Sometimes, when I look at my hit counts,which are modest, but impress me since I don't archive on a consistent basis, I do wonder if I've got a hater who wants to show her friends how awful my story is.(of course it's also a WIP--maybe they are going to comment when I'm done, but I suspect I have some karma coming too.

Have I mentioned my propensity to check how many comments a story has gotten, and if it is getting a ton more than any of mine, I don't leave one? It's petty. And ridiculous. But I do it anyway. Hit count is interesting, but comments are what make me feel validated. Vain and petty, that's me.

Aww, Windsparrow, I totally get the feeling, but I wish you'd change your mind. Sometimes The Claw just happens, and someone hits the sweet spot without even knowing what they've done. It hardly seems fair to hold back on thanking them just because other people have done so--after all, you still got pleasure from the story, yeah?

I don't mean to be all scoldy, though.

Yeah, that hit count meme mostly makes me think about how random things are.

It hardly seems fair to hold back on thanking them just because other people have done so--after all, you still got pleasure from the story, yeah?

Sadly I am not mature enough to be able to keep my envy out of my comments, except under certain circumstances - for someone I know and like, for someone who has taken the time and trouble to review my stuff, etc. "I like this story. Out of curiosity, what's the ratio between your hit count and how many reviews you get? Does the begging really help?" ... thinking maybe it is just better to keep silent.

ETA: On the other hand, when I find a good story or a good author who is not getting the reviews/comments deserved - I make an extra effort to comment consistently and rec it.

I never had a hit counter on LJ, and the one on AO3 is fascinating. Not necessarily in a good way, either.

I still get comments and favorited from ff.net, but I sometimes forget I even have anything on AO3. I don't think I have any comments on aO3, and 1 Kudo.

Does the begging really help?

Begging never helps. Or, well, maybe it does, for some people, but it makes you look bad. I'd rather keep my dignity.

I highly recommend reading that post about The Claw that I linked above: Penknife has a good, sensible guide to the whole thing.

I know that because I don't write in the juggernaut slash fandoms, I'm never going to get the epic volumes of praise that some other people do. And mostly I'm okay with that--I know that I write pretty good stories, stories I want to read. And if they're not enormously popular in online fandom, well, that's okay. Most of the time. t grins

I know that because I don't write in the juggernaut slash fandoms, I'm never going to get the epic volumes of praise that some other people do.

That's what surprised me about Yuletide. I thought, like, four people would read my Little Princess story, but I got some decent traffic, which was really lovely.