declining readership

[RowanWrites]

So: it makes absolute sense. As readers lose interest in my story, they stop reading. The longer the story goes, the fewer the readers. It doesn't mean my writing is getting worse (it *could* mean that, but it doesn't necessarily mean that!) Also, as a new story drops, more people go back to start at story #1, decide they don't like it, and thus the early stories continue to accrue new readers, while the later ones do not.

One alternative would be to simply write the whole darn story and post it as one file... but I find the anticipation of seeing the reaction with each new story is, quite frankly, the only thing that keeps me going at all.

But as each new episode generates few readers, fewer voters, and my comments drop from a couple to none... well I lose interest also.

And, I truly am not complaining about my reception! All my stories so far have been declared "Hot" by the moderators. It's just... one or two comments saying something like, "Keep it up" feels like weak sauce. I want more than a 0.01% comment rate telling me I'm somewhere between mediocre and adequate.

(( Fun (and logical) fact: the ratings tend to go up as the episodes progress.

Of course! The people who don't like and vote low quit after an episode or two. Almost by definition, ratings would go up as readership goes down. ))

Nonetheless, for people who are looking for feedback to inspire continued writing... how do you deal with declining readership, & negligible or declining comments.

The one thing I really don't want to do, and have about 80% resisted so far, is begging for comments.

 

[KeithD]

Yes, in general, readership will fall off over the spinning out of a series. Whether or not you lose interest in writing as readership goes down is totally your own issue (I wouldn't have this issue as I don't start submitting any part of a series until the work is completed) No, you don't have any control over how many comments there will be, and this Web site is set up to support reading the stories and neither commenting on them mor voting on them. That's just the way it is.

 

[RejectReality]

You're writing Sci-Fi & Fantasy. It's one of the lower readership categories, and it takes a while to get noticed because the category is bombarded with new chapters in continuing offerings every day. You're up to 100 followers ( I don't know how many of those were in place from your Mind Control storyline, but there should be some crossover ) so you're on a good trajectory.

One thing I did early on ( in another pen name that's almost exclusively Fantasy with the same world setting ) when you were lucky to get up to 10 votes in the first week was write a one-shot side story. If you have a character that you'd like to explore history for, or perhaps show what they're doing parallel to the main story, that could be something to give a shot. Sometimes it's not just the lack of feedback, it's also burn-out starting to simmer. World-building and keeping a long narrative going can take a toll. A one-off might just be the thing you need to give you a kick in the pants.

I also got a surprising amount of feedback from that one-shot. It had triple the numbers my ongoing story had at the time. Because so many people have been burned by long, unfinished stories, there's a fairly significant readership looking for one-shots in the category that you may be missing out on. Once you introduce them to your world in a side tale, you might entice them to give the larger tale a shot.

Something to consider if you have any side paths you'd like to explore.

 

[BobbyBrandt]

Yes, in general, readership will fall off over the spinning out of a series. Whether or not you lose interest in writing as readership goes down is totally your own issue (I wouldn't have this issue as I don't start submitting any part of a series until the work is completed) No, you don't have any control over how many comments there will be, and this Web site is set up to support reading the stories and neither commenting on them mor voting on them. That's just the way it is.

Like KeithD, I don't submit anything until the story is completed in its entirety. I can appreciate being anxious to get feedback from readers, but I compare it to rating a restaurant on the appetizer, entree, and dessert, all separately without regard for the overall experience. Stories ebb and flow. Ratings for piecemeal work can reflect that.

When I have submitted stories in chapters or parts, I have noticed that the readership drops after the first posted entry, but the votes per reader and comments per reader generally go up, which makes mathematical sense. I tend to focus on the average for all the parts of a story to judge readers' perception of it. That average can then be compared to a single-submission story in the same category if I feel the need.

 

[SimonDoom]

Your stories fit the classic pattern that most Literotica authors encounter. Total views decline over time, and scores generally go up as the readers that remain are the ones that like the story.

I'd second what RejectReality said: write some standalone stories. You'll get more readers and you'll see your views and votes go up. Standalone stories on average get considerably more views than stories entitled "Story Chapter XX."

Also, your chapters are a little short. If I were you and I was writing a long story anyway, I'd bundle the chapters so your story had fewer but longer chapters of around 4 pages.

On the other hand, you're getting excellent scores, so while you may not have as many readers as you'd like, the ones you do have are appreciative.

As long as you feel like the story remains fresh and fun to write, keep at it.

 

[NotWise]

If you're bothered by the readership decline in long series, then one solution is to write shorter. Stories at 3-5 Lit pages don't even require you to make every word count. You might need more story ideas, but your problem will go away.

 

[RowanWrites]

One thing I did early on ( in another pen name that's almost exclusively Fantasy with the same world setting ) when you were lucky to get up to 10 votes in the first week was write a one-shot side story. If you have a character that you'd like to explore history for, or perhaps show what they're doing parallel to the main story, that could be something to give a shot. Sometimes it's not just the lack of feedback, it's also burn-out starting to simmer. World-building and keeping a long narrative going can take a toll. A one-off might just be the thing you need to give you a kick in the pants.

Thanks fro the suggestion! I appreciate this!

 

[RejectReality]

If you go for a tangent story, you'll likely learn you have some truly anxious fans out there as well. Odds are good of comments popping up like "This is good but please release the next chapter of xxx".

You almost always have a larger pool of engaged readers than you believe. They may not necessarily be demonstrating it with comments, favorites, or even votes sometimes, but they're there.

 

[Quinn_McMullen]

If you have a character that you'd like to explore history for, or perhaps show what they're doing parallel to the main story, that could be something to give a shot. Sometimes it's not just the lack of feedback, it's also burn-out starting to simmer.

I also got a surprising amount of feedback from that one-shot. It had triple the numbers my ongoing story had at the time. Because so many people have been burned by long, unfinished stories, there's a fairly significant readership looking for one-shots in the category that you may be missing out on. Once you introduce them to your world in a side tale, you might entice them to give the larger tale a shot.

Something to consider if you have any side paths you'd like to explore.

I love this idea! RR, I am going to use your idea starting today.

 

[Voboy]

If you go for a tangent story, you'll likely learn you have some truly anxious fans out there as well. Odds are good of comments popping up like "This is good but please release the next chapter of xxx".

You almost always have a larger pool of engaged readers than you believe. They may not necessarily be demonstrating it with comments, favorites, or even votes sometimes, but they're there.

This.

I'm much less into my SF series than a few of my readers are. I know because they email me, lol.

 

[pink_silk_glove]

but I find the anticipation of seeing the reaction with each new story is, quite frankly, the only thing that keeps me going at all.

But as each new episode generates few readers, fewer voters, and my comments drop from a couple to none... well I lose interest also.

It's just... one or two comments saying something like, "Keep it up" feels like weak sauce. I want more than a 0.01% comment rate telling me I'm somewhere between mediocre and adequate.

Nonetheless, for people who are looking for feedback to inspire continued writing... how do you deal with declining readership, & negligible or declining comments.

It's quite clear here that you are writing for the attention. You want the adulation of others to affirm you and your skills.

There are many reasons why someone writes. Sometimes there's just a story in you that you feel compelled to tell. Sometimes you just love the craft of writing and find a certain satisfaction in it. Sometimes it's to connect with readers. There are other little reasons as well. Usually it is all of these reasons in varying amounts. If you can imagine a pie chart of all these reasons, see how big of a pie piece each reason has to you. Then see how comfortable you are with that.

Now if you would like a neutral outside perspective to help you, like I said off the top, by the blatant statements of yours which I quoted, I would say that certainly you are writing for the adulation of others because you are measuring your worth as a writer through the affirmation of others and in so doing are disempowering yourself. Disempowering always feels weak, and so this is almost certainly why you feel like giving up. That slice of pie is very large in your chart. It may not have been that large when you started writing, but the high of those initial nice comments may have made that slice of pie bigger as time goes on without you noticing. If you are comfortable writing for the approval of others and not getting that approval, then you'll have to change to give the readers what they want. That's up to you, but it will also place your satisfaction in the control of others (not in yours). You will literally disempower yourself.

Remember, people like or dislike stuff for all kinds of reasons and most of those reasons have absolutely nothing to do with your skills or inspiration as a writer. So measuring yourself by the approval of others says zero about you as a writer. All it is is a cheap temporary high, which you are learning well at the moment.

Also remember, making a connection with a reader is not the same as getting their approval. It's a totally different thing.

On the other hand, perhaps you could reassess why you write, and perhaps get back to the reasons why you started writing in the first place. Try to find that satisfaction in the craft or of telling the story that's in you that begs to get out. If those reasons are still satisfying to you, try making them larger slices of your 'reasons for writing' pie chart and you can continue to write with success.

 

[tenyari]

You might get back some of the readers over the span of months / years. Some will drop off and some are just reading at their own pace.

I've got a series that is 20 years old on another site.
6 chapters took me 4 years to post.

Chapter 1 has double the downloads of 2. I lost about 5-7% per chapter after that.
- With the massive time gap between parts, it's apparent that some old readers cam back over time, many were lost right out of the gate.

Stories were the chapters are posted close together seem to be better at retaining their readers, but I see a consistent pattern where chapter 1 is usually double the readership of chapter 2, regardless of how old the story is.

It's one reason why for my upcoming story I've decided to "tell it out of order" - The first thing that happens chronologically is a bit dry compared to the rest, so I moved it to a 'prequel' set to be posted last, and put in enough details in the chapter that will go out first so that readers aren't lost, with that chapter having it's own internal logic as a starting point.

I see a LOT of stories where an author uses the first chapter to lay a lot of groundwork in building the setting. I think I did that myself with some of my old stories - and maybe that's p

[Oh my post got cropped when I hit submit... weird That was an hour ago... what was I trying to say...]


Groundwork....

Ok so yeah, maybe too much 'setting the stage' gets readers to click out.

So, for one upcoming story I started with the words 'Meanwhile' precisely so that I could start right in the action. I think what got clipped from my post above was a note about the 1970s Star Wars movie. It does start with a literal 'Wall of Text'... but as soon as you can see things, we're dropped into a shootout. They hook the viewer right away. Movies are good at that. A lot of writers aren't.

Run out of the gate, don't describe the origin of gate making artistry, then how the oil was used to maintain the hinges, then... blah blah blah. Just smash through the thing and take a breather in a later chapter.

By the second sentence of my 'Meanwhile' story the readers know there are 2 naked women running around in the city in the afternoon, stirring up a wild time, one of them is human and the other an 'Alien' - and that we should expect that the Alien would be doing this.
- At this point I have not told my reader why, who, how, or what an 'Alien' is. Sentence 3 tells us the human an exhibitionist.

By the end of the first paragraph I've told a reader that wants naked girl exhibitionist fiction that this story is at least trying to deliver, and that's its got some level of fantasy or SciFi in it. An astute reader also sees a location drop. I name-drop a trendy neighborhood of Mexico City.

The second paragraph reveals they like to do this until they get so horny they go seek some sex...

Basically I've dumped my reader into the action. My aim is to hook them quick, because I suspect a LOT of people read half a page or less before clicking out.

 

[lovecraft68]

Don't be a one trick pony.
RR's advice of a spin off with a character from the series is good
However, a stand alone story in another category, one with a bigger readership, could help get people to check out your series and help with the numbers.
Then again, the longer the series go the more some readers may say "damn, I'm not reading all that' but it can't hurt to try

 

[RowanWrites]

Again; appreciating the advice and insight from more experienced writers. Thank you!

 

[MelissaBaby]

From my experience, writing two long series, one 13 chapters over a 3 month period, the other 36 chapters that took 3 years, a couple of things that I don't think have been pointed out...

Yes, as others have pointed out, as you go through a series, you will inevitably lose readers and (usually) get higher scores.

From my POV, that's too bad, but I don't let it deter me from writing what I want to write.

There are two mitigating factors in the dynamic I don't think anyone has mentioned.

The first is that, as your scores rise, the likeliness of getting your stories on the Top Lists increases. There will be readers who see that Chapter 5 and Chapter 7 are high on the list and decide to start the series. And if you manage to have the highest score in your category for the month, and/or get a year end award nomination, that will draw more.

I often read threads here and want to pop in and tell people to just write better. Of course, that is what many good contributors tell them by offering particular advice, but often, it seems like people are more interested in learning a magic trick rather than doing the hard work.

That's not direct to you in particular, because I haven't read your stories and can't critique your writing, but, generally, yeah, you want more readers and higher scores, write better.

Also, when you complete a series, let the readers know. Use the description line to note the final chapter. Many readers enjoy long series, won't won't start them if they aren't finished. The entire description of the last chapter of Mary and Alvin is "The conclusion."

 

[RowanWrites]

Also, when you complete a series, let the readers know. Use the description line to note the final chapter. Many readers enjoy long series, won't won't start them if they aren't finished. The entire description of the last chapter of Mary and Alvin is "The conclusion."

Fantastic insight! Thank you!

 

[Pluna]

Thank you for asking this, I’m in a similar boat so its good to read these replies and also know I’m not alone! I had a feeling that engagement would drop with my part two since mine started out as a standalone and it took me nine months to write the next chapter, but its hard to remember that way fewer comments is to be expected and isnt a reflection of the quality of my writing haha. I can relate to wanting comments and I don’t think it’s a bad thing, for me the best part sharing my work is seeing people discuss my writing and sharing what they thought of it!