A Fanfic Writer's Inevitable Whine About Reviews Post...
So, I finally made my "official" debut in the Warcraft fandom. And...
I'm trying to tell myself that it's no big deal that it's been on FF.net for a day and still hasn't gotten a single review. I'm trying to tell myself that I'm just being an attention whore - to be patient and the reviews will come (perhaps over the weekend when people have time to browse and read?) I'm trying to tell myself not to worry about it, but still...
I can't help but to be disheartened over the whole thing. I'm already starting to pick through the fic, wondering what I did wrong. Is the summary too corny? (I really, really, REALLY suck at summaries but I'll never say so in my actual summaries because that's lazy and lame, imo.) Was the prologue - an excert from a later chapter and a last-minute decision to include - too much for readers? Too depressing and emo? Is the rest of the story too boring? *sigh* I wish I knew. But that's the Catch 22 - how can I know what I did wrong if no one gives me feedback? Husband, one of my sister in laws and a guildie all thought it was good (three beta-readers, the most I've ever had for a story), but I suppose the rest of the fandom doesn't think so. Ah well.
Perhaps I'm too used to being in larger fandoms - Dragonball Z and then Inuyasha, where pretty much every fic gets at least one review. The Warcraft fandom is somewhat unique in that it's based on a perpetually on-going game: why get your fix writing fic/drawing fanart when you can just...play the game? So even though the fanbase is very, very large, the fandom itself is actually a bit small - smaller than what I'm used to, anyway. Therefore, in most cases, the fanfic/fanart must be REALLY GOOD in order to grab attention away from the game. And damn, are there ever some good reads out there for the fandom! *wistful sigh*
It's too early to give up. I'll slap the fic onto the somewhat-active fanfic livejournal community, see what kind of bites I get there. Maybe put it on mediaminer or whatever little warcraft-specific writing forums there are. (I'm reluctant to post it everywhere, though - don't want to look desperate. lol!) I don't think I have the guts to post it on the official roleplaying forum, as it seems harder to snag reviews for a story there than anywhere else. We'll see, I suppose. And I plan to pump out a few more chapters, give the story more depth and exposure that way. *nod*
In more exciting news, it seems as though the Inuyasha anime is continuing after a too-long hiatus! Perhaps it's time to remind myself why I fell in love with the manga/anime in the first place, finish the WIP fics I have there, write something new for the fandom. (How can I ever forget the awesome kick-assery and hawtness that is Inutaisho?) Again, we'll see what happens :)
ETA: So, I did receive a review today! However, it was NOT for my Warcraft fic. Instead, it was for the oldest fic I've ever published to the site - a DBZ fanfic I wrote 10 years ago. It is the first review that fic has seen in years.
*headdesk*
I'm trying to tell myself that it's no big deal that it's been on FF.net for a day and still hasn't gotten a single review. I'm trying to tell myself that I'm just being an attention whore - to be patient and the reviews will come (perhaps over the weekend when people have time to browse and read?) I'm trying to tell myself not to worry about it, but still...
I can't help but to be disheartened over the whole thing. I'm already starting to pick through the fic, wondering what I did wrong. Is the summary too corny? (I really, really, REALLY suck at summaries but I'll never say so in my actual summaries because that's lazy and lame, imo.) Was the prologue - an excert from a later chapter and a last-minute decision to include - too much for readers? Too depressing and emo? Is the rest of the story too boring? *sigh* I wish I knew. But that's the Catch 22 - how can I know what I did wrong if no one gives me feedback? Husband, one of my sister in laws and a guildie all thought it was good (three beta-readers, the most I've ever had for a story), but I suppose the rest of the fandom doesn't think so. Ah well.
Perhaps I'm too used to being in larger fandoms - Dragonball Z and then Inuyasha, where pretty much every fic gets at least one review. The Warcraft fandom is somewhat unique in that it's based on a perpetually on-going game: why get your fix writing fic/drawing fanart when you can just...play the game? So even though the fanbase is very, very large, the fandom itself is actually a bit small - smaller than what I'm used to, anyway. Therefore, in most cases, the fanfic/fanart must be REALLY GOOD in order to grab attention away from the game. And damn, are there ever some good reads out there for the fandom! *wistful sigh*
It's too early to give up. I'll slap the fic onto the somewhat-active fanfic livejournal community, see what kind of bites I get there. Maybe put it on mediaminer or whatever little warcraft-specific writing forums there are. (I'm reluctant to post it everywhere, though - don't want to look desperate. lol!) I don't think I have the guts to post it on the official roleplaying forum, as it seems harder to snag reviews for a story there than anywhere else. We'll see, I suppose. And I plan to pump out a few more chapters, give the story more depth and exposure that way. *nod*
In more exciting news, it seems as though the Inuyasha anime is continuing after a too-long hiatus! Perhaps it's time to remind myself why I fell in love with the manga/anime in the first place, finish the WIP fics I have there, write something new for the fandom. (How can I ever forget the awesome kick-assery and hawtness that is Inutaisho?) Again, we'll see what happens :)
ETA: So, I did receive a review today! However, it was NOT for my Warcraft fic. Instead, it was for the oldest fic I've ever published to the site - a DBZ fanfic I wrote 10 years ago. It is the first review that fic has seen in years.
*headdesk*