Readers who won't offer feedback...

[lc69hunter]

Quite a few readers use the "favourite" feature to bookmark stories for later. It's quite possible they haven't read them yet, so it's a bit unfair to expect them to rate or comment.

But yes, it would be nice to get more active feedback from readers. A bit of ego stroking, some pointers about what works and what doesn't, what they particularly like or dislike.

Unfortunately, that's just not the way. It's generally accepted that you'll get one rating for every 80-100 views, and one comment for every 1000 views. Some categories have a greater or lower level of engagement, of course - I find that SF&F is more often one rating per 40 views, and LW is commonly known to generate loads of comments, if you can stand them - but Lit is as Lit does.

It can be frustrating not to know what makes a reader drop a 1 on your story, or what makes them decide to follow you, but there's little you can do. Engage with the community here on the forums. Some people swear by replying to every comment they receive on their stories. Others add a note at the end, asking readers for their thoughts. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't.

I have been around a lot of years, and am currently number 8 on the all time list of commenters, so yes I comment. I generally encourage first time authors to keep writing, though many first time authors just write about their fantasy, embellished with what they think other readers want to hear, then disappear, never to be heard from again. Only twice in sixteen years have I saved a first time story as a favorite. I will follow an author generally only after to see a body of work of at least 7 or 8 stories, but yes, I will give you feedback

 

[PennyThompson]

I've only been at this for about a month and a half, so I'm far from any kind of expert, but I think I've been getting pretty okay comments and feedback on my stories:


And I think I might have a couple ideas about what has helped me!

I've been including one line in my authors notes at the top of each story, "I love receiving comments, feedback, ratings and favorites, they motivate me to keep writing!"

I also have a similar line in my author bio. I have no idea if it has a direct impact, but I think it's really easy for people to just consume media online without thinking about the content creator as a real person.

I think there's a real danger of going too far down the "parasocial relationship" hole, where a creator is over-exposing themselves and causing readers and fans to get personally attached in an unhealthy way. I don't share anything about myself as a real-life person. But I think just a little bit of human connection is really helpful

Another thing I do is, I've sent private messages and feedback to some of my kindest regular commenters, thanking them sincerely for the engagement. Not all the time, not constantly, but once in a while. If they're reading every story as they come out and are dropping favorites and ratings and comments, I want to thank them!

And then two other things that I think about are story length and genre.

I've been really intentional about keeping my stories short, 6,000 words or less, and trying to make each one reasonably self-contained and episodic.

As a reader, if I'm in deep on a 10-page story, there's a good chance I'm going to be exhausted (in one way or another) by the end, and I'm going to close my browser tab and walk away. Or if a story is so extremely serialized that there's no closure or conclusion, I'm probably just going to jump immediately to the next chapter and not look back.

I didn't start writing that way as a strategic marketing kinda thing, it's just the style that felt right to me... but I'm thinking that it might help?

And then the other thing might be genre? It seems like some categories (Lesbian, Erotic Couplings, Romance) tend to get a lot of positive feedback. Some categories (like Loving Wives, obvs) get more hate comments than anything, which... I guess is feedback? And then some other categories just might not get as much direct engagement.

Also... I don't mean this as any kind of shade, it's an honorable job... but if a story is just a stroke/schlick piece, without any serious characters or plot to latch onto, most people are probably going to conduct their business and then leave to wash their hands

 

[Comentarista82]

There's simply tons of stories and someone's bound to get left out. Theoretically if one submits to a category with more views, it ups the chances of commenting. If someone submits into a low-view section (like Non-Erotic), that won't get them exposure.

Biggest problem is fewer read to engage their minds and more than what one thinks look strictly for a one-click convenience.

Watching my 'Activity', I can see people adding my stories to their 'Favorites' list, one by one in the series. You know who you are. Pretty obviously reading them. Hard to imagine they're doing that, if they don't like them. And that's encouraging, to me, as a fledgling author.
So why won't these folks take five seconds, when they finish reading one, to submit a rating, or even a brief comment offering suggestions for improvement. Not only does this help the author, but decent ratings help us all find superior stories to read, since no one has enough time to plow through them all, looking for a few gems to enjoy. Even a low rating, if it's your honest opinion, and not just trolling, is helpful if accompanied by comments that explain what is wrong.
Help the authors get better, help the community. Offer some feedback now and then.

Some societal context is necessary here.

You can check threads on Quora to verify, but employers interviewing regularly note applicants glued to phones, unable look them in the eye for extended periods, usually very brief in how they reply, and rarely do they show evidence of thinking analytically.

I've walked into restaurants where I literally see people texting across the table at each other, refusing to put down phones and talk normally. I've had too many friends in education that often see students scouring Instagram and Snapchat to check if they've received validation on their pictures or posts... to then melt down for several hours or the whole day when they receive 1-2 thumbs down on a post or a picture.

Modern society revolves around convenience, and while people indeed consume online media, it's very rare to find a truly thoughtful person. Imagine that since a Canadian government survey in 1976 found that 90% of people showed up and only worked hard enough to get the paycheck and not stand out, with only 2% that naturally took the lead in something... what percent today believes in being helpful (1% or less by most estimates)? These things largely explain why comments are far and few between, because even in literature examining current educational trends people see emphasis on self-esteem and not critical thinking. Given the world becomes more push button and instant gratification, it becomes more unlikely someone is going to say thanks--much less Express 1 to 2 sentences that proves thinking.

 

[Britva415]

Just curious, why did you stop publishing futa stories in SF/F (where there are many) and start publishing them in EC (where there are very few)?

 

[PennyThompson]

Just curious, why did you stop publishing futa stories in SF/F (where there are many) and start publishing them in EC (where there are very few)?

I gotta be honest, I've been kind of flying blind with category choices

I didn't want to simply post in Transgender & Crossdresser, because I didn't want to just write a chaser story that fetishizes real people in ways that I find problematic. My MC is a fantasy character of sorts, so that's why I started in SF&F... But I immediately felt out of place surrounded by orcs and aliens and vampires and such

@THBGato -- lesbian erotica Queen -- told me I should publish in Lesbian, but I didn't feel right barging in dropping a bunch of girldick in that category...

Ughhh I wish Lit would just let you cross-post in multiple categories, I would just multi-class all of my stories and not have to agonize over it!

So I'm going to keep it in EC for the most part. Does the sex involve a couple? Is it erotic? Boom, done. Are there more than two people involved? Group Sex. Does a UFO show up at some point? Then I'll move back to SF&F

 

[textilemonster1]

As a reader, I generally have no idea what I'd comment other than, "I liked it." ...which is what Likes are for.

 

[Wylie3]

I tend to just rate the ones I like or if a writer has something that takes my interest will follow them, the odd time have commented where something has been interesting to let them know to keep going. Have left a comment where someone makes a similar error like I have of not re reading before hit the submit button and there are obvious errors.
Tend to find those who have left negative comments on my stories or on writers I have followed always seem to be anonymous.
Comments from followers to stories in a series tend to be more suggestions of what that might want to read in the next part or that they want more parts.

 

[Soulquencher69]

My memory is getting foggier so I try to at least rate every story that I read. That way I can check the ratings and "Oh yeah. I remember this now". I am not afraid to comment IF I have something meaningful to contribute. It's disappointing when an author disables rating or commenting. If they've allowed rating but not commenting, I generally deduct a star. I get- some commenters are very primitive but it seems cowardly to have the courage to post but then not allow commenting.

 

[AngelaSaxon]

I find it difficult to attribute too much significance to people putting a story in their favourites, partly because some use it as a bookmark feature, but also because it's relatively common, if I look at an account that has done this, to find they've got thousands or tens of thousands of stories favourited. That'd be a lot of comments, and just how much of a favourite can any given story be?

Actually, why DO people do this? Am I missing something? Are there really people even reading tens of thousands of stories here?

In my mind I've been reading a lot lately trying to understand a couple of things about how people negotiate particular issues, so very deliberately and significantly increasing how much I'm consuming, but it's still probably never hit fifteen on any given day, how does someone get twenty thousand favourites?

 

[AngelaSaxon]

My guess is years of building a following so as soon as a new story drops people are reading it immediately.

How does that explain why an account here would have twenty thousand stories favourited?

Not that they've written a story that's been favourited twenty thousand times, though that WOULD be impressive. An account which has hit 'favourite' on twenty thousand separate stories by other people...?

 

[AngelaSaxon]

Well in that case, perhaps it is just a bot.

I did have that thought I guess, I just don't understand the point of a bot having an account and favouriting thousands of stories. But unless it's some oddly obsessive practice by people I don't understand, yes maybe they're all bots...

 

[ElectricBlue]

But unless it's some oddly obsessive practice by people I don't understand, yes maybe they're all bots...

Readers are strange. I don't get those endless long fave lists either - what purpose do they serve? Who knows.

 

[Bluebanzai]

I find the rating thing a bit difficult, from both author's and reader's points of view. The quality of writing on Lit is just intrinsically tied up with whether the erotic element works for me. This aspect elicits strongly personal reactions imho, ones less relevant to other creative writing. Introduce something sexually dissonant and the work never feels like I'll give it a 'five', no matter how inspired the other elements. And it feels difficult for me to give helpful feedback if someone's unfamiliar kink has made my skin crawl.

None of this is the author's fault, and I feel like I'm no qualified arbiter. So I pass on, silently. What sounds utterly ridiculous to me might be perfectly normal in their corner of the fetishverse. (I like that word: copyrighted).

I've no answer for this: it's just an observation. So possibly unhelpful. I guess I could more helpfully engage with a multi-faceted scoring system - 4 for the prose, 5 for the characters, 1 for the idea of a space alien popping balloons in leather boots (you can have that one for free, if it grabs you). This might let me add enough nuance to give more meaningful feedback, without having to commit to a comments box at all. Given how few readers award ratings even once, though, I think this has as much chance of flying as a dodo in lead boots. Even if the dodo's got the leftover balloons.

 

[rampe]

I think I am writing in those sections that aren't the interest of the big grouds. So my stories aren't that much noticed. That is thrue that 1/100 gives stars or 1/1000. Anyway not that many. As a reader I don't give any stars if I notice that the story wasn't for me. It can be well written and good story but no my interest. I think it wouldn't be fair for the writer that I give lousy amount of stars if I didn't like the way things were going. If I like it I at least give stars. I don't have comments at all in my every story. Some of them have. There is the nice ones, trollies and those that are demanding next chapter with happenings they are fantasizing.