Do you pay attention to how many authors your followers follow?

[FifthEstate]

If you’re like me, it feels a little dirty when you get followed by a reader who already follows 1000 other authors (…like, am I so bad this reader didn’t follow me till now?). But conversely, does it make you feel good when you are the first and only author they follow—especially if they didn’t join yesterday? Or do you not pay attention or even care?

 

[SimonDoom]

I don't pay any attention to the numbers but sometimes I will check out information on followers, including their favorites and follower lists, to get ideas for stories to read.

 

[Rob_Royale]

The only thing I check is if they have posted work here themselves, and only occasionally.

 

[KeithD]

Nope.

 

[SabrinaGLangton]

If you’re like me, it feels a little dirty when you get followed by a reader who already follows 1000 other authors (…like, am I so bad this reader didn’t follow me till now?). But conversely, does it make you feel good when you are the first and only author they follow—especially if they didn’t join yesterday? Or do you not pay attention or even care?

Personally, I love when I am one of the few authors a reader follows, I feel special... ha... Most times when someone follows me I check to see if my stories are in their favorites to see if they have read something of mine before, or maybe I was just a whim. I also look to see if they follow some of MY favorites. I always want to send a basket of flowers or some Sharkey's Whisky to them as a thank you, maybe even a cup of coffee. It feels like such a personal thing to me and I love it, I want to send a note and welcome them to my secret club, ha, sometimes I think I am a little crazy...

So to answer your question, I care... maybe a little too much, but I'm okay with it.

 

[Emotional]

Fuck No

I am flattered a reader even takes the time to push that little button

 

[ElectricBlue]

If you’re like me, it feels a little dirty when you get followed by a reader who already follows 1000 other authors (…like, am I so bad this reader didn’t follow me till now?). But conversely, does it make you feel good when you are the first and only author they follow—especially if they didn’t join yesterday? Or do you not pay attention or even care?

Yeah, it's always a buzz when you're their first author.

I pay no attention to those long scrolls though - I'm specialer than that, you indiscriminate bastard! How do they find the time to read that lot?

If someone has maybe 20 - 30 favourites, I'll often click on one or two, to see what company I'm keeping. I've found some good authors, doing that.

 

[DanDraper]

Sometimes when I see a new follower, I check out who else they follow or what stories they favorited. You sometimes find something new that way.



....

 

[ronde]

If you’re like me, it feels a little dirty when you get followed by a reader who already follows 1000 other authors (…like, am I so bad this reader didn’t follow me till now?). But conversely, does it make you feel good when you are the first and only author they follow—especially if they didn’t join yesterday? Or do you not pay attention or even care?

I don't think the number of followers is any indication of the quality of your writing or lack thereof. It's more about a reader being able to find something to read without searching through the new stories list. Just using rough numbers, if there are 200 stories posted every day in 33 categories, it's likely there are only a half dozen or so in a reader's preferred genre or genres on any particular day. For the less popular genres, there may be only one or none. Once a reader finds an author he or she likes, they'll favorite that author because they like how that author writes.

The other thing is that probably many of those 1000 favorites are no longer active on Lit especially if their stories are a few years old. Many authors write a few stories and then stop.

 

[Kumquatqueen]

I have to admit I get more of a kick when someone has a few followers, rather than a list so long that scrolling three times doesn't reach the end, but it's rare enough for me to get a new one that I love them all. 264, I think.

I'm horribly fussy about what I read, so looking through stories/authors my followers have marked is the best way to find stuff I like.

 

[BobbyBrandt]

A few months back I got curious after reading a thread here and analyzed my followers for the first (and so far, only) time. I think I had just achieved 1K followers and found that less than 2% of those following me had ever posted a story here.

I didn't consider how many other authors they followed. Maybe I'll do that some rainy day.

 

[Rustyoznail]

I have a quick look at any new followers. It's a bit of a buzz when it's another writer.

 

[YDB95]

Never gave that any thought. The only thing I do check on is whether they have stories of their own, as I'm naturally interested in the work of those who like my work.

 

[PennameWombat]

If you’re like me, it feels a little dirty when you get followed by a reader who already follows 1000 other authors (…like, am I so bad this reader didn’t follow me till now?). But conversely, does it make you feel good when you are the first and only author they follow—especially if they didn’t join yesterday? Or do you not pay attention or even care?

I’ve no idea why you’d have that feeling, I simply appreciate the follow. I do sometimes take a look at their page, mostly for their bio to see if they’ve submitted their own stories. I’ve never noted how many or if they have other authors they follow.

 

[FifthEstate]

I’ve no idea why you’d have that feeling, I simply appreciate the follow.

I was being tongue-in-cheek with the first part, of course I appreciate them all. My point was more about the second group, which for some strange reason I’ve had a few lately.

 

[SeraphNocturne]

Honestly… I’m with you on the “special treatment”. I’ve had a follower create an account just to follow me and tail my series to the point she literally has waited years for me to carry on. I have to say, it’s a very fulfilling encounter. She also enjoys discussing the series as it progresses and having that kind of connection with a reader literally makes my day better.

But ultimately, I do peek in on other authors that new followers are interested in just out of curiosity of their patterns and whatnot… people with a lot of authors I assume are just eager readers and admittedly I’ve discovered great authors to follow myself by checking in, so it’s a win-win to me.

 

[Grendelpuppy]

That along with favorites or sometimes comments is how I discover new stories that I like.

 

[TarnishedPenny]

I will check it out, get some idea of what resonates for them, who my fan base is. I don't spend a lot of time looking.

I had a wonderful experience this morning, though. Somebody who'd been around for a while selected their first 'favorite' author - me! That's special.

 

[oneagainst]

I check every follow and rank them in my head, OCD style. Top trumps are vintage readers (say 2018 or earlier) when you're maybe one of 20, and other writers. Being someone's thousandth liked story I just interpret as a hat tip by the reader as they pass through, sort of like an uber star rating. I noticed that romance and LW seem to have a lot of the latter and few of the former.