Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.
Since this is the end of the first month of posting, I crunched numbers this weekend. As of this morning, you have downloaded my stories 17,907 times, and they have received 317 votes, which is a vote/download ratio of 1.77%. The highest rated stories are "On My Own Terms" and "The Student," which is interesting as both of them were the least downloaded. The average score of all my stories is 6.78.
What does all this mean? While not statistically significant, SOL scores are used to rank stories on the site. With an average score of 6.78, mine do not appear in lists of better stories. Other authors are getting higher scores, so I need to get better. Well, doh.
And that's where the string of "Thank You" above comes into play. For whom am I writing? The c.17k nonvoters? The 317 votes? My followers, love you all? Or myself? The answer was myself before this experiment, so that no longer applies. Which means now… Well, it's all of you. I mean, just shy of 18,000 people have downloaded my stories! Maybe they didn't like them, maybe they did. Maybe they never even read them. But at least they saw them. So, you know what? I am going to keep at it.
And that means a super "Thank you!" to all my followers and those of you kind enough provide constructive criticism. Even those of you unkind enough to negatively comment remind me I cannot please all the people all the time. I'm okay with that. It may be smut, but I write about complex people in complex relationships making complex decisions.
As such, Laura and Dave's twisting journey into darkness and beyond, "Owning My Image," is on track and I will continue to post chapter clusters as they pass final review. That looks like five more Thursdays, ending just before Thanksgiving. Likewise for "Aiden and the Ring." I have the next four chapters prepped for posting, which will take us through about the same time next month.
That may be all from me for a while since November is National Novel Writing Month and I am writing a sexy, sci-fi romance story. I have only this week to complete world-building and character development. Then it's on to crank out a 50k rough draft about a naïve super-soldier and the space princess/corporate woman who loves him. I love 'em both, because…. Well, that's what I do.
So, another massive thanks to all of you who take the time and effort to provide encouragement and positive feedback.