Am I doing good?

[Stimtheone]

I am always so unsure if my works are doing well, so... this is not to compare notches or anything, but by the experience of other authors here, are these numbers good? Decent, average, stellar? I'm more concerned that I have a grand total of only two comments on these works. 4.2 seems to be the lowest rating average of them all, but I believe my newest one to not have had enough time to be properly reviewed.

And feel free to show yours if you want, I guess.

 

[Euphony]

What matters is if you feel you are getting out of the experience what you have invested.

Scores have tons of noise in the data. Some will tell you its Red H or nothing but some of the most inspiring works I've seen on here are between 4.0 and 4.49.

If you can't help yourself and must compare, your scores are plenty good enough for you to keep writing.

Check in with yourself occasionally and whether or not you're accomplishing your goals,

Adjust as necessary.

 

[Winter_Fare]

I'd say you're doing well, and the tail off in the number of votes in later installments is pretty normal.

 

[AchtungNight]

Are you enjoying yourself writing what you post here? Hope so. I base my opinion for continuing on that. Ratings and feedback play a role, but my personal preferences are paramount.

 

[Blind_Justice]

Looks on par with many series I've seen - scores go up, eyeball numbers diminish once you lose the casual readers and only your fans stick around. Needs a few more comments.

 

[madelinemasoch]

I'm not familiar with the readership of the SciFi/Fantasy section on here, but I'd be more concerned with the low number of reads than with the scores. Your scores are all really high. In that regard, you're doing amazing, to be honest.

 

[AG31]

I am always so unsure if my works are doing well, so... this is not to compare notches or anything, but by the experience of other authors here, are these numbers good? Decent, average, stellar? I'm more concerned that I have a grand total of only two comments on these works. 4.2 seems to be the lowest rating average of them all, but I believe my newest one to not have had enough time to be properly reviewed.

And feel free to show yours if you want, I guess.

View attachment 2280413

Certainly better than me! But it's par for the course that most people just don't bother to vote or comment.

 

[Stimtheone]

Are you enjoying yourself writing what you post here? Hope so. I base my opinion for continuing on that. Ratings and feedback play a role, but my personal preferences are paramount.

To be honest, yes. I write more for myself to have this story out. I guess I am doing it for something since I am adjusting my works to post them here.

I'm just curious if the statistics might be good, but not like I care much.

 

[Blind_Justice]

@madelinemasoch SF/F was never a high-volume categoty, but in recent years the numbers have dwindled quite a bit. My latest few chaptered bits have barely a third of the numbers my earlier stuff got - and I'm already figuring in my less-than-regular publishing schedule. And lets not talk about Geek Pride Day, that only adds to my depression...

 

[madelinemasoch]

@madelinemasoch SF/F was never a high-volume categoty, but in recent years the numbers have dwindled quite a bit. My latest few chaptered bits have barely a third of the numbers my earlier stuff got - and I'm already figuring in my less-than-regular publishing schedule. And lets not talk about Geek Pride Day, that only adds to my depression...

Might I ask why?

 

[MelissaBaby]

I am always so unsure if my works are doing well, so... this is not to compare notches or anything, but by the experience of other authors here, are these numbers good? Decent, average, stellar? I'm more concerned that I have a grand total of only two comments on these works. 4.2 seems to be the lowest rating average of them all, but I believe my newest one to not have had enough time to be properly reviewed.

And feel free to show yours if you want, I guess.

View attachment 2280413

When the number of votes is low, there is a great deal of flutter in the score. With only 5 votes, the score is essentially meaningless. Overall, though, you are doing very well.

As others have pointed out, the normal pattern with series is for scores to go and views go down as the story proceeds. Presumably, anyone still reading the story after the first few chapters is enjoying it and likely to give it a high score.

 

[Blind_Justice]

Might I ask why?

The red circle'd ones are the most recent Geek Pride entries. No idea what was different in 2020, but nothing I published in that event since came within spitting distance of those numbers - even if you subtract a couple thousand from "Express Delivery". My friend and I worked extra hard for the two Red Tsonia stories and barely got a blip on them.

 

[alohadave]

The red circle'd ones are the most recent Geek Pride entries. No idea what was different in 2020, but nothing I published in that event even came within spitting distance of those numbers - even if you subtract a couple thousand from "Express Delivery". My friend and I worked extra hard for the two Red Tsonia stories and barely got a blip on them.

View attachment 2280418

The height of the pandemic perhaps?

 

[MelissaBaby]

The height of the pandemic perhaps?

Or diminishing returns from the same theme challenges running over and over again?

 

[Blind_Justice]

Well, other people write Nude Day stories each year, for me Geek Pride is Christmas, birthday and Easter rolled into a junk-food flavored tortilla.

 

[Darkniciad]

It takes some time to build your readership in Sci-Fi&Fantasy. The number of people reading the category is smaller than most, and the stories are long. People invest a lot of time in reading what they've already started before moving on to find something new.

You're doing just fine. I was probably 10 chapters into Danica before I consistently got 10 votes on the first day of publication.

 

[lovecraft68]

@madelinemasoch SF/F was never a high-volume categoty, but in recent years the numbers have dwindled quite a bit. My latest few chaptered bits have barely a third of the numbers my earlier stuff got - and I'm already figuring in my less-than-regular publishing schedule. And lets not talk about Geek Pride Day, that only adds to my depression...

I'm a total outsider to Sci-fi, writing and reading, but I wonder if the fact that a good chunk of the category is consists of long never ending series might be putting both authors who don't want to do that, and readers who don't want to invest countless hours into something that might never end, off.

Just a theory.

 

[madelinemasoch]

I'm a total outsider to Sci-fi, writing and reading, but I wonder if the fact that a good chunk of the category is consists of long never ending series might be putting both authors who don't want to do that, and readers who don't want to invest countless hours into something that might never end, off.

Just a theory.

We should call this the George RR Martin curse.

 

[RejectReality]

I'm a total outsider to Sci-fi, writing and reading, but I wonder if the fact that a good chunk of the category is consists of long never ending series might be putting both authors who don't want to do that, and readers who don't want to invest countless hours into something that might never end, off.

Just a theory.

The toplist may have a lot of that, but it's not what actually dominates the content. Long, yes. Neverending? Hardly.

What hurts the category more than anything is how easy it is to transition to mainstream writing once you get accustomed to the fact that erotic content isn't necessary in the category, even though not fading to black at the bedroom door is essentially what attracts the readership in the first place. The readership is here for the porn, but end up staying for the story.

 

[Blind_Justice]

It's the reader's fault, LC. If the authors only get "MORE PLS" as feedback, they tend to oblige...

And I can claim two completed series already, yes I can! (Ghost in the Machine and Mud & Magic)




The less said about the three incomplete ones, the better.........

 

[ElectricBlue]

I am always so unsure if my works are doing well, so... this is not to compare notches or anything, but by the experience of other authors here, are these numbers good? Decent, average, stellar? I'm more concerned that I have a grand total of only two comments on these works. 4.2 seems to be the lowest rating average of them all, but I believe my newest one to not have had enough time to be properly reviewed.

And feel free to show yours if you want, I guess.

That's an okay spread for Sci-Fi and Fantasy.

I've got a 12 chapter novel in that category that reached 3k3 Views in five years. At least I know that number read it.

 

[Stimtheone]

What hurts the category more than anything is how easy it is to transition to mainstream writing once you get accustomed to the fact that erotic content isn't necessary in the category, even though not fading to black at the bedroom door is essentially what attracts the readership in the first place. The readership is here for the porn, but end up staying for the story.

Y'know, I have that problem both in the current story and another which I have mostly scrapped. Sometimes the stories don't need to contain the sex. It's hard finding the moments to include them. Other times, I have found myself with no purpose to put a sexual scene. The story is one to revolve around sex, but I guess the category is fit for less erotic content.

 

[RejectReality]

Y'know, I have that problem both in the current story and another which I have mostly scrapped. Sometimes the stories don't need to contain the sex. It's hard finding the moments to include them. Other times, I have found myself with no purpose to put a sexual scene. The story is one to revolve around sex, but I guess the category is fit for less erotic content.

It's nothing uncommon to get feedback that people are skimming/skipping the sex scenes to get back to the story.

 

[Stimtheone]

It's nothing uncommon to get feedback that people are skimming/skipping the sex scenes to get back to the story.

Oh no, this was of my own assessment. I just found that the sex scenes were serving no damn purpose and you could have the story without them... and then why would I post them here?

 

[firmbutgentle]

I haven’t looked at your stories yet but your numbers don’t look that different from mine, and I ask myself the same questions. I have more comments than you do, but not very many. The ratings and hearts are nice but you never know what they mean — did someone really like the story or just get turned on by one scene? Whereas it really means a lot to get a comment that shows someone connected with the story or the characters.

The numeric ratings are capricious so I don’t think it’s worth trying to figure out what’s behind them or how to improve them. You have to write for yourself, and after that, trust that you’ll find readers who connect with you.

And erotic content ratio, well, to my mind it’s all erotic. Sex scenes can be pretty dull and repetitive without knowing who the people are and what brings them there, and scenes without sex can still be very erotic. Some of my stories got down-voted (and received some comments I deleted) because there was “too much talking” but the more I’ve written, the more time I’ve spent on people and conversation. Maybe that means I should try mainstream fiction? But so far it’s not what I want to write.