I got featured on the fandom's biggest website! Yay! (Minor ramble on popularity and authority) · 4:09pm Aug 16th, 2014
Yes, ladies and gentlemen, I have done it. My least popular story so far has been featured on Funtasia Daily. I am now part of a very small and elite group of fanfic writers who-wait, hold on. What was that, Pinkie Pie? That's not a big accomplishment at all? Not something to write home about, you say? Of course it is, why shouldn't I be proud of it? What other credentials would I want?
Wait, what? Equestria Daily? Why should I care about Equestria Daily?
*sigh*
Okay, I've put this off for a while now, so here goes: I know I'm not a popular writer, not in the larger scheme of things. You've seen my blogs or rambles about lacking confidence, and despite some bravado, attempted scheduling, and good intentions, I still have great difficulties not only getting the work done I'd like to do, but actually taking those accomplishments and accepting that I should be proud of them. As a result, I do not 'put out' my work as much as I could or should. I don't seek out pre-readers or recognised editors, the only contests I participated in were ones where there were only a handful of contestants (and I will forever hold the bragging right that at least one contest ended up changing its rules just because of me). I know I'm probably missing out on a lot of potential readers because I neglect to market my stuff. Heck, most of the time my fics end up in groups without me knowing it, and until recently I wasn't even a member of all the different 'libraries'. To be perfectly honest, if it hadn't been for arcum42 and Twilight's Library, I think I might not have half of my watchers. For those of you who don't know: my Flight Camp fic was the first featured fic of the Twilight's Library group, back when it was still kind of small. Things have expanded a lot since then, and due to the aforementioned issues I haven't been too active on either the reading side of things or discussion, or even adding stuff.
So what does this mean for boosting one's popularity? Well, for starters, it means that if you do not wish to rely on other people to make your work known, it's up to you to add your stories not only to relevant groups, but groups you know will draw readers. I've joined most of the 'X's Library' groups I could find just recently, and that should make it a bit easier to get exposure on my own. I like the idea of accomplishing things on my own merits and only having myself to blame for a major screw-up. That's part of the reason I don't ask other artists to make cover art for me, for better or worse.
My point is this: in the field of creating content, or fanfics specifically, there are a lot of different 'jobs', namely:
-writer. You, me, everyone who puts stuff on this website. Makes the stories happen.
-proofreader. Gives the writer feedback on plot points, makes sure the stories are good.
-editor. Gives the writer feedback on grammar, vocabulary, makes sure the stories are readable.
-cover artist. Provides cover art. Makes sure the stories are attractive from a graphical point of view.
-cover writer. Provides long and short description. Makes sure the stories are enticing from a written point of view.
-host. The people who keep the site up and running. Makes sure the stories are online in the first place. You might compare this with a publisher, but I prefer the term 'host', since their relationship with the users can be both symbiotic and parasitic.
-publisher. People who have third-party sites that then link to your story on the host's site. Equestria Daily and Funtasia Daily count.
Now, you might be thinking "Cracker, you silly little biscuit! Nopony asks somepony else to do the short description or long description! That's the writer's job!" Well, Pinkie, that's actually only half true. Much like how animation or 3D modelling is made up of several levels of production (a 3D animator never actually touches the model, for example), publishing a book usually involves hiring a cover artist, and having a cover also entails having a description. The skillset required to make a good description is separate from the skillset required to make a good story, same as how the skillset required to make a good story is different from the skillset required to catch grammatical errors and, if you're working for a particularly scatterbrained writer, missing. It counts as two different jobs, most people writing fanfics just combine them. Equestria Daily is getting in outside help. Nothing inherently wrong with it, but it's outside help.
But what to think of popularity, then? What to think of authority? Do you get more weight to throw around if you are successful? And if so, successful, how? Well, sometimes people like to think authority comes from having read a lot. You know the type, probably, those literary snobs. "You think this wasn't wrong, but I do, and I've read all of Shakespeare's works. That means I'm right." Funny thing about that: I've got the Shakespeare Omnibus lying around here myself and I don't think reading it would instantly make me a better writer. Saying the things you've read make you a better writer is like saying that by only eating at four-star restaurants you've become a world-class chef. It doesn't; it just means you have expensive taste in food. You know what tastes right, sure, but eating at a restaurant means you're not using your own oven, now are you? Then there's the grammar nazis who would say your work is inferior because it breaks certain rules. "I learned about this rule in college. You broke this rule, and I have perfect grades, therefore you cannot be right." Sounds like a fair point, until you realise that 50 Shades is a thing that happened, and so was Twilight. People have criticised both works, buried them into the ground with all the bad things to be said about them, and still these stories were successful. Others still think authority comes from having lots of popular stories. "I got on EqD twenty times, and this horrible story would never pass." Sounds fair on the surface, until you realise that Equestria Daily just outright rejects whole genres, making it an uneven playing field. It's also odd how some people would argue that being popular has nothing to do with writing quality, yet they themselves might use their own popularity to back up claims of suckitude in others. The real answer lies somewhere in between, as hard as it might be to accept.
Because remember, kids: if Stephen King says your work sucks, but you sold millions of it, you're still a millionaire. In the real world where money matters, popularity trumps quality. Your moral duty is just a matter of finding out where the two can meet. In fan fiction, popularity is your currency.
I suppose that doesn't answer the question, though, does it? What to think of popularity? Am I a popular writer? Are you? Do any of us have any hope of achieving whatever goals we have of making a difference in the fandom or the world, of making our voice heard and being a positive force for our ideals?
I don't know about you, but I know I'm not popular enough to let my voice be heard. I have not been featured on Equestria Daily. I've only been featured on FimFiction a few times, haven't even published that much.
I am nothing compared to authors who know what they're doing.
Authors who are English majors, where I just did my major in English, and my thesis, without help to improve my language.
Authors who've read all kinds of novels, while I struggle to finish reading mere fanfics, be they pony fanfics or otherwise. (The Scarlet Pimpernel, while a trendsetter in the spy genre and supposedly the origins of the secret identity trope, really is just a fanfic of the French Revolution, complete with lots of telling, and odd characterisations. It's kind of bizarre to see, really.)
Authors who pay cover artists to help boost their stories' popularity, or use generic art posted on DA.
Authors who have the distinction of getting on Equestria Daily.
Here's something to consider about that: they got on Equestria Daily, and it landed them a thousand hits (on average). They would not have as many hits, or fans, if not for Equestria Daily. Same with cover art: they didn't all draw their own cover art (most of the time). Their success is a collective effort.
So am I not popular? Are you not popular? Does EqD give all its contributors their cutie mark in fanfic writing? No.
You get your mark of distinction when you reach your goals, and when you feel proud of it. Equestria Daily is a means, not an end.
And Funtasia Daily is better, anyway.
Dammit, Pinkie!
Addendum, because we can't have nice things: I'm not saying anyone who gets featured on EqD is an inferior author. I'm saying that people who don't, shouldn't feel inferior as a result.
For what it's worth, I've written forty-one stories, more than most on the site, but I "only" have 191 followers because almost all my stories are ultra short one-shots.
2374868
Exactly. You've managed to attract over 100 people who like your ultra short one-shots. Contrast that to the amount of people you went to class with (usually 20-ish, where I'm from), and that's actually pretty good.