Hi.
Can anyone guide me, if I turn off my story voting, what does this do to my steady progression to 'Premier for writers' status?
Currently I'm at 710k posted, but only 491k when adjusted for the imapact of votes.
Would I suddenly pass the 500k with the submitted amount, or is there some other modifier?
Thanks for the input.
When you go - Home - Author's / Editors - Show stats (button) -
You have the statistics for your stories and one column shows the size of the stories and adds them up, and also adds up the amount that counts towards the 'free' premium membership account and also has columns on downloads scores etc. Below the columns are some notes, one of which is note 4:
This number is the size of text qualifying for premier service. If it is over 500, then you should be getting premier service on the site, or you will after your next post. It's calculated from the regular size and the score. Better quality stories are worth more. Stories with multiple authors are divided among all the authors.
Only a percentage of the story size counts to the free account, but it is multiplied by the score for that story. If the voting is turned off none of the story size for that story counts towards the free account figure. So if you turn scoring off on all your stories you'll never get a free account, if you turn it off for some stories it will take a little longer to get a free account.
My figures are for 30 stories are: Total size 8203 (6016) - and I have a lot of high scoring stories.
yes, I did experiment by turning the scoring off and back on and watch the note 4 size change up and down.
You want scoring on for multiple reasons. Not only what Ernest said (you won't get a premier membership with scoring turned off), but different screens use the score, such as the Category Search. So if you don't have a score, you won't show up in the Category Search results.
Don't let the scores bother you. The authors on SOL are not professionals, but either are the "critiquers" (is that a word for someone who does a critique?). I see stories rated very high that are crap. I see stories rated low that aren't as bad as the score.
As a reader, I don't use the score to decide what to read. As an author, I just shrug.
As a reader I go through the following steps in deciding what to read:
1: The descriptive paragraph or blurb given by the poster.
2: The codes provided with or without explanations used by the author.
3: Do I know the writer's work from previous stories?
4: Size of the story
5: Scores if I still can't decide, which is rare.
6: final test the first page or chapter of the story.
I am crushed. Is there any place on your list for a review for the story? There seems to be room for any review between items five and six. Of course most reviews are for stories that have fairly high scores. The reviewer usually likes the story so he can recommend it.
Another possible data point would be mention here on the Forum.
Is there any place on your list for a review for the story?
I have never used a review.
I very seldom look at reviews and usually they are on the stories I have already started reading. I have said before that I am a bit on the strange side.
I am crushed. Is there any place on your list for a review for the story? There seems to be room for any review between items five and six. Of course most reviews are for stories that have fairly high scores. The reviewer usually likes the story so he can recommend it.
I think the issue is the dearth of reviews at the site. Only a tiny number of stories are ever reviewed, and those that are tend to be those which are already recommended elsewhere (top 100 stories list, or otherwise already highly rated). Thus few readers base their story selection criteria on reviews.
@Switch
That's why authors should spend more time on the title. One technique is an eye-catching title. Another is one that gives an insight into the story.
If there's one thing that drives me up a wall, it's the huge number of stories based on some girl's name, which gives no indication of what the story's about, the tone or what to expect. How the hell do I know whether I'll like a story called "Suzie"? I've always considered such tactics as lazy storywriting. If you can't think of a name, just use the name of the secondary character (the one the primary character is chasing). There are plenty of successful books which are named after a specific character, but in those cases, it was a more thoughtful process, often with more distinctive names that make the book easier to find and remember.
I was surprised at how many had the title and author's name dominant on a rather plain cover.
Because I'm a member of Goodreads.com, I get lists of all the books my contacts at the site are reading, and I'm always struck at the wide variety of covers. These aren't just the books that the established publishers prefer, but those recognized by readers as being exceptional books. But the covers range from rich imagery, to plain, to rough drawings to dark images. However, despite the wide variety of covers, most are quite striking, in one way or another. So while the particular style of cover doesn't matter much, I still say it's an important factor.
Overall, I'd have to agree, the cover doesn't seem to mattter much ... except when you're fighting for shelf space in a crowded bookstore. In that case, the cover (and title) are essential, as it's the only reason someone might even pick up the book to glance at it. If you have a poor or uninspired cover, you'll never make any sales!
Thus few readers base their story selection criteria on reviews.
I makes use of the reviews, but as you mention only a small percentage of the total stories have been reviewed so my main method is-
1 the main page (stream). I've actually found quite a few good stories from the Random story listing and a few from the authors blog.
2 The Top Downloads & Recent top scores links for Complete stories.
3 Other stories by an Author I've read and enjoyed previously.
From those I'm looking for;
1 complete stories
2 longer stories (100kB+)
3 an interesting Title and/or blurb
4 any reviews
5 scores of around 6+
6 the tags to see if there's anything there that I don't want to deal with. If it's mentioned in the blurb as off screen or only in passing then I won't worry about a tag that doesn't do it for me.
If it's got every tag under the Sun listed I just don't bother with the story, no matter how good the score or review (unless it's an exceptional review).
2 longer stories (100kB+)
I usually go the opposite way, such as, less than 200kb
I haven't seen anyone mention author favorites or whatever it's called when an author flags another author's story.
EDITED TO ADD
I guess the author's favorite is another kind of review.
I haven't seen anyone mention author favorites or whatever it's called when an author flags another author's story.
Author's favorites have a similar problems to reviews. Authors will typically list their favorite stories, and then never update their list, so people have learned not to search them. If they were regularly updated, more readers might consult them.
If they were regularly updated, more readers might consult them.
Maybe they need to show a last Updated Date with them.
I almost always look at the favorites listed, sometimes when I am considering reading a story by an author I know almost nothing about. His tastes in stories and authors can give an insight into what his stories might be like. If you like the stories he recommends there is a reasonable chance you will like his stories as well.
The other good point is that by looking over what a particular author has recommended you may find an author who has other good stories that you otherwise might not have found. Not all good stories are on the various top fifty lists. In part you can tell authors pick different stories than the general voting readership because the authors top 50 had differences from the other top 50 lists.
Information is where you find it. I wouldn't turn down a useful piece of information just because it was recommended by an author I wasn't familiar with.
There are a lot of reviews on SOL. You can go back in time and look at reviews from early in the history of the site. Reading reviews by Celeste can be fun even if you have no intention of reading the stories she is talking about.
You can go back in time and look at reviews from early in the history of the site.
When I first came to the site, that was how I found most of the stories I first read.
Authors' favourites are great for looking at stuff your favourite author enjoys, meaning you might enjoy it too. However, they are too well hidden. You have to go through all the alphabetical authors lists and click favs.
Dear Lazeez, perhaps the authors' favourites could be linked to from the home page? Newest first or perhaps only the newest 50? That would give this feature more visibility and impact. Just an idea.
Argon
I haven't seen anyone mention author favorites or whatever it's called when an author flags another author's story.
I'd forgotten about that one.
I check it out every 4-6 months or so.
I haven't seen anyone mention author favorites or whatever it's called when an author flags another author's story.
I often look at an unfamiliar (to me) author's favorites. Very good indicator of themes the author likes, albeit not a very strong indicator of the author's writing ability.
bb
One of the top fifty lists is based on author's favorites. Its different than the top 50 by score, and some of the differences are helpful to find good stories that some people one bomb or otherwise don't recognize superiority, where actual authors do.
6: final test the first page or chapter of the story.
For me, this actually moves up to #3 on your list.
However, as a premier member, I don't have to worry about exceeding my daily allowance. So I can sample the beginning of a story and move on to the next if I don't like it. I've heard that's not the case for a regular member and they need to be more selective.
Something not on your list that I use is the title.
Titles can sometimes be very similar so they don't come into the process that often. I admit my process is built on sol is built around the regular membership status. That is my little quirk or problem.
Although some one has been very nice and made a gift to me of 3 months premium, my habits will probably affect my usage of that privilege.
I did send a note of thanks however to Laz. He said it wasn't from him or his people. I sent a follow up stating the thanks had been earned by his gift of a great site.
Titles can sometimes be very similar so they don't come into the process that often
That's why authors should spend more time on the title. One technique is an eye-catching title. Another is one that gives an insight into the story.
When authors talk about how important the cover is on Amazon, I shrug. They come up with complex pictures where you can't even read the title, especially as a thumbnail. So I believe, unless it's an author with a recognizable name (e.g., Stephen King, Rowling), it's the title that should get their attention.
I did some google searches the other day looking for the top novels of 2015 (Amazon, NYT, etc.). I was surprised at how many had the title and author's name dominant on a rather plain cover.
The authors on SOL are not professionals, but either are the "critiquers" (is that a word for someone who does a critique?)
"Critics" maybe.
Sorry about the thousand duplicate posts. The system froze and I was pounding on the "Post" button, trying to get it to respond for about seven minutes. I'd just copied the post comments, intending to refresh and reenter it, when it suddenly went through.
Damn technology! :(
I can't see the point of turning off voting, some people are not going to like a story no matter how good (or indeed bad) it is. If anything a story which hasn't allowed a vote will be ignored by me anyway as I wonder what they have to hide. Other than that the score rarely is a factor in choosing what I read if the description intrigues me.
I can't see the point of turning off voting, some people are not going to like a story no matter how good (or indeed bad) it is. If anything a story which hasn't allowed a vote will be ignored by me anyway as I wonder what they have to hide. Other than that the score rarely is a factor in choosing what I read if the description intrigues me.
Turning off voting seems to have more to do with the author's preoccupations, rather than the overall scoring. A few authors become obsessed with votes, especially if a story starts slow, or builds over time. Since they get caught up in checking the scores time after time, they find it easier to simply turn it off until they've established a 'core audience', and then turning it back on.
Such a practice is dangerous for newbie authors--who risk losing a premium membership or turning readers off because of it--but isn't as risky for established authors who readers already recognize.
It's also used occasionally be authors who feel a particular story hasn't gotten a fair reception.
Like QM, I do let scoring affect my choice of stories. Maybe that makes me miss a few good ones, but it also avoids a lot of pure crap. I suspect that a lot of authors who turn off voting do so because they're pissed about the scores they've been given. Usually, there's a good reason for those low scores. I choose stories by the author, the blurb, the codes and the score. I also check the author's page to see if it is filled with the dreaded yellow stripe. That's a deal-breaker immediately. Scores do count because, I think, most of us readers hate to give a low score; we know the effort put into writing a story. But drek is drek and should be recognized as such.
