# No one reads my stories.



## Ryou (Apr 27, 2009)

I've taken the time to write quite a few stories, but I've noticed that no one really reads them. I mean no one. As in maybe... less then ten people per story? I'd hate to complain without premise, but I think it's fair to say that everyone gets on FA just for one thing: art. Needless to say that I myself have only read a few pieces. Okay, I'm getting ahead of myself.
What does it take to get people to read stories? I've seen other submissions by authors who have successfully accounted for over 100 users per story. I don't want to submit anything else if no one will be willing to read them. Honestly, who would? 

Also, I'm thinking of making an actual story. Not short stories, but something with a storyline. Of course, I want some people to actually read my stories, and not just let them die. Which is why, first and foremost, I need people to read my previous submissions and give me a bit of feedback. Anyone willing?

As a note, if anything I say does not make sense to someone, I do apologize. I tend to forget what I'm saying when I post more than three words not pertaining to my stories. 

Thank you for your time.


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## Shouden (Apr 27, 2009)

okay just a few tips first:

1. when posting a thread on here, make sure your font is big enough to read. If it's small like you have it, no one is going to read it 'cause no one CAN read it.

2. You're coming off like your just bitching about people not reading your stories. You say you have less than 10 readers per story? that's a place to start.

3. You can't expect to catch a fish on every cast. In other words, you can't expect everyone to love everyone on of your stories and you can't expect to throw a few stories out there and get instant recognition. I bet those authors with 100 people per story have a lot of submissions and they've been on FA for a while.

4. Try entering stories into contests. There's the Anthrofiction.net Quarterly Short Story Contests every season. I have found that's a GREAT way to get people looking at your stories.

5. These forums are a good way to get noticed. You can't come in here and whine on your first post though. That's going to make people NOT look at your FA account. Make sure you stop by the New User thread thingy and be sure to post more than just one comment. The more comments you post, the more users will get curious and read your stuff.

6. Post a request or two for a critique. That's always a good way to get people interested in your stuff.

7. try to make some friends around here. Friends are usually willing to read through your stuff.

8. Eventually, you can try taking story requests. That really gets people looking at your stories, because they'll want to see your style before requesting. (at least most of them)

Anyways, just a few tips.


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## Ryou (Apr 28, 2009)

Shouden said:


> okay just a few tips first:
> 
> 1. when posting a thread on here, make sure your font is big enough to read. If it's small like you have it, no one is going to read it 'cause no one CAN read it.
> 
> ...


Thanks for your tips. I'll try to keep each one in mind next time. I should start off by editing my post, then.
I wouldn't know if my work is good enough for contests, though. Guess I'll need to work on getting critics first, huh? :-D


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## Shouden (Apr 28, 2009)

yup.


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## M. LeRenard (Apr 28, 2009)

I think this subject has been discussed already somewhere.  Don't remember where.  I recall it coming down to approximately this:
Writers on this site don't write for popularity, or at least they shouldn't, because they're not going to get it.  Plain and simple.
If you want more views, you have to sell out and write porn or fanfiction, because that's what most people end up reading.
If you don't want to do that, though, just be content that you have a number of readers, and continue to write anyway.  If you want more exposure, though, I'm afraid you'll have to go out there and get it yourself, because no one's going to come to you.

So there you have it.  I'll go ahead and take a look at some of your stuff, see if there's anything you could improve, if you'd like.  In the meantime, get your name out there somehow, like Shouden suggested.

Edit: Where's your page?  The little paw-link under your user name isn't working.
Ha ha!  Maybe that's part of your problem.


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## Ryou (Apr 28, 2009)

M. Le Renard said:


> I think this subject has been discussed already somewhere.  Don't remember where.  I recall it coming down to approximately this:
> Writers on this site don't write for popularity, or at least they shouldn't, because they're not going to get it.  Plain and simple.
> If you want more views, you have to sell out and write porn or fanfiction, because that's what most people end up reading.
> If you don't want to do that, though, just be content that you have a number of readers, and continue to write anyway.  If you want more exposure, though, I'm afraid you'll have to go out there and get it yourself, because no one's going to come to you.
> ...


Ah... That's the thing. One of my short stories is a porn. xD;; And the one I'm about done typing up is also porn. ><;;
I didn't plan on stopping my writing just because people won't read. I just wanted more readers, really.

http://www.furaffinity.net/user/ryoumisaki
I guess I forgot that the username only applies to no spaces, in which case I need to remove the space from the paw.

Thank you. ^_^


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## Shouden (Apr 28, 2009)

yeah. I have noticed that all my stories with red borders have get a lot more hits 'cause people associate that with porn. It's rather funny really.

Anyways, I'm writing a bit of a porn story at the moment, time to get back to it.


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## Ryou (Apr 28, 2009)

panzergulo said:


> Well, I think Mister Le R. said pretty much what must be said in a thread like this, aka, sucks to be a writer, but I have some little bits that might help you to get more exposure.
> 
> Write and submit often. If you upload stories once in a week or so, the probability that someone browses randomly and notices they like your stuff gets higher.
> 
> ...


As your signature says, all feedback is good. Thanks for your time and I'll look into this TP thing.
Now... if I only had enough time to type all my stories. ><


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## Ryou (Apr 28, 2009)

Shouden said:


> yeah. I have noticed that all my stories with red borders have get a lot more hits 'cause people associate that with porn. It's rather funny really.
> 
> Anyways, I'm writing a bit of a porn story at the moment, time to get back to it.


If I ever find enough online time to finish typing my stories, I'll give your page a look. Of course, red first. xD


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## Shouden (Apr 28, 2009)

lol


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## Xipoid (Apr 28, 2009)

We all have that blessin- er, I mean problem.


It really depends what you are looking for. If exposure is your supreme goal, you'll need to start selling yourself. If you just want to improve, the only thing to do is take it with a smile and maybe poke your nose around here. A few is just the start of many.


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## TakeWalker (Apr 28, 2009)

Join the Thursday prompts.

Post in the Looking for writers? thread.

Market to your demographic.

Give critique to other writers.

Be patient.

[/usual responses]


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## WolfoxOkamichan (Apr 28, 2009)

Furries don't read! >: O


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## Bluflare (Apr 28, 2009)

I don't give up hope that easily


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## Xadera (May 1, 2009)

This thread pretty much covers the same topic, though from a more emo starting point:

http://forums.furaffinity.net/showthread.php?t=37975

Also, since then I have come to find that having an artist becoming interested in your stories may also boost your views X3

Otherwise, the above posts pretty much cover everything I can think of. Every submission means a chance someone will come across you, every time someone comes across you means a chance they'll like you, if they like you they'll watch you, if they watch you that's almost another view for every one of your submissions. Carry on for a couple years and you might be getting 100+ views per submission. Definately not in a month XD


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## KatmanDu (May 1, 2009)

Just throw a big "NC-17" icon on all your stories.  Case in point: "Working Title:Full Moon - Chapter 4, Scene 1" is my submission with the second most views at 246. "Working Title: Full Moon - Interlude 2" which has some gore and sex in it (although the gore and sex isn't the focus of the piece) has a big NC-17 icon and has 464 views. The vast majority of my stuff has 10 or fewer views. Yay for red-band! 

Somewhat depressingly, even though I've posted scenes 1 - 4 for Chapter 4, scene 1 has the most views by a huge margin; with scenes 2-4 falling off dramatically. Apparently I didn't hook enough readers with scene 1.


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## AshleyAshes (May 4, 2009)

I decided to post some writing today on FA.  I had previously made an account two years ago but I didn't like the account name, it was the account I made when I first got into furry cause I needed an account to get to the porn.

Anyway, I've tinkered in furry writing and have tried to make something decent, so I went onto FA and made a new account and posted my work.  Brand new account?  No watches?  No friends on FA?  Well, my writing was going to get ignored.  I needed a hook that would get people to actually take a peek.  I'd previously made an angry rant on WTF_FA about bad stories posted and decided to try that idea out.  I'd either get hate mail or probably nothing would happen.

So I posted the first chapter with this icon: http://i254.photobucket.com/albums/hh100/AshleyAshes2/warning-1.png

Yes, that was displayed on the front page of FA attracting people to click.  Over 100 page views in 12hrs, plus favorites, comments, shouts and 9 watches.  ...And no one was upset about the icon.


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## Kindar (May 4, 2009)

WolfoxOkamichan said:


> Furries don't read! >: O



oh, they do.

once yu establish yourself you start geting comments


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## MattyK (May 4, 2009)

Comedy, Jokes, and lots of Ironic and Cynical stuff are a good way to get Readers.
Check out some of my stuff, I usually leave one or two Jokes in my daily Journal Entries.


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## Xadera (May 4, 2009)

AshleyAshes said:


> Anyway, I've tinkered in furry writing and have tried to make something decent, so I went onto FA and made a new account and posted my work. Brand new account? No watches? No friends on FA? Well, my writing was going to get ignored. I needed a hook that would get people to actually take a peek. I'd previously made an angry rant on WTF_FA about bad stories posted and decided to try that idea out. I'd either get hate mail or probably nothing would happen.
> 
> So I posted the first chapter with this icon: http://i254.photobucket.com/albums/hh100/AshleyAshes2/warning-1.png
> 
> Yes, that was displayed on the front page of FA attracting people to click. Over 100 page views in 12hrs, plus favorites, comments, shouts and 9 watches. ...And no one was upset about the icon.


 
Wow. That was surprisingly effective. Kudos for the great idea!

With so much "furries won't read anything that isn't porn", I'm tempted to write a full non-porn story...


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## pheonix (May 4, 2009)

Ryou said:


> I've taken the time to write quite a few stories, but I've noticed that no one really reads them. I mean no one. As in maybe... less then ten people per story? I'd hate to complain without premise, but I think it's fair to say that everyone gets on FA just for one thing: art. Needless to say that I myself have only read a few pieces. Okay, I'm getting ahead of myself.
> What does it take to get people to read stories? I've seen other submissions by authors who have successfully accounted for over 100 users per story. I don't want to submit anything else if no one will be willing to read them. Honestly, who would?
> 
> Also, I'm thinking of making an actual story. Not short stories, but something with a storyline. Of course, I want some people to actually read my stories, and not just let them die. Which is why, first and foremost, I need people to read my previous submissions and give me a bit of feedback. Anyone willing?
> ...



I just posted a story yesterday and it's got 7 views and 1 fav so far. It's not much but it's a start. You can't expect to just become a hit your first go, just be patient and post a few more things to let people know that your committed to your work. I'll be posting ch 2 of my story in the next few days once I finish it and if it gets the same amount as the first so be it, I'll keep posting till I make a name for myself.

In short: it takes time for people to find your work, read it, and give you feeback. Nothing happens over night.


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## Murphy Z (Jun 16, 2009)

Add some *relevant *keywords, etc. to your story info. Please, just don't put in attention-whoring lurid ones that aren't related at all to your story- that'll make the readers mad. 
For some keyword ideas ask yourself what are the themes and events that happen in your story. I've done searches for things here, so I imagine other people have. Some random reader may be interested in what your story deals with and might give it a try.


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## Tiarhlu (Jun 27, 2009)

Less than 10? I'd be happy with that. I'm lucky if I get one reader. Granted, I don't upload a lot, and I only have a few watchers. 

Also, keep in mind it takes time and a commitment to read a story. Most people are just too lazy, and if they don't go in ahead of time knowing they're going to get something they want, they probably won't read it. It's sad, but that's just kind of how it is. I've even had trouble getting friends to read something I've written, even when they're very sure it's going to be good.


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