What Do You Value More?

[AG31]

Sad but understandable (after all, tis why we are here).

1. Comments.
2. Score
3. Favourite
4. Views

Why sad?

 

[Emilymcplugger]

Why sad?

I dunno.

Just seemed sad the comment “finding like-minded people”. Felt like the Police song “Message in a bottle” which apparently is a metaphor for lonely-hearted people and NOT a song about a Tom Hanks film.

 

[AG31]

I dunno.

Just seemed sad the comment “finding like-minded people”. Felt like the Police song “Message in a bottle” which apparently is a metaphor for lonely-hearted people and NOT a song about a Tom Hanks film.

Ah. No, not lonely at all in the real world. Not actually "lonely" in the world of erotica, but I am a rare bird as far as sensibility goes, and I just recently zeroed in on the word "like minded," to describe my quest for connections.

 

[yowser]

I'm tickled when I get a comment on an older story. 'So glad I found this' or the like. It's easy to think your work is so ephemeral here.

One of my favorites was getting trashed (in LW) by 26thNC six years after the story came out. He finally tracked me down and gave the story both barrels! A sign of huge endorsement.

 

[LetsMisBehave]

For me, favourites and comments before the score. Views depends too much on the title and short description, Mind you, I am trying to tell myself that some of my recent bad scores on high-viewed stories (by my standards) are down to making my descriptions and titles more inviting. bait and switch can be a problem
As with most writers, the readers I would most like to hear from are those who like what they think I am aiming for but can help me understand what makes me fall short of my ambitions,

 

[firmbutgentle]

I value comments most of all. The ratings are satisfying in a I-shouldn’t-be-so-competitive way, and hearts warm my heart.

 

[lovecraft68]

In order to go below a 3, I imagine you have to make some people really angry? Because if your normal score is around 4 and above, and then suddenly you go all the way down to a 2-point-something, then something must have gone awry, and you must have made enemies somehow? Maybe people from the forums just went onto your stories and downvoted them out of spite or something? It doesn't make sense to me.

For the summer contest, I wrote an incest first-time story between twins. And there was no vaginal penetration. They went straight to anal. Tons of the comments were from people that HATED that. And I still managed to get a 4.7 or something on the story. Snippet from the comments below.

View attachment 2280172

The good and bad of it being a contest entry
Bad-you were targeted by the contest trolls who I am sure are behind some of the abuse
Good-you benefitted from the big final sweep at the end which negated a lot of the trolls who barely skimmed and dropped a comment/

Anal is hit or miss in I/T. If it happens after the first time as a "let me give bro/son/dad an extra thrill and take me there." it can be okay. First time? Nah, pisses of the ones who like to see some type of romance or affection in the coupling.

 

[lovecraft68]

I get plenty of favs, views(whatever they're worth) votes and except for a couple of troll fodder LW stories my scores are all above four, most 4.50+.

I get a good number of comments....but I think what I look for at this point is a specific type of comment. One that seems as if the reader really got the story, or picked up on an obscure reference I made, something that shows it stood out to them for a reason other than "That's hawt!"

 

[MelissaBaby]

I get plenty of favs, views(whatever they're worth) votes and except for a couple of troll fodder LW stories my scores are all above four, most 4.50+.

I get a good number of comments....but I think what I look for at this point is a specific type of comment. One that seems as if the reader really got the story, or picked up on an obscure reference I made, something that shows it stood out to them for a reason other than "That's hawt!"

I must be some kind of closet sadist, because nothing makes me happier than when a reader says I made them cry.

 

[lovecraft68]

I must be some kind of closet sadist, because nothing makes me happier than when a reader says I made them cry.

Yeah, but in romance crying is a good thing. For some reason...

My wife and I have this running thing about how she won't watch horror and saying "Why the hell would anyone want to get scared?"

Then I come out and she's balling over some Hallmark movie or some romance and I'm like "Why the hell would anyone think crying is entertaining?"

 

[MillieDynamite]

Nice comments or critical that point out something I could better outweigh the rest on here. Sales is all that matters to me Amazon.

 

[Djmac1031]

Also, let's be honest. Human psychology being what it is, our answer to this question will tend to be whatever measure we do best at.

Maybe I'm the exception .

It's not a brag to say 99.9% of my stories have done exceptionally well with ratings, comments and favorites.

The readers who read me enjoy my work, no question there. And I'm grateful for it.

But damn I'd like more views. Even if it came as a sacrifice to ratings.

I'd like to know more people at least tried the damn thing. Maybe they finished, maybe they didn't.

But to repeat myself from an earlier comment: while views don't automatically translate to reads, 100K views implies a lot more folks read it than 2K views.

 

[Deleted member 6666935]

I’d have to say I value comments, since I’m having a difficult time understanding the other numbers so far. The comments are letting me know my stories are being enjoyed!

 

[Cali_Love]

My feelings on this have evolved. With story #1, I just wanted to have it read and be a part of a community, maybe putting the voices in my head to rest, hoping to get into the 4+. Then I got a red H. Does that stand for heroin? Yes. Yes it does. Ruin me, give me more! Wait! What? My latest might be a bad trip . . .

I need help.

 

[Stimtheone]

As I posted in another thread, for me comments are king. Good, preferably, but I'd take even some to give valid criticism. Then would be the views, favorites, then the rating. I feel like those are a better metric. Personally, I have read many stories and forgot to give a rating or comment, often because I was so damn taken by the story. Favorites means that someone really liked it to the point they might be coming back. Ratings... well, they matter, but sometimes you have no idea what is behind that rating. I at least know I have one dude that seems to one-star everything I have. Or maybe it's someone who honestly did not like the story... I can't tell the difference, so leave a comment to elaborate, cowards. Maybe they don't because doing so would draw them out of the herd and show it's not some group opinion that they express, but just one dude.

 

[lovecraft68]

Just drifting through a X(still not used to that) feed where people are calling someone a "System QB"

Got me thinking that the hazard of caring too much about all or any of these things can make you a system writer, find the formula that can get the numbers and don't deviate from it.

 

[Emilymcplugger]

Yeah, I’ve got to care less. When I got a few 1-bombers congregating around my stories it really got me down, but now…by valuing comments more and followers it’s changed my perspective and I find I can just write the stories I want to write.

Just published CARRY ON CRUISING elsewhere first and it went down stellar so publishing it here is less of a be-all, end-all.

 

[BobbyBrandt]

This makes me happy:

A low number of views, but man do those views count where votes and comments are concerned.

This one also makes me happy:

I like it when readers get their tails tweaked and can't articulate exactly why it happened to them.

In both cases illustrated, getting the desired reaction from readers is what I find satisfying. Quality over quantity every time.

 

[davion2308]

I like ratings first, then favorites, then views. Views don't mean much because they don't accurately quantify the traffic.

And while I like to think the gold standard for a 'good' story is 4.5, I recognize that's a really hard score to get. A few votes that are low can torpedo all the love from a bunch of people.

4.5 though because I like seeing the red H next to my stories. I have enough that I think I can write more and better.

 

[Lifestyle66]

What I'd REALLY like is more readers.

There's an easy solution to that: Post more to Loving Wives!

(Be careful what you wish for ...)

 

[Djmac1031]

There's an easy solution to that: Post more to Loving Wives!

(Be careful what you wish for ...)

What I should have specified is I want more SANE readers.

 

[sister jenny]

Since I’ve had a lot of ppl giving me a 1/5 because one aspect of the story they didnt like, I’ve stopped caring about the rating.
I want comments.
At least someone is reading it.
Oh and favorites feels good too.

 

[Emilymcplugger]

Since I’ve had a lot of ppl giving me a 1/5 because one aspect of the story they didnt like, I’ve stopped caring about the rating.
I want comments.
At least someone is reading it.
Oh and favorites feels good too.

Exactly.

Funny thing is a low score is not an indication that a story is bad. Currently my latest is scoring at 3.5

Ouch.

It’s already been favourited by 5 people in its first 7 hours. Favourites and comments show that your story has an audience perhaps more than score.

 

[onehitwanda]

I like long walks on the beach, red wine, and boobs.

https://i.imgur.com/PUe1kqu.gif

oh... crap. I'm in the wrong thread, aren't I?

 

[Emilymcplugger]

I like long walks on the beach, red wine, and boobs.

https://i.imgur.com/PUe1kqu.gif

oh... crap. I'm in the wrong thread, aren't I?

Sorry…what was the question?