Reviews
I know this topic has already been covered in various fashions, but I'd really appreciate it if you'd indulge me and answer a few questions.
1. Writers, what do you consider a "good" number of reviews for a story you post? Is it a definitive number, or do you compare the number of reviews to the number of visitors/hits your story gets?
Last month, for my current WIP I averaged about 500 visitors (not hits) per chapter but averaged only 10 reviews per chapter. 500 people read a chapter and only 10 left reviews. This seems really, really sad to me. I would really love to see other people's visitor/review ratio to compare. Maybe I'm just being greedy.
2. Readers, what makes you decide to leave (or not leave) a review?
Honestly, there's a greater chance of me leaving a review if I know the author (if I talk to them on twitter or on LJ). But I think that's pretty natural. Or is it? You'll have to let me know. I also tend to review mroe when I think the author genuinely needs the encouragement. But if someone's like..."If won't post the next chapter until I get ten reviews"...I definitely do NOT review. I can't help it. It makes my review feel like a bribe. :/
3. Everyone, what do you see as the roll of reviews? What value do you give them?
If there were no such thing as reviews, there would be no such thing as fanfiction, at least, not as we have it today. The reader/author communication is what makes fanfic a natural part of fandom identity. Because fandom has always been about fans coming together in one way or another. Beyond that I think reviews are necessary because without them, there is little motivation for authors to write at all. That being said, if reviews were all I cared about when writing a story, I would be writing E/B AH fic.
Your thoughts?
1. Writers, what do you consider a "good" number of reviews for a story you post? Is it a definitive number, or do you compare the number of reviews to the number of visitors/hits your story gets?
Last month, for my current WIP I averaged about 500 visitors (not hits) per chapter but averaged only 10 reviews per chapter. 500 people read a chapter and only 10 left reviews. This seems really, really sad to me. I would really love to see other people's visitor/review ratio to compare. Maybe I'm just being greedy.
2. Readers, what makes you decide to leave (or not leave) a review?
Honestly, there's a greater chance of me leaving a review if I know the author (if I talk to them on twitter or on LJ). But I think that's pretty natural. Or is it? You'll have to let me know. I also tend to review mroe when I think the author genuinely needs the encouragement. But if someone's like..."If won't post the next chapter until I get ten reviews"...I definitely do NOT review. I can't help it. It makes my review feel like a bribe. :/
3. Everyone, what do you see as the roll of reviews? What value do you give them?
If there were no such thing as reviews, there would be no such thing as fanfiction, at least, not as we have it today. The reader/author communication is what makes fanfic a natural part of fandom identity. Because fandom has always been about fans coming together in one way or another. Beyond that I think reviews are necessary because without them, there is little motivation for authors to write at all. That being said, if reviews were all I cared about when writing a story, I would be writing E/B AH fic.
Your thoughts?