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People may know that I also post on another site, where I get a lot of reads but they have nothing like "kudos" to assess how people receive what I write. I only have comments to go on, and those are usually positive but sometimes not. Comments are no real guide.
I was recently drawn to look at "hits" and to try to understand why there is a variation. I would seem that kudos depends on hits so as a general rule I tell myself that over 5% kudos by hits is a pass mark. Significantly more than 5% shows true appreciation.
But then I see something like "Kerry Cottage" with 8.5% but I see that it has only 1,938 views where the next story after it has 3,745 hits. What is going on here? Maybe the name puts people off?
Then I noticed the "Daily Hits". Of course recent stories have the most trailing down to 1 or 2 after a few weeks, but then I noticed "Working for Aunt Sophie"" published in July last year with 19 hits in a day (?) Going back into the dim distant I see "All Grown Out" from February 2020 had 6 hits in that day - are these rereads?
Anyway, these are useful tools, so thanks to the BCTS team form including the ... I only wish I knew how to use them!
Maryanne
Comments
Hit or Miss
I think things get even weirder when posting entire series of books. The first part of each subsequent book can get a ton of hits quickly but the kudos count ratio won't reflect that as I suspect a good number of readers when finding out 'oh hey, this is book x of a series' then go 'nah, not going to read from the beginning' and skip to something else. The second parts of the later books and on then have a much better hits vs. kudos ratio. Depending on the tags and premise/genre of the story, some readers may not want to read more than the first sentence to figure that out before deciding to move on too.
Add to this if the parts of the book are longish (15k-20k) from what I've seen there are many re-clicks as people slowly read through them and need to come back a few times before finishing. And if it's a series people enjoy re-reading entirely with each new book's publishing, the ratio will slip too. :)
Up in the corner
On main page is random solos. These bring up random stories that people click on.
Commenting when reading via a tablet is annoying. Hitting kudos button is easy. Also refreshing can count as a hit, so if someone stops reading story then comes back it is a hit. Especially if they are not logged in.
Rsblets
Commenting when reading on a ts lent is seasy if you don’t mind a comment full of typos
In the “do as I say and not as I do” department . . . .
“Don’t take it too seriously.”
I think it’s natural to look at the ratio of kudos to hits, but for the reasons Erisian suggested, it’s an unreliable guide. A shorter story or chapter may get more kudos per hit only because people aren’t reading it over multiple sittings. Or, you may have a cult classic on your hands, that only hits the buttons of relatively few people (low kudo count), but they love the story so well that they re-read it again and again (high hit count).
It may make more sense to just think of the metrics as being independent of each other. Does your story have thousands of hits? Yay!!! Hundreds of kudos? Yay!!! A score of comments? Also Yay!!! Does it score well on multiple metrics? Double, or even triple, yay!!!
Warmest regards,
Emma Tate
Emma
Don't overlook comments!
If readers begin making comments, others notice the 'new' flag and go back in to read each new comment. That will be yet another hit.
If the subject matter is interesting or controversial then that might generate fresh comments which others will notice and read... each one of which is another hit. For a popular (for values of popular, obviously) story this can easily snowball up very quickly, all from readers who have already given kudos to the original story.
I have around 10 chapters of SEE that have more than 50 comments. The largest total, for SEE Epilog Part 1 has 136! Needless to say that generated a lot of hits; that chapter presently has (05-Feb-2022) 8637 hits.
So the kudos to hit ratio might not tell you very much at all.
Penny
I’ll confess . . .
Comments matter to me the most. But that’s just me.
Emma
All Good Possibilities
The possibilities given here are all quite plausible. I don't know what's actually happening with some of my hits and kudos. Two of my stories are tied for second highest number of kudos. One (BB: A Boy's Visit) has over twice the hits of the other (The Bridge). They were the subject of one of my math jokes.
On the other hand, a third story (John's Living Nightmare) has a respectable number of Kudos, but is far far ahead in hits.
-- Daphne Xu
I think a story is doing well
I think a story is doing well if I get around 10% kudos. I find my stories without sex and are more trans-related do better on this site.
At the end of my latest story, I asked for comments on whether I should continue. On BC I got 3, 2 of which were deleted as they hated it and equated it to , well I'm won't write it here. On Fictionmania I got 26 asking me to continue. On Literotica I got 20, 19 of which wanted more. The only real negative comments were these.
The story crashed with the gruesome removal. That is not erotic but more like slasher film porn. You should redo the story without the gore, otherwise it loses actual , enduring erotic value.
Which I thought was odd as there was no graphic detail, only the line "I have only castrated you. Don't worry I have castrated hundreds of animals. " Not pleasent, but hardly a gore fest.
The other negative comment was
Please post a follow up. You're exceptionally good at this is. However you used to post more regularly. Do so.
I would write a story a day, but I'm not Maryanne Peters LOL
Leeanna
Whoevah you are?
the kudos of strangers...
Love, Andrea Lena
Real Life
Back before the internet if you wanted to get a hit or a kudos it was a real chore with huge gatekeepers.
I've said it a thousand times -- there is no correlation between quality writing and the number of kudos or comments.
Make of them what you want.
I keep numbers on all my stories and periodically update my spreadsheet. I'm not sure what they mean to me. Something.
From an ego standpoint, the most important numbers to me are the total number of reviews on my books on Amazon and the average score. I'm content with an average score north of 4.3.
Unlike here where hits and kudos fall off drastically to a trickle after the story is off the front page, reviews keep coming in on Amazon -- even after several years.
The worst thing a BC writer can do is compare their numbers to other BC writers' numbers. Without pointing a delicate finger, I'll just say that some obvious games are played.
Jill
Angela Rasch (Jill M I)
Comparing
Over the years I've been here, folks have periodically provided us with challenges. We're asked to consider exploring different sub-genres and new ideas about this thing of ours we call transgender. Subjects and themes and approaches we might not otherwise have considered. I have enjoyed these challenges immensely.
I've discovered over the years my best energy in any comparison is to look at how I have grown as a writer; who I am as a writer compared to who I was years ago or even last week. And who I am becoming as a person.
It's fun to also see how other writers have changed and grown. The astonishing aggregate of talent that goes beyond the nuts and bolts of writing; folks are more than entertaining but often tap into encouragement and support. as well. We see ourselves in their characters and situations and find that others understand us...that someone understands and supports me.
I rejoice when other writers succeed. I'm glad when someone here gets support and even accolades for their work. Good for them, and good for us. Millie Gracie!
Love, Andrea Lena
What a wonderful comment!
Thank you for that, Andrea.
Emma
Yes
All writing is personal and should be about self-satisfaction.
Jill
Angela Rasch (Jill M I)