How do I get more people to read my stuff? (What a whiny sounding title.)

[An Enemy Spy]

This hopefully will not turn into a plug.

I consider myself to be an amateur writer with a little bit of talent, and I have steadily increased my skills, but due to the fickle nature of the internet, have had trouble getting anyone to read anything I do.

That is to be expected of course. Why would anyone waste time on some loser they've never heard of and his crappy sci fi stories? For sooth!

So I turned to the darkest, most depraved and wretched form of fiction there is, the unholy grail of prose. That's right. FANFICTION! After all, maybe people will be more amenable if I am writing about a subject they already enjoy.

So I am twenty one chapters in, and frankly enjoying myself far more than I have any right to be. But it's still a bit discouraging to see my stuff being passed over while stories are not to put too fine a point on it, garbage, get all the attention. I mean, when I started out, I had comments from people who really seemed to like it. I was fresh. I was different. My characters were cool. Stuff like that. But now it seems like it's all fizzled out. I haven't had anyone comment on it in months.

So how do I get more people to read my stuff?

[Howler Dagger]

I would start by putting more detail in the ad in your signature. While GITP is arguably a good place to get out the word, you will need to go into more detail then 'check out my writing.'

Also, try mentioning your FF around those 'garbage' FF's in a way that doesn't seem too condescending.

Also, finding ardent supporters that will plug it for you is also useful.

[AttilaTheGeek]

Mm hmm. I would sig it, and then start to post in different parts of the site. A lot of people are confined to only one forum or subforum, so if you post in lots of places then there will be more people who might see it.

[Grinner]

"It's not what you know. It's who you know."

Sadly, brand recognition is what matters. If I've never heard of you, chances are that I won't ever read anything by you. Let's be honest as well. Fanfiction only interests a very small target audience. I'm not of that audience.

My best advice is to start making friends. Participate in writing circles. Exchange stories. Find your niche and take root there.

Edit: Also, do as our friend Morph Bark has done. Enter contests.

[Giggling Ghast]

I can sympathize, since writing fanfiction seems like you're toiling in obscurity for little reward. Then that creeping fear sinks in, and you wonder if the reason no one says tickety-boo about your stuff is because you're really awful but no one's willing to say it.

One, accept that you ARE toiling in obscurity for little reward. Fan fiction is at best a niche interest.

So lower your expectations a bit. Myself, if I get one person to read my stuff and make a positive comment, I consider that a success.

Two, advertising helps. I don't mean paid stuff, but changing your signature to say "Do you like Pokemon fan fiction? Check out my stuff here" might help.

Also, I know you have a Deviantart account, and it would help if you submitted something to one of the zillion fan groups they have on there. That actually does lead to some views. Contests do as well, since fellow competitors will read your stuff.

Don't do fan fiction for recognition, though. Do it to improve your writing, or because you're bored, or because you have particular tastes in smut and no one writes the smut you want to read.

[An Enemy Spy]

I altered my sig to emulate the blurb on the back of one of my favorite books. The fun part? All of that actually applies to my story.

[inexorabletruth]

Not to sound like a hater, but I'd suppress the urge to call works that have gotten more acclaim than yours "garbage". It doesn't exactly sell your work, if garbage gets better reviews than what you're trying to coax readers into reading.

That said… I'll take one for the team and read some of your stuff, and come back when I've had a good sample of what kind of stuff you're writing. I'm no real fan of fanfic, but… I dunno. We'll see what you've got. BRB.

[An Enemy Spy]

Not to sound like a hater, but I'd suppress the urge to call works that have gotten more acclaim than yours "garbage". It doesn't exactly sell your work, if garbage gets better reviews than what you're trying to coax readers into reading.

That said… I'll take one for the team and read some of your stuff, and come back when I've had a good sample of what kind of stuff you're writing. I'm no real fan of fanfic, but… I dunno. We'll see what you've got. BRB.

I'm referring to things on the level of My Immortal. At least in quality, if not in notoriety. I suffer no delusions that I am some profound author. Honestly, I find the first few chapters hard to read now because I think the later ones have increased in quality by a significant measure.

[inexorabletruth]

Criticism:
Then it may be time to go back and rework your early chapters. First impression: it seems very generic and uninspired. I can tell that you weren't really into the medium. I didn't have time to get in deep, because work got in the way though.

BTW, what is your motivation for writing? Fanfiction doesn't make any money, so it seems to me like you aren't doing it to get published and do book signings. If you're writing for the feedback, then you may want to link your stuff to Deviant Art. It's a fantastic site for artists who aren't necessarily trying to go pro... they just want to create, share, and offer constructive criticism.

If however, you're writing for the fun of it, then please write something you actually want to write about, plunk that in your sig, and be happy with your creations.

[An Enemy Spy]

Criticism:
Then it may be time to go back and rework your early chapters. First impression: it seems very generic and uninspired. I can tell that you weren't really into the medium. I didn't have time to get in deep, because work got in the way though.

BTW, what is your motivation for writing? Fanfiction doesn't make any money, so it seems to me like you aren't doing it to get published and do book signings. If you're writing for the feedback, then you may want to link your stuff to Deviant Art. It's a fantastic site for artists who aren't necessarily trying to go pro... they just want to create, share, and offer constructive criticism.

If however, you're writing for the fun of it, then please write something you actually want to write about, plunk that in your sig, and be happy with your creations.

My motivation for writing this is basically to improve myself. I do other stuff on the side and I have a group of people who read it (including some actual industry people and a couple of well known people whose names I won't mention because it'll make it look like I'm a liar). The Pokemon thing is something I work on because I want to do something long term. I actually do have a lot of fun writing it. It might not show up in the beginning (mainly because that part was written at one in the morning, and also partly because I had no idea where the story was going at that time) but I really enjoy doing this. I would probably write this story even if I thought nobody would ever read it at all.

If I wanted to do it again, I wouldn't saddle Mewtwo with some idiot this time around (I'm seriously considering just having that guy die offscreen), and I would definitely rework the dialogue to fit the characters better as they are now. But since this story is about personal improvement, it maight be interesting to keep it as is so I can hold later chapters next to earlier ones and compare the quality.

[Howler Dagger]

"It's not what you know. It's who you know."

Sadly, brand recognition is what matters. If I've never heard of you, chances are that I won't ever read anything by you. Let's be honest as well. Fanfiction only interests a very small target audience. I'm not of that audience.

My best advice is to start making friends. Participate in writing circles. Exchange stories. Find your niche and take root there.

Edit: Also, do as our friend Morph Bark has done. Enter contests.

I will second this advice. my music wouldn't have half it's views if I didn't add it to about 115 groups.

You might also want to post your writing in places specifically for Pokemon Fanfiction.