AO3 Stats Meme (2015)
Oh, look, time for the annual self-indulgent AO3 stats meme...
Last year's results
By hits (excluding 3 fics that clearly have either suffered from bugs or bots skewing things, because there is no way they could have earned their current hit count*):
1. Truth & Compromise (Discworld, 4404 words, William de Worde/Sacharissa Cripslock, NYR 2011) - 1302 hits
2. Ten Times The Doctor (Almost) Got Hitched (DW, 5358 words, Multi-era humour.) - 1108 hits
3. This Single World Is Double Till I Die (OUaT, 4138 words, Emma Swan/Regina Mills.) - 1098 hits
4. Observation (Miss Marple/Harry Potter, 357 words, Jane Marple & Luna Lovegood.) - 1030 hits
5. So We Meet Again (Miss Marple/Dracula, 758 words, Jane Marple, Count Dracula, John Seward, Van Helsing.) - 995 hits
6. Not Bad For a First Attempt (Georgette Heyer, 200 words, Horatia Winwood/Marcus Drelincourt.) - 975 hits
7. The Man Who Cried Lion (DW, 327 words, Six & Evelyn, Fandom Stocking 2013.) I'm dubious about this one, too. I think it's another borked hit count. - 958 hits
8. Century's End (Poldark, 2692 words, Ross Poldark/Demelza Carne.) - 891 hits
9. something in the heart (Hist RPF/Shadow of the Tower, 730 words, Henry VII/Elizabeth of York.) - 864 hits.
10. Five Times the Doctor Got in the Way of Captain Janeway (and One Time They Got Along Just Fine) (ST:V/DW, 5260 words, Kathryn Janeway, various Doctors, multi-era humour.) - 840 hits.
I'm sure 7 is wrong, so the real no. 10:
11. Take the Second Path (OUaT, 2828 words, Emma Swan/Regina Mills.) - 743 hits.
* Police Boxes Don't Just Vanish, Do They? (Public Eye/Doctor Who) has over 7000 hits, Time No Longer (a Tom's Midnight Garden drabble) 3000+ and there was a darkness, call it solitude (Midnight Is A Place) 1000+. (I've seen other people having the same issue doing this, so it's maybe some bot-related thing? Very odd.)
By kudos, which I always think is probably the most reliable method for judging popularity on AO3:
1. So We Meet at Last - 106 kudos
2. Take the Second Path - 60 kudos
3. Observation - 58 kudos
4. Five Times the Doctor... - 52 kudos
5. Century's End - 51 kudos
6. This Single World... - 49 kudos
7. The Time Traveller’s Guide: Important Additional Information (Time Traveller's Guide, 1722 words, humour, Yuletide 2013.) - 46 kudos
8. Of Elements and Existence (Sapphire & Steel/Discworld, Various, Yuletide 2012.) - 44 kudos
9. Extract From the Memoirs of a Credit Snake (I,Claudius, 693 words, Snake, Humour, Yuletide 2014.) - 41 kudos
10. Truth & Compromise - 37 kudos
Basically, Poldark being on TV did wonders for a random and obscure little fic I wrote ages ago, and Emma Swan/Regina Mills is a Big Ship, comparatively anyway. Otherwise, Miss Marple still rules.
By comments (excluding multi-chapter works):
1. So We Meet At Last - 34 comments
2. Of Elements and Existence (Yuletide 2012) - 26 comments
3. Persistence in Porcelain (Jonathan Creek, 4090 words, Jonathan Creek & Maddy Magellan, Yuletide 2013.) - 24 comments
4. Hit and Run (B7, 4533 words, Roj Blake, Kerr Avon, Jenna Stannis, Yuletide 2010.) - 22 comments.
5. Seeking Dragons (Tough Guide, 2059 words, humour, Yuletide 2010.) - 22 comments.
6. Compendium (B7, 4846 words, Avon/Servalan, Yuletide 2011.) - 22 comments.
7. The Quality of Mercy (Is Most Definitely Strained) (B7, 509 words, Avon/Servalan, Yuletide 2014.) - 20 comments.
8. New Tricks for Old Dogs (or Five Alternate Universes Where Sandra Pullman Was Always Awesome) (New Tricks, 2746 words, team fic, Yuletide 2012.) - 19 comments.
9. The Time Traveller’s Guide: Important Additional Information (Yuletide 2013) - 19 comments.
= 10. Extract From the Memoirs of a Credit Snake (Yuletide 2014) - 18 comments.
= 10. Vigil (Measure for Measure, 1246 words, Isabella/Duke Vincentio, Yuletide 2012.) - 18 comments.
And, ha, random new(ish) fandoms and pairings have altered the top ten counts in hits and kudos, but when it comes to people actually talking to you on AO3, Yuletide still rules. And I do like people talking to me, I have to say. It's all a bit lonely and slightly pointless otherwise (though it'll be fine as long as LJ survives ♥).
Most unpopular, really, are mainly a few drabbles with low hits and no kudos or comments. (Most unpopular this time, avoiding things with kudos or new things, or vids: Bachelor Auction because writing a Percy & Frank drabble for Public Eye is not a thing a writer does for attention. But even that has 15 hits, which is more than it deserves.)
Anyway, there you go - navel-gazing over for another year. It is amusing, though. Yuletide fics usually have a fair bit of work that went into them, and I'm still proud of some of them, but this year my lists have hit some random things like new Poldark and The White Queen suddenly boosting attention to previously super-obscure fics, and the weird automatic hits you get if you write a popular pairing (Emma/Regina). Also writing things because you made a wrangling error & preferred writing a double drabble to fixing it seems to pay off (Not Bad For A First Attempt). Other than that, humour and Miss Marple being awesome in other people's fandoms is clearly the key. (Well, not really. If you want hit counts in tens of thousands with hundreds of kudos, obviously I am not the person to talk to!)
Crossposted from Dreamwidth -- Comments there:
Last year's results
By hits (excluding 3 fics that clearly have either suffered from bugs or bots skewing things, because there is no way they could have earned their current hit count*):
1. Truth & Compromise (Discworld, 4404 words, William de Worde/Sacharissa Cripslock, NYR 2011) - 1302 hits
2. Ten Times The Doctor (Almost) Got Hitched (DW, 5358 words, Multi-era humour.) - 1108 hits
3. This Single World Is Double Till I Die (OUaT, 4138 words, Emma Swan/Regina Mills.) - 1098 hits
4. Observation (Miss Marple/Harry Potter, 357 words, Jane Marple & Luna Lovegood.) - 1030 hits
5. So We Meet Again (Miss Marple/Dracula, 758 words, Jane Marple, Count Dracula, John Seward, Van Helsing.) - 995 hits
6. Not Bad For a First Attempt (Georgette Heyer, 200 words, Horatia Winwood/Marcus Drelincourt.) - 975 hits
7. The Man Who Cried Lion (DW, 327 words, Six & Evelyn, Fandom Stocking 2013.) I'm dubious about this one, too. I think it's another borked hit count. - 958 hits
8. Century's End (Poldark, 2692 words, Ross Poldark/Demelza Carne.) - 891 hits
9. something in the heart (Hist RPF/Shadow of the Tower, 730 words, Henry VII/Elizabeth of York.) - 864 hits.
10. Five Times the Doctor Got in the Way of Captain Janeway (and One Time They Got Along Just Fine) (ST:V/DW, 5260 words, Kathryn Janeway, various Doctors, multi-era humour.) - 840 hits.
I'm sure 7 is wrong, so the real no. 10:
11. Take the Second Path (OUaT, 2828 words, Emma Swan/Regina Mills.) - 743 hits.
* Police Boxes Don't Just Vanish, Do They? (Public Eye/Doctor Who) has over 7000 hits, Time No Longer (a Tom's Midnight Garden drabble) 3000+ and there was a darkness, call it solitude (Midnight Is A Place) 1000+. (I've seen other people having the same issue doing this, so it's maybe some bot-related thing? Very odd.)
By kudos, which I always think is probably the most reliable method for judging popularity on AO3:
1. So We Meet at Last - 106 kudos
2. Take the Second Path - 60 kudos
3. Observation - 58 kudos
4. Five Times the Doctor... - 52 kudos
5. Century's End - 51 kudos
6. This Single World... - 49 kudos
7. The Time Traveller’s Guide: Important Additional Information (Time Traveller's Guide, 1722 words, humour, Yuletide 2013.) - 46 kudos
8. Of Elements and Existence (Sapphire & Steel/Discworld, Various, Yuletide 2012.) - 44 kudos
9. Extract From the Memoirs of a Credit Snake (I,Claudius, 693 words, Snake, Humour, Yuletide 2014.) - 41 kudos
10. Truth & Compromise - 37 kudos
Basically, Poldark being on TV did wonders for a random and obscure little fic I wrote ages ago, and Emma Swan/Regina Mills is a Big Ship, comparatively anyway. Otherwise, Miss Marple still rules.
By comments (excluding multi-chapter works):
1. So We Meet At Last - 34 comments
2. Of Elements and Existence (Yuletide 2012) - 26 comments
3. Persistence in Porcelain (Jonathan Creek, 4090 words, Jonathan Creek & Maddy Magellan, Yuletide 2013.) - 24 comments
4. Hit and Run (B7, 4533 words, Roj Blake, Kerr Avon, Jenna Stannis, Yuletide 2010.) - 22 comments.
5. Seeking Dragons (Tough Guide, 2059 words, humour, Yuletide 2010.) - 22 comments.
6. Compendium (B7, 4846 words, Avon/Servalan, Yuletide 2011.) - 22 comments.
7. The Quality of Mercy (Is Most Definitely Strained) (B7, 509 words, Avon/Servalan, Yuletide 2014.) - 20 comments.
8. New Tricks for Old Dogs (or Five Alternate Universes Where Sandra Pullman Was Always Awesome) (New Tricks, 2746 words, team fic, Yuletide 2012.) - 19 comments.
9. The Time Traveller’s Guide: Important Additional Information (Yuletide 2013) - 19 comments.
= 10. Extract From the Memoirs of a Credit Snake (Yuletide 2014) - 18 comments.
= 10. Vigil (Measure for Measure, 1246 words, Isabella/Duke Vincentio, Yuletide 2012.) - 18 comments.
And, ha, random new(ish) fandoms and pairings have altered the top ten counts in hits and kudos, but when it comes to people actually talking to you on AO3, Yuletide still rules. And I do like people talking to me, I have to say. It's all a bit lonely and slightly pointless otherwise (though it'll be fine as long as LJ survives ♥).
Most unpopular, really, are mainly a few drabbles with low hits and no kudos or comments. (Most unpopular this time, avoiding things with kudos or new things, or vids: Bachelor Auction because writing a Percy & Frank drabble for Public Eye is not a thing a writer does for attention. But even that has 15 hits, which is more than it deserves.)
Anyway, there you go - navel-gazing over for another year. It is amusing, though. Yuletide fics usually have a fair bit of work that went into them, and I'm still proud of some of them, but this year my lists have hit some random things like new Poldark and The White Queen suddenly boosting attention to previously super-obscure fics, and the weird automatic hits you get if you write a popular pairing (Emma/Regina). Also writing things because you made a wrangling error & preferred writing a double drabble to fixing it seems to pay off (Not Bad For A First Attempt). Other than that, humour and Miss Marple being awesome in other people's fandoms is clearly the key. (Well, not really. If you want hit counts in tens of thousands with hundreds of kudos, obviously I am not the person to talk to!)
Crossposted from Dreamwidth -- Comments there: