First chapter drop off.

[E K Stokes]

It's a puzzle as to why on this site page views shown for the first chapter are always higher by a significant amount than the following chapters. I wonder if there isn't some bot scouring the first chapters of the stories, because it's the same for all stories. 

I publish elsewhere and this first chapter drop off does not happen. If I compare reader numbers of the two sites for my last published story those numbers are roughly the same at this point in time, ie. it's just finished publishing, on both sites, that is about 200 readers, with a slightly higher figure on the other site, which is easily explained by the size of the site. GA is a giant with hundreds of stories, the other site is very much smaller. Less choice equals a few more readers.

You can see why I publish on a second site, because it doubles my readership, and for the bit of extra work I feel it's worth the effort. 

I'm not looking for an answer about the first chapter drop off numbers recorded here, just noting the phenomenon because if you are an author you may look at those numbers and think people read the first chapter and don't continue because they don't like your story. I am convinced this is not the case, not a true reflection of reader numbers, and I base this conclusion on the page views from the other site.