I’m finally caving into posting a shameful advertising campaign. To be honest this is a bit of a plea for help as well.

As you’ve probably guessed this is about my story The Falling Star People. I feel I’ve achieved something good because I have so many likes to comparatively few dislikes but at the same time I don’t feel like its gathering the amount of attention I’m aiming for with new chapters yielding relatively little in the way of results. At the same time I feel conflicted because this could be a good thing. No one complains if there’s no flaws right? Though a few of the early replies were on the subject of spelling mistakes; “lunch the probes”.

I suppose I’m asking how I can get more attention, which worded like that makes me feel kind of petty. Maybe this will help but I’m not all that sure. If anyone knows some good groups for sci-fi fics and/or interaction between Equestrian and human civilisation, for Changeling fans maybe some war I’d love to know.

I have also been wanting to change the name but I’ve never been able to come up with anything that does it more justice. The same goes for the summery so any help there would be appreciated.

Well, you're on the right track - first of all, you've gotta get your name out there. Being more active in whatever groups you're a member of will help people see you. Seeing your work just comes next. Offering services for things like proofreading, editing, and other oddjobs will also increase the chances of people checking out your profile space and getting a look at your stories.

888133 So... just show it off? Add it to as many groups as I can and so forth?

888165 Yea that's what I did for my story, by sending to a multitude of groups. Another thing you can do that's specific to this group is go out and review stories that are in the folders and in turn you will get reviews and more likes and or favorites. I've also set up a feedback request thread system just put your story in the threads that match the tags of your story; These are also a good place to find stories to review.

Also as a note due to a new rule implementation this thread can only be up for a week. you may renew the thread after the week is up.but the rule will still apply for the new thread

888165
Yes. Get peple to review it. Ask their opinions. Stories generally don't just *poof* with popularity, you have to actively advertise them and seek opinions.

888165
Well, try not to look desperate, but it doesn't hurt to add it to a few groups. What's really important is getting involved in the community yourself, making sure people know you exist. Help 'em out, they'll often return the favor.

888199 I suppose that’s what I’m mostly afraid of, looking like an attention seeker. It probably doesn’t help that I despise television and internet advertising, doing this makes me feel like a bit of a hypocrite.

I’m also wondering if there’s a formula for those summaries and titles that just grab you and make you want to read them, because I know they exist as rare as they are.

888188 Well I’ll be sure to check those out.

I could probably use another browsing session of the groups to see if there’s anything new I can join in on. Considering the insane number of groups I’ve seen others in it probably means I’m lagging behind. As for the one week rule, duly noted. I probably won’t need it that long anyway.

888189 It certainly seems like it sometimes. What I would class as generally poor stories I often see repeatedly making it to the featured story list. I know that sometimes it’s a matter of opinion and I’m not going to be nasty and name anything but when I see something up there that’s rushed and filled to the brim with mistakes and bad writing I can’t help but despair. I do my best to comment but when the story’s comment section is filled with near sycophantic prase …

Sorry, I’m moaning aren’t I.

Upload it to groups. Go around and do reviews both in and out of AHA. Ask for people to look at it, comment, and promote it. You can also do things for publicity. For example, write something as pure viewer bait, like what I did when I created Racer And The Greek, and certainly what I did when I created A Pleasant Surprise. You have 731 views on your most-read chapter. Considering that this is an adventure and human story, that is remarkable, especially because you have few followers and only one story. Your upload view spikes for your last two updates were MASSIVE. You're doing better than me with your series. I did note that your reader retention is low, at least between your early chapters. I do not have time now to read it in any kind of detail. However, the effort you have put into it does show. I would caution you about leaving so many long author's notes at the end of each chapter. Oh, and it is generally considered bad form to beg for reviews, likes, favourites, and follows. While it is alright to tell readers that such things are appreciated, repeatedly asking for them in a pushy manner is not considered polite.

888165 Yes! The thing is, there are people out there who want to read your story, but because it's only on the front page for a brief time whenever you update it, you are forced to rely on luck and just hope the reader who wants the story you are telling happens to be on the front page when it comes up. Adding it to every single group that it will fit in is not just shameless promotion, it's allowing your audience to find the story that you are writing for them. There are readers who are looking through the Sci Fi Ponies group and the Human in Equestria group (and many others) just for a story like yours, but if it's not there, how will they ever find it?

Anyway, there's nothing wrong with a reasonable amount of self advertising. And there is nothing shameful about wanting your stuff to get more attention than it does. (That's one of the reasons this group is awesome; it's full of authors that are all in the same boat, and are willing to swap reviews and give one another's stories some extra attention.) I mean, do we complain about commercials for MLP or think of it as them shamelessly self advertising? Of course not. They're just trying to get people to watch the show, the same way you're trying to get people to read your story.

Things that help get stories more attention:

1. Add them to all applicable groups.

2. Maybe throw up a link to your story on MLPforums or similar sites. (Some people have gotten some attention through Reddit and Facebook as well.)

3. Do things like what you're doing here, and don't be afraid to say, "Hey, I've got a story I'm working hard on, anyone care to read it?" There are even threads in other groups just for self promotion, where you can casually drop a link to your awesome story and, who knows, maybe a few more readers will find you through it.

4. This group's review exchange has gained my own stories quite a bit more attention than they had before. So review some more stories for people, especially people who's favorites include stories like yours so you can tell they are going to appreciate what you are writing.

5. If your story is a long one, remember that with every few thousand words you add, it's going to look that much more daunting to any prospective new reader, which means that as your story grows, you may find less people taking that first leap into chapter one. There are a couple creative ways you can deal with this. First, make sure that first chapter, that first scene, is something that hooks the reader so that he/she feels compelled to follow the story. Next, you might try to write side stories to your main story, like one shots that feature links back to the main story in the author's notes. (I haven't tried this myself, but I suspect it will work since story sequels tend to generate a significant number of views/likes/favorites for the original work.)

Uh oh... this post has grown incredibly long. Anyway, don't feel embarrassed about self promotion. You have to be relentless sometimes. The point is, you have an audience out there already; advertising is just about making sure your story is able to be found by them.

888127 It's alright, I eat probes too. *nom nom nom*

As thanks for letting me make that joke, I will now read your story. Will review it in hopes you return the favor.

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My many thanks for the support. It’s also nice to know I’m doing better than I think I am.

There's also a following over at the Spacebattles forum, of all the strange places. I've gotten a hundred or two hits from happy readers who posted links there.