Fic Talk > General Discussion
Question of the Day - Part 4
RokofAges75:
With the self-promotion thing, I agree that if you want to get your stories seen and build up a base of readers, you do have to do some self-promotion, especially when you're just starting out. Steph has talked about how it's necessary on the One Direction fanfic site she's started posting on because there are so many stories being updated every day, it's easy to get lost in the shuffle unless you make an effort to draw readers to your story. That's not such a problem on AC, where stories may stay on the first Most Recent page for a few days, but I still tweet once when I update and post in my update thread here so people will know. I try not to spam everyone's Twitter timeline with tweets about my stories because I know not everyone reads them, wants to read them, or wants to hear about them all the time. If they do want to talk about them with me, awesome, but that's what reviews or the update threads here are for.
Obviously, published writers who are trying to make money off their books have to promote them if they want to make any money LOL. And unless they're self-publishing, there's a publishing company behind them that wants to make money too, so it's kind of an expectation! Most of us are not trying to make money at this, though; we're writing fanfic for the fun of it and posting it for free. We all want readers, but I must admit, I find it annoying when I see my timeline filled with lots of "OMG This chapter I wrote is so awesome; everyone should go read it right now!" tweets from the same person and people RTing compliments they received. I guess it's not much different from seeing lines from good reviews about a book on the back of the book's cover, but I think that's what makes it seem pretentious coming from fanfic writers. I don't mean to diminish what we do because I DO take my writing seriously, but I don't pretend to be the next Stephen King or something LOL. There's nothing wrong with talking about your stories; obviously, we all enjoy talking about our writing, or we wouldn't be doing it in this thread. I don't mind seeing people tweeting about what they're writing on Twitter. It's just when it verges on bragging that it becomes more of a turn off than an attractant.
myconfession:
--- Quote from: RokofAges75 on July 26, 2012, 04:00:05 PM ---With the self-promotion thing, I agree that if you want to get your stories seen and build up a base of readers, you do have to do some self-promotion, especially when you're just starting out. Steph has talked about how it's necessary on the One Direction fanfic site she's started posting on because there are so many stories being updated every day, it's easy to get lost in the shuffle unless you make an effort to draw readers to your story. That's not such a problem on AC, where stories may stay on the first Most Recent page for a few days, but I still tweet once when I update and post in my update thread here so people will know. I try not to spam everyone's Twitter timeline with tweets about my stories because I know not everyone reads them, wants to read them, or wants to hear about them all the time. If they do want to talk about them with me, awesome, but that's what reviews or the update threads here are for.
Obviously, published writers who are trying to make money off their books have to promote them if they want to make any money LOL. And unless they're self-publishing, there's a publishing company behind them that wants to make money too, so it's kind of an expectation! Most of us are not trying to make money at this, though; we're writing fanfic for the fun of it and posting it for free. We all want readers, but I must admit, I find it annoying when I see my timeline filled with lots of "OMG This chapter I wrote is so awesome; everyone should go read it right now!" tweets from the same person and people RTing compliments they received. I guess it's not much different from seeing lines from good reviews about a book on the back of the book's cover, but I think that's what makes it seem pretentious coming from fanfic writers. I don't mean to diminish what we do because I DO take my writing seriously, but I don't pretend to be the next Stephen King or something LOL. There's nothing wrong with talking about your stories; obviously, we all enjoy talking about our writing, or we wouldn't be doing it in this thread. I don't mind seeing people tweeting about what they're writing on Twitter. It's just when it verges on bragging that it becomes more of a turn off than an attractant.
--- End quote ---
I agree with some of what you said to a certain extent. I know on our MC twitter account, when people tweet us things they liked in the chapter, I'll RT them. It's a twitter account for the fan fiction site, so people obviously know that tweets are going to be made about the stories, which is why they followed it in the first place. Personal account? I don't do that kind of stuff that often, but I do talk about writing, whether it's talking to Hannah, Lore or Steph or someone else.
That's one of the problems I've had now with my self-publishing, I haven't felt great and work has been busy so I haven't really promoted and I've seen a small drop in sales... so I'm going to take some time to do that this weekend.
mare:
--- Quote from: Rose on July 26, 2012, 03:56:03 PM ---BTW Mare I'm sad you never do #1 :P.
You mean you don't want someone to carve MINE into your flesh? That wasn't a fantasy? LOL
--- End quote ---
No, but maybe I would like to carve that into someone else some day lol
RokofAges75:
--- Quote from: RokofAges75 on July 26, 2012, 03:05:50 PM ---There was a whole long train of thought that brought this question into my head yesterday after our chatty conversation, but I thought I'd wait for a lull to post it. So here it is!
I was thinking yesterday about how we all like to write different things and the reasons I like to write what I do, and I came to the conclusion that there are three types of fanfic writers:
1. Writers who write about things they wish would happen, or their greatest fantasies.
2. Writers who write about things they hope never happen, or their worst nightmares.
3. Writers who write about things that really did happen, either in the Boys' lives or their own lives.
I'm sure most of us do all three, to some extent, but which category would you say you fall into most of the time?
--- End quote ---
I am definitely #2. I do try to weave real life events into my stories, but it's been a long time since I wrote a story that was solely my interpretation of a real event, like Running Up That Hill, Borrowed Time, or the various stories about them recording in London. I'd be lying if I said I didn't put some fantasies into my stories, too, but I can honestly say I would not want to be any of my characters because, for the most part, they go through so much trauma and tragedy and trials in their lives that even if they get a happy ending, it's not worth it! My life is not that exciting, but it's not that dramatic either, and I'd like to keep it that way! LOL
I have always written about things that scare me, and I'm not talking about my horror stories. Zombies, killer monkeys from outer space, and even more realistic threats like murderers and kidnappers do not scare me. Death, illness, accidents - those are my biggest fears. The things that can happen unexpectedly to you or your loved ones that you can't prevent and can't control... Those are the things that scare me, and I think that's partly why those are the things I choose to write about. I've written very few stories that don't contain some sort of death or near-death experience.
Rose:
--- Quote from: mare on July 26, 2012, 04:06:34 PM ---No, but maybe I would like to carve that into someone else some day lol
--- End quote ---
So when I see it happen in the news, I'll know it's you! :D
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