As noted elsewhere, some of my fiction seems to generate a considerable degree of negative backlash. This is kind of ironic, since according to the stats, they're amongst the more popular of my stories (if views and kudos are anything to go by). I ran a search under a certain keyword but found only 11 entries (four of which were mine); however, they all had relatively high view counts, with one of them scoring a whopping 63,000 reads. I'm starting to suspect there might be a "silent majority" hidden amongst the userbase which enjoys a little "something extra" to spice up the narrative.
Well, as the old adage goes, "give the people what they want." I think I might take another shot at the genre. In the meantime, perhaps we can all reflect on whether 'kink-shaming' has any place on a site such as this...or in society at large.
Comments
I don't think the number of
I don't think the number of views matters. Mostly because someone can open the story page, read through a bit, and maybe not go through the story. It's not the best way to measure how many people have actually read the story. It just counts as a hit for the story page. The kudos, yeah, that at least gives you an idea that x number of people liked it. If there are comments, that's also a sign of how the reader felt.
People like to read what they like. Not everyone will be vocal about what they want, but the kudos system at least gives them the option to show that they liked a story while still keeping them anonymous. Plus, I think a lot of the readers here are older in age, so they like to read things that are a little less explicit or kinky or fetishized... at least that is what I understood during one of my discussions with another author on the site.
Keep On Truckin!
For the record, most of our visitors are unauthenticated visitors, not people who log in and leave comments. And I say that by a VAST margin.
I tend to call the commenters a "vocal minority" but love them for the community they bring to the site.
That being said if posting something makes you happy, and it breaks no rules, keep posting!
As the saying goes…….
To each their own. Or as I prefer it, we are all entitled to our own path to hell; what matters most is that we not drag others along with us. In this country, at least at this point in time, we are still guaranteed freedom of speech - until or unless Trump and his cronies manage to take that right away from us. As such, any author can post stories which appeal to them, even if they don’t appeal to everyone. Unless of course, as has already been pointed out, you violate the rules of the site.
As has also already been pointed out, the number of views is not a good measure of popularity. I have often opened a story only to find out it is not to my taste. I have even gone so far as to read multiple chapters of a story in the hopes that there might be some redeeming quality further in, before I decide that it is not to my taste. As was pointed out, the number of kudos would be a better measure. Comments can be both pro and con, but hopefully are constructive. Even when I don’t like a story, I try to leave a comment about why I feel that way, and often compliment the author’s writing talent even if I don’t approve of the plot or type of story.
Either way, not everyone is going to like your work no matter what you write - so write what you feel is your best work and let the kudos fall where they will.
D. Eden
“Hier stehe ich; ich kann nicht anders. Gott helfe mir.”
Dum Vivimus, Vivamus