Another Noob Post...

SailusGebel

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Perhaps. I don't know too much about coding technicalities but that's probably true. Strangely, some stories repeatedly pop up in trending even though they aren't really that good.
I'm not that good either, nor do I know for certain about the algorithms, and I'm sure as hell don't want this thread to become another, 'let us guess how it works.' However, I'm sure that it's not about getting big stats anymore. Otherwise, we would get the same stories in trending all the time. Sure, we get a small pool of novels(30-50) that occupy trending right now, but that pool is changed every two-three months. And it's not so bad for those who are lucky enough to be chosen as they get one hell of a promotion.
 

Kitsura

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Here's some advice from someone with a decently sized reader base of 300. The way you can get to those high numbers(around 500-1000 people reading daily) then what you're going to need to do is release a chapter every day. I released a chapter everyday for my first fifteen or so chapters which got a lot of attention on my story to the point where I could finally slow down.

As for how to get those enormous numbers(1500< readers daily) that's lost on me. I've only gotten to 1000 readers once and it shot down to around 400 after a while. The only advice I can give on that would be for you to advertise the living hell then hope you get on trending, then hope again if even a fraction of those readers you got from trending stays cause 90% of time they don't and move on to the next thing. It's a combination of dedication, persistance, and insane levels of luck.

You want my real opinion, don't focus on numbers. I did on RR(RoyalRoad) and got burnt out insanely quick. Just work on your craft and then for your next project, or when you think you're ready, release something else or advertise the living hell out of your current story.
Tbh Idk how I have a novel with 2k and another with 900, I didn't do much advertising, I just mostly wrote until my fingers fell off.
 

RainingSky

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I have a story with a bit more then 500 readers and one that currently has 23, I don't really advertise them but I did in notice that consistency is the one thing that helps the most.

I don't have a neckreaking speed but I have a shedule I try to keep up.
 

lambenttyto

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The only advice I can give on that would be for you to advertise the living hell then hope you get on trending, then hope again if even a fraction of those readers you got from trending stays cause 90% of time they don't and move on to the next thing. It's a combination of dedication, persistance, and insane levels of luck.
Any tips of advertising?

Yeah, I have 18 fictions on Royal Road. I know all about not chasing the readers, haha. There's always hoping! And I'm surprised with the amount of readers I have on here. I only have 27 followers on RR for Oni Rōkura.
 

Ai-chan

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/me cautiously looks at the story list.
/me pumps fist in the air

GUTS! Pretty good for someone who hasn't updated for 2 years.
istockphoto-1331114159-612x612.jpg
 

Gryphon

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Any tips of advertising?

Yeah, I have 18 fictions on Royal Road. I know all about not chasing the readers, haha. There's always hoping! And I'm surprised with the amount of readers I have on here. I only have 27 followers on RR for Oni Rōkura.
I don't really got all that good advice on advertising, but you can make a signature and put your link to your story which will get people's eyes on it. Considering one person already recognized you from RR that means you got some decent recognition already, and since SH and RR shares similar niches, I'm sure there will be others here that recognize your story.

Here's the link to a post I made asking how to make a sig. One of the replies explains how to do it: https://forum.scribblehub.com/threads/how-do-i-do-a-signature-thing.8389/

From what most people will tell you about advertising here, the majority of times they'll say:

  • Post a story link on discord. SH has a discord with a self promotion thing on it.
  • Post story link on any social media you use.
  • Post your story on story feedback and latest chapter discussion if you want to self promote, though its not looked down upon if you self promote in other forums as long as you're not annoying about it. People here are pretty shameless in self promotion and I've seen some pretty creative ways of how people self promote.
Hopefully this helps. I'm kind of new to this site too and don't know everything so someone else might be able to give you a better answer than I can.
 

lambenttyto

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Considering one person already recognized you from RR that means you got some decent recognition already,
Presumably from RR.

I don't know about here, but I always felt that on RR the forums were where the writers spent time hanging out and talking rather than the readers.
 

Ai-chan

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Presumably from RR.

I don't know about here, but I always felt that on RR the forums were where the writers spent time hanging out and talking rather than the readers.
Your signature is too big. Any signature that is too big hurts the eyes and therefore give other users an extra incentive to disable signature viewing. This would hurt other authors who also use their signatures to promote their stories. The mods have been laxed in moderating signatures because they understand that authors do use it for promotion. Just don't make it too big and cause trouble for the rest of us.

As it is, your signature is 2000px wide and 1000px high. As you can see, most people show thumbnails of their cover instead of a extra size banner. You can get the thumbnail of your books by going to the main site, clicking 'Create' and copy-pasting the image link of the images there.

From 'Other' in Forum Rules:
No Videos and GIF's in your signature unless under a spoiler. Picture in signature should not be bigger than 200 px in height. Total height of your signature should not exceed 15 lines of 15px text.

Also, while it's not against the rules, why is your only promotional link point to the book outside the site when you have the book on this site? There have been people on novelupdates banned for that because he kept doing it despite being informed not to take advantage of the laxed moderation. While it's not in the rules yet, it can be made. Don't know if RR has such rule now, but there was a time when RR didn't allow linking out of the site.
 
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doravg

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My story has 56 readers, but I'm curious what that means. Is that number simply the amount of people who have clicked on it and read it, or are they actively following that story? When I go to my profile, it says I have 1 follower. So Readers/Followers. I assume followers are people who follow the author and will get updates on new stories, while readers get... chapter updates or, no?
Readers get chapter updates, while followers like your writing so much they follow all your stories. They only get a note when you post something new. Personally, I feel honored when something decides to follow. It means a lot to me that they give more than one of my novels a chance and keep on the look-up for my new ones.
 

lambenttyto

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Readers get chapter updates, while followers like your writing so much they follow all your stories. They only get a note when you post something new. Personally, I feel honored when something decides to follow. It means a lot to me that they give more than one of my novels a chance and keep on the look-up for my new ones.
I would call a person who follows your author profile a "fan" for sure.
 
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