DISCUSSION: Pros and Cons of having a lot of readers/not having a lot of readers

[ELx]

Inspired by @FallenAngelNight13

I suggest to all authors viewing this thread to join the discussion.

Discussion:

1. Do you think you have a lot of readers?
   1a. If so, did this ever affect you badly?
   1b. If not, would you want to have a lot of readers?
2. Do you have a reader base consist of fans or friends? Or both?
   2a. If fans, do you think they would read anything you publish?
3. Do you think there’s a prejudice against known/not known authors? (Like not known authors have bad stories and don’t get reads for that/Known authors are greedy and think of themselves highly)
   3a. If so, is this more common in IG community or Forum community?
4. Do you think demanding updates are just affection for story or just negative impact for authors?
5. What do you consider “a lot of readers”?

Feel free to add more as I can’t empathize a lot on tis ;(

[lanafrazer_episode]

1. Do you think you have a lot of readers?

Somewhat, yeah.

1a. If so, did this ever affect you badly?

Not really.

1b. If not, would you want to have a lot of readers?

That is, if they enjoyed reading my story(s), then ill get a lot of readers.

2. Do you have a reader base consist of fans or friends? Or both?

idk, both, i guess.

2a. If fans, do you think they would read anything you publish?

Yeah, that is IF they want to read it.

**3. Do you think there’s a prejudice against known/not known authors? **
(Like not known authors have bad stories and don’t get reads for that/Known authors are greedy and think of themselves highly)

I would say yes, not sure.

3a. If so, is this more common in IG community or Forum community?

Both.

4. Do you think demanding updates are just affection for story or just negative impact for authors?

Negative. U dont rush authors to update the next episode/chapters. BE PATIENT AND WAIT.

5. What do you consider “a lot of readers”?

I would say persons that love the story, and actually hooked to the story, and want to continue reading it.

[Miss_Julie]

1. Do you think you have a lot of readers?
No, not at all.

1a. If so, did this ever affect you badly?
_

1b. If not, would you want to have a lot of readers?
I think I’d like a medium amount of readers - maybe just somewhere between 10K and 100K. I guess some people would consider this a small amount but I don’t.

2. Do you have a reader base consist of fans or friends? Or both?
Fans.

2a. If fans, do you think they would read anything you publish?
Actually, yeah. I believe most fans are automatically willing to read almost anything you publish if they really like whatever they first read of yours.

3. Do you think there’s a prejudice against known/not known authors? (Like not known authors have bad stories and don’t get reads for that/Known authors are greedy and think of themselves highly)
I think there might be a few prejudices about but known/unknown authors. Like, unknown authors don’t spend enough time on their stories and only care about becoming famous. And well-known authors think they can publish nearly anything and it’ll always be good. It’s terrible prejudices to have but that’s honestly what I’m first thinking of about that topic.

3a. If so, is this more common in IG community or Forum community?
I haven’t been following the discussions on IG a lot lately so I’m not sure what people think there but on the forums, I believe there’s quite a lot of people having bad prejudices about big authors.

4. Do you think demanding updates are just affection for story or just negative impact for authors?
Mostly negative impact. Demanding something almost never seems right to me and though some fans are definitely very dedicated and hungry for more chapters, demanding updates only leads to too much pressure on the author.

5. What do you consider “a lot of readers”?
A lot of readers to me is 100K+

[lanafrazer_episode]

i mostly agree with 3.

[ELx]

You can tell your overall pros and cons as well, you do not have to follow the questions :3

[ELx]

@Miss_Julie

I haven’t been following the discussions on IG a lot lately so I’m not sure what people think there but on the forums, I believe there’s quite a lot of people having bad prejudices about big authors.

I haven’t seen IG discussions about 4 months now I think? Idk, but people think a lot of drama stirs here, but IG has a WHOLE ANOTHER level of drama. And this is just mostly prejudice.

Another question for those who agree on prejudice:

Who do you think gets more hurt by this prejudice? Known or unknown authors?

[lanafrazer_episode]

Who do you think gets more hurt by this prejudice? Known or unknown authors?

unknown

[amberose]

Great idea for a discussion!

Do you think you have a lot of readers?
I personally do… Sometimes… Even when my first story had 60 reads I was like woah that’s so many. So naturally, if I think 60 is a lot, I also think everything above 60 is a lot. But in saying that, the times I’ve felt like I haven’t thought I had a lot of readers is when someone makes a thread saying something like “I published my story two days ago and it only has 300 reads. Is that bad?” And for a brief moment I’m like bitch please. I’ve had stories published for a year and still not got that many!

If so, did this ever affect you badly?
No, I don’t think so. But to be fair, I only think I have a lot of readers, I don’t really have what most people would consider a lot of reads, just what I think is.

If not, would you want to have a lot of readers?
Controversial opinion, but no… Reads are nice and all, but…

• If I get heaps of reads, people will stop saying “this story deserves more reads” because it will already have said reads. I kind of like being what most people would consider “underrated”. It makes all the feedback and fanmail I get feel more genuine.
• More reads means more pressure! I’m an anxious person and now I’m at the point where I actually know some of the people who are reading and that’s scary.

Do you have a reader base consist of fans or friends? Or both?
Definitely both. A lot of my fans (it feels weird calling them fans) turn into my friends… Then I’m pretty sure a lot of reads came from being forum stalked, which I would consider as having friends turn into fans.

If fans, do you think they would read anything you publish?
Look, probably not all my fans would… Especially because I suck at self promo so it would be hard for them to know I’ve released a new story unless I add it to an outro perhaps, but I can probably think of maybe 10 people that would absolutely read anything I put out.

Do you think there’s a prejudice against known/not known authors? (Like not known authors have bad stories and don’t get reads for that/Known authors are greedy and think of themselves highly)

I think to an extent yes. And you’ve basically explained both ends of the spectrum. Big authors sometimes get a bad rep purely for being a big author and unknown authors are sometimes never given a chance purely because they’re unknown.

Do you think demanding updates are just affection for story or just negative impact for authors?
I can only speak for myself here and basically, if I’m getting fanmails asking for updates, it actually motivates me a lot. I still feel the pressure to actually publish something good, but it motivates me nonetheless.

What do you consider “a lot of readers”?
I guess saying 60 wouldn’t be quite right now lol…
Ok, so… ignoring the factor of how many episodes are published… I have to say 5k is a lot in my books. I only recommend stories under 5k in the app, so it’s only fair to say that that would be my cut off here too… (Which I’m sure a lot of people think is still small, but meh)

[ELx]

@amberose

I can only speak for myself here and basically, if I’m getting fanmails asking for updates, it actually motivates me a lot. I still feel the pressure to actually publish something good, but it motivates me nonetheless.

I agree. I actually become really happy to see that because that means…someone was thinking my story enough to write me a fanmail/DM for me to continue. I call this “feeling of being needed by someone” although I’m sure not many people see it this way.

@amberose

I guess saying 60 wouldn’t be quite right now lol…

Would it?! I was saying my 500 reads were low but you were famous with 60 reads… Guess its all a matter of perspective.

5k for 3 episodes is a lot, 5k for 20 episodes… just okay, nothing more.

[amberose]

Ok, I wasn’t famous with 60 reads, but in my head I was thinking it was such a huge accomplishment

[Annieways]

I literally came back to check whether you made this discussion thread or not, but why did you make so many questions? I love it by the way.

1. Do you think you have a lot of readers?
Relatively yes.
1a. If so, did this ever affect you badly?
No.
1b. If not, would you want to have a lot of readers?
Tricky question. I like getting reads of course, but generally I don’t think I would be able to cope with becoming “famous”. As a rather unknown author I don’t feel any pressure to update or add another love interest to my story just because my readers want me to, I just write what I want, and how I want. If I was popular or even wrote for money, that would probably take away a bit of the fun. (Though I see the advantages of course.)

2. Do you have a reader base consist of fans or friends? Or both?
I guess both, I mean I know some people who found my stories through the forums and I would rather call them my friends than my fans
2a. If fans, do you think they would read anything you publish?
I don’t think they would read anything but my stories are pretty much the same style and I noticed that when I have a boost in my reads on one story, I got a few reads on the other ones as well. My reads don’t grow to the same extent but I think that’s mainly because two of my stories are really due for a revamp.

3. Do you think there’s a prejudice against known/not known authors? (Like not known authors have bad stories and don’t get reads for that/Known authors are greedy and think of themselves highly)
Yes, I’ve seen both cases what you mentioned.
3a. If so, is this more common in IG community or Forum community?
No idea, I don’t have IG.

4. Do you think demanding updates are just affection for story or just negative impact for authors?
I think it can be positive and negative. I rarely receive fanmail so anything that implies someone enjoyed my story makes me happy. But if I got dozens of fanmail demanding updates that would probably make me annoyed. I still can’t forget that I read somewhere that Miss Mj receives thousands(!) of fanmail every single day. Man, I would hate that…

5. What do you consider “a lot of readers”?
When I published my first story and got 10 reads I couldn’t believe that there were 4-5 people in the world who somehow found my story, started reading it and enjoyed it enough to finish the first 3 episodes. (Technically it could be 10 readers who started but hated it, but you get my point )
I guess I have a few hundreds of readers now and I consider that a lot.

[ELx]

More questions cuz I need to learn as much as I can

You’re not missing out on IG, believe me… (IG just flagged me as spam and I had to enter my phone number… once again…)

I guess we all had a moment when we thought we were gonna make it to Hollywood through Episode when we reached 10 reads

[EliseC]

Do you think you have a lot of readers?
Yes. I don’t have millions, but I think I have a lot.

1a. If so, did this ever affect you badly?
The only time I’ve ever had bad fanmail was when I was on a shelf . But in general, no. It can be a little stressful sometimes when you have a lot of people who want your next update, but I’d say for the most part I personally haven’t had any issues.

1b. If not, would you want to have a lot of readers?
While I think I have a lot of readers, I certainly don’t have millions. I actually… don’t want millions of readers lol. A lot of popular authors seem to have some very entitled readers. If they don’t update multiple times a week, people actually whinge? I honestly think that would stress me out and I’d probably get really snarky (and then people would accuse me of being rude which would make me miserable and then I’d update less and we’d end up in some cycle).
That sounds like I’ve been overthinking lol but I’ve actually said a few times in the past that I’m glad I’m not super popular . Has anyone ever read some of the comments Miss MJ gets on IG? I sometimes feel bad for her.

Do you have a reader base consist of fans or friends? Or both?
Both- but no one that I know personally in real life. (Well, I think my mum has read one or two of my stories )

2a. If fans, do you think they would read anything you publish?
Hhahahahha if anyone here reads my stories- would you read a story called Pregnant by the Bad Boy Gangster Ghost In My Bed after He Stole My Bra? On a serious note- I think most people who follow me on IG actually read my stories and I think they would at least try out something I’d publish.

Do you think there’s a prejudice against known/not known authors? (Like not known authors have bad stories and don’t get reads for that/Known authors are greedy and think of themselves highly)
Yes. Quite a few people have said things to me like “popular authors are all stuck up”. Sometimes I think that’s because they have so many DMs that they don’t have time to look at them all but I also think some people are actually too scared to DM certain popular authors because they think they’ll be ignored.
As for unknown authors… I personally read anything. If a story doesn’t have a lot of reads I won’t automatically assume it’s bad. I figure the first episode is “free” so I have nothing to lose.

3a. If so, is this more common in IG community or Forum community?
IG I guess? I don’t really feel any “divide” on the forums between “popular” and less popular authors.

Do you think demanding updates are just affection for story or just negative impact for authors?
In general- I don’t mind being asked about updates because I’m glad that people like my story enough to want updates! But, there was a time where I had to deactivate my fanmail because I just couldn’t take it anymore. I had taken longer than usual to update and the fanmail had gone from “When’s the next episode coming?” to getting a little rude and telling me to hurry up.

What do you consider “a lot of readers”?
50k+ (for a story) and/or 500k+ (total reads)

[ELx]

I agree, especially the DM one about popular authors. Most of them get 100 DMs in a day, that’s pretty time consuming and tiring to answer.

And I can’t really end the conversation so it would be really awkward if someone complimented my story and somehow got into “heart wars” lol

Heart Wars for anyone who don’t know: It is basically two people sending each other hearts until one of them gives up.

[ELx]

And why do people ask “When’s the next update” in DMs… just check the highlights…

If an author got around 100 DMs in a day, and it took a smooth 2 minutes to answer, and 70 of them was about updates… that would make 140 minutes… 2 hours and 20 minutes. I could write all of the dialogue and half of the spot directing with that time!

[EliseC]

I usually try to leave a unique reply to each fanmail but if I get multiple messages asking for something, I’ll just copy paste. Especially “When’s the next update?” “I don’t know.” Copy-paste-copy-paste…

[ELx]

Oh… fanmails… I struggled with them a lot even though I got it once a month…
“Your story is very good! Please continue!”
-spoiler: I didn’t continue-
Me:
Thank you very- No… I started like that last time…
Your enthusiasm is appreciated- this sounds too dead

actual representation of me in fanmail section

Leaving an off topic sad fanmail that I saw today in case anyone wants oversharing

Well. The fanmail isn’t sad. It is great. It was left to my second story -and my most read story- and they told me what happens in the episode 5 asking me if its a glitch, and telling me they like my story. This actually almost made me cry and I rarely cry at stuff like this. That person read to episode 5. They wasted 4 passes on my stupid story. A story that could’ve been good if I wasn’t naive and stupid. A story that could’ve been a hit if I kept my mouth shut. A story that I’m too afraid to write “discontinued” in the title. Sigh.

[ELx]

bump

[kw.episode]

would you read a story called Pregnant by the Bad Boy Gangster Ghost In My Bed after He Stole My Bra ?

Elise.

Yes.

Immediately. Because I know this would be hilarious LMAO!

[kw.episode]

1. Do you think you have a lot of readers?
Yes, I have a fair amount of readers.
1a. If so, did this ever affect you badly?
Like Elise said, it only ever affected me badly when I was on the shelf. I eventually turned off all fanmail to avoid any possibilities of rude people, simply because I know how I am and that kind of stuff is demotivating to me. Also distracting.
1b. If not, would you want to have a lot of readers?
God…no. LMAO. I see how readers are towards super popular authors (with update demands and so much more), and I can only imagine how stressful it is.
2. Do you have a reader base consist of fans or friends? Or both?
I’d say mostly readers, but I do have some friends that I’ve made through the community who also read my stories.
2a. If fans, do you think they would read anything you publish?
I actually think so. Someone once asked me if I’d ever write in the romance genre, and I said it’s possible since I love reading the genre (I do think I’d be terrible at writing it though), but she said she’d read it immediately if I ever did lol. That was very sweet and encouraging.
3. Do you think there’s a prejudice against known/not known authors? (Like not known authors have bad stories and don’t get reads for that/Known authors are greedy and think of themselves highly)
People have a lot of opinions about known authors, and I think the most common thing is they think they’re stuck up. I don’t think most of them are tbh. And unknown authors - I wouldn’t say there’s a prejudice of them having bad stories, but I do think it’s harder to get noticed as a “small” author.
3a. If so, is this more common in IG community or Forum community?
Both. I see the same rhetoric on both platforms.
4. Do you think demanding updates are just affection for story or just negative impact for authors?
Affection for the story. Although it can get really stressful, it can also be motivating. It’s sweet to me to know that people care to read the shit I put out at all, so when people tell me they’re excited and waiting for new chapters it makes me really happy.
5. What do you consider “a lot of readers”?
I always consider a lot to be near the millions.