Hi. So I have been writing for 24 lately - which is considered a very popular show. I have gotten 7 reviews on my chapter 1. I'm barely getting anything, no matter favorites, alerts, reviews or hits, on the rest. I'm getting down by that. I'm doing so much my best to make everything nice, and such. Yet no one seems to be interested. Do you guys experience it, too: that feeling down because of almost no hits/reviews, feeling less happy to write on your chapters, and feeling not really in the mood for updating anytime soon because no one cares any way? I do. How do you get many/more readers/hits/reviews?
I think that's now my favourite quote from this site: 'Should is a dangerous word'.
Nope. Candlejack is a more dangerous word tha
OH GOD CANDLEJACK GOT ELIPSES WHAT ARE WE GOI
Listing names of people who reviewed and saying thank you isn't an interactive fic.
But I was unaware I was going to have to argue over something as insignificant as this so anyhoo. You give your advice and I'll give mine and we'll all be happy. K?
You're right. I apologize. In the future, I'll do my best to respect your opinions as much as I respect the rest of our boardmates'. :)
Oh, very smooth.
The only time I replied to a review not using the review reply was because the reviewer was anoymous. Usually I just say "thanks to all reviewers!" I once read a really awesome fic, and the author at the end of the chapter would thank everyone that reviewed and answer any questions that had been asked. I think he did it so that nobody would ask the question again.
>>47 - I am one of the author's who does that. And yes, that is one of the reasons. It is supposed to awnser any questions people might have.
Though, in one fanfic, even though I've explained it before, why in the Bleach world for my crossover I had the English wizards call the hollows 'holes' instead. (Our real life, does not equal the real life in Bleach, so perhaps those in England, who have no contact with soul reaper, would come up with a different name.) They also commented that 'hole' was simular to 'whole', phonoetically, but that was also intended.
... Also, I remember WHY I never named reviewers by name. I've had too many change their user name over the years...
... Another tactic that writers use, which is ligit, is to use an 'omake' at the end of the chapter. For those who don't know Anime, it means a little extra entered into the end. It can be realistic, or exagerated, but the point is typically to draw a readers attention and/or break tension. Or... it can be a fun way to do up the questions people ask.
It's odd, I had a small, multi-chaptered story for Death Note, it got 21 reviews in total, I got various alerts and favorite, but I barely got any reviews for the last chapter. Very odd
>>50 - Actually, you'll typically find that you'll have more alerts and favorites, then reviews.
>>51 - I should have noted, those AREN'T the number of favorites and alerts I have, those are the number of reviews I should have, if everyone who favorited and alerted reviewed. Doesn't take into concideration the people NOT on both lists. The second number is the reviews I recieved, and the last is the percent comparison.
Yeah, it can be a bit disheartening when you don't get any feedback on a story, though it can also be hard to think of something to say in a review.
>>53 - One of my reviewers says, basically, 'Keep up the good work. Sorry I can't say more this time.' It might not say much, but because the person comments on things usually, I am glad for it. Another one of my reviewers, is a younger reviewer, so I expect them not to say much. But every so often, they come out with something, and I've noticed their reviews maturing over time. Another one, copy pasted 10/10 reviews, that said the same thing over, and over, and I called them out, because they had been doing that for every single review of theirs, not just mine. I told them, how can the writers take you seriously, if you just copy paste, copy paste. I also told them, I didn't know who they were, and what they liked or disliked, and that I and other writers enjoy that.
But... as my numbers show, a typical average for fanfics, in the number of reviews they recieve, versus favorites and alerts, is 1 to 10. Sometimes it is less, sometimes it is more. I think it depends on the fandom, and how much draw a fanfic is.
I write mostly in the Harry Potter series and I have noticed that the more popular the pairing, the more reviews you get. Summaries are also very important. If they dont give out enough information, or give out too much people are prone to skipping them. 7 reviews on a first chapter is really good actually. When I got my first review I was amazed, but after like a week I had almost thirty and I was kind of shocked. I have noticed that when people recommend your fanfiction the more hits and reviews you get.Sometimes it takes a while for you to really get a lot of reviews and sometimes it happens faster. It also depends on what fandom you write for. Some fandoms are popular, but there arent many fanfiction writers or readers and sometimes the pairing or genre of story you do may affect the amount of reviews you get.
Sometimes the reviewer doesnt have much to say. I know sometimes I dont leave a review, because I dont want to just be like :"Good job" or something like that, I like to have details in my review, because I like criticism. It
>>55 I know what you mean! Even though I'm from a moderately-sized archive -- YGO! 5D's, which is only approaching the 1,400 stories mark -- it's noticeable that certain pairings are looked upon more favourably than others. The fandom favourite - Faithshipping - has 271 stories (just by searching with the character filter), which is more than the main slash pairing and an actual canon pairing combined. If you want to get lots of reviews, you have to write Faithshipping, it seems. Sucks if you're somebody like me, who doesn't actually like it.
One of my gen!fics actually managed 5 reviews (a 'shipping one got 10, but that doesn't count), which I was very startled about. I think one of the ways to get reviews with non-pairing fics is to take situations and dig deep at them, exploring the characters and making your audience think. Particularly if they find it an interesting and novel concept, I find they can be more predisposed towards dropping a review (and not just a one-liner, but a more detailed response) acknowledging that they understand where the idea is coming from, whether or not they actually agree or hold a different opinion.
I'm a fan of Yusei/Aki, but honestly, there's too much of it. And some of it takes place in unrealistic settings. It's always more interesting when you explore the less obvioous pairings (Crow/Aki), or the ones that have more depth (Jack/Carly). Also, I like Yusei/Aki for lesser thought about reasons, not just the 'omg they r so cute together! yusei helped her an now they're meant to b'.
My most-reviewed fanfic is a pairing one, though. But it's my longest multichapter and is double the size of my other multichaps, so that gives it an edge.
I do have one fic where I explored post-show, and it got a few amounts of faves and reviews. I was surprised though, because it didn't get many hits.
>>58
Firebirdshipping (Crow/Aki) is awesome, 'nuff said. Was hunting on Pixiv for it -- even Crow's kids endorse the pairing!
I respect Yuusei/Aki, but I don't actively search it out or write straight-out Faithshipping - I'd rather keep it as it is in show, with Aki's feelings for Yuusei and Yuusei's "romance" with technology/Stardust/Bruno/Sherry.
Same here, my most reviewed fics involve pairings. "Don't Let Go" - 3 chapters, 33 reviews. "Wings of a Butterfly" - oneshot, 13 reviews. "Fade" - oneshot, 10 reviews. Ironically enough, the only one of those I'm /really/ proud of is "Fade", and my non-pairing works have generally been of a higher quality.
I know the one you mean~! I've noticed that too, though. You've marked it as Angst, and got few hits; my most recent fic, the Jack oneshot I was muttering about in the -Knowing Canon- thread, is also marked as Angst. It got fewer hits than I expected, especially when comparing it to a Crow oneshot marked as Humor which got /loads/ of hits (but only two reviews, and none of substance.)
>>57 About making the audience think: one of my reviewers PMed me yesterday, admitting that she couldn't stop thinking about the issues I'd raised in one of my stories. Personally I find something like that far more flattering than wading through pages of one-liners (like "NIIIICE!" and "Update soon!") that some authors get, and it also inspires me to try and do even better next time.
>>59 - When I see pages of one liners like that, I wonder... is the story really that good? Even for my own.
it really depends on ur fan base. I started A/Ning idk if anyone is still reading but hers the next chapter and people started reviewing more.
Well, yes...it makes me really sad when I don't get as many reviews as I'd like (and yet HUNDREDS of people read my stuff.) But...I refuse to beg for reviews.
And I don't let it get me down. I had fun writing my stories! Every single one! I'll keep going, even if no one ever reviews! And if someone does review, then they've made my whole week. Seriously.
>>60 But you can't really blame certain reviewers for not having anything to say...
>>63 - I didn't place the blame on the reviewers. I was trying to say, one-liners can be an indicator, but not always, of a deeper problem, that lies with the fanfic author's writing.
I do understand that some people just don't review- but really, how hard is it to just write a few sentences voicing how you enjoyed the writer's work? I'm not complaining, all my fics are doing fairly well, I suppose. But I just learned that my older sister who used to read fanfiction didn't review anything at all.
I mean really... people post their great work and you should read it and say what you think about it. Just doing nothing is just lazy of you. I get it if the story is bad an you don't want to come off as harsh or anything and get yelled at, but if it's a great story you really need to say that you liked it! It's your obligation as a reader. When you read a book, you can't contact an author besides fanmail unless you personally know them or something... but in fanfiction, you can review and really be heard!
//rant
Sorry, learning that my sister didn't think that people really didn't need to review ticked me off quite a bit. I had to get it out.
>>65 - Even my younger brother, who rarely reads fanfics, because of his learning disability, has reviewed fanfics. But because of his reading problem, his reviews have been sparingly, and typically anon.
I understand people who review only a few fanfics, but none? If one cares at all about the fanfics that they read, that doesn't make sense at all.
Some funny stuff here, the formula and the talk on story hostage/pandering for reviews. There's an intrinsic desire for praise about something you've made - it doesn't matter what it is. From a first grader's finger painting to the highest paid Top 40 artist, we all crave some sort of validation for what we do even if it's not warranted. There's something caveman about it. Think of any friend you've ever had that's been a musician or artist; compliments on their work is like crack.
But let's not ignore this in ourselves. Everyone here wants reviews and positive ones even if they won't admit it. It's not the attention (though it certainly is for some) but the validation of your work that feels so good.
Being bummed about a lack of reviews kind of defeats the purpose of writing a fanfic in the first place imo. If you're looking for reviews then write a lemon/OOC story with a humorous twist and random rl references. Watch the reviews come flooding in and some of your fellow writers in the fandom die a little inside.
Case in point, I've written an extremely short one shot that's 100% fluff and took me about six seconds to come up with (stupid uncontrollable imagination/brain) that's garnered more attention than works four times as long and of identical quality. While the reviews for either are nice the ones for the more time intensive/serious work simply meant more to me.
As far as responding to reviews goes, if a reader has a question or takes issue with something I generally try to PM them to provide an answer or give my reasoning. I don't like to post these as it's kind of a private dialogue.
Favs/alerts I tend to view as a wordless compliment.
Now though all this review talk has me in a mood. I think I'll go find a story in the Silent Hill section with decent English skills that isn't about James and Pyramid Head in a gay relationship and write something nice about it. If I can find one.
>>65 Well, it's not hard to review, true, but maybe some readers who aren't very knowledgeable of creative processes don't know what exactly they 'should' say, in relation to how 'good' a story is. That's for more in-depth needs, but anyway, perhaps they are too lazy if they really like a story but can't be bothered to press a few buttons to express their enjoyment. A favorite alert is enough for them.
I don't think it's an obligation to review; that's going too far to say that. For writers and readers it's a loose kind of partnership. The writer writes for the audience, the reader in turn comments on the work. But it's not like the writer can force readers to like their story, or voice their opinions. If readers enjoy reading enough, they wouldn't need to be forced to review; they'd do so.
>>67 - I haven't complained about my stories getting a lot of reviews or not. I am more upset that the good fanfics out there, other then just my own, don't get as much reviews as someone who doesn't work that hard on fanfiction.
Also, we're trying to give advice for getting more reviews, that doesn't equate bad writing, or bad manners. Yes, the kind of fanfic you talk about, is going to pander a lot of reviews, but it also falls into the catagory of popularity versus quality, which people are irritated with.
I concider the reviews public in the first place, so questions that are asked, are in truth public questions. I also don't believe that only one person, will wonder the same question, but didn't think to voice them. If it is a question about the fanfic, then there is no way it is simply private, except for select circumstances.
>>69 - I fully understand some people reviewing sporadically. The person in comment >>65 was talking about the fact their sister NEVER reviewed, not once. I find it impossible that, someone would have nothing at all to say, on anything.
...
The main thing to do, if you are tiered of bad stories getting good reviews, and bad ones not, is to review every, or nearly every story you read. If you find a problem with the fanfic, let the person know. If it breaks site rules, let them know. If it was blah, let them know. But if it was amazing, and attracting few reviews, or any recient ones, say something.
>>71 - Sometimes writing the popular pairing works, but not when the fanbase is rabbid for the most part, or those who lurk the fanfics and write the fanfics. For Bleach, that would be Toshiro/Momo, the most popular pairing, if one goes by number of fanfics. But if you go with the number of people who write OoC fluff, it actually cuts it down greatly.
As for >>67... yes, the last sentence was amusting.
Give it a good airing. Get some charcoal, repair cracks, etc. It can be difficult to dehumidify a sentence, but persevere.
>>70 Don't get excited, I wasn't attacking you or anyone else. I was just saying lack of reviews isn't always a bad thing. The traffic tracking function was the best thing they ever added to FF imo. You can tell if people are reading even if they don't say so.
>>71 That excursion didn't quite go as well as I had hoped. I had forgotten about the vast gulf of fics that are simply bad and got lost somewhere the fourth or fifth story in that made my eyes bleed.
And yet I kept reading them. It's watching a B movie, only instead of waiting for the plot twist you saw coming 30 minutes earlier it's homonyms and the eventual introduction of a quirky character that suspiciously shares the same first name as the author.
>>74 - Got it.
Lol! The traffic tracking function does do wonders. Of course, I know someone who thought because he got about ten to twenty hits to one of his fanfics, meant his fanfic was majorly popular. I kindly pulled up my stats, and showed them to him on my computer. That was back when we lived in the same area.
However, I've also had someone brag on having less then a hundred hits to their fanfic, for a fanfic about seventeen chapters long.
That's also why some people call fanfiction.net the pit at times. B movies can be fun, because you can laugh at the absurdity. My brother watches a LOT of those type, when they come on TV. He's got a good eye. To bad he's dyslexic, because he would make an awsume fanfic critiquer, so I think.
I noticed crossovers seem to get more reviews as long as there well writen. I saw one with over 1000 reviews and it had no romance at all. What really matters is how long your story sits at the top of the update page, the longer its there the more chance someone new reads it. And since there are far fewer crossovers the story can sit on the first page for weeks, even if the fandoms are popular.
>>76 - It used to be, crossovers didn't get as much, before the system came into place. I got a lot less hits on my crossovers before, then after, because no one wanted to dig through, to try and find their particular fandom or fandoms they wanted to read about. Now, it's been made easy.
>I have gotten 7 reviews on my chapter 1.
Since when was 7 reviews on one chapter a small amount?
>>78 - I don't think the person is here anymore. But you're right, seven reviews isn't a 'small amount'.
>>79 I completely agree. I have one story up on fanfiction (Chikai on there too) that I really like, it has four chapters, and only six reviews, with none at all on chapter four. I really like it, and I want to know if I'm doing well, but it's disappointing that no one will say anything. Then I go do something completely random, and get like 10 reviews on two chapters, so I dunno -shrugs-
Doesn't anyone thing that it's weird when you get a lot of hits but nobody says anything about them? Doesn't necessarily piss me off, but it gets me curious; I mean, why are they reading if they aren't going to tell me how I'm doing?
I'm just rambling though...
>>81 - Weird? Probably. I've got a story currently at 5 chapters, 600 hits, and 1 review to its title (although there has been feedback in other forms too). It does seem rather a discrepancy, but I don't really mind. At least people are reading, right?
>>80 - I've gotten tons of reviews simply because I've written so many fanfics. My Bleach chapter fanfics garner between 50 to 200+, but the one that was one of the most random and I thought I would be the only one liking garnered 500+
>>81 - I don't mind lurkers, most of them at least favorite other people's fanfics, put things on alerts. However, when you only favorite a fanfic that obviously breaks site rules, don't bother to review until someone has tons of reviews, and then spew nonsense that clearly shows you didn't read the fanfic... need I say more.
>>83 I know what you're saying about the lurkers. Everyone has them. I guarantee that everyone has at least one fan who has been clinging to them since the very beginning. This isn't a bad thing per se!
Yeah. That's the fast track to making a jackass of yourself! :D
has anyone tried asking a reader for their opinion when you didn't receive a review from them?
What do you mean, when someone favorites something and doesn't review? No, I guess I never have...
>>84 - I actually had someone who tried covering up they flamed by saying 'what was wrong with lurking'. I also made it clear that other people told me what was wrong with the fanfic in a much better way. Actually, I got a lot of good critisism about how I could improve after that.
>>85 - Do you mean what >>86 said or asking them in an author's note? I've done the second, but not the first.
>>87 Yes, asking the reader but more specifically by PM; unless they reviewed anonymously, then by author's note if you wish. Just curious. And indirectly putting forward the idea to take the initiative and just ask what the reader's thoughts are on a chapter heh. I've not actually done it myself though because I've not cared enough yet.
You could get the result you want if you do ask I think. If the reader liked your fic enough to favourite/story alert, then they might be obliging enough to tell you what they think about it.
>>88 - Except the ones who are lurkers.
I lurk the bowels of the Twilight section. I've noticed that stories there usually only get reviews if they're extremely well written, little too no OC's, and an original plot. Everything is just buried so easily there, you have to work to make your story stand out, you know? I write a non-canon ship with a main character and a background character. I get an average of maybe fifteen reviews per chapter? It doesn't seem like a lot, but it does add up.
Whatever you do, NEVER copy plot inspiration from anyone on a popular section. People don't like a copied plot unless its an extremely good one. In this ship at least, the ones with the more original plots always get more reviews. The girl I beta has nearly four hundred or so more reviews than mine, and nobody had done her plot before her.
Keep original. Thats all I can say. :)