Every story I post gets 1 star’d

[Britva415]

*Shrug* Does it matter?

Due to what you were responding to, it seemed to me that you were making some kind of a statement about whether "A" was average or not, based on how easy it was for you, personally, to get them. Maybe I didn't follow the thought process.

 

[Erozetta]

It seemed to me that you were making some kind of a statement about whether "A" was average or not, based on how easy it was for you to get them. Maybe I didn't follow the thought process.

No, I simply suggested effort wasn't always necessary to maintain As in school, nor is the amount of effort exerted indicative of the likelihood of getting an A.

 

[RejectReality]

My maths is clearly different to your maths. I usually get one or two one-bombs straight out the gate, which always disappear later, and clearly I get the occasional 3s, or I wouldn't have anything below 4.00.

I'm not convinced anyone here knows how Joe Average reader votes. They don't come here and tell us, so all we have left is the internal anecdote of the way many AH writers say they vote, which folk then correlate to gospel truth across the board. I'm more inclined to give credit to readers voting using their own criteria, not voting the way we want them to.

When I've got a large collection of the exact same stories released near simultaneously on three different sites to relatively similar score outcomes, and the breakdown on two of those sites tells me the same story over and over and over again, it's pretty compelling.

The top-heavy distribution of scores above 4.0 across the site likewise confirms at least one element of that scale. That's not possible without a heavy bias toward 5s.

 

[ElectricBlue]

The top-heavy distribution of scores above 4.0 across the site likewise confirms at least one element of that scale. That's not possible without a heavy bias toward 5s.

I'm not denying there's a high end skew, it's obvious that there is.

On the 1 - 5 scale I reckon readers vote mostly 3s 4s 5s. You can see that from author's story pages - some are consistently high, with the majority of their stories Red Hs, others have a band 4.00 - 4.50, with a smattering of Red Hs; while other writers struggle to get past 4.00. Those overall bands suggest to me that readers are using more than just 5s and 1s.

It's a pity more readers don't drop by to actually tell us what they do.

Meanwhile, it's all supposition, gut feel, and your own inclination as a person. We've got a truckload of natural pessimists, who outweigh, I think, the optimists who give readers the benefit of the doubt. Me, I'm glass half full.

 

[pink_silk_glove]

On the 1 - 5 scale I reckon readers vote mostly 3s 4s 5s. You can see that from author's story pages - some are consistently high, with the majority of their stories Red Hs, others have a band 4.00 - 4.50, with a smattering of Red Hs; while other writers struggle to get past 4.00. Those overall bands suggest to me that readers are using more than just 5s and 1s.

Not necessarily. Any score can be achieved with the right amount of 5s and 1s. Certainly 2s 3s and 4s are used, I know that I do get some of those, but they don't get used nearly so much. Furthermore, a kinky writer will get less 4s 3s and 2s because the kinky reader tends to vote 5 (or 1) or not at all, whereas the cerebral writer will get more of the scale used because the cerebral audience will tend to use the scale more thoroughly. If your prose is a little deeper, more eloquent and less porn-y you will get a few more 2s 3s and 4s.

It's a pity more readers don't drop by to actually tell us what they do.

Sure, but the consensus among the few who do is clearly 5 or nothing.

 

[StrentWriter]

Happily I’ve actually posted a story this morning, lets see the 1s roll in…!

Experimenting!

 

[ElectricBlue]

Not necessarily. Any score can be achieved with the right amount of 5s and 1s. Certainly 2s 3s and 4s are used, I know that I do get some of those, but they don't get used nearly so much. Furthermore, a kinky writer will get less 4s 3s and 2s because the kinky reader tends to vote 5 (or 1) or not at all, whereas the cerebral writer will get more of the scale used because the cerebral audience will tend to use the scale more thoroughly. If your prose is a little deeper, more eloquent and less porn-y you will get a few more 2s 3s and 4s.

Must be true then, since my most voted on story is a Fetish breastfeeding yarn. What can I say?

 

[StrentWriter]

Behold: 5 x 5 and the inevitable 1 bomb!

C’est la vie. 5 people liked it enough. I can live with this. Shame about the average but hey ho.

 

[TheExperimentalist]

Behold: 5 x 5 and the inevitable 1 bomb!

C’est la vie. 5 people liked it enough. I can live with this. Shame about the average but hey ho.

How do you know it's five 5s and a 1-bomb rather than four 4s and two 5s? or three 4s, a 3, and two 5s? Or any other combination of 6 votes that would add up to 26?

 

[onehitwanda]

How do you know it's five 5s and a 1-bomb rather than four 4s and two 5s? or three 4s, a 3, and two 5s? Or any other combination of 6 votes that would add up to 26?

By constantly hitting refresh and watching how the vote score changes, I would guess.

 

[StrentWriter]

How do you know it's five 5s and a 1-bomb rather than four 4s and two 5s? or three 4s, a 3, and two 5s? Or any other combination of 6 votes that would add up to 26?

Maths.

5x5 is 25 divided by 5 is 5.

Add one. 26.

26 divided by 5 is 4.33333 recurring.

I was also 5/5 before the sixth vote and then score changed to 4.333 recurring.

 

[pink_silk_glove]

How do you know it's five 5s and a 1-bomb rather than four 4s and two 5s? or three 4s, a 3, and two 5s? Or any other combination of 6 votes that would add up to 26?

If the previous time that you checked it it was 5.00/5 and now it is 4.33/6 then you would know that the 6th vote was a 1.

 

[TheExperimentalist]

Maths.

5x5 is 25 divided by 5 is 5.

Add one. 26.

26 divided 5 is 4.33333 recurring.

I was also 5/5 before the sixth vote and then score changed to 4.333 recurring.

Gotcha. It wasn't clear from your comments of screenshot that you knew the before and after. If it was just a static 4.33 / 6, there would be no way of knowing the distribution of votes.

 

[StrentWriter]

Gotcha. It wasn't clear from your comments of screenshot that you knew the before and after. If it was just a static 4.33 / 6, there would be no way of knowing the distribution of votes.

I had checked it earlier and screenshotted 5/5 as it happens, so I was lucky!

 

[TheExperimentalist]

I had checked it earlier and screenshotted 5/5 as it happens, so I was lucky!

In which case, that 1-bomb sucks. I'm sorry.

 

[StrentWriter]

In which case, that 1-bomb sucks. I'm sorry.

It happens! Maybe someone didn’t like the story genuinely. C’est la vie.

 

[FrancesScott]

I've never had a story go past ten votes with a pure 5. My highest at the moment is 4.94/16

I had my first twenty four votes on The Soldier’s Widow all being fives. Then I got a four. I got several ones later as the competition deadline drew near, I’m sure they were all innocently genuine.