Is there a way to regain visibility?

[AG31]

If you've published all your stories 1.5 to 2 years ago, they seem to be unlikely to get new reads. Is there anyway to make them visible again?

tia
ag

 

[SeraphNocturne]

Publish, publish, publish! Publish especially for Events and Contests. The trickle down curiosity has increased all of my old work’s traffic by nearly 2K views a piece, from a single Event submission.

 

[Rob_Royale]

My stories are viewed 2 to 4 times more when I publish new work. If the work is good, people will check out your other stories.

 

[Euphony]

Publish, publish, publish! Publish especially for Events and Contests. The trickle down curiosity has increased all of my old work’s traffic by nearly 2K views a piece, from a single Event submission.

So much this.

Write more. Publish more. Gives a stepping stone to your back catalog.

Events and Contest are even better exposure.

Smaller potatoes but applicable to here, always link to your stories in you AH profile. It's likely your interactions here are more intimate than blind readers and we, as a general rule, are a supportive bunch.

Always confounds me when an author speaks on reach and exposure in the AH but misses that step.

Link your stuff. Fellow authors are more likely to (productively) comment. That can lead to others breezing the comments giving you a legit shot where you show your capabilities and make a new follower.

Followers beget followers.

 

[EmilyMiller]

Publish, publish, publish! Publish especially for Events and Contests. The trickle down curiosity has increased all of my old work’s traffic by nearly 2K views a piece, from a single Event submission.

I’ve found events less efficacious than I had hoped. I’ve only done two and neither really led to any uptick.

Em

 

[Euphony]

I’ve found events less efficacious than I had hoped. I’ve only done two and neither really led to any uptick.

Em

Dear, you may be the rare case of having reached saturation.

You are g-damn everywhere. Only so many eyeballs on this orbiting ball o' dirt.

 

[Rob_Royale]

I’ve found events less efficacious than I had hoped. I’ve only done two and neither really led to any uptick.

Em

I noticed that a new story would ordinarily be viewed higher the first week, as it's on the "new work" list. But falls after day 7. If you've been part of a challenge or contest your views stay higher a bit longer, another week perhaps.

 

[EmilyMiller]

Dear, you may be the rare case of having reached saturation.

Are you saying I’m damp?

You are g-damn everywhere. Only so many eyeballs on this orbiting ball o' dirt.

Many other writers get much more attention than me.

Em

 

[KeithD]

If you've published all your stories 1.5 to 2 years ago, they seem to be unlikely to get new reads. Is there anyway to make them visible again?

tia
ag

Become visible again. Publish new stories. Readers will go back to read the older ones.

 

[Euphony]

Are you saying I’m damp?

I should have assumed you'd go there and used different language.

Though, you'd probably corrupted that too.

Many other writers get much more attention than me.

Em

Depends on the metric but from an efficiency standpoint, I doubt highly you are "struggling" considering you don't have the benefit of the tailwinds that are a long, storied following built over an extensive period of time.

Nor are you particularly a churner. (active, for sure. Churn, not so much.)

Proper following is always in the eye of the beholder but I'm confident you are doing well and wouldn't see the same out of the blue bumps others get from contests b/c you are already on a lot of radars.

 

[EmilyMiller]

I should have assumed you'd go there and used different language.

Though, you'd probably corrupted that too.

Me?

Keep pitching it there and I’ll keep swinging .

Depends on the metric but from an efficiency standpoint, I doubt highly you are "struggling" considering you don't have the benefit of the tailwinds that are a long, storied following built over an extensive period of time.

Nor are you particularly a churner. (active, for sure. Churn, not so much.)

Proper following is always in the eye of the beholder but I'm confident you are doing well and wouldn't see the same out of the blue bumps others get from contests b/c you are already on a lot of radars.

I guess the facts support your hypothesis.

Em

 

[alohadave]

I’ve found events less efficacious than I had hoped. I’ve only done two and neither really led to any uptick.

Em

The only real benefit I've seen is that they are voted on about 1% more than other stories.

 

[SeraphNocturne]

I’ve found events less efficacious than I had hoped. I’ve only done two and neither really led to any uptick.

Em

I’ve heard similar sentiments, quite a few people were discouraged by the views to their Geek Pride submissions overall, so it could have just been an honest stroke of luck? I’m going to say it’s worth a try, even still, you might just hit the nail on the head and get a flood of readership. Nothing to lose, everything to gain.

 

[EmilyMiller]

The only real benefit I've seen is that they are voted on about 1% more than other stories.

I think - to be fair, the Geek Pride event flooded the Sci-Fi category, which in any case doesn’t have lots of readers.

Several authors said On The Job was a damp squib (I prefer a lubricated squid myself) and cited event fatigue.

So maybe my observation is not sound.

Em

 

[SimonDoom]

I have not found this to be the case. My old stories continue to get views ever day, and at a fairly steady, long-term pace.

Visibility is the key. Some ideas on how to get more visibility:

1. Write stories that make it onto toplists. They definitely get more visibility.
2. Write new stories in the same categories as older stories. When you do so, the old stories in those categories will get boosts to their view totals.
3. Publish stories to a broad range of categories.
4. Publish stories with titillating titles. These stories are more likely to be looked for and found and read.
5. Get on "similar story lists" at the ends of stories by other authors that are somewhat similar to yours.
6. Build your follower base, by doing things I've mentioned above. With more followers, you will have a larger built-in base of readers every time you publish.
7. Link stories in AH profile. Contribute to the AH forum, and do so constructively and positively.
8. Write the best stories you can.
9. If you feel like you are not getting the response you want, then study! Study the stories that DO get the response that you want. Try to figure out what they are doing to get more responses than you do.

 

[EmilyMiller]

I’ve heard similar sentiments, quite a few people were discouraged by the views to their Geek Pride submissions overall, so it could have just been an honest stroke of luck? I’m going to say it’s worth a try, even still, you might just hit the nail on the head and get a flood of readership. Nothing to lose, everything to gain.

Yeah - not enough data points as yet.

Em

 

[EmilyMiller]

Let’s calculate my Doom Score:

1. Write stories that make it onto toplists. They definitely get more visibility.

Nope

2. Write new stories in the same categories as older stories. When you do so, the old stories in those categories will get boosts to their view totals.

Yup

3. Publish stories to a broad range of categories.

Arguably too broad

4. Publish stories with titillating titles. These stories are more likely to be looked for and found and read.

Not really

5. Get on "similar story lists" at the ends of stories by other authors that are somewhat similar to yours.

The auto generated ones? How do you do that?

6. Build your follower base, by doing things I've mentioned above. With more followers, you will have a larger built-in base of readers every time you publish.

Trying…

7. Link stories in AH profile. Contribute to the AH forum, and do so constructively and positively.

Contribute: tick. Positively and constructively: matter of opinion I guess

8. Write the best stories you can.

Yup - sad that this is true really

9. If you feel like you are not getting the response you want, then study! Study the stories that DO get the response that you want. Try to figure out what they are doing to get more responses than you do.

Failing that, copy @NoTalentHack ’s writing style, that always works.

Em

 

[SimonDoom]

The auto generated ones? How do you do that?

Write your story. Then, find other stories of a similar type that did very well in the same category. Use tags from those stories in your story. I'm not 100% sure how the algorithm works, but if you do this I believe you enhance the chances of getting on the similar stories lists of other stories. I have tried this and it seems to work. I believe authors routinely overlook the importance of titles, taglines, and tags.

Failing that, copy @NoTalentHack ’s writing style, that always works.

I don't recommend "copying" another author, but I DO recommend reading and learning from authors that you think are successful and trying to figure out what they are doing that is working.

NoTalentHack writes stories in a clear, simple, clean prose style that is free of tics and mistakes. Everything is solid. The punctuation is solid. The story telling is solid. He mixes narrative and dialogue effectively. His stories move along with a nice pace (I've only read a few things but this is the case from what I've read).

He also writes Loving Wives and Incest stories, the importance of which cannot be underestimated IF your goal is to gain views, favorites, and followers.

Find authors that YOU like and admire. Don't emulate them, but learn from them. If they are doing "better" than you are, then do your best to figure out exactly why.

But remember that stats don't have to be a measure of success. There are authors here who publish stories who are disdainful of stats and having a great time.

An additional recommendation from me to you:
Get rid of your "Notes from the author." Blah blah blah I don't care. You're just getting yourself in the way between your story and your reader. Jump into the story as fast as possible. There's a bit of a sense with your stories that you are intruding too much as a person in your stories. I don't care, any more than I care about whether my readers care about who I am. I just want to tell stories and I want them to get wrapped up in them as fast as possible. Focus on the story and not yourself. I'm not trying to be mean or dismissive; this is how I think about how to write stories for people generally. It has nothing to do with you. When I read a story, I don't care if it's autobiographical. I just want a good story.

 

[djrip]

Write your story. Then, find other stories of a similar type that did very well in the same category. Use tags from those stories in your story. I'm not 100% sure how the algorithm works, but if you do this I believe you enhance the chances of getting on the similar stories lists of other stories. I have tried this and it seems to work. I believe authors routinely overlook the importance of titles, taglines, and tags.




I don't recommend "copying" another author, but I DO recommend reading and learning from authors that you think are successful and trying to figure out what they are doing that is working.

NoTalentHack writes stories in a clear, simple, clean prose style that is free of tics and mistakes. Everything is solid. The punctuation is solid. The story telling is solid. He mixes narrative and dialogue effectively. His stories move along with a nice pace (I've only read a few things but this is the case from what I've read).

He also writes Loving Wives and Incest stories, the importance of which cannot be underestimated IF your goal is to gain views, favorites, and followers.

Find authors that YOU like and admire. Don't emulate them, but learn from them. If they are doing "better" than you are, then do your best to figure out exactly why.

But remember that stats don't have to be a measure of success. There are authors here who publish stories who are disdainful of stats and having a great time.

An additional recommendation from me to you:
Get rid of your "Notes from the author." Blah blah blah I don't care. You're just getting yourself in the way between your story and your reader. Jump into the story as fast as possible. There's a bit of a sense with your stories that you are intruding too much as a person in your stories. I don't care, any more than I care about whether my readers care about who I am. I just want to tell stories and I want them to get wrapped up in them as fast as possible. Focus on the story and not yourself. I'm not trying to be mean or dismissive; this is how I think about how to write stories for people generally. It has nothing to do with you. When I read a story, I don't care if it's autobiographical. I just want a good story.

Interestingly, I also avoid writing author commentary and jump straight to the stories. I don't want readers thinking about my non-sexy ass when they should focus on my characters' sexy ones. But for me personally, Em's notes have been fascinating parts of the reading. It's probably because of having a sense of her as a person from here on the forum. I agree in general, for an author I never interacted with apart from reading their story, I would probably not be as interested.

 

[SimonDoom]

Interestingly, I also avoid writing author commentary and jump straight to the stories. I don't want readers thinking about my non-sexy ass when they should focus on my characters' sexy ones. But for me personally, Em's notes have been fascinating parts of the reading. It's probably because of having a sense of her as a person from here on the forum. I agree in general, for an author I never interacted with apart from reading their story, I would probably not be as interested.

As authors, we're probably more interested in that sort of background than most. But I imagine most readers don't care at all. They want to get to the good stuff ASAP.

 

[EmilyMiller]

Write your story. Then, find other stories of a similar type that did very well in the same category. Use tags from those stories in your story. I'm not 100% sure how the algorithm works, but if you do this I believe you enhance the chances of getting on the similar stories lists of other stories. I have tried this and it seems to work. I believe authors routinely overlook the importance of titles, taglines, and tags.




I don't recommend "copying" another author, but I DO recommend reading and learning from authors that you think are successful and trying to figure out what they are doing that is working.

NoTalentHack writes stories in a clear, simple, clean prose style that is free of tics and mistakes. Everything is solid. The punctuation is solid. The story telling is solid. He mixes narrative and dialogue effectively. His stories move along with a nice pace (I've only read a few things but this is the case from what I've read).

He also writes Loving Wives and Incest stories, the importance of which cannot be underestimated IF your goal is to gain views, favorites, and followers.

Find authors that YOU like and admire. Don't emulate them, but learn from them. If they are doing "better" than you are, then do your best to figure out exactly why.

But remember that stats don't have to be a measure of success. There are authors here who publish stories who are disdainful of stats and having a great time.

An additional recommendation from me to you:
Get rid of your "Notes from the author." Blah blah blah I don't care. You're just getting yourself in the way between your story and your reader. Jump into the story as fast as possible. There's a bit of a sense with your stories that you are intruding too much as a person in your stories. I don't care, any more than I care about whether my readers care about who I am. I just want to tell stories and I want them to get wrapped up in them as fast as possible. Focus on the story and not yourself. I'm not trying to be mean or dismissive; this is how I think about how to write stories for people generally. It has nothing to do with you. When I read a story, I don't care if it's autobiographical. I just want a good story.

I’ve moved most to the end or dropped them in my more recent stories. Unless for an event.

Em

 

[Duleigh]

If you've published all your stories 1.5 to 2 years ago, they seem to be unlikely to get new reads. Is there anyway to make them visible again?

tia
ag

I published a story in 2006 and it's got reads from 2008 when RL crashed down on my head until 2020 when I crashed back on retirement. Just put "Bondage" in the title and you're going to get reads

 

[EmilyMiller]

I’ve moved most to the end or dropped them in my more recent stories. Unless for an event.

Em

E.g.

https://literotica.com/s/jacobs-progress

https://literotica.com/s/off-the-shoulder

https://literotica.com/s/harper-s-reckoning

 

[Voboy]

As authors, we're probably more interested in that sort of background than most. But I imagine most readers don't care at all. They want to get to the good stuff ASAP.

I include a blurb at the beginning of nearly every story, mostly to give readers a clue about where that story "fits" with my other stories. Also, I do a lot of loose prequels/sequels and I want to give new readers the awareness that what they've clicked on is part of a broader story. I do slightly longer notes if I have something to say about the language or the formatting, but that is quite rare. I try to keep them very short, preferably short enough that the story text starts before the reader needs to scroll down any.

From what I can tell, these blurbs haven't hurt my readership much.

OP, the others are correct: churn, baby, churn. Meaning, write a lot, submit a lot, keep on posting. You'll quickly build a following, especially if you write well. And/or post in LW!

 

[gunhilltrain]

I have not found this to be the case. My old stories continue to get views ever day, and at a fairly steady, long-term pace.

Visibility is the key. Some ideas on how to get more visibility:

1. Write stories that make it onto toplists. They definitely get more visibility.
2. Write new stories in the same categories as older stories. When you do so, the old stories in those categories will get boosts to their view totals.
3. Publish stories to a broad range of categories.
4. Publish stories with titillating titles. These stories are more likely to be looked for and found and read.
5. Get on "similar story lists" at the ends of stories by other authors that are somewhat similar to yours.
6. Build your follower base, by doing things I've mentioned above. With more followers, you will have a larger built-in base of readers every time you publish.
7. Link stories in AH profile. Contribute to the AH forum, and do so constructively and positively.
8. Write the best stories you can.
9. If you feel like you are not getting the response you want, then study! Study the stories that DO get the response that you want. Try to figure out what they are doing to get more responses than you do.

I usually agree with Simon, but not here on point #9. Do not try to figure out what other writers here are doing. They might be talented, but you need to have your own style and approach.

So I might be accused of being a hypocrite, because I want people to ready my stuff. I guess I'm more than a bit contradictory. I will note that often when I get a favorite, the person will have read dozens or hundreds of stories on here but not submitted anything themselves. I'm not sure how to interpret that.