Hmmm. Opinions?

[ladyjanelly]

What do y'all feel about me not posting much of my fic on the communities these days?

I sometimes see authors that cross-post all over the place but you have to friend them to get the fic, or something, and I'm not trying to force new friends. But does it feel like that?

Just wondering if I seem isolationist or something or snobby or whatever, and if so, what I could do (besides pimpin' out the fic in a few places) to fix that perception.

Comments

[spar30.livejournal.com]

Snobby bitch

[ladyjanelly.livejournal.com]

Awww. Is it that you're having a hard time finding my gay romance stories? Are you missing chapters because of my disrespect for my readers?

[deathangelgw.livejournal.com]

I post all over and just post the story behind the link, not as a link to my LJ because of that. So, I guess that's what I do. You're not isolationist. You're a darling.

[ladyjanelly.livejournal.com]

I think I'd have a hard time of keeping up with the places people are reading and replying to their comments if I put the whole story behind a link.

Do I make people friend me by not cross-posting? And if so, is that rude?

[ileliberte.livejournal.com]

Well, some authors decide not to post chapters of WIPs on comms, and some are fine with it. I can understand the locking thing sometimes, i.e. not wanting people they know to stumble across rps/porny stuff inadvertently. It's ultimately about your own comfort level, if you think you're getting enough feedback or having it be seen by as many people as you want :) Before I added you, I checked your journal anyway to see if there were updates, it's not too hard to do. You shouldn't feel forced to do something you don't want to. Frankly, I like not seeing a flurry of crossposts of the same thing, which is possibly hypocritical of me since I'd probably have the urge to do the same if I had more than a few venues to do so, but, oh well. Don't worry about it, just do what you feel is right for you.

[ladyjanelly.livejournal.com]

I guess if it was done I'd be more inclined to put the whole thing up somewhere.

The locking is generally on a journal or personal community dedicated to the fic. Which seems to me like they're forcing you to join if you want to read the fic--but am I doing the same thing by not pimpin?

Did you feel forced to friend me or miss posts? Do you like (or at least not-mind) my other babble?

And yeah. The flurry of crossposting thing drives me nuts. I dropped most of my comms last month to get away from it.

[allzugern.livejournal.com]

I'm not really sure what the question is :-P

You don't flock your fic posts, so you're not keeping anyone out, even if you post at a community with a link to your journal. I rarely visit SPN comms unless I'm actively looking for fic. Your stories are certainly getting out there, because two people recced me the same fic of yours in one week :-P

[ladyjanelly.livejournal.com]

I wasnt sure what my question was either.

I think it's:

Do people feel forced to friend me to follow the fic? And is it rude of me to not post on a comm somewhere?

Ooh! Who recced me? I gotta go hug them and stuff.

[joannindiw.livejournal.com]

Don't think you seem isolationist, but, er. If I click on a link to fic notice posted on a comm that I can't get to unless I've friended the poster... Unless I've read other fic so I know that I want more from the author, I just use my handy back button and find something else to read... (public links to flocked posts are irritating...)

[ladyjanelly.livejournal.com]

Links to flocked posts piss me the fuck off. Like serious. Yeah. If I didn't feel safe enough to post my fic openly, I wouldn't post it at all.

Do you feel forced to friend me or miss chapters?

[faunaana.livejournal.com]

I stumbled onto your fic from people reccing you - maybe spnstoryfinders? I don't quite remember. Anyway, I'm glad I did, because I love your stories. Without the rec, though, I may not have found you. So maybe picking one or two places to pimp yourself?

[ladyjanelly.livejournal.com]

That's cool. storyfinders rocks. I'm glad you found me too. I'm glad for all my readers. I just am maybe not feeling as aquisitive these days? Like--the word of mouth spreading of my fic is enough for me and I don't need to pimp.

I just want to make sure people don't feel it's rude of me to do it that way. Or like they're being forced to friend me or miss chapters?

[tabaqui]

I'm not sure what the question is, either. Um. You're unflocked, so anybody can come and read. To me, posting in comms is good because if i friended *every* person whose stuff i was reading, my flist would be hugely unmanageable. So i like it when an author posts to a comm i read 'cause then i know the story has been updated.

I'd say - choose what comms you like, post in your lj and then post a link in the comm, and if you think you're spamming then post the links a few hours apart in different comms or whatever. I only post to two comms, links only, and the newsletter generally picks me up and that's plenty of publicity for me.

Ultimately, you do what feels right.

[ladyjanelly.livejournal.com]

But did you feel like you were forced to either friend me or miss chapters? That I let you come to me instead of making public announcements?

Am I rude to not pimp at all?

I really would rather not post on any comms at all right now. I'm so thrilled by the quantity and quality of the fb I get I'm not hungry for new readers (though I love it when they trickle in by word of mouth advertizing.).

[cattraine.livejournal.com]

I friended you because I like your writing as well as your daily nattering. If you don't want to crosspost all over creation I would just post a link to the spnnewsletter which does a daily post of stories, etc.

[ladyjanelly.livejournal.com]

I'd really rather not crosspost at all. I'm loving both the quantity and quality of my fb and while I am delighted the new readers who trickle in by word-of-mouth advertizing, I'm not hungry for new readers.

Some writers advertize on the coms and then flock their posts so you have to friend them to read. That drives me crazy.

I don't advertize and don't crosspost but it's hard to keep up without friending me. I wonder if that drives some people crazy.

[lexstar29.livejournal.com]

Personally I've pulled away from most of the comms, but ultimately I'd say it's up to how you feel.

I certainly don't see you as isolationist or snobby. Posting in comms isn't for everyone,and people certainly seem to find their way here. I did!

When you get posts in comms linking to a fic that you have to friend to read, it does put me off and I tend not to do it.

[ladyjanelly.livejournal.com]

Yay! And I'm glad you found me. I love when new readers trickle in on word-of-mouth. I am just so happy with the quantity and quality of the fb I get that I'm not hungry for new readers like I was at the beginning and I'm almost afraid to pimp it out.

Some writers advertize on the coms and then flock their posts so you have to friend them to read. That drives me crazy.

I don't advertize and don't crosspost but it's hard to keep up without friending me. I wonder if that drives some people crazy.

[shadowc44.livejournal.com]

A few times I've seen, on the SPN newsletter, links to fics I didn't see on any of my communities, so I'm glad that at least it's listed there or I might miss it altogether.

If that's what you're thinking, that the only way people will find your fics is to either friend you or check the SPN newsletter, then you might want to start cross-posting if you want more readers. I really loathe all the coding stuff I have to go through to link different communities to my fic on my journal, so I only post to a couple. It does bug me, though, when fics are recced in SPN storyfinders, for instance, and then I find out they're flocked, but it's usually not the author who's recommending it.

[ladyjanelly.livejournal.com]

I've never seen me on the newsletter. Have I been on? For real?

I don't really want more readers, per se. I'm thrilled when new ones trickle in on word-of-mouth, but I am no longer as hungry for new readers as I used to be.

I think what I was asking was am I being the equal and opposite rude of the "advertized flockers" by being unlocked but invisible unless you check my lj daily?

[loose-pages-sd.livejournal.com]

I don't think there's anything wrong with not posting WIPs to comms until they're finished. Even though I'm sure I miss WIPs I'd be interested in reading, people rec WIPs all the time. IMO, the only way you'd look like a snob is if you locked all your fic and then pimped it.

Once someone has found a WIP, if they want to read it chances are they're probably not going to rely on a comm for updates anyway. They'll either friend you, or subscribe to a feed, or tag the link in del.icio.us.

[ladyjanelly.livejournal.com]

Is it okay, after the fic is done, to lock the whole thing only to me and do corrections and unlock and pimp chapter by chapter?

[overstreets.livejournal.com]

I hate it when people crosspost locked entries, be it fic, icons, or anything else. If it's locked, then keep it to your f-list. :o

But if it's unlocked, as is most fic in the fandom, I really love it when people crosspost. I don't particularly like having to friend someone in order to keep up with their fic, even though I do on occasion. But I do I respect an author's choice to not crosspost or whatever. I've asked dozens of authors to crosspost fic at spn_au, because I think it would be AWESOME to have a community where folks could backtrack through the entries and find lots of great AUs, but 75% of them said that they didn't like crossposting to too many places. Which, I have to admit, is frustrating to me, especially since AUs are relatively rare to begin with. XD

[ladyjanelly.livejournal.com]

I think I will post on that group when it's all done, as one single post. Like: "all of this fic is here." sort of thing.
Almost like an archiving.

I'll have to check back and see if my sam/dean piece ended up there. I had intended to, but hwo knows if I did.

[castalie.livejournal.com]

I usually get a bit annoyed when a writer links to their flocked stories because I'm of the mind that I friend people because I want to, not because I 'have' to but I don't think you actually do that, do you?

Mind you, if people want to flock their stories and then crosspost to many communities, it's their right. I just won't read the fics; I don't think anyone will notice, anyway, right? :-)

As for your keeping your stories to your LJ; well, I know that I was really happy when someone recc'ed your latest series because I was able to discover your work and it was love at first sight. I didn't mind friending your journal to keep up with the new updates. Since it's not flocked, I could have just bookmarked your journal and check it out every now and then to see if something new was written. As it is, I liked what I saw here and decided to friend it.

I guess I'm digressing here but though I feel like your stories definitely deserve a bigger 'coverage' , it's totally your prerogative not to advertise them all over the place... and since they're not flocked, they're still available, anyway. One just has to see the good rec :-)

[ladyjanelly.livejournal.com]

This post has really clarified for me what my LJ is to me and who I want around on it and how I feel about my writing. That's been awesome.

I'm glad y'all don't feel like it's friend or nothing. That was the big thing I was worried about.

[beckaandzac.livejournal.com]

I don't usually friend people just for fic. You're the exception to this rule for me, and it's because I totally understand not wanting to crosspost a WiP all over creation when you're not yet sure how it's going to end up. I don't think you should feel elitist for keeping it in your journal, or like you're forcing people to friend you, and I've never thought that might be a reason you weren't crossposting. If I had, I wouldn't have friended you. Simple as that. :)

[ladyjanelly.livejournal.com]

Heh. Okay.
This post has really clarified for me what my LJ and my writing mean to me, and I've decided it's okay if I feel differently about my home than others feel about theirs.

Glad you found the fic though and so happy to have you. :)

[spoonless1]

I'm pretty sure I found your through a fic rec from candygramme. I enjoy your stories a great deal and your other posts are interesting and not at all bothersome.

I don't think you seem isolationist or snobby or anything. I think authors should post wherever they want to. I crosspost to about three comms and sometimes it does feel excessive.

Anyway, my two cents for whatever they're worth.

[ladyjanelly.livejournal.com]

Yay! I do try to decide if my non-fic posts are really interesting to anybody but me.

Thanks for the feedback. This all has clarified for me how I feel about my lj.

[guard-the-cards.livejournal.com]

Honestly, I friended you because reading your non fic posts was fun as well. Its totally possible to follow updates without the comms and I actually have several tags and the like bookmarked and checked those.

I don't think you're trying to force the friend thing, if anything its just that you don't want to get people attatched to stuff you haven't finished.

But its your journal, your flist, and your work so I think its all your desicion.

[ladyjanelly.livejournal.com]

That's cool. I've never followed a fic with bookmarks. I think I use too many different computers for that. So I didn't realize so many used bookmarks to keep track.

I appreciate the feedback. This whole thing has really helped me figure out how I view my lj.

[magikalrhiannon.livejournal.com]

Personally I don't think so, and so many communities have the same flist anyway. If you don't want people to just join your private journal - like if you don't post anything that's not locked - create a fic journal and then join maybe one or two communities and just pimp to them.

but it seems like you have a pretty decent fanbase as is. so it's up to you. you can always stay as you are and let your fanbase do the talking. which reminds me, I gotta find time to do the linkage for my favourite fics page. *sigh*

[ladyjanelly.livejournal.com]

I totally thinned out my flist a few months ago. I don't even miss the groups I dropped.

I really like my readers. Like really like them. It's like my living room. I know y'all some. And if you want to invite cool people over that's cool too. But I don't want to take out a billboard for lunch at my place. :)

[epeeblade]

Just wanted to address your concerns about the feelings of being forced to friend. If there's someone who's fic I want to follow, I now just use the "track" feature to follow them. So the answer is, no, I don't feel forced to friend, I just like you:)

And I can understand not wanting to post a WIP to comms and such, but I see nothing wrong with posting a notice that something is completed.

[ladyjanelly.livejournal.com]

Seems like a good way to do it (posting that it's done).

I've never used antyhing but friending to track a fic that I loved so I didn't think about people following the fic that way. Thanks. :)

[cetpar.livejournal.com]

I don't think you feel like you are an isolationist, snobby, or deliberately trying to up your flist. I think you should do what's most comfortable for you. And, personally, I find people pimping flocked stories at comms highly annoying.

Having said that: I can't remember how I first found your fics: if it was luck or if you announced at noticeboard or were picked up by the newsletter. If you don't post to the comms, I hope you consider posting to noticeboard at least when a story's finished so that new people can discover your work. (It's too good to miss :)

[ladyjanelly.livejournal.com]

This has really made me think about my lj and my flist and all. It's sort of like: I really like my readers. Like really like them. It's like my living room. I know y'all some. And if you want to invite cool people over that's cool too. But I don't want to take out a billboard for lunch at my place. :)

Thanks for your feedback on all this.

[(Anonymous)]

You get recced enough that it's not hard to find your stuff.
To tell you the truth, I think if you announced everything you would probably get more comments, but many of the them would be badgering you about the unfinished ones.

For my part, I'm glad to read what you decide to share regardless of how I've come across it. :)

[ladyjanelly.livejournal.com]

Tell me about it. (the getting swamped by requests for finishes for my WIPs part).

Thanks for the support.

When you getting a LJ?

[loki-dip.livejournal.com]

I don't think you are, you're not forcing anyone to friend you (I just check your journal periodically because I'm waiting for Today's Tom Sawyer, but have only just friended you. ;p)

I will never make someone friend me to read their fic. I don't agree with pimping your fic to a comm if you're just going to lock it. That's snobby to me.

So nope, I think you're fine.

[ladyjanelly.livejournal.com]

This has really made me think about my lj and my flist and all. It's sort of like: I really like my readers. Like really like them. It's like my living room. I know y'all some. And if you want to invite cool people over that's cool too. But I don't want to take out a billboard for lunch at my place. :)

Thanks for your feedback on all this.

The pimping but locking thing is like sending out invitations and then not being home.

[angels3.livejournal.com]

It depends on where I post if I post a link but I don't have a friends lock it's just really so I can keep up with an accurate count of comments. I tend to be a little OCD without the actual diagnosis.

I post in all kinds of communities just because there are some people that aren't in one comm that are in others.

[ladyjanelly.livejournal.com]

I love having all my comments together. Back in the day in the BDS fandom I posted actual chapters into the comms and couldn't find my comments now if I wanted to relive those days.

No worries

[hotfuzz85.livejournal.com]

No babe. Don't let anybody force you into what you don't want to do k.

Honestly, even if you don't post anywhere, your stories ARE being rec'ced everywhere. They are not missing out on anything. If ppl wanna read it, they can just head on over to your journal. That's better cos your readers can reach you.

As far as I know, you don't have a friending policy for ppl to get to your fics. So nobody's forcing ppl to friend you solely for that purpose. I merely friended you to get updates on your stories but that goes the same for all the other ppl I friended. If i gave you the wrong impression, I'm sorry k. :)

Anyway, I'm really glad I friended you because your all of your posts entertained me muchly. I just never let that be known heh.

Re: No worries

[ladyjanelly.livejournal.com]

This has really made me think about my lj and my flist and all. It's sort of like: I really like my readers. Like really like them. It's like my living room. I know y'all some. And if you want to invite cool people over that's cool too. But I don't want to take out a billboard for lunch at my place. :)

Thanks for your feedback on all this. Glad my non-fic posts aren't boring. :) I do try.

[realpestilence.livejournal.com]

I've taken many comms off my flist page just to get away from those authors who cross-post all over the place. What's the point of having comms dedicated to specific types of fics, guaranteed places where you can find the sort you like, if you end up being swamped by the same fic over and over everywhere you go? It's actually very annoying and the more times I see a fic, the less likely I am to read it, personally. *scowls*

I don't think people who lock their journals are trying to force friends-they're just being cautious due to the nature of the material. Yours isn't especially graphic compared to most I've seen-and you're perfectly friendly and approachable. I know several people who don't post to comms at all & they have no trouble getting recc'd and noticed. Quality will out. (Though finishing your WIPs wouldn't hurt because yer KILLIN' us!)

The question is, since you've brought this up before, do you *want* to post to comms? Are you willing to lose the comparative intimacy with the people you have with you already for the mass friending that more notice will likely bring; or are you receiving enough support to feel satisfied as a writer who's continually growing in her talent?

[ladyjanelly.livejournal.com]

I really wish more of the specialty comms were that. Or that pwople would just post there when the fic was done, not chapter by chapter.

I think I would rather not post to comms. This has really made me think about my lj and my flist and all. It's sort of like: I really like my readers. Like really like them. It's like my living room. I know y'all some. And if you want to invite cool people over that's cool too. But I don't want to take out a billboard for lunch at my place. :) I just wanted to make sure people didn't feel excluded, or like they had to make a commitment in order to be welcome? (if that analogy holds)

Thanks for your feedback on all this.

[looselyspeaking.livejournal.com]

Oh I don't know what to say, this place lj has grown so much since I started to play in it long ago and these days I don't really post on mine just read and comment on others. I love comm sites as I get to read all that's out there without having to trawl. I mean, it used to be that we'd all go visit a Yahoo Group fandom site and you'd join and get in with all the chat and stuff, or lurk but these days everyone is doing lj with fic and I truly find it mind boggling at times. You go to read something and click here and then there and in the end I don't know where I am, how I got there and how to get back to the lovely first page I had!! Ah, I know, not really an answer is it?!

But to what I really wanted to say. I've just found this fic and been reading over the last week. Its so delicious I could eat it with a spoon. I'm not really into AU SPN fics but my friend recc'd this to me and she has great taste in SPN stories, so I just had to come visit and I am not disappointed at all.

I love the vulnerableness of Jensen and the whole story of whether he will find himself again and, if so, will Jared still like what he is. Half of me wants it to continue with no changes but the other half, the bigger half if I am honest, wants to see what happens if he gets his memory back.

There you go, I've put this f/b in the wrong place, sorry about that but the comments you made caught my eye and it was easier to put these two thoughts in the same place. Did I mention that I ramble on... *g

Off to read the next post. Thanks for sharing. Jane

[ladyjanelly.livejournal.com]

Hee! I started on a yahoo group of LotR slash. And ff.net.

So. If you don't friend me, do you bookmark me? Would you prefer seeing this fic on groups?

So glad you enjoyed the fic though. It does awesome things to my brain to write it.