Question: The amount of your stories vs. how many followers

[8letters]

This, incidentally, which I've just seen, is a nasty lie.

Removed from the post

I also don't personally attack others

Really?

I've even got a ten-years-determined stalker hanging off me and running a PM hate campaign (which no doubt you're part of).

You obviously are just part of cabal here to promote a lowest common denominator discussion board at your level.

You seem very comfortable making fact-free smears. I'm not a part of a cabal here. Do you have any evidence otherwise?

I'm not insecure about my writing--good luck with joining with your friends in knocking me off the Web site by attacking the quality of my stories.

I never said to stop posting stories. I never said to stop making AH posts. I wish you'd be a little more humble in your posts given the average rating on your stories.

Why Keith, if you're such a great writer, do your sr71plt stand-alone stories have a 4.32 rating? The average rating of a Gay Male story (the vast majority of your stories) was 4.16 when I did my statistical analysis. Why aren't your stories so much better than the average Gay Male story?

On plot lines, perhaps I should take a look at how wide ranging your plots, settings, and time periods are in your twenty-four entry published file here.

Go for it. I'd love to hear your feedback.

 

[8letters]

I'm surprised that you think average ratings of 4.32 and 4.51 are mediocre. I know some people consistently rate above 4.5, but what's your threshold for 'not mediocre'.

I shouldn't have. I misremembered the average rating of a one-page stand alone story. I'll adjust the post accordingly.

 

[LAHomedog]

Gosh folks, as the guy who started this thread I'm surprised how it's turned into a pissing contest.

I ask all of you to remember that I originally posted this question in an attempt to help a newby writer to Lit who had sent me an email via the editor's list asking the question that started this.

This was his question: "As someone who has nearly six times as many followers as you do stories, do you have any tips for how to grow the popularity of your stories? "

I do not think about followers or profiting from my stories here because I'm just writing and posting as a fun hobby. So, I didn't know how to answer him and reached out to the rest of the community. I know the motivation of others is different.

Different strokes for different folks, but it was and remains an innocent question attempting to help and encourage a beginning writer.

Are there any other thoughts to help guy?

 

[SouthernCrossfire]

Are there any other thoughts to help guy?

Write the stories you want over time and do a good job with them; your audience will eventually find you. Each new story gains you exposure to new readers, some of whom will be noticing you for the first time.

However, don't put too much emphasis on the success (or failure) of any one story or series of stories. For example, I've been quite disappointed in the performance of my last couple of stories. The first gained me 7 followers and my On the Job story actually lost one of my former followers (perhaps I've strayed into a category where the unknown person doesn't feel comfortable?). Maybe my next story will have more success, or maybe it'll be the second or third or tenth after that, but I won't find out if I get discouraged and stop writing. That, I think, is the message to give your friend.

 

[8letters]

This was his question: "As someone who has nearly six times as many followers as you do stories, do you have any tips for how to grow the popularity of your stories? "

I do not think about followers or profiting from my stories here because I'm just writing and posting as a fun hobby. So, I didn't know how to answer him and reached out to the rest of the community. I know the motivation of others is different.

Different strokes for different folks, but it was and remains an innocent question attempting to help and encourage a beginning writer.

Are there any other thoughts to help guy?

As someone who is big into story statistics and has a high followers-to-story ratio, I'd tell your friend that followers-to-story ratio is one of the last story statistics I'd worry about.

To me, it's a moot question. Your friend has a list of story ideas he's thinking about writing. The real question he's asking is "Which story idea should I work on next?" So tell us what story ideas your friend has, and we can give much better advice.

 

[RejectReality]

Trying to write to formula isn't going to do it. There's nothing wrong with understanding the assorted trends. They're extremely valuable for categorizing/formatting/highlighting your story in such a way that it will gain the most positive response. Putting yourself in a box stifles your creativity, and that's not a recipe for success. That's exactly what structuring your writing around the trends does.

Write the story first, and then think about what to do with it. Your best work is going to come out of letting the story take its natural course.

 

[Emirus]

Up until I read this thread for the first time today I had no idea how many followers I had and therefore didn’t know the ratio and had never thought about it. In 3 years I’ve published 12 stories and gained 65 followers. But does it matter? Is it better, worse, or the same as someone with 120 stories in 3 years and who has 650 followers?

As I look at it the number of followers doesn’t mean much and they, along with views and comments, don’t give any proveable indication as to how many readers enjoyed the story.

I’m not a prolific writer, never intended or wanted to be, and write for fun and my own enjoyment. I published 2 stories last year, six months apart, the last one being a competition entry last August. Never entered a competition before and probably never will again. I write when I feel like it, and not long ago something happened, and I haven’t felt like it for a while.

I also write for me and if I like what I’ve written I submit it and hope some other people enjoy reading it. After all, if I don’t like it why would I expect others to? I’m the same as everyone else in that I like to see a red H appear but as long as the story scores a decent 4 plus that’s okay. A man has to know his limitations (Clint Eastwood) and if I was a fantastic writer I wouldn’t be on here, and I suppose the same goes for everyone else, because I’d be making a lot of money writing mainstream stuff. There are exceptions to every statement, of course, and there will be exceptions to that one.

 

[LAHomedog]

I'll just note that as writers each of us are probably capable, with just three or four words, of inventing someone with a bigger dick than anyone here present. Awright?

I once heard a real life newspaper sports reporter in a private conversation, say that Dave Winfield, the baseball player, needed a wheelbarrow to cart his cock around the clubhouse. And he wasn't referring to Mr. Winfield's ego. Does that count?

 

[AdrianHunter1234]

Ever since 2016, Instagram stories have been one of the most popular features on Instagram, even though it's a rip-off of Snapchat's stories. In fact, the number of stories you post doesn't really matter, but what does matter is how engaging your content is and how you use it to attract followers.

 

[Comshaw]

Stories to followers? Interesting metric. Does it mean much of anything? Other than an ego stroke for the author, I have no idea. My ratio is running at 12.7 to 1, which I'm happy with. Although I try to hide it, I have an ego like everyone else and an attaboy via the numbers here always feels good. That said, I don't write stories specifically for votes or followers or comments. Because of how I write and come up with my stories, I have them in 6 different categories: romance, non-consent, mature, Incest-taboo, erotic couplings and loving wives. When a story line pops into my head, I write to that, letting my little pea brain take it where ever it wants to go, hoping that when I post it the readers will like it. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't.

I write as an avocation, so I'm with Gordo, I like my stories, they be my babies. And because I write as a hobby, I have the luxury of doing it that way. I know KD looks down on those of us who are unabashed hobbyist. I know this because of some of his past comments. But that's okay, because I ain't a gunna change my outlook on it or slink into the shadows because of someone else's egotistical comments. I'm way too old and crotchety to pay too much attention to things like that.

If I were writing for money, or to try to build a following so I could sell my work, you can damn well betcha' I'd be writing to the area with the most prolific readers and to what those readers want. It only makes sense if you are doing so to make money. And the metrics: followers, likes, votes, comments are all measurements that can be used to weigh what to write to get those stories in the eye of more readers.

As far as LAHD's comment on this turning into a pissing contest, some historical sleuthing through past threads and a quick analysis can show why. 90% of threads where KD is involved turn into pissing contest, and most times it's never with the same person. This isn't my opinion, it's fact. And for those who bother to look, it's never about the subject of the thread, but KD's abrasive presentation of the information or his opinion. The thing is once he is called on it, he always reverts to victim status, IE: "there's a cabal here trying to destroy me", "you are jealous of my success", yada, yada, yada. A classic Red Herring tactic used to derail any criticism by shifting the focus to something else. KD is very good with the mechanics of the language and has written and sold many (1000's) stories. There is no argument there, but it was never about that particular thing. I'm sure he has a lot of good advice to give on the things he is good at. But like the fruit of the Prickly Pear, it's only good if you can get past the fucking thorns that guard it. And for me it ain't worth the effort. Ignore is your friend, and even more so with the new updates to the site.

With that, I will return you to your regularly scheduled broadcast.


TA

Comshaw

 

[TxRad]

Number of stories to number of followers? I've never gave that any thought actually but...

Number of stories 277, number of followers 4758. 17 or so.

This is over 17 years.

I've always wrote what I wanted, where I wanted it or more like where it fit.

Yes, Lit is an excellent place to learn to write. My early stuff makes me cringe. Not from the story but the quality of the writing itself. I'd blame it on speaking Texan but it's more my inability to remember all them there rules from English classes. The more you write the more you learn or relearn as the case may be.

I posted here just because I could. Then I got lucky and posted a non-erotic story that fit right into a niche that a publisher wanted. Sometimes lucky is better than good. With a professional editor looking my stuff over, I've learned even more.

What do the Lit statistics mean to me? Not much. Too many uncontrolled variables for any of it of any use. That is, unless you just like playing with statistics.

 

[AdrianHunter1234]

Ever since 2016, Instagram stories have been one of the most popular features on Instagram, even though it's a rip-off of Snapchat's stories. In fact, the number of stories you post doesn't really matter, but what does matter is how engaging your content is and how you use it to attract followers. A good thing about the stories is the highlights. When new users end up on your profile, they probably have no idea who you are. You've likely heard how essential it is to have a great eye-catching, which quickly explains what your business does and convinces new visitors to click that follow button. If that doesn't work, you can always buy followers to give your page a head start! That's what I usually do, and I buy them from socialboosting.com.

 

[Djmac1031]

I appreciate followers, I truly do.

But even that doesn't mean they're going to read, or enjoy, ALL my stories.

And that's okay. I'm glad they liked something I wrote enough to follow me and see if I write something else they like.

 

[IvyMae]

So I received a perplexing email from a Lit author via the Editor's program and it wasn't about editing help, this was his primary question:

"As someone who has nearly six times as many followers as you do stories, do you have any tips for how to grow the popularity of your stories? "

I'll confess this struck me as kind of strange. It is something I had never considered, but now I am curious:

Do folks think this way, or figure out strategies or formulas? I don't mean to sound elitist or conversely clueless, but gosh, I never thought about this. I thought you write stories, post your stories, and sometimes people are nice enough to follow you.

I post on Literotica for me and me only. If other people enjoy my stories, awesome! If not, it makes no difference to me.

 

[AmeliaJones111]

Every person on Instagram has a strategy. It doesn't matter so much the number of followers or the quality of the posts and stories for some. Many people with few followers have a lot of very interesting Instagram stories and vice versa. For me, the number of followers was much more important. I'm not so active on Instagram, I try to post about 2-3 stories a week, and that's it. But for me, it is more important to have many followers. That's why thanks to socialboosts.org, I found out how to get free followers on Instagram, and now my Instagram ep community is growing Everyone with their preferences.

 

[jeanne_d_artois]

I have been writing on Literotica for nearly 20 years. I have over 450 stories (including as jeanne_d_artois) and have 1321 as Ogg and 54 as jeanne (with 33 stories).

The numbers gradually increased through 2021 and so ar in 2022. I started 2022 with under 1200 followers.

 

[Candy_Kane54]

That's strange when someone has too many followers but no stories.

It's possible that they used to have stories posted at one time, got some followers, and then took their stories down.

 

[Brutal_One]

I guess I am happy with the current balance. I have just over half the number of followers as I do stories. I also write principally in a niche category BDSM. I am moving in the new series away from that genre but looking at the categories I am not sure of the fit. The new series is about a series of films and film making. Group sex but small groups. The transition post is still BDSM for now.

As I have not submitted for some time I expect some of my followers will be pleased to see new content. Despite the break I was adding new followers so had maybe 10 new ones in the time I had the break.

Brutal One

 

[LdyHoneybee]

So I received a perplexing email from a Lit author via the Editor's program and it wasn't about editing help, this was his primary question:

"As someone who has nearly six times as many followers as you do stories, do you have any tips for how to grow the popularity of your stories? "

I'll confess this struck me as kind of strange. It is something I had never considered, but now I am curious:

Do folks think this way, or figure out strategies or formulas? I don't mean to sound elitist or conversely clueless, but gosh, I never thought about this. I thought you write stories, post your stories, and sometimes people are nice enough to follow you.

Maybe it is because I am new, but I have an awful time assigning a story to a category, especially as it begins to develop. At least that is the case with the story I am doing now. Things keep happening. I almost changed a category for a new episode this morning.

It would be nice to think that a lot of people read and enjoy and/or don’t think the stories are stupid, but I am not into the competition thing. I turned off number responses. I figure if somebody likes what I write or has suggestions, I would rather they just tell me. One reason I am here is to find out what works and what doesn’t.

 

[Zeb_Carter]

Never even thought about this until I saw this thread... 11 to 1 for me. Now I will forget about this. My priority is writing stories I would like to read, not what others would like to read, yet I have a bunch of followers, so there are readers out there who... A. like what I read. B. just read what I have to say to make idiotic comments.

 

[MelissaBaby]

My ratio works out to about 7.5 followers per submission. That seems to track to me, in comparison to what some others have reported, considering I mostly write in less popular categories.

 

[ElectricBlue]

Maybe it is because I am new, but I have an awful time assigning a story to a category, especially as it begins to develop. At least that is the case with the story I am doing now. Things keep happening. I almost changed a category for a new episode this morning

It would be nice to think that a lot of people read and enjoy and/or don’t think the stories are stupid, but I am not into the competition thing. I turned off number responses. I figure if somebody likes what I write or has suggestions, I would rather they just tell me. One reason I am here is to find out what works and what doesn’t.

If that's the case, figure out the category once the story is written.

My rule of thumb is one vote per hundred Views, one comment per thousand. Lit is feedback-lite.

If you explicitly want commentary, start a thread in the Feedback Forum. You won't get much, but you''ll get a little more than your comments stream.

You generally get comments if you write really well or really badly - if you're in the middle of the bell curve, or in some categories more than others, you can be deafened by silence.

 

[SimonDoom]

Maybe it is because I am new, but I have an awful time assigning a story to a category, especially as it begins to develop. At least that is the case with the story I am doing now. Things keep happening. I almost changed a category for a new episode this morning.

It would be nice to think that a lot of people read and enjoy and/or don’t think the stories are stupid, but I am not into the competition thing. I turned off number responses. I figure if somebody likes what I write or has suggestions, I would rather they just tell me. One reason I am here is to find out what works and what doesn’t.

Regarding categories, I recommend reading TxTallTales's article https://literotica.com/s/love-your-readers-categories. It is the best short summary of how the categorization system works here.

8Letters did some very helpful statistical analysis of the categories that get the most views, on average, in 2018. Unfortunately, the stats don't show up in the new vBulletin format for this forum (they don't show up for me, anyway). My general philosophy is to publish a story in the category in which it will get the most views. The one possible exception to that rule is to avoid the Loving Wives category if I think my story will receive too much vitriol.

 

[LdyHoneybee]

Regarding categories, I recommend reading TxTallTales's article https://literotica.com/s/love-your-readers-categories. It is the best short summary of how the categorization system works here.

8Letters did some very helpful statistical analysis of the categories that get the most views, on average, in 2018. Unfortunately, the stats don't show up in the new vBulletin format for this forum (they don't show up for me, anyway). My general philosophy is to publish a story in the category in which it will get the most views. The one possible exception to that rule is to avoid the Loving Wives category if I think my story will receive too much vitriol.

Thanks!

 

[LdyHoneybee]

Thanks!

Read it. Can you change a category once you have submitted? Also i see I forgot to put the episode beside the latest submission…