Sort of important news! Also, I kinda made the feature box. . . · 4:00am Sep 15th, 2012
First, and most important: The View From the Window. If you're looking for a fanfic that reads like a novel set in Equestria, this is it. It's not everyone's cup of tea, but I haven't been this excited to see more from an author since I found a weird, sprawling fic by this guy named Church.
Since that worked out so well, I'm spreading the word once again. Do not let the OC tag fool you, Sunchaser is an author to keep an eye on and “The View From the Window” is an awesome read.
In other news. . . the feature box game is over!
For my past few stories I've been playing a game to see how many watches I got before I made the new stories side of the feature box. The final total was 177 watches before the story that got me the feature box was posted.
From what I've seen, this is a fair number of watches for someone who hadn't been featured or on EqD. I'd like to share some things I've learned along the way:
1) “Son, I've got one word for you: Shipping.”
Shipping has it's problems- the readers who hate the ship you love, the readers who hate shipping, the automatic downvotes. But when it comes to building an audience, there's none more loyal than shippers. (And I love you all!)
Whenever someone watches me, I look at the user page. This is mostly because you're going to be exposed to my ramblings, so I'd like to know who you are. One thing I noticed several times was a familier watch list: Me, BronyNeumo, Tchenobog, KrazyTheFox, Lycan_01, etc. . . all the big AppleDash writers. And no matter how well they did at the time, my ship fics get more faves on a regular basis than my gen fics. People actively look for ship fics for their favorite pairing (I know I do), and fresh new shippers will go back and look at what's been done before.
What I'm saying is that a popular ship has a built in audience. If you like shipping, it's a great place to start writing.
2) Make some friends.
The two smartest things I did on this site were making friends with Church and DbzOrDie. In addition to ways they've helped my writing, neither of them have ever stopped cheering me on and talking me up to anyone who would listen. I DO NOT PUT THEM UP TO THIS! And I adore them both entirely for who they are. (Or at least who they pretend to be on the internet.)
Seriously, you know that thing about friendship being magic? You wouldn't believe how many people in this fandom are awesome and friendly and all you have to do is communicate with them. Send PM's, join a group (or start one!) or just start commenting a lot! It's easy to end up in your own little world and run off trying to stop Nightmare Moon try to get your work out there and read and loved all by yourself. But it's your friends who will help you every step of the way. Speaking of friends. . .
3) Bad Horse is a genius.
No really, he is. In addition to being a fantastic writer and an astute reader, he's also a student of exactly how this site works. He's recognized problems with the feature box and been one of the loudest voices to get it changed. I don't know how much he influenced the current feature box design, but I'm nearly certain that he deserves at least some of the credit, and this set up is a lot more fair than the old ones.
He also knows how to work the system. I probably would have been featured long ago if I listened to his commercial sense. But I was stubborn and went on plugging away at my little romance and slice of life fics.
So, now I've been featured. It's fun, I'm in notification heaven right now. And I'm proud of my story, even if it has it's flaws. Today is a good day.
Now go check out The View From the Window.
Congragulations Emily, making the feature box is always awsome. Speaking of friends even though we havent talked to each other recently, I hope you still consider me a close friend. Because I feel very lucky to have you as a friend.
Also have you seen my Rainbow Dash and Clay vector on deviantart yet? I'll send you a link if you havent.
And if you are into tumblrs feel free to ask Comet Blaze a question if you have one.
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I do indeed consider you a close friend. Just because we don't talk as much doesn't mean we aren't friends, and you know I'm here for you whenever you want to drop me a line.
And I did see the vector, very cute!
FUCK THE FEATURE BOX!
I mean... congrats!
an author like me? Oh dear, not a replacement!
*edit*- Awwwwww... that's so lovely. I shouldn't have any credit. I'm just a boy who writes silly stories. I only gain followers to gain YOU followers.
That's how this works, in case you didn't know...
359577 Thanks. I'm glad I can always count on you, I may not be as good as Church and Bad Horse, but I try my best with my stories and my friends. I'm sorry if my stories have been laking updates, but I'm waiting on my proofreader for Wings 2. Also I have been trying my hand on other pony related things, such as doing recordings for my ask comet blaze tumblr. It's mostly for fun and to add some story to Comet.
So what do you plan on doing next?
Congrats! You should have been featured a long time ago, but it's great to see you finally up there!
Lots of thanks for the shout-out, too. I feel all warm and fuzzy inside. :3
Congratulations on making the feature box for new stories. I wasn't aware this was your first time of it. I mean, for all it's flaws I probably wouldn't have stumbled across your writing abilities until much later, if at all, if it wasn't for that box in general. So from my angle, it's got that going for it.
I wouldn't consider myself one of your loyal shipping fans, but I think, through the quality of your work, I would consider myself one of your regular readers for good or bad. Then again, first story of yours I ever read was a shipping one, so what the hell do I know? It's great to see you getting such deserved recognition, and yes having friends who will praise your work at the drop of a hat is a wonderful thing indeed.
May all your continued earnings be equally rich and rewarding for you and your friends!
I think we need to set up a chorus here, play all three at the same time!
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You go on and rage against that machine there. Down with the man!
And thanks!
No one will ever replace you, and you know it. But awesome authors should be pointed out.
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Don't stress over updates. Even though I always update in a timely manner. <insert lying AJ here.> And there are few professional writers as good as Church and Bad Horse. I know I'm not as good as they are. So don't sweat that either.
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I call 'em as I see 'em, and that cute Dash icon is recognizable in a watch list.
I don't know that anyone should be featured, but I'm glad I get a chance up there. Of course, I'd rather have gotten up there for AppleDash, but we'll just have to make Tchenobog write a new fic to get some AppleDash love up there.
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Nope, never made it before. I almost made it for The Importance of Being Earth Ponies. . . if it had been set up like it is now, I probably would have.
And I'm soooo glad you found me. Your comments are just awesome, both praise and critique. If my writing is good enough to attract folks like you, I'll just have to keep writing.
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Thank you! 
You did good son, real good, maybe even the best
That was a nice start to my day!
>3) Bad Horse is a genius.
An evil genius, if you please.
359657 I try and try, but am too slow!
You've never been featured? EVER?!
Well congratz! You're an outstanding writer and you deserved to be featured a long time ago. Now, I must go read your new fic.