Just need to make a quick post before I head off to work about a topic that's been bugging me a bit: how to get people to read your story and, as a result, follow you for your future projects.

How does this happen? I understand that with the system on Fimfic, some people just get lucky with a great, hooking topic or simply pull the shameless smut card for an easy audience, but what about those who don't have the best of luck or simply don't want to write a clopfic to get some momentum going?

I'll probably edit this and add onto it a bit later, but for right now, this question stands.

Well the best way is to have two of these three things: (The * starred point is required)

1. A fantastic description & fantastic short description, that hooks people in on the main page.

2. A dazzling cover picture. A good cover picture with great art is always a good way to get people to look at your stuff, but it's not always needed.

*3. A well written and thought out prologue/first chapter. Good grammar and story setup is a plus here. You don't want to give too much away but you don't want to make it too vague. A good idea is to set up a plot line in the first chapter, something that makes people want more, want to know how it finishes. For example with the rewrite of my story Sisterly Bonds, the first chapter sets up a sort of mystery (Albeit an obviously solved mystery.) But it roped readers in to make them want to read more, want to know how it ties into the rest of the story.

Another good way to get views and good ratings is to have a second, a pre-reader or editor, someone who can say to you. "Hey you made an error here" or "Hey, I have an idea." Or Collab with a writer who has a following already. You can learn a lot from writing with others. Again I reference the aforementioned rewrite on my profile. I was honestly a shit writer before I wrote with Enlistedpony. (Granted he no longer writes.) But I learned a lot and gained a fair few followers from those chapters I wrote with him.

Things to not do:

1. Have a vague description like "Twilight sparkle does stuff." That description can work but it's generally not going to pull people in.

2. Have a Mary Sue/Marty Stue character in the story. Generally along the lines of "MY OC IS AN ALICORN AND IT'S IN A RELATIONSHIP WITH ONE OF THE PRINCESSES." That's a great way to get a downvote and no views.

3. Have a cover image that you don't have permission to use, and then edit it to represent your story. Eventually the artist will come forward and be like "That's my picture. . ." Always check if you can. Sometimes finding the author of the art is near impossible, but always try to and ask permission. I go by a rule of thumb of, if I can't find the artist I'll use the image temporally with a disclaimer saying I don't have permission and if anyone can get me into contact with the artist, I'll ask them, and if they want me to take it down I'll find another piece of art.

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I hope these tips help!

Holy Toledy, you got the million dollar question right there. There are many answers, but seriously, Just have fun, man. Practice is everything, and nobody gets followers immediately unless they've already been writing for a couple years. The more you write, the better you get, and the more people follow you. Simple as that.

There's probably a best way to get popular, implying frequent stories and explotation of some tags? But fuck that, yo. Just write whatever you think is fun and that's it. Write good, write often, have fun, and people will follow you naturally. Anything else s artificial and you really won't feel like you "earned" anything.

Then again, fuck if I know -- I ain't Pen Stroke here, so hey. Mayb what I