Annoying whiny thread

[EmilyMiller]

I know, I know. Pot. Kettle. Black.

Why is it, that I feel (I know) I’m getting better as a writer, but the reaction to my stuff is getting worse? It feels like the two things are inversely proportional.

Haven’t had a story well-received since Coleoidphilia. Poor me, right .

Em

 

[ThanksForAllTheFish]

What's well-received for you?

 

[EmilyMiller]

Pulitzer Prize?

Failing that, positive feedback from a wider group of people than before.

Em

 

[Euphony]

Nobody can say for sure but a few factors could be in play.

Your profile is increasing and trolls smell that scent. It take so little effort by so few to really derail your average.

Has your fan service changed as your focus has change? Fervent followings (which your visible personality is more likely to court) develop very specific wants scripts. Like a band known for a signature song or two, it can literally be far better material but dinged for not being the hits.

Voting and numbers are unstable at best. Even those running deep statical crunches on a large sample size haven't made definitive determinations. If we writers are too narrow in our quality ranges and place too much importance on what is variation, we are doomed to disappointment.

If you see growth, there is growth even if reception factors aren't as illuminative.

A broader cross section of readers escapes even some of the most technically brilliant writers here. I wouldn't focus too hard on numbers and instead focus on the work.

It really is the most instructive guide.

 

[EmilyMiller]

Nobody can say for sure but a few factors could be in play.

Your profile is increasing and trolls smell that scent. It take so little effort by so few to really derail your average.

Has your fan service changed as your focus has change? Fervent followings (which your visible personality is more likely to court) develop very specific wants scripts. Like a band known for a signature song or two, it can literally be far better material but dinged for not being the hits.

Voting and numbers are unstable at best. Even those running deep statical crunches on a large sample size haven't made definitive determinations. If we writers are too narrow in our quality ranges and place too much importance on what is variation, we are doomed to disappointment.

If you see growth, there is growth even if reception factors aren't as illuminative.

A broader cross section of readers escapes even some of the most technically brilliant writers here. I wouldn't focus too hard on numbers and instead focus on the work.

It really is the most instructive guide.

I know. Intellectually I get all of that. Emotionally, not so much.

I know none of the metrics really say anything concrete. I don’t care about those so much. Comments from new people have fallen off a cliff. Maybe that’s just a factor of “market” size.

I like red Hs as much as the next attention whore, but it’s really nice things said by authors that I respect that make me smile.

Em

 

[MadeleineSinha]

I haven’t had a comment since February and the one before that was December.
I suspect that we are seeing fewer new readers coming through as the world opens up post covid. It’s a lot easier to go out and do stuff than it was, consequently us needy peddlers of smut to the discerning reader are finding reduced Audiences, consequently reduced interaction with our legions of admire.

 

[stickygirl]

I haven’t had a comment since February and the one before that was December.
I suspect that we are seeing fewer new readers coming through as the world opens up post covid. It’s a lot easier to go out and do stuff than it was, consequently us needy peddlers of smut to the discerning reader are finding reduced Audiences, consequently reduced interaction with our legions of admire.

That begs the question if long covid means readers are wanking less. Curious minds demand answers

 

[EmilyMiller]

I haven’t had a comment since February and the one before that was December.
I suspect that we are seeing fewer new readers coming through as the world opens up post covid. It’s a lot easier to go out and do stuff than it was, consequently us needy peddlers of smut to the discerning reader are finding reduced Audiences, consequently reduced interaction with our legions of admire.

Did not think of that.

Also Summer is coming. 75 and sunny here. Was a little hot running earlier.

Em

 

[stickygirl]

I know, I know. Pot. Kettle. Black.

Why is it, that I feel (I know) I’m getting better as a writer, but the reaction to my stuff is getting worse? It feels like the two things are inversely proportional.

Haven’t had a story well-received since Coleoidphilia. Poor me, right .

Em

Could be the novelty of a new writer had worn off. I had shitloads of comments when I first started - these days, not so much.

 

[EmilyMiller]

That begs the question if long covid means readers are wanking less. Curious minds demand answers

I want to apply for a grant to investigate .

Em

 

[EmilyMiller]

Could be the novelty of a new writer had worn off. I had shitloads of comments when I first started - these days, not so much.

Probably true

Em

 

[TarnishedPenny]

In my experience, attention comes in waves, some micro and some tidal. Hang in there, Em.

 

[EmilyMiller]

In my experience, attention comes in waves, some micro and some tidal. Hang in there, Em.

I know. Been a rough period on here .

All things will pass, I guess.

Em

 

[AwkwardlySet]

As chapters progress, there are less comments on average than at the start. It is weird, but maybe also understandable, I don't know... All I know is that if people bothered to comment much more, I would have written far more, and I am certain that is true for a good number of authors. Strange how after all this time readers haven't figured out that simple truth

 

[EmilyMiller]

As chapters progress, there are less comments on average than at the start. It is weird, but maybe also understandable, I don't know... All I know is that if people bothered to comment much more, I would have written far more, and I am certain that is true for a good number of authors. Strange how after all this time readers haven't figured out that simple truth

I get comments and I’m grateful. Some are from on-line or IRL friends. Some from AHers. It’s great to have regulars. But it’s also nice when someone new bothers to say something.

Em

 

[MajorRewrite]

In general, stories got a LOT more views (and votes and comments) back in the olden days of say 2014. There seem to be many more stories published daily now, and I think there are fewer overall readers too but that’s just a guess. It would explain a steady decline in all metrics.

 

[EmilyMiller]

In general, stories got a LOT more views (and votes and comments) back in the olden days of say 2014. There seem to be many more stories published daily now, and I think there are fewer overall readers too but that’s just a guess. It would explain a steady decline in all metrics.

I’ve heard that. But I’ve only been here since mid 2022, so it doesn’t explain my personal decline.

Em

 

[MajorRewrite]

I’ve heard that. But I’ve only been here since mid 2022, so it doesn’t explain my personal decline.

Em

Maybe your personal decline is just a reflection of the continuous overall decline.

 

[BobbyBrandt]

I have been downloading my numbers regularly but not paying much attention to them recently. I now see that over the past few weeks, activity on all my stories has been dropping off.

The average views per day is 2.50 points lower over the last month. The view count increase is the lowest (4645) I can recall and the number of votes on all stories combined is less than 125. The comments have ceased entirely over the past two weeks and I am receiving fewer e-mails with feedback.

Something seems to have changed or the readers have just tired of me.

 

[Smuttyandfun]

My readership has dropped, too. I wondered if it was the nicer weather, sending people outdoors. I wrote an incest story just for fun, and its getting quite a few views, and several comments. At least I know there's someone out there still reading.

 

[stickygirl]

Maybe your personal decline is just a reflection of the continuous overall decline.

Personal decline is something each of us has to face in our own way. I've got little wrinkles in my smile that will never disappear. Occasionally I have to use laxative or loperamide - I put it down to anxiety but it may be age. You can splash cold water on your tits every day but gravity is a thing.
Pretty soon, you'll be talking about the good old days of the twenties, when stories where written by human beings, using keyboards, and orgasms weren't on sale even with a prescription. Ah, the twenties!

 

[MelissaBaby]

I get comments and I’m grateful. Some are from on-line or IRL friends. Some from AHers. It’s great to have regulars. But it’s also nice when someone new bothers to say something.

Em

I'll tell you what's really nice. I just had a new reader comment on nine of my stories over the course of the past week.

 

[EmilyMiller]

I'll tell you what's really nice. I just had a new reader comment on nine of my stories over the course of the past week.

Wow! That’s amazing. So jealous!

Em

 

[Tio_Narratore]

I'd like to comment, but I haven't posted a story here in a dozen years. My erotica is all privately written now-a-days, and if my clients and I are satisfied, I have nothing to whine about. Perhaps, though, I have commented on the issue.

 

[Djmac1031]

If it helps any; I'm more or less experiencing the same thing.

My writing has slowed down substantially, and I'm spending more time on the stories I do write.

Last two I've published I've been VERY proud of.

And I'm not gonna sat they TANKED. Because they haven't.

Both have very nice ratings, and comments.

But neither of them made any kind of real splash, either.

My friends here and some loyal followers have actually read them. But not too many others.

No grand influx of new readers, no massive amounts of Favorites added.

Any new traffic to old stories still seems pretty random so the new stories didn't even get readers check my back catalog.

It's fine. They're good stories, posted on a big old free use website among thousands of others.

How many new stories get published per day? Per week?

It's like a thousand different people in a park, each throwing an individual breadcrumb and hoping the flock of birds circling above all choose ours.