What am I doing wrong??

[KeithD]

How long has Coronation Street run? Has it maintained viewership? Ratings? Has it run out the story line?

What about the Star Trek series?

James Bond?

Apples and kumquats. The question was on gaining viewers. A new viewer flipping into a long-running TV program mid greater storyline isn't at all like a new reader beginning to read a single series by that author starting with chapter 35 on an Internet story site with literally thousands of other options for reading. Let's get real.

 

[KingOfHalves]

There's been a lot of very useful information in this thread. I was so focused on the story I've spent the last few years writing that I hadn't even considered diversifying to other generes. I already have a few ideas.

I obviously did things backwards. Short one-off stories are going to be completely new to me.

I really appreciate everyone's feedback!

 

[MelissaBaby]

There's been a lot of very useful information in this thread. I was so focused on the story I've spent the last few years writing that I hadn't even considered diversifying to other generes. I already have a few ideas.

I obviously did things backwards. Short one-off stories are going to be completely new to me.

I really appreciate everyone's feedback!

I started out writing two series, one of 13 and one of 36 chapters. Short stand alone stories do not come easily to me. So I have opted for the obvious and am now mostly writing long stand alones.

 

[KeithD]

I don't see the need to go off and try to write in categories you're not interested in. I advocate being realistic about what you like to write will get you.

 

[gordo12]

I agree with your post generally, but this point is not necessarily true. I ended a 36 chapter series and noted in the description of the last chapter that it was the conclusion, and I got a bump in readership for the earlier chapters.

Yes, the bump in readership when the end is announced has been mentioned in other threads.

It's not that I consider long-chaptered stories bad. But his complaint was about readers, or the lack thereof. I think they bring slow growth, or even declining numbers, compared to single, one-time stories.

In this case, I would go with slow growth.

 

[gunhilltrain]

It's a well-known fact here that readers drop off for multi-chapter stories. After a while, you have a small, well-defined core of readers. But some of those will gradually abandon the story. Bored, dying, moving, losing interest, who knows?

New readers will look at 35 chapters, and no way in hell are they starting that.
(I refuse at 4-5)

Sci-fi also has a small readership. A story I put in there almost three years ago has only 11k readers so far. Another last year has 4k. That's tiny in the face of categories that will get you 40-50 or 100k readers in a few days.

As others have said. You don't need to abandon; add something different to attract new readers.

It depends on how much you crave popularity. There's one site that only has 64,000 stories on it. (They manage to have more than 560,000 members; I guess most of them are there for chat or otherwise use it as a dating site platform.) One is lucky to get 5,000 views; 2,000 is quite common. But they don't allow anonymous comments, so there are virtually no trolls. Any comments one gets are usually polite.

 

[MelissaBaby]

Yes, the bump in readership when the end is announced has been mentioned in other threads.

It's not that I consider long-chaptered stories bad. But his complaint was about readers, or the lack thereof. I think they bring slow growth, or even declining numbers, compared to single, one-time stories.

In this case, I would go with slow growth.

Caveat: you have to make sure they know the series is finished. The entire description for Chapter 36 of Mary and Alvin is “The conclusion.”

 

[gordo12]

Caveat: you have to make sure they know the series is finished. The entire description for Chapter 36 of Mary and Alvin is “The conclusion.”

I'd be curious to know if the increase in readers was for all the chapters or just the last few? That description is a pointed sales message and maybe got some procrastinators who hadn't kept up, off their keisters.

You may not track things like that. If not, don't worry.

 

[MelissaBaby]

I'd be curious to know if the increase in readers was for all the chapters or just the last few? That description is a pointed sales message and maybe got some procrastinators who hadn't kept up, off their keisters.

You may not track things like that. If not, don't worry.

I didn't track the numbers, but the bump was very noticeable for the first chapter and for a few of the chapters throughout that had been "fan favorites".

I assume most of those reading the first chapter were new readers, although there were likely people who had read partway through and decided, now that it was complete, to start again at the beginning. I also heard from several people who said that it was their practice to always wait until a series is concluded before they will start it. The other chapters were likely readers who, as the story concluded, went back to revisit the chapters that had enjoyed the most.

I strongly suspect that if I had tracked those new readers, I'd have seen a similar, though not as extreme, pattern of diminishing views. I would expect more of the new viewers to read all the way through, since there was no wait between chapters, but many would not make it all the way through. It is, after all, more than 500k words long, it requires some commitment of time.

 

[gordo12]

It is, after all, more than 500k words long, it requires some commitment of time.

Wow, a labour of love on your part. I can't even imagine how much time you spent writing that. Kudos!

 

[lovecraft68]

Wow, ok.

I didn't realize that's how this forum operates. I see many stories with scores similar to the ones mine tend to get but much higher view numbers, so I thought I must be doing something wrong.

Nevermind, I guess. Thanks anyway for the reply.

Don't mind him, he's the forum bully and a bitter old man.

Electric Blue gave you the best answer, you need new stories and to get new blood.

 

[KeithD]

Don't mind him, he's the forum bully and a bitter old man.

A sick puppy stalker's work is never done.

 

[Emirus]

Nope. It's a serial. There's lots of story left to tell.

I’d like to compare Melissa’s story, Mary and Alvin, with KingOfHalves story, Lost at Sea, with them being of a similar length. I’ve read Mary and Alvin but I haven’t read Lost at Sea so I’m making some assumptions about the latter, which may be, and probably are, completely wrong.

KingOfHalves says his story is a serial. I know Mary and Alvin is and it covers the life of a young woman to old age. As Melissa says, you can’t miss the last chapter being the conclusion.

Would I have begun Mary and Alvin if I’d come across it at 36? Probably not, even though it has to me, and this is only my personal quirk, a big advantage over would I begin Lost at Sea if I came across it at 35.

Mary and Alvin has a hint of what’s going to happen in the chapter description. Every chapter of Lost at Sea has the same description. A sexy pirate fantasy adventure. That doesn’t tell me much about the story. KingOfHalves has said, “Nope. It’s a serial. There’s lots of story left to tell.” That’s okay, but can you give me a hint as to what’s happening, please. What’s the story about (please don’t say it’s a sexy pirate fantasy series) because, at the moment, I’ve got it into my head it’s a collection of several stories linked together by a common, possibly tenuous, thread. Which would make it a series not a serial. I may, as I’ve said earlier, got the wrong impression of the story but that’s what I’m getting particularly from every chapter having the same description.

I am biased because writers who give every chapter the same description is one of my pet hates and I don’t bother beginning to read a series with that pattern. I’m sure there are plenty who do and, in your case, there seem to be 348 of them. They obviously enjoy what you’re doing even if, as you’ve said,you don’t get many views. You’ve received advice to write in other categories if you want to get more views but you need to be aware a series in another category, although it will get more views, may not get the scores you are getting at present.

Despite all the comments and advice (you’ll have to decide which is good and which is bad) it’s up to you what you decide to do.

Melissa and yourself do have one thing in common. I admire, and envy, that you both have the imagination and patience to produce what you have done. It’s something I know is beyond me which is why I stick to stand alone stories.

Best of luck with whatever you decide to do.

 

[AlinaX]

Every chapter of Lost at Sea has the same description. ... writers who give every chapter the same description is one of my pet hates and I don’t bother beginning to read a series with that pattern.

Yes. That often dissuades me from reading a story.

 

[rackofdawn]

I read a lot

I love to read and I read a lot of books. But when I read stories on Literotica my motive is not the same as when I read other things. To be very real about it and I imagine that this is typical: When I read here it is because I want to get turned on. My point is that to attract a lot of readers on a website that is all about erotica then your stories need to have the power to make the reader horny.

You might get a larger reading base if you stopped thinking about having a large reading base and just focus on one thing. Making us horny and making us NEED to do something about it. I am a married mom that is stuck at home a lot. If I read a story and if drives me to masturbate then I view that as a winner and I will check out other work by that author.

 

[gordo12]

I love to read and I read a lot of books. But when I read stories on Literotica my motive is not the same as when I read other things. To be very real about it and I imagine that this is typical: When I read here it is because I want to get turned on. My point is that to attract a lot of readers on a website that is all about erotica then your stories need to have the power to make the reader horny.

You might get a larger reading base if you stopped thinking about having a large reading base and just focus on one thing. Making us horny and making us NEED to do something about it. I am a married mom that is stuck at home a lot. If I read a story and if drives me to masturbate then I view that as a winner and I will check out other work by that author.

Wow, that is so weird. I read your post and instantly a 750 story popped into my mind. Title, plot, dialogue and characters. I've already written some of it out. Perfect for the next 750 event.

Thanks!

 

[KingOfHalves]

Sounds like I need to figure out how to edit my chapter descriptions and treat them as little previews.

 

[MillieDynamite]

I obviously did things backwards. Short one-off stories are going to be completely new to me.

Short one-off stories are the bulk of my work which I publish myself. Longer works tend to be ghost-work, and I have my fill of novel-length writing, making my meager earnings. However, I have had series of short stories featuring the same MC character. I also have done several long works, and a few of them I lost steam on before I completed them.

Whatever works for you is how you will enjoy writing the most. Short works were how I started, writing my own experiences down, both as they happened, and a journal of sorts, looking back at my early life.

The most important thing about writing to me is to keep writing.

 

[Rob_Howard]

Sounds like I need to figure out how to edit my chapter descriptions and treat them as little previews.

As a reader, description of a story is what attracts me to read it, apart from the tags. Descriptions should be like a movie trailer which entices the reader to read the story.

 

[Kumquatqueen]

A link in your forum signature to your stories will help, especially if you post interesting comments on various of the boards.

But the main thing is to post more stories. And be patient - over time, your views will go up.