Fic Talk > General Discussion

How Do You Know When You've Lost Your Audience?

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bsbsavedmylife:
Lately I've noticed a drastic change in my reader reviews.  I have several stories and I realize that each story has a different group of readers, but it seems like I'm getting less and less reviews.  My question is, how do you know when you've lost your audience?  Has anyone ever experienced this?  Is it just like a dry spell of readers or is it a sign I'm losing my touch?  I have my stories posted several different places and each place has a different group of readers.  I'm sure every writer has gone through this.  How did you overcome the frustration and find the motivation to keep on writing?

julilly:
First of all, don't worry so much about your reviews. People read without leaving reviews, that's where there's a read count. Is it going up?

To only write for the soul purpose of receiving praise is superficial. Whether or not you have one review, or twelve reviews write it if you want to.

Sometimes the readers will stumble onto it later and be glad they did, you can't force them to read and review as you update just so that you feel good about yourself.

nicksgal:
I do agree with Julilly that if you're writing for praise, you're writing for the wrong reasons. However, I think the fandom in general is reading less. So it's probably not just your stories that are getting "snubbed" so to speak. That's why it's important to write for yourself.

starbeamz:
There does seem to be an increase in readership whenever there's a new album out...or so I've sort of noticed, but that might just be my imagination.

And, I agree with everything you said, Julilly. I think the best stories are written when a writer writes for him/herself. Some of my faves on AC only received maybe 5 or 6 reviews for entire stories. *shrugs* Write for yourself. Readers are just an added bonus :)

MellzBellz:
I think its also like time of year and stuff. I know I've been busier lately and haven't done as much reading or writing as usual. Your true fand always do find themselves wandering back eventually, so I wouldn't sweat it. It probaby just is a dry spell.

And you did mention that you have readers from all different places, not just AC. So, its not like you aren't getting ANY feedback. I know that feedback is very motivating and I'm very fortunate to be at a point in my writing career where I do get a lot of feedback per chapter usually, but it takes time. When I first joined AC and first posted my main fan fic it took a while to catch on. You have to build up a steady audience.

But as Julilly said. You don't write for praise. You write because you love to. Sure the praise is great and very motivating, but you don't want to come across as like you expect people to tell you how great you are, because if you do readers WILL get turned off and not bother reading.

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