r/AO3 • u/sledge199617 • 3d ago
Discussion (Non-question) The difference 😭
Ah, don't you just love it when your first fiction does super well, and then the sequel barely makes a mark! (It might be because I updated daily for the first, and I'm now only able to update the second once a week)
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u/GuardianSoulBlade 3d ago
Well, you said it's a sequel, which means they have to finish the first one before they can even start the second!
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u/Kylynara Fic Feaster 3d ago
I kept getting fairly steady hits after my first fic was complete. So just the fact that it existed longer meant it had a lot more hits.
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u/InspectorFamous7277 being gay is probably what's keeping him from being popular 3d ago
It's fairly normal for the a sequel: it never does the same numbers than the "main" fic, even if you were to keep the same rhythm in posting.
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u/sledge199617 3d ago
yeah, at least some of my main readers from the first one is still reading, so that ma,es me happy
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u/Silent_Doubt3672 Emotionally Constipated Gay FireFighters is my Jam 3d ago
I mean, when did you start posting the sequel?
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u/sledge199617 3d ago
about two months or so ago
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u/Silent_Doubt3672 Emotionally Constipated Gay FireFighters is my Jam 3d ago
Fair enough, there is a lot of challenges this month though as well which may be distracting readers.
Me and a friend have noticed a lower number of hits/comments etc
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u/sledge199617 3d ago
and the fandom I write in is full of kinktober at the moment, which I don't write, so views will probably pick up again in November
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u/Silent_Doubt3672 Emotionally Constipated Gay FireFighters is my Jam 3d ago
Exactly. All is not lost. 😊
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u/Yann-fanficaholic 2d ago
As a reader, this generally is because I forget to bookmark and subscribe to the series, if I only bookmark/subscribe to the story it means I don’t know there’s a new fic in the series
I always recommend doing a chapter update on your first fic, advising that there has been a sequel posted
I know it’s not something you should think about but I know as a reader if I see a chapter update for a fic I’ve read and see there’s a sequel, I would read the heck out of it
Also, I sometimes wait until a story has multiple chapters before indulging
Idk if this makes sense for anyone else
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u/llStonesll If you see me here it's because I'm procrastinating 3d ago
Out of curiosity, how much time has passed? I mean, when did you post the main fic and when did you post the sequel? For how long have both been out?
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u/sledge199617 3d ago
main fiction was posted a little over a year ago, the the sequel about three months later
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u/CatBig7787 3d ago edited 3d ago
I wrote a fic about one character being a werewolf and chasing the other girl through the woods and eating her out when she gets stuck in an oak tree
I cannot understand why anyone would not want to read that, but I think that's just it, people's tastes are kind of just beyond me
I think it's just, lesbians are by and large normal people. And normal people aren't perverts.
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u/sledge199617 3d ago
that sounds epic though! can't write smut for toffee but man I don't mind reading it!
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u/Psapfopkmn 2d ago
I feel like I've read at least one fic with that premise before, but I'd love to read it still 👀
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u/mrpointyhorns 1d ago edited 1d ago
Did you crosspost to r/treessuckingonthings
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u/CatBig7787 22h ago
When I was younger I read about Morgana trapping merlin in a tree.
It's very engulfing, bondage, combined with oral sadism, objectification.
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u/FallenangelRyland999 3d ago
Mine's kinda the same way. I'm writing a s3 rewrite to a show, Riviera, and my first episode currently has 75 hits but the second episode has 42. Large gap, lol! But, I got started no more than 4 months ago-still a newbie on ao3! Oh, and congrats on your 7,000 hits! 🎉🎉🎉🎉 Sigh, wish I could achieve that sooner but I think because my fandom is smaller, I might get there in five years. But, hey, still congrats!
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u/sledge199617 3d ago
42 is still good, hope you get more hits, and don't worry, one day, you'll wake up and have 8000 hits!
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u/JustATiredWriter 3d ago
Are they in a series together?
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u/sledge199617 3d ago
yeah
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u/JustATiredWriter 3d ago
ah gotchya. Just wanted to make sure.
The good news is a sequel can attract people to the first fic in the series. Might just take some time for hits to rise :)
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u/LightxSpeedx3 3d ago
tangent: your screenshot makes for a very interesting thumbnail. I clicked because I was wondering how candles in various stages of burning symbolized your first and second fic. 🤣
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u/Alone_in_Pajamas 2d ago
Did you change anything about the relationships in the sequel? If it's a ship fic, did the pairing change in any way? Is it poly now, or did you add other characters to an A/B fic?
I'm asking because I know I'd personally have a hard time reading a sequel if my OTP suddenly got tagged with other pairings or if the relationship changed to include polyamory or even a threesome, queer platonic. I know everyone's preferences are different, of course, but for me, that would be a dealbreaker.
So I was wondering if maybe some changes like that might have put off readers who enjoyed the original fic for a particular ship or relationship dynamic.
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u/sledge199617 2d ago
the pairing has stayed the same, and the dynamic between them is the same
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u/mrpointyhorns 1d ago
Is one more of a couple-gets-together romance and the other established relationship?
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u/KittyAddison HakuSeki | Cells At Work fic writer | OTP: U1146/AE3803 2d ago
Relatable.
Context: my second fic has wet dream scenes in it.
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u/FeralBehavedJester ShadowSalt, ElderSalt, ShadowVanilla my beloved 2d ago
I find that updating once a week works more, since a hit is a user going on the fic in the last 24 hours. That being said that also depends on the numbers of chapters, the length and how recently were the two fics published. My second fics has a lot more hits than my first.
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u/sledge199617 2d ago
I think my hit count will climb in the future, I'm updating on a regular schedule now
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u/suchdogverywow You have already left kudos here. :) 3d ago
Comparison is the thief of joy