Reflecting on the Year of stories as authors and readers

[W_L]

2025 is about to end, and a lot of us are doing reflections on what happened in the past year.

In connection to GA, I'm reflecting on my stories in the past year: 1 novel and several short stories, not a bad writing history personally-speaking.

From a stats perspective:

1. For my novel Essence of Life, Genre was Culinary Fiction and Romance, I'm averaging around 435 for total clicks to my single novel,

2. It's skewed towards the first chapter with 864 views (making it my most read chapter) and a low of 99 views for chapter 12 of 17.

3. Overall, my average per chapter view was 281, but without the 864 clicks from the first chapter, it goes down to 241 average clicks. 

4. Best read short story was Boy Behind the Lens, a HP fanfic, with 251 clicks

5. Worst read short story was the annual prompt anthology, A Frozen Exchange, Historical Romance, with 94 clicks

Anyone else have thoughts or stats they want to share

PS: No pressure, just thought it would be neat to share observations for how some of our stories panned out based on readers' tastes. Doesn't mean they're bad stories, A Frozen Exchange was probably my highest reviewed story, but I knew it didn't get a big audience; though people who read it liked the romance (Shows me that I can write a good love story, I just have to pick my own setting in the future). In contrast, Boy Behind the Lens was emotional and provocative with established characters, even though there were no reviews for it. 

Stats don't define your work, but they do tell you what people like to read without you asking them.

Edited December 30, 2025 by W_L

[Jason Rimbaud]

I only completed one story this entire year, a very experimental story told in journal form. It was not high on anyone's reading list. It was also my first and probably only foray into First Person POV. I think I averaged maybe 70 views per chapter. 

But the views don't make sense to me. I can't give you an average because my dumbass doesn't remember how to do the math. But let's say chapter two, had 90 clicks. While chapter 3 had 104 with chapter 4 at 70. The comments were pretty much 8 per chapter, so unless people are skipping chapters, the clicks seem to give me false data. 

I did wonder if you get another view if someone comes in to read the comments or respond to comments, that is the only thing that makes sense to me why certain chapters have so many more views than other previous chapters. Maybe one of the smarter people on this site, which is probably everyone, can explain this seemingly illogical view count. 

My current story Frosted Hearts is holding strong around 200 clicks/views per chapter, which is way more than I anticipated as it's not a romance story or well written. Its another experiment for me as I set out to write an entire novel in one month. I failed in that endeavor, I didn't get it all posted in December, though the story is complete and I'm currently posting with about 78,000K posted. I post every Monday. 

As you are talking about reflecting on 2025, I'm looking forward to my goals for 2026. First goal, have my Christmas story written and ready before November so I don't get stuck in this trap again. 

I am very curious about something else in regards to views. 

My story Tyler's Dilemma averaged about 1,500 views per chapter before the new restrictions came into play. I write only Mature content so I knew I was going to be hit from dwindling readers.

But is anyone else, that doesn't write Mature stories, seeing the same drop in numbers or did they stay the same for those between G and PG13 for lack of better descriptors? 

 

[W_L]

20 hours ago, Jason Rimbaud said:

I only completed one story this entire year, a very experimental story told in journal form. It was not high on anyone's reading list. It was also my first and probably only foray into First Person POV. I think I averaged maybe 70 views per chapter. 

But the views don't make sense to me. I can't give you an average because my dumbass doesn't remember how to do the math. But let's say chapter two, had 90 clicks. While chapter 3 had 104 with chapter 4 at 70. The comments were pretty much 8 per chapter, so unless people are skipping chapters, the clicks seem to give me false data. 

I did wonder if you get another view if someone comes in to read the comments or respond to comments, that is the only thing that makes sense to me why certain chapters have so many more views than other previous chapters. Maybe one of the smarter people on this site, which is probably everyone, can explain this seemingly illogical view count. 

My current story Frosted Hearts is holding strong around 200 clicks/views per chapter, which is way more than I anticipated as it's not a romance story or well written. Its another experiment for me as I set out to write an entire novel in one month. I failed in that endeavor, I didn't get it all posted in December, though the story is complete and I'm currently posting with about 78,000K posted. I post every Monday. 

As you are talking about reflecting on 2025, I'm looking forward to my goals for 2026. First goal, have my Christmas story written and ready before November so I don't get stuck in this trap again. 

I am very curious about something else in regards to views. 

My story Tyler's Dilemma averaged about 1,500 views per chapter before the new restrictions came into play. I write only Mature content so I knew I was going to be hit from dwindling readers.

But is anyone else, that doesn't write Mature stories, seeing the same drop in numbers or did they stay the same for those between G and PG13 for lack of better descriptors? 

 

I do agree with you that going the "Mature" route from being "Everyone" is going to drop clicks/readers, significantly. Readers may not like the heavy stuff in mature content.

When portraying a realistic workplace sexual assault and recovery of a female supporting character, Jasmine, I switched my rating for Essence of Life from "Everyone" to "Mature", clicks went from 300s range to 100s range. Writing foodie stuff is fun, but there are real problems behind the kitchen door that TV shows and reality series obscure, so I had to approach the real content with a mature rating. I know readers want to read the foodie escape fantasy aspects (I kept some of it, like mastering sugar sculpting isn't easy even for trained chefs), but grounded the story with things like misogyny from the minds of chefs, the depression and stress from service, immigration status of staff, and countless details that kept the story realistic. That made it a mature story by the end (Heck, I approached various cancers and end-of-life decisions, which definitely belong in the category of mature content).

But, like I said, lower clicks don't make a story bad, it's just a matter of readers' interest. From just cursory observation, I can tell a lot of my casual readers prefer an escapist plot that is still relatable. Core readers enjoy the hard-hitting stuff and deeper details.

[chris191070]

Most of my stories are short stories and i seem to average about 250 views.

[Jason Rimbaud]

5 minutes ago, W_L said:

(I kept some of it, like mastering sugar sculpting isn't easy even for trained chefs), but grounded the story with things like misogyny from the minds of chefs, the depression and stress from service, immigration status of staff, and countless details that kept the story realistic.

So when I first started in the industry, there was a lot of what you describe in professional kitchens. My first chef would kick me in the ass when he saw something he didn't like. He treated the girl servers like dirt, he used to hot plate them all the time. Which means you stick half a plate in the broiler, get it really hot, and then hand them that side. He also said sexual things constantly to them. 

But thirty years on, many of the chefs that grew up in that environment have worked hard to change that type of behavior. It's still there in pockets, but as a rule, things are miles away from that type of chef.

I know in my kitchen I don't tolerate any of that behavior. As crude as I am online, in my kitchen there are no sexual jokes, lewd behavior, or anything of the sort. You will find a bunch of swearing, mostly by me, but we are an open kitchen so we have to be on somewhat good behavior. 

As for your story, I read the description, and it sounds intriguing but I have a hard time reading about "restaurants", I also don't watch things like Kitchen Nightmare or that sort. But I am curious about the story, maybe I'll jump in.   

 

[W_L]

48 minutes ago, Jason Rimbaud said:

So when I first started in the industry, there was a lot of what you describe in professional kitchens. My first chef would kick me in the ass when he saw something he didn't like. He treated the girl servers like dirt, he used to hot plate them all the time. Which means you stick half a plate in the broiler, get it really hot, and then hand them that side. He also said sexual things constantly to them. 

But thirty years on, many of the chefs that grew up in that environment have worked hard to change that type of behavior. It's still there in pockets, but as a rule, things are miles away from that type of chef.

I know in my kitchen I don't tolerate any of that behavior. As crude as I am online, in my kitchen there are no sexual jokes, lewd behavior, or anything of the sort. You will find a bunch of swearing, mostly by me, but we are an open kitchen so we have to be on somewhat good behavior. 

As for your story, I read the description, and it sounds intriguing but I have a hard time reading about "restaurants", I also don't watch things like Kitchen Nightmare or that sort. But I am curious about the story, maybe I'll jump in.   

 

Give my story a try if the subject appeals, it's set in fine dining, which is probably the most tilted in gender demographics. Only 6% of Michelin-star restaurants are led by female chefs. Of course, I gave my story a "nicer" filter, rather than dig too deep in the weeds of prep and restaurant dysfunction, briefly touching some of the details. After all, I was trying to write a realistic culinary romance, not Upton Sinclair's The Jungle  

I grew up around restauranteurs and a lot of different kitchen cultures, both my parents were in the industry at various roles. Lots of curse words, short tempers, and stress in service with long-prep time (A lot of folks might be surprised how long it takes to prep in the morning or the attention to detail). 

I loved Anthony Bourdain's no-nonsense and real touch when it came to food, sadly he was hiding a lot of inner demons. There's a dark underbelly to food culture that a lot of folks know exists, but don't really focus on. Heavy workloads lead to stress, stress leads to bad health choices, and bad health choices lead to chronic issues, both physical and psychological, among other things. The need to perform and create for others can create a negative feedback loop.

That's something people near the industry can probably understand. 

---------

I think you should consider writing something in Culinary fiction, there's not many authors in that field on GA. Sounds like you have experience and you can probably add to the genre.

[Jason Rimbaud]

8 minutes ago, W_L said:

think you should consider writing something in Culinary fiction, there's not many authors in that field on GA. Sounds like you have experience and you can probably add to the genre.

It's all I have ever done. I don't know how to do anything else. I'm a chef/owner who's worked for celebrity chefs, amazing chefs no one has ever heard of, and everything in between. I rose in my profession toiling out in Fine Dining, places and chefs that looked great on a resume but never added to my pocket book. As you said, long hours of prep, high attention to detail, and then the chef waltz's in ten minutes before we are serving Mr. Moviestar and he gets all the credit and the money. 

Around fifteen years ago I saw the writing on the wall. Fine dining restaurants are phasing out as this younger generation prefers take out and eating at pickle ball courts. I dove into fast casual restaurants and learned everything I could. Four years ago I decided to open my own fast casual concept on the weekends  in the heart of San Francisco. All my friends thought I was stupid opening a hot wing restaurant. But I saw during Covid that everyone was being brainwashed into eating out of boxes. I chose a cuisine that traveled decently, modified my packaging to reduce soggy wings, and focused on creating my own unique sauces. I spent a year experimenting with different types of flour, different oils, until I perfected my wings.I opened a delivery only spot, a hole in the wall with only me as the employee. A year later I had to close and open a brick and mortar restaurant as I had to decide between my restaurant and my career as a restaurant consultant.. I chose myself. Now two years later, I have paid off all my debts, have twenty or so employees, and looking to open another location. 

And know that's a long way to say, most of my stories have elements of cooking in them, usually one character loves to cook, but I don't want to write about what I do fifteen hours a day. And the reason I rarely read stories about restaurants, unless you've been inside them, one normally doesn't get it right. Plus, it's hard to write characters who spend almost all their waking hours inside a kitchen trying to sleep with the new host.  

[W_L]

17 minutes ago, Jason Rimbaud said:

It's all I have ever done. I don't know how to do anything else. I'm a chef/owner who's worked for celebrity chefs, amazing chefs no one has ever heard of, and everything in between. I rose in my profession toiling out in Fine Dining, places and chefs that looked great on a resume but never added to my pocket book. As you said, long hours of prep, high attention to detail, and then the chef waltz's in ten minutes before we are serving Mr. Moviestar and he gets all the credit and the money. 

Around fifteen years ago I saw the writing on the wall. Fine dining restaurants are phasing out as this younger generation prefers take out and eating at pickle ball courts. I dove into fast casual restaurants and learned everything I could. Four years ago I decided to open my own fast casual concept on the weekends  in the heart of San Francisco. All my friends thought I was stupid opening a hot wing restaurant. But I saw during Covid that everyone was being brainwashed into eating out of boxes. I chose a cuisine that traveled decently, modified my packaging to reduce soggy wings, and focused on creating my own unique sauces. I spent a year experimenting with different types of flour, different oils, until I perfected my wings.I opened a delivery only spot, a hole in the wall with only me as the employee. A year later I had to close and open a brick and mortar restaurant as I had to decide between my restaurant and my career as a restaurant consultant.. I chose myself. Now two years later, I have paid off all my debts, have twenty or so employees, and looking to open another location. 

And know that's a long way to say, most of my stories have elements of cooking in them, usually one character loves to cook, but I don't want to write about what I do fifteen hours a day. And the reason I rarely read stories about restaurants, unless you've been inside them, one normally doesn't get it right. Plus, it's hard to write characters who spend almost all their waking hours inside a kitchen trying to sleep with the new host.  

To be fair, I think Dexter didn't 'sleep' with Reese that first time, more like fell on top of him due to a combination of oxy and alcohol knocking him out. Plus, there were some steel suits of armor becoming weighted blankets,  

Early in my story, I focused on the high-functioning nature of chefs, who have substance abuse issues, especially alcohol. Not sure what your experience was, but I know a good share of chefs who hit the bottle hard during and after service. Combine with painkillers due to the frequency of restaurant related injuries, it gets messy fast. It's a spiral that a lot of people don't escape. 

While many writers demonize alcohol with some standard AA trope, I get that alcohol isn't something chefs can always quit or remove from their lives, especially in cooking. Dexter tries to get rid of his drinking habit, but he doesn't succeed. It's part of his life. The painkiller habit though could be kicked as it wasn't something native to the kitchen or Dexter's routine.

Imperfect people making perfect food to others were at the heart of my story. That's why it took me nearly 6 years to write it, despite it being only 44K words. For me, I went for the issues folks don't approach within the kitchen environment and try to craft around it. Not saying it's easy, my early drafts were absolute BS, and it's not easy to make a decent story.

Edited December 31, 2025 by W_L

[Jason Rimbaud]

8 minutes ago, W_L said:

To be fair, I think Dexter didn't 'sleep' with Reese that first time, more like fell on top of him due to a combination of oxy and alcohol knocking him out. Plus, there were some steel suits of armor becoming weighted blankets,  

Early in my story, I focused on the high-functioning nature of chefs, who have substance abuse issues, especially alcohol. Not sure what your experience was, but I know a good share of chefs who hit the bottle hard during and after service. Combine with painkillers due to the frequency of restaurant related injuries, it gets messy fast. It's a spiral that a lot of people don't escape. 

While many writers demonize alcohol with some standard AA trope, I get that alcohol isn't something chefs can always quit or remove from their lives, especially in cooking. Dexter tries to get rid of his drinking habit, but he doesn't succeed. It's part of his life. The painkiller habit though could be kicked as it wasn't something native to the kitchen or Dexter's routine.

Imperfect people making perfect food to others were at the heart of my story. That's why it took me nearly 6 years to write it, despite it being only 44K words. For me, I went for the issues folks don't approach within the kitchen environment and try to craft around it. Not saying it's easy, my early drafts were absolute BS, and it's not easy to make a decent story.

I came up in a time where everyone did cocaine, booze, pills, in large amounts. If you did not partake, you were hazed mercilessly. Your tools would disappear in the middle of service, pilot lights would suddenly go out. I worked for a celebrity chef that is well known who did more cocaine than anyone I ever saw. I also worked for Chef Martin Yan, from the cooking series Yan Can Cook, who was delightful and one of the nicest people I ever met. I worked with the record holder Chef Tony Wu who hand pulled over 15,ooo noodles in under two minutes. I've had a wonderful experience, but I distanced myself from that toxic culture a long time ago. Other people did drugs, I played video games and whored myself out for BBQ sauce. (don't ask)

Your story sounds intriguing, I think in the new year I'll check it out. But be forwarned, I get really silly in my comments sometimes. 

[Jeff Burton]

So I ran the math on my numbers on per chapter views and ran the averages.  My one hit wonders (the single chapter short stories) did the worst, (don't worry that won't put me off from writing them), and I managed to only complete one multi-chapter work, probably because it was only 7 chapters.  

I only have one story that isn't rated 'Mature.' Cia sent me a pm a long time ago due to something I wrote not being agreeable to google and since I don't know what google likes and doesn't, I just rated all of them that way to save everyone the trouble.

Here's the averages they are in no particular order

1. Encrypted - 1,633 (Mature)
2. I'm Gay: A Nifty Story - 1,295 (Mature)
3. Black Sun - 585 (Mature)
4. Just Maybe - 1,076 (Mature)
5. The Reunion (1 Chapter) - 1607 (Everybody)
6. Fairway to Heaven - (1 Chapter) - 214 (Mature)

I actually didn't pay attention to the numbers until I noticed I started popping up in deep dives, and never thought to average any until just now.

If anything what I learned this year is that apparently I can write suspense/thriller well enough I guess, because that's what Encrypted is.  I'd always slated a romance arc in it but it never materialized and I'm almost done with it, and I've got enough material to create a sequel.

The other thing I learned is, my trashy satire piece I'm Gay: A Nifty Story I thought nobody would read, turns out a lot of people did.

General Romance is looking like something else I can write that people will read because that's what Just Maybe is and it hasn't seen an update in a while.  In fact if you look at the stats for Life in Suspension which I haven't updated since October of 2024 it's got an average of 3301 views. Per. Chapter.  Which to me is just nuts.  That story isn't even edited well, it flows like slag into a sludge pit and I'm tempted to edit it on a per chapter basis to bring it up to snuff so maybe I'll actually finish it.  Yet people love it, and still send me PM's and emails (it's cross posted on nifty as well) with people nicely asking if I'll update it.

I'm not even that good of a writer, or at least that's what my self doubt tells me every day when I sit down to actually do something.

So...I don't know.  The numbers say I'm doing something right, I say it's all a friggen fluke, and I'm really confused by what it all means.  One thing they do tell me is that even with a story on Mature you can still get views, how I get them though? No idea.

[William King]

When looking at the page views/clicks @W_L, you really do need a little circumspection about what's being collected, I like to apply the 80/20 rule, 80% of clicks are readers, 20% not (and I don't think I'm alone in this). To get an approximation of reader numbers you take the lowest chapter page clicks, after all, if there are 100 clicks on any one chapter it stands to reason whatever other numbers you have, no more than 100 readers are possible for the whole story. Apply the 80/20 rule and you've got 80 readers, because some of those clicks are simply not for reading, and I'm being generous stating 80 readers, it could easily be less.

So let's get real, take the last entry by @Jeff Burton for Encrypted (I'm not picking on you Jeff, rest assured it's just an example, the lowest chapter clicks was 809, 80% gives an average readership for the entire story as 647. Sure it's an approximation, but in any event you could not have more readers of the whole story, from beginning to end, than 809, the lowest chapter clicks, less than half the numbers you quote. 

This applies to everyone, myself included, the number of readers who pick up a story and read it from start to finish is very, very, low. Online reading of stories does not attract more than a miniscule number of people if you compare to say YouTube videos, blogs, podcasts. When authors say they are writing for themselves, that's a good thing, you can see why. Personally, I write for myself and for the handful of readers, even if it's only 50. I like the comments, reviews, and I like that 50 people read the story, but I ain't kidding myself that I have a following, that would be thousands of readers which doesn't happen!

[Mattyboy]

On 2/23/2026 at 12:16 PM, William King said:

When looking at the page views/clicks @W_L, you really do need a little circumspection about what's being collected, I like to apply the 80/20 rule, 80% of clicks are readers, 20% not (and I don't think I'm alone in this).

A comments-section squabble about whether something was foreshadowed or not in an earlier chapter can also spin up the views count in a hurry as people go back and forth. I'm usually one-and-done (I think) with most chapters, but that can spike way up in some circumstances.