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.

[Topher Lydon]

I notice this as well. It's always a bit odd. I can track a steady trail off over time, that's natural. But that first chapter is always an oddity. 

[ReaderPaul]

7 hours ago, E K Stokes said:

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.

@E K Stokes and @Topher Lydon, I can answer a lot of that.  For 20 years I had two jobs, including 3 three traditional bookstores in addition to my full time job.  I would read trade materials and talk to book company reps.  In series books, publishers would always publish more of the first book and then less of each succeeding book.  The reason?  Actual sales would decline as readers did not continue the series, unless it was a blockbuster series such as Harry Potter or the Left Behind  or the Dragonriders of Pern series.  In the case of online story sites, often readership drops after the first chapter.  But Publishers don't publish 100,000 copies of a second book in series because ACTUAL SALES normally decline -- and a second or third printing can be produced if demand warrants.

Online publishing is somewhat the same.  It is possible on the other sites bots are inflating the counts on following chapters.  But it is rare for every reader to actually continue to read the series.  And some stop reading after the third or fourth or fifth chapter.  I personally started a series years ago and stopped after three chapters.  A friend I respected mentioned that after chapter five, the series became considerably more interesting.  I started again at the beginning, and eventually read all one hundred ten chapters of that particular story.  My friend was  right, but the author was setting up things for the future of the story.

There is normally some drop off.  But some authors drop off more than others after chapter one or two.  My 38 cents worth.

[ReaderPaul]

Continuing something which should have been in my previous post, it is very rare now for any physical book to sell more than 20,000 copies.  Exceptions can emerge in the case of book clubs, if it is from a high profile person such as Oprah.

[Jason Rimbaud]

I'm not sure why the first chapter has so many hits and then drops off suddenly. I think that after the new safeguards, GA has been really good about blocking bots. According to Myr, that was a huge problem with accurate numbers. I know my stories went from several thousand views per chapter to a few hundred after readers had to become members to view mature-rated content on GA. I would think if I understood Myr correctly, the views now are much closer than before.  

I've always thought it was a casual reader hit the first chapter and is not hooked right away, and goes on to another story. I am guilty of clicking a chapter, seeing it's written in first person, and giving up after the first sentence. Or if I can see an AI written sentence, I'll stop right away as well. 

And as an author of some pretty silly stories, I figure people just didn't like what they were reading. 

High views first chapter, and then less than half the second chapter, doesn't really bother me. What's confusing the hell out of me is that in a 22-chapter story, I'll have pretty consistent views of around 200 per chapter. Then a random chapter, like 17, will have 600 views. Those, I would have to think, are some kind of bots that got through. 

I experimented lately. One of my stories had a summary that was written before the story was finished. And once I finished the story, with pretty low views, I changed the summary to fit what the story actually was. And in the last week, I've seen a huge upswing in interactions on that same story. It really doesn't pertain to your question/topic, but it's something to think about when writing the summary for your story. 

[Davide]

21 minutes ago, Jason Rimbaud said:

High views first chapter, and then less than half the second chapter, doesn't really bother me. What's confusing the hell out of me is that in a 22-chapter story, I'll have pretty consistent views of around 200 per chapter. Then a random chapter, like 17, will have 600 views. Those, I would have to think, are some kind of bots that got through. 

If a chapter is particularly interesting or is creating more conversation in the comments, I will open it more times to read the comments than I open other ones. If every click from the same account counts, that will increase the numbers in comparison to other chapters. In addition, if there's a longer wait between a pair of chapters than others, maybe more people reopen that chapter to check if they already read it or it's a new one, even though they could see that from the GA thingy that says what's the highest chapter we've read.

[Krista]

Honestly, chapter fall-off from the first chapter is normal. The blurb, title, something drew the reader in enough to click on the story and then the first chapter. But it wasn't to their taste, so they didn't continue. It happens in every creative space. The first chapter is also like the front door, front doors get the the most traffic, right? They're older, so their chapter counts will average higher. It isn't a knock against anyone's writing, either. People have tastes and reading tendencies. Something about the blurb/title caught their attention, but the first chapter didn't fit their reading tastes so they don't move on to chapter two. 

In other media you see this as well. Short-form gets a lot of traffic, where as longer form media doesn't if the content is similar in nature. 

There are some outliers on some of my stories that doesn't make any sense, but they're older stories and I know that issue has been addressed, as there was bot traffic skewing the viewer numbers.

You say it doesn't happen elsewhere, but I wouldn't know what that looks like as I only post here at GA. There's a lot of content to be had here, with a lot of members that may be more willing to browse stories. If the general membership numbers are the same with vastly different viewer counts, it may come down to something different with the demographics or what themes are popular on that platform.

As far as views go, I only get concerned when the rate changes significantly. If it takes a lot longer to get to average, which averages are down for my stories significantly. It does make wonder if the content or progression of my story is an issue, but since I'm not prone to large sectional rewrites and story changes, it will be what it is and I'll have to accept that.  

Factors that may turn people away from your story:

• Taste
• A slower, less hooking first chapter.
• Inconsistent posting schedule.
• Themes. Adult romances and Coming of age Romances seem to be more popular than general dramas.
• Content Tags, some content tags may not keep readers if they don't exactly match the content on a significant level. Example: If you're expecting a story with "Sports Star," but the 'tag' that brought the reader isn't significantly featured, you may see a drop-off. That also may blanket hurt you as well, if people see a lot of tags and the stories don't necessarily represent those tags, you may lose reader trust.
• Lack of engagement from the author. Some people just come along and read, they might leave a reaction, but if you see someone leaving comments and you ignore them, then they might stop. 
• Rating: It is a double-edged sword. Some people want mature content, others do not.
• POV: Some people like First, some people prefer Third. Some people hate when POVs are swapped and there's multiple narrative voices. 

The best we can do is write what we like, place it in the world and hope, but there are definitely some things you can do as an author to help keep readers engaged in your writing. Like I said though, the only thing that concerns me is when I post a chapter and it feels significantly slower at reaching average than prior chapters. Or, engagement falls off. We have a great group of readers that stretch themselves rather thin with all the content they're reading that actively engage with the authors. It should feel symbiotic. It should be 'more' than your writing that engages with them too. 

Edited July 10 by Krista

[ReaderPaul]

3 hours ago, Krista said:

Honestly, chapter fall-off from the first chapter is normal. The blurb, title, something drew the reader in enough to click on the story and then the first chapter. But it wasn't to their taste, so they didn't continue. It happens in every creative space. The first chapter is also like the front door, front doors get the the most traffic, right? They're older, so their chapter counts will average higher. It isn't a knock against anyone's writing, either. People have tastes and reading tendencies. Something about the blurb/title caught their attention, but the first chapter didn't fit their reading tastes so they don't move on to chapter two. 

Factors that may turn people away from your story: ****
 

The best we can do is write what we like, place it in the world and hope, but there are definitely some things you can do as an author to help keep readers engaged in your writing. Like I said though, the only thing that concerns me is when I post a chapter and it feels significantly slower at reaching average than prior chapters. Or, engagement falls off. We have a great group of readers that stretch themselves rather thin with all the content they're reading that actively engage with the authors. It should feel symbiotic. It should be 'more' than your writing that engages with them too. 

**** Another factor you did not mention -- Real life gets in the way.  I have had situations come up which delay me from getting back to a story for up to a year or more.  Sometimes I never get back to a story if it has been a long time, and other stories are more immediate and interesting.  But the reasonings you included in your post are excellent and well thought out.