Hi everyone, newbie to the site here. I'm still poking around trying to figure out how it all works. I was wondering, how do you know when is the best time to post a new chapter? Are readers of certain genres more active at certain times? Or does it not matter? Thanks for your insights!
How do you figure out the best time to post something?
- Thread starter rlumayno
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TheEldritchGod
A Cloud Of Pure Spite And Eyes
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Sigh...
try searching next time.
ONCE MORE WITH FEELING.
The best time is subjective, just be consistent.
HOWEVER...
I have anecdotal evidence that the best time is 12:01 am local time so you have the maximum amount of exposure to the algorithm. To get the most amount of "hits", post once every three days for maximum return. But that's just my own systematic testing of the system. take it with a boulder of salt.
try searching next time.
ONCE MORE WITH FEELING.
The best time is subjective, just be consistent.
HOWEVER...
I have anecdotal evidence that the best time is 12:01 am local time so you have the maximum amount of exposure to the algorithm. To get the most amount of "hits", post once every three days for maximum return. But that's just my own systematic testing of the system. take it with a boulder of salt.
RepresentingEnvy
En-Chan Queen Vampy!
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The only acceptable answer.
ha okay, will do!
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Write 24×31 different stories, post the 1st chapter of all the stories at different hours of every day for one month
Compare the statistics.
now that is super scientific! :)
placeintime
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Ahh, can't answer the last two question because you just got to do a lot of testing for that. For your question about the best time, you also got to do some testing to. Try posting your chapters at different times to find the best time for you. Also, one thing to keep in mind is consistency and your feel. It's fine to test out for first week or two. But afterwards, you should pick a specific time to post consistently. ^w^
ha which I still have to figure out. I'm PST, but I've found (on social media) that sometimes it's better to post to EST peeps. So that's my big debate, which time zone to cater to.
Sylver
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Sounds like there's no wrong answer there. Experiment, try one time and see how it works, then try a different time. Just be sure to keep track of the results, and be wary of the risk of annoying your readers in the process. People prefer stability after all
TotallyHuman
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The best time is now. Ok, I'm lying the best time is year 1939 in Soviet Union but still
SurfAngel_1031
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I still don't know this answer, lol.
I have been posting for nearly a year. I just picked a good time for me to be able to watch in case something came up, and steady used that time since.
For my tiny side of the world, I have notticed M-W-F are my best days and sometime in the afternoon (Eastern Standard Time)
Suczka
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Ok I have seen you a few times on forum. I have to ask. Why do you want your story to be nuked? Is this some bet or a weird masochistic fetish?
(no kink shaming)
The problem lies in that, if you post each time a different chapter with different story, you get 24*31=744 samples but for each you have data from only one point in time. And the same chapter could perform differently if posted at different time.
Easiest solution would be to post the same chapter every hour of the month.
This on the other hand will get you data from only one sample but for 24*31=744 points in time of time. And one sample is hardly scientific. All you get from that is only when was the best time to post that particular chapter.
To be able to deduct "best time to post something" as per your question, you would have to have data from multiple samples.
As per quick search according to different sources the minimal sample size varies. Some suggests that 30 is enough. Other that 100 is a minimal value. Wikipedia has a table where values vary from 6 to 920 depending on type of research and desired accuracy of results.
So to be safe you could combine the two mentioned approaches and write 744 chapters of different contents and length and dump all of them every hour.
That will give you 744 samples and 744 data points for each sample.
But that gives you data only from one month. And the same chapters could perform differently in different seasons and around different holidays or events.
It is common knowledge that weather and amount of sunlight has an impact on persons mood. People might search for different types of stories while depressed by winters lack of warmth and sunlight, than when they are full of dopamine while sunbathing on a summer beach.
During school year and vacations people have different amount of free time and school/work related stress.
Important holidays like Christmas or Valentines day may have huge impact on which story will succeed.
And so on...
TLDR: to have most accurate and scientific answer to "How do you figure out the best time to post something?" I recommend to write 744 chapters across whole spectrum of genres and tags with various lengths, than post them all every hour of the year.
Hope that answer your question.
PS:
Oh and please remember that o make it scientific you need a control group of equal size as your testing group.
K5Rakitan
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I got bombed when I first published, so I figured it would be better to be at the very bottom than to have 2-3 stars.
TransCatGirl
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presumably not when you are asleep or about to fall asleep.
Let's assume that sooner or later something will go wrong with posting. Let's say it will take 15 minutes to notice and another 15 to fix. That means you want to post at the start of a 30 minute period where your not busy
You also want to be able to post at the same time of day, even if you start posting more regularly.
I don't know when you would get the best engagement, but does anyone?
Have I posted anything? no, so you can ignore me if you want.
Let's assume that sooner or later something will go wrong with posting. Let's say it will take 15 minutes to notice and another 15 to fix. That means you want to post at the start of a 30 minute period where your not busy
You also want to be able to post at the same time of day, even if you start posting more regularly.
I don't know when you would get the best engagement, but does anyone?
Have I posted anything? no, so you can ignore me if you want.
ElijahRyne
A Hermit that is NOT that Lazy…
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Short answer, there is no best time. Long answer, my theory is that you want your story to be on the top of the last updates lists for as long as possible. So find a time of day, on the most dead day story update wise of the week, where no one is updating and post then. But, keep in mind this is just a theory, a posting theory, thanks for reading!