Bless their Hearts

[eroticstoryspinner]

In the last few days I have received several anonymous private messages urging me for more stories in the Penal Slavery series. I am touched and am hoping to have part 6 out soon. I had been concerned that I had no comments for the last two stores although I have had decent scores. So I wish they had posted on the stories so I could have posted a response

I have wondered if I should actively solicit comments at the end of my stories as I have seen some here have done. Any thoughts one way or another?

 

[Javahead]

Writing non anonymously, I'd be happy to see more of your stories - both of the series have unfinished storylines.

But I'm not certain that adding a postscript requesting feedback helps. I've learned the hard way that adding a preamble warning readers of content they may not like doesn't seem to dissuade them from reading the story and giving nasty anonymous feedback. Nor does making something - you think - extremely plain in a story prevent comments showing they entirely misunderstood what you wrote.

I just try to appreciate the occasional flowers thown my way and to dodge the overripe fruit.

 

[LoquiSordidaAdMe]

I have wondered if I should actively solicit comments at the end of my stories as I have seen some here have done. Any thoughts one way or another?

I totally get that. I've considered doing the same thing myself but I've never actually done it. To me, it seems like if you have to ask for praise, then you haven't really earned it. And I get that you're not asking for praise, you're asking for feedback and constructive criticism. But I haven't figured out how to concisely ask for one without making it sound like a veiled request for the other. (I have used the Story Feedback board to request opinions on very specific issues with a story though.)

I've seen other authors ask for comments at the end of their stories, and I don't think that it has ever swayed me to write a comment if I wasn't going to anyway. Sometimes I just don't have anything worthwhile to say about a story.

On the other hand, I know readers in some categories comment more frequently than readers in others, so maybe you write in a low-comment category. In which case, giving your readers a nudge might be the only way to get the feedback you want.

 

[gordo12]

I have wondered if I should actively solicit comments at the end of my stories as I have seen some here have done. Any thoughts one way or another?

It works. Some may be offended but most won't be. And frankly I don't give a shit about the few that do get offended. If you're in a low response genre it will pay to ask. Politely!

You're working for free. It doesn't make you a DIVA to ask for something back

 

[yukonnights]

I often do. But as I've mentioned before, I view it as an opportunity to engage. Some categories are worse about no comments than others, but I have no real evidence that "engaging" either helps or hurts reader response. I just like the "personal touch" to help folks know that 'yukonnights' is a real person.

 

[eroticstoryspinner]

Writing non anonymously, I'd be happy to see more of your stories - both of the series have unfinished storylines.

But I'm not certain that adding a postscript requesting feedback helps. I've learned the hard way that adding a preamble warning readers of content they may not like doesn't seem to dissuade them from reading the story and giving nasty anonymous feedback. Nor does making something - you think - extremely plain in a story prevent comments showing they entirely misunderstood what you wrote.

I just try to appreciate the occasional flowers thown my way and to dodge the overripe fruit.

Thank you for the kind words. I had a death in my immediate family in November and it has been hard to get any of my writing back on track.

The good news is that I have five stories in the pipeline.