Myr

Thanks for the reminder @Valkyrie!

The Top authors? https://gayauthors.org/dashboard/

Goals is the only thing close to what you mention. https://gayauthors.org/stories/goals/

This was already explained. See solution.

Top Read Historical Stories Since Deep Dive 9 Top 10 Most Read Historical - Alternate Nazi's win WWII, Napoleon win's the Battle of Waterloo, Roman Empire never fell without fantasy/speculative fiction items (other than alternate history). The Man in the High Castle A Knight in the Darkness by Topher Lydon Complete Falling Apart by craftingmom Complete Do Over by dkstories Complete Engineer Benson by Wayne Gray Long-Term Hold Do Over Redux by dkstories Complete Capitol Hill - Summer of '22 Book VI by Carlos Hazday Complete Let's Do It by dkstories Complete Kage Match by kbois Complete Doing It Right by dkstories Complete Of Maps & Men by Inkognito Complete Top 1 Most Read Historical - Ancient Greco-Roman In reference to ancient Greek and Roman times. Cultural, political, societal. Ideas, original Olympic games, orgies, Creaser's, senators. Shards & Fragments: Short Stories by SilvryArdor Long-Term Hold Top 6 Most Read Historical - Ancient Orient Near East, Ottoman Empire, Middle East, Mesopotamia. Early, middle, late Bronze Age, Iron Age. The Spirit of the Plum Blossom Tree (TSPBT) by Kong Wen Hui Long-Term Hold Raising a Rebel by W_L Long-Term Hold To Dance On Your Fingertips by small mercy Long-Term Hold The Stonemason's son and the Silk Prince by Topher Lydon Complete Sword of the Missed (SOTM) by Kong Wen Hui Long-Term Hold Shards & Fragments: Short Stories by SilvryArdor Long-Term Hold Top 10 Most Read Historical - Cold War Stories set in the height of the cold war from 1950-1990. Early Tom Clancy novels Chronicles Of An Academic Predator by Mark Arbour Complete Jay & Miles by ColumbusGuy Long-Term Hold Be Rad by Mark Arbour Complete The Land Whore by Mark Arbour Complete A Summer in Iowa by Altimexis Complete Do Over by dkstories Complete 1968 by Mark Arbour Complete Do Over Redux by dkstories Complete A Summer Love by Mark Arbour Complete Let's Do It by dkstories Complete Top 10 Most Read Historical - Historical Drama Features a dramatic narrative set in a historical period, often focusing on the lives of ordinary people or families living through significant historical events. The Freshmen by Mark Arbour Complete Northern Exposure by Mark Arbour Complete Paternity by Mark Arbour Complete Black Widow by Mark Arbour Complete TRAVISTY by Mark Arbour In Process Odyssey by Mark Arbour Complete 9.11 by Mark Arbour Complete HMS Valiant by Mark Arbour Complete Streak by Mark Arbour Complete St. Vincent by Mark Arbour Complete Top 10 Most Read Historical - Historical Literary Exploration of human condition in the past. The Freshmen by Mark Arbour Complete Peace of Amiens by Mark Arbour In Process Gap Year by Mark Arbour Complete Northern Exposure by Mark Arbour Complete Paternity by Mark Arbour Complete Black Widow by Mark Arbour Complete Odyssey by Mark Arbour Complete 9.11 by Mark Arbour Complete HMS Valiant by Mark Arbour Complete Chronicles Of An Academic Predator by Mark Arbour Complete Top 2 Most Read Historical - Historical Thriller Incorporates elements of suspense, espionage, or political intrigue within a historical setting. Plots may involve conspiracies, espionage, or historical events with a thriller-style pacing. The Kings Boy - A Medieval Novel by E K Stokes Complete Love in a time of hatred by Gary L Complete Top 1 Most Read Historical - Industrial Revolution Conversion to modern inventions and processes. Not limited to railroad, cotton gin, electricity. I Pity the Poor Immigrant by PlacidGuy Complete Top 2 Most Read Historical - Historical Thriller Incorporates elements of suspense, espionage, or political intrigue within a historical setting. Plots may involve conspiracies, espionage, or historical events with a thriller-style pacing. The Kings Boy - A Medieval Novel by E K Stokes Complete Love in a time of hatred by Gary L Complete Top 1 Most Read Historical - Industrial Revolution Conversion to modern inventions and processes. Not limited to railroad, cotton gin, electricity. I Pity the Poor Immigrant by PlacidGuy Complete Top 7 Most Read Historical - Medieval Medieval Drama, love, poetry, romance. Think Game of Thrones Knight and Squire by Albert1434 Complete The Kings Boy - A Medieval Novel by E K Stokes Complete The Holy Lance of Antioch by Topher Lydon Complete The Prisoner of Carronne by Mark Ponyboy Peters Complete The Purple Phoenix by GENERAL PIGNOUF Temporary Hold The Lord of the Pierced Dawn by Topher Lydon In Process A Declaration of War by Mawgrim Complete Top 10 Most Read Historical - Non-Contemporary Stories set in previous times Peace of Amiens by Mark Arbour In Process The Watchers by Topher Lydon Complete Rome by CLJobe Complete A Soldier's Guide to Single Parenting by Dodger Complete Papa Stour by quokka Complete Light Bringer: Fireborn by Jack Poignet Complete Live, Love, Lose by LittleCherryBlossom26 Complete Aussie Pioneers by quokka Complete Marcus and the Slave by Kiltie69 Complete Boys of the 1950s by Tallguyct Complete Top 3 Most Read Historical - Victorian Set during the Victorian era (1837–1901), these novels capture the social, cultural, and technological changes of the time. Dickensian novels are classic examples. Shadows of the Moon by Albert1434 Complete The Curse Of Love by arielynn24 Temporary Hold The Frost Fair by Topher Lydon Complete Top 10 Most Read Historical - Western Places the story in the American West during the 19th century, exploring the challenges and adventures faced by pioneers, settlers, and Native Americans. Bearpaw: An Old West Tale by Headstall Complete Sidewinder by Headstall Complete Buckshot by Topher Lydon Complete Larkspur: A Sidewinder Tale by Headstall Complete The Undertaker's Devil by Refugium Complete Where Love Lies: Book 1 by vanalas Complete Boundaries: An Old West Tale by Headstall Complete Forever My Love by vanalas Complete Journey to Salvation by Headstall Complete The Mistress by vanalas Complete Top 6 Most Read Historical - World Wars Stories set in the time frame of WWI and WWII and in between about 1914-1945 Live, Love, Lose by LittleCherryBlossom26 Complete Trench Rat by lomax61 Complete Come Back To Us by LittleCherryBlossom26 Long-Term Hold Lukas by Connectwriter Long-Term Hold A Love Story with a Prisoner of War by joecarlson Long-Term Hold In the Service by RolandQ Complete

We are already using the basic engine underlying Netflix and Amazon called collaborative filtering. They have both moved on to enhanced AI versions, but the function is the same. It gets better as you update your ratings. https://gayauthors.org/stories/browse/mysuggestions/ The new updated version will be using this engine, along with both expressed and actual genre preferences. It will be observing tags and tropes as well. Aiming to have exclusions in as well. (IE, if you don't like Vampires and Werewolves, you can exclude Paranormal genre from recommendations) There is a metric ton of math going on underneath, but we don't need to know or care. lol The problem also is people's mood change on what they like to read. Some days you want an escape, some days an emotional bender. We'll try to handle that too for "Read Now" recommendations. I'm sure this is going to take multiple updates to get working, but when it does...

The recommendations are going to be algorithmic and it’s intended to surface older content that is similar to stuff you have enjoyed. It’ll be mostly independent of reacts, reviews and recommendations of the current system. Ie, it will not be based on popularity cliques. There is going to be a lot of additional telemetry in the system. Like the system asking you if the recommendation was good or not. It’ll use that feedback to get better. It will also track stories getting recommended and if people engage. High engagement will turn it into a hidden gem and push to new people. And lot’s of people saying no thanks will drop likelihood of story being recommended. It’ll be a closed feedback loop so the algorithm will get better at suggesting the right story to the right person. With enough time and engagement we will get to the point where we can do a pop up “what are you in the mood for?” and it can tailor suggestions accordingly. if you turn on suggestions for your account, that is.

AI is a wonderful tool for this. You can spend hours having it create portraits of your characters for you so you have reference material, even if they don't get shared with the audience. As well as an excellent tool for outlining. lots of stuff.

yes

Bots can no longer scan those stories, but we had hundreds of new members register when that policy went into effect. We went from about 60 new members per month to 500 new members per month since that change.

Nope, same number of readers... over the next few updates for the site, authors will get a better view on how things are being read as well as a much more robust way of connecting readers with the stuff they want to read. "Content Discovery" in marketing parlance. As always, being active on the site and engaged, helps to surface your own stuff.

Thanks Ron. Gay Authors stays open because of Premium Membership. It pays the bills.

Yes. This is a problem with Invision Community 4.x not being mobile first due to its age. When we upgrade to Invision Community 5.X, we'll be in better shape as that was rebuilt from the ground up to be mobile first. Our current software was built in an age where Mobile devices were 'content consumption devices' and PCs were content creation devices. The technology has moved a lot since then and our software hasn't caught up yet. That said, it will always be easier to move a lot of content required for writing on a device with a keyboard. We have several things we are looking at here, but most of it will be the follow on to the next update. The next update is us moving to InvisionCommunity 5.x with focus on making things easier for readers and authors. The update after that will be a lot of engagement activities We'll be looking at aspects of this over the next few updates. In the mean time, Story Comments, Chapter Comments and author discussion threads linked from their author profile all support this.

I would check your spam folder. you got sent 2 and they didn't bounce. We haven't had a public discussion on it yet, but it's nonlinear, branching story telling. You read a chunk of story and get 2 or more different options instead of "next chapter". You can also set variables so if you make say 3 'good' choices, you get an additional option, or the story branches automatically on that variable. Lots of power. We plan to support Twine, so you can write it externally and upload or have a similar tool to build your own in the system. https://twinery.org/ Note: These are brainstorming concept renders of how it might work. It's showing a 2nd person POV (You) Entering a story: How the story flows on a map: Concept render of an entirely too fancy presentation of the story to the reader. Pay more attention to the text and options at bottom then the background and such: The system should be working this way. You subscribe to author on the Author Profile and get "new story" notification. You then subscribe to a story to get he chapter notification. The exception is if you subribe to an author on the forum/member profile, you get notification of everything they post. We'll use Gary as an example... Member profile. If you Follow Member, you get notified of everything. Author profile. Following here should just notify you of new Stories:

What We’re Hearing from the Community Survey — and Where Gay Authors Is Going Next First, thank you. We asked members to take time out of their day to tell us what is working, what is frustrating, and what would make Gay Authors better. Many of you did exactly that. We have heard from daily readers, occasional visitors, authors, editors, Premium members, longtime community members, and people who mostly enjoy the site quietly in the background. That range of feedback matters. Gay Authors is not just one type of member or one type of reader. Some members visit multiple times a day. Others stop by when they have time. Some follow active serials. Some strongly prefer completed stories. Some use advanced filters. Others just want a simpler way to find something good to read. The survey has helped clarify an important point: Gay Authors is strongest when it helps members read, discover, follow, return, and connect. That is where we are focusing our next major work. The Big Picture The clearest result from the survey is that most members come to Gay Authors to read stories. That may sound obvious, but it is important because it keeps our priorities grounded. Members told us they value: Reading stories Following favorite authors Discovering new stories Finding completed works Using tags, genres, tropes, and story details to choose what to read Getting updates from authors and stories they care about Returning to stories they were already reading That gives us a clear direction. The next stage of Gay Authors needs to make the reading experience easier, more personal, and more comfortable across desktop, tablet, and mobile. Easier Story Discovery One of the strongest themes in the survey was story discovery. Members want it to be easier to find stories they are interested in. Some want better search. Some want simpler browsing. Some want clearer genre paths. Some want better filtering by genre, tags, length, status, or author. Some want recommendations based on stories and authors they already enjoy. Gay Authors already has many powerful tools in this area, including story search, author search, filters, quick searches, reading history, suggested stories, and story ratings. But the survey makes clear that having tools is not enough. Those tools also need to be easy to find, easy to understand, and easy to use. That is why our next update will focus not just on adding features, but on making the experience clearer. Planned work includes: Improved search and filtering Better organization of story discovery tools Clearer genre and tag pathways Better ways to find completed stories, ongoing stories, and recently updated stories Better visibility for recommended stories and similar authors More consistent story metadata Simple Browse and Advanced Browse One thing we heard clearly is that members do not all want to browse the same way. Some members like powerful filters and detailed controls. Others want a simpler path: pick a genre, see stories, and start reading. Both approaches are valid. Because of that, we are planning to support two browsing experiences: Simple Browse will offer a cleaner, more guided way to find stories. It will focus on common reading paths such as Continue Reading, Completed Stories, Recently Updated Stories, Browse by Genre, Recommended for You, and Popular Stories. Advanced Browse will continue to support members who want the full power of filters, tags, sorting, status options, and detailed search controls. The goal is not to remove power from experienced users. The goal is to make Gay Authors easier for members who want a calmer, more direct browsing experience. Finding Completed Stories Without Hiding Ongoing Stories Many members told us that completion status matters when choosing what to read. That makes sense. Starting a long story is an investment, and some readers prefer to know that a story is finished before they begin. At the same time, Gay Authors has always supported serial writing. Many authors post chapter by chapter, and many readers enjoy following stories as they update. So we need to support both kinds of reading. We will continue making completed stories easy to find, but we do not want to hide active serial authors. Simple Browse will include clear pathways for Completed Stories and Ongoing Stories. Advanced Browse will continue to support more detailed filtering. The goal is choice, not one default that works for some members while hurting others. Continue Reading and Reading History Another strong theme was helping members return to stories they were already reading. Gay Authors already tracks reading history and has recommendation tools, but the survey showed that these features need to be surfaced more clearly. Many members think in terms of “Where was I?” or “How do I continue the story I started?” rather than in terms of technical labels or menu locations. As part of the next update, we want to make reader tools easier to recognize and use. That means clearer access to things like: Continue Reading Reading History Recommended for You Tune My Recommendations Followed Stories Followed Authors Collections or saved reading lists, which may become Bookshelves in the new system A major goal is to make the reader experience feel more like “My Reading” rather than a set of separate tools members have to remember how to find. Better Recommendations Members also asked for better ways to find similar stories and similar authors. This fits directly into where we are already heading. We want Gay Authors to do a better job helping readers answer questions like: What should I read next? What stories are similar to this one? What authors might I enjoy? What completed stories match my interests? What new authors deserve attention? What stories fit the tags, genres, tone, or style I like? Recommendations will not replace browsing or search. They will add another path, especially for members who know what they like but do not know what to look for next. Tags, Genres, Tropes, and Metadata The survey strongly reinforced the value of good story information. Members rely on tags, genres, tropes, length, status, ratings, and other story details when deciding what to read. That means metadata is not just an administrative detail. It is part of the reading experience. We will continue working on: Better tag and trope consistency Clearer genre and subgenre organization Better story metadata quality Better ways to use metadata in browsing and recommendations Improvements that help members find stories matching their interests This is also one of the reasons we created a new team called the Archive Stewards. Better metadata helps readers, authors, and the site as a whole. Interested in helping? The Archive Stewards will help review older stories where authors may no longer be active. If you enjoy reading and organizing story information, please PM @Myr. Notifications and Communication Preferences Members told us that updates matter, especially story updates and favorite-author updates. At the same time, many members want fewer or more selective notifications. That is not a contradiction. It means members want control. One member may want every update from favorite authors. Another may only want a weekly digest. Another may want story updates but not community updates. Another may prefer minimal contact. Our planned communication and notification improvements will focus on making those choices easier. The goal is to let members decide what kinds of updates are useful to them and make it easy to do so. The current notification options are powerful, but not as easy to use as they should be. We want to make those choices clearer and more manageable. Author Tools and Author Support Although most survey responses came from readers, authors and editors also gave important feedback. Authors want better tools, clearer posting processes, better feedback, and better ways to connect with readers. Some members also mentioned the importance of helping newer authors be discovered rather than only surfacing the most established names. This matters because authors are the source of the stories readers come here for. Planned author-side improvements include: Author portal improvements, starting with a clearer central place for authors to manage their work and expanding from there Better story and chapter management Better guidance for posting and managing works Posting schedule or author status options Better visibility for new and emerging authors Author retention and support workflows We are also discussing a possible future Reader Responses system. This would be separate from the existing site reactions and would allow readers to quickly tell authors how a chapter landed emotionally, such as “Loved it,” “Emotional,” “Surprised,” “Funny,” “Tense,” or “Want more.” This would give authors more useful feedback without requiring every reader to write a full comment. Mobile, Desktop, and Device Parity Site analytics show that Gay Authors usage is split heavily across mobile and desktop. That means future work cannot be designed only for one screen size. Our goal is device parity: Core features should be available and usable on desktop, tablet, and mobile. That does not mean every screen will look identical. Some features need different layouts depending on the device. A desktop page may support a dense advanced filter panel, while mobile may need collapsible panels, larger tap targets, and simpler task-based navigation. The goal is the same functionality, adapted intelligently to the device being used. Interactive Fiction We are also continuing work on interactive fiction as an optional new story type. This is not intended to replace traditional stories. Traditional stories remain the heart of Gay Authors. Interactive fiction will simply give interested authors another format to create with and interested readers another way to experience stories. It also gives us a way to reach new audiences who are more familiar with choice-based and interactive storytelling. Members who are not interested in interactive fiction will not have to use it. It will be another story type available within the broader Gay Authors ecosystem. Ads and the Reading Experience Some members raised concerns about ads interrupting reading. We understand that reading flow matters. We have already reviewed ad placement settings and adjusted controls to keep ads from appearing in the middle of story chapters. Supporting the site is important, but ads should not disrupt the act of reading. What We Are Not Doing It is also worth being clear about what we are not doing. We are not throwing away the current archive. We are not removing advanced tools. We are not hiding ongoing serials in favor of completed stories only. We are not forcing interactive fiction on readers or authors. We are not treating every individual suggestion as a site-wide decision. The survey is a guide. It helps us see patterns, priorities, and pain points. Some requested tools already exist, which tells us we need to make them clearer. Some requests point to features already planned. Some ideas need more thought. Some are individual preferences rather than site-wide direction. That is normal and expected. Where This Leaves Us The survey has confirmed that our next major update should focus on making Gay Authors: Easier to browse Easier to search Easier to personalize Easier to continue reading Easier to use across devices Better for authors Better at helping readers discover stories they will enjoy A lot of this work was already planned, but the survey gives us stronger confidence that we are focusing on the right things. These changes will not all arrive at once. Some are tied to the upcoming platform upgrade, while others will be added in stages as we build, test, and refine them. We Want the Discussion This post is not the final word. It is the start of a broader discussion. We would especially like to hear your thoughts on: What would make Simple Browse useful without taking away Advanced Browse? What should be easiest to find on a “My Reading” page? How should we balance completed stories and ongoing serials? What kinds of recommendations would be most useful? What author tools or feedback would help writers stay motivated? What parts of the site are hardest to use on mobile? What help topics would make the site easier for newer or less technical members? Example render of possible "My Reading" interface Thank you again to everyone who completed the survey. Gay Authors has always grown through the energy, creativity, and feedback of its members. Your responses are helping us shape the next stage of that growth. — The Gay Authors Team

AI Use at Gay Authors: A Summary of Our Policy Gay Authors is a community built around human creativity, storytelling, reading, and discussion. We also recognize that AI tools are now part of many modern creative and productivity workflows. Our goal is not to ban useful tools or shame responsible use. Our goal is to protect reader trust, author accountability, member privacy, and the integrity of the site. Our AI policy is based on a simple distinction: AI assistance is allowed. AI-generated creative content must be disclosed. Authors and members may use AI tools for support tasks such as spelling, grammar, punctuation, editing suggestions, brainstorming, formatting, accessibility support, metadata suggestions, blurbs, summaries, coding assistance, and similar productivity uses. These ordinary assistive uses do not require public disclosure when the member remains the primary creative source of the work. Disclosure is required when AI materially generates creative content that appears in a posted story, chapter, poem, image, translation, or other creative work. This includes AI-written scenes, dialogue, story passages, poems, major rewrites, cover art, illustrations, maps, banners, translations, or similar creative additions. Until the Story App includes a dedicated AI disclosure field, authors who post AI-generated creative content should disclose that use in the Story Notes and, when appropriate, the relevant Chapter Notes. A disclosure can be simple and factual, such as: “This story contains AI-generated cover art.” “This chapter includes AI-generated translation assistance.” “This work contains AI-generated story passages that were reviewed and edited by the author.” The person posting the work remains fully responsible for everything they post. AI use does not excuse plagiarism, copyright violations, inaccurate ratings, missing warnings, improper tagging, harassment, impersonation, spam, or violation of any Gay Authors rule. The policy also prohibits deceptive or harmful AI use. Members may not use AI tools to impersonate another member, imitate another Gay Authors author’s distinctive style or story world without permission, generate fake comments or reviews, create spam, evade moderation, or scrape Gay Authors content for AI training, dataset creation, model fine-tuning, automated republication, or similar purposes. We also want to avoid public accusations or AI-related arguments in story comments, reviews, forums, clubs, blogs, or private campaigns. If a member believes content violates the AI policy, they should use the Report feature and allow staff to review the concern. Gay Authors will not investigate ordinary grammar tools, spellcheckers, brainstorming tools, or private writing workflows. Enforcement will focus on undisclosed AI-generated creative content, deception, impersonation, plagiarism, scraping, spam, fake engagement, and other violations of site rules. In short: responsible AI assistance is allowed, human creativity remains central, AI-generated creative content must be disclosed, and members are expected to respect reader trust, author rights, and community integrity. You can read the full site policy here (liked under Help as Guidelines) https://gayauthors.org/guidelines/