Reviews and Comments

[mogwhy]

 

Hope these questions are ok to ask here. I’ve read close to 300 hundred stories, some more than once. And I have questions. Yes I can hear you, she always has questions. There is a reason my name is mogwhy. I’ve asked this question before and I was pretty much ignored. Writing comments and reviews is difficult for me. They all sound stupid too me. I’m willing to do it if authors want or its helpful in some way. Since I see authors in here that I respect and enjoy reading I would really appreciate your thoughts...

 

For comments: 
If a chapter has 10+ comments, do authors really want another? What about on stories that are old? Especially if the author hasn’t been to the site in 2+ years?

 

Reviews:
Is there something a review does for a story , other than making an author feel good? What about those stories whose authors don’t visit the site anymore? What about those stories that are older, written years ago?

 

Thanks

moggy

[Myr]

The simple answer is:

YES!

Most authors like to hear from people. Even if it is a very simple "I enjoyed this chapter".  or "I liked what Character X did in this chapter." 
Simply put, feedback is how we pay our authors.  Sure they write for their pleasure as much as ours, but feedback is the fuel that makes it worthwhile.  I know a LOT of really talented writers obviously and it is pretty much universal with everyone I chat with.  People are asking constantly "I didn't hear anything about this chapter.  Didn't anyone like it?"  I know of at least two authors that aren't happy we put likes on stories because it makes it too easy to just click a button and not write anything.  And they are prolific, to say the least. 

 

So yes, if you read something, find something to say.  I try to find silver linings even when I read a dud.  Letting the author know is how we tell them what we like.

 

For published authors, it's book sales. For us, it's feedback.  Comments. Reviews. 

[Myr]

12 minutes ago, mogwhy said:

Reviews:
Is there something a review does for a story , other than making an author feel good? What about those stories whose authors don’t visit the site anymore? What about those stories that are older, written years ago?

I realized I missed this.

We have a LOT of excellent older stories posted on the site.  Since they are not actively posting, people don't notice them.  Some authors are actually now deceased that have stories posted here.  Reviewing those stories helps other people find high-quality stories.  Good Examples: Stories by DomLuka are usually much loved by readers, but since he hasn't posted in 10 years now... new members aren't exposed to them via the system with updates.  But when such good stories get reviews, the reviews show up in the activity stream and bring attention to older works that are often well worth the read.

 

[Valkyrie]

19 minutes ago, mogwhy said:

 

Hope these questions are ok to ask here. I’ve read close to 300 hundred stories, some more than once. And I have questions. Yes I can hear you, she always has questions. There is a reason my name is mogwhy. I’ve asked this question before and I was pretty much ignored. Writing comments and reviews is difficult for me. They all sound stupid too me. I’m willing to do it if authors want or its helpful in some way. Since I see authors in here that I respect and enjoy reading I would really appreciate your thoughts...

 

For comments: 
If a chapter has 10+ comments, do authors really want another? What about on stories that are old? Especially if the author hasn’t been to the site in 2+ years?

 

Reviews:
Is there something a review does for a story , other than making an author feel good? What about those stories whose authors don’t visit the site anymore? What about those stories that are older, written years ago?

 

Thanks

moggy

What Myr said!  Yes, yes, yes!  I love reading comments, and the more the merrier. Even it's as simple as "I really liked this story" or chapter or poem.  It makes me feel good to know that someone enjoyed the story enough to comment.  I'm thrilled to get comments/reviews on older stories.  It makes me feel that the stories are still relevant and not just gathering dust in cyberspace.  

[LitLover]

I think Myr answered this very well. As an author I know I appreciate every comment I receive, regardless of how much is said. Even an "I enjoyed this" makes me happy to see. 

 

As for reviews on older stories: I've rooted out older stories I've enjoyed and would recommend to others.  The reviews will give me a chance to do that, and find others I may have missed based on other people's' reviews.  

 

I hope that helps  

[Brayon]

Like all the others before me, I love comments on my stories. Some, even give me a chance to expand on stuff or answer questions. I check periodically to see if I have any new ones when I haven't posted in a bit. Though, like Myr said, I have chapters that don't have comments, and I wonder if I just sucked really hard on that one.

 

My issue for me, that I'm working on is, I don't always leave comments. Typically this is on Completed stories. I do a Review, but I don't post chapter comments. I'm actually torn on that. If it's completed, does the author want me to say, "Oh, I hope Joe doesn't die from this! Joe has that amulet of resurrection." and in the next chapter, he's dead, with no hope of coming back. Because it's already written, do chapter comments really help?

 

Which is why I started doing the Reviews for completed stories, as they do help.

 

Having said all that. I am working on leaving more comments.

[Valkyrie]

11 minutes ago, BHopper2 said:

My issue for me, that I'm working on is, I don't always leave comments. Typically this is on Completed stories. I do a Review, but I don't post chapter comments. I'm actually torn on that. If it's completed, does the author want me to say, "Oh, I hope Joe doesn't die from this! Joe has that amulet of resurrection." and in the next chapter, he's dead, with no hope of coming back. Because it's already written, do chapter comments really help?

 

 

I love reading comments like your example, even for completed stories, because it lets me know how much the reader is invested in the story.  It also tells me if I foreshadowed correctly or left enough breadcrumbs for the reader to guess what happens next, or if red herrings I planted worked well enough to make the reader think of alternate possibilities.   So even on completed stories... comment away!  

[Headstall]

I also agree with Myr. He said it perfectly. YES!!

 

I always leave chapter comments... well... ever since I became a member. They are invaluable for so many reasons. First is the aid they can give in whether I, as a reader, decide to begin a story. I will admit if I check out a story and see its comments have dwindled to nothing as chapters wore on, I may bypass that one, if my time is at a premium.

 

I will speak for myself, as an author. Comments encourage me to continue working hard, because, as we all know, writing can be a lot of painstaking work. The research alone can be daunting. They also encourage me to improve. When there is a visible interest in a story, I feel a responsibility to making it the best story I can. Comments feed me, so I can feed the hungry birds who cheep, cheep, cheep for more, more, more.  

Edited August 20, 2017 by Headstall

[LitLover]

15 minutes ago, Valkyrie said:

I love reading comments like your example, even for completed stories, because it lets me know how much the reader is invested in the story.  It also tells me if I foreshadowed correctly or left enough breadcrumbs for the reader to guess what happens next, or if red herrings I planted worked well enough to make the reader think of alternate possibilities.   So even on completed stories... comment away!  

 

@BHopper2 I'm with Val on this. I love comments even after the story is complete.  It lets me know what I did right and what I might need to improve for the next story.  It's also a wonderful treat to come online and see that someone left a comment or review on an older story. It lets me reminisce about characters and stories. 

[LitLover]

13 minutes ago, Headstall said:

Comments feed me, so I can feed the hungry birds that cheep cheep cheep for more more more.  

 

  its symbiotic in a way. 

[mogwhy]

oh Gary (and the rest of the authors) 

 

i always seem to be a hungry reader. and i'll work on doing more reviews/comments

[Headstall]

3 minutes ago, mogwhy said:

oh Gary (and the rest of the authors) 

 

i always seem to be a hungry reader. and i'll work on doing more reviews/comments

     

[Myr]

Getting people to leave comments is one very important reason we insist that you only post one chapter at a time.  We have proven statistics that tell us that if you post two chapters at the same time, the first one will get no feedback and any feedback you get will be on the later one.   This is... marketing, basically.  Hook them and make them engage.

1 hour ago, LitLover said:

 

  its symbiotic in a way. 

This is exactly correct.  If you get in a good rhythm... you post often enough to get the feedback you need (and the begging for more) that drives you forward and they get satisfied with a new chapter.  Gay Authors will be 15 years old in just over a month... we've learned a few things over the years

 

@mogwhy is this enough feedback on your original post to see the importance most of the authors here have on feedback?

 

[mogwhy]

5 minutes ago, Myr said:

 

@mogwhy is this enough feedback on your original post to see the importance most of the authors here have on feedback?

 

 

considering the last time i asked, i got 1/2 of a post, this was much more informative. thanks to everyone for answering, i'm much more willing to put effort into making comments and reviews 

[Timothy M.]

One comment is worth a hundred likes - but all feedback is deeply appreciated, including reviews and posts in story topics.  

[Parker Owens]

4 minutes ago, Timothy M. said:

One comment is worth a hundred likes - but all feedback is deeply appreciated, including reviews and posts in story topics.  

 

A comment worth a hundred likes:

that's absolutely true -

what's more, a hundred comments (yikes!)

make up just one Review.

 

@Myr is right, of course. I need to write more of these....

Edited August 22, 2017 by Parker Owens
poor wording.

[Timothy M.]

18 minutes ago, Parker Owens said:

 

what's more, a hundred comments (yikes!)

make up just one Review.

 

I beg to differ. To me a review is worth about the same as a comment - and a long comment is more valued than a short review. But both are very much appreciated.

Unless you're thinking of a blog review featuring the story on the forum main page - then you might be right.  

[Headstall]

5 minutes ago, Timothy M. said:

 

I beg to differ. To me a review is worth about the same as a comment - and a long comment is more valued than a short review. But both are very much appreciated.

Unless you're thinking of a blog review featuring the story on the forum main page - then you might be right.  

I agree... comments are like gold to me... and fuel.... I have comments I will always treasure, and go back to time and again  

[MrM]

Each and every review is as precious as diamonds to me. I can never have too many. I work hard to tell my stories and each time I get a review I know someone cared enough to read my stories. What is more they cared sufficiently to comment!

 

I tell myself, sometimes, when I feel like I don't want to go on with this that even if my story only touches one person I've done my job.

 

Each review pushes me to continue on and to do better and unfold more ideas that come to me.

 

They are my energy that helps my imagination to continue to burn.

[Brayon]

I've noticed a trend on comments, and it was on a few that I looked at. I'll use my stories as an illustration. It's not just how well your story is, or if someone finds it ok enough to write a comment, BUT the Type of story seems to matter as well. For Example:

 

In 24-48 hours, my story called A New Life and a New Home gained over 23 reactions, and 4 user comments. It is a Drama/Romance story about 2 teens, and no sex.

In 24 hours a new chapter in Aeris - Guardian Force has gotten 10 reactions and no comments. This is the 11th chapter (Prologue + 10 chapters) in this story. Aeris is a SciFi story and has two other companion pieces which are stand-alone.

 

I forget how many Views the first story got, I think around 500, in that same window, but the new chapter has just over 180 views as of this posting.

 

So it seems, that not only if the commenter feels your story is worthy of a comment, but what type of story it is as well. I remember commenting on this, in a Group PM, back when I posted New Life/New Home. But, it's something others have noticed as well.

[Parker Owens]

On 8/22/2017 at 1:20 PM, Timothy M. said:

 

I beg to differ. To me a review is worth about the same as a comment - and a long comment is more valued than a short review. But both are very much appreciated.

Unless you're thinking of a blog review featuring the story on the forum main page - then you might be right.  

 

Perhaps I overstated my point. Still, a review is nice because it tells me the story as a whole moved the reader. And you're absolutely right about a blog review...  

[Sam Wyer]

I think enough people have made the point already, but I'm going to contribute anyway   As a new-ish writer, or at least one who doesn't feel 'established', comments, reviews, and frankly any feedback whatsoever is incredibly valuable.  It let's me know how other people receive and perceive what I'm producing, but it's also encouraging me towards writing more, or for example, sticking with that story where the central character actually turns out to be someone I don't really like very much.

 

Sam

[William King]

Statistics and feedback are the nice things to have. Feedback is provided for, statistics are not. There are no graphs of chapter views, likes, comments. You can get an idea of how many people read a story by the lowest number of chapter views and deduct say 10%. 

The feedback (for me) which is most important is a proper review of a completed book. A proper review? By this I mean something along the lines of the author on author critiques started by Renee. Not - I really liked this story - that is a comment, not a review. The star rating is not needed, it does nothing to enhance a review, imo. 

 

Chapter comments are really good when the story is being published, afterwards, when it's been around awhile, I don't think they do anything other than show you the book is being read. I actually prefer other sites where comments get emailed to you, because there you can engage in a one to one discussion.

 

I doubt you can satisfy everybody but if you do decide to make further improvements, then for me it would be statistics, however approximate. It would be great to see the best sellers, most popular in different genres, short, long stories, what's on the up, golden oldies, you get the picture.

 

Having said all this, things are fine as they are, I know it is much easier to talk about improvements than to actually have to do the complicated work involved in realising them.

[Brayon]

I'm thinking about asking the GA staff a feature request. No Chapter reactions without a comment. You want to click the like button, well you'll have to leave a comment first. part of me is thinking this would be good, but another is saying it's a very bad idea. Thoughts?

[LitLover]

5 minutes ago, BHopper2 said:

I'm thinking about asking the GA staff a feature request. No Chapter reactions without a comment. You want to click the like button, well you'll have to leave a comment first. part of me is thinking this would be good, but another is saying it's a very bad idea. Thoughts?

 

Unfortunately, some people only leave likes and aren't comfortable leaving comments or reviews  That was me for quite a while before I felt comfortable enough to leave a comment.  If forced, they might just read and leave without leaving a 'like' for the chapter.