New Story, New Article, and Metrics of Success · 7:15am Jan 16th, 2019
Hello, loves. 
Just wanted to make a quick blog to provide some updates on what I've been working on, and also to humblebrag in the form of philosophical wondering.
First, new story, which came out like two weeks ago so y'all have probably already seen it. I wrote it as a Jinglemas present – my third, if you've been keeping count – and although it's shorter than most of my other work, I think it's still pretty funny.
In order to save Shining Armor and Princess Cadance's sex life, Sunset Shimmer teaches Cadance how to be a bad girl.
Go read it or I'll cry.
SECONDLY, I've got a new article out! Just dropped yesterday on the Mary Sue:
In the first trailer for Avengers: Endgame, Marvel accomplished another shocking feat: they crafted an action movie trailer without any action. In this feature for the Mary Sue, I talk about why that's significant, and what it says about Marvel's success.
Go read it or I'll cry. And if you share it, I'll definitely not cry.
Now, humblebragging philosophical wondering. Here on FiMFiction, there are a lot of metrics we can use to judge "success," as shifty as that term is in the art world. Comments, views, upvotes... if a fic gets into the featured box, is it a success? What if it gets, like, no views, but a Royal Canterlot Library feature?
I don't have answers to those questions. But personally, I've always seen 1000 upvotes as the threshold for a fic being considered a "classic." My entire FiMFiction career, I've judged my staying power on how many fics I can get past that threshold. As of this writing, I have six fics at that point – four on this account, and two on my alt. The most upvotes I've ever gotten on any fic is 1,671 on The Attempted Assassinations of Twilight Sparkle.
A few hours after my new article dropped, I posted it to r/MarvelStudios, the official subreddit for talking about the Marvel Cinematic Universe. About a day and a half later, here's where it's at:
That's over 11,000 upvotes and about 450 comments. And while I can't guarantee that all of them read the article (you can't guarantee that everyone who votes on a fic has read it either), that's better than any fic I've written in my 7-8 years on this site. And yet, I never even reached the top of the subreddit (apparently the first trailer for the new Spider-man movie is more important than my article >:V). It's interesting to me how different the metrics for success are between this site and another – something that would be virtually impossible to achieve here is a common sight on another. Feels weird leaping from our small community here into the big wide world of the internet at large.
/rambling over
mood
Welp, that's my chances knackered, then. Getting even 50 upvotes happens once in a blue moon, to say nothing of 100.
It’s interesting to get a sense of scale in terms of our little corner of the internet here vs. the wider world. I suppose I’ve wondered just how niche we are; sounds like it’s not dead but it’s pretty darn niche.
I dunno, maybe the whole enterprise here makes sense more on the basis of either love, or the creation of “art?” Or maybe a bit of cozy familiarity, too. I see bigger numbers over yonder hill, but I love what we’ve got here and what I get to do with it...
Though if 1000 is the gold standard, I’m pretty boned—I’ve got exactly one above 500, and it’s far and away my biggest.
That being said, I’ve always felt that 100 was more like my personal sign of success.
There's a lot of potential crying going on here, are you okay? c.c
Please don't cry, I read Good Girls Are Bad Girls That Haven't Been Taught New Years morning while high on LSD (which means my reading comprehension wasn't the best, but I think I enjoyed it.)
1,000 upvotes?
I've got three fics as Baal Bunny that are just over 600, and the highest on my AugieDog account barely breaks the 400 mark. So it sounds to me like you're doing quite well.
Mike
I kind of like being in a niche; it means the crowd here isn’t so big that I get completely lost in it. There’s room enough to be noticed by a few people without resorting to screaming and substanceless shock value (both of which of course still draw plenty of attention).
I’ve been mulling over metrics of success as well, actually. I don’t think a single number ever really covers it. I’ve read some, relatively speaking, undiscovered gems that stand head and shoulders above some of the traditional “fandom classics” that I’ve checked out. I think all of the numerical metrics, from upvotes to views to comments, are muddled by that ineffable “right story at the right time” factor. Plus some genres, subjects, and characters are guaranteed to get more attention (good or bad) than others, writing quality aside.
Personally I consider my stories ‘noticed’ if I get over a thousand views (scale this accordingly based on your follower count), and successful based on the votes and quality of the comments. This is another spot where the niche quality of the fandom helps, because I’ll recognize frequent commenters and have a sense of what they consider good versus great.
Reviewers are a big part of it too. I take the thoughts of 4997861 and his ilk to heart, even if I don’t always agree with them. Feedback from somebody who’s read a significant slice of what the fandom has produced is an invaluable insight.
At the end of the day, I think my best measure of success is how I feel about a story six months to a year later, when my writing style has changed (hopefully for the better) and I’ve gotten some mental and emotional space from the story. If I can read it then and think “wow, this was actually pretty good!” then I’ll consider it a real success.
4997909
I have an ilk? :D
Man, I had ilk jerky once. It's pretty good, but once you've dried meat that much, it's pretty much indistinguishable from any other dried meat. :B
4997913
My ilk is tougher than your ilkI’ve had hamburger helper made with boar meat, which tasted a little gamey but otherwise was the same as cow :P
4997926
I've had bison burgers before, which are way better than regular hamburgers, but a lot of exotic meats just kind of aren't that different from what we're used to? :B It's always disappointing.
4997893
god I love you
4997900
Absolutely agreed on your last point.
4997861
No tears now. Only jiggly Lyra
4997822 4997853 4997909
Don't worry, I still love you, no matter how many upvotes you have.
4998561
<3 u 2 boo
Congrats on the views! Good article (and story, both).
If 1k views is the "classic" gold standard, then half of what I'm going to be known for is borderline smut.