What can cause a sharp drop in readers for a new chapter?

[TheDeepThinker]

I published my story Love, Family, and Betrayal Ch. 02 about a month ago, and it only got 4k views, just 1/5 of my second-lowest story.
Chapter 2 has a much better score, but far fewer voters and comments, so I have no idea if there's something wrong with it.

Does anyone know what could cause a sharp drop in views between chapters?
Alternately, what are some things that help boost views for stories?

 

[AWhoopsieDaisy]

Many readers aren't willing to start a series at anything other than chapter one and aren't invested enough to seek the first chapter out. It's the downside of writing a multi part series.

 

[BarracudaSwordfish]

Check out any long series and the views drop off. One of my 11 parters has 41k views for part one and 7k for part 11. Goes with the territory even if faves and scores are high to begin with.

 

[ElectricBlue]

I published my story Love, Family, and Betrayal Ch. 02 about a month ago, and it only got 4k views, just 1/5 of my second-lowest story.
Chapter 2 has a much better score, but far fewer voters and comments, so I have no idea if there's something wrong with it.

Does anyone know what could cause a sharp drop in views between chapters?
Alternately, what are some things that help boost views for stories?

That's typical for chaptered stories. You're getting a better idea of how many people are actually reading your story, by seeing how many open Chapter Two; and just wait till Chapter Three, there will probably be another drop.

Don't ever think the number of Views means that number of people are actually finishing your story - people could be backing out after reading your first paragraph, there's no way of knowing.

My rule of thumb, based on a few chaptered stories, is that Ch.2 will drop 50% compared to Ch.1, and another drop by half for Ch.3. I figure maybe 20% of Views are in fact Reads of the whole story.

 

[MelissaBaby]

It's a trade off. Views will drop as you go along, but scores will rise, because the remaining readership will be predisposed to like each new chapter.

 

[Bazzle]

I've published several long stories on here, high readers low voting.

It tells me people get bored before the end. So don't vote.

If you are publishing lots of chapters you are relying on a flakey readership to hunt down the new chapters? Or accidentally stumble on them?

B

 

[MrPixel]

I publish serial stories in a not-popular category (Group Sex) and my raw counts are quite low. However, relative to this discussion I looked at counts for the most recent upload, and the 4th chapter is the most read, by far.

In my estimation after comparing the other counts in the 13-chapter story, description helps a lot. In my case "orgy" or the implication of orgy seems to attract the views, and the positive votes.

 

[lc69hunter]

I published my story Love, Family, and Betrayal Ch. 02 about a month ago, and it only got 4k views, just 1/5 of my second-lowest story.
Chapter 2 has a much better score, but far fewer voters and comments, so I have no idea if there's something wrong with it.

Does anyone know what could cause a sharp drop in views between chapters?
Alternately, what are some things that help boost views for stories?

When I come across a story (say Chapter 5 for example) that I have not seen before, I will save it to read later (so that I can find it), and then go back and try out the earlier chapters. But that's just me.

 

[SimonDoom]

This always happens, and the explanation is simple. Say 2000 people click on chapter 1 to read it. Some portion of those people won't actually read the story. Some portion will read it and not like it.

The people who did not finish or did not like Chapter 1 are not going to click on chapter 2. It's a natural, logical process of attrition. It's very common for Chapter 2 to have half or less the number of views as Chapter 1. After that the attrition rate drops.

 

[Bazzle]

This always happens, and the explanation is simple. Say 2000 people click on chapter 1 to read it. Some portion of those people won't actually read the story. Some portion will read it and not like it.

The people who did not finish or did not like Chapter 1 are not going to click on chapter 2. It's a natural, logical process of attrition. It's very common for Chapter 2 to have half or less the number of views as Chapter 1. After that the attrition rate drops.

Yup my bizarre and awful Alternative Universe, first story 3k readers, part 2 1k.
People who don't like it, will naturally stay clear of it.
I totally get why!

 

[BobbyBrandt]

There were five months between publishing your first chapter and your second.

I tend not to get invested in an incomplete story. I might read the first chapter, but if the second chapter doesn't appear within days of that, I drop interest. It indicates to me that the author hasn't completed the story and I won't waste my time on unpredictability. There are too many completed, wonderfully written stories here to be bothered.

I believe a lot of other readers feel similar to me.

 

[Voboy]

I’ve been winding down my series recently. 12 chapters, and everything after about ch 6 got a steady 2k views. I assumed those were all consistent readers. Views/vote ratio was quite high, and so was the overall score.

Ch 1 has over 40k views. So.

 

[BobbyBrandt]

I have published four chapter stories, either in individual chapters or in parts containing multiple chapters.

The first of these (20 chapters) has 59,414 views of the first chapter. The subsequent 19 chapters averaged 58% of the first chapter views.

The second story (33 chapters posted in 11 parts) has 24,577 views of the first part. The subsequent 10 chapters averaged 68% of the first part views.

Next was another chapter story (18 chapters) where the first chapter has 31,821 views. The subsequent 17 chapters saw an average of 42% of the first chapter.

Finally, my last story in chapters or parts (21 chapters in 3 parts) has 19,298 first part views. Here, is the largest drop off with subsequent chapters only seeing an average of 40% of the first chapter views.

I decided after the last one to stick with single submissions regardless of the length. The readers seem to prefer that approach.

 

[TheDeepThinker]

I decided after the last one to stick with single submissions regardless of the length. The readers seem to prefer that approach.

Thank you. This is the first actual suggestion I've heard.

 

[ElectricBlue]

I decided after the last one to stick with single submissions regardless of the length. The readers seem to prefer that approach.

How do you know that? There's no way of knowing what readers prefer, chaptered or stand-alone. The stats don't tell you, and readers never do.

At least with a chaptered story, you've got a fair idea how many people have read it through to the end. With a stand-alone story, you don't have a clue.

 

[BobbyBrandt]

How do you know that? There's no way of knowing what readers prefer, chaptered or stand-alone. The stats don't tell you, and readers never do.

At least with a chaptered story, you've got a fair idea how many people have read it through to the end. With a stand-alone story, you don't have a clue.

I base my opinion on reader feedback. The vast majority who have read my chapter stories and my larger single submissions have stated their preference for single submissions.

 

[ElectricBlue]

I base my opinion on reader feedback. The vast majority who have read my chapter stories and my larger single submissions have stated their preference for single submissions.

Okay, fair enough. Readers aren't often that helpful, giving feedback like that. Mind you, I don't ask, and do both chaptered and stand-alone stories because it suits me, not because readers say one thing or the other.

 

[KeithD]

Thank you. This is the first actual suggestion I've heard.

Well, no. Someone posted to keep chapter posting delays to a minimum. That was good advice--better advice than just not to post by chapter. Posting a 200,000-word standalone isn't a great idea. The principle of a short story service is to provide works that can be read in a single sitting. Another suggestion often made that I think is good (and that I do) is to complete the work before starting to submit any of it. Otherwise, you're likely to produce a rambling mess with dead and irrelevant threads waving everywhere and/or something that isn't completed and wastes the reader's time and effort.

 

[SimonDoom]

How do you know that? There's no way of knowing what readers prefer, chaptered or stand-alone. The stats don't tell you, and readers never do.

At least with a chaptered story, you've got a fair idea how many people have read it through to the end. With a stand-alone story, you don't have a clue.

I disagree with you on this. I think you are assuming something that the evidence, such as it is, does not support-- the idea that the number of views you get for a late chapter closely approximates the number of those who actually read the story. I think the evidence does not support this view.

8Letters did some analysis a while ago that indicates that readers are much more likely to view a standalone story than a story that is indicated as "chapter 1." The numbers appear solidly to support that.

The problem with your conclusion is that IF it is true, one would expect that the view:vote ratio would narrow dramatically. But, at least in the case of my stories, that's not the case. I published a very popular 8-chapter incest series in 2017-2018 over the course of about 8 months. The first chapter had a view:vote ratio, as of this last summer of 112:1. The 8th chapter had a view:vote ratio of 77:1. That's lower, but it's not THAT much lower. The total views for the last chapter were 37% of the total views of the first chapter, published 8 months earlier.

If one assumes that the read:vote ratio is relatively constant for all chapters, something that seems reasonable to me, then it seems fair to conclude that even for late chapters the number of views for later chapters is NOT close to the number of actual reads.

My own sense from the numbers is that if you have a story that is under novel length (40,000 words on the short side) you will have more people read your story all the way through if you publish it as standalone than if you publish it in chapters. If it's longer than that, I don't know.

 

[KeithD]

8Letters did some analysis a while ago that indicates that readers are much more likely to view a standalone story than a story that is indicated as "chapter 1." The numbers appear solidly to support that.

"View" is not "read." I don't think it takes much imagination to think that someone who opens a standalone to find it has 82 Lit. pages, isn't going to read it or even begin to read it.

In any event, "view" and "read" are not interchangeable words here on Lit.

 

[SimonDoom]

"View" is not "read." I don't think it takes much imagination to think that someone who opens a standalone to find it has 82 Lit. pages, isn't going to read it or even begin to read it.

In any event, "view" and "read" are not interchangeable words here on Lit.

And I didn't say that. That's why I hedged on longer novels. A 40,000 word story would be not quite 11 Lit pages, not 82 Lit pages.

What I DO think you can say is that there's some correlation between VOTES and reads. My point is that the view:vote ratio does not appear to change over time over the course of a series as much as one might think, and that means that one cannot blithely assume that by the 10th chapter the view number approximates the read number. In fact, we still have no clue, and I think the reasonable assumption is that even for late chapters many people click on it but don't read it.

 

[KeithD]

What I DO think you can say is that there's some correlation between VOTES and reads.

There is no Literotica stat providing "reads." Apparently, I didn't get across that "view" does not equal "read."

 

[ElectricBlue]

I disagree with you on this. I think you are assuming something that the evidence, such as it is, does not support-- the idea that the number of views you get for a late chapter closely approximates the number of those who actually read the story. I think the evidence does not support this view.

8Letters did some analysis a while ago that indicates that readers are much more likely to view a standalone story than a story that is indicated as "chapter 1." The numbers appear solidly to support that.

The problem with your conclusion is that IF it is true, one would expect that the view:vote ratio would narrow dramatically. But, at least in the case of my stories, that's not the case. I published a very popular 8-chapter incest series in 2017-2018 over the course of about 8 months. The first chapter had a view:vote ratio, as of this last summer of 112:1. The 8th chapter had a view:vote ratio of 77:1. That's lower, but it's not THAT much lower. The total views for the last chapter were 37% of the total views of the first chapter, published 8 months earlier.

If one assumes that the read:vote ratio is relatively constant for all chapters, something that seems reasonable to me, then it seems fair to conclude that even for late chapters the number of views for later chapters is NOT close to the number of actual reads.

My own sense from the numbers is that if you have a story that is under novel length (40,000 words on the short side) you will have more people read your story all the way through if you publish it as standalone than if you publish it in chapters. If it's longer than that, I don't know.

Shrug. I have a 100,000 word novel over seventeen chapters. It starts out with a clearly identified prologue. Views drop by half for the second chapter and half again for the third. Then there's a gradual decline to the last chapter, but the overall vote count for all but the first two chapters is almost exactly the same, and the overall chapter score is pretty much the same.

I have a 27 chapter shaggy dog story that follows the same pattern - although its chapter scores range from some of my highest to, for a very long time, my lowest (it would appear even Erotic Horror stalwarts scream in terror at the idea of GM incest - what, they've never seen their dad's cock?)

It's obvious to me that the number of Views for those last chapters represents a fair count of those that read the whole thing. Why on earth else would readers go to the last chapter and vote, if they've not just read the thing? That's so bloody obvious to me, I don't need any other explanation.

What Is inexplicable to me is the Read/Vote ratio for every chapter in both stories is much the same (1:100), even the first two with much higher Views. Why on earth are people voting if they have no intention of reading any further? That makes less sense than your argument, to me.

 

[BobbyBrandt]

My own sense from the numbers is that if you have a story that is under novel length (40,000 words on the short side) you will have more people read your story all the way through if you publish it as standalone than if you publish it in chapters. If it's longer than that, I don't know.

As with most everything here, I believe that the category in which the story is posted influences readers' tolerance and expectations where the length of a stand-alone story versus a chapter story is concerned.

In the Novels/Novellas category, I have found readers more tolerant of stand-alone stories, regardless of length above a chapter story that trickles out over months or years. Romance is a similar category. For those who write in categories preferred by "wankers", the expectation of readers will be much different.

 

[Emilymcplugger]

I published my story Love, Family, and Betrayal Ch. 02 about a month ago, and it only got 4k views, just 1/5 of my second-lowest story.
Chapter 2 has a much better score, but far fewer voters and comments, so I have no idea if there's something wrong with it.

Does anyone know what could cause a sharp drop in views between chapters?
Alternately, what are some things that help boost views for stories?

It might be to do with the tag line.

A good tag line can pull people in, a bad one can repel them (not that I’m saying you repel viewers…let me start over).

If you’re story is in non-consent it might be beneficial to sell those aspects in the tag line to pull people in, however looking at the details of the story it might be more fitting for romance, bearing in mind the direction you go in, but what do I know?