Looking for more response to my stories

[StillStunned]

Hi all,

I started posting stories here a while ago.

First was a series of vignettes, in SciFi/Fantasy, about a man who encounters a love goddess. Virtually the only comment I got was that they were "Just smut." Which was actually the intention, so good for me, I suppose.

More recently I've been posting a series of sword & sorcery stories (also in SciFi/Fantasy), which are longer with less "smut".

Overall they're scoring quite well, but both readership and votes are dropping quite quickly.

So what can I do to get more feedback? Post in other categories? Use other tags? Write other stories? Offer money?

ETA: In case anyone's interested, the stories are here:
All my stories

 

[SimonDoom]

What you are experiencing is not at all unusual. I scanned your story list and the view and score data, although I haven't read the stories yet.

1. When you write long series, the views will drop, generally, from one chapter to the next, because of attrition, especially in the early stages. This has nothing to do with the quality of the story. It's universal and inevitable. Not everybody who clicks on chapter is going to read it all the way through or like it, and those that don't won't ever click on chapter 2. Your numbers are typical.

2. Sci Fi/Fantasy stories generally get modest view numbers compared to some other categories. So it's not surprising that the numbers aren't high. I'll note that chapter 1 of your Goddess of Love series actually did quite well in terms of its score.

3. If you are trying to build readers, branch out into different categories. But mostly, just keep writing, write what you want, and be patient. There's no universal yardstick for success at Literotica.

 

[MillieDynamite]

Put a note at the end of each story, "I'd love to hear your opinion about my work." Or, "Feel free to leave comments." probably won't get you anything, but it shows you care.

 

[MrPixel]

I'll add that entering a contest seemed to goose my readership numbers. OTOH, the few additional comments I received were basically, "More, please." Okay, I'll take it.

 

[alohadave]

I'll add that entering a contest seemed to goose my readership numbers. OTOH, the few additional comments I received were basically, "More, please." Okay, I'll take it.

The couple that I've written for events do have slightly higher vote:view ratios, but it's like a 1% difference.

 

[MillieDynamite]

Oh, I love that kind of response. I don't usually give them more, though. I'm a bad girl.

I'll add that entering a contest seemed to goose my readership numbers. OTOH, the few additional comments I received were basically, "More, please." Okay, I'll take it.

 

[Stacnash]

You've started really well, give it time and I'm sure you'll achieve your goals here.

In your case, I noticed you aren't using tags, so that's another way you can attract readers.

Just a note from my perspective. I consider the way you've broken your chapters up into less than 2,000 words to be extremely obnoxious. If Goddess of Love goes on to score really highly, it will flood the top lists and tag search results (if used) with all of your small chapters.

When I've been searching for something to read here, I don't want to have to sift through 225 chapters of your story in the search results to start seeing other material. There are authors here who do that deliberately to farm hot tags and monopolise the top lists. It's so unnecessary.

I would never give a five-star rating to any series that's broken up in such an irritating manner.

 

[AlinaX]

Intentional or not, 2000 words is very short for a chapter and it is worth thinking about how to develop it further.

 

[SimonDoom]

A few other thoughts.

1. Your chapters are very short. Literotica readers typically like longer chapters.

2. You have no tags. Use all the resources that Literotica gives you to attract readers. You are not doing that.

3. Your story taglines are not that interesting. You are competing with others to get attention. Use every tool you can. What is titillating about your story?

 

[Djmac1031]

As someone who writes what most would generally consider "short" stories, (3 to 5 LE pages, average) I can tell you multiple short, one page chapters aren't going to win over too many readers.

You could probably condense them all down to three chapters per posting and they'd still barely cover two pages.

As @SimonDoom already pointed out, series here have a natural drop off of readers, and the more chapters you post, the more readers you lose.

Because the average reader isn't going to click a Chapter 10, or even a Chapter 3, because it means they'd have to go back and read the previous stuff first. And they're probably not going to.

You've basically shot yourself in the foot by posting multiple, super short chapters in a row.

I'd say delete them all, condense them together, and try again.

 

[Djmac1031]

As someone who writes what most would generally consider "short" stories, (3 to 5 LE pages, average) I can tell you multiple short, one page chapters aren't going to win over too many readers.

You could probably condense them all down to three chapters per posting and they'd still barely cover two pages.

As @SimonDoom already pointed out, series here have a natural drop off of readers, and the more chapters you post, the more readers you lose.

Because the average reader isn't going to click a Chapter 10, or even a Chapter 3, because it means they'd have to go back and read the previous stuff first. And they're probably not going to.

You've basically shot yourself in the foot by posting multiple, super short chapters in a row.

I'd say delete them all, condense them together, and try again.

Gonna course correct my own comment, because checking your second series, it is, as you said, longer chapters.

And I have my own multi chapter series running, so I don't wanna sound like the pot calling the kettle black.

Perhaps try writing some single, one shot stories.

Series can be fun, but you're automatically limiting your audience with each new chapter.

One shots, however, can score you new readers who then may give your series a try.

 

[MillieDynamite]

Short chapters work if you do them in one posting. Not so much posting them one chapter at a time.

 

[Rob_Royale]

As far as comments - In another thread, an AH member suggested that people comment on the very good and the very bad. If your work falls in the bell curve between them your ratings might be very good but the comments very low. I do believe this is true. Your ratings are quite good.

Others have mentioned the brevity of your chapters. I personally wouldn't submit anything less than 5K words. Or else there isn't enough to pull in the reader's interest.

 

[JaxRhapsody]

Seems you're your own problem. As far as short chapters go; mine have always been short, I always made mine about, if not exactly four MSWord pages long. It has not been a noticable problem.

 

[StillStunned]

So, shortness seems to be the problem. in 20+ years of reading here, I never realised that people prefer the longer stuff. Oh well.

I'll take down the Goddess stories. They seem to have run their course anyway. Maybe I'll repost them as a single story one day. With tags too, now that I know how they work.

In the meantime, though, I'd appreciate people's thoughts on my other stories. The shortest so far is 6.2K words, so length shouldn't be a problem there.

 

[JaxRhapsody]

So, shortness seems to be the problem. in 20+ years of reading here, I never realised that people prefer the longer stuff. Oh well.

I'll take down the Goddess stories. They seem to have run their course anyway. Maybe I'll repost them as a single story one day. With tags too, now that I know how they work.

In the meantime, though, I'd appreciate people's thoughts on my other stories. The shortest so far is 6.2K words, so length shouldn't be a problem there.

There's no real difinitive answer, only theories. Or patterns. Hell... could be long chapters in short stories. Then again most scifi/fantasy stories are typically kinda long elsewhere. I have a few things in that section and they're voted between 3&4, none of them are really long, honestly. Writing in other sections is not really gonna help, unless people read more than one section. Majority of readers or at least a significant number(only Laurel would probably really know) seem to stick to what they like. I can't say how much that would help.

Also tags, fucker, tag your stories- that alone will boost views- votes too, but votes do fall off after a while, but things like favorites and follows will continue. I'd even say that if votes don't change after a week, they probably aren't going to, by then you've most likely fell off the first page and whatever new list. It's the first few days that you get the real hits. Shit I wrote two plus years ago still gets favorited- even unfinshed shit.

At the end of the day, the readers are readers and have the last call, so to speak. Something seemingly trite trash will have a Red H and something you put real effort in, will be forever 4.16, because reasons. Then there's the sweeps to fix votes.

 

[alohadave]

Seems you're your own problem. As far as short chapters go; mine have always been short, I always made mine about, if not exactly four MSWord pages long. It has not been a noticable problem.

Most of mine are under 3k words, and do fine. The advice is for 2-3 Lit pages, but it's not a rule and people do read and vote on shorter stories.

 

[djrip]

So, shortness seems to be the problem. in 20+ years of reading here, I never realised that people prefer the longer stuff. Oh well.

I'll take down the Goddess stories. They seem to have run their course anyway. Maybe I'll repost them as a single story one day. With tags too, now that I know how they work.

In the meantime, though, I'd appreciate people's thoughts on my other stories. The shortest so far is 6.2K words, so length shouldn't be a problem there.

Personally I wouldn't take them down until you repost the condensed versions; what are they hurting after all?

 

[MillieDynamite]

I like to write between 3500 and 5000-word tales the best! You can learn a lot about the person in 3500 words. But of course, there are those unreliable narrators whose word one should never trust.

Most of mine are under 3k words, and do fine. The advice is for 2-3 Lit pages, but it's not a rule and people do read and vote on shorter stories.

 

[Lifestyle66]

Look at your number of views for each story. You started off with 3.8k views for the first chapter, but it drops off after that with subsequent chapters.

You're writing to a small, niche audience.

Try writing longer stories for each chapter. But in my experience, your audience will shrink with subsequent chapters. It seems the majority of readers don't want to go back to look for earlier stories. So, you might try writing longer, stand-alone stories. You can write a story with the same characters and story arc by starting with a Prologue and including necessary details from other stories for the current stand-alone story.

Also, look at the category "Popular Tags", and try writing to those and adding those tags to your story when you post it. IE. In Scifi/Fantasy, the most popular tags right now are "Fantasy, Magic, Harem, Lesbian, Romance, Blowjob, Mind Control, Transformation, Anal, and Incest." This is what the current audience in SciFi is searching for. And if your story contains those tags, more readers will find them. (Be sure to have the appropriate content for the tag, or they'll punish you with low ratings for the bait & switch.)

Also, the title and one-line description of your story is the only thing readers see until they choose to open it. So, when writing chapter stories, you've already limited over half of the title to the same old thing. So, re-think whether that's a good approach. Choose a title and description which pops out to catch the reader by saying "You WANT to read this!"

 

[MillieDynamite]

This would be a good series, "You WANT to Read This, Part One of twenty-five hundred"

Choose a title and description which pops out to catch the reader by saying "You WANT to read this!"

Yes, it's a joke.

 

[Lifestyle66]

This would be a good series, "You WANT to Read This, Part One of twenty-five hundred"

Yes, it's a joke.

But it gets a little repetitive by the time it gets to "You WANT to Read This, Part twenty-four hundred ninety-nine of twenty-five hundred.

 

[MillieDynamite]

YUP!

But it gets a little repetitive by the time it gets to "You WANT to Read This, Part twenty-four hundred ninety-nine of twenty-five hundred.

 

[AchtungNight]

Enjoy yourself above all and be grateful for the feedback you get, whatever its quality and quantity. That’s what I’ve had to learn as an artist.

 

[StillStunned]

Personally I wouldn't take them down until you repost the condensed versions; what are they hurting after all?

I was already thinking of taking them down before this. The main reason being that they were never intended for publication here, just for some private fun. I posted them at my wife's urging, but the more I posted the less comfortable I felt.

I'm leaving my other stories, "The RIvals", and still writing more. Those I'm writing specifically for here, and I'm enjoying the characters and their adventures. Lots of teasing, but little actual action.

In the meantime I've tried my hand at something completely different. Different concept, different category. It's a standalone vignette called "Fun with Fingers", which I've just submitted for publication in Erotic Couplings.