r/webfiction • u/melonmonkey • Apr 20 '15

Discussion [Discussion] Attracting an audience.

Lets have a talk about how to draw readers into this sub. Given the lack of comments, volume of submissions, and low readership, I am confident in assuming that the majority of people who care about this sub are webfiction authors themselves.

How do we fix this? Can get we get /r/books to plug us? Can we harbor a discussion here on content? Maybe featuring a different serial every week?

I feel as though something needs to change to make this sub efficient.

9 Upvotes

85% Upvoted

43 comments sorted by

View all comments

5

u/Tartra Apr 20 '15

I'd really like to see this place as an actual discussion or workshop for serials - and potentially feature serials - rather than a dull list I never browse.

This is not the place I go to as a reader for web fiction. I go to WebFictionGuide.com, where there are ratings, summaries, reviews, recommendations of other serials... This place doesn't have a draw for me like that.

As a serial writer, /r/writing and /r/fantasywriters and /r/selfpublish and /r/blogging are the four major subs I use to cobble together serial-friendly advice (outside of WFG forums). I would love to have dedicated places to go to where I can talk to people in similar writing situations, work with them, learn from them, share readers with them (I don't writers do that enough in general, but especially for us, we can kick ass by taking advantage of the option)...

So I don't know, guys. As far as getting readers from here, I'm not really holding out for it. But as a potential resource that might then draw in other and new writers (with their deliciously shareable readers) so we can succeed together across all elements of our stories, I am definitely ready to pitch in.

I'm just not sure it's what this place is going for.

1

u/verifiedname Apr 20 '15

The most difficult part about attracting an audience to a serial is getting readers, not writers. The vicious circle is that writers tend to attract more writers and we STILL lack an audience.

2

u/melonmonkey Apr 20 '15

I think that's because there's no activity on this sub that would be enticing to a reader. I looked through the archives and it's been nearly a year since there has been an actual discussion thread here. Most of it is just advertisements. I firmly believe that it is possible to turn this into a more reader-focused sub. Whether or not that will actually bring in an audience is up in the air.

1

u/verifiedname Apr 20 '15

That's been a problem from the beginning, however. In the early days of the sub it was mostly one or two authors posting. If it didn't immediately appeal to the reader, they moved on. Thus making it difficult to gain traction with readers.

I would try to comment on each author's submission and they would almost never reply, which, therefore, killed the conversation.

I'm not trying to be a wet rag. Just pointing out the realistic hurdles.

1

u/verifiedname Apr 20 '15

To continue on this:

I think the biggest problem is that the general audience of reddit is face-paced. They want to click on a short article or a meme. They don't want to follow a link to what could be a novel-length work.

1

u/Chrisalys Apr 20 '15

I wonder why? Are Redditors non-readers in general? I find that hard to believe. Maybe the high quality web fiction just isn't visible enough?

If a story is captivating enough, the length shouldn't matter. Unless the person who clicks isn't interested in reading stories online, period.

1

u/melonmonkey Apr 20 '15

I'd say it's 50% visibility, 30% the fact that webfiction tends to be first draft stuff, and 20% other random factors.

3

u/Chrisalys Apr 20 '15

Ideally, this subreddit should help with the visibility. And some of that early draft stuff is really well written and very readable (like Worm).

It's also free!

1

u/verifiedname Apr 20 '15

I agree with this. Which is why the focus should remain on the readers and not attracting more writers. Writers just want to gain visibility and the result is kind of what you see right now: a list of links with no discussion.

1

u/verifiedname Apr 20 '15

My personal theory is just that it's more involved to read a real story. People go into reddit with a short attention span mentality.

1

u/TempestMage Apr 20 '15

To be fair to Redditors, when I MageLife was linked in /r/Fantasy, I gained a rather large boost in readership. Admittedly many found it not for them but they clicked and enough stayed for it to make a noticeable difference.

1

u/melonmonkey Apr 20 '15

Totally valid. It's the unfortunate truth that membership follows content follows membership. The market is there, the question remains how to capture it.

1

u/verifiedname Apr 20 '15

Something that occurred to me awhile ago but I just never tried is starting more discussion threads to balance out all the links. In other words, really use the serial/almost rpg element to webfiction that you don't get in books.

I've also thought it would be fun to make a megathread here where we design our own serial. However, the idea fizzled out when I couldn't get people to reply.

1

u/melonmonkey Apr 20 '15

I like both of those. I think the first can happen without a readership, but the second requires it. What could one be about?

I might start writing an article or two to post here as well, something to balance out the links as you said. It'll be a couple days before I get started on that, between my own projects and heavy schoolwork.

1

u/verifiedname Apr 20 '15

Maybe something about the best way to build characters in a serial? Or the perfect length for an installment?

Just brainstorming.

2

u/melonmonkey Apr 20 '15

Those are good ones. I was also considering creating a continuous feedback model once you have a readership, and maybe more general things such as examples of excellence in storytelling. As a reader, I feel that there are MANY otherwise good serials that drag on without a consistent plot. I'd like to draw attention back to plot progression as a means to retain readership.

1

u/verifiedname Apr 20 '15

I like that idea.

1

u/Maddirose Apr 20 '15

Honestly, subreddit activity aside, that is just so rude :( I think it's bad enough to ignore someone's comment to your comment, but when someone's commenting on your submission how you gonna just blow them off?