Since all the posts are really supposed to be promotions in this group, that doesn't really give many places to discuss things. This, though, is a discussion thread, and it's a permanent one. So you can post in it even if the last post was a year ago, though I'd prefer you don't tag your post as a reply to really old comments.

What I was thinking this thread could be for is discussing how to promote. We do have a guide, but that's pretty old, and it's by somepony who is no longer on fimfiction. Here's where you can share things that have worked and havent't worked for you when promoting, and things that get you to look at a promotion or not look at it, as the case may be.

This can extend past this group, too. If you want to list other things you do in addition to promoting here to get views, feel free!

You can also discuss the group itself here, and things you'd like to see change.

I'd keep actual promotion to a minimum here, though, since that's what the rest of the group is for, and this isn't really for off topic chatter. (Though I could make a thread for off-topic chatter if there's demand.)

--Sweetie Belle

5631517
Although this is not really a point on what works as much as a question thereof, one point for consideration I have is whether providing a link to video content is preferable to embedding the video if it's from YouTube, provided the video's safe enough to link in the first place.

Personally, I do not on a couple practical considerations. Pages seem to load easier for me if videos are not embedded, and I understand some users don't have the fastest machines available. Those users likely would want to also open the videos in a different tab and let them buffer if they want to get to them somewhat immediately but can't right away. Furthermore, in my case, I have FimFiction whitelisted from my ad blocker; however, when I play videos from YouTube that are embedded here, ads will appear on them if they're monetized. Most of mine aren't, but as someone with ad aversion and despises Google's current trend with ads featuring sirens in the background, I can imagine that some would want the video link simply there to go directly to YouTube, where my ad blocker is in effect.

That said, it's fairly easy on PC to just right-click on the title of a video and select "Open in new tab," but that fails to circumvent the loading issue. I also find the embedded video spaces unaesthetic, and their blocky shape is unsuitable, given the limited formatting options for forum posts on here.

To embed, or not to embed? That is my question.

Also, I would contribute tips for effective promoting, but I feel a lot of good advice has already been covered, and general marketing strategies could apply. Additionally, I have no idea whether my attempts at promoting here are effective (correlations of activity on my videos and the stories I do readings of are rather weak, according to my analytics, but then again, YouTube doesn't give me much information when people find my videos by direct links offsite). I also have conflicting feedback from here, as well, even when I exclude the more facetious posts I make here. Often, as is typical of posts to this group in general, there aren't any comments I can go off of. And sometimes I get upvotes and sometimes I get downvotes on my promotions and self-promotions with no clear reason as to why. It is for these reasons that I often vary up my format or the tone of my approach to my promotions. I literally have no idea what has stuck and what has not, coming from myself. I try to do promotions that include techniques that succeed with me, but even then, a lot of promotions that feature certain appeals do not get feedback, as reticence is apparently the general trend among readers here.

Either that, or my more facetious appeals have utterly demolished my credibility when I'm trying to be serious. However, I have no clear way of discerning that.

5637860

To embed, or not to embed? That is my question.

For me, it always seems like it's more when you have multiple youtube videos embedded in the same thread then just one that causes an issue. I'll also say that I think the play button on an embedded video is more likely to be hit then a link taking you to the video, just 'cause it's easier. The still image from the embedded video is more likely to catch attention, too. I'd probably include both. That way if the embedded video didn't load, you'd still have the link.

Also, I would contribute tips for effective promoting, but I feel a lot of good advice has already been covered, and general marketing strategies could apply. Additionally, I have no idea whether my attempts at promoting here are effective.

It is kinda hard to tell sometimes. it actually helps if there is a conversation going on in your thread, especially if there are delays in it, because every time there is a new post in the thread, it bumps up to the top.

Tone in the whole thread is important, too. If the original poster in a thread is being rude through the whole thread, they aren't really gonna attract much but trolls. If they are advertising a group for trolls, this might be perfect, but most of the time it isn't. the advertisement and your conduct in the thread is reflected on what you are advertising. If you are coming off as intelligent, articulate, pleasant, and a little silly, it'd be reasonable to assume that the story you are advertising is likely to be like that too. Sometimes, you'd get views from somepony just 'cause they think you were being clever, or cute, or things like that.

Advertising groups is actually a bit different then other things, and is something I do have experience in. You want to start advertising them in the first week they are made, so you can post an advertisement both here and in the New Groups group.

Really, what you are aiming for with a group is getting a lot of joins in a short time. If you look on the dashboard at the trending group list, look at the number of new members this week on the bottom one. You want to get higher then that, so your group is trending. Then you want to stay trending as long as possible. You might blog about the group, see if there are other, related places that'll let you advertise it, and such.

I wrote up a long tutorial in a group that's otherwise dead once about how to create a group, so anypony interested might read this...

Either that, or my more facetious appeals have utterly demolished my credibility when I'm trying to be serious. However, I have no clear way of discerning that.

I think the silly and the serious kinda battle it out. If you can write stories that are silly in a very serious way, you'd probably get some views.

This is Miss Rainbow Dash of Ponyville demonstrating how not to be seen:

Well, something like that.

--Sweetie Belle

5639234
That sounds fair enough. And true, a failure of the embedded video loading would not necessarily negate the direct link. Smart thinking, SweetAI!

If you are coming off as intelligent, articulate, pleasant, and a little silly, it'd be reasonable to assume that the story [or group] you are advertising is likely to be like that too.

I think that's the most glaring advice. I don't promote groups very much or create many, but that's good stuff to keep in mind, and I'll definitely refer back here before I start making one next time.

I think the silly and the serious kinda battle it out. If you can write stories that are silly in a very serious way, you'd probably get some views.

Understood.

Good golly! I've been absconding myself the wrong way for all these years!

5631517 Can I promote non-story things, like a blog post(s)?

5664314
If it's a Fimfiction blog, it's considered pony-related enough (or site-related, anyway) to promote here.

5631517
5664339
I have a new question. Regarding the rule about similar or exact posts being limited to once per week, I wanted to know if would be violating it.

Approaching two hours ago, I posted about an audio reading I made for a GrimDark story. I had been waiting to post about it until it finally got featured so that I could post about it on the day of the feature. However, this happened to coincide with a video I just uploaded today on schedule, which I would also like to promote.

While I do voice the video, it's technically not a fanfic audiobook. It's basically a verbose meme, which I made from Gummy's Monologue from Episode 100, that I voiced. I was wondering if this would count as "too similar" to post I made earlier today.

5738678
Well, they don't sound that similar. As long as the promotion is different enough, I think that'd be all right.

It's mostly a case by case basis on whether things violate that rule, really, based on the discretion of the admins here.

--Sweetie Belle

5738756
Understood. I think the tone overall is sufficiently different, and I'll make sure to convey that in the post. If it presents an issue, I'll rescind the post and wait for a later time.

Thank you!

I have a group called Muffin Side Stories. It is from the cupcakes universe. If you know any stories like this please and them and become a follower.

I just thought I’d note that with the new site update, besides linking to your stories, you can embed them into your posts with the embed tag, like this:

[embed]https://www.fimfiction.net/story/370962/sweetie-belles-short-stories[/embed]

ESweetie Belle's Short Stories

• MLP: FiM
• Anthology

A small collection of drabbles, flash fics, and short stories.

• Celestia
• Other
• Main 6
• CMCs
• Flash Sentry

SweetAI Belle · 4.7k words  ·  33  3 · 773 views

For purposes of the group rules, I’ll treat that just like linking to it. I think doing embeds is a pretty good way to promote!

--Sweetie Belle

5976199
Useful! Thank you for the tip!

5976199
Update: Actually, for purposes of promotion, I'll allow embedding any story, mature or not. If you look at a embedded story that is mature with mature off, the post will just show " [Adult story embed hidden]" instead, so there's no reason not to allow it!

--Sweetie Belle

Well, that was scary.

Did you know that if a fimfiction user's account is deleted, any groups they founded vanish into 404 land?

I've now been retconned as group founder, and the group is back. If anyone notices any important missing threads, let me know.

Bye, Vengeful Spirit. I'll miss you.

--Sweetie Belle

6055886
You can link to your userpage or story list, or you can embed the M-rated story.

6055967
You're welcome.

Original Story: A Final Goodbye

I wrote an original story called A Final Goodbye which I just thought I would share.

Here is a quick summary of the story: Naya waits in a local cafe for a niece she has not seen since her sudden disappearance long ago. When she is finally reunited with the beloved family member she views as a daughter, she learns about the nature of her disappearance which leads her to some shocking realizations of her own.

Feel free to check it out if you like.

Here is the link to the story if you want to give it a read.

Link: https://www.fimfiction.net/blog/812208/original-story-a-final-goodbye

Can I promote here non-fimfiction MLP stories? Ones which are not purely text-based? (But do not yet count as comics.)

Or should I go somewhere else?

I write (SUPER) high-effort ponymote slice-of-life stories (and an MLP D&D campaign).

I try to break the stereotype that ponymote stories are low-effort.

6447807
As long as they are pony related (or mlp related, at least), you can promote them here, even if it's not on fimfiction. Keep in mind that you can't directly link to anything mature-related, though. (If the story was mature rated, you could promote it and link to someplace that was sfw that had a link to it...)

--Sweetie Belle

If you are a fan of or have dream based stories, then please join this group and fill it with all your dreams. You can also comment on the front page about a dream you had that was mlp related.
Thank you for your time.
Link:https://www.fimfiction.net/group/212471/dream-scape

Just posted a new chapter in my Nightmare's story, it isn't long but it's a sign that I'm back and working again.
https://www.fimfiction.net/story/396022/masks-lie-and-nightmares-never-die

First, I thought I'd remind everyone that there is an official thread to discuss promoting things in general, this one, and it's more appropriate here then in actual promotion threads.

Also, to my way of thinking, if you promote something more than once, what you're really aiming the second promotion at is the people that joined since the last promotion. Here's what some quick numbers for the last ten weeks of new members look like, excluding people that were banned:
8/6/5/8/5/10/4/6/5/7 = 64 = average 6.4 members a week

So promoting a week later might reach 6 more people, two weeks might be 13, than maybe 19 at three. Just averages, but kinda interesting to think about...

--Sweetie Belle

I have a story that I would like to submit for consideration in the group The Shameless Self-Promotion Bureau , and that is My Little Pony: The Next Generation. Also, to anyone else reading this post, you're also welcome to check it out. Let me know what you think.

7112003
Hi there! You don't need to ask to promote; anyone is free to post a new thread in the Forum to promote their work. Doing so will ensure that it shows up in people's feeds.

You can also make your story stand out more by embedding it:

[embed]https://www.fimfiction.net/story/458478/my-little-pony-the-next-generation[/embed]

which makes it show up in a nice preview box, like this:

EMy Little Pony: The Next Generation

• MLP: FiM
• Slice of Life

At the first graduation ceremony of the School of Friendship, Applejack gets healthy reminder what is important.

• Rainbow Dash
• Applejack
• Rarity
• Ocellus

Scroll · 15k words  ·  13  3 · 646 views

7112021
Embedded? Is there a clicking option for that? Or do I have to manually type embedded? I've seen others do it before but don't know how.

7112027
Yep, there's a button in the toolbar above the comment box (it's the one that looks like a sheet of paper, to the left of the quote button). Or you can just manually surround the URL with [embed] [/embed] tags.

7112059
thank you

Does anyone know a group for Changeling OCs?

7226720
The largest group I could find that specifically mentions changeling OCs is this one:

https://www.fimfiction.net/group/206126/bat-pony-changeling-merpony-alicorn-and-hybrid-ocs

But the group has had no forum activity in years. You'll likely find this to be true of most niche groups.

Probably your best bet is this one, which is active, although not specifically about OCs: https://www.fimfiction.net/group/629/queen-chrysaliss-changeling-swarm

Well, it's worth a shot!

Hey guys, I'm not exactly sure how this works, but I have posted 2 stories to this group.

They are Cadere a Gratia (Fall from Grace) and Struggles.

I really enjoyed writing them and I hope that you will all enjoy reading them.

https://www.fimfiction.net/group/215089/luna-fanfic-writer-group

I'd like to promote my first story. It is a Sunset Shimmer centred Fic where she finds out she may not be a unicorn from Equestria.

https://www.fimfiction.net/story/477655/sunset-to-equine-or-not-too-equine

Click to possible cringe.

TWhat the where?

• MLP: FiM
• Comedy

Locally grown, cringy, sort of good that has an Indian guy.

• Profanity
• Human
• Alt. Universe
• OC
• Main 6

ARandomLonelyDude · 24k words  ·  52  9 · 1.2k views

This one is good maybe

TRise of the Earthlings

• MLP: FiM
• Star Wars
• Adventure
• Sci-Fi

Earth and its territories find themselves in a galaxy far, far away.

• Profanity
• Death
• Crossover
• Human
• Alt. Universe
• OC
• Nightmare Moon
• Raven Inkwell

ARandomLonelyDude · 1.7k words  ·  22  4 · 828 views

I made a story ok? Then I made another one
Bu they have something in common. Everyone fucking hates them. For no reason. No comments of why they hate it. They just fucking hate it. Its getting on my fucking nerves man. Please just review them and don't hate on them for no fucking reason

Hey y'all. I'm curious. Does anyone have any tips for maximizing the number of unique views on a fic? Things like best time of day to post new chapters, best times to upload to groups (to keep the fic in user's newsfeeds), stuff like that? I've found that adding my work to groups in the beginning can get a nice number of views, but as time goes on the number of new and unique viewers decreases since more and more of the people reading are ones who have previously read it and are just coming back to it.

TLDR; how do I keep new viewers coming in? What's the best way to keep attracting them?

7652691 Most advice you're going to get on this topic is going to be very anecdotal. The only time anyone made a point of really trying to figure out what times of day made a big difference to views and stuff was when Ocalhoun (look 'em up) did some stuff on it. They should still have a blog post kicking around if I'm not mistaken.

Bad news: it's been years, and shit's changed since then.

The first thing you should do is, frankly, have an engaging story. I don't necessarily mean have a good, polished, streamlined story; that's all great, but if you want to grab people you need a story and a concept that's going to make folks sit up and pay attention. At the very least, that'll help. Second, work on its presentation; coverart, description, the like of that. Check and see what stories that get lots of views or hit the feature box have in their descriptions and stuff; check specifically stories that are similar in type to yours. If you're writing a slice-of-life comedy, you probably don't need to take lessons on marketing from the pornography.

Once that's out of the way, we get into the more dodgy stuff like when to post. Frankly, I don't think anyone really knows the best time to post these days. I, personally, have some luck when there are actually fewer folks online; I suspect that what happens is that I post a story, and because fewer folks are posting at the same time, my stories just have less competition. And since that often means I'm the baddest shark in the pool, that's good for me. If I post when someone like Cold in Gardez decides to drop their new single, well, even the Mighty Hap will probably look pretty wimpy by comparison. But this isn't an insta-win.

If you have a multi-chapter story, pace your chapter updates by at least 24 hours. If you have multiple chapters in an ongoing story, posting them within 24 hours of each other means the story won't hit the updated story list, which means no getting back to the front page of the site, which means less exposure for you. However, if you have a complete story, you'll probably get more initial readers, because a finished story, even if it's shorter, probably looks more enticing than an unfinished and potentially never-to-be-finished story.

If you want to really play the meta, the most cunning strategy is to post a one-shot and then expand on it. Of course, just labelling an unfinished story as complete is dishonest, so don't do that (it's rude, and also probably against site rules or something), but it's not uncommon for stories that start out as concept explorations get continued over time as the writer returns to the idea and decides there's more they can do with it. I've had that happen to me.

I suppose you could also get reviews or readings done by other folks, like Present Perfect, PaulAsaran, Obabscribbler and the like, or get on EQD, but that means outsourcing your potential viewership responsibilities to someone who, frankly, may not even care much for your stories and isn't guaranteed to really want to help you out. But, it helps.

Or, y'know, you could get lucky. Luck is a factor in all things, and if you could just, like, be lucky, I'd recommend it.

Good luck!

7652834
This helps. Thank you friend!

I’ve been looking for similar advice. I like writing and want to share that with others, but I can’t tell if my stories aren’t particularly visible or if they are simply overlooked….

7671121 It should be noted that however hard you try to present and advertise, stories that folks receive negatively are straight up going to have a harder time. Because most readers look for stories that they think are going to be a good time, seeing a lot of red on an upvote/downvote meter, an aneimic word count, or a pretty average coverart is probably going to make a potential reader think twice.

You're never going to be 100% sure whether something is just not especially visible that day, whether some other big players were posting at the same time, or whether your story was just legitimately overlooked, but if you find that it's a consistent thing, then my gut feeling is that the common factor will generally be how you're working.

A glance at your stories tells me a few things; firstly, that you have a very rigid system for how to make a story, since they tend to be fairly similar in concept, are identical in length, and use the same style of coverart (which is likely hand-drawn by yourself). My gut feeling is that if you're feeling like your stories aren't living up to their potential, then it's probably time to change how you're working; after all, you know what they say the definition of insanity is. I'm not arrogant enough to pretend I know the surefire methods of instantly getting featured (though let's be real, I am arrogant), but I do know that if something consistently isn't working, doing the same thing again and again likely is only going to result in very marginal or minor changes in outcome, and that's something that's only in your power to change.

7671329
Thanks, that is actually really helpful. I’ll keep working on improving my illustrations (I do draw them myself) and while I don’t want to compromise on my word-count I will try branching out a little more, as well as look at what has worked for me in the past and experiment to find out what was a fluke and what can be (more or less) relied on. Cheers!

Hello! I'm just here to showcase my stories! I have 2 in progress so far! 1 is a near daily chapter upload and the other is one I work on when I get ideas on how to progress the story

https://www.fimfiction.net/story/518966/connection-and-protection

https://www.fimfiction.net/story/519076/minxys-new-adventure

Check them out when you have the time! and some constructive feedback would be nice, though they're mainly for fun so while I'll take your advice and use it my stories will not be changed that much from their original concept!

While I can link my fics in the ordinary copy and paste the url way, I haven’t been able to do it in that special everyone else does? Is there anyone who can please explain to me how to do that?

Hello! I'm here just to showcase my story! It has a weekly chapter upload, if I'm able to, that is!

https://www.fimfiction.net/story/535241/equestria-world-war-ii

Please do check it out when you have the time! Some feedback would be good as well, so I can improve the story, and add your own suggestions!