How do you get more views?

[yibala2]

Hi all,

I'm a new author/ old reader here, probably doing the usual newbie obsessing over views/votes, etc. When I compare the views for my stories to other stories, I feel like I get relatively few. So I'm just looking for suggestions as to why that is.

-My stories are in SF/F, which I understand is a big factor.

-I'm relatively new, which I understand is a factor.

-My stories are all a kind of Afro-fantasy swords & sorcery, which likely has limited appeal. But I'm not sure how much that affects views, unless readers can glean that niche from the title or author.

I've learned a couple of things about views in six months of uploading stories here, and they make sense to me:

1. description matters;
2. stories in numbered parts get less views (usually in descending order, but even starting with pt. 1);

The stories I've written with references to cheating and bordellos in the description got more views than others, and the one piece I did that didn't have a part# in the title got more views faster than any of the others.

On the other hand, I have a 20K piece that I am finishing up now, and I wonder if posting something that long without dividing into parts will result in less people actually reading it.

I know from comments that there are a few people who really like what I'm writing, and even more who at least rate it positively. I'm just wondering if there's something I could be doing to get more exposure (besides continuing to write and improve).

Does uploading on a certain day so that your story will be published on a weekend make a difference? What do you do to boost your views?

Thank you!

Yib

My stories

 

[Salacious_Scribe]

Hi all,

I'm a new author/ old reader here, probably doing the usual newbie obsessing over views/votes, etc. When I compare the views for my stories to other stories, I feel like I get relatively few. So I'm just looking for suggestions as to why that is.

-My stories are in SF/F, which I understand is a big factor.

-I'm relatively new, which I understand is a factor.

-My stories are all a kind of Afro-fantasy swords & sorcery, which likely has limited appeal. But I'm not sure how much that affects views, unless readers can glean that niche from the title or author.

I've learned a couple of things about views in six months of uploading stories here, and they make sense to me:

1. description matters;
2. stories in numbered parts get less views (usually in descending order, but even starting with pt. 1);

The stories I've written with references to cheating and bordellos in the description got more views than others, and the one piece I did that didn't have a part# in the title got more views faster than any of the others.

On the other hand, I have a 20K piece that I am finishing up now, and I wonder if posting something that long without dividing into parts will result in less people actually reading it.

I know from comments that there are a few people who really like what I'm writing, and even more who at least rate it positively. I'm just wondering if there's something I could be doing to get more exposure (besides continuing to write and improve).

Does uploading on a certain day so that your story will be published on a weekend make a difference? What do you do to boost your views?

Thank you!

Yib

My stories

I use Twitter to promote my stories. Make sure to tag Literotica, that account has a lot of followers and will retweet anything positive they're tagged in.

Try to post a new story several times a month. New stories generate views on older stories as well.

There is an ongoing debate about chapters vs one story. Different people like different things. One thing that remains constant is 3 lit pages (about 10K words) is a good length.

Due to the process of approval it doesn't matter when you upload. The approval time takes anywhere from same day to 7 days. You have no control over that.

One thing I did that really helped my views was upload 12 chapters of a story the same day and ask that each part be posted 3-4 days apart. It shot up views on many of my stories.

 

[NotWise]

Hi all,

I'm a new author/ old reader here, probably doing the usual newbie obsessing over views/votes, etc. When I compare the views for my stories to other stories, I feel like I get relatively few. So I'm just looking for suggestions as to why that is.

Welcome aboard. You'll get your sea legs soon enough.

-My stories are in SF/F, which I understand is a big factor.

I have three stories in SF&F, and they are three of my least-viewed stories.

-I'm relatively new, which I understand is a factor.

I think that's a factor, but it can take quite a while to build up enough followers and/or name recognition to offset it.

-My stories are all a kind of Afro-fantasy swords & sorcery, which likely has limited appeal. But I'm not sure how much that affects views, unless readers can glean that niche from the title or author.

That could help or hurt. Some readers may be drawn to the genre, and some may avoid it.

I've learned a couple of things about views in six months of uploading stories here, and they make sense to me:

1. description matters;
2. stories in numbered parts get less views (usually in descending order, but even starting with pt. 1);

The stories I've written with references to cheating and bordellos in the description got more views than others, and the one piece I did that didn't have a part# in the title got more views faster than any of the others.

Author name, title, short description, category, and stats for score, votes, favorites and comments are all the potential reader sees before they open your story. Those are what you need to manipulate.

Entering your story in a contest can also be a big factor, since your story is linked on the contest page, and the contest page is up until the next contest starts. That might not be a lot of help with Sci-Fi, because the traffic in the category is low and your story will be up for a few days, anyway.

On the other hand, I have a 20K piece that I am finishing up now, and I wonder if posting something that long without dividing into parts will result in less people actually reading it.

I know from comments that there are a few people who really like what I'm writing, and even more who at least rate it positively. I'm just wondering if there's something I could be doing to get more exposure (besides continuing to write and improve).

Twenty thousand words isn't a long story. Some readers will complain about it being short. You can break it up, but it's five pages plus some as a single piece, and the parts are going to be pretty short of you break it into more than two pieces.

Does uploading on a certain day so that your story will be published on a weekend make a difference? What do you do to boost your views?

I've tracked views/day on my stories for a few years. The difference between median reads/day/story varies by less than one from the highest day to the lowest. Even if you can manipulate the day it's published on, the results won't get you much.

Then there's the problem of how to do that.There are so many things that go into when Laurel publishes your story that it's hard to change. In the past when I kept track, she published fewer stories on weekends than on weekdays. I've had one story publish on a weekend, and it didn't result in a lot of views.

 

[KeithD]

How do you get more views? Write more stories in broader categories. Have something new on the hubs frequently.

 

[yibala2]

Try to post a new story several times a month. New stories generate views on older stories as well.

Thanks for all of your suggestions. Posting once a week or more would be ideal, which is what I did for my first story here. Hopefully I'll be able to get back to that pace, but it's hard to maintain.

I've never done short short stories well, like 1-3K. Maybe that's something to practice. It would certainly make posting weekly easier.

 

[yibala2]

Twenty thousand words isn't a long story. Some readers will complain about it being short. You can break it up, but it's five pages plus some as a single piece, and the parts are going to be pretty short of you break it into more than two pieces.

Okay, thanks. I will stop worrying about breaking this story up, and about what day I submit.

 

[Enchantment_of_Nyx]

Thanks for all of your suggestions. Posting once a week or more would be ideal, which is what I did for my first story here. Hopefully I'll be able to get back to that pace, but it's hard to maintain.

I've never done short short stories well, like 1-3K. Maybe that's something to practice. It would certainly make posting weekly easier.

That might be self-defeating. I think those would be awfully short stories in any category, but in Sci-Fi/Fantasy in particular, I think the readers are known to appreciate long stories. I guess it wouldn't hurt to try, but if you don't get good results, you might consider posting a little less frequently with more developed stories.

You mentioned that you weren't sure if readers could zero in on the fact that your stories are Afro-fantasy. That's pretty niche, and could definitely attract some eyes if people could identify it as such. It might be worth using some of the precious 60 characters of the story description for "AfroFantasy" or "AfroFant" or "AfroFi" or however you can best abbreviate it.

 

[SimonDoom]

I've published 32 stories over about 3 1/2 years in 8 categories, and I currently average a little over 153,000 views per story. I've made a conscious effort to try to attract views since I began writing on Literotica and have been fairly successful at it. If you want to attract views (and, to be clear, there's no particular reason you need to make it a priority), I recommend the following:

1. Publish standalone stories in popular categories. By far the most popular is Incest/Taboo. Publishing incest stories is by far the easiest way to attract a lot of views. It's not even close: this is the number 1 way to get views. My incest stories on average have more than three times the views of my other stories.

2. Publish standalone stories rather than many-chaptered stories. This isn't a hard and fast rule; some very popular authors publish in chapters. But all things being equal, standalone stories get more views than chapter stories.

3. Make sure your story mechanics are decent. Proofread well. Have decent grammar. Don't get your point of view and tense mixed up. Pay attention to how you handle dialogue (so many authors botch dialogue, and it's not hard to get it right). If you do these things your story is likely to have a higher score, and a higher score will mean more people are likely to view it.

4. Pay attention to your story title, tags, and description. If you write a mom-son incest story, then putting "Mom" in the title will attract views.

5. Publish often. If you publish often, then it gives not just your latest story but all your stories more visibility. Visibility translates to views.

6. Publish an Illustrated story. There are not many illustrated stories, so when you publish one it remains on the Illustrated new story hub for a long time. These stories can get astronomical numbers of views.

7. Promote yourself, whether through Twitter or other means. Be active on the message boards.

8. Don't publish super-short stories. Your stories should be at least 2 Lit pages (1 page = 3750 words, more or less). Optimum is 3-8 pages, but longer stories can do very well, too. Don't be afraid to publish a 20K-30K word story.

9. Choose categories wisely, and write stories that hit all the buttons that readers of that category are looking for. This is pandering to your reader, of course, and it's not the most artistically satisfying way to write, but it works, if you want to get views.

10. Study this Site. Pay attention. Read other stories, especially those that get views. Track data on your stories regularly and figure out what works. Study the toplists and the lists of most favorited stories and most followed authors. Open your mind to what seems to work here and don't let your ego get in the way. That's very hard to do. It is normal for us to be prickly and defensive about what we write and to resist change.

11. Publish a blockbuster story. OK, this is easier said than done, but if you can do it, it's very effective. The two obvious categories for doing this are incest and illustrated. If you write a story that gets over 100,000 views in its first month and ends up high on the 12-month most viewed list, then you will pick up followers and favorites, and that means more exposure for all of your stories.
There is a snowball effect. If you are curious about how to write a blockbuster story, then look at the top of the list of all-time most favorited authors, and read some of their blockbuster stories. The key is to write a well-crafted story of 3-8 pages that delivers what the readers of that category (most likely incest) are looking for. Once you've written one blockbuster story -- I've written one such story and two semi-blockbuster stories -- it will make a difference for your entire story collection and the views they receive.

12. If you don't want to publish incest stories, then find another popular category and publish stories in that category to supplement the views and readers you are getting in Sci Fi/Fantasy.

Good luck!

 

[yibala2]

You mentioned that you weren't sure if readers could zero in on the fact that your stories are Afro-fantasy. That's pretty niche, and could definitely attract some eyes if people could identify it as such. It might be worth using some of the precious 60 characters of the story description for "AfroFantasy" or "AfroFant" or "AfroFi" or however you can best abbreviate it.

This is an intriguing idea. Writing the descriptions in 60 characters has become a fun challenge, and it might be rewarding to squeeze a descriptor like that in. I'll have to think about trying that. Thanks!

 

[yibala2]

9. Choose categories wisely, and write stories that hit all the buttons that readers of that category are looking for. This is pandering to your reader, of course, and it's not the most artistically satisfying way to write, but it works, if you want to get views.

12. If you don't want to publish incest stories, then find another popular category and publish stories in that category to supplement the views and readers you are getting in Sci Fi/Fantasy.

Good luck!

Thanks! For now, I'm happily wedded to this universe, at least for my erotica. I've written more range with non-erotic fiction.

Having said that, I have thought about entering contests and posting stories from the universe in other categories. If themed well, I think I could easily do this with Erotic Horror, Mind Control, Nonhuman and Romance.

My second most-viewed submission (the standalone) is essentially a cheating wife story, although I don't think I would venture to put it in Loving Wives.

Yib

My stories

 

[8letters]

Hi all,

I'm a new author/ old reader here, probably doing the usual newbie obsessing over views/votes, etc. When I compare the views for my stories to other stories, I feel like I get relatively few. So I'm just looking for suggestions as to why that is.

I suggest reading my statistical analysis on LitE stories here.

My take on the data is that the best way to increase the views for your stories is to write stand-alone stories that are at least six pages. As page length increases, the views, ratings and comments in general increase.

My take is general, and SF/F is a different beast than most categories. Chapter stories rule SF/F. I haven't looked at the data for SF/F sufficiently to provide good advice for it.

Does uploading on a certain day so that your story will be published on a weekend make a difference?

Yes. But I can't remember what was the best day and I can't find that data split. A computer death caused me to lose the access file with all of my data.

 

[8letters]

I wonder if that's a product of people coming back to the story multiple times to finish it rather than reading it in one sitting and never looking at it again. I assume views are not unique views?

Speaking from personal reading habits, I look for stories with an appealing title and description and with a high rating. I think a longer story results in more engagement with the story, resulting in a high rating and more comments. And then stories with a higher rating get more reads.

When I did my statistical analysis, I was shocked by how many (36%) one-page stand-alone I/T stories there were (I read almost exclusively I/T). I rarely read a one-page stand-alone story because they usually didn't have a good enough rating for me to click on them.

 

[ElectricBlue]

I wonder if that's a product of people coming back to the story multiple times to finish it rather than reading it in one sitting and never looking at it again. I assume views are not unique views?

A View is a click into the first page. So yes, a reader clicking in many times to read a long story will inflate the view count.

With a stand-alone story you have zero idea how many people actually read the whole thing; with a chaptered story you get a better idea how many read to the end. My analysis over the years, based on ninety or so chapters and stand-alone stories: maybe one in five finish a long story, generally speaking (but even my own data set shows that's by no way a consistent rule of thumb). I tend to think those who argue stand-alone stories "get more readers" than chaptered stories might be kidding themselves. From the data sets we get, there is simply no way of knowing. Views do not equate to Reads.

Category is the most significant determiner of Views, though, there's no doubt about that. Any other conclusions you draw from that single metric are category specific, with not much correlation to the next category.

The best way to get more readers is to write more stories, and use the limited marketing features the site has the best way you can. Or write incest stories.

 

[Thenaughtypen]

I've published 32 stories over about 3 1/2 years in 8 categories, and I currently average a little over 153,000 views per story. I've made a conscious effort to try to attract views since I began writing on Literotica and have been fairly successful at it. If you want to attract views (and, to be clear, there's no particular reason you need to make it a priority), I recommend the following:

1. Publish standalone stories in popular categories. By far the most popular is Incest/Taboo. Publishing incest stories is by far the easiest way to attract a lot of views. It's not even close: this is the number 1 way to get views. My incest stories on average have more than three times the views of my other stories.

2. Publish standalone stories rather than many-chaptered stories. This isn't a hard and fast rule; some very popular authors publish in chapters. But all things being equal, standalone stories get more views than chapter stories.

3. Make sure your story mechanics are decent. Proofread well. Have decent grammar. Don't get your point of view and tense mixed up. Pay attention to how you handle dialogue (so many authors botch dialogue, and it's not hard to get it right). If you do these things your story is likely to have a higher score, and a higher score will mean more people are likely to view it.

4. Pay attention to your story title, tags, and description. If you write a mom-son incest story, then putting "Mom" in the title will attract views.

5. Publish often. If you publish often, then it gives not just your latest story but all your stories more visibility. Visibility translates to views.

6. Publish an Illustrated story. There are not many illustrated stories, so when you publish one it remains on the Illustrated new story hub for a long time. These stories can get astronomical numbers of views.

7. Promote yourself, whether through Twitter or other means. Be active on the message boards.

8. Don't publish super-short stories. Your stories should be at least 2 Lit pages (1 page = 3750 words, more or less). Optimum is 3-8 pages, but longer stories can do very well, too. Don't be afraid to publish a 20K-30K word story.

9. Choose categories wisely, and write stories that hit all the buttons that readers of that category are looking for. This is pandering to your reader, of course, and it's not the most artistically satisfying way to write, but it works, if you want to get views.

10. Study this Site. Pay attention. Read other stories, especially those that get views. Track data on your stories regularly and figure out what works. Study the toplists and the lists of most favorited stories and most followed authors. Open your mind to what seems to work here and don't let your ego get in the way. That's very hard to do. It is normal for us to be prickly and defensive about what we write and to resist change.

11. Publish a blockbuster story. OK, this is easier said than done, but if you can do it, it's very effective. The two obvious categories for doing this are incest and illustrated. If you write a story that gets over 100,000 views in its first month and ends up high on the 12-month most viewed list, then you will pick up followers and favorites, and that means more exposure for all of your stories.
There is a snowball effect. If you are curious about how to write a blockbuster story, then look at the top of the list of all-time most favorited authors, and read some of their blockbuster stories. The key is to write a well-crafted story of 3-8 pages that delivers what the readers of that category (most likely incest) are looking for. Once you've written one blockbuster story -- I've written one such story and two semi-blockbuster stories -- it will make a difference for your entire story collection and the views they receive.

12. If you don't want to publish incest stories, then find another popular category and publish stories in that category to supplement the views and readers you are getting in Sci Fi/Fantasy.

Good luck!

Wow - that is very helpful. Insightful comments about incest. I know sex is a broad church and all, but I find the notion that it is the runaway biggest category frankly bizarre!

 

[BelleCanzuto]

On the other hand, I have a 20K piece that I am finishing up now, and I wonder if posting something that long without dividing into parts will result in less people actually reading it.

I know from comments that there are a few people who really like what I'm writing, and even more who at least rate it positively. I'm just wondering if there's something I could be doing to get more exposure (besides continuing to write and improve).

Does uploading on a certain day so that your story will be published on a weekend make a difference? What do you do to boost your views?

Thank you!

Yib

My stories

Hi Yib - Like NW said, welcome aboard, welcome back!

I can't comment on the category or kind of story that you're writing. But I will say that I have a story of about 34K words, and it's BY FAR my highest viewed story (like almost five times as many views as my next highest), and it has one of my highest scores.

So, also like NW said, lots of readers here seem to like longer stories, which also have the advantage of really being able to develop characters and plots.

I've been posting stories here for a little over a year. It took me over eleven months to get my first 100 followers. In the four months since then, I've gotten another 125 followers. Sometimes it only takes one story to attract people. And there are appetites for all kinds of stories here.

 

[yibala2]

Hi Yib - Like NW said, welcome aboard, welcome back!

I've been posting stories here for a little over a year. It took me over eleven months to get my first 100 followers. In the four months since then, I've gotten another 125 followers. Sometimes it only takes one story to attract people. And there are appetites for all kinds of stories here.

Thanks!

That's been my general approach - to be patient. Even though my views seem low, my followers have been slowly growing. So it feels like I am on the right track.

I've noted, as posters have said, that every new submission attracts views for the older submissions, and was pleasantly surprised to see with my last submission that the first related stories that came up for it were all by me as well.

I also feel reassured about posting a novella length story as a standalone. I was afraid I might be making a mistake not breaking up the next one into parts.

Yib

my stories

 

[Salacious_Scribe]

Wow - that is very helpful. Insightful comments about incest. I know sex is a broad church and all, but I find the notion that it is the runaway biggest category frankly bizarre!

Currently, the best selling genre on Amazon is stepbrother porn and most of the buyers/readers are women.

 

[Salacious_Scribe]

Don't pick random tags. Use Lit's tag cloud. You can see popular tags overall or by category. Sometimes BlowJob is a better tag than blow-job or blow job.

I pick my tags based on the popular tags that fit my story, and my readership did increase.

 

[davion2308]

It's a numbers game

Views, for me, are like sales.

You need volume, you need good stuff, and you need to constantly be pushing yourself.

I found that when I entered a few of the contests, views of all my stories went. Comments went up, too, and people are 'discovering' me? I've been here a few years, I have a few dozen works, and I have no idea where my views stack up against anyone else's.

Ultimately, you need stories across the spectrum to get wider viewership. You'll need to promote yourself or at least have your name show up where more people can find it. And your stuff has to be good so people want to read more.

Lastly, Title and Description, description, description. That's how you can separate yourself from the billions of other stories out there. Take as much time as possible to describe your story to be engaging and separate from the others.

Good hunting and keep at it!

 

[SimonDoom]

Don't pick random tags. Use Lit's tag cloud. You can see popular tags overall or by category. Sometimes BlowJob is a better tag than blow-job or blow job.

I pick my tags based on the popular tags that fit my story, and my readership did increase.

Good advice. Another thing to do is to pick tags that overlap with those used by a similar story that is very popular. Your story may be more likely to become a "related story" on the list at the end of that story and get found by more readers. I'm convinced that "related story" lists are an extremely valuable way of getting your story noticed, so if you can find a way of piggybacking off the success of other, popular stories, that's good.

Keep in mind, though, that Laurel reserves the right to delete or change the tags for your story.

 

[yibala2]

Don't pick random tags. Use Lit's tag cloud. You can see popular tags overall or by category. Sometimes BlowJob is a better tag than blow-job or blow job.

Picking tags is almost as fun as creating the description! But I hadn't thought about the popularity of the tag. (I guess that's just the relative size?) Thanks.

 

[Salacious_Scribe]

Picking tags is almost as fun as creating the description! But I hadn't thought about the popularity of the tag. (I guess that's just the relative size?) Thanks.

Yes the bigger the tag the more popular it is. On the side is a list of the top tags, make sure to use as many of those as you can, and that they fit your story.