The best day to release a new chapter

[Xiao_Chun]

Hi everybody.

 

I am doing a marketing research that can benefit the authors. As a reader who follows an ongoing story, on which day would you like to see the new chapters posted? On a workday? On weekend?

 

I prefer a new chapter to be released on Saturday morning, because I am more relaxed when I read it and there is more time to post a response and read other people's responses.

 

Hugs,

Michael.

Edited October 10, 2006 by Xiao_Chun

[knotme]

I voted "Doesn't matter" because I wouldn't want all authors to release on the same day of the week, no matter which that is.

 

Alternatively, we could all agree on a uniform Saturday-morning release, and authors would agree to wait patiently for up to a week for the first comment, and think nothing of it.

 

km

[C James]

I voted for Friday, but I agree with Knotme: I'd hate to see too many on one day and few for the rest of the week.

[Juss]

Hi everybody.

 

I am doing a marketing research that can benefit the authors. As a reader who follows an ongoing story, on which day would you like to see the new chapters posted? On a workday? On weekend?

 

I prefer a new chapter to be released on Saturday morning, because I am more relaxed when I read it and there is more time to post a response and read other people's responses.

 

Hugs,

Michael.

 

I voted "Doesn't Matter" because I'd rather the Authors posted a new chapter everyday..hehe.

I prefer to read stories in the night when everything is done and I am more relaxed. If I read during the day, I don't have time to really read it and understand it properly.

[AFriendlyFace]

I voted for Friday because it would give me the entire weekend to read it and post about it

[Kurt]

I voted for Friday because it would give me the entire weekend to read it and post about it

 

Same.

[Drewbie]

Doesn't matter to me, Other choice was fridays, I already look foward to one and sometimes two on that day

[NaperVic]

I voted 'doesn't matter to me'. I suppose if I were following one author, it would be nice to be on a regular schedule, but I wouldn't want all my authors posting on the same day.

 

I also like the 'pleasant surprise' feeling I get when a chapter shows up unexpectedly.

 

Vic

[jalaki]

I also voted "doesn't matter" although I'd rather pick a "don't you DARE all post on the same day" hahahahaha.

 

Like many others said, I'd hate to have a dozen authors or more each post a chapter all at once *shudder*

 

But then again, I almost NEVER read new chapters on "release day" - I wait until I'm caught up on their story (if necessary), when I'm not too busy with the million other things I'm always doing (which isn't often hahaha), etc etc etc....so I really don't care all that much. They post it on Monday, I might get to read it that day if the stars align, or maybe not for two weeks if they're really out of whack

[colinian]

I voted for Thursday. That way when I get home from school on Friday afternoon the chapter will be there for me to read. I thought about Friday, but some posting are at night, and I might not see a Friday night posting on Friday.

 

Colin

[Kurt]

For this, I took it as when you are following a specific author, not all of the authors. I think it would be very... odd and crazy if all authors posted on the same day. But if I am following a specific author, it is nice when they post on fridays, then I have all weekend to read it and post about it.

 

Kurt

[Graeme]

I voted for "Doesn't matter". It's more important to me that the posts are regular -- so I know when to expect a new chapter. The actual day isn't important. For authors that don't post regularly, then the day is even less important -- any day is a good day in that situation!

 

The other thing is I rarely read a new chapter on the day it's posted. I can't find a consistent time to read so it's only when I get a chance. If the chapter has been up for a few days before I read it, does it matter? Not to me....

[TalonRider]

One thing to take into consideration is the website itself. A site as big as GA, with all the authors and stories to be found here, it would be a major undertaking to all new chapters on one day of the week.

 

Another site that I visit, posts all new chapters on Saturday. There's at least 2 stories there that I follow. This works for me as 2 of the authors I read there are posted on alternating weekends. This works out for me as it gives me something to read while I do my laundry.

 

Jan

[NickolasJames8]

I voted for Wednesday because it starts with a consonate and ends with a vowel....well, sometimes it ends in a vowel. That's what makes it so unique

[Krista]

Hey,

 

I voted for Friday. I believe if you're looking at it from a Marketing point of view that would be the best day of the week. It's before the weekend, but it's at the end on the week where things are more relaxing. I have learned over the two years that I've been writing that my yahoo group tended to be more active Wednesday - Friday in the summer. The weekends were pretty dead in the summer, but in the fall and winter the weekends are slightly more active. So It's also a seasonal thing. .

 

I don't know about GA though, seems like this place is pretty active every day of the week so it probably wouldn't matter really what day a chapter is posted here.

 

Krista

[Xiao_Chun]

Hi everybody.

 

After one week and 32 votes, I would like to present the current results and interpret them. After distributing the

Edited October 17, 2006 by Xiao_Chun

[AFriendlyFace]

Wow! Very informative, thanks Michael!!

 

**regrets posting his latest chapter just before midnight on Tuesday **

[Xiao_Chun]

Speaking strictly for myself, and not on behalf of the site, I'm not sure that you can make a meaningful interpretation of the results if you take the "don't care what day" and distribute it among all other choices. In the world of polls, "doesn't matter" is a valid and distinct choice that can give the poll-taker important information, which you've decided to ignore. Especially in this case, where over half of the people said it didn't matter which day.

 

(You've also just disenfranchised all of the people who voted for "doesn't matter".)

 

Also, remember that we've got readers here from all around the world. Someone might post Friday evening in the US, and it will be sometime late Saturday where other readers live.

Kitty

Hi Kitty.

 

Distributing the

Edited October 17, 2006 by Xiao_Chun

[Jack Scribe]

As a reader who follows an ongoing story, on which day would you like to see the new chapters posted? On a workday? On weekend?

 

As a reader and a writer, I think that it doesn't matter what day it is...if the story is interesting. "Build it and they will come."

 

Just look at the posting traffic at stories by DomLuka. He has a very loyal, strong following. I suspect that Dom could post a story at 3:00 a.m. on a Tuesday and get fantastic hits by daybreak. On the other hand, I've got a story running right now that I love (along with 3 others, I think) that can't draw flies.

[Graeme]

The way we treat the

[Xiao_Chun]

Statistically, if the votes were really "indifferent", then rather than distributing them evenly across all the days (as you did at first), you could try adding them to those days -- as that is the indication of how many people "like" having a new post on that day. Because they make up such as sizable percentage of the total votes, any other action distorts the figures.

 

You'll still end up with Friday/Saturday being the most popular, but the amount that they are more popular than Tuesday (taking the other extreme) will be reduced.

 

To illustrate, if the poll asked 100 people if they preferred X or Y or don't care, and 90 people said don't care, and 10 people said X, then clearly X doesn't have a strong preference over Y. However, using either of the two methods you used would exaggarate that preference with either a 55/45 or a 100/0 split -- neither of which accurately reflects the reality. Your first method is closest to the reality (it shows a 10% difference between the two), but it artifically implies that is a strong minority preference for Y, when in fact there isn't. If these were two products, the company could drop product Y with no impact on their sales -- all the people who bought Y would just buy X instead.

 

Okay -- all the anti-mathematicians can shoot me now

I had in mind a very simple model of time allocation with the assumption that every reader has 1 unit of time to read stories on GA. The poll was designed to recover how the readers demand for stories on GA (in units of time) is distributed across the days of the week. If a person votes

Edited October 18, 2006 by Xiao_Chun