When I first started posting on SOL, my scores were noticeably lower than what I was getting on other sites. Same stories, same writing, but the numbers here just didn’t match up. At one point I genuinely started wondering if the crowd on this site was just harsher for no reason.
Then I started limiting access, putting some of the work behind a paywall. And the ratings climbed. Not a little either, they moved much closer to the scores I see everywhere else.
I’m not saying this to complain. I’m actually curious.
Has other authors experienced the same thing?
Do fully open stories tend to attract more low-effort or drive-by ratings, while stories that require a bit more effort (login, payment, etc.) end up with a more invested group of readers?
I’d genuinely like to hear if this is a common pattern or if I just got unlucky early on.
Furthermore, should low-rating givers be forced to provide at least a sentence justifying the low score?
- Lila twitter/x: lilahartwrites