Bonjour Mibba! It's been a minute! How are you guys?
I haven't been on this site for a while, but my lurking has been ever present, because I found a home in Mibba at one time and I'm too nostalgic to let it go. And lately the blogs have been a lot more active, so I'm thinking I might try it out again! c:
Anyways, I've mostly been spending my time on Wattpad, but I've noticed both here and there, and basically every writing community ever, there's always the cry: I'm not getting enough reads! Why isn't anyone reading my story?
And so I thought I'd give a couple of tips and tricks of mine that have always helped me in the past, very face-value type of things, I might go in depth later. While I've never gained absolute notoriety, I've been blessed with some success in both Mibba and Wattpad. One of my stories on Mibs was getting over 30+ comments an update at one point, with over 1000 reads and one of my stories on Wattpad has now surpassed the 50K mark, which is kind of average for Wattpad but definitely a lot more than Mibs! c:
So mild success in both, which I hope means I kind of know what I'm talking about, hahaha.
And also, for the record, Mibba is a much smaller writing community. The feedback in that sense is a lot more limited, and when I was writing my story the community I was in was a lot more active, which helped to my small success.
ANYWAY, that's enough of an introduction, let's get to the action tips!
HOW TO GET READS ON YOUR STORIES!
1. Title and Summary.
This one is kind of obvious, especially for the title portion, but still rings super true!
The title is basically the first thing someone sees of your story, so make it interesting! Catch the reader's attention! Two of mine, Homophone and Gay Men 101, those are pretty eye-catching titles, which really serves to their success! Some other ones that I think are great:
Sunshiner
Welcome Noah, We Missed You
Operation Ghost Squall
The Davis Effect
The Undertaker's Daughter
Girl, Meet World
The Fuckers
These titles just grab your attention and almost force you to read with how interesting they are! And the range is awesome because you can go one word to seemingly whole sentences and it all works!
In the summary line, have a summary! Short and long! They're important, and I notice a lot of people skip them. If you're looking for readers, give them something! A lot of people aren't going to just dive into a story without know what it's about, and having a short summary is great because when it makes people interested in clicking your story in the first place. That first click is the beginning to it all!
2. Aesthetically Pleasing!
On Wattpad this would be covers, on Mibba this would be avatars/layouts!
Face the facts: people are drawn to nice looking things. And even if they don't want to admit, something with a nice cover/layout can be what a lot of people are looking for. It shows that you've taken time to to include this with your story, and it can really give a vibe to what kind of story you want to write. It sets a vibe, and that vibe can draw people in. And also, having an avatar just looks so much nicer than that question mark.
If you're not artistically-inclined, no problem! There are so many resources, graphic shops, etc. with people that are willing to make you beautiful layouts! All you have to do is ask and they'll work their magic!
This website is filled with stories, and it's no problem for people to easily click out, so don't give them an excuse to do so! A lot of people admit that unreadable, unkempt or no layout = automatic click away, and that's just the way it is! If you're looking for readers, than make sure you've got these down!
3. Content!
This could be a blog in and itself, so I'll keep this one short and sweet. One, make sure the first chapter is captivating. Start off with something interesting that will instantly draw the reader in! The first chapter can make or break if someone will continue with the story, so really put a lot of attention into it! Have some action, introduce a train of thought, do something to get your readers on board. Make your readers care about these characters enough that they want to take the entire journey with them!
Try to fix all grammar/spelling mistakes from the get-go, revise, edit! You always think you're done but I always go back and am tinkering away! It only makes it better! If needed, ask someone to beta or edit it, especially if you have a tendency to overlook a lot of mistakes!
And try to find a middle ground for length! Too long and a lot of people find they don't want to start, too short and it barely satisfies. I try to at least get around the 1000 mark, which gives the reader at least something to work with and think about. c:
4. Engage!
Once you do get some readers, engage with them! Thank them for commenting, or reply if they've asked any questions! I made a lot of friends by actively talking with my readers and once you make friends with someone, you're a lot more inclined to continue reading their work! People also feel really appreciated when you talk to them, and they'll also be a lot more likely to continue reading!
It's a little harder now on Wattpad since I've got a hefty amount, but I used to message people all the time about their comments and stuff and so many people were so nice and surprised when I did! c:
5. Be Active!
On other parts of the site! So for Mibba, post interesting blogs, check out the forums, that sort of thing! If you post a lot of interesting blogs, people are more likely to click on your blogs when they come up, and they'll be more likely to check our your profile/stories!
Something cool happened? Blog about it! Found something interesting on the Internet? Blog about it! An interesting train of thought? Blog! The more active you are the more recognizable you are! And the more inclined people are going to be to check out what you got!
Check out the Tips forum! The General forum! The really active ones! c:
Also, if your blogs are generally bringing in a crowd, some shamesless self-advertising at the end couldn't hurt!
6. Comment Swaps!
These have gradually become a lot less popular here, but still, guarenteed feedback! I know it's not true readers, or readers that will stay with you always, but it can help even with getting criticism on what you can change to get readers!
This is really helpful when you're starting your story, because then it's easy to make changes and you kind of get your work out there. And I can say that I have had success with people continuing to read my story after a comment swap, so there is that possibility! I wouldn't count on it though, so take it more as a feedback mechanism than a reader mechanism, and tread wisely.
7. THE MOST IMPORTANT TIP I'VE FOUND THAT GAVE ME THE BEST SUCCESS! WHAT IS THAT?
READ. MORE. STORIES.
Seriously guys. I see so many people complaining about how no one reads their stories, and how they don't know why and etc etc. My question is always: how often do you read stories?
Because seriously, my reads exploded once I went on a reading frenzy!
I went from 7K to 30K in a couple of weeks! And why was that?
Well, one, reading people's stories, my username was out there a lot more. I became a lot more visible, and I was commenting and leaving feedback and people were replying to my comments!
Also, a lot of the authors began to engage with me, and read my stories back! So people with hundreds of thousands of reads were checking out my work, and that brought a lot of traffic!
Even people will smaller stories- when someone recommends your work, or comments on it etc. their friends are going to see them commenting on it on their dashboard, or mention it in blogs. And that's going to bring a lot more traffic!
And you definitely make a lot more friends this way! More friends, more likely people are going to read your story!
I read a lot of stories, and of course many authors didn't ever acknowledge me, but that's okay! Some did! And either way I got to read a lot of awesome stories!
Reading is honestly I think the best way to get your name out there. Comment! Recommend! Do all of that!
I honestly feel like if you're not reading other stories, you've got no right to complain about people not reading yours! It's all about the loop of feedback! c:
This is a very long blog that's only scratching the surface. But I hope this helps you guys in any way! c:
+ BONUS TIP
That I totally forgot but is pretty important, so am adding now- update! Update frequently! I usually go around the weekly basis, or one every 2 weeks, but if you can go like every 5 days I would highly recommend that!
People are a lot more inclined to read if they see that you're dedicated and that you're more likely to finish the story, and they can remember what happened last chapter. I found that once I was updating a lot, my readership grew. If you don't update for a month/more, your readers lose interest and find something else to read. Updates keep them on the hook!
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