Absolute Chaos Discussion Boards
Fic Talk => General Discussion => Topic started by: Purpura Lipstick on August 14, 2011, 05:32:11 PM
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What gets you to read a story? Why do you stop reading? Would you answer honestly if an author asked you why you stopped reading? What makes you leave a review? Why don't you leave one?
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I always wondered this too lol. I always leave a review. If I don't, it means I didn't read or I deleted the email link for the update and just forgot. But if I don't like a story I just do not review.
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It just makes me curious when my first chapter reads are so high and then they drop down dramatically over the next few chapters. I would love to know what made the readers lose interest in the story.
I try to leave a review on all the stories I read because it is how I keep track of what chapter I'm on. LOL.
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These questions come up so often in so many different places lol
I'll answer a when I first started reading versus now.
Back when I first started reading, it was the summary that would initially draw me in. (suspense, drama, action/adventure) If it seemed to center around Nick and contained all the guys, if there was no female in the summary or banner - for instance, "Constance Summers was..." *the sound of my scrolling past* Then, most likely i'd give it a try.
Nowadays, honestly I go by author. If I have read your stuff and I have thoroughly enjoyed it, I'll give it a try. Doesn't mean i'll actually stick with it and read it, but i'll at least read the first few chapters to get a sense of whether or not i'll like it. I will occasionally check out a random story if it sounds really interesting or if it's recommended by someone who I know likes the same things I like.
In the older days I rarely stopped reading. I had a lot more patience back then lol If I commited to readiing something I would see it all the way through, even if I ended up not liking it very much.
Now, there are a lot of factors but the main one being if it goes too long without being updated. If it gets to the point that to catch up with the story I'll have to go back and re-read it, I don't bother reading it anymore and then might check it out after it's completed. Just like back in the day, after i'm already invested in a story, i'll probably see it through to the end because if I don't stop reading after about the 10th chapter, that means it has managed to hold my interest. And it's HARD to hold my interest these days. LOL I have no attention span for fanfic anymore.
and in both cases, yes I would tell the author why if they asked. :)
Both then and now: I always leave reviews for the stories I read. Maybe not on every chapter, especially if they are complete and i'm reading more than one chapter at a time but I think it's really important to let the authors know that someone appreciates all the hard work they are doing. It only takes a minute to leave a review and you could always be the one person who makes that big of a difference to someone who maybe was 'this' close to stopping.
The only reason I will not leave a review is if i'm just trying to figure out if I want to read it or not. If i'm on the fence I don't say anything because I know for me personally, I go by regular readers to know how i'm doing and not how many reviews I have, so I like to really commit to the story before leaving regular reviews.
The other exception for me and this also goes for why i'd stop reading a story, as petty as it sounds, if the author doesn't respond to their reviews then I don't see why I should bother giving them one or bother reading the story. Seriously one of my BIGGEST pet peeves, especially if I see them even once elude to the fact that they want reviews! LOL
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that was informative Mare.
and I know it's been asked several times, I just was pondering it looking it at my read counts today. LOL.
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These are good questions!
I usually go by the summary when I'm looking for a story to read. If the summary sounds interesting, I'll check it out. I'll also try anything by favorite authors whose other stories I've enjoyed. If I get through the first few chapters and find myself enjoying the story, I usually stick with it.
The only thing that makes me abandon a story after I've committed to it is if the author updates so infrequently that I find it hard to follow the plot. Like Mare said, if I have to go back and reread previous chapters just to refresh my memory on what's going on in a newly posted chapter, that's my cue to stop reading and just wait for the thing to be finished so I can go back and reread all in one shot then. I know I'll enjoy it more when I can really get into it again and read without having to stop and wait for updates. If I've reviewed a story regularly up to a certain point and then stopped, chances are this is why, but I would answer honestly if the author asked, no matter what the reason was.
I review anything that I commit to reading, meaning I've gotten through the first few chapters and still felt like reading on. If it's a story I'm following as it's being posted, I review every chapter. If it's a story that's already finished, I usually just leave a couple of reviews, maybe one halfway through and definitely one at the end. It's the mark of a good story that I'm so eager to click ahead to the next chapter, I don't feel like taking the time to review first LOL.
The only time I don't review something I read is, like Mare said, if I'm just previewing it to find out if I really want to read it or not. If I know then that I'm not gonna stick with it, I don't bother to review.
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It just makes me curious when my first chapter reads are so high and then they drop down dramatically over the next few chapters. I would love to know what made the readers lose interest in the story.
I would guess that everyone's are this way. I know mine are. The read/review count of the first chapter is always significantly higher than the chapters that follow it. At least it shows that people are willing to give your story a try, even if they don't stick with it.
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that was informative Mare.
and I know it's been asked several times, I just was pondering it looking it at my read counts today. LOL.
I don't want to sound like a Debbie Downer when it comes to read counts but I don't think they're very reliable. I know I click on many chapters of stories and stories in general just to make sure they are formatted correctly and following rules etc... that would count as a 'read' even though technically I didn't even really read one sentence. Also if authors are kind of obsessive compulsive and tend to click on their own stories all the time, that counts as well. That's why the first chapter usually has the highest amount of counts because a lot of people tend to 'click' maybe read a sentence or two and then click out.
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That's true about read counts. I always click on my own chapters to check and make sure they posted right, like Mare said, and if they didn't and I have to go back and edit something, then I rack up a few more hits on the read count. It counts every single hit and refresh, even if it's just from one person, so it's definitely not reliable as a way to see how many different people have looked at your story.
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I've know it counts when someone clicks in it whether they read it or not which is why I was wondering about when people left reviews too. I'd love to talk to someone that is actually reading a story but never reviews.
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That's true about read counts. I always click on my own chapters to check and make sure they posted right, like Mare said, and if they didn't and I have to go back and edit something, then I rack up a few more hits on the read count. It counts every single hit and refresh, even if it's just from one person, so it's definitely not reliable as a way to see how many different people have looked at your story.
yes, I do that too with my own stuff to see if it formatted correctly. Just like this engarde challenge, all of your read counts have probably gone up because I keep clicking on your stories to keep track of chapters read etc... lol
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I've know it counts when someone clicks in it whether they read it or not which is why I was wondering about when people left reviews too. I'd love to talk to someone that is actually reading a story but never reviews.
That would be nice, but chances are if they are too lazy or ambivilent to leave reviews they are also going to be the same way when it comes to posting in this thread LOL
I can tell you when this question has come up in the past, the biggest answer was that they didn't know what to say or didn't want to sound stupid, if that helps?
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What gets you to read a story?
I'm one of the pickiest readers around these days. Like seriously picky LOL. One thing, is who wrote it. Like for example, if it's Julie or Mare, I already know I should click on it. Cause from my own experience I tend to enjoy everything they put out there. The other thing is the summary, while the banner may catch my eye, I don't click till I read the summary. Is it engaging, is it error free, and is it not a novel LOL. Cause overly wordy summaries annoy me.
The other thing is plot, I tend to not click romance. It's just not my thing most of the time. So usually if it IS romance, something needs to be unique about it. If it's supernatural, action/adventure, horror, suspense, drama/angst, I'll usually give it a look. And the other thing is who it's about, it usually needs to be a Group fic, Nick fic, or a Brian fic. I'll sometimes click for Kevin, once in a blue moon AJ, but Howie usually gets ignored. (Sorry Howie)
Once we get past all those, then I'll click LOL.
Why do you stop reading?
Sometimes an author can have great ideas but just bad follow through. Lots of errors, or horrible formatting are turnoffs too. And sometimes it's simply a lack of time, which isn't the author's fault, I'm just busy lol. And sometimes the plot takes a turn I'm not comfortable with, and I'll end up clicking out.
Would you answer honestly if an author asked you why you stopped reading?
If they really wanted to know, yes. But if the answer wasn't pretty, I'd warn them first.
What makes you leave a review? Why don't you leave one?
Usually I leave a review when I enjoy something, or when I have something to comment on. If I don't review it's because I didn't like it, but I don't want to hurt the author's feelings.
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I can tell you when this question has come up in the past, the biggest answer was that they didn't know what to say or didn't want to sound stupid, if that helps?
Yeah, I've heard that from people too. A lot of people are surprisingly shy about reviewing. Some just may be lazy too, especially here when you have to have an account and log in to do it. I can kind of understand that when it's a reader who doesn't write, but to me, there is no excuse for writers not reviewing each other's work when they're genuinely reading a story. In fact, it pisses me off, the same way that not responding to reviews does. I'm totally with Mare there.
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Yeah, I've heard that from people too. A lot of people are surprisingly shy about reviewing. Some just may be lazy too, especially here when you have to have an account and log in to do it. I can kind of understand that when it's a reader who doesn't write, but to me, there is no excuse for writers not reviewing each other's work when they're genuinely reading a story. In fact, it pisses me off, the same way that not responding to reviews does. I'm totally with Mare there.
Definitely, that's one thing that drives me crazy. I mean as a writer, we all love reviews. It is what it is. It's not why we write, but we still enjoy them. So you would think other writers would get that and make sure to review. Drives me nutty.
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I leave reviews because it's not fair to want them from all of you if I'm not leaving them in return. I also hope that if I read and review someone else's story they might click on mine and give it a go. Is that wrong of me?
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Yeah, to me, it's just part of reading etiquette. I think it's rude to read every chapter of a story and never review, and fellow writers should know better. Laziness is not an excuse. It takes all of ten seconds to type even a one-sentence review, which is better than nothing. Obviously, taking a few minutes to write something a little more detailed would be ideal, but hey, baby steps LOL.
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I leave reviews because it's not fair to want them from all of you if I'm not leaving them in return. I also hope that if I read and review someone else's story they might click on mine and give it a go. Is that wrong of me?
It's not wrong, although I wouldn't expect people to do that just because you've reviewed their stuff. Reading and reviewing should be something you do because you genuinely like the story, not because you feel obligated to do it, like you "owe" that author reviews. But it's certainly nice when it goes both ways!
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No I don't want them to "owe" me. I just get my name out there.. lol. I definitely don't expect people whose stories I enjoy and review to turn around and read mine.
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Sure, that makes sense. And that does work sometimes; I know I'm more likely to at least give something a try when I see it's written by someone who has been a regular reviewer of my stories. I love to return the favor when I can, but I won't review if it's not really something that appeals to me, because that would be fake. Pity reviews are degrading.
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Sure, that makes sense. And that does work sometimes; I know I'm more likely to at least give something a try when I see it's written by someone who has been a regular reviewer of my stories. I love to return the favor when I can, but I won't review if it's not really something that appeals to me, because that would be fake. Pity reviews are degrading.
Too true, nobody wants pity reviews.
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That's why it drives me nuts to see people begging for reviews. What's the point of that? Those who review are going to review anyway, if they're genuinely enjoying your story. Those who don't review probably still won't. The only reviews anyone attracts by begging for them are pity reviews from people who see them begging and feel sorry for them. At the same time, people who don't feel sorry for them and instead are annoyed by that kind of attention-seeking behavior are less likely to even give the story a chance, let alone review. So they probably lose as many potential reviews as they gain by begging.
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What do you think of stories that change their summaries? I've been thinking of divulging more of what the story is about for Chronos Project.
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It hurts me when someone reads almost the whole story, then just stops and never explains why they stopped. I am not gonna be upset...people should be honest. I leave a review for 99 percent of everything I read.
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What do you think of stories that change their summaries? I've been thinking of divulging more of what the story is about for Chronos Project.
I think that's a good idea. Sometimes it's hard to write a summary if you're not totally sure where the story's going to go when you first post it. Or sometimes you just think up a better summary later. Go for it!
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It hurts me when someone reads almost the whole story, then just stops and never explains why they stopped. I am not gonna be upset...people should be honest. I leave a review for 99 percent of everything I read.
You can always ask the person if it bothers you that much.
You're a great reviewer, Tracy. I wish everyone was like that!
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It hurts me when someone reads almost the whole story, then just stops and never explains why they stopped. I am not gonna be upset...people should be honest. I leave a review for 99 percent of everything I read.
I would just ask, like you did me when life majorly got in the way for me lol. In an ideal world, I'd have sooooo much time to write and read and omg that would be lovely. ;D
And ditto on what Julie said, you're one of my fave reviewers! :)
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I leave reviews because it's not fair to want them from all of you if I'm not leaving them in return. I also hope that if I read and review someone else's story they might click on mine and give it a go. Is that wrong of me?
If you only read it to get them to read yours, then yes I do think it's wrong. Maybe because I haven't ever thought that way but another pet peeve of mine is when someone checks out a story and leaves a very generic review and in that review they mention their own story, it irks me to no end! LOL It hasn't happened in a very long time to me but then I noticed when I dinn't check out their story they suddenly stopped reviewing mine.
If you want to read a story then read it but don't read it just because you want a sympathy read from that person. I would hope that no one is reading my story just because I am reading theirs. I want you to read it because you are enjoying it, not because you feel obliged to.
I mean, if you feel like "wow this person always checks my stuff out so I think i'll check hers out." Then tha's different. I'm talking about when you intentionally do it in the hopes that they will read yours. Not saying that's what you're doing but for anyone doing that, it's douchey!
LOL In my humble opinion of course.
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another pet peeve of mine is when someone checks out a story and leaves a very generic review and in that review they mention their own story, it irks me to no end! LOL It hasn't happened in a very long time to me but then I noticed when I dinn't check out their story they suddenly stopped reviewing mine.
OMG, that's the worst! That is way up there on the shameless whore meter LOL. I agree; don't use a review for someone else's story as a way to promote your own. Tacky!!
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Awww thanks lol *blushes* I try. I love to leave someone feedback cause I know how it can help the person writing the story. As for asking people I don't want to look needy...I am a shy person and don't like to make enemies of my readers. Does that make sense?
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If you only read it to get them to read yours, then yes I do think it's wrong. Maybe because I haven't ever thought that way but another pet peeve of mine is when someone checks out a story and leaves a very generic review and in that review they mention their own story, it irks me to no end! LOL It hasn't happened in a very long time to me but then I noticed when I dinn't check out their story they suddenly stopped reviewing mine.
If you want to read a story then read it but don't read it just because you want a sympathy read from that person. I would hope that no one is reading my story just because I am reading theirs. I want you to read it because you are enjoying it, not because you feel obliged to.
I mean, if you feel like "wow this person always checks my stuff out so I think i'll check hers out." Then tha's different. I'm talking about when you intentionally do it in the hopes that they will read yours. Not saying that's what you're doing but for anyone doing that, it's douchey!
LOL In my humble opinion of course.
No I mean it in the second way!!! I would never do the first.
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I didn't realize there were so many replies after I replied to you, Lore lol So yeah, in summary I agree with what Julie and Rose just said.
And I don't get why writers don't review what they read. It's something that annoys me as well. Sometimes when someone says to me, "Oh I read that a long time ago and loved it!" I want to ask then why didn't you leave a review? LOL
I know back in the day when we all relied on emails to get feedback it was harder but now on AC it's so easy to leave a review and to respond! There's no excuse at all!
I know I sound like a snob lol I don't mean to be but it honestly just does bug me, when writers do not use writing etiquette. I mean, it depends on the person of course because we are all different, but if you constantly whine about wanting reviews and not getting enough reviews and why doesn't anyone read my stuff? And then you turn around and say you have read a billion stories and haven't reviewed a single one, why on earth should anyone do the same for you?
If you never complain about reviews and don't leave them, then you don't bug me as much. It's just the way you are, I still don't understand it but ah well.
As far as changing summaries, I don't think it's ever too late to do that as long as you don't keep changng it because for me, I know when I see a summary constantly changing I think that the author isn't sure what the story is about themselves and it makes me not want to read it.
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Awww thanks lol *blushes* I try. I love to leave someone feedback cause I know how it can help the person writing the story. As for asking people I don't want to look needy...I am a shy person and don't like to make enemies of my readers. Does that make sense?
That totally makes sense. In that case, I would just not worry about it. If they really liked the story, they'll come back to it and finish it eventually. Maybe they already did and just didn't review for whatever reason.
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I know I sound like a snob lol I don't mean to be but it honestly just does bug me, when writers do not use writing etiquette. I mean, it depends on the person of course because we are all different, but if you constantly whine about wanting reviews and not getting enough reviews and why doesn't anyone read my stuff? And then you turn around and say you have read a billion stories and haven't reviewed a single one, why on earth should anyone do the same for you?
I know certain individuals here think I'm an elitist snob too, but I don't think having this opinion makes us snobby. Like you said, it's just writing etiquette. To me, it's the same as sending a thank-you note when you get a gift. If you've been entertained by someone's story that they took the time to write and post for free, you can at least take a few minutes to leave a review to show your appreciation for it.
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I agree! Or respond to your reviews. It takes the same amount of time, even less because usually it's just a "thanks for reading!" LOL
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Yep, I agree, that's an etiquette thing, too. It goes both ways.
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I almost always respond to reviews. usually right away...but if I didn't right away it is because I was busy. I do like responding to them :)
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if there are a stream of reviews from the same person in a row I will usually only respond to the latest one, but I do like to respond to my reviews. :-D
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I respond to every single review I get. If they take the time to review, I feel like I should at least take the time to reply. :)
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What gets you to read a story?
The summary and banner are what draw my attention, also who the story is by. If it's by someone I've read previously and enjoyed, I'm more likely to click on the new story. If I like the first chapter, then I'll carry on, if not, I usually click away.
Why do you stop reading?
If I find the story boring, or don't like where it's going. Or sometimes I might start a story and go back to it once it's done, especially if I'm already reading a lot of others, or if the writer doesn't update very often/too often for me to keep up with. Sometimes I start reading a story and save it in my favourites to read another time. If I've put in a lot of time reading, then I'll see a story through to the end, no matter how long it takes me.
Would you answer honestly if an author asked you why you stopped reading?
I'm not sure. I wouldn't like it if someone told me they stopped reading my story because it was crap, so I wouldn't do it to others. Depends who the person was I suppose.
What makes you leave a review? Why don't you leave one?
I always review what I've read, it's only polite to let the author know you've enjoyed their hard work. Same goes for replies to reviews, I always reply. It really annoys me when an author doesn't reply to her reviews, or only replies to certain readers. It makes me not want to leave a review, but because of the way I am, I still leave reviews. It only takes a minute!
The only time I don't review is if I've not liked the first chapter and have decided not to carry on.
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^ oh that bugs me even more! When authors only reply to certain people but not everyone. And it's interesting you said that if they update too often you'll wait as well, Steph. I never thought of that but I can see that being overwhelming as well. If things are being updated more than once a day and it's hard to keep track of what you read and what you would still have to read. LOL
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I also never look at the read count because I know that doesn't really mean a thing. People could be clicking on the story and then straight back out again. I've done that before.
Something else that I saw mentioned was pity reviews. I wouldn't want them either, lol. Although reviews are nice and we all like them, I wouldn't beg for them. In fact, I have a hard time even promoting my stories as I don't like pushing things onto people.
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^ oh that bugs me even more! When authors only reply to certain people but not everyone. And it's interesting you said that if they update too often you'll wait as well, Steph. I never thought of that but I can see that being overwhelming as well. If things are being updated more than once a day and it's hard to keep track of what you read and what you would still have to read. LOL
That bugs me, too, and I've done the same thing - held off on reading a story because it was updated multiple times a day, and it got to be too hard to keep up with, unless I was home all day and reading chapters as soon as they were posted. But that takes some dedication; I usually don't have time for that. It's easier to just wait till it's done and read it all in one shot, so I don't have to keep trying to figure out what chapter I left off on.
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^ hence the somewhat selfish reason I review. LOL. To remember where I left off. That sounds bad, but really I want to review anyway, it just helps me out to leave the review too.
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I don't like when someone says "I won't update until I see more reviews". You should write for fun and not to please people. I also don't like when someone responds to some reviews and not others, its a big turn off for me when I'm reading.
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I don't like when someone says "I won't update until I see more reviews".
This!!! Huge pet peeve of mine too. That shit just makes me not want to keep reading, let alone review. Luckily none of the authors I like do that.
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^ me three! It's just as a bad as begging for a pity read. Yes, I know let me threaten my readers...that'll work! LOL None of the authors I read d that either. I would never read something by someone who did something like that.
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LOL I love how this is turning into a fanfic pet peeve thread. I am enjoying the peeving! LOL
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I hate that too! Luckily I've not come across it here, or if people are doing it here, they aren't stories I read. But over on another site some of them did it. It really annoyed me and made me not want to read.
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I am guilty of doing that with ONE story. Back when I decided to try writing Wulf's Bane as an original fiction I didn't want to continue writing it as a fanfic and try to change it if no one was reading. It's the only story I've EVER said that on and it was only because I didn't want to stop writing it if someone was really out there reading and waiting, because I was stopping it not because I was going to. LOL. To me it wasn't review or I'll stop .. it was tell me through e-mail or review that you are reading and I will continue it for you. Maybe you all don't see that instance as different but I did.
I would never do that with any of my other stories or I wouldn't have any posted. LOL!!!
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I think that's a different situation Lore and completely understandable . It's when writer's are getting reviews but want more and are shamelessly bribing their readers, then that's not really very nice.