On Groups: adding your stories, and why it's important · 2:39pm Apr 10th, 2014
On why it's important to add your story to all applicable groups
I left a few comments recently about the need to slot stories into appropriate groups here on FiMFiction, and I think some of it bears repeating.
Let me start with a story.
I recently decided that Twilight x Princess(es) was the basic defnition of my favorite ship. TWILUNA FOREVER! and all that, sure, but I wanted more, so over the past few months I read the complete collected canon * of Twilight x Luna, Celestia, Cadance, Nightmare Moon, and Chrysalis, and possibly combinations of those.
Or so I thought.
Originally I used groups as a starting point: find a group, click the Stories button, profit. Then I went browsing, using: +Twilight +(Princess of the day) +Romance -Anthro -Human. Problem is that a Browse search will return elebenty billion stories which have nothing to do with the search, starting with "Nightmare Moon seduces a peach" with Twilight peripherally involved in one scene just to screw up the tagging.
Well, that was a waste of hours of my life.
You realize how frustrating it is to think, "Finally! I found and read all the ChrysaLight stories! I think now I can JEEBUS FRICKEN FRACKEN CRACKEN THERE'S ANOTHER ONE! HOW IN ALL LEAPING DUCKSNOT DID I MISS ONE?!?"
On top of that, I left notes on a story or two recently reminding authors that their work was great and needed more exposure, and that groups were the best way to do that. Part of the response I heard was that authors either didn't know about groups, didn't know what groups were out there or what their submission rules were, or didn't want to join groups just to whore their story out for views.
Anecdote over; here's what matters.
Here's some friendly encouragement for authors everywhere:
1. Groups are a service to your readers!
If I want TwiDash, I go to the TwiDash group, click Stories, and sort or search however I like. It's that simple. Same goes for any other ship or character or topic. I guarantee you, there's a group out there somewhere that covers whatever you just wrote. Ms. Harshwhinny? Done. Twilight x Cadance x Celestia x Luna? Done. Peaches? Done. Unless you submit, though, I may never find your story. New stories don't stay on the front page very long, popular stories are shuffled out rapidly, and the Browse search is only marginally useful. I'm begging you, as a reader - help me out! Help me find your story by Grouping it.
2. Groups help you get views.
No secret there. It's not shameful, it's necessary. Think of it like so: you wrote a TwiDance story. You like TwiDance stories. You want to see more TwiDance stories. One way of encouraging that is to spread the word about them. I promise, if I see two stories I've never read and whose authors I don't know, both on interesting topics, and if my reading time is limited, I'll pick the story with more views and votes every time. It's human nature. Your chosen topic, your raison d'etre, your OTP, your fetish, whatever your preference - help it survive and thrive by helping it be more popular. Survival of the fittest! Er, viewed-est. It's also key to getting your story Popular or Featured, if that interests you.
3. Groups are a community unto themselves.
Shippers are notorious for this. We have our OTPs and we're rabid for more, even if we've seen it all a hundred times. Angsty lonely Luna has trouble fitting into modern society, reads some Friendship Reports, Celestia sends her to Ponyville to meeet Twilight, they bond over astronony, ends in confessions and snuggles. Seen it, read it, wrote it. Don't care, GIMMIE MORE, and better yet, find me a bunch of ponylovers who want the same. Like ponies in herds, readers and writers hang out in groups. It's a great place to find kindred souls and like-minded individuals. Need proofreading assistance? Story inspiration? Help finding that fic where Angel Bunny is crushing on Spike? Head to the groups, and post away. If they've seen your story show up in their feed, they'll already have heard of you, and you'll be in good company.
TL;DR version: GROUPS. U NEED DEM. Do it for the readers' sake, if not for your own.
* Sort of: I excluded plotless Clop in the first pass. I'll make a second pass through the site and read all the Twi x Princess clop-with-plot later.
I agree. Nobody's going to like your story if they don't have the chance to read it, and the only people who will know that you even posted a story if you don't post it on a group are those who either are already following you, or happen to be looking at the site within the first hour or so after you post it. Groups keep your stories in view forever, since of course someone looking through a group for stuff they like may page back within the folder.
The only thing I would add is to make sure to read the group rules first. As admin for several groups that work in several different ways, it can be crazy-making to have to PM people to explain something that's posted on the front page of the group.
I can kind of sympathize, since a person might be in one group and assume that all the others work the same way, but since this is true of none of the groups I admin I'd like to spread the word.
(Deleted double post.)
(Nods, smokes pipe)
Quite.
However, spreading question: do you post to groups all at once, or later them out over time?
1997317 yessssss... Don't add a romance comedy story to the slice of life folder. That is two whole seconds (and an indeterminate number of nanoseconds!) I will never get back
;)
1997349
Actually, my biggest problem is with a group I run called The Dreamers, which is for adding stories that other people wrote that you found inspirational. I'd say 75% of the stories that get added are people adding their own stories. I wish I could set it to not allow that, but as it is I just need people to read the rules.
1997376 That's pretty ridiculous there.
.. I hate to be that guy, but isn't this suppose to be obvious from the start?
I mean, groups are one the primary sources for getting views on this site, or at least i consider it as much.
This is true.
However, I'm wondering how in-depth one should go when looking for applicable groups. Often, I'll find groups that fit my story, but have maybe 60-30 members/stories.
(I didn't start this rockslide of rage, did I? I know you complained on one of my stories about this.)
1997315
Exactly my points.
1997330
Great suggestion! Case in point: Free Twilight Sparkle! vs Twilight Sparkle groups. Identical subject matter, vastly different submission rules and sorting criteria.
1997540
You'd think so, but after stumbling across quite good stories (happened to see them on the New Stories sidebar) several times recently, I thought it could use some reinforcement.
1997917
You didn't start it, no. I'll go down to the 50+ member groups, but beyond that, it's kind of pointless. All three members of "Twilite iz Celetia's ho, yo!" * are probably already members of Protect Celestia, Celestia is best Pony, Twilestia is Bestia, Twilunestia, etc.
* Not a real Group.
** Yet.