Does category determine readership?

[Ophelia_Coque]

My story CHLOE'S NEW BOARDING SCHOOL got to 15000 readers quite quickly and started to plateau. My recent 'The School Reunion', started to tail off much faster.
Is this because Reunion went into Trans and Crossdressers category, which is a bit more niche?
Or was the story just not so good?
Chloe scored 4.75, Reunion 4.71.
I suspect the category affected readership..

 

[ElectricBlue]

My story CHLOE'S NEW BOARDING SCHOOL got to 15000 readers quite quickly and started to plateau. My recent 'The School Reunion', started to tail off much faster.
Is this because Reunion went into Trans and Crossdressers category, which is a bit more niche?
Or was the story just not so good?
Chloe scored 4.75, Reunion 4.71.
I suspect the category affected readership..


View attachment 2353501

What category was Chloe 1 in?

Also, you're comparing a week with five months, which is not a valid comparison. Don't even think about what a score means for at least a month.

But yes, each category has its own pattern of reader behaviour, and each one is different.

 

[TheLobster]

T&CG is definitely more niche than Lesbian. In terms of views, I think I/T and LW are at the top; my own incest stories certainly trump those in other categories in this regard.

 

[onehitwanda]

Several things I feel I have to call out.

1. Lesbania has a far, far higher visitor count than T&C - in isolation of anything else, this means that individual ratings in T&C have a far greater effect on the overall result than those in L.
2. The readerships are going to be different. Very different in some regards, and so they will be looking for different things - different hooks, different triggers.
3. Your date ranges are different. This may not seem like a problem but it is - Chloe dropped in Northern Hemisphere winter, School Reunion went up a week ago. The world is vastly different between those two dates - all sorts of things are going on, people's sentiment is different etc etc.

About the only meaningful stat you can draw from these is that both are curves of some sort. Anything else is conjecture at best.

 

[Ophelia_Coque]

What category was Chloe 1 in?

Also, you're comparing a week with five months, which is not a valid comparison. Don't even think about what a score means for at least a month.

But yes, each category has its own pattern of reader behaviour, and each one is different.

Chloe was in 'Lesbian'. Chloe hit 16000 in five days. Reunion hit 6724 in 5 days.

 

[SimonDoom]

The number of readers for different categories is wildly different. If you publish stories to enough different categories, as I do, and wait to see the results over a number of years, as I have, you'll see this.

Incest, Loving Wives, and Illustrated generally have very high view numbers. My incest stories on average have more than four times as many readers as do my stories in other categories.

Lesbian, Mature, Anal often have high view numbers.

The categories that tend to fall more in the middle are Exhibitionist/Voyeur, Group Sex, Sci Fi, Erotic Couplings.

Some categories, like Humor or Letters, don't receive many views. My Celeb/Fan Fic stories haven't received many views, either.

So, short answer, it makes a big difference. On the other hand, it's a good idea to look at not just how big the readership is, but whether it's the right fit. It makes no sense to post a story in the wrong category just to get more views. Chances are, the viewers won't like it as much and will downvote it.

But when a story genuinely can go into two different categories, I'll generally put it in the one that gets more views.

 

[StillStunned]

1. Lesbania

I think I have a fridge magnet from there.

 

[ElectricBlue]

Chloe was in 'Lesbian'. Chloe hit 16000 in five days. Reunion hit 6724 in 5 days.

That's different categories for you. They're not comparable.

You can't complain too much though - both stories have got decent scores, and at a guess, I'm going to say each one has around one Vote per hundred Views. That's a fairly consistent metric across most categories.

 

[onehitwanda]

I think I have a fridge magnet from there.

No, that was from Lesbanon.

 

[StillStunned]

No, that was from Lesbanon.

You're confused. LesbAnon hands out badges for 90 days of lesbian sex.

 

[Cagivagurl]

My story CHLOE'S NEW BOARDING SCHOOL got to 15000 readers quite quickly and started to plateau. My recent 'The School Reunion', started to tail off much faster.
Is this because Reunion went into Trans and Crossdressers category, which is a bit more niche?
Or was the story just not so good?
Chloe scored 4.75, Reunion 4.71.
I suspect the category affected readership..


View attachment 2353501

There are many variables.
What day they posted can have a huge effect on initial views.
How many other stories posted on the same day.
Did one clash with a contest drop...
Category can also have a huge effect. Some categories draw 3 times as many views as others...
Personally, I don't see what the problem is. Both received good viewer numbers. Both rated well...
Not sure what the issue is...

Cagivagurl

 

[onehitwanda]

You're confused. LesbAnon hands out badges for 90 days of lesbian sex.

No, that's the Underground Lesbian Army.

(if I win the lottery I'm totally going to open a tea shop named Lesbania)

 

[SimonDoom]

I read The School Reunion and scanned the other story. You definitely placed them in the correct categories. You can drive yourself a little crazy if you dive too deeply into numbers and how yours stack up against others, but both stories have done "well," by the relative standards of this site.

Another factor might be the title. "Chloe's New Boarding School" might sound a bit more titillating to some potential readers than "The School Reunion." Although, on the other hand, you have a good tagline for The School Reunion that hints at the content.

 

[Bamagan]

No, that was from Lesbanon.

Before you left South Africa, did you ever visit Lezotho?

 

[StillStunned]

(if I win the lottery I'm totally going to open a tea shop named Lesbania)

Famous for its muffins, I'm sure.

 

[Rustyoznail]

No, that's the Underground Lesbian Army.

(if I win the lottery I'm totally going to open a tea shop named Lesbania)

Might pay to find a better location than a tiny rock in the Atlantic. I don't think you could rely on the casual tourist passing by.

Anyhoo, as others have said. There are many variables that go into views and scores. Even later parts of a series will normally see a drop in views.

 

[onehitwanda]

Might pay to find a better location than a tiny rock in the Atlantic. I don't think you could rely on the casual tourist passing by.

I get a lot of seals of approval.

 

[Bamagan]

My story CHLOE'S NEW BOARDING SCHOOL got to 15000 readers quite quickly and started to plateau. My recent 'The School Reunion', started to tail off much faster.
Is this because Reunion went into Trans and Crossdressers category, which is a bit more niche?
Or was the story just not so good?
Chloe scored 4.75, Reunion 4.71.
I suspect the category affected readership..


View attachment 2353501

Anecdotally, the Lesbian category draws readers who are authentic lesbians, additional interested women, and a variety of men. Many of those men (and a fair few of the women) are believed to be absent from the general audience of TG/C, ergo, lower overall readership.

 

[Ophelia_Coque]

each one has around one Vote per hundred Views. That's a fairly consistent metric across most categories.

Interesting to look at Readers per vote. Chloe is 69, Reunion is 70.
Chloe 2 was 146 readers per vote.

 

[onehitwanda]

Before you left South Africa, did you ever visit Lezotho?

No, it's landlocked - makes it a bit hard to dock HMS Vibratii anywhere reasonable.

 

[StillStunned]

No, it's landlocked - makes it a bit hard to dock HMS Vibratii anywhere reasonable.

I'm sure it's docked in plenty of rougher places.

 

[Bamagan]

I'm sure it's docked in plenty of rougher places.

Rougher, maybe, but probably not drier.

 

[onehitwanda]

I'm a dab hand at managing a gentle approach to the slipway.

 

[StillStunned]

I'm a dab hand at managing a gentle approach to the slipway.

Rule Britannia!

 

[Bamagan]

We've very nearly scuttled this thread.