreading Seeds Sagas for the last year. The scores were real good but the top list is rigged. Saga #1 (4.86 and H)should be in the top 30 for the last 12 months but isn't even on the list? It's not because of too few votes as several stories with fewer votes are listed.

I don't pay much attention to scores anymore after I had votes and views cut by large numbers after a few months. But the composite scores didn't change much.

 

[CeasarBoobage]

I'm not always interested in the stats, but I do make a point of tracking them. Once a week I'll save the page that lists the stats, then about once a month (or two), I'll put everything into a spreadsheet so I can track views and scores. I know it doesn't matter in the long run, but I like to geek out sometimes, lol. Right now I've got 45 stories, so this data entry is a pain in the rear, but a half hour a month of typing numbers isn't so bad.

When I have a new story go live, then I'll check the stats on that one a few times a day. It's always interesting to me to see how the new ones do. The day of the week, whether or not there are holidays involved, the category, etc, they all play a part. I've had a LW story get about 20k views in the first week as well as a Exhib/Voyeur one get 2k in the same amount of time.

I tell myself that I can try to spot trends so I can get the right audience at the right time, but it doesn't matter in the end. It's not like I'm getting paid for page views or scores, but it is fun to see how much of a jump in views my other stories get when a new one goes online.

 

[lovecraft68]

For me interest in stats waned when I started realizing that there are factors involved in them that really have nothing to do with the story being good or bad.

That and after awhile it just gets-at least it has for me- a 'whatever' feeling. An H? X votes/views/comments? Whatever...

That and another thing that takes any appeal out of having good numbers is the constant yammering that goes on that no high scoring story on a top list deserves it.

According to some here all lit readers are pretty much mouth breathers and the only thing they base that on is the readers are liking other people's stories but not theirs.

Show me someone ranting about how top list stories, and Red H stories and contest winning stories or stories with high statistics all suck....

And I'll show you someone who has none of those.

But on the flip side and to be fair, yes there are people who skew their numbers or once you have a certain rep or fan base they will five everything you do unless you go out of your way to tick them off.

So between all of those things and concentrating a lot more on pay market and different material I've reached the point of caring little what my numbers are.

 

[HandsInTheDark]

Scores aren't useful because they don't measure anything you care about. The signal to noise is bad. 4.75 is generally better than 4.25, but the differences aren't always as profound as you'd expect.

Views, as noted, basically tell you how many people at least opened the story; aka, were intrigued by the title, or bored. It doesn't mean they read anything.

The toplists are hacked by either authors or rabid fans; when your story gets to the first page of a top list, it gets mysteriously hammered down. All it takes is a handful of 4 votes to sink a story off the first page.

Comments and email are how you find out how you're affecting people.

Nothing here tells you how well you're writing.

 

[Hypoxia]

Don't get hang-up on the numbers. Cherish the Likes and comments.

 

[Voboy]

When does it end?

Once you decide to stop worrying about it.

Surely you know whether you've written a good story; isn't that what matters?