On the Joy of Tedious Self-Promotion · 10:45pm Jul 23rd, 2015
You know, these days, I often find myself wondering if it's worth the trouble to keep notifying EQD every time I post a chapter in the Petriverse. It would seem that everyone who's interested in seeing more of the story would be aware that there's more story to be had. Yet lo and behold, when, on a complete whim, I checked the comments section of their most recent mass story update post, there was someone expressing surprise that Petriculture actually had sequels.*
In any case, I guess the lesson is that there's always someone who managed to miss all your prior attempts to get their attention.
For those of you who already knew this, I offer the consolation of a completely unrelated, yet totally kickass music video from the 1990s.
*Or, quite possibly, there's sarcasm in that statement that flew over my head.
Hey, I live in Southern California!
Also, I hope that guy realizes he's on fire.
Quite frankly, EQD hasn't been the place for fics in a long, long time. Even when it was, the notification system they use is just bad.
"There's a sequel? We'll just keep listing the first fic and say there's an update to that instead lolololol".
3263940 - Oh, believe me, I'm well aware of its deficiencies. I'm just noting that despite those deficiencies, it's still worthwhile to take the trouble to let them know when you've updated, even when you're already somewhat popular here.
3263957
Yes, it definitely is. Every time I send in an update for either Rebellion or Reckoning, Alicorn and Brethren get a sudden flurry of faves, and the sequels get at least a few as well.
3263957 Eh. Last time I tried to submit something, the readers really liked it but asked for changes...that would've required a lot of rewriting and were honestly just so it could fit their vision of how the fic should've gone. Despite decisions made while writing that were intentional. But no, that had to be changed.... yeah, no, not happening. ( This if you're wondering.)
3263940
Ugh, I hate the way they do that. For some stories I have zero interest with some strange spin off and its sequels, but they post up the art and title from the original I enjoyed as if that was updated and given a sequel.
3263968 - Well, to be fair, most of the stories I have on EQD are actually sequels to stories that are already accepted, which get grandfathered in and don't have to pass the screening process (that's why the sequels all get listed under the original story - because that story is the only one actually got approved). Basically, EQD treats all sequels as if they're subsequent chapters of the first story.
3263967 Monster in the Twilight is *still* getting EqD hits(1300 referrals with weird bursts, like the sudden 2,000+ views on June 25??), even though Letters hasn't updated since March. EqD has been very good to me, because although it's not where I get the most reads, it ranks up there pretty far. Spacebattles seems to be a pretty popular referral site too, although with odd fics, you can get as many hits from the TVtropes site. (The Sacrifice of the Knight Bolo has about a third TVtropes, a third Spacebattles, and a third other. I love the stats page.)
3264017 That's both good and bad. Diplomacy by Other Means was supposed to be a standalone, but it got tucked in with the Traveling Tutor series and somewhat ignored by EqD readers (100 views, sigh). The Night Guard - Night Mares got about 300 from EqD as a sequel to A War of Words, and darn it I need to write them and say it's complete. I think sequels tend to get a little less attention than originals, because readers see the title and think "Oh, I've already read that."
So the rule of self promotion seems to be get it on EqD, write up a nice TV tropes page, and a polite line or two on the current front page of Spacebattles.
The "EQD Effect" putters out after a few updates, I've found. I still send them the story updates out of habit and just in case there's a reader who checks EQD more than FimFic.
New readers, though? No, you won't get them, really. Most people who read a story update page go "Nothing I'm reading..." and move along. Or sometimes comment "Nothing I'm reading..." so any authors featured in the story update can clearly see that nobody cares about their stories. :P