Sudden popularity of a story? and a question on Edits

[Duleigh]

One of my stories, A Krissmas Karole has been attracting views at an astounding rate and I can't understand it. No other story is getting such a rush of views but it's getting 50 - 80 views a day, that's ten times more than what my average story gets per day. I'm not whining or bragging, just having an OCD moment, so I have to ask is there some kind of "Christmas In July" rush going on that other writers with Christmas oriented stories have noticed?

I submitted a couple of stories for edits to their content and as expected they have been sitting out in the August heat, waiting for the EditBOT to scoop them up and do their editing magic, but with the Summer Lovin' contest coming up, I'm starting to wonder if a stale pair of edits sitting in my queue will slow up or stall the processing of contest entries in a few weeks?

 

[MrPixel]

I think we ran into the sudden popularity thing a few months back. Are you getting more votes, or just views? IIRC the best we reckoned was a bot of some manner hitting the first page. We couldn't discern rhyme nor reason why it selected the stories it did.

 

[RejectReality]

Hung by the Chimney had a fav and a comment 20 hours ago. Holly Jolly Christmas picked up a favorite 2 days ago and another 3 days ago. Peppermint Patty hit one 2 days ago. Leigh Ride 3 days ago. Haven't looked at views lately, so favorite activity is all I have to go on.

I've also had a couple of hits on Valentines, Halloween, & Thanksgiving stories in the same period.

Didn't really find any of it unusual until you mentioned it. Holly gets favs all the time, so that's nothing unusual. The others are a little more of a head scratcher in the middle of July. Leigh Ride is especially puzzling, because it's not all that popular to begin with and in Erotic Couplings. Go back another couple of days and there's another hit for that one.

Some multiple favs from the same reader, but they all start with a Christmas story, so it's not just finding them after reading something else first.

 

[JGittes]

I haven't published any new stories in quite a while. Several stories in my catalog had settled into a reliable 15 to 20 views a day with one vote for 200 or so views. Since July 1, I've had spikes to over 200 views a day with several votes per day. After the initial surge, they settled to a much higher than usual level of both views and votes. I'm not complaining, but it's unusual.

Regarding edits, don't worry about slowing up any contest posting. They take whatever time they take. I've had some go through in three days, and others take ten. They are on their own schedule.

 

[SimonDoom]

Your story is number 20 on the all time highest rated erotic horror stories list. My guess is that its score recently increased, sending it up the list and giving the story more visibility.

 

[Bramblethorn]

One of my stories, A Krissmas Karole has been attracting views at an astounding rate and I can't understand it. No other story is getting such a rush of views but it's getting 50 - 80 views a day, that's ten times more than what my average story gets per day. I'm not whining or bragging, just having an OCD moment, so I have to ask is there some kind of "Christmas In July" rush going on that other writers with Christmas oriented stories have noticed?

I submitted a couple of stories for edits to their content and as expected they have been sitting out in the August heat, waiting for the EditBOT to scoop them up and do their editing magic, but with the Summer Lovin' contest coming up, I'm starting to wonder if a stale pair of edits sitting in my queue will slow up or stall the processing of contest entries in a few weeks?

My guess is that what you're seeing is the result of your story making it into the Erotic Horror top list.

It's rating 4.82, which is enough to get it to #20 on that list. But there's also a requirement of a minimum 100 votes to make it into that list; yours has 103, so I'm guessing it only recently qualified. Being on that list provides quite a bit of visibility; I guess some readers (or bots) like to work their way through it.

 

[Duleigh]

Are you getting more votes, or just views?

LOTS of views, but not a single vote or favorite. I don't get a lot of favorites, and I'm not sure why with the standing a few of my stories get, I don't attract a lot of Favorites, votes, or comments for some reason. My all time total for Views, Votes, Comments, Favorites, Lists, and Followers is currently 707K and my first story went up in 2006

Your story is number 20 on the all time highest rated erotic horror stories list

I did not know that! I don't go looking, I just find out when people tell me then I look and it falls off the list...

My guess is that what you're seeing is the result of your story making it into the Erotic Horror top list.

I highly doubt that, Enchantress was #1 for ALL stories for several months until tagged with a 4. Enchantress 2 was #3 for Scifi and #8 for all stories until hit with a onebomb, so far the only vote that's not a 5 and Laurel won't do anything about it, but neither one was flooded with views like A Krissmas Karole is getting.

I'm thinking that Hallmark inspired horror - Christmas in July - is possibly the reason.

 

[SimonDoom]

My guess is that what you're seeing is the result of your story making it into the Erotic Horror top list.

It's rating 4.82, which is enough to get it to #20 on that list. But there's also a requirement of a minimum 100 votes to make it into that list; yours has 103, so I'm guessing it only recently qualified. Being on that list provides quite a bit of visibility; I guess some readers (or bots) like to work their way through it.

I forgot about the minimum vote requirement. That must be what happened. He got over 100 votes and now appears on the list.

 

[Duleigh]

I forgot about the minimum vote requirement. That must be what happened. He got over 100 votes and now appears on the list.

A Krissmas Karole has been sitting at 103 for a while, someone ahead of me must have drawn a one-bomb. We'll see if they have luck getting Laurel to moderate it

Since the moment I discovered the ability to download that CSV I've been a data-nut with those numbers

 

[SimonDoom]

A Krissmas Karole has been sitting at 103 for a while, someone ahead of me must have drawn a one-bomb. We'll see if they have luck getting Laurel to moderate it

Since the moment I discovered the ability to download that CSV I've been a data-nut with those numbers

There is another possibility. It may be the result of some kind of bot activity, the mechanics of which I don't really understand. Observe the story and see if the view surge continues. I've had a few instances where I have received a sudden and very large spike in views for a story that lasts only a day or two, and is unaccompanied by an increase in votes. The only thing that makes sense to me in these cases is that the spike does not represent actual people viewing or reading the story; it's something else.

 

[Bramblethorn]

I highly doubt that, Enchantress was #1 for ALL stories for several months until tagged with a 4. Enchantress 2 was #3 for Scifi and #8 for all stories until hit with a onebomb, so far the only vote that's not a 5 and Laurel won't do anything about it, but neither one was flooded with views like A Krissmas Karole is getting.

Enchantress has a very high score but it's not in the all-time SFF top 250 list and presumably never has been (yet) because it only has 53 votes. (Though it does appear on the category-hub top-25 - I had thought that had the same 100-vote requirement, but apparently not.) I can't see how many votes Enchantress 2 has, but I'm guessing that is also under 100.

 

[KeithD]

Yes, I inexplicably get reads/favorites on Christmas stories out of season.

 

[JGittes]

I recall a thread from last year or the beginning of this year by 8letters where he claimed to have worked out how stories were selected for the sidebar 'stories like this' list. The details seemed plausible but arcane and of little use, even if correct.

I know from experience that being near the top of the first page of a top list (scores and probably favorites, too) increases views significantly. In the case of my three stories that have experienced a significant surge in views (and votes), they are nowhere near the top lists. I suspect that whatever algorithm that picks stories for the side bar lists is involved.

 

[Duleigh]

Enchantress has a very high score but it's not in the all-time SFF top 250 list and presumably never has been (yet) because it only has 53 votes. (Though it does appear on the category-hub top-25 - I had thought that had the same 100-vote requirement, but apparently not.) I can't see how many votes Enchantress 2 has, but I'm guessing that is also under 100.

It's got 23 votes, 22 fives and one one-bomb. I don't collect votes very fast, only Stormwatch - a Blizzard in Buffalo has been able to collect more than 500 votes