ars
trash bin
- Joined
- Jan 29, 2019
- Messages
- 105
- Points
- 83
Soooo, while thinking about how to increase reader participation on SH, I remembered the most basic thing.
The easiest way to get feedback is to just remind people to do it.
I know that the youtube "Remember to like/comment/subscribe!" is a meme, but the reason why they do it is because it works! Asking someone to remember to leave feedback will increase the number of people who will do so.
I suggest that we include a small text box at the bottom of each chapter which just says something like, "Comments, favorites, ratings, and reviews are appreciated. Support your authors!" Just something that will make the reader feel nice if they interact with the author.
For personal anecdotes, when I was posting fanfiction on AO3, I was able to rack up huge amounts of feedback just by doing one thing: I left an A/N at the bottom saying "Feedback, comments, and kudos are super appreciated! ♥ ", which tells the reader that oh yeah, if you want the story to keep going, you should let the author know you're reading. I also replied to every comment so my readers knew that I was listening to what they were saying, making them feel a personal connection to the story.
On SH, I left an Author's Note on the bottom of my SSSC3 entry. I encouraged people to favorite the entries they enjoyed (including mine, of course). Some of the readers who didn't read the contest details might not have realized that just favoriting the chapter would have an impact, so it was important to mention that yes, please favorite if you enjoyed the story, it will help. Maybe because of this, my SSSC3 entry also had way more comments than any of my main stories (where I don't leave notes asking for feedback).
These small reminders go a long way, and I think that as long as this suggestion isn't too distracting on the page, it'll help motivate a few more readers to interact.
The easiest way to get feedback is to just remind people to do it.
I know that the youtube "Remember to like/comment/subscribe!" is a meme, but the reason why they do it is because it works! Asking someone to remember to leave feedback will increase the number of people who will do so.
I suggest that we include a small text box at the bottom of each chapter which just says something like, "Comments, favorites, ratings, and reviews are appreciated. Support your authors!" Just something that will make the reader feel nice if they interact with the author.
For personal anecdotes, when I was posting fanfiction on AO3, I was able to rack up huge amounts of feedback just by doing one thing: I left an A/N at the bottom saying "Feedback, comments, and kudos are super appreciated! ♥ ", which tells the reader that oh yeah, if you want the story to keep going, you should let the author know you're reading. I also replied to every comment so my readers knew that I was listening to what they were saying, making them feel a personal connection to the story.
On SH, I left an Author's Note on the bottom of my SSSC3 entry. I encouraged people to favorite the entries they enjoyed (including mine, of course). Some of the readers who didn't read the contest details might not have realized that just favoriting the chapter would have an impact, so it was important to mention that yes, please favorite if you enjoyed the story, it will help. Maybe because of this, my SSSC3 entry also had way more comments than any of my main stories (where I don't leave notes asking for feedback).
These small reminders go a long way, and I think that as long as this suggestion isn't too distracting on the page, it'll help motivate a few more readers to interact.