Busiest days on Lit?

[Emotional]

Does anyone actually track views & votes on a long term basis?

I watch may stats several times a day every day, and notice that Saturdays seem to have three or four more times the traffic as other days.

I should start recording it in a spreadsheet, but wondered if anyone already does it?

 

[Lifestyle66]

I used to obsessively track the stats on my stories, but no longer. If you do track stats daily (hourly, even) you'll find some interesting trends and learn a little about reader behavior.

IE. The number of views on stories in a series change from one story to the next. You might get over 5K views on "chapter 1", and the numbers go down to 3K or 2K with subsequent chapters. Then for some reason, chapter 4 gets 5k or 6K views. It may be the title or description line or where it placed in the New category list which catches more attention. But when I thought about this, I realized each chapter posted separately MUST be able to stand alone, and I can't assume the reader knows the characters from previous chapters. The chapters might be of the same story arc. But I need to describe enough of each reoccurring scene for the new readers.

 

[TadOverdon]

It does seem that Saturday is the wankiest day of the week, yes.

 

[Voboy]

Saturday and Sunday mornings are the only times I can get any privacy in my house. I have to assume there are many other readers just like me...

 

[NotWise]

I recorded views on my stories every weekday for several years. That means the whole weekend got lumped into Monday morning.

The day-to-day difference in the median was very small--less than one view per story per day between the busiest day and the slowest day. The views per story per day over the weekend were about average. The medians were highest early in the week.

The average views per story per day was heavily influenced by the day of publication. I had a pattern of publishing late in the week, so the average views were highest late in the week.

My main takeaway was that, over a long period of time, there was very little difference from day-to-day.

Your mileage may vary.

 

[BobbyBrandt]

IE. The number of views on stories in a series change from one story to the next. You might get over 5K views on "chapter 1", and the numbers go down to 3K or 2K with subsequent chapters. Then for some reason, chapter 4 gets 5k or 6K views. It may be the title or description line or where it placed in the New category list which catches more attention. But when I thought about this, I realized each chapter posted separately MUST be able to stand alone, and I can't assume the reader knows the characters from previous chapters. The chapters might be of the same story arc. But I need to describe enough of each reoccurring scene for the new readers.

Did the analysis that gave you this perception compare chapter stories that were complete, stories that had long periods between chapters being posted, and chapters that posted day after day?

I'm curious if readers of a first chapter of an incomplete story drop off more than readers of the first chapter of a completed story. Since I only post completed chapter stories, I can't compare my own numbers.

 

[SimonDoom]

I've been saving and recording views and followers in an Excel spreadsheet for 5 1/2 years, a few times per week. I save the other data, too, but less often, perhaps once per week.

I've noticed Saturday gets more traffic, but I don't see the disparity the OP sees. It's a mild but noticeable boost.

What's striking to me is the notable degree of stability in daily views for old stories. The numbers will go up somewhat for perhaps a week if I publish a new story in the same category, and every once in a while I'll notice a puzzling spike in views for an old story, presumably because it's getting new visibility by appearing on a list somewhere.

 

[KeithD]

every once in a while I'll notice a puzzling spike in views for an old story, presumably because it's getting new visibility by appearing on a list somewhere.

I've noticed that too. Often when someone favorites an old story, someone else will too very soon afterward. Haven't figured out how that is happening.

 

[Jackie.Hikaru]

Usually weekends are pretty busy, but I saw almost no traffic on any of my stories today and yesterday. Weird!

 

[HopelessDreams]

You might get over 5K views on "chapter 1", and the numbers go down to 3K or 2K with subsequent chapters. Then for some reason, chapter 4 gets 5k or 6K views. It may be the title or description line or where it placed in the New category list which catches more attention. But when I thought about this, I realized each chapter posted separately MUST be able to stand alone, and I can't assume the reader knows the characters from previous chapters. The chapters might be of the same story arc. But I need to describe enough of each reoccurring scene for the new readers.

I agree about making each chapter able to stand alone, but I think there may also be a tendency among people to overestimate from the differing view counts how many people are reading the chapters out of order.

The subsequent chapters of my VR Ventures series have received considerably more views but considerably less evidence of reader engagement than the first chapter (number of votes, comments, etc). The first chapter has the least interesting description line, so I expect that people are more likely to be drawn in by the later chapters but in many cases click on them just to check their tags; then if the tags are acceptable to them, they navigate to chapter 1 because they prefer to read chapters in order.

 

[SimonDoom]

I've noticed that too. Often when someone favorites an old story, someone else will too very soon afterward. Haven't figured out how that is happening.

My guess is that Lit rotates stories that appear on some lists, like category hub lists, and that instantly creates heightened visibility for the story.

 

[Lifestyle66]

I agree about making each chapter able to stand alone, but I think there may also be a tendency among people to overestimate from the differing view counts how many people are reading the chapters out of order.

The subsequent chapters of my VR Ventures series have received considerably more views but considerably less evidence of reader engagement than the first chapter (number of votes, comments, etc). The first chapter has the least interesting description line, so I expect that people are more likely to be drawn in by the later chapters but in many cases click on them just to check their tags; then if the tags are acceptable to them, they navigate to chapter 1 because they prefer to read chapters in order.

It's not just reading them out of order.

My first four chapters of my series were all posted to Erotic Couplings within a seven-day period. They currently (over 13 months later have the following view counts: 7.7k, 3.3k, 2.9k, and 6.1k. That fourth chapter has over twice as many views as the one preceding it, which mean over half of the readers of chapter 4 never went back to read chapter 3. So, anything I did in chapter 3 which was significant to their character development needed to be reiterated in later chapters.

For example, in Chapter 4, the MC and MFC are married for 30 years, and they are easily led into a swinger lifestyle by an older couple. But it was in Chapter 3 where they got back together after college and told each other of their wild sex with others. And even after the MC proposes marriage (reluctantly to get his "fuckbuddy" to move with him) the MFC even says she's going to have a final wild bachelorette party before they marry. And his calling the MFC a bitch is probably difficult for some readers, because they didn't read about it becoming a term of endearment from his proposal. So, their cavalier attitude toward sex with others never really comes out when the reader doesn't read chapter 3.

This reminds me of a good piece of dialog between my MC's, which I'll post to the "Banter" thread.

 

[yukonnights]

Does anyone actually track views & votes on a long term basis?

I watch may stats several times a day every day, and notice that Saturdays seem to have three or four more times the traffic as other days.

I should start recording it in a spreadsheet, but wondered if anyone already does it?

No, I just watch the rating and comments for awhile until the new wears off which gives me all I need to know about the story. I like getting the hot ratings, and most of mine are in that range — but, I primarily write for my own entertainment and don't want or need to turn it into more than that by trying to figure out the huge variety of what the thousands of readers like/want/enjoy. But that's just me and just like the diversity in readers, so too is the great diversity in we who write these "masterpieces" we conjure up in our attempt to capture readers.

 

[Lifestyle66]

Did the analysis that gave you this perception compare chapter stories that were complete, stories that had long periods between chapters being posted, and chapters that posted day after day?

I'm curious if readers of a first chapter of an incomplete story drop off more than readers of the first chapter of a completed story. Since I only post completed chapter stories, I can't compare my own numbers.

Each of my chapters has a beginning, middle and end. But they follow in a timeline and progression of the MC's.

Those first four chapters were written together over a month or two, then each posted about two days after each other within seven days.

 

[BobbyBrandt]

Each of my chapters has a beginning, middle and end. But they follow in a timeline and progression of the MC's.

Those first four chapters were written together over a month or two, then each posted about two days after each other within seven days.

I think what you describe plays into the whole "what is a chapter story versus series story" debate.

I don't believe a single "chapter" of a stand-alone story should by itself, stand alone. But that's just my opinion based upon years of reading literature of all types. And again, all my chapter stories are novels, so the chapters flow sequentially on purpose.

 

[Lifestyle66]

I think what you describe plays into the whole "what is a chapter story versus series story" debate.

I don't believe a single "chapter" of a stand-alone story should by itself, stand alone. But that's just my opinion based upon years of reading literature of all types. And again, all my chapter stories are novels, so the chapters flow sequentially on purpose.

I agree that chapter stories should build the arc and would be best done without being repetitive.

A few months ago, I took advantage of A-MD and O's Review thread in Story Feedback, asking for a review of my Chapter 12. The reviewer rightfully provided critical feedback based on just that chapter. Jan doesn't make sense, carrying a red wine cleaning spray in her purse (Ch 11 shows Jan as OCD about cleaning due to issues with her mother.) Ted allows Jan to get away with breaking their 'same room rule' without catharsis (it's Jan's rule as in Ch 7, Ted grew up non-confrontational and very quiet as explained in Ch 1-3, and he knows and accepts her wild behavior demonstrated in his proposal in Ch 3.)

IMO the stats on the number of views (which I believe indicates approx number of readers) suggests half the readers of these daily postings of different stories might not go back to read earlier chapters. They are starting in the middle of the series and don't know the background. And whether they like the story or choose to start at the beginning very much depends on their acceptance of just what they read in the one chapter.

 

[TadOverdon]

Our sales at Smashwords are higher on weekends than weekdays.

 

[BobbyBrandt]

I agree that chapter stories should build the arc and would be best done without being repetitive.

A few months ago, I took advantage of A-MD and O's Review thread in Story Feedback, asking for a review of my Chapter 12. The reviewer rightfully provided critical feedback based on just that chapter. Jan doesn't make sense, carrying a red wine cleaning spray in her purse (Ch 11 shows Jan as OCD about cleaning due to issues with her mother.) Ted allows Jan to get away with breaking their 'same room rule' without catharsis (it's Jan's rule as in Ch 7, Ted grew up non-confrontational and very quiet as explained in Ch 1-3, and he knows and accepts her wild behavior demonstrated in his proposal in Ch 3.)

IMO the stats on the number of views (which I believe indicates approx number of readers) suggests half the readers of these daily postings of different stories might not go back to read earlier chapters. They are starting in the middle of the series and don't know the background. And whether they like the story or choose to start at the beginning very much depends on their acceptance of just what they read in the one chapter.

I have one chapter story where the 33 chapters were submitted three at a time, resulting in the story posting in 11 parts. It is the only one of my chapter stories where the drop-off of chapter (part) 2 saw later chapters (parts) with higher views. All the rest of my stories saw the typical drop from chapter 1 to 2, but no later chapters have more views than chapter 2. Overall, my chapter stories see the subsequent chapters averaging 52% of views compared to the first chapter.

 

[SimonDoom]

I agree that chapter stories should build the arc and would be best done without being repetitive.

Doesn't it depend on what you are trying to accomplish with the overall story?

There's nothing wrong with writing a story series in chapters that are like episodes of a TV show, like Hawaii 5-O or Cheers, where the chapters feature the same characters but present new standalone-plots.

Or one can write a chaptered series in which there is a clear story arc that is carried from chapter to chapter. That works, too.

But the problem with the second approach is that if a particular chapter does not deliver what the audience for that category wants, you will lose many readers, and may draw bad scores. This isn't so much a problem with broad categories like Romance or Novels or Erotic Couplings, but it's a problem for narrower, fetish/kink-based categories like Incest or Anal. You will lose your Anal readers if you have a chapter with no anal sex.

 

[Lifestyle66]

I have one chapter story where the 33 chapters were submitted three at a time, resulting in the story posting in 11 parts. It is the only one of my chapter stories where the drop-off of chapter (part) 2 saw later chapters (parts) with higher views. All the rest of my stories saw the typical drop from chapter 1 to 2, but no later chapters have more views than chapter 2. Overall, my chapter stories see the subsequent chapters averaging 52% of views compared to the first chapter.

In my experience with a series of 13 chapters so far, each posted separately, the number of views goes up and down, over and over. Ch 8-9 (single post) has 7K, then 4k, 2k, 3k, 8.7k. That last chapter is the highest views of all 12 posts (13 chapters). There are many readers of that last chapter who don't have the background of my MCs from the earlier chapters.

Doesn't it depend on what you are trying to accomplish with the overall story?

There's nothing wrong with writing a story series in chapters that are like episodes of a TV show, like Hawaii 5-O or Cheers, where the chapters feature the same characters but present new standalone-plots.

Or one can write a chaptered series in which there is a clear story arc that is carried from chapter to chapter. That works, too.

But the problem with the second approach is that if a particular chapter does not deliver what the audience for that category wants, you will lose many readers, and may draw bad scores. This isn't so much a problem with broad categories like Romance or Novels or Erotic Couplings, but it's a problem for narrower, fetish/kink-based categories like Incest or Anal. You will lose your Anal readers if you have a chapter with no anal sex.

I agree.

My chapters were intended to show an evolution of a couple and their learning curve in a swinger relationship. The earlier chapters provide the context for why they behave as they do.

In TV series such as you describe, the characters are somewhat static, and each episode doesn't necessarily depend on other background traits explained in great detail. The character personalities are rather consistent through each episode and between episodes. They don't really grow.

So, I think we agree, that if the series is to portray character growth, then some things would need to be reiterated over, and over if the chapters are posted separately. Otherwise, the next new reader of a later chapter picks it up and thinks 'That character doesn't make sense.'

 

[AWhoopsieDaisy]

As the people submitting there's not really a way to schedule what day a work gets published though. Like, I get that a story that posts on Sunday gets fewer initial reads but I don't see what use there is speculating what the best day to publish is, since we don't actually get a say in that.

 

[KeithD]

As the people submitting there's not really a way to schedule what day a work gets published though. Like, I get that a story that posts on Sunday gets fewer initial reads but I don't see what use there is speculating what the best day to publish is, since we don't actually get a say in that.

If you post stories regularly that don't push selection edges, you'll become established in an almost universally experienced two- or three-day delay in posting. I commonly submit on Sunday for Tuesday posting and that almost always works out (as it will tomorrow).

 

[BobbyBrandt]

In my experience with a series of 13 chapters so far, each posted separately, the number of views goes up and down, over and over. Ch 8-9 (single post) has 7K, then 4k, 2k, 3k, 8.7k. That last chapter is the highest views of all 12 posts (13 chapters). There are many readers of that last chapter who don't have the background of my MCs from the earlier chapters.


I agree.

My chapters were intended to show an evolution of a couple and their learning curve in a swinger relationship. The earlier chapters provide the context for why they behave as they do.

In TV series such as you describe, the characters are somewhat static, and each episode doesn't necessarily depend on other background traits explained in great detail. The character personalities are rather consistent through each episode and between episodes. They don't really grow.

So, I think we agree, that if the series is to portray character growth, then some things would need to be reiterated over, and over if the chapters are posted separately. Otherwise, the next new reader of a later chapter picks it up and thinks 'That character doesn't make sense.'

I view this as a conundrum as a reader.

If I see a story posted with a title something like "Incest Story Chapter 1" I will rely upon my experience with mainstream literature to assume that it is the first chapter of a stand-alone story. If I see a title like "Incest Story Part 1" I would view that as a stand-alone story that is part of a series. Whether my assumptions are correct or not, they influence my decision to explore a story.

I don't believe I am unique, and comments that I have received from readers agree, in that I will not start reading an incomplete story here. If the chapters keep coming at a rate that indicates that the story is complete and the author submitted it all at once but has to wait for the system to process chapters over a week or more, then that is a different situation.

The comparison to television is appropriate. The programs are called television "Series", not "Chapters"

 

[BobbyBrandt]

If you post stories regularly that don't push selection edges, you'll become established in an almost universally experienced two- or three-day delay in posting. I commonly submit on Sunday for Tuesday posting and that almost always works out (as it will tomorrow).

Normally, that is true. My last story was submitted on a Tuesday, with an expectation that it would publish before the weekend. It published the following Monday. My control panel was deluged this morning with stories being published by authors that I follow, after a week of hardly anything new showing up.

 

[KeithD]

Normally, that is true. My last story was submitted on a Tuesday, with an expectation that it would publish before the weekend. It published the following Monday. My control panel was deluged this morning with stories being published by authors that I follow, after a week of hardly anything new showing up.

I think it's true, as stated, for regular posters (and ones who don't push the edges). My experience with usually two days, almost never more than three in posting has remained steady here for over a decade.