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https://forum.iomfats.org/
I expect simple behaviours here. Friendship, and love. Any advice should be from the perspective of the person asking, not the person giving! We have had to make new membership moderated to combat the huge number of spammers who register
Good stories
https://forum.iomfats.org/./mv/msg/9219/75425/#msg_75425
luvtwinks2019-01-21T05:47:51-00:00Re: Good stories
https://forum.iomfats.org/./mv/msg/9219/75426/#msg_75426
There is an odd side effect. Because our readers expect excellence they do not write to our authors with praise very often. A tale has to be particularly special to atttract email praise here. On sites like Nifty, even a good tale is so surprising that the authors receive an abundance of emailed praise.]]>timmy2019-01-21T09:11:27-00:00Re: Good stories
https://forum.iomfats.org/./mv/msg/9219/75427/#msg_75427
And, Nifty ... yikes ...]]>joecasey2019-01-21T20:20:32-00:00Re: Good stories
https://forum.iomfats.org/./mv/msg/9219/75428/#msg_75428
luvtwinks2019-01-21T21:15:34-00:00Re: Good stories
https://forum.iomfats.org/./mv/msg/9219/75429/#msg_75429
"joecasey wrote on Mon, 21 January 2019 20:20"
I would be interested to know how much feedback other writers on this site might receive; I have gotten maybe three or four responses from readers in the time that I've been here, and they've all been very nice. It seems like one writes in a vacuum here, but maybe that's just me. I used to write for the GayAuthors site and while I detested their point system, writers at least could usually depend on getting some responses to their work, as long as one submitted work regularly enough to keep it at the top of the queue. Here, the only reliable feedback is what one receives if one submits a story during a challenge; of course, those are only "yes/no" clicks to a series of predetermined questions.
And, Nifty ... yikes ...
--
I think it is not so much that here is a vacuum, it is that other places are by no means all high quality. There are notable exceptions. Even as webmaster I cannot judge from emails whether I write decent stories. Some people email and others, when they email can be 'kind', which is not helpful. This is not a hint to email me and say I write decent stories! It's just an observation.
I write to authors whose work interests me. Not all of that work is welcome here because of our niche, but that is ok. Fewer than half reply.
The stories here tend not to be single handed friction, som the reader has to appreciate a plot, sometimes with huge sex scenes, other times with none at all.
I'm not really sure the Challenge feedback is to be taken hugely seriously. I am certain that some folk really do not understand the questions! I try with the questions to get folk to offer helpful insights. Mainly, the challenges are intended to encourage folk out of their comfort zones. Recovery, absolutely, and the following one about consent, most definitely
I won't criticise any other site. Some are crude, others have poor layout, others have poor ethos, and there are good and great ones, too. Authors decide where to submit. And that's a good thing.]]>timmy2019-01-21T22:53:48-00:00Re: Good stories
https://forum.iomfats.org/./mv/msg/9219/75430/#msg_75430
"luvtwinks wrote on Mon, 21 January 2019 21:15"
To be honest, I've never thought of contacting an author about their work. Back in ye olde days of print I can't think of anybody who wrote an author after reading a book they got from a library or book store. I suppose in today's world where one can find literature online with the the author's contact information readily available there is really no excuse. Perhaps readers are a bit shy about admitting to reading some of the material here? Having said that, I extend my appreciation to all of the authors who have shared their work here. Well done and thank you!
--
With a print book, authors have feedback at various stages along the way: professional editors, rejection or acceptance by publishing houses and last but most importantly sales figures and hopefully lots and lots of royalties.
Apart from acceptance/rejection by the site host, on-line authors at sites like this have no idea how well their stories are received unless readers contact them or comment on forums like this.
Feedback varies between sites. Some will have more forum traffic others more contact by email. Fwiw the lack of feedback also exercises the minds of authors and hosts on other sites.
I would say that on average I get two or three emails when I post a new story and at least one of those will be from another author. However I am not good about sending comments myself. ]]>Pedro2019-01-21T23:20:27-00:00Re: Good stories
https://forum.iomfats.org/./mv/msg/9219/75431/#msg_75431
If you don't get hate mail, you're doing well!]]>Geron Kees2019-01-23T03:24:11-00:00Re: Good stories
https://forum.iomfats.org/./mv/msg/9219/75432/#msg_75432
If I could "like" your post, I would. I've always written for myself and I probably always will; if others happen to enjoy it, then so much the better. ]]>joecasey2019-01-23T04:02:31-00:00Re: Good stories
https://forum.iomfats.org/./mv/msg/9219/75435/#msg_75435
Teddy2019-01-23T05:27:57-00:00Re: Good stories
https://forum.iomfats.org/./mv/msg/9219/75436/#msg_75436
As an example, here are two sets of data for Joe Casey since 30 November 2017, when his tales first appeared here.
Sorry, they make us scroll horizontally, but compressing the graph will lose legibility
If you compare the spikes to Joe's index page you can see the effect of publishing new items. New publication drags visitors in. But, as you can see below, the stats are subtly distorted by his index page:
The stats are a bit of s sledgehammer to crack a nut. You can see the massive distortion the index page itself brings. I can't make them show just his stories and all his stories, if you follow me
I look at the column 'Average Time on Page" which tells me whether people are reading or clicking in and away. I compare the tie I know it takes to read a page with the average time. It looks as if those who arrive read to the end.
One can do a further analysis on a serial. It shows that not all the people who read chapter 1 read chapter 2, and there is often a drop off between chapters. Readers will read a chapter or two to see if a take is to their taste and drop out at various points. This is true with printed books too. I'm not going to do that here.
Oh, there are always oddities. I have no idea why Second Skin appears twice, once with 1247 visits and once with 24.]]>timmy2019-01-23T08:41:15-00:00Re: Good stories
https://forum.iomfats.org/./mv/msg/9219/75437/#msg_75437
joecasey2019-01-23T15:02:08-00:00Re: Good stories
https://forum.iomfats.org/./mv/msg/9219/75438/#msg_75438
Btw, Joecasey, I like your work ]]>Teddy2019-01-23T20:04:14-00:00Re: Good stories
https://forum.iomfats.org/./mv/msg/9219/75439/#msg_75439
timmy2019-01-23T20:47:40-00:00Re: Good stories
https://forum.iomfats.org/./mv/msg/9219/75511/#msg_75511
Good topic! I got a lot more mail when I started writing than I do now. It would be easy to think very few people read my writing these days. The other view, one I like better, is that fewer people bother to write. I never have gotten much mail, but I do find it interesting that what I get now almost all comes from people who've been writing me for a long time. I guess you can call them regulars. Thank goodness for them, or I really would believe I was writing in the vacuum mentioned earlier.
Like others, I write because I love writing. I love the creativity needed, I love the challenge every story presents in one form or another, or more usually, several forms. I also write because I have a patriarchal fondness for gay teens and very much want them to survive. I began writing when so many were killing themselves. Things have improved, but there are still so many that can use all the succor our stories can give them. Back then, I did get mail from people who identified themselves as teens. I don't get that any longer. They all have cellphones now, I guess, and much more to occupy their time than writing authors. I hope they aren't so occupied that that don't read our stories anymore. That would be a bummer.
I don't post often on this site, but when I do, I do get some mail from people who haven't written me before, and I assume most of that is from IOMFATS readers. I want to heartily thank you. It really does make my day to hear how happy someone is with what I wrote. And it does make it easier to sit down at the keyboard one more time.]]>cole parker2019-02-10T02:34:01-00:00