How to get something more noticed

[Ravin the Poet]

I write my own soap opera. and my readership is like 30 people. Considering I spend a good 20-25 hours a week on each episode, I just don't see the benefit of writing for 30 people, and spending 25hours of my life to do so. Sure, it helps me write, but my talent isn't going anywhere, and I do enjoy writing, but I am at the point in my writing career where I need to start getting exposure, and doing these small little things that take up all my time, just isn't worth it anymore.

My Soap is called Breaking the Habit, and I have dne 6 episodes. I am finding it harder and harder to sit down and write more, because in my head I keep remembering I am doing this for 30 people, and I get the same feedback from all of them. So really it's like writing for one. Anyone got any ways I could possibly get this out into the market better. I really would like to make money off this idea, since it's new.

I thought of this. People buy ebooks and read them online, and pay about $20-50 dollars for a book (a guess figure). So what is stopping me from say charging $5 a month for stories, and if the person wants to renew, make it like $3 a month, or buy a year for so much. I don't see any problem with this, yet people wont pay, even though it's basically like buying an ebook that continues to go on and on.

Anyone have any suggestions for me?


Ravin

 

[thenry]

1. Write for yourself. Everything else should be gravy unless you are already making enough money to outweigh the work. Just like a "real" job.

2. You're putting it on the Internet. Everyone knows "everything on the Internet should be free." Despite longstanding economic models, the theory of micropayments doesn't hold water from the consumer side. Research the "burden of payment" and realize what this website is all about.

3. If you want to make money submit to a real publisher. (E-books usually cost less than paper books at $4-7, though they are also usually shorter.)

4. Exposure can hurt you if you aren't any good. A history of poor sales is more dangerous than a history of no sales.

5. Learn to market yourself and your work. Given what you are doing follows the self-publishing model, look at the advice self-publishing and vanity publishing firms offer. They're all over the web these days.

 

[Ravin the Poet]

I hate this "write for yourself" stuff, because you know what, I do that. I do it enough. I write poetry, short stories and songs for myself. This soap opera is 100% for other people, that's why I am doing it. I never believed in that "I'm just wriing for myself" because as much as you don't admit it openly, I know, and you know we have all said it.

"I wish more people would look at my work" because lets face it, it's nice to be noticed.


Ravin

 

[thenry]

Alright, I'll totally fess up. But only because you caught me drunk. It's nice to be read.

That said: a new list:

1. Nothing after point 1 was addressed.

2. Nothing you have said addresses the idea that the fault may lie not with the readers but with you and your writing. If your writing was brilliant, your number of viewers would be growing. Don't say "but…" anything. The statement is non-negotiable.

Another angle: If you were in a room with a thousand other, random people, how many would like to read your book? Ten people is 1%. Surely one whole person is connected to you by less than 7° of separation and would read if for no other reason. Surely at least one whole person would like it.

At .1%, there are more than four hundred thousand English speakers in North America interested in reading your work. The question now is, how are you going to let them know?

 

[dr_mabeuse]

I can't believe that any story that goes up on Lit is only read by 30 people. Even the poorly-read categories log around 1000 views a day. You must mean that only 30 people respond to an episode of your soap, right?

I might be missing something, but it seems to me that if you want your stories to have more readers, you should try something that will reach a wider audience than your sudser does. I mean, 20 hours a week on one Lit story seems like a lot to me. Maybe you should try an incest story. Those can get 20,000 views in 24 hours.

Like TH says, ebooks go for about $4-$8. You could set up your own ebook site if you're computer literate enough, but you're still going to have to publicize it, and given the tremendous number of hits stories get here, Lit is still one of the best places to develop a following.

---dr.M.

 

[doormouse]

1000 views a day????


pffft... who're you trying to kid?

If that were the case.... I'd have over 100,000 reads by now instead of the 17,000.

30, is unbelievable, but maybe that was the number of votes.

What ever.

 

[Black Tulip]

If you really want to make money, you should start looking here for instance:

http://www.erotica-readers.com/
or
http://logical-lust.com/

or try to sell your stuff at Ellora's Cave, Black Lace, Wicked Velvet or Triskelion Publishing, to name a few.

E-books are mostly less than $10 and some are as cheap as $2 or $3, for an average of 100 pages.

Good luck.

 

[doormouse]

Thanks Black Tulip.

Stealing your advice

 

[Black Tulip]

Hehehe, you're more than welcome.

Not that it has done me any good so far, but that could be the quality of my writing. LOL

 

[Liar]

1000 views a day????


pffft... who're you trying to kid?

If that were the case.... I'd have over 100,000 reads by now instead of the 17,000.

30, is unbelievable, but maybe that was the number of votes.

What ever.

1000 views/day or more is quite right for the first 2 or 3 days, when it's up on the New Stories page. After that, you have to be high on the top lists and/or have a huge fanbase to get that kind of exposure.

Being productive helps too. If you always have a new story up there, chances are that readers goes to check out the rest of your stories if they like that one.

The good Dr as far as Lit fame goes, pretty well known, his stories are good, most if not all tagged with an H, and the high rating takes a few of them up on top lists. He is also a quite (though not extremely) prolific writer. Maybe that's enough to make his stories that much read.

#L

 

[mismused]

If you really want to make money, you should start looking here for instance:

http://www.erotica-readers.com/
or
http://logical-lust.com/

or try to sell your stuff at Ellora's Cave, Black Lace, Wicked Velvet or Triskelion Publishing, to name a few.

E-books are mostly less than $10 and some are as cheap as $2 or $3, for an average of 100 pages.

Good luck.

========================

BT,

Thanks for the info. Can you elaborate on anything else about any of them, anything you know?

mismused

edited because I had just seen Vella's llegs and confused them w/yours. Sorry.

 

[Black Tulip]

Well, all I know is that the ERA site and logical-lust both have a lot of info for writers and at the ERA site you can find submission calls.

So far I have managed to get one magazine interested, but I'm still waiting to get my free copy's. I believe it when I see it. LOL

At the moment I am getting up my courage to approach some of them with a novel.



This thread is very informative: https://forum.literotica.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=181969

 

[mismused]

Thanks

Well, all I know is that the ERA site and logical-lust both have a lot of info for writers and at the ERA site you can find submission calls.

So far I have managed to get one magazine interested, but I'm still waiting to get my free copy's. I believe it when I see it. LOL

At the moment I am getting up my courage to approach some of them with a novel.



This thread is very informative: https://forum.literotica.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=181969

=======================

BT,

appreciate the help. I found that rejections aren't so hard as all the time it takes to get everything out, but I think something you said earlier is very true: It may be the writing.

Guess I should work on that too, huh?

mismused

 

[Ravin the Poet]

Ok umm, yeah I am lost here. Where did this 1000 views a day come from? I think I am getting taken out of perpotion here. I don't want 1000 views, because well I know that wont happen overnight. But I just want to know how I could extend my readership. Get more people interested and staying with the soap. I have sent it out of my email, but is there ADVERTISING ways to get it out, besides the old search engines.


Ravin

 

[Black Tulip]

Like some of the others said, 1000 views for the first couple of days is about average. It depends a bit on the category, but most of my stories get that. Then it drops quite a lot and the votings I get is about 30 - 50 per story.

If that is not enough, I don't know. I mean, that is still a few thousand people who look at what I have written. To me that is still quite impressive.

As for advertising, I think you could perhaps consider a yahoo.group or something? Go take a look at this site as well:

http://www.barnburnermag.com/

 

[gauchecritic]

As for advertising, I think you could perhaps consider a yahoo.group or something? Go take a look at this site as well:

http://www.barnburnermag.com/

Well there's advertising for you Ravin. Clicked on the Link and whose name is on one of the featured stories? Katie Spicer.

Gauche

 

[Ravin the Poet]

Just so people know, this story has nothing to do with lit, or getting people to go to my story on lit. This is through my own website. But it doesn't matter anymore, I've cancelled the website and have started working on my book.


Thanks for the help though.


Ravin

 

[Black Tulip]

Well there's advertising for you Ravin. Clicked on the Link and whose name is on one of the featured stories? Katie Spicer.

Gauche

And dr.Mabeuse, Oggbashan, BlackSnake, Black Tulip, and lots more. LOL