Communicating with readers

[CaryJanJunior]

My biggest flaw as an author was having far too many ideas that I want to make into a series, but not having enough time to actually write all of them at once, since I get out a chapter every two weeks if I'm lucky, and if I commited to all ~6 series ideas I have readers would get at most 4 chapters a year of any given series.

My stopgap measure was Intros, prologue / chapter 1 / one shot stories that serve as an entrance to the story. Their purpose is to see if I have more ideas for the story, see how I like writing it, and see whether people like it or not.

However, I just realised that if I want anything beyond vague hits, rating, favourites (which aren't even displaying correctly for me judging by how consistently I have several notifications for different people favouriting a story and then see one or even zero next to the heart on the story card), or baiting out answers, I would need to poll the readers in a way that they would see, so just chucking a link in my profile as some people suggested isn't quite feasible.

Furthermore, my current writing schedule is one ongoing series, which I intend to see to conclusion, and intros, and I alternate back and forth between them. This means that if I have dedicated readers to the series, I would need to put it there, but if I have people just reading the intros due to bouncing off of the series, I would need to post it there as well, which would have to result in a two+ week disconnect between the two groups, or delaying a chapter 2+ weeks to get a 'synchronous' release.

So, what are some reasonable ways to communicate back and forth with your readers, (preferably in ways that don't just read as 'engagement bait', though this is optional)?

 

[ElectricBlue]

So, what are some reasonable ways to communicate back and forth with your readers, (preferably in ways that don't just read as 'engagement bait', though this is optional)?

The only real way to communicate with readers is to keep putting content out there.

I don't think readers are remotely interested in things you've not written yet, your strategies for the future, your intros that don't go anywhere. They don't care about any of that. You've got to give them content: either finished stories, or hamster wheel content, something every week.

 

[TheLobster]

My advice would be to take a deep breath and relax

 

[TheWorldBuilder]

Being a writer who has solely done SRP / ORP so far, I can only offer feedback from that experience. It's a curve. Some readers will drift away if there's no new content every day, most will give you a week or so, a few will stick with you through thick and thin; writer's block, family crises and even an outbreak of myxomatosis amongst the plot bunnies. Apart from putting OOC notes on the end of scenes (which are a lot easier to remove on the forum side), or constantly updating a mini-blog in your profile or .sig, there's not much you can do.

 

[YmaOHyd]

So, what are some reasonable ways to communicate back and forth with your readers, (preferably in ways that don't just read as 'engagement bait', though this is optional)?

Update your bio, put a note in the afterword, leave a comment immediately after publication. Lit is designed for you to submit stories and nothing else, though. It's not built for communication with readers.

 

[TheWorldBuilder]

The possibility of communicating with (some) authors through the forum offers far greater flexibility than other places that offer an absolute minimum of feedback opportunities.

 

[BobbyBrandt]

This comes up frequently, and is probably not asked as often as it rises in someone's mind.

I don't want to offend, but using readers here as your personal critique group seems crass, and unfair to them. Asking them to make an investment of their time reading something that you may or may not continue is not what most readers here expect or deserve from a story.

A simple Internet search for "online critique groups" will direct you to a plethora of sites where others will be willing to read your fledgling works in progress and provide feedback without expecting to ever see the final product.

Please consider something more appropriate for your purpose instead of turning readers away from this site by teasing them with incomplete stories.

 

[DEFCOM5]

Update your bio, put a note in the afterword, leave a comment immediately after publication. Lit is designed for you to submit stories and nothing else, though. It's not built for communication with readers.

 

[Britva415]

Me, I just wouldn't. I would just write each installment in a way which speaks for itself.