2013 Year-End Numbers and Open Thread

[ladysisyphus]

We did this last year to see how the year shaped out in terms of readership, especially in terms of readership -- we here on the back end of things have access to statistics like these, but they're not immediately visible to anyone else. So here's to visibility!

Comments

[anonymous]

Something I want to get off my chest: I have a tumblr where I stick all of my comments on SS*BB stories because I'm too embarrassed to post them here. Sorry guys! I read almost everything you put out, but even anonymous comments are too much for a shy fujoshi like me.

(It's okay, they're either snarky negative reviews, "well, this was okay but not my thing", or "WOW DANG SUPER HOT 10/10 WOULD FAP AGAIN SEQUEL PLZ", you didn't want to read them anyway, I promise)

[ladysisyphus]

And that's fine! I know plenty of people out there have things like that -- some public, some private -- where they keep track of what they've read, and where all the reviews and comments are very reviewer-specific. There's a lot to be said for keeping reading records that detailed and personal, and I'm frankly jealous of such organizational impulses.

However, I know this to be true: Several authors who used to write for SSBB no longer do so because they felt their works were going unappreciated. It's a lot of work getting a story press-ready, and it's disheartening to hear nothing in return. All I'd know for sure based on comments is that twelve people read my own December story; without having the LJ stats at my disposal, I have no wait of knowing that it's gotten nearly 3000 hits. That's a huge difference in terms of return on investment, and that's why I try to gather these year-end stats: maybe knowing how many readers there really are will make a difference when authors are deciding whether or not to return for future issues

[anonymous]

da

As a writer seeing these stats is quite heartening. But at the same time with little or no word from readers about whether or not they enjoyed the stories, I definitely start thinking that what I'm putting in isn't what most readers want to see in SSBB. And then it becomes a case of prioritizing other stories where the effort of polishing up and beta'ing feels like time better spent. If you don't see demand, does it make sense to keep supplying?

[ladysisyphus]

Exactly. There's something to be said for persevering as an author, but there's also something to be said for knowing where you're not wanted -- and if you can't tell if your work is being appreciated, it's much easier to assume that it's not. Without associated feedback, there's no way to tell the difference between a hit from a reader who cherished every word and a hit from a reader who stopped after the first sentence. Believe me, I know how totally frustrating that is.

I stand by this anonymous commenter's sentiment: “I don’t think it’s entitlement to want to know that someone is reading and enjoying your fic. Yes, no one “owes” it to the author. No seed is “owed” earth and water and sunshine, either, but getting those things can mean the difference between flourishing and withering. That’s just the way it works.”

[yomimashou]

Thanks for posting this! I'm happy to see s2b2 still getting so much readership, even in these sad days of Livejournal. I don't always have as much time to read the stories as I would like, but when I do, I'll try to comment more from now on!

[ladysisyphus]

You're very welcome, and thank you!

[cerine]

The one thing I wish for is something you lovely editors can't do (unless there's some magical code I know nothing of). I just wish LJ would come up with some kind of "like" or "♥" feature. Sometimes I really don't know what to say in response to a story. Bumping it with a shiny heart at least lets me be able to give the author the equivalent of speechless flailing. I'm glad the website does feature that, however, so I'll have to slowly peruse old favourites and leave little green hearts to show the authors and artists some love.

[ladysisyphus]

Yeah, which sucks. The amount of code LJ allows to run is pretty slim. relvetica is going to be experimenting with trying to get the green-heart function on our site mirrored on stories over here -- the goal being to have clicks on either site contribute to the same total -- but there's no guarantee we'll be able to make that work.

Putting a 'like' feature on individual posts, so far as I know, is something LJ allows for approximately two of its communities and has been promising it'll expand for years. We're not holding our breath or anyone else's.

[mme_h_confessor]

A "♥" is an excellent comment!

This brings up a good point that's being discussed in various forms, in other comments here.

We know there's more reader response with a "like" or a + button, simply because people think that if they write a comment, a one word, one symbol, or one short sentence response isn't enough. Yet they don't know what else to say or don't have the time to compose a long review. I think the impulse there comes out of respect for the work, the feeling that if you say anything at all, it should be more - more specific, more thoughtful, more something.

But you know how good it feels to come back to something you've posted and just to see that you've received a ♥ or a "Woo, Hot!" or a "Thank you!" The more of them, the better.

I say this as someone who needs to remind herself of it, too.

[relvetica]

I've done a good amount of looking into this, as ladysisyphus said, and unfortunately it comes down to the fact that hearts system was written in jQuery, and LJ simply won't allow us to put javascript into posts. If people want to reply to stories with a literal "♥" as the text of their reply, that would be kind of cool, but it isn't something we can hook up directly to the existing heart count on the mirror.

[anonymous]

After having read the comments threads here, I really have to wonder (simple curiosity, nothing mean): if I went back and started posting comments on all the stories I loved in the back issues/archives... do you think the authors would even see them? SSBB has been around for a long time... I haven't been reading since it began, but I have read almost all the stories. Do all the authors get to see comment notifications? How does that work?

[ladysisyphus]

That's absolutely a fair thing to wonder! I know that several authors do what I do, which is to track comments on specific posts. Therefore, if anyone comments on one of my old stories, I get an email. (If you click the little pushpin at the top of this post, you can see some of the available options.) You need an LJ account to do that, but I'd say most authors have one, especially the ones who contributed to the earlier issues

[anonymous]

Awesome, thank you for answering the question.

I have another question (that is the real reason for the little anon icon): what if you liked parts of the story, or thought that it was okay but just not to your taste... or any other kind of 'neutral' feedback... do you think people would be discouraged if you said something like "the writing was well done, even though I don't care for horror" etc. I think there's a fine line where feedback turns into criticism. And even polite, constructive criticism can be discouraging... because these stories have been through beta and are now posted for the world to consume, right? It is in the final stage. In the past, my MO is to just not comment on those stories.

So I'm just wondering what your (personal or editorial) take is on leaving feedback that may have a more neutral tone.

[ladysisyphus]

I'm going to answer this one personally, so I'm taking off my official SSBB icon:

I have a half-baked interet-as-poetry-reading theory from many years ago that I've never baked any further, but which I think still applies: at the point you see stories in SSBB, yeah, they're already done. I think of it like baby names: while parents-to-be are considering all their options, that's the time you should weigh in with your likes and dislikes, but the second that rugrat is dubbed Mellificent Gardenia Tuttlebottom for good, you say you love it or you shut your mouth

[anonymous]

I'm someone who's been batting around the idea of contributing to SS*BB for about half a year now. One of the big, huge reasons why I have mild anxiety issues about submitting anything is because of how few comments I've received on stories I've written in the past. Granted, it's been a few years since I bothered to post anything (mostly I write for myself and a few friends), but again that's mostly because I have no idea if people actually give a damn about what I'm writing - and if nobody's reading it and enjoying it, there's no reason to make it pretty enough to post somewhere.

So even if you can't type a coherent comment beyond "THIS WAS GOOD", to me, personally, that alone is enough to let me know that yes, someone is reading and enjoying the piece of my soul that I've thrown into words and put up for the world to see. And comments, no matter how "lame" the commenter might think they are when they submit them, help light a fire under my ass to keep going. There's nothing like the rush from knowing someone enjoyed what you wrote

[ladysisyphus]

Speaking personally (and look, I even took off my 'official' SSBB icon), the reason I write things changes from thing to thing. I've been one of the SSBB diehards since before I even took over editorial duties, but at the time when I started writing for it, if I hadn't gotten any positive feedback, I would've given up pretty quick -- especially since at that time, I was writing fanfic that was getting a not-insignificant amount of buzz. That encouragement was really important to me in the shift away from fanfic to original fiction, because they are two entirely different beasts, and knowing how to do one well doesn't guarantee you'll know how to do the other at all. And I was a pretty shitty original fiction writer when I made the switch! (Oh, do I ever cringe at a lot of my old work.) But now, almost eight years later, I'm glad I persevered and learned how, and there's no way I would've done it without knowing at the time that someone out there was cheering me on -- someone who wasn't one of my friends (and therefore obligated to pat

[kiarajinzan]

omg I actually remembered my LJ password!

So I'm totally batting around ideas now...coming down off a sewing rush, so it's all a matter of figuring out how to tie ideas into the theme and also gauging time :)

[ladysisyphus]

Hooray! And remember, the theme's only there for inspiration: disregard it at will!