Maybe call the story Cupid’s CurmudgeonI just started my story yesterday.While I'm not a huge fan of Valentines day, I'm known as a romance author so I guess I have to make a showing.
Going to try Mature again. For us old folks it's permissible to hate the hoopla around Valentines Day.
Well, I've already used that word once in the text, and I'm still searching for a title...Maybe call the story Cupid’s Curmudgeon
I never get past the first interview.Try it, you might like it. It can be freeing to let go.
I thought I remembered you commenting that you didn't have much up front...I wrote a lot upfront
I posted to Non-Erotic so I wasn't expecting anything, really. I had a very good spot on New yesterday, though. That said, it's been terrible. My other contest stories average one rating per ~150 views or so; across my catalogue it's one rating per 94 views. I've gotten one rating per 225 views for this piece, no followers, no comments. Again, it's a non-erotic piece so I'm really not expecting much, but at this point I'm not sure I'll meet the 25 rating minimum. I guess I thought more people would go through the contest page than actually do.
Maybe because I got the spot above you on the LS new list, but I'm happy with my views, (over 5K so far middle of the first day, on a Tuesday).
You are #1 on your category page and top three on New Stories, so you get an initial bump from both.
I’m Treasurer of the Jersey chapter of the IBTCI thought I remembered you commenting that you didn't have much up front...
I've been on this site coming up on seven years and I just found the New Stories list...
I was a reader here for almost a quarter century before started to write last year. I only know about the overall new story list because of mentions of it here. But it's often flooded with stories in categories that I'm not interested in. I always looked by category as a reader.I've been on this site coming up on seven years and I just found the New Stories list...
I think I need to get out of my shell a bit more.
Fortune smiled on you for sure, but I’d expect more than 1,000 views in LS at this point, even as #2 on the list. I often end up with over 18,000 in LS.
18K is more than I got in either of my prior stories, so you do something right generally.
My 2025 Valentine’s entry was in LS. One of many that were precision torpedoed at the eleventh hour fifty-ninth minute. It now sits at 16,500 views, so 18k is pretty good. But 1k for @FrancesScott is very much on the low side for the category.
1000 in romance for me so far, but it’s about expected as I’m not well known.
That’s still low for Romance.
This happens too often. I wonder if Laurel and Manu could just not show scores for competitions until the release the results. At least the spam one bombs would be evenly distributed...
That’s par for the course in SF&F, I’ve had lower, even with over a thousand followers. The category is overrun with Chapter 432 postings and quite a lot of low quality stuff (with pure gems sparkling brightly in between the dross).
My entry is definitely not my best work, I wouldn't call it a gem, but I was overall happy with it. When I finished my Christmas entry I thought I had a legit contender, this time I'm just hoping for the exposure boost. Just going to wait and see how it does over the course of its contest run. Next time, if it's not too genre-y, I might just toss a similar story in EC.
