Statistics - Is that a 'four letter word?'

[dmallord]

I noted some professional writers here who have bantered about some numbers on ranks of authors and assorted Lit statistics. Is that something that is that is readily available for review? I learned how to get some data downloaded on my home page recently and was wondering how they might stack up against other writings.

I put that download into Excel and massaged it - then tried to paste those numbers here, but they do not align themselves very well. They do not stay in their respective columns! I also attempted a PDF upload but that does not seem to work either.

So ... I am attempting just a summary of the 24 stories with 16 Red H's in ten months of writing on Lit below:

total views 250,312
total votes 5,393
total comments 104

average rate 4.497
average views 10,429
average votes 224.7
average comments 4.33
highest rate 4.76
lowest rate 3.87
highest views 32,899
lowest views 1,273 [This my last post that went up yesterday! so it's a low number]

Penny for your thoughts on my progress?
dmallord

 

[ElectricBlue]

Given your main category of choice, the numbers don't surprise me. Seems like you're doing well.

Unless other writers publish similar analyses, you'll get no comparisons unless you go data scrubbing like 8letters has recently.

It's a bit of a mug's game comparing your results file against some one else's, because you're not comparing apples with apples. The categories folk write in introduce too many dissimilar variables.

Use the data to compare your own stories against each other, sure, but I wouldn't go drawing too many conclusions against other writers.

 

[8letters]

This will help you figure out what is "normal" for your categories.

 

[MillieDynamite]

I have done one incest story here to date, it has 20 favorites, 31,053 downloads, has a score of 4.27 on 158 votes, and 7 comments. It is father and daughter, and held a 4.5 or higher until it's 40th vote but sank to where it is now and hasn't budged for 50 or so votes.

 

[SimonDoom]

It's hard to compare stats, because the numbers for different categories vary so dramatically. You cannot compare the statistics for Incest, the most popular category, with those of any other category, for instance.

It also depends on how long you've been publishing. Authors who have been around longer will have piled up much larger stats. You've only been publishing last year.

Scanning your submission list and your data, you should feel good. Your stories have scored well and they're getting some good reader totals, and you're writing across a number of different categories.

 

[HeyAll]

This will help you figure out what is "normal" for your categories.

Those are great stats. Thanks for sharing.

 

[NotWise]

I'd say I'm not doing bad for someone who's never taken a creative writing class. Could be better, but I'm working on that and think my self-edits are getting better as I go along (my two lowest-rated were not edited at all). Getting some really great input from editors that volunteered to help me out, too.

I took a creative writing class. No-one can teach you how to create, and they didn't try. It was more like an exercise in accepting other people's ways of creating. Accepting variety frees you to do what you need to do.

 

[NotWise]

Everything I know about writing has come from observing, reading, and doing. I still have a *lot* to learn and a million ways I can improve. Not the least of which is proper comma use, which always fucking trips me up. But also storytelling style. The imagination is there, the technique not so much, lol.

Comma use is technical. It' isn't a creative writing issue. It's an editing issue, but that's different.

Story telling style is your voice. No one can give that too you. You need to become comfortable with your own voice. You can learn from others, but ultimately it has to be your voice.

You can experiment with different voices, and that might help your confidence.

I'm not great at openers. I think I'm okay with character development. Not great at world building because I get caught up in the characters instead of their settings. My anxiety shows in my writing and that's something I'm trying to eliminate through editing.

Great openers are nice, but what you think is a lame opening might be draw for someone else. Don't assume that you need to build a glittering setting. For a lot of stories, two people are all that's important.

All you need to do is tell a story. Build your characters if that's how you need to approach it, and let the world be fuzzy. Let your anxiety show through. What the hell -- showcase your anxiety. Make it part of your voice.

 

[lovecraft68]

Everything I know about writing has come from observing, reading, and doing. I still have a *lot* to learn and a million ways I can improve. Not the least of which is proper comma use, which always fucking trips me up. But also storytelling style. The imagination is there, the technique not so much, lol.

I'm not great at openers. I think I'm okay with character development. Not great at world building because I get caught up in the characters instead of their settings. My anxiety shows in my writing and that's something I'm trying to eliminate through editing.

Whoa, whoa whoa....slow your roll here. We're talking about stats in this thread. Stats, not writing, is what the AH is all about, its what really matters....so you take your talking about writing elsewhere young lady before someone makes a graph out of you

 

[Zeb_Carter]

Stats...

I have my favorite coffee cup to remind me of what I think of stats...

It has MEH on the side of it.

 

[Kumquatqueen]

I'd be fascinated to see a Venn diagram between those who like stats and their other kinks.

 

[SimonDoom]

I'd be fascinated to see a Venn diagram between those who like stats and their other kinks.

That would be interesting.

Any speculations?

 

[astuffedshirt_perv]

average rate 4.497
average votes 224.7

Did you/should you average your ratings stand alone or normalized? For example, with a story rated a 5 with 3 votes and a story rated 3 with 7 votes, is your average (5+3)/2=4 or is it (5*3+3*7)/10=3.6?

 

[Panty Wrangler]

I noted some professional writers here who have bantered about some numbers on ranks of authors and assorted Lit statistics. Is that something that is that is readily available for review? I learned how to get some data downloaded on my home page recently and was wondering how they might stack up against other writings.

I put that download into Excel and massaged it - then tried to paste those numbers here, but they do not align themselves very well. They do not stay in their respective columns! I also attempted a PDF upload but that does not seem to work either.

So ... I am attempting just a summary of the 24 stories with 16 Red H's in ten months of writing on Lit below:

total views 250,312
total votes 5,393
total comments 104

average rate 4.497
average views 10,429
average votes 224.7
average comments 4.33
highest rate 4.76
lowest rate 3.87
highest views 32,899
lowest views 1,273 [This my last post that went up yesterday! so it's a low number]

Penny for your thoughts on my progress?
dmallord

As others have pointed out it's not Apples to Apples here, but I think you may have a handle on something else that could be interesting or useful for you. for example, I'd toss out the averages, or at best keep them as a curiosity. What I think might be more interesting, and at least closer to an Apples to Apples comparison, would be to chart your own personal progress over time.

You've got the data you'll need in your download. Use the date published for X and then plot curves for rating, favorites, views, etc. Why not look at that? You might find that helps you with some navel-gazing to see how you've personally improved, or if there've been any inflection points where you can identify the impact of some positive (or negative?) influence.

Ultimately, though, you're writing for you. It's wonderful when readers who are along for the ride enjoy it too; but if you're not writing for you then why bother? We're paid in pixels here.

 

[Panty Wrangler]

I'd be fascinated to see a Venn diagram between those who like stats and their other kinks.

Correlation between Statistics and BDSM -> 1.0?

 

[SimonDoom]

As others have pointed out it's not Apples to Apples here, but I think you may have a handle on something else that could be interesting or useful for you. for example, I'd toss out the averages, or at best keep them as a curiosity. What I think might be more interesting, and at least closer to an Apples to Apples comparison, would be to chart your own personal progress over time.

You've got the data you'll need in your download. Use the date published for X and then plot curves for rating, favorites, views, etc. Why not look at that? You might find that helps you with some navel-gazing to see how you've personally improved, or if there've been any inflection points where you can identify the impact of some positive (or negative?) influence.

Ultimately, though, you're writing for you. It's wonderful when readers who are along for the ride enjoy it too; but if you're not writing for you then why bother? We're paid in pixels here.

I do this. I have a master Literotica Story Stats Excel Spreadsheet. A few times a week I download the data file and load it into the Excel sheet, where over time I keep track of all my stories' views, votes, comments, scores, and favorites. I also keep track of my follower totals.

It's not that helpful to compare your stats with the stats of others, because as you say it's not an apples to apples comparison. Category choice is a huge factor. But data can be interesting to chart trends in your own stories.

My attitude is that the Site provides a variety of tools and I find it interesting to learn how to use them to maximize my ability to reach out to readers.

 

[Panty Wrangler]

I'm a bit confused by the last two statistics in the download: "In reading lists" and "Reading lists". The former is apparently the number of readers who've marked the story as a favorite, but what is the latter? In my sample size of 2, the latter is always larger.

 

[SimonDoom]

I'm a bit confused by the last two statistics in the download: "In reading lists" and "Reading lists". The former is apparently the number of readers who've marked the story as a favorite, but what is the latter? In my sample size of 2, the latter is always larger.

It's confusing and frustrating that they labeled them this way because it's not at all obvious.

The first list, I believe, is favorites. The second list is a combination of favorites and bookmarks.

 

[Panty Wrangler]

It's confusing and frustrating that they labeled them this way because it's not at all obvious.

The first list, I believe, is favorites. The second list is a combination of favorites and bookmarks.

OK, that makes sense. I think I'd have rather seen bookmarks separately, but whatever. The information is there and we can make of it what we will.

 

[lovecraft68]

I like stats because I like fucking around with numbers.

I'm also a masochist.

There's probably a relation between the two.

I have a borderline uncanny ability with numbers, if you ever saw the movie "Rain Man" I'm close. I get into sports stats to the nth degree, and other number related things, example comic books who appeared in what issue blah blah

The stats here don't appeal to me, maybe its because there's so many variables to every one of them that I find them a bit meaningless. Then you get into the games that go on and none of it seems real.

 

[gordo12]

I noted some professional writers here who have bantered about some numbers on ranks of authors and assorted Lit statistics. Is that something that is that is readily available for review? I learned how to get some data downloaded on my home page recently and was wondering how they might stack up against other writings.

I put that download into Excel and massaged it - then tried to paste those numbers here, but they do not align themselves very well. They do not stay in their respective columns! I also attempted a PDF upload but that does not seem to work either.

So ... I am attempting just a summary of the 24 stories with 16 Red H's in ten months of writing on Lit below:

total views 250,312
total votes 5,393
total comments 104

average rate 4.497
average views 10,429
average votes 224.7
average comments 4.33
highest rate 4.76
lowest rate 3.87
highest views 32,899
lowest views 1,273 [This my last post that went up yesterday! so it's a low number]

Penny for your thoughts on my progress?
dmallord

You're doing fine. the information to take out of the stats is confidence. Obviously, people aren't rejecting your stories which should give you the confidence to continue writing.

Choice of category makes a huge diff in stats here so comparing isn't always beneficial. Incest is a huge category here and the stats like LC's 37+ million views are staggering. That's the population of Canada. Or you could write in Erotic Horror and be lucky to have had 25,000 readers, not 250,000.

The figures also age. For instance, your vote-to-view ratio is approx 1/50. Mine for example has been as low as 1/15 to 1/25. But as the stories age (and I'm not putting up much new stuff) readers tend NOT to vote or comment. Mine has aged to 1/30 now. So it changes with time.

All-in-all, here's your message: Confidence! You're doing well. Keep it up!

 

[oggbashan]

The only statistic I look at is the number of followers.

At the start of 2021, I had a few over 1,000. Now I have over 1,200. It is creeping up week by week.

 

[dmallord]

Absolutely MUST read Note

Did you/should you average your ratings stand alone or normalized? For example, with a story rated a 5 with 3 votes and a story rated 3 with 7 votes, is your average (5+3)/2=4 or is it (5*3+3*7)/10=3.6?

That is absolutely a very astute observation! My average was done stand alone. Of course normalization should have been used. I completely forgot about that aspect of comparing dissimilar data. My one and only statistics class was back in the early 1970's so I never thought of that terminology or method in the case of comparing the data as you did presently.

I had to look up normalized data as a refresher: "Normalization is a good technique to use when you do not know the distribution of your data or when you know the distribution is not Gaussian (a bell curve). Normalization is useful when your data has varying scales and the algorithm you are using does not make assumptions about the distribution of your data ..."

All of which is to say, your suggestion answers the comments of not being able to compare apples to oranges ... statistically using normalization, you can compare Lit stories across categories. It just takes a bit more expertise to do so.

Thank you for the example you included - it certainly helped me to understand the question you posed. Without the clarification I might just have dismissed you question. The example you provided points out clearly that normalization is needed to be able to compare one story to another even in a writer's own works and within the same category as the number of votes will certainly be different!

I will be revising my charts to get a better/more accurate assessment.

 

[dmallord]

Thank you for the vote of confidence gordo12! I read 'Homeless' and had that warm fuzzy glow that despite the harsh realities in the world, hop remains for the masses. It was a nice story amidst all the current crude we are experiencing with the pandemic.

dmallord

 

[gordo12]

Thank you for the vote of confidence gordo12! I read 'Homeless' and had that warm fuzzy glow that despite the harsh realities in the world, hop remains for the masses. It was a nice story amidst all the current crude we are experiencing with the pandemic.

dmallord

Warm fuzzy glow...hmmm, that was an extra $9.95 charge. I trust I can send you the bill?

Seriously, thanks for the compliment.