Do contests improve read numbers

[K155]

My story released today - as part of the Summer Lovin - and the days reading numbers have been very good. Do the contests generate higher traffic or is this story just appealing to more people?

Ta x

 

[alohadave]

I know that my vote:views ratio is higher, about 1% higher than non-event stories.

 

[NotWise]

Contests generate quite a bit of traffic, though it's hard to measure. If your story is in a busy category like I/T it may not be a huge boost. If it's in a slow category the contest could account for a lot of your story's views.

 

[ElectricBlue]

I don't enter contests often, but when I do, I reckon there's maybe a five percent increase in traffic from when the story falls off the Category front page, and is being fed by the Contest listing.

Invariably, there's been a reduction in score from that tail of readers, which I put down to their squick factor, when they find themselves in an unfamiliar category. It got to the point where I don't bother with Contests. That, and deadlines.

 

[Bazzle]

My contest entries tend to get panned and hated by the ensemble. So this year I've avoided them.
I do have a paranormal sex filled story in the works which it I am comfortable won't end up with 2* I might put it in Halloween...
As mine tend to be in fetish, there is no difference in viewing numbers!

 

[Blind_Justice]

There used to be a massive spike in readership during the Geek Pride event, but over the past three years, I was lucky if my storeis ran even with my regular output. No idea if that's due to my erratic posting schedule (as in "no schedule whatsoever") or me posting in the wrong event.

 

[SimonDoom]

Yes, they do. Anytime your story gets added exposure by being on a list, it will attract more views.

 

[K155]

Thanks folks! Numbers are like double normal for this stage, so pleased with that. * rating not great though!

 

[MillieDynamite]

The contests and events get you noticed.

 

[NotWise]

If you track your story's views carefully, then you may see a change in views per day when the contest page is unlinked. Whether or not you see that depends on a lot of factors. I do track mine, and I can estimate the total contest effect from the pattern of views. Sometimes this works, and sometimes it doesn't.

My last Summer Lovin' story posted to I/T in 2020. It's a fairly well-read story, probably because of the title. When the contest page was unlinked, it had about 87K views with 56% of those coming from New Page and Category hub (can't distinguish between those based on the viewing pattern), and 42% came from the contest page.

Views continue to accumulate after the opening flurry, and in some cases the gradual accumulation of views outweighs the initial surge. This story now has 133K views. 36% of those have accumulated since the contest closed, but the contest views still account for about 27% of the total.

If your story has an appealing title and it's published in a slow category, then the contest can have a proportionately larger effect. The contest page only shows the title and author name, so a lot of people may open the story and drop out as soon as they see the category, but that still counts as a view.

 

[SouthernCrossfire]

My experience is that contests usually see a big bump in views; some, but not all, events do, too. This time is an exception for me though. My story went in late this time (next to last day for entry) so there were already over a hundred entries on the list (I think). With a decent tag line and an accurate but bland title, it's effectively been hidden in the crowd and hasn't seen the bump in views that my stories have seen in past contests. It's long, too, so the actual number of readers is probably a smaller than normal percentage of recorded views.

I suspected that might be the case going in and accepted that might be the case to spin the story I wanted to tell, but it's been a bit disappointing to see it play out that way, complete with a smaller than normal number of new followers.

Therefore, suggestions for future contests for those looking for increased exposure to new readers:

• Have a good, well written story (that's always good advice for all submissions).
• Finish and submit earlier in the contest so your story is seen by more potential readers over the length of the contest.
• Have a snappy title that stands out.
• Have an interesting tag line that draws attention too.
• Readers generally don't prefer really short entries, but a much smaller percentage of readers are willing to tackle really long stories (let's say 10+ Lit pages) so plan your stories accordingly.

Most AH regulars already know all of this but I'm leaving this in case it might help any new authors planning a story for a future contest.