Surprising Success

[Dark]

As an author, it's hard to anticipate which story will become successful and which ones will crash and burn. Sometimes, it's just luck. I posted a whole bunch of older stories here after the transition to GAStories and I will admit to being surprised by the ones that have proven to be popular here.

 

For instance, I never expected The Seventh Wing to be one of the popular ones, whereas some of the stories I really like have seen relatively few hits. I think it has to do with the dragons. LOL. There does seem to be a strong Pern following here. Of course, my story doesn't hold a candle to The Rider's Pride, but I had different reasons for writing mine, I think.

 

What about you? As an author, is there a story in your collection that surprised you? Either by falling flat or becoming popular? Why do you think this is?

 

Do you, as a reader, agree with the author?

[Marzipan]

Well I was surprised that my Dragon POEM got more reads than my antho story. I personally like them equally as much yet it was a bit off a shocker. A poem to get more attention than a story in GA. I haven't checked up if the roles have changed lately

[Cia]

I never thought I could be a writer, period. I am, and always will be, a reader. That is my #1 love with fiction. Close second is working with authors on their works, it's just fun. Writing came after that and has slowly developed. I enjoy doing it and as long as that happens I will keep going. The first story I ever wrote, The Price of Honor, just came to me. I never thought I could write a full story, much less one that was 140k. Validation comes from everyone who reads and comments and I still get a thrill every time I realize that someone else views something that comes from my brain with the same delight that I get from reading.

 

I think the ultimate shock for me will be the day I get the books with my published anthology story though. To have an object I have revered my entire life have a story that I came up with and wrote is just flat out amazing. I'll always be grateful to those who encouraged me to keep writing in the beginning when I almost talked myself out of posting that first chapter.

[Johnathan Colourfield]

A story that surprised me was Lonely Differences when people just read it in a burst i was like wow it wasn't my best story but it was one of the most popular strangely