Story activity.

[TheBard1982]

I posted a story a few days ago, and usually when I post, the first few days are pretty active. This time however, the activity has been almost non-existent. Is that normal?

 

[StillStunned]

Not normal, but not unusual. It's all very unpredictable. Views, votes, comments, they all depend on so many factors. Category, title, description, day of the week, contests and challenges, length and quality of the story, the general mood among the readers, where in the list of new stories yours is published.

If Lit survives for a few more decades, I expect there to be an entire science devoted to predicting reader behaviour and story response. Probably something along the complexity of meteorology or macroeconomics.

 

[Writer61]

I had a story go live this morning. So far, there have been 2.2k views and 18 votes, which feels typical.

FWIW, it's in E&V and now has an H mark (just).

 

[NotWise]

I posted a story a few days ago, and usually when I post, the first few days are pretty active. This time however, the activity has been almost non-existent. Is that normal?

Not really, but you posted your story to Erotic Coupling, and that could be the problem.

EC gets a lot of stories and doesn't have a lot of engaged readers. Stories there can go unnoticed. If the story is "below the fold" on the EC hub or fairly far down on the New Stories list then it can be worse, and if the title and short description don't bring people in, then you might hear crickets.

It's frustrating when that happens.

Edited to add: Your story was number 22 of 22 that posted to EC on Monday, and it was the absolute last story on the New List.

 

[TheBard1982]

Not really, but you posted your story to Erotic Coupling, and that could be the problem.

EC gets a lot of stories and doesn't have a lot of engaged readers. Stories there can go unnoticed. If the story is "below the fold" on the EC hub or fairly far down on the New Stories list then it can be worse, and if the title and short description don't bring people in, then you might hear crickets.

It's frustrating when that happens.

Edited to add: Your story was number 22 of 22 that posted to EC on Monday, and it was the absolute last story on the New List.

I gotcha. Not sure what other category I could have posted to. Also I was having trouble with the description and getting it within 60 characters. Should I resubmit under a different category? It's about an unhappily married and very sexualy frustrated man who beginning an affair with his wife's sister. It was short, but if it did well I thought about continuing it with another installment.

 

[TheBard1982]

Not normal, but not unusual. It's all very unpredictable. Views, votes, comments, they all depend on so many factors. Category, title, description, day of the week, contests and challenges, length and quality of the story, the general mood among the readers, where in the list of new stories yours is published.

If Lit survives for a few more decades, I expect there to be an entire science devoted to predicting reader behaviour and story response. Probably something along the complexity of meteorology or macroeconomics.

Gotta love those algorithms.

 

[Britva415]

Should I resubmit under a different category? It's about an unhappily married and very sexualy frustrated man who beginning an affair with his wife's sister.

That doesn't sound to me like the ostensible premise of the "Loving Wives" category, possibly unless the sisterinlaw is married, herself.

BUT it does seem to be the genericized "cheating" category, and it gets much more engagement than EC does.

 

[TheBard1982]

That doesn't sound to me like the ostensible premise of the "Loving Wives" category, possibly unless the sisterinlaw is married, herself.

BUT it does seem to be the genericized "cheating" category, and it gets much more engagement than EC does.

Thanks. I might resubmit under that category even though the main female character is unmarried.

 

[Britva415]

Thanks. I might resubmit under that category even though the main female character is unmarried.

It could also maybe gain some traction in Incest/Taboo.

That category also is one which gets lots of engagement. Many of the readers there won't appreciate that it isn't 'really' incest, but it's still taboo as hell, so fuck'em. You'll still get a hell of a lot more eyeballs than in EC.

 

[NotWise]

I gotcha. Not sure what other category I could have posted to. Also I was having trouble with the description and getting it within 60 characters. Should I resubmit under a different category? It's about an unhappily married and very sexualy frustrated man who beginning an affair with his wife's sister. It was short, but if it did well I thought about continuing it with another installment.

Title and short description might be something that you get better at with experience, but I've been at it for a few years and I'm not getting better at it.

EC isn't a bad category for the subject. Where else you might put it depends on what they do in bed. Several of the categories are specific to a kink. If that's what they're doing, then the story could go there.

You can consider I/T, and that would get you a lot of views. My second story ever was a brother/sister-in-law story that I put in I/T. I got a comment that it didn't belong there. I also got a comment defending it as taboo. It's my least popular story, but I figure a lot of that is because it's also my shortest story.

What happened to your story is very unusual. Someone has to be last on the hub, so you had one chance in 22 of being that story, but being last on the EC hub and last on the New list is unusual. Maybe your story was added late.

 

[Britva415]

You'll still get a hell of a lot more eyeballs than in EC.

Or, you could just not care.

I use EC because I write stories which are not eligible for any of the niche areas.

I won't contrive reasons to "fit" a story in to a well-read category just to get the eyeballs. If my story doesn't justifiably belong anywhere but EC, then that's where it goes.

 

[TheBard1982]

It could also maybe gain some traction in Incest/Taboo.

That category also is one which gets lots of engagement. Many of the readers there won't appreciate that it isn't 'really' incest, but it's still taboo as hell, so fuck'em. You'll still get a hell of a lot more eyeballs than in EC.

That might be the better option. I just found how to resubmit to change category etc. without deleting. I might try that.

 

[Britva415]

BTW I read the story.

It's not exactly non-con, but it's rough and kind of bullying, so, maybe. I don't think it's non-con enough to push the readers' buttons in that category.

It's also not exactly BDSM, but it has a D/s flavor to it, even without leaning in to the trappings of D/s.

Those are both categories with more readers than EC.

 

[TheBard1982]

BTW I read the story.

It's not exactly non-con, but it's rough and kind of bullying, so, maybe. I don't think it's non-con enough to push the readers' buttons in that category.

It's also not exactly BDSM, but it has a D/s flavor to it, even without leaning in to the trappings of D/s.

Those are both categories with more readers than EC.

Thanks for reading and I appreciate the advice.

 

[Voyeurkenneth]

That might be the better option. I just found how to resubmit to change category etc. without deleting. I might try that.

I haven't changed a story's category before but I believe your story won't get republished on the I/T new stories hub. It'd just be changed to I/T (if that matters to you). Perhaps someone else could confirm this.

 

[Britva415]

I haven't changed a story's category before but I believe your story won't get republished on the I/T new stories hub. It'd just be changed to I/T (if that matters to you). Perhaps someone else could confirm this.

That's right, it won't show up as a new story in the new category. Publishing date remains the same.

 

[TheBard1982]

I haven't changed a story's category before but I believe your story won't get republished on the I/T new stories hub. It'd just be changed to I/T (if that matters to you). Perhaps someone else could confirm this.

That's how I understand it. I'm not worried about it showing up as a new story, I just want to see if it does better in a different category. That and I'm not happy with the title or description. I should have posted it in I/T to begin with, but talked myself out of it.

 

[SouthernCrossfire]

Sorry that happened to you but as many stories as are published each day, that or something similar happens every day.

If you haven't already, you might update your profile to let any followers know. In addition, you might add a signature (with a link) for for the forum so fellow writers and potentially others in AH can consider checking out your work.

Good luck!

 

[Five_Inch_Heels]

I use EC because I write stories which are not eligible for any of the niche areas.

Ditto.

The Nerd's Plaything went there and did OK.

 

[iwatchus]

My long series bounced between E&V, where it started and EC and GS. EC averaged viewed views, but not overwhelmingly. More chapter to chapter variance.

Of course, all of them were dwarfed by my lone story in LW.

 

[TheBard1982]

Sorry that happened to you but as many stories as are published each day, that or something similar happens every day.

If you haven't already, you might update your profile to let any followers know. In addition, you might add a signature (with a link) for for the forum so fellow writers and potentially others in AH can consider checking out your work.

Good luck!

Stupid question, but how do I add a signature, and I assume you are referring to a link for my author's profile on Literotica?

 

[NotWise]

Stupid question, but how do I add a signature, and I assume you are referring to a link for my author's profile on Literotica?

On a desktop of laptop, get your account setting by clicking on your user name near the top right of this screen, and select "Signature" on the right side of the menu. That will give you an editing window to add content to your signature. Add what you want then click "Save."

On mobile, I'm sure it's all there somewhere.

 

[TheBard1982]

On a desktop of laptop, get your account setting by clicking on your user name near the top right of this screen, and select "Signature" on the right side of the menu. That will give you an editing window to add content to your signature. Add what you want then click "Save."

On mobile, I'm sure it's all there somewhere.

Ok I found it. Thanks.

 

[Writer61]

Ok I found it. Thanks.

You can also include links to specific stories and series, as I have done.

 

[SouthernCrossfire]

Stupid question, but how do I add a signature, and I assume you are referring to a link for my author's profile on Literotica?

Looks like you've used NotWise's info (thanks, NW!) to get your profile linked but you can have up to a total of four links.

I usually link three stories (currently 2 plus a sketch from a story) plus the list of all my works posted on Lit. It probably doesn't generate huge amount of additional traffic but I know I've read sampled and read a number of linked stories over the years by seeing them in authors' signatures, and some other authors do as well.