Subject: If you're talking about that e-mail from the 16th,
Author:
Posted on: 2014-04-20 03:11:00 UTC
yes, I got it. I just have not gotten around to replying to it yet. Expect a reply on Monday or Tuesday.
Subject: If you're talking about that e-mail from the 16th,
Author:
Posted on: 2014-04-20 03:11:00 UTC
yes, I got it. I just have not gotten around to replying to it yet. Expect a reply on Monday or Tuesday.
Hey there, PPC Board!
I am in need of a little bit of advice. I'm not happy with the results that my crossover is generating, and I want to know if I am overreacting, and if not, what I can do to fix it.
My fic is currently nine chapters long (with more on the way), but it only has eight reviews and seven favorites. Furthermore, the view count generally decreases with each succeeding chapter. I can understand that not everyone who sees a story follows through for whatever reason, but for the view count to go from 350 for Chapter 1 to 44 for Chapter 8 is disconcerting: people seem to be dropping away with each succeeding chapter.
I know that it isn't SPaG errors: between me and my beta, we've done a good job at catching them. Could the relatively small size of the Bakugan fandom account for it? Or perhaps the fact that crossovers don't tend to get as many views and reviews as single-fandom stories do? Personally, I fear that I'm somehow failing to attract readers' attention, or keep them attracted as the chapters go on.
So, in short, I'm open to advice. Am I overreacting? And if not, how can I make my fic better?
From what I've read so far, the consensus seems to be that I am overreacting. That's comforting to hear. And as for those of you that have said "write for yourself, not the reviews," don't worry. As I mentioned, there are still chapters on the way, and goodness knows that I have big plans down the line for the Vexos Chronicles. But if any of you are fans of either Pokemon or Bakugan and have the time, please give my story a read. Concrit never goes out of style.
Bakugan has always been a really small fandom to begin with. And their might be some people who haven't seen season 2, or just didn't like Volt.
PS Did you get that email I sent you?
yes, I got it. I just have not gotten around to replying to it yet. Expect a reply on Monday or Tuesday.
The first one is sheer luck. You can have the best fic in your fandom, but if by pure chance nobody looks at it it won't be successful.
The second one is the crossoverability (is that even a word?) of the two series. If the two series share nothing with each other, chance are that people who like one don't follow the other and so ignore it. Or maybe they know both series, but think their themes are too different to work together.
For example, my own fic is a crossover between Madoka Magica and Lyrical Nanoha, and is doing very well. The two series are both in the same genre (Magical Girl series with a serious plot) and, while their main themes do clash, it's the kind of clash that actually makes the plot instead of distracting from it.
And the third one... wait, I can't think of a third one...
I would think that it being a crossover doesn't help it gain hits. I tend to avoid even looking at crossovers unless the summary makes me really believe that there is a reason I would like to see those characters together. And of course, that is subjective to me. For some reason someone has decided that a Battle Star Galatica charatcer needs to appear in Haven. Honestly, I despise BSG and will probably never click on that fic no matter how much I like Haven. There is a fic that has Tony Stark land in Haven, and I might someday get bored enough to read that one, since Tony really doesn't like magic, and the Troubles tend to ignore the laws of physics. But I haven't read it yet, because I prefer not to think of Haven as being in the same setting as the Marvel movieverse.
So, yeah, crossovers in particular are hard sales. Then there are all those people who click on it, read a paragraph or two and decide this isn't for them, and the people that go back to your story, hit chapter one and then bounce up to the newly posted chapter. It is kind of neat that ffnet tracks the hits on each chapter, but I would expect chapter 1 to always drastically outstrip the rest.
The point about WIP's is very true, also. There is nothing worse than getting into a story, then the author not finishing it. Most of the time, I won't pay much attention to one that isn't finished, unless that author already has a sterling reputation when it comes to story completion.
I hear you on the wishing for more reviews and likes. Those things are addicting! Mine, I know people are still clicking on it. The number of hits keeps creeping up, but I haven't gotten a comment or kudo from the last 150 hits or so. Every time I check my dashboard, I'm like, 'Come oooon, new comment! Darn. Oh well, at least got another hit.' Considering how very tiny the Haven fandom is on AO3, I'm really not sure where this continuing trickle of hits is coming from, really, but I do like seeing them. :D
Still, you really have to write the story because it makes you happy to do so, not because of the accolades it can bring you. Seeing the hits, likes, and reviews is awesome, but if their numbers are going to bother you so much, you may need to take a few deep breaths and refocus on why you started writing this story in the first place. (Unless it was purely to get hits, then ignore that last bit and go write short shipfics of the two most popular characters)
most of us are never going to write a fic that gains a huge following and becomes well known. That doesn't mean that it's a bad story, just that it doesn't have the exposure. There isn't really any way to advertise fanfiction, so we basically just have to rely on Pit users searching for stuff they like, and coming across our story--and that still doesn't guarantee they'll read it through to the end.
Out of curiosity, let me peek at my old fic's stats . . . wow, they've made this a lot harder to read than it used to be . . .
So, out of eighteen chapters, the first one has 504 views, and the second has 124. Three of the remaining chapters have more than fifty views, while all the rest have less than fifty. I've also received a total of seven reviews and three favorites, even after the story has been sitting on the Pit since 2008. Your story has already beaten mine, by those counts.
The Pit just isn't a reliable source of exposure or concrit, basically. That doesn't mean you should stop writing; just make it the best story you can, and maybe someday it will gain a bit more acclaim.
So far, it seems that no one else has answered. Did I respond too soon, or is everyone just agreeing with Lily that my only problem is that my fic isn't complete? I highly doubt that hers is the only possible answer...
And sometimes they'll just wait for there to be more developments so they can binge-read chapters, or wait until things are finished. A lot of people dislike WIPs and will just wait for it to be completed to read/review.
It's a natural thing, don't worry. Write for yourself, not the reviews.
Thanks for your input. I do write for myself, not the reviews; I truly believe that my story's a good one. But given that there are stories out there that generate reviews from the first chapter alone, I want to be sure that nothing's amiss. (Granted, the pace of my story is such that expecting a ton of reviews to come from the first chapter would be unreasonable, but I hope that my point is nonetheless clear.)