How appreciated are the readers' reviews to you Efiction authors?

[Guest The Nature Nut]

While scanning through the Efiction stories, I noticed that while the read counts on many of them were often over 100 there were few reviews (or lots of reviews given by the same five people). When I've read the authors' responses to those reviews they seemed extremely appreciative to get feedback. Maybe there should be a mechanism to encourage people to give authors feedback. Or is there already? How do you authors feel about getting reviews on Efiction? How could readers be encouraged to give them?

[Altimexis]

One of the things I miss about my days as a new and then a promising author is the feedback I got from the reviews. Authors love to hear from their readers. Well, most of us do. There was one time when I left a review for a story that was poorly written and formulaic, but rather than write that the story was total crap, I took the time to write a thoughtful, critical review in which I pointed out the 'opportunities' to make the story better. The author reacted by removing and then re-posting the story to effectively delete my review, and then he wrote a review absolutely trashing my most recent story and rating it a one (half-star). Needless to say, I reported his obvious abuse and his review was removed. That was the exception rather than the rule. Most authors love feedback, be it praise or constructive criticism.

 

I wish there were a similar review system for the hosted author stories. I guess the feeling is that once an author is fully hosted, they no longer need critical feedback. It's frustrating, however, when an author takes the time to set up a forum entry for their latest story, links to it from the story announcement and provides a direct link to it at the end of each story segment, only to have no one leave any feedback. Having a dozen views of a story forum, only to have no one leave any comments of their own is worse than having someone leave a negative review.

 

The rating system for eFiction is another thing that I find helpful, but wish there were a way to make it more honest than it is. Most people who leave a review don't rate the stories, which leaves one to wonder if they're trying to be polite and abstain rather than grading the story at less than a 9 (4-1/2 stars). The rating inflation is so rampant that when I do see a story with only 3 or 4 stars, I tend not to read it. Seriously, how many stories really rate a 9 or 10? God forbid a eFiction story should get only three stars! If a story actually gets a one or two star rating, the author might as well pack up and post their stories at Nifty instead. I wish there were a mechanism for making 3 stars the norm for a typical story, with 4 stars being reserved for stories that are truly well above average and two star ratings being perfectly acceptable for a story that could use improvement.

 

The worst thing a reviewer can do is tell an author a story is great when it isn't. How else can an author learn to be a better authors, after all?

[Skylights]

I appreciate readers' reviews quite a bit. Needless to say there are several people who post frequent reviews to my stories...but nonetheless there are many other new reviewers every once in a while. I find that as a story increases in the amount of chapter numbers, I'll get new reviewers.

 

Reviews are great but i don't think you're going to encourage readers to post them in anyway. Many like to remain anonymous and don't feel a need to tell the author what they think even if it's a short sentence. I get over 1000 hits on a chapter but maybe 6-10 reviewers with some of them being regular reviewers and at first this annoyed me but I've learned to suck it up. lol. But when I posted on nifty I did get a lot more feedback.

 

I think one problem could be the separate accounts required for efiction and the forum but even that not so much.

 

Readers just aren't going to review. Reviewing is the exception, not the norm.

[Nephylim]

I live for reviews... well maybe that's an exageration but I do check my account several times a day and get ridiculously excited when I get a review. I apprecaite bad reviews just as much as positive ones and the best of all are the constructive ones which get me most excited of all.

 

I have to admit to feeling demoralised when there are no reviews for ages but, like Skylights says you just have to 'suck it up' It sucks though. It sucks even more when no one visits the discussion thread. My characters are so real to me it would be awesome to have someone want to talk about them. I am eternally grateful to NightOwl for his encouragement on Enigma. Meh...

 

As for the rating system. As a reviewer it's not that I don't feel a particular story is worth a review it's mostly that I just don't remember

[Riley Jericho]

I completely agree with Nephy. I mean it's completely undermining for the rest of us that she has 140 reviews for Enigma! I mean, how unfair is that....thank goodness it's come to an end, even though I'm gonna need to add a couple of more reviews! Damn!!

 

No - kidding aside - I love to get reviews too, and I'm trying to be better at giving them. Whilst its nice to know that thousands are reading the chapters, a written review really hits the spot in showing appreciation for the work you've put in. I think it's actually quite hard to give a good constructive review though, particularly if you want to say more than 'that was good'. Even harder if you want to suggest things that might benefit the story or help the author to write better. Perhaps there could be a 101 class on review writing?

 

Review or discussion thread. I guess the odd comment dropped onto an ongoing thread doesn't really define it as a good discussion...maybe that's why I agree with Neph on that too. A few of us are looking to start a proper discussion on someone's work - a bit like a book club. That will be better.

 

But how to encourage more to write reviews and not just read? Somehow, I think this has to be addressed as it has to be a core of a site like Gay Authors. There are plenty of places (like Nifty) where readers can go and read to their hearts delight - but GA is meant to be more than that. It's a place where authors who are learning can get help from those with more experience too. And I count myself amongst the learners who would love to hear more from those who have been doing this for years.

 

Of course you can't force people to review, but maybe there should be some benefit for reviewers - maybe they get to see the next chapter before all others?

 

Who knows.....maybe I'll get a review for the above?

Riley

[Mark Arbour]

This topic recurs every six months or so. Yeah, it's nice to get reviews, but people don't usually take the time to write one unless they are avid reviewers or unless the story they read really has an impact on them. When I was posting on e-fiction, I was just like Nephy: I lived for reviews. Still, I didn't really use those to gauge whether or not my stories were successful. For that, I focussed on the readership data. To me, the number of "reads" a story gets is the most telling factor. People don't have to review a story, but if they read it, it gets counted.

 

Once you're hosted, you lose that data (although I think Myr's working on it) and the review system (there's still the review system on the story archive), but instead you get a forum. I love mine! I think the key to getting feedback in your forums is having awesome readers who enjoy talking about your story and your characters. If it's interesting, the stories and the forum, they'll post.

[Cia]

I think a big key to getting reviews/comments on a story is how prominent you are on GA. Not necessarily those in charge, but those who post stories, comments, topics... I had a ton of reviews for Honor and most of them were from people I 'knew' from chat and such. That doesn't necessarily seem fair but I think the act of leaving a review is more for the person than the story most of the time for readers. Just what I've noticed from e-fic myself. I will often leave reviews but it has to be a good story to get me to comment in the forum topic as well, otherwise sometimes it is just too much effort. I'm a lazy soul

[Mark Arbour]

I think a big key to getting reviews/comments on a story is how prominent you are on GA. Not necessarily those in charge, but those who post stories, comments, topics... I had a ton of reviews for Honor and most of them were from people I 'knew' from chat and such. That doesn't necessarily seem fair but I think the act of leaving a review is more for the person than the story most of the time for readers. Just what I've noticed from e-fic myself. I will often leave reviews but it has to be a good story to get me to comment in the forum topic as well, otherwise sometimes it is just too much effort. I'm a lazy soul

 

That's a really good point Cia. I think that if you, as an author, get involved with people, they will get more involved with your work.

[Young Sage]

That's a really good point Cia. I think that if you, as an author, get involved with people, they will get more involved with your work.

 

Interesting. I, too, am a reviewaholic. The thing I'm doing on my story's forum thread is letting people ask my characters any question they want (even if it has nothing to do with the story whatsoever, such as favorite color), and I'm letting the characters themselves answer them (aka: me answering the questions in-character). People seem to love it (and Nephylim apparently seems to love it a bit TOO much ). NightOwl said it helps him relate to the characters when he reads them in the story itself. That's how I (and my characters) am getting involved with people outside of just posting chapters.

[Cia]

That is a hugely popular technique that JR Ward uses on her website and forums as well Young Sage. I've found that her characters seem alive, not only in the books but in her readers interactions because of it. Sometimes she has multiple characters interacting in a thread, both with each other and with the readers which is simply hilarious. It's a great way to get people involved in your stories intimately and also makes you really flesh the characters out. You just can't forget the details if the information comes up in later chapters

Edited June 3, 2010 by Cia

[Young Sage]

If a question is asked that actually WILL impact the story, then I try to have my characters sidestep it (or flatout lie, and I do warn my readers to take what I say with a grain of salt; they've learned this the hard way ). The story in its entirety has already been written out, so I know what goes into the story and what doesn't. Most people ask things that won't reveal future plot points. As of right now, my main characters still mostly hate each other, so when answering questions in the thread, if they bicker at each other long enough, the "interview session" will end in them "engaging in non-homoerotic wrestling on the floor." Then I myself have to break it up and/or end the session. Great fun. Since my characters are basically a**holes, that means I get to act like an a**hole to everyone reading, and I can always pin the blame on my characters. Most of the information I give out I'm making completely on the fly, but still with that particular character in mind, so it always makes sense, like "Duh! Of course that's what he likes/does/feels/etc.!" Since the info is new to me too, I feel like I'm learning a lot about my own characters, whom I solidly established in my head three years ago.

 

To actually get back on topic, the longer and more thoughtful/complex the review is, the harder more appreciative we authors get. I've been known to slip a shout-out to long-time reviewers every now and then. Maybe that can be an incentive, especially coming from the mouths of prominent authors?

[Nephylim]

Interesting. I, too, am a reviewaholic. The thing I'm doing on my story's forum thread is letting people ask my characters any question they want (even if it has nothing to do with the story whatsoever, such as favorite color), and I'm letting the characters themselves answer them (aka: me answering the questions in-character). People seem to love it (and Nephylim apparently seems to love it a bit TOO much ). NightOwl said it helps him relate to the characters when he reads them in the story itself. That's how I (and my characters) am getting involved with people outside of just posting chapters.

 

 

Is it possible to love something TOO much AND I stole the idea and put it on the Enigma thread, not that I am expecting it to be anything like as successful

[Riley Jericho]

Here's a question:

If you write a review, do you expect the author to respond to it, and go back to look. And if he/she doesn't, does that come across as being rude?

Riley

[KJames]

Here's a question:

If you write a review, do you expect the author to respond to it, and go back to look. And if he/she doesn't, does that come across as being rude?

Riley

 

I'll apologize to all the authors I read, right now, and say that I don't always review or e-mail them with prodigious expressions of deepest appreciation for their well woven fictional entertainments.

That being said (it could've been easier: I enjoy your stories very much) I read every e-mail I get (even junk before I delete it) and appreciate responses to my reviews and e-mails, but I also understand if they don't have time to respond to each e-mail or review individually. Some authors are motivated by them, and some are disappointed if they don't get any feedback at all...one is locally located...and I can understand why. There's a certain amount of time and effort involved in writing (which is why I never wrote well in school) in order to get it 'just right' before you let it go, so--for some of them--responding would take too much time away from the 'art' they're involved in.

 

If I were to use Comicality as an example--and I think, a fine one--he says that he responds to each e-mail personally, at least he has to mine. But it takes him time--he's said that he gets over 500 e-mails a day (and I beleive him, I get around 75 and I don't write, yet)--he's also got his chat group, his writing, and e-mailing those off to his editors and proofers as well, and he's doing it all from webTV--not from a PC! I've even chatted with him, although I don't remember if it was here, or on Yahoo...but he does all that on top of working regularly! I told him as much that I don't expect him to rush to respond to me personally, and to use the time to write...save the responses to my story reviews or questions for when he's doing some responses in the forums and answering a whole bunch of other stuff as well.

[Skylights]

I answer most of my reviews. And my response is usually longer than the review itself . I'm a bit gobby.

[Nephylim]

I write a response to every single review I get... although I have to admit that for some reason some of them disappear between the writing and the posting. And I always go back and look at the stories I review. But I don't 'expect' and author's response and I don't think it's rude not to respond. I'm too hot and tired to explain why

[Hamen Cheese]

I've read about 20 novel-length stories here (or by authors here) and wanted to post a review on some of them but I didn't want to make an account (perhaps because of denial? shame?).

 

Maybe it might encourage some people to review if there was an option to post a review anonymously?

 

I know though if I was a writer here, I'd like to hear reviews even if some might be posted anonymously. Perhaps they can have their own separate anonymous rating score.

 

Or would that be counterproductive to the whole coming out process?

 

Just a thought.

[Forty-Two]

The rating system for eFiction is another thing that I find helpful, but wish there were a way to make it more honest than it is. Most people who leave a review don't rate the stories, which leaves one to wonder if they're trying to be polite and abstain rather than grading the story at less than a 9 (4-1/2 stars). The rating inflation is so rampant that when I do see a story with only 3 or 4 stars, I tend not to read it. Seriously, how many stories really rate a 9 or 10? God forbid a eFiction story should get only three stars! If a story actually gets a one or two star rating, the author might as well pack up and post their stories at Nifty instead. I wish there were a mechanism for making 3 stars the norm for a typical story, with 4 stars being reserved for stories that are truly well above average and two star ratings being perfectly acceptable for a story that could use improvement.

 

The worst thing a reviewer can do is tell an author a story is great when it isn't. How else can an author learn to be a better authors, after all?

 

I find the rating inflation very frustrating too. It's as if all the stories here are rated 1/1. If there's no way to encourage people to be more critical with their ratings by setting guidelines or something, maybe the ratings system should just be removed all together since as it stands it's not really doing much.

 

 

Of course you can't force people to review, but maybe there should be some benefit for reviewers - maybe they get to see the next chapter before all others?

 

It would be awesome if some kind of incentive like this were initiated.

 

 

I think a big key to getting reviews/comments on a story is how prominent you are on GA. Not necessarily those in charge, but those who post stories, comments, topics... I had a ton of reviews for Honor and most of them were from people I 'knew' from chat and such. That doesn't necessarily seem fair but I think the act of leaving a review is more for the person than the story most of the time for readers. Just what I've noticed from e-fic myself. I will often leave reviews but it has to be a good story to get me to comment in the forum topic as well, otherwise sometimes it is just too much effort. I'm a lazy soul

 

I think is probably very true and the key to getting more reviews. The more you put yourself out there and the more friends you make the more people will respond to you. Personally I'm not very good at building and maintaining an active online social status, but I'm (slowly) trying to make my presence more well known to try and increase readership (an hopefully reviewership will follow).

 

 

Here's a question:

If you write a review, do you expect the author to respond to it, and go back to look. And if he/she doesn't, does that come across as being rude?

Riley

 

I don't think it's necessarily rude for the author to not reply, but as a reviewer I know I feel that if the author never replies, I feel he/she doesn't value my review as much as those who do reply and I am less likely to leave a review for that author if I read another of his/her stories. Personally I watch for reviews like a hawk and always reply, even if I have nothing better to say than thanks. The reader took all that time to read and review, the least I can do is give a quick response.

[John Doe]

While scanning through the Efiction stories, I noticed that while the read counts on many of them were often over 100 there were few reviews (or lots of reviews given by the same five people). When I've read the authors' responses to those reviews they seemed extremely appreciative to get feedback. Maybe there should be a mechanism to encourage people to give authors feedback. Or is there already? How do you authors feel about getting reviews on Efiction? How could readers be encouraged to give them?

 

I appreciate feedback. Actually I just want to know if people enjoyed reading my stories. As I don't know if a person just clicked on my story accidently and didn't even read to go back to the page they really waht to read. Haha.

 

One of the things I miss about my days as a new and then a promising author is the feedback I got from the reviews. Authors love to hear from their readers. Well, most of us do. There was one time when I left a review for a story that was poorly written and formulaic, but rather than write that the story was total crap, I took the time to write a thoughtful, critical review in which I pointed out the 'opportunities' to make the story better. The author reacted by removing and then re-posting the story to effectively delete my review, and then he wrote a review absolutely trashing my most recent story and rating it a one (half-star). Needless to say, I reported his obvious abuse and his review was removed. That was the exception rather than the rule. Most authors love feedback, be it praise or constructive criticism.

 

I wish there were a similar review system for the hosted author stories. I guess the feeling is that once an author is fully hosted, they no longer need critical feedback. It's frustrating, however, when an author takes the time to set up a forum entry for their latest story, links to it from the story announcement and provides a direct link to it at the end of each story segment, only to have no one leave any feedback. Having a dozen views of a story forum, only to have no one leave any comments of their own is worse than having someone leave a negative review.

 

The rating system for eFiction is another thing that I find helpful, but wish there were a way to make it more honest than it is. Most people who leave a review don't rate the stories, which leaves one to wonder if they're trying to be polite and abstain rather than grading the story at less than a 9 (4-1/2 stars). The rating inflation is so rampant that when I do see a story with only 3 or 4 stars, I tend not to read it. Seriously, how many stories really rate a 9 or 10? God forbid a eFiction story should get only three stars! If a story actually gets a one or two star rating, the author might as well pack up and post their stories at Nifty instead. I wish there were a mechanism for making 3 stars the norm for a typical story, with 4 stars being reserved for stories that are truly well above average and two star ratings being perfectly acceptable for a story that could use improvement.

 

The worst thing a reviewer can do is tell an author a story is great when it isn't. How else can an author learn to be a better authors, after all?

 

That's signs of a beginner writer. Very new writer. Every story is formulaic. EVERY STORY; no exceptions. It's how the writer writes that story that makes it distinct. Opinions should not be taken personally. Sometimes you get a comment or suggestion from a reader and yeah they have absolutely no idea what they are talking about and you can disregard those opinions/suggestions. As an author you should know your characters and story and if you hear a suggestion of redoing something, it usually means something was missing from the story telling and the people giving suggestions are giving suggestions because they can feel that missing piece. Most times they are wrong in their suggestions (but not in feeling) and sometimes are the right. It does sound better as they suggested. It's all about filtering and knowing what your story is about.

 

Honestly I read and don't put reviews. I'm a very busy person and I just can't focus long enough to write a review. Heck writing responses on the forums take me forever already. I don't even rely on the star rating. If a title of summary intrigues me I read the first chapter. If it's good enough for me, I'll read the rest if not I just continue on.

 

I've read about 20 novel-length stories here (or by authors here) and wanted to post a review on some of them but I didn't want to make an account (perhaps because of denial? shame?).

 

Maybe it might encourage some people to review if there was an option to post a review anonymously?

 

I know though if I was a writer here, I'd like to hear reviews even if some might be posted anonymously. Perhaps they can have their own separate anonymous rating score.

 

Or would that be counterproductive to the whole coming out process?

 

Just a thought.

 

The anonymous thing would be good too. I know a lot of my readers don't want to register to just review a story. They are lazy and I don't blame them. It's like the stupid membership cards at stores, Jebus every store has one now. "Hi, do you have a point card?" *rolls eyes* People are busy and some just want to read. They aren't critics and they shouldn't feel like they should give out reviews. If they do then authors like me appreciate the review. But I would never expect a reader to give a review. Do not get me wrong. I love getting reviews and/or people leaving forum posts but I understand that some people just want to read and then go on with their lives.

[Skylights]

@above post, tl;dr

 

but I agree with the reviewing anonymously bit .

It sounds like a great idea.

[Clovis]

I read heaps of stories and written loads of reviews, but I've never seen the rating of a story. Where is it?

And I've never had a forum about my stories... how do you do that?

And I never even think to look if the story I'm reading has a forum... so I've never been there.

And I spend too much time already reading and writing comments that are as useful as I can make them.

And I think there should be a box for casual readers to tick if they like it...

And, to expect a reader to write a review is like sending them back to school... spoils the reading experience.

And I love it when someone just tells me they like my story. I don't care if they dont 'review' it.

I always give a 10 rating if I like a story because I have no idea what the rating system is. And as I said above. I've no idea where this rating is displayed, so it means nothing to me.

And, I wish it was possible to post stories on e-fiction with the same formatting as on Word. I can't adjust the margins, can't have italics, can't underline, can't have para indents, I have to paste and then go through the whole thing, line by line to adjust it to make it readable. takes me about half an hour simply to post a chapter! No time left to browse the forums.

But! I'm very happy to have this place to post stories, I've met some really nice people, so thanks administrators!

[Hamen Cheese]

I read heaps of stories and written loads of reviews, but I've never seen the rating of a story. Where is it?

And I've never had a forum about my stories... how do you do that?

And I never even think to look if the story I'm reading has a forum... so I've never been there.

And I spend too much time already reading and writing comments that are as useful as I can make them.

And I think there should be a box for casual readers to tick if they like it...

And, to expect a reader to write a review is like sending them back to school... spoils the reading experience.

And I love it when someone just tells me they like my story. I don't care if they dont 'review' it.

I always give a 10 rating if I like a story because I have no idea what the rating system is. And as I said above. I've no idea where this rating is displayed, so it means nothing to me.

And, I wish it was possible to post stories on e-fiction with the same formatting as on Word. I can't adjust the margins, can't have italics, can't underline, can't have para indents, I have to paste and then go through the whole thing, line by line to adjust it to make it readable. takes me about half an hour simply to post a chapter! No time left to browse the forums.

But! I'm very happy to have this place to post stories, I've met some really nice people, so thanks administrators!

 

I don't see numerical ratings for the more recent stories. Some have stars in them that are supposed to represent the rating people put on it but for the most part, I ignore those. The archived ones have numerical ratings and I more or less used those to decide which stories to start reading first (like 9 up).

 

I think the efiction discussion forum is where you put a post on your story. I think the author specific forums are for hosted authors only. How you get to that point, I don't know.

 

Yes, sometimes being told they like your story does help a lot.

 

As for the formatting, I usually write in word and what I do is I paste it in the story box. Then, I click Preview Story which will covert the text in the box to the standard font type and size they use here. You'll notice though that at the very top of the preview, you'll see a bunch of mixed up codes that represent the format the text used in Word. I click preview again and it will preview the story without the code.

 

I haven't encountered problems yet with the text recognizing bold and italics when I paste it. Though I did have a problem initially with spacing because I used to place a space between paragraphs when I typed in word. When I paste it here, they come out as very large spaces in-between texts. Fixed that now though in Word.

[hh5]

Maybe we should allow them to at least rate the story.

 

But note the issue we do have if you make thing anonymous on the internet is that there are those who would spam or exploit the weakness of a website.

 

If you allow free rating or comments anonymous then they are force to enter a code to signify they are not someone who will exploit the website.

Even entering a code would discourage people to even Rate because it wasn't simple. But people don't think about the exploiters out there.

[zland666]

I love them, when I posted my first story the first thing I did was check for feed back and was super excited if I did get one either if it was from the same person or not but if I didn't it's kind of sad. The thing with my stories is I would like to know what people think of it so I'm not wasting my time posting it. The silent readers do keep me going either way because I was once a silent one too before I signed up and always wanting the author to keep posting the next chapters. So I know even though I don't get that many reviews I know somebody has to like them to get that many views. It is nice to get a review once in awhile it gives me motivation to finish the story.

[Kev de Cauchery]

Love reviews. If I don't get one I'll start to think the story isn't any good. (But then, even if I got one I'd still think it's not any good, anyway. )

 

Personally I'm not very good at building and maintaining an active online social status.

 

Not good at that either. A very bad e-friend myself. (And overall not good at building friendship in life either. )