There are 'hot' categories and then there's all the rest ticking downward. It's all relative, as Stormdog notes. I've written more than 100 Micros and I would be stunned if any one of them got 300 reads in 3 days. Only a couple have reached 1,000 total in the last year, but that's the nature of the beast I have chosen to lie with.
Thank you all for your sobering analyses. My life would be infinitely better if I would stay away from the news and politics. The situation in North Korea may be god awful and I may regard a certain person as the worst human in American history but my getting anxious or upset about the problems does nothing except bring me down. Likewise, I should write because I like to write and post without being concerned with number of reads and silly scores that ultimately mean zero. But I always want my ego petted. I gotta become a better Buddhist. Please, somebody tell me that's a great idea!
As others have said, is relative. The story I'm most proud of is also a long horror (four chapters with only one under 7000 words) - the first chapter was posted in October last year and is just now approaching 2k views, and that's with not only an RR but an EP and series award. A frivolous story in another category that is a fraction of the length and has the word "Schoolgirls" in the title that I posted only a few months before as more views than all four chapters combined at over 10k.
But I regret nothing - my writing improved so much just from the effort I put in to writing that story, and I have made several very dear friends as a result of comments and messages connected with it. The latter are far more important to me than views. Although perhaps my expectations were lower - I assumed a horror full of gay sex, black metal and Nazis would get even less interest than it did.
I like to think you get a higher proportion of engaged readers in the less read categories. Most people are here for a quick wank, and are not going to a long horror story for it. However, the few who are here for a great horror story will likely appreciate your story all the more, follow you into other categories and tell their friends about your writing. I did exactly that with yours.
I've not written in horror yet but have tried in some of the lesser-visited categories such as SciFi and Fantasy, Supernatural, and Monster sex. Despite how good I think the stories are, none of them received anything close to the number of views and votes as other categories, nor as high as stories that contained the tag 'anal'! Might just be because I'm an average storyteller. Or that the majority of people are here for the instant gratification rather then the cerebral long haul.
The number of views and votes doesn't detract from my enjoyment bringing the stories to life, and those readers that took the plunge and commented seemed to appreciate the effort.
Please browse my digital bookshelf. In this collection, you can find 109 full stories, 10 micro-stories, and 2 poems with the following features:
* 29 Editor's Picks, 72 Recommended Reads.
* 15 competition podium places, 9 other times in the top ten.
* 21 collaborations.
* A whole heap of often filthy, tense, hot sex.
Ok, well, my ego is now satisfied! I am listed as the highest-rated author in the Horror category in the last 30 days! I am basking in the sunshine of glory! And I will smack the first person who points out that The Lighter and the Scissors is the only horror story submitted in the past six weeks.
