Does prompting readers to vote or comment work?

[12oclocktales]

Does reminding or requesting readers to vote/comment on a story, say in a prefatory note, work, or does it just make the author look (or in my case feel) like a desperate politician?

 

[ElectricBlue]

There's no way of knowing, one way or the other.

What gets you comments, though, is writing a really good story or a really bad one. Write something on par, you can get nothing much by way of comments. This is very category dependent, obviously.

 

[SamScribble]

I must admit that whenever I see an author asking for votes, I tend to think: Boy, that's a pretty desperate scribbler. But whatever get's you through the night, I guess.

 

[KeithD]

Does reminding or requesting readers to vote/comment on a story, say in a prefatory note, work, or does it just make the author look (or in my case feel) like a desperate politician?

It's been long established that the readers aren't leaned on here to comment or vote much--and that, in general, they don't comment or vote much. So, yes, it just comes across to me as neediness when authors beg for it.

 

[mirafrida]

I usually say this:

"I appreciate positive comments and constructive feedback."

I don't know if it's needy, or if it works (or neither or both) - but it's true, so why not be genuine?

 

[CiaoSteve]

Sometimes I did prompt (usually for contests) and sometimes I didn't . . . it didn't seem to make much difference

 

[oneagainst]

Boilerplate at the end of every one of my chapters is as below. I view it same as the "Let me know how I'm driving" stickers on trucks. Comes at the end, so it doesn't interrupt story flow, and also gives readers a link into my other stuff. I find it works well.

"Follow me for updates to this and my other stories. If you like what you read, please leave a comment or a star rating. Constructive feedback is always welcome. If you want further adventures, or to check out my other stories, my story page is here"

 

[12oclocktales]

Boilerplate at the end of every one of my chapters is as below. I view it same as the "Let me know how I'm driving" stickers on trucks. Comes at the end, so it doesn't interrupt story flow, and also gives readers a link into my other stuff. I find it works well.

"Follow me for updates to this and my other stories. If you like what you read, please leave a comment or a star rating. Constructive feedback is always welcome. If you want further adventures, or to check out my other stories, my story page is here"

Thanks. So you like the idea of at least signposting. That was something else I was curious about.

 

[Duleigh]

There's only one sure way to get readers to comment on your story - make a huge, embarrassing, egregious error. You'll get comments like you've never seen before!

 

[SimonDoom]

I see it as like many forms of advertising: you may not get a great return on your effort, but everything you do increases the chance at least somewhat that you'll get a response.

 

[12oclocktales]

It's been long established that the readers aren't leaned on here to comment or vote much--and that, in general, they don't comment or vote much. So, yes, it just comes across to me as neediness when authors beg for it.

I only noticed that some writers do it and wondered if there was solid motivation behind it, or what theirs might be. Obviously if it was a sure thing, lots more would be doing it.

 

[Duleigh]

I only noticed that some writers do it and wondered if there was solid motivation behind it, or what theirs might be. Obviously if it was a sure thing, lots more would be doing it.

You would have to ask them. It could be that they're reaching out to regular readers, or they could be trying to get feedback on something, it could be a fishing expedition to see if they will actually get feedback.

 

[TarnishedPenny]

I generally end a tale by saying that feedback is what keeps writers writing, so please vote or comment, if not for my story, then for one you think is better. I’ve received some positive feedback on that, too.

 

[ChloeTzang]

I only noticed that some writers do it and wondered if there was solid motivation behind it, or what theirs might be. Obviously if it was a sure thing, lots more would be doing it.

Ive tried asking but honestly, it doesnt make a blind bit of difference. What i have found is that a good story that moves readers emotionally and that they can empathize with gets more of both comments and votes,

 

[RetroFan]

Depends on the category. Lesbian Sex, Incest/Taboo, First Time, Romance and of course Loving Wives tend to attract more comments, while number of comments vary wildly in Erotic Couplings and Fetish.

Other categories like Group Sex, Exhibitionism & Voyeurism and Erotic Horror tend to attract far fewer comments.

 

[BobbyBrandt]

I only noticed that some writers do it and wondered if there was solid motivation behind it, or what theirs might be. Obviously if it was a sure thing, lots more would be doing it.

It doesn't seem like it would be too difficult to do an "apples-to-apples" comparison of your own.

If you see other writers doing it, check some of their submissions to see how many comments they have received. Are those numbers comparable to other writers in the same category with a similar score?

 

[ElectricBlue]

It doesn't seem like it would be too difficult to do an "apples-to-apples" comparison of your own.

If you see other writers doing it, check some of their submissions to see how many comments they have received. Are those numbers comparable to other writers in the same category with a similar score?

I think comments are based on the quality (or not) of a story, regardless whether or not a writer asks for them.

 

[Stimtheone]

I have explicitly asked for comments in my eight part of my series and got nothing. Maybe it was forgotten because by the time they got to the end it was a while, but... other than possibly asking AGAIN at the end... seems one can't assure it.
And comments would be welcome to show what I did right and what not.

 

[Defluer]

There's only one sure way to get readers to comment on your story - make a huge, embarrassing, egregious error. You'll get comments like you've never seen before!

If Literotica had the same algorithm that video sharing sites do, promoting based on interaction, then that would be the way to go. I saw a video where a guy admitting to purposely getting math wrong because everyone thinks themselves better by replying that he got the math wrong, even though they had to see that every other commenter was saying the same thing. If that was the case my first few stories here would have made me famous.

Insert picture of Billy the Kid from Young Guns saying, "I'll mark you famouse" below all caps SPELLING.

I generally end a tale by saying that feedback is what keeps writers writing, so please vote or comment, if not for my story, then for one you think is better. I’ve received some positive feedback on that, too.

I think when I first started "asking" it was mostly about me but more recently it's just a general reminder to interact in some way, if only to negate the bad ones, with ALL authors here and not just me.

I've had 1 person say that they were not aware that they could leave a comment anonymously, which was part of my "leave a comment" speech. Maybe it was just the 1 person but I have to imagine if there is one person there is more, that's got to mean something. People just slide in here to read some spicy stories, they don't look around for the rules, so if the rules find them, if an author says, "we do this for free and our only hope is a half second for a vote or 20 seconds to comment..." then that's good for all of us.

 

[PastMaster]

I've not noticed any difference in the numbers of comments on stories where I have asked against those I haven't. There are certain categories that attract more comments though.

 

[BobbyBrandt]

I think comments are based on the quality (or not) of a story, regardless whether or not a writer asks for them.

Should I have said "oranges-to-oranges", or "grapes-to-grapes"?

You know, some other terms that would have made the comparative aspect of my suggestion more obvious.

 

[Duleigh]

I think comments are based on the quality (or not) of a story, regardless whether or not a writer asks for them.

In my experience, comments are based on the content of the story. I have written my soul out, editing and double checking until every sentence was perfect, but in the end it was a melodrama with a few sex scenes and my comments were few and along the lines of "Nice story, thanks."

Then I wrote a story that I really need to go back and correct serious formatting, grammatical, and spelling errors, but only one comment mentioned them (from a fellow writer here) The comments flooded in and are still coming nearly a year later. The rest were some of the most emotional comments I've ever seen. The story was about a wounded veteran whose career ended and how he dealt with the trauma of not only being wounded in combat, but suddenly found himself "on the street" lost and alone and how new his wife helped him through his nightmares.

Comments poured in, comments of thanks for highlighting the problems that many vets have, comments from vets who were dealing with the same issues as my fictional hero thanking me for putting their anguish into words, comments of thanks for highlighting the hell that a veteran's partner goes through to help the vet they love... I didn't expect any of that, I wrote a story made up of bits and things that happened to real veterans flying in gunships in combat, but it touched a lot of hearts and the content inspired comment. I could write a story about John Levitow and what he did to become the only enlisted man in the USAF to be awarded the Medal of Honor, but you wouldn't believe a word of the story, because it's too fantastical, it reads like made up hero worship.

Write what's in your heart and if it touches another heart the comment will come.

 

[ElectricBlue]

Should I have said "oranges-to-oranges", or "grapes-to-grapes"?

You know, some other terms that would have made the comparative aspect of my suggestion more obvious.

I got what you were saying, but my post reflects my view that it's the story that will bring the comments, not some plea from the writer.

Duleigh's post illustrates that perfectly - that's what I meant by the quality of a story - the story told (not its grammatical perfection) hitting a chord.

 

[BobbyBrandt]

I got what you were saying, but my post reflects my view that it's the story that will bring the comments, not some plea from the writer.

Duleigh's post illustrates that perfectly - that's what I meant by the quality of a story - the story told (not its grammatical perfection) hitting a chord.

Oh, I get that, and don't dispute it.

My point was to the OP's posted question and explaining that there was a method for it to be answered by doing a comparison between stories with similar scores in the same category, one where the author asks for comments/votes and one where the author doesn't. The comparative analysis wouldn't necessarily take into account the quality of one story versus another, but with similar scores, the appeal to readers should be close to the same. There are other factors, such as the length of time a story has been posted, the number of followers one author has versus anther, and so on, but it might be too challenging to find stories by different authors where all those factors aligned.

 

[Rob_Royale]

I added this a few stories ago.
I’d like to ask you to rate my work and then scroll down to the bottom of this page and drop me a comment if you have a mind to. Hearing from readers makes my day.
I would not say ratings or comments have risen an iota. After some quick math, only 0.6% of folks who clicked on my newest story, rated it, making it a totally moot point.
I will not be including it in further works.