The Society of Writers Ignored (four readers or less)

With all the other Writing Societies out there, I thought I'd make my own.

Got a story with less than five readers?

Then this is the place for you. A place to chat with fellow writers with readers that can be counted on one hand. A place for those of us who feel ignored by most to feel better. A place where people know how you
feel.


This is something I've noticed alot. Alot of writers get no readers, so they get desperate and beg people to come in. Please, don't do that. Come here and vent your steam.

Count me in this... I have four regulars, which is really pushing the bounds of the term "regulars". And occasional readers (as in post once or twice and then leave for good) don't count in your total.

I KNOW there are more of you out there!

 

I've got a lot of consistant readers for my story, Han Alone, but The Young Flames' readership has dropped significantly since I started it last Fall. The fact that I only have those few readers has slowed the progress of the story. It would have been done sooner, but I wasn't getting the enthusiastic feedback that I needed to do that story. It's almost done, fortunately.

 

Tell me where it's located and I'll read it.

 

ah, well, depends which story. Lots of readers for Sins of the Father and quite a bit for Love & Loss but I think I have two regulars for Second Chance

 

Hey, guys, I think you may be confusing 'readers' with 'reviewers'. Trust me - there are beaucoup lurkers out there.

On this board, you can't monitor how many people actually look at your work - but, on another site, which shall remain nameless but you all know what it is, for a small fee, you can get enhanced stats on your posts, and, out of curiosity, I signed up for it - and it's a real eye-opener. This is the best example: I have a story called "Almost" - a one-post short story - which got 16 reviews on that site - but enhanced stats show that it was accessed almost 800 times. I think the same thing happens here. Although some stories just seem to generate dozens of responses for each post - like Red Rose Knight's Path series, for example - that doesn't mean that others aren't being read by a variety of people. Some people just aren't comfortable putting up posts.

So try not to despair too much. More people are reading than you think.

CYN

 

*laughs* Don't despair, guys! It took me a year and a half to shake "newbie-itis"! You'll get more readers!

-Emmi

 

What I don;t get is lurkers. I'm serious. I can't read a fic and not respond. It just doesn;t make sense.


To all lurkers who actually read the fics: do the writer a favor and respond. Just stop in and say "I like it"...

I know I have a few, but I only have a few reviewers.

 

Trust me - there are beaucoup lurkers out there.

*Delurks* You're looking at one of those right here. Between the JC, FF.N, Moons of Iego, Corellian Embassy, and other fan fiction sites I have read hundreds of works of fanfiction. However, I have probably only responded to about 25-30 of them.


What I don;t get is lurkers. I'm serious. I can't read a fic and not respond. It just doesn;t make sense.

Well, I have several reasons as to why I don't respond very frequently. First off, I have little time on my hands. I hate writing a review unless I can fully think through what I say.... I usually put in 15-20 minutes for each post of feedback. Since I usually read fan fics very late when I'm tired, I don't have the energy to write a thoughtful post, so I end up writing none at all.

Sometimes I will take the time and effort to respond to a story. However, in nearly all cases my real life becomes hectic and I eventually stop responding to a particular fic because I don't have the time. Then I feel bad because the reader thinks I have lost interest which isn't true. I can think of several stories that I haven't resonded to for a while...

~*Senoj*~

 

I have four readers... I've juggled a few others who came and went but aren't regular, and one may come back, and one has permanantly joined the ranks of lurkers (that's okay. I appreciate the lurker's right to not post... it would be great to get a line dropped from them if I have any, but if you don't want to share, don't!). Anyway, I personally like my small readership. I would always enjoy others who read my fic, but I like the stuff I get back from my four. They're a fun group.

 

I'm with Cynical on this one. I have 2 fics in the FF Archives and for one fic I have about 30 reviews and 3000 hits. The other one had 5 reviews and 1500 hits. So the lurkers are out there.

I know because I also used to lurk mercilessly. Then when I started to write and got 3 readers (or less) on most of my stuff, I decided to start delurking. It's tough because I also want to write long, detailed discussions but there just isn't time.

So any lurkers out there. A simple - yes, I'm reading your story and I [comment here] it - would be great. At least we know that you're there.

 

*steps forward* I confess, I lurk, a lot, and I've started to feel very guilty recently. Especially now with this thread .

Part of it's because of time. Like JediSenoj451 and dianethx said, I like to spend time on replying. The other reason...well, I'm pretty shy, even on the internet.

What I don;t get is lurkers. I'm serious. I can't read a fic and not respond. It just doesn;t make sense.

Wow! Cam_Mulonus, please tell me how you do that! We lurkers need a 12 step programme of something, to learn how to to give these authors the praise they deserve.

I'm sorry - it's really not fair to all of you authors. Trust me, just because there aren't reviews doesn't mean there's a lack of readers.

Feeling really bad,
~Calantha

 

Where do you get that stat enhancing thing?

 

For stat enhancement, just log in on FF.n, and scroll down, and it will tell you how to sign up. If I recall correctly, it's like $5.00 per mo., or $10.00 for 3 mos. - or something like that.

Listen, Guys, it would be a real shame for anyone to STOP writing, simply because they aren't getting the responses they'd like to have - so may I offer a piece of advice, which was once given to me, and I have adhered to faithfully.

Write for yourself - because you want to and need to - and if it turns out that it appeals to someone, that's just an added blessing. A writer writes because he doesn't know how NOT to write. So, to paraphrase a certain famous movie, "If you write it, they will come." It's just that they may not always say so.

CYN

 

I can't remember ever having more than five readers. My regular readers are basically gone from when I first started posting here, but I've got a good, steady group of new users, which is very nice. I noticed a change in my regulars when the forums were divided in four. I kind of miss the old days at times.

 

I've got a lot of readers, but I haven't always had them. You have to be patient.

You have to understand lurkers, too. There are lots of reasons to read and not reply. Some users (like my friend Kat, for example-the only story she's ever posted on is mine, and she did so rather reluctantly) are afraid of what other people will think of them. Others simply don't have time, or are testing out your story to see if they like it first. Patience, youngling! The replying time, she comes!

 

Well, I've only just start writing fanfiction and I haven't got alot of readers, but I'm really grateful to the ones who do read it, and post encouraging things.

I co-write with someone else, and I think that helps me because there is always someone there who will read my story and tell me, truthfully, whether it's ok.

I think it does get a bit discouraging when no-body stops and reads your story. I know how pleased I was when I got my first reader who posted.

I know I read alot of stories and don't post, I think it's just coz' I don't have time, or maybe I'm just too lazy!

 

Well, I only have 3 totally regular readers, but loads of people have commented.

 

I've got a lot of readers, but I haven't always had them. You have to be patient.


I've been waiting for more than four readers for more than six months...

 

If I'll stick to my will to post my stories *only* in my native language, then I doubt I will *ever* get any reader at all ! >;-)

Anyway, I've learned that I'm not ready to write stories in such a way that they are good enough for me, so I'll keep on learning and stick to what I've said above ...

 

Aww Sara, I'm still here, I still read!

But seriously some fics bring people out into the open for some reason, and some don't. I haven't been able to find a pattern in it either. I personnaly think its alot of luck. Amount of readers in no way relfects on the quality of the story or your writing.

In The Sacred Silence which is huge I've ended up with alot of readers, but then you take Realities Curse or Reach Out A Hand and I've got five max on one, and like two or three on the other. It just happens that way. Besides, I've had stories where I got only a few replies, then have like ten people come out when its finished and say that they liked it, and had been reading the whole time! And I never knew it. So theres always lurkers.

I've got a couple readers that read pretty much all my stuff, and I really apreciate any comments I get, but I have to agree, its nice when lurkers come out.

 

Here are some tips on how to try and snare new readers:

1) Take the time and write a good intro to your story. In your opening post, do the disclaimer thing, mark down who the main characters will be, and a brief synopsis (teaser) of the story. And at the end of it- say you encourage comments.

2) Put a link to your story in your signature. People get bored and do click on them that way. It's a great way to advertise your fanfic.

3) Read other peoples fics and post replies. The more you are seen all over the boards, the more people might recognize your name and become interested in your story.

DO NOT post in stories simply to advertise your own, however.

4) When you do get people who respond, take the time to acknowledge them by name and encourage chatting w/ your readers. They'll see you're friendly and will want to hang around a while and maybe invite a friend or two

5) Take the time to fill out the info about your story and have it added to the new Story indexes.

6) Take advantage of the title bar in your story- write the Story Title, give genre codes (ex: EU/ AU/ PT/ JA, etc) and list a couple of the main characters names. Then when you update, mark the date to alert your readers that you have posted again.

7) Get a Beta. You will always have at least 1 loyal reader, who will usually go the extra mile to try and find you new readers.

And finally...

8) Be patient... They will come.

Hope that all helps

 

Well, as I said, I didn't have any regular readers for nearly a year and a half. Like I said, patience.

PadmeLeiaJaina has some good advice. Especially the part about getting a beta reader. Get one, or two is even better. They make it a lot easier to get readers.

 

My main problem is that all the people who joined about the same time as me have WAY more readers than me. It's like I got left in the dust by everyone. Everyone has their little "groups" that go around and read each other's fics. And THAT really bugs me, because other fics like mine can easily get ignored. For instance, all these "NAME YOUR FAVORITE AUTHOR!!!" stuff bugs me, because I'm fairly certain I will not get on one of those with one reader.


And just for the record, as far as I know I'm back down to one reader....


It really bugs me, now that I've worked on my fic for more than three years. It's obviously getting ignored. I put alot of myself into that, and to have it get "upped over" by another "Obidala-Evil Anakin AU", that kinda says to me "Sorry, yourself isn;t good enough.

And to top it all off, no one will beta read it for me for the archives. No one will even get back to me and tell me if I suck at spelling and grammer and plot. Why offer to beta-read if you aren;t going to do that...

Just for anyone that's interested (don't worry, i know you're not out there...), it's called Resurgence of Chaos. It's an all OC story, set before ANH. You'll be the second person to have read it this far if you hurry...

And I've tried all the tips before, and NOTHING has worked.... ALL of them.