Best/worst day to submit a story

[swingerjoe]

I apologize if this question has already been covered. I'm wondering what is the best and worst day of the week for a story to be published in terms of the size of the potential audience.

The reason I ask is that my most recent story was published this morning -- a Friday -- and it seems to have very few views so far, only eight votes, and no comments. In comparison, Chapter Two of this story was posted on Wednesday, and it received more than 10,000 views within 24 hours.

I would have assumed that more people would be visiting Lit at the end of the work week. Is that assumption wrong? Or is my story simply an anomaly?

 

[sr71plt]

I've often tried to hit on Thursday, thinking that was a good day (and I post frequently, so have some data to research that with. The stories/authors are so different that the most relevant response to your question, I think, is what's the best day to have your own stories of that particular genre post?). I've seen references to Sunday being the absolute worst day to post, but I've had some pleasant response figures on stories that posted on Sunday. So, it's probably a question that's too subjective with too many variables.

I'm having a different dilemma at the moment. My next new submission (I have a few in the submissions queue already) will be my 666th. I'm padding through my "hold" files trying to pick out a story that's evil enough to represent 666.

 

[PennLady]

First you should check this thread, where Laurel (the only who vets and posts stories) has been trying to keep us updated on the time from submission to posting. If you don't know already, Lit has a longer posting time than many sites.

The last update to that thread was on 3/10, and Laurel said stories submitted on 3/8 were posted, which would be about a 48-hour turnaround. This could figure into your plans because say, if Monday is a better view day, you might want to submit Friday or Saturday so the story is posted on Monday or thereabouts.

I would have thought that weekends would get more views, but I'm not sure that's true. A lot of people are at home and have things to do, errands to run, family stuff to do, etc., so their time to read may be more limited on the weekends than during the week.

That said, there is a contest going on -- just started today -- which might delay non-contest postings.

 

[swingerjoe]

Thanks very much, PennLady. That link is very helpful. It's difficult to believe that only one person reads and approves every story that is submitted. I can only imagine how much time and effort that must take!

Has Lauren ever considered adding volunteers to help with that process? I know that I would be willing to help, and I'm sure I'm not alone. There are so many ways this site could be so easily improved. Very minor changes could make a big difference in the user's experience.

 

[PennLady]

Thanks very much, PennLady. That link is very helpful. It's difficult to believe that only one person reads and approves every story that is submitted. I can only imagine how much time and effort that must take!

Has Lauren ever considered adding volunteers to help with that process? I know that I would be willing to help, and I'm sure I'm not alone. There are so many ways this site could be so easily improved. Very minor changes could make a big difference in the user's experience.

You'd have to ask Laurel about the volunteer thing (you can use private messages to do that). I'm sure it's been brought up before, and she and Manu (who also runs the site) have their reasons for not doing it. But any suggestions like that should be sent directly to Laurel. She doesn't follow all the forum threads, and we members can't do anything. A lot of us wish they'd make some changes, but it's up to Laurel and Manu.

 

[49greg]

...
I'm having a different dilemma at the moment. My next new submission (I have a few in the submissions queue already) will be my 666th. I'm padding through my "hold" files trying to pick out a story that's evil enough to represent 666.

I don't think you need worry, the latest translation from the oldest source yet discovered (so faded that they had to use some sort of high tech laser/infared equipment to read it) shows that the number is 616. Apparently at some later date someone miss-copied it to 666, and that was what was available when the bible was codified.

 

[49greg]

You'd have to ask Laurel about the volunteer thing (you can use private messages to do that). I'm sure it's been brought up before, and she and Manu (who also runs the site) have their reasons for not doing it. But any suggestions like that should be sent directly to Laurel. She doesn't follow all the forum threads, and we members can't do anything. A lot of us wish they'd make some changes, but it's up to Laurel and Manu.

This makes me wonder what will happen to the site if Laurel and Manu ever get tired of doing all the work that this must entail. I would hate for them to sell it to some commercial site with popups and other intrusive adverts if they get fed up or burned out.

It's a wonderful site and a great place to practice learning to write. I hope they realize how much this means to so many people.

 

[sr71plt]

I don't think you need worry, the latest translation from the oldest source yet discovered (so faded that they had to use some sort of high tech laser/infared equipment to read it) shows that the number is 616. Apparently at some later date someone miss-copied it to 666, and that was what was available when the bible was codified.

Too late. I already put one in the queue--"Arabists' Literary Weekend"--a GM BDSM cult in a UK university picking GM/BDSM subtext out of classic Arabic literature to feed their dungeon acted-out fantasies on their students. I don't really want the 666 bubble to burst--such a provocative satanic reference.

 

[lovecraft68]

I don't think you need worry, the latest translation from the oldest source yet discovered (so faded that they had to use some sort of high tech laser/infared equipment to read it) shows that the number is 616. Apparently at some later date someone miss-copied it to 666, and that was what was available when the bible was codified.

Should tell that to all the people who have a 666 tattooed on their bodies.

And Iron Maiden has to change their song lyrics, its six sixteen, the number of the beast....

 

[musicman1978]

PR firms get paid big bucks to answer that very question.

I've no idea what it's like on lit, but your mention of publishing on a Friday reminded me of an article I read about the timing of press releases in the world of journalism. Typically, Friday nights is the best time to publish if you want the news to go unnoticed.

There are lots of interesting articles on the subject if you google it, but they are usually relevant only to the news world. Still, the strategies are the same. Hint...if you look at the index of the message board, you can get a really rough idea of how many people are online and viewing what if you take a look at the (# of people viewing) statistic.

Here is a link to the article I mentioned by the way: http://nyti.ms/1gbalxA

 

[RejectReality]

Sunday is terrible.

Beyond that, it's up in the air.

I've had the most success with the Friday morning postings.

 

[walkerlong]

The best day to submit your story is today.

 

[Hypoxia]

The best day to submit your story is today.

After my editor sends it back, sure.

 

[swingerjoe]

I submitted my story in three chapters, and the numbers are really strange:

Chapter One, published 3/25 (Tuesday): 13,000 views
Chapter Two, published 3/26 (Wednesday): 20,000 views
Chapter Three, published 3/28 (Friday): 6,000 views

It's really puzzling why so many more people viewed the second chapter, when you would think Chapter One of any story would get the most views.

 

[lovecraft68]

Friday morning is the best I've seen by far.

Sunday is the pits

 

[Bramblethorn]

I apologize if this question has already been covered. I'm wondering what is the best and worst day of the week for a story to be published in terms of the size of the potential audience.

The reason I ask is that my most recent story was published this morning -- a Friday -- and it seems to have very few views so far, only eight votes, and no comments. In comparison, Chapter Two of this story was posted on Wednesday, and it received more than 10,000 views within 24 hours.

I would have assumed that more people would be visiting Lit at the end of the work week. Is that assumption wrong? Or is my story simply an anomaly?

I expect day of the week has some effect, but the other thing that can have a big difference is where your story appears on the New Stories page. I had one story that was at the top of that list for almost 24 hours before the next update came in, and another that got shunted to page 2 as soon as it appeared, under a flood of contest stories; the second got about 50% fewer views. Unfortunately that's pretty much the luck of the draw.

 

[RejectReality]

I submitted my story in three chapters, and the numbers are really strange:

Chapter One, published 3/25 (Tuesday): 13,000 views
Chapter Two, published 3/26 (Wednesday): 20,000 views
Chapter Three, published 3/28 (Friday): 6,000 views

It's really puzzling why so many more people viewed the second chapter, when you would think Chapter One of any story would get the most views.

The day of the week isn't the only factor.

Did it post earlier in the day than chapter one? Did it post higher on the new stories list than chapter one? Did it remain longer on the recent stories list of the category hub? Did it attain an H shortly after posting?

Those are a few of umpteen things that can dramatically affect the number of views, which have nothing to do with what day it posted.

Chapter stories always drop in stats with every chapter, unless there are enough chapters posted frequently enough for it to level out and stabilize in the later chapters.

The exclusion to that is final chapters, which often jump in views because people look at the last chapter for a "the end" designation indicating the story is complete before deciding to read it. That's only a jump over middle chapters, though. It's an extremely rare story where it will come even close to the numbers for chapter 1.

 

[sr71plt]

I expect day of the week has some effect, but the other thing that can have a big difference is where your story appears on the New Stories page. I had one story that was at the top of that list for almost 24 hours before the next update came in, and another that got shunted to page 2 as soon as it appeared, under a flood of contest stories; the second got about 50% fewer views. Unfortunately that's pretty much the luck of the draw.

I was going to post this same thing--that the worst day was posting the same day that so many others did that your story started off on the second day.

I'm not sure that what appears at least in the top ten or so on a day are really the luck of the draw. I think that Laurel is highlighting some she liked better than others by shoving them near the top--which is her prerogative and makes sense (even commercially).