Message to Readers

[CockSparrow]

Hello. I am (relatively) new here. I’ve posted a story. Jack and Wendy. It’s a short story, but some of the readers seem to think that it’s the beginning a series.

Although it was never my intention, I could possibly write more stories with the same characters. The characters certainly have legs. But I don’t seem to be able to find any way to tell the readers that, unless they give this story a solid Red H, there will not be any more of the stories they tell me they are so looking forward to. I am not used to working FOC. If the readers are not going to send envelopes filled with readies, they had better vote six stars.

I am hoping that one of you ‘old hands’ can advise me on how to get this message across. Thank you.

 

[ElectricBlue]

Hello. I am (relatively) new here. I’ve posted a story. Jack and Wendy. It’s a short story, but some of the readers seem to think that it’s the beginning a series.

Although it was never my intention, I could possibly write more stories with the same characters. The characters certainly have legs. But I don’t seem to be able to find any way to tell the readers that, unless they give this story a solid Red H, there will not be any more of the stories they tell me they are so looking forward to. I am not used to working FOC. If the readers are not going to send envelopes filled with readies, they had better vote six stars.

I am hoping that one of you ‘old hands’ can advise me on how to get this message across. Thank you.

Your story is in the hands of your readers. Other than putting a post in this thread: New Story Advertisments the best thing to encourage readers is writing more stories.

Note, more stories, not more chapters. My recommendation is to do an apprenticeship with ten or so standalone short stories (2 - 3 Lit pages) to really learn your technical chops and to find your style, then embark on something more ambitious.

Readers follow writers who write stories, so keep writing, is the best advice.

 

[LegoHead]

I am not used to working FOC.

If that's the case, the intelligent course of action would be not to publish your stories on a website that doesn't charge their readers a fee to enjoy the stories voluntarily posted here by authors free of charge.

If the readers are not going to send envelopes filled with readies, they had better vote six stars.

I am hoping that one of you ‘old hands’ can advise me on how to get this message across.

Write a more engaging erotic story than you did or simply reiterate your demands on your Literotica profile page. It shouldn't take the assistance of an 'old hand' to reach such an obvious conclusion.

 

[TarnishedPenny]

Sadly, the only way to get more readers or higher scores is by writing more, especially more of what readers want to read. That's not a comment on your story, just a reality. It can be very frustrating putting a lot of work into a tale and not getting the score you think it deserves and I think every writer knows that feeling.

You might want to bounce your story off the people in the Story Feedback section for their thoughts, but neither they nor the people hanging out here are 'readers' in any special sense. Here you get writers and there you get editors and critics. It would be nice indeed if there was a dedicated Readers section, in terms of talking directly to the people who give votes and red H's. (We all wish!)

I would also note that many very popular Lit writers manage without hitting the magic H every time. The subjective value of those H's is the subject of frequent debate here and many will say that it's easy to get too fixated on that little badge.

On the positive side, your tale has garnered a lot of reads, especially for a first effort and 10 favourites, again laudable. The comments are generally quite positive. You yourself have pulled in 17 followers, which is hardly unimpressive for somebody with but one published story here. I personally see all that a good start and encourage you to keep at it.

Good luck.

 

[gunhilltrain]

Whatever the score is, whether you get a red H or not, should not be the determining factor. It should rather be what you feel like doing with the set-up you have created.

Since you didn't have the story as the beginning of a series, you can add sequels if and when you feel like it. They can have similar titles or completely different ones if you choose. One such standalone story developed a series-like plot and conclusion even though I hadn't originally intended that to happen.

Some stories just don't have a continuation, at least not for a while, even if the readers think there should be one or if they want one. That's actually not that uncommon here for readers to request such a thing. It may be pleasing that they like it that much, but maybe your ending is sufficient. If you feel like, you can always get back to it at some future date, but maybe you never will.

I just wanted to mention that one of my series started with a dismal rating, but I did all four chapters that I had wanted. It didn't get any better. I suspect that the reason was the main character, who was based on a fairly well known real-life person, was so off-putting. But I looked at them later, and I still stand by my decision to do it the way I wanted.

 

[CockSparrow]

Your story is in the hands of your readers. Other than putting a post in this thread: New Story Advertisments the best thing to encourage readers is writing more stories.

Note, more stories, not more chapters. My recommendation is to do an apprenticeship with ten or so standalone short stories (2 - 3 Lit pages) to really learn your technical chops and to find your style, then embark on something more ambitious.

Readers follow writers who write stories, so keep writing, is the best advice.

Thanks for your thoughts. Much appreciated.

 

[CockSparrow]

Sadly, the only way to get more readers or higher scores is by writing more, especially more of what readers want to read. That's not a comment on your story, just a reality. It can be very frustrating putting a lot of work into a tale and not getting the score you think it deserves and I think every writer knows that feeling.

You might want to bounce your story off the people in the Story Feedback section for their thoughts, but neither they nor the people hanging out here are 'readers' in any special sense. Here you get writers and there you get editors and critics. It would be nice indeed if there was a dedicated Readers section, in terms of talking directly to the people who give votes and red H's. (We all wish!)

I would also note that many very popular Lit writers manage without hitting the magic H every time. The subjective value of those H's is the subject of frequent debate here and many will say that it's easy to get too fixated on that little badge.

On the positive side, your tale has garnered a lot of reads, especially for a first effort and 10 favourites, again laudable. The comments are generally quite positive. You yourself have pulled in 17 followers, which is hardly unimpressive for somebody with but one published story here. I personally see all that a good start and encourage you to keep at it.

Good luck.

Thank you. And I am interested that you think the response is reasonably positive. These things can be hard to judge.

 

[CockSparrow]

Whatever the score is, whether you get a red H or not, should not be the determining factor. It should rather be what you feel like doing with the set-up you have created.

Since you didn't have the story as the beginning of a series, you can add sequels if and when you feel like it. They can have similar titles or completely different ones if you choose. One such standalone story developed a series-like plot and conclusion even though I hadn't originally intended that to happen.

Some stories just don't have a continuation, at least not for a while, even if the readers think there should be one or if they want one. That's actually not that uncommon here for readers to request such a thing. It may be pleasing that they like it that much, but maybe your ending is sufficient. If you feel like, you can always get back to it at some future date, but maybe you never will.

I just wanted to mention that one of my series started with a dismal rating, but I did all four chapters that I had wanted. It didn't get any better. I suspect that the reason was the main character, who was based on a fairly well known real-life person, was so off-putting. But I looked at them later, and I still stand by my decision to do it the way I wanted.

Thank you for your thoughts. I have written short stories for many years, and the idea of a 'short story' in parts is a bit foreign to me. You may be right; perhaps I should stick to what I know.

 

[MillieDynamite]

Thank you for your thoughts. I have written short stories for many years, and the idea of a 'short story' in parts is a bit foreign to me. You may be right; perhaps I should stick to what I know.gun

gunhilltrain isn't talking about a short story being broken into parts. He is talking about series with the same characters and a longer work broken into parts or chapters. Stand-only stories, using the same characters or a single MC, are a series of stories.

 

[NotWise]

Your message here is going to writers (as the name of the forum suggests) not so much to readers. To reach your readers, you can place comments in your bio and in the public comment section of the story. You can also start a social media account under your penname and promote yourself there.

Readers very commonly ask for "more" of a story they enjoyed. I take that as a compliment, but I really don't know if they want more or if they're just complimenting. You may well be disappointed by the response if you do continue the story. Views for continuations tend to drop while scores may rise.

We all see things a little differently, but for me it's usually more rewarding to move on.

Welcome to the forum, and good luck on your next adventure.

Hello. I am (relatively) new here. I’ve posted a story. Jack and Wendy. It’s a short story, but some of the readers seem to think that it’s the beginning a series.

Although it was never my intention, I could possibly write more stories with the same characters. The characters certainly have legs. But I don’t seem to be able to find any way to tell the readers that, unless they give this story a solid Red H, there will not be any more of the stories they tell me they are so looking forward to. I am not used to working FOC. If the readers are not going to send envelopes filled with readies, they had better vote six stars.

I am hoping that one of you ‘old hands’ can advise me on how to get this message across. Thank yo

 

[CockSparrow]

Your message here is going to writers (as the name of the forum suggests) not so much to readers. To reach your readers, you can place comments in your bio and in the public comment section of the story. You can also start a social media account under your penname and promote yourself there.

Readers very commonly ask for "more" of a story they enjoyed. I take that as a compliment, but I really don't know if they want more or if they're just complimenting. You may well be disappointed by the response if you do continue the story. Views for continuations tend to drop while scores may rise.

We all see things a little differently, but for me it's usually more rewarding to move on.

Welcome to the forum, and good luck on your next adventure.

Thank you. And, yes, I think that I shall indeed 'move on'. A new story and (probably) new characters. Hell, I've created enough of them over the years.

 

[gunhilltrain]

gunhilltrain isn't talking about a short story being broken into parts. He is talking about series with the same characters and a longer work broken into parts or chapters. Stand-only stories, using the same characters or a single MC, are a series of stories.

Since we brought this up, there are different ways to handle it depending on your preferences I guess. There are a few people on here (and on other sites) who have series that go on for years and have dozens of chapters at least. Or if you want to think of somebody like Updike, he had four novels covering the same character from 1959 to 1989 (each book was set in a single year, and each was published about ten years apart). I mostly don't don't have the patience - or maybe the talent! - for that kind of thing. Usually I have a series - assuming that I can even finish it - that covers no more than a year and has about ten chapters maximum. I have one character who is mostly concentrated in a four-month period, but I have other stories about her that go on sporadically for another three years. That is an exception, however.

Also, both my stories and chapters are on the short side, like maybe 4,000 to 8,000 words. There are people who can have something like 25,000 words or more in a single submission. That's another thing I cannot do.

 

[MillieDynamite]

Since we brought this up, there are different ways to handle it depending on your preferences I guess. There are a few people on here (and on other sites) who have series that go on for years and have dozens of chapters at least. Or if you want to think of somebody like Updike, he had four novels covering the same character from 1959 to 1989 (each book was set in a single year, and each was published about ten years apart). I mostly don't don't have the patience - or maybe the talent! - for that kind of thing. Usually I have a series - assuming that I can even finish it - that covers no more than a year and has about ten chapters maximum. I have one character who is mostly concentrated in a four-month period, but I have other stories about her that go on sporadically for another three years. That is an exception, however.

Also, both my stories and chapters are on the short side, like maybe 4,000 to 8,000 words. There are people who can have something like 25,000 words or more in a single submission. That's another thing I cannot do.

Most of my stories are one offs. Some are short-short. I have two novellas on here. They were published with chapters but were published in file containing the whole story. I have some real life models for characters that appear over and over, but they may not have the same name or be the same character in any given story, just that persons personality or physical traits are used.

 

[gunhilltrain]

If that's the case, the intelligent course of action would be not to publish your stories on a website that doesn't charge their readers a fee to enjoy the stories voluntarily posted here by authors free of charge.


Write a more engaging erotic story than you did or simply reiterate your demands on your Literotica profile page. It shouldn't take the assistance of an 'old hand' to reach such an obvious conclusion.

Sorry, I just noticed this advice. I wouldn't ask, much less demand, anything of the readers on the profile page. The point of a site like this is: none of the readers (except a few from the forums who may recognize you) have any idea of who who you are, and in any case, they owe you nothing. If you can wow at least some of them, then you are getting somewhere.

 

[SimonDoom]

I am hoping that one of you ‘old hands’ can advise me on how to get this message across. Thank you.

1. You don't have to. I get messages all the time "You have to continue this story." No, I don't. I seldom reply.

2. Put 'THE END" at the end of your story. I do this when I remember to and I intend the story to be done once and for all.

3. Resist the urge to continue stories at reader requests, unless you already have a good creative urge to do so. Move on and write new stories. I think it's more satisfying to do so. MANY of my stories end on a somewhat inconclusive note, because to me that's the way life is, and there's something more true and poignant about implying what might happen to your characters in the future without telling your readers what it is. That's where imagination comes in.

 

[CockSparrow]

1. You don't have to. I get messages all the time "You have to continue this story." No, I don't. I seldom reply.

2. Put 'THE END" at the end of your story. I do this when I remember to and I intend the story to be done once and for all.

3. Resist the urge to continue stories at reader requests, unless you already have a good creative urge to do so. Move on and write new stories. I think it's more satisfying to do so. MANY of my stories end on a somewhat inconclusive note, because to me that's the way life is, and there's something more true and poignant about implying what might happen to your characters in the future without telling your readers what it is. That's where imagination comes in.

Thank you

 

[CockSparrow]

Sorry, I just noticed this advice. I wouldn't ask, much less demand, anything of the readers on the profile page. The point of a site like this is: none of the readers (except a few from the forums who may recognize you) have any idea of who who you are, and in any case, they owe you nothing. If you can wow at least some of them, then you are getting somewhere.

Thank you. Yes, I couldn't see how legohead's advice made much sense.

 

[gunhilltrain]

1. You don't have to. I get messages all the time "You have to continue this story." No, I don't. I seldom reply.

2. Put 'THE END" at the end of your story. I do this when I remember to and I intend the story to be done once and for all.

3. Resist the urge to continue stories at reader requests, unless you already have a good creative urge to do so. Move on and write new stories. I think it's more satisfying to do so. MANY of my stories end on a somewhat inconclusive note, because to me that's the way life is, and there's something more true and poignant about implying what might happen to your characters in the future without telling your readers what it is. That's where imagination comes in.

You'll notice that some movies generate unintentional sequels - several of them, sometimes - and often but not always there is a decline in quality. There is sort of an air of "flop sweat" about them, as if the cast and crew are just going through the motions.

Death Wish 3 is however one of the craziest, and funniest (unintentional?) movies ever. Paul Kersey uses a rocket-launcher, among things, to kill the bad guys. Also, half the movie was filmed in East New York, Brooklyn, and the other half in London, and it's extremely obvious which is which.

 

[SimonDoom]

You'll notice that some movies generate unintentional sequels - several of them, sometimes - and often but not always there is a decline in quality.

It's so often that it's almost, but not quite, a universal rule.

There are exceptions. I thought the latest Top Gun movie was significantly better than the first one. In fact, I would say that was one of the most surprisingly enjoyable movies I've seen in my life, because I wasn't that much a fan of the first one and I didn't expect too much from this one. I thought it was terrific. But it took them 35 years to make it. They waited until they had a story. That's the key: is there a story that's worth telling?

The Godfather Pt. 2 stands out in my mind as the best example of an unintended sequel that is fully worthy of the original and is faithful to the first one while charting new and interesting territory, with no dropoff in quality. What startles me is how quickly they pulled it off -- it came out only 2 years after the first one.

In terms of books and stories, it's hard for me to think of many good examples of violations of the rule. Maybe Huckleberry Finn. Twain wrote Tom Sawyer first, and he decided to write Huck Finn to capitalize on Tom Sawyer's success, but he ended up writing a completely different kind of book, and a much greater one.

To me, that's the crucial question for the author to ask in this situation: do you have something new that's really worth saying about this subject? If so, go for it. If not, prepare to be disappointed.

After a five-year gap I wrote a third sequel to my most popular mom-son story, from 2017. I confess, I think, in retrospect, my motives were more mercenary than anything. I thought the third story was sure to do well because first two stories had done well. The reception was surprisingly disappointing. It's done much worse than a brand-new mom-son story I published just two months earlier. It taught me a lesson: this series is done. I kept it going past its expiration date. Better to end too soon than too late.

I think, despite all their seeming clamor to the contrary, readers know, and appreciate, when you are doing something fresh versus when you are retreading tired ground.

 

[MillieDynamite]

You'll notice that some movies generate unintentional sequels - several of them, sometimes - and often but not always there is a decline in quality. There is sort of an air of "flop sweat" about them, as if the cast and crew are just going through the motions.

Death Wish 3 is however one of the craziest, and funniest (unintentional?) movies ever. Paul Kersey uses a rocket-launcher, among things, to kill the bad guys. Also, half the movie was filmed in East New York, Brooklyn, and the other half in London, and it's extremely obvious which is which.

On the subject of sequels:
The Godfather and the Godfather 2 are perfect fits, except for Vito's changing birthdate and two other discrepancies I can't remember. According to Don Vito's tombstone in Godfather, he was born on April 29, 1887. According to the introduction to Godfather 2, Vito Andolini (renamed Corleone by an immigration official) immigrated to the United States in 1901 at the age of nine and turned ten after he was in the country. His birthdate was December 7, 1891.

Edit:

According to my pop, Vito was 10 when he was whisked out of Silycila at Christmas.

 

[gunhilltrain]

On the subject of sequels:
The Godfather and the Godfather 2 are perfect fits, except for Vito's changing birthdate and two other discrepancies I can't remember. According to Don Vito's tombstone in Godfather, he was born on April 29, 1887. According to the introduction to Godfather 2, Vito Andolini (renamed Corleone by an immigration official) immigrated to the United States in 1901 at the age of nine and turned ten after he was in the country. His birthdate was December 7, 1891.

Edit:

According to my pop, Vito was 10 when he was whisked out of Silycila at Christmas.

That was one of the few times a sequel worked so well. I think Puzo had already written some of the earlier scenes into his novel - like Vito's assassination of Don Fanucci which sets his life path. Puzo and Coppola somehow merged their different talents so well in those films.

I like this short outtake from Part II where Vito meets the young Hyman Roth for the first time.

 

[LegoHead]

I am not used to working FOC. If the readers are not going to send envelopes filled with readies, they had better vote six stars.

I am hoping that one of you ‘old hands’ can advise me on how to get this message across. Thank you.

Sorry, I just noticed this advice. I wouldn't ask, much less demand, anything of the readers on the profile page.

I offered him an option, not advice. I'd say it appears to fit his rather blunt demeanor.

 

[gunhilltrain]

I offered him an option, not advice. I'd say it appears to fit his rather blunt demeanor.

Okay, fair enough. He seemed unsure of how to deal with the readers. The way he does it - or considered it, anyway - is not what I would do.

 

[BobbyBrandt]

You might want to consider submitting an edited version of your story with a note to readers something like "Reader feedback will determine if this story has a sequel".

I have 20 stories (66 submissions) here currently. Two of those are series, which I identify by the titles (Series name: Episode). They have a common theme, but usually with different characters. I also have six stand-alone stories in a "universe" where the characters are shared. These typically have a cliffhanger ending that leads to the next installment.

With your first story published, now would be a good time to reflect upon where you want to go as a contributing writer here. Many writers here pick a particular genre (category) and stick almost exclusively to it, and that is where they find their success with readers. Others find success by writing in different genres, drawing followers loyal to their writing regardless of the category. Do you want to challenge yourself or spew out stories? Either way, write for yourself and enjoy it. That is what matters.

 

[Zeb_Carter]

I have gotten the same from readers. I just ignore them. I even got one on a story were everyone in the story died at the end. Several readers posted "More!" in the comments.

Ignore them. Write something else. You will probably get the same comments. Ignore those too.