[ SECRET POST #2749 ]

[case]

⌈ Secret Post #2749 ⌋

Warning: Some secrets are NOT worksafe and may contain SPOILERS.

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Notes:

Secrets Left to Post: 03 pages, 073 secrets from Secret Submission Post #393.
Secrets Not Posted: [ 0 - broken links ], [ 0 - not!secrets ], [ 1 - not!fandom ], [ 0 - too big ], [ 0 - repeat ].
Current Secret Submissions Post: here.
Suggestions, comments, and concerns should go here.

Comments

[(Anonymous)]

Just me, but if I'm getting paid for my writing then that's already a token of appreciation from the reader that tells me I'm doing a good job and I should keep going. Yay! But if I'm writing fanfic, I'm not getting paid so comments are really, really appreciated for the same reasons.

I review fanfic I like for the same reasons. It's my way of telling the author that I appreciate the work they've done and that I would like to see more of it. Call it enlightened self interest, but it puzzles me that more people don't see it that way.

[(Anonymous)]

This! Paying for a book IS supporting the author. Fanfic authors don't get any payment, so if you like what they write and want to support them, leaving a word of thanks and encouragement is, more or less, your "payment."

[(Anonymous)]

There are these things called libraries? And readers can borrow books and read them without paying any money to the author? And yet somehow published authors do not get pissy and entitled even when such reader neglect to go on to, say, Amazon, and give feedback on their library loaned-book. Amazing! It's almost as though the reader isn't expected to review everything they read, even when it's free!

[(Anonymous)]

DA. This may differ by country, but for books that are purchased for a library collection, there are additional royalties paid to the author to compensate them for loss of sales. AFAIK, it's not a huge amount, but although the reader doesn't pay any money to the author, the library (and/or royalty program) has compensated the author for that.

Just so you know before you get snippy with the next person.

[(Anonymous)]

Yes, this. It confuses me every time the library argument is wheeled out.

Authors are paid per book purchased for libraries, and also each time the book is lent out by a library. Also, there are rules about how many times each physical copy can be lent out before another must be purchased, again giving more revenue to the author.

It's far less than outright sales, but it's still money paid to the writer. It's not by any means "free".

[(Anonymous)]

But just because a pro writer gets paid for a story, doesn't mean the person buying it actually LIKES it. It just means they bought it. They could hate it.

Being paid is more akin to hit count than comments: after all a hit count only shows how many people clicked on the link, not how many read it.

As a fanfic writer, I do like comments. However I do not want anyone ever to feel that they are obliged to leave a comment (or even a kudos). I rarely comment on a fic (it has to be really damned good or a rare pair), only leave kudos if I really enjoyed the fic.

But I guess it's because I write to write, not to get comments or kudos (I get feedback from my betas). Do I want folks to read it? Yep. I hope they enjoy it...and that's all I expect.

[ketita]

So according to what you say, though, a hit count is utterly meaningless to the author. Because somebody could click on the fic, hate it, and backbutton.
Which brings us back to the only way the author can get positive feedback is by people going out of their way to provide it, by informing the author they liked the thing.

It's not that I write for reviews, but you think that posting a fic to astounding silence isn't depressing? I dropped a 'verse I was writing because of poor reception, because I had other stuff I wanted to write as well and figured there wasn't much point in investing energy in something nobody but me was invested in. I've got my imagination, after all, and I know how it ends.

[(Anonymous)]

Which is why, at least on A03, there is a kudos system. I assume that if someone leaves me a kudos, they liked it. No need to comment.

If you're posting elsewhere, then sucks to be you and you'll need to rely on the hit count. People should not feel obligated (or be blackmailed into) leaving comments.

Perhaps I will start leaving comments. But it'll be something like: "Here's a comment, since they're so important to you. Hope you like it. Bye."

It's your choice to continue a series, etc. But I find I don't often have that much of choice to finish something. I have to finish it. I wouldn't be writing it if I didn't enjoy it and want to know how it ended.

But different people write for different reasons.

[diet_poison]

I don't think that much about fic after I've posted it. (Not that I've written a lot, but eh.) If I write something, it's because I want to. I am only reminded of it later if I get an email about it or something.

[(Anonymous)]

Same. If I cared about feedback, I sure as hell wouldn't be writing for my tiny fandoms.

[(Anonymous)]

Of course it's depressing. But that still doesn't mean a reader is obligated to leave a comment. Just like a writer isn't obligated to put fic out there because readers are expecting fic from them.

I put out updates to a fic that had very good reception when I posted the first few chapters. The later ones aren't getting any comments at all, tho I can look in stats and know exactly how many people are visiting the updates. They're getting some good numbers, but no comments. Of course I am disappointed, but I keep posting because this is a fic I love writing, I think it's some of my best effort, and I want to finish the story so I can say I finished the story. It's not a waste of my effort because it's not getting any more comments, because I'm doing it for more than just the reviews. If OP is just doing it for comments, he/she needs to take a step back and think about why they're writing.

[(Anonymous)]

"But just because a pro writer gets paid for a story, doesn't mean the person buying it actually LIKES it"

This. I can't tell you how many times someone has got me a book for a gift and I absolutely hated it. A book getting bought is nothing like a review or feedback. It just means someone bought it, possibly not even the person who ended up reading the book.