My Thoughts on Currently Advertised Stories

Okay, so gaksital here. I think we never really talk about stories that are currently advertised, but I'd like to make some polite comments about recently advertised stories.

Hold on a second--what is up with gaksital? Isn't she being a bit petty? Oh, maybe she's just jealous because those stories will harbour a huge crowd.

Nope, I'm not jealous at all. In fact, I've been trying to advertise my story for the past 3 weeks, and I'm not complaining about someone winning the bet. I'm happy that people get to advertise their story. But for the past month, I've been seeing the SAME stories getting advertised, and these stories hardly have more than 3 chapters completed!

Whereas, for me, I've never advertised stories that aren't COMPLETE. And I'm sure there are other bidders out there who do the same thing, or are trying to advertise a story that's almost finished.

So here I am, betting against people who are advertising stories that are hardly done, but on top of that, I've seen the SAME stories getting advertised and with only an extra chapter uploaded.

What is the point of doing that to your poor readers? Also, what is the point of buying a bajillion more karma with your money (when you could use that for other purposes) in a space of one week?

I'm not pointing fingers at anyone in particular. I'm not writing this to provoke sensitive people. It's just a rant, and I'm sure someone else must have had the same thought cross their mind too. Perhaps these are just signs on why I should consider seriously moving to Wattpad or Ao3 instead. T__T

No hard feelings, alright? PeAcE OuT

Comments

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TheSinfulPen #1 Jun 3, 2020 15:40:05

I relate, and I thought I was the only one a bit ticked off by this.

I only tried to bid ONCE on my birthday, for a story I feel very proud of because I felt it needed some love, then I got outbid by one karma point last minute and I couldn't do anything about it, unfortunately. So, I just never bothered with it and planned to start my moving to AO3. It certainly is demoralizing and I hope it gets fixed soon.

Advertising has turned fanfic writing in here super competitive and gross. That and MANY other things in AFF.

misunnie7791 #2 Jun 2, 2020 03:07:13

Can relate 100% :(

I have been trying to bid for a slot for my story which is ... well, almost complete but people kept outbidding me with 10k+ karma points and eventually I gave up hahahah. And I get even more infuriated when its the same story that keeps getting the slot again and again ahhhhh skdjfkldsjfjdf I ended up bidding for 1 hour slots instead LMAO

JaeKnight #3 Jun 1, 2020 14:24:53

Frustration is a friend when bidding, which is a...well, frustrating friend. Felt it a lot. It's a game. Though, i won't deny that i bid more than once XD but im not here to explain myself. Also wouldn't be surprised if im one of those people youre talking about HUHU. But I respect what you are feeling :( It is frustrating when the bid suddenly got so high (prolly bc of pandemic) and the return is so little, and actually a lot smaller before the pandemic. Which is baloney! Not worth it. I always feel so ripped off when I spend more than 5k. Printed media glorified once. I hope writing or reading won't die either. I posted one fic on AO3---and uhm chill place, I like it! Though OC stories aren't a big thing there I guess. Maybe crosspost, instead of leaving ^^;

Emilieee #4 Jun 1, 2020 14:09:01

I get what you mean! I’ve been seeing the same stories being advertised from the same author over when there’s barely a couple chapters.

I don’t completely agree in terms of readers reading what is completed, though—I found that I received the bulk of my feedback for my fics WHEN the story was ongoing. I think it ultimately boils down to personal presence because I prefer to read stories completed, but it’s also understandable that authors advertise ongoing stories in order to get feedback as they’re updating. (Since from my experience, it’s definitely nice to update a chapter and see people’s reactions to it.)

It IS pretty ridiculous, though, to advertise a 2/3 chapter ongoing fic, especially if it’s going to be longer than 5 chapters. There’s barely any established plot for the readers to hold onto, then.

bubblegum- #5 Jun 1, 2020 14:02:15

As someone who often checks the advertised stories I do notice that they are repetitive and most especially, that there are hardly any chapter and slow updates. I mean, no pressure to the authors who do advertise, but it's just so off to put readers in that position to wait a ton. So yeah, now whenever I do look at the advertisement, I always look at how many chapters it has so far and how far apart those chapters were published. I come here for some good escape and leisure, not to stress on stories that although do lookin like a bomb af plot, but will update too long. Meh but maybe that's also on me as a reader to look for stories that are in my reading spanㅡoneshots to short stories, complete to almost there. I don't agree on letting stories be advertised onve they're completed tho; comments motivate the writer and some constructive feefback may really help the writer with her skill and direction. I also do see some authors complaining about the bid pricing being hella high these couple of weeks? months? So there is some issue and problem there if the bidding system isn't fine and same authors/stories are getting advertised for a time period (daily, weekly, etc.) Hope it gets addressed tho.

NeverNinaa #6 Jun 1, 2020 13:34:49

We have to reach Jason somehow to tell him about this! Maybe he can make it possible for the authors to advertise just once a week (for each one of course) that will give us (the other writers) the chance to advertise as well
And maybe he should put a limit to the bidding cost (ex: limit KP u should put is around just 8k! Nothing more) to prevent these authors from spending like +14k points on each bid! Which is kinda crazy!
To buy so many KP to win the bid and maybe get 300 top new subscribers (not that many people like to read on-going stories anyway) which is why spending this huge amount of KP is just a waste!

FantasyQueen #7 Jun 1, 2020 07:36:42

I actually agree with most of your points here because I've been trying to advertise my new story for two weeks now, but some certain people keep advertising over and over again.

However, I don't see a reason why stories must be promoted after being complete. Like it's a good thing to gain readers and get feedback while the story is ongoing.
Also, those spending money on buying karma points it's not all bad because it helps in maintaining the website.

All in all, your rant is justified, because I could still remember a particular user who advertised their stories for a week straight and it was so frustrating.

baekyhoney #8 Jun 1, 2020 02:45:51

i actually kind of agree. it's gotten so competitive lately that i don't even wanna spend my hard-earned karma to bet only to lose. i understand that it's one of the ways for the website to earn revenue, but it rubs me the wrong way when i see said authors taking away opportunities. okat that was kind of harsh oop. i don't think you're being petty or anything. honesty is a virtue, and we need more of that on here.

SkyeButterfly #9 May 31, 2020 23:50:54

I agree with you! Most people here aren't marketing majors, so they don't understand how effective advertising works. There are definitely rules to what effective advertising is, but I'm not surprised that people ignore them all to get new readers. AFF has been relatively inactive so I guess people want as many readers as they can. It's definitely annoying to see people advertise 10k+ karma points for a story that only has so few chapters and hasn't been updated in weeks, but as bad as that is from a marketing standpoint, I can't do anything about those type of poor choices haha. I wish there was a time limit to how much you can advertise (to make sure it's fairer for everyone) in all honesty.

bitterkitty #10 May 31, 2020 20:57:51

at the end of the day, it's income for the website and helps keep it running. while it'd be nice if some authors let others have a turn once they'd got their ad, at least they're spending money here and that helps all of us having somewhere safe and well-maintained to post our stories. also, advertising a fic in progress means subscribers can join in commenting with each update! if you only advertise once you've finished, you miss the interaction which you might get with new readers otherwise. those are my thoughts anyway..

Princess_charming #11 May 31, 2020 20:51:13

I don't think you're being petty at all, even though I haven't ever tried to advertise my story. But even as a reader, it truly is frustrating to see the same story (that you sometimes don't like as you've checked it before) gets advertised over and over again and at times it seems that nothing new has been added to it. I really hope AFF looks into it and makes certain rules of advertisement or else I think many will consider Ao3 or wattpad to be a better site for writing.

epicbrat #12 May 31, 2020 19:53:14

No but you're right though! The same thought crossed my mind as well when I saw several of the same stories being advertised many times in short time spans! I don't think it's pettiness but legitimate frustration you feel lol. Of course everyone's free to do whatever the hell they want with their money but I don't understand the logic behind multiple ads in like 2 weeks? Genuinely intrigued as to what's the rationale behind this sort of decision? For me advertising is about attracting potential readers then when the ad time is over, it's up to you as the author to sustain the momentum gained by the ad and further grow your audience organically by updating frequently or interacting with your readers. Deadass no point in re-advertising 2 days later esp if nothing new happened; just my 2 cents haha

snowflake16 #13 May 31, 2020 16:13:14

When people have too much money... I remember advertising back in the day. Had to buy kp and some really nice readers sent me theirs. It's hard to win the bid because you never know how much ppl will fork out with card and you're using all your earned kp from comments and subs

anitaklr24 #14 May 31, 2020 13:06:41

No, you aren't being petty.
Don't go away!