Hello, fellow bronies and pegasisters!

I had a question for y'all. I just posted my first fic. It's a one-shot, called Numbers (linked to the left). After the initial attention it got from being on the front page, which was fairly minor, it sort of fell off the radar. I posted it in a bunch of group folders, made some threads, and tried to get some attention, but I haven't really gotten anything after the initial burst it got from being on the front page.

Any advice on how to garner some attention? Also, if anyone would be willing to read it (and if you like it, spread it around a bit), that would be awesome. I put a lot of work into it and I've gotten mostly positive feedback, so I would really appreciate it.

Thanks!
Quills

1113494

Be active in threads. If people see you enough, they might just stop by your page to see who you are.

1113494 With One-shots, it's almost impossible to get much attention after you first post it. Unless you have a popular story already out. That way, people visit your page and try to read the stories that you have there.

1113494
Think of a good name, and link whenever you mention your story. It's what I do with Not Your Average HiE Story.

1113494 We're on the same boat I guess.
You did what you had to, now the best you can do is to keep trying. Make sure to post at least one chapter per day to get to the front page.

EDIT: Nevermind your story is a one-shot kind.

The image cover, a good short and long description also make the whole difference.

1113494 I'm already looking at it just from you posting this thread.

Well at least your story grabbed a great deal of attention. I myself struggle with getting views but after carefully observing some the more popular fan fics here's what I discovered. First, be active in as many groups as possible. The more people that share your interest the better. Second, update often. The initial boom may be over but if people see that it's back in the update section of the homepage they will be curious as to why the author is continuing. By now if you've checked out my stuff to make sure I'm credible with the advice I've given, then you might have noticed that I did not follow it. That's because I'm lazy and do not feel like searching for groups at the moment. For now I'm content with where I'm at.

1113504 So many threads. Its hard to keep up.

1113556

You talking about me

1113534 I like the title to your story I'll be sure to check it out definitely

That's the problem with one shots. They never get the update views. My story (a fifty-thousand word behemoth...) gets extra views every time I update a chapter. I would have to suggest trying to write a longer story so that your profile gets more views and when readers start to like you then, then your one shots will get some love.

1113561 No just in general I come back to the site and I see at least 54 Threads posted and just go "AHH! There's so many of them. I want to be a part of it all but I don't that much time on my hands." I've seen your name pop up time to time though so at least I know what your saying about eventually people will start to notice you.

1113577
Agreed, not everyone can do long stories, though. I on the other hand have a lot of difficulty to make a one-shot story, if I start writing about something new ideas just pop up and when I see the story has over ten thousands words.

1113494
In any case your story was rather well received and people are asking for an expansion on your story, so perhaps you should try to think a new chapter/prologue/epilogue for it.

1113607 No, I understand that. It's just unfortunate that there isn't much of a way for one-shots to stay in the spotlight. I mean if you can at least put out a few chapters, it's helpful. I personally have at least four one-shot ideas waiting in the wings, but I'm waiting until I have some followers...And I know what you mean about stories being longer than they were supposed to be.....my current story was meant to be a ten-chapter thing at absolute most and each chapter was only supposed to be around 2,000 words....Now it's eighteen chapters long and I just hit the 50k mark...

1113494

Since I sympathize with your plight, I'll have a look at your story. =D

I'd offer to do a "read mine and I'll read yours" trade but given the huge word count disparity that wouldn't exactly be fair.

If you want to, though, here: Mah storeh

1113643 I'd love to check out your story! It looks really cool. Thanks for taking a look at mine.

Quills

1113568 1113494
See? The interesting name just got me another reader.

Oh, and thanks for the watch. Have a best pony.

1113748 I'm trying my hand at writing myself and I'm currently working on my first fimfic 'Human and Pony Alike' It's my first one so any constructive comments would be helpful

1113494 1113537 1114039

Here's what I do to get attention for a story. Hopefully it helps you.

#1) Join and participate in the awesome Authors Helping Authors group. This is a group where authors who are in the same boat as us, trying to get attention for their stories, read each other's stories and trade reviews. And it works. Not only do you get some more readers/upvotes/favorites and sometimes watches, but the feedback they leave tells you how your story can be improved and helps you to become an even better writer.

#2) Make sure you have a cover image, a good description, and a first chapter/paragraph/sentence that hooks the reader.

#3) Join every group that your story fits in and add it there. (But you don't have to add it to every single one at the same time.) This is really important, because groups are the places readers look for stories after they leave the front page. How will they find your story if it's not there?

#4) Advertise on places like MLPforums. They have a place where you can add your fantiction there and grab a few more readers.

#5) There are groups and sometimes threads that open up that are just for self-promotion. When you see them, join in and mention your story there. (Also, I suppose that starting threads like this one can be helpful.)

And keep writing and adding more stories!

1113534 That sounds like good advice. I'll take it next time I mention Walking a Tightrope

1113494
Oh! The fic went up. *like*
Though that this is news might be a problem. Clearly you haven't done enough group-whoring. Get adding, Quill! To everything applicable.

Though congrats on the reception. I thought it was a pretty well-constructed bit of storytelling. People wanting more from you is never a bad thing. Even though clearly the point of the fic was to leave things hanging, and it probably isn't set up for expansion.

Shame about those drive-by dislikes at the start of the story though. As I said when pre-reading, Trollestia isn't really muchly liked. And people clearly made assumptions based on the Solar Empire thing, and the picture.

1113748
How dare you not deliver on an offer!
Here you go:

1114399 Thanks for the help, I really appreciate it.

1114960 You are very welcome.

1113494
Yeah, I have this exact same problem except it was more for the story than the one-shot.

I have six chapters and around 110 views... whereas the one-shot got around twice that.