Numbers, Luck, and a Very Small Window
Apr. 14th, 2019 06:56 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
rynlingSo I found a short essay…
Ten Simple Ways To Get More Attention For Your Fanwork
https://melannen.dreamwidth.org/354977.html
This is all reasonable, at least in my experience, but the truth is that fandom engagement seems to have dropped off for most writers during the past two years. Almost no one posts or links to their fic on Tumblr anymore, but what I do see are posts with massive numbers of notes about how painful it is to be ignored by your fandom, possible reasons why no one leaves kudos anymore, and so on.
There’s a pervasive idea that you can build your own audience if you’re consistent and good at what you do, but the most popular thing I ever wrote was a steaming heap of garbage that I posted on FFN back when FFN was still mainstream in, like, 2009. I think a lot about how maybe I missed a window of opportunity, and how maybe I just wasn’t born in the right year. Like, maybe if I were a little older, maybe I would have been able to “make it” before social media blew up and collapsed in on itself. Or maybe, if I were younger, I would have had access to the resources and platforms that could have helped me develop my skills and community when I was still a student.
I’m afraid that the real truth is that some people are never going to make it, and maybe I’m just one of those people, unfortunately. Even worse, maybe my entire generation is never going to make it.
I don’t have a positive conclusion, except to say that I’m happy to be a shill for anyone who asks; it would be an honor and a pleasure. I’m actually planning on making a post about this at some point before the end of the month, but first I have to figure out what a sustainable level of “shill” would be for me.
Ten Simple Ways To Get More Attention For Your Fanwork
https://melannen.dreamwidth.org/354977.html
This is all reasonable, at least in my experience, but the truth is that fandom engagement seems to have dropped off for most writers during the past two years. Almost no one posts or links to their fic on Tumblr anymore, but what I do see are posts with massive numbers of notes about how painful it is to be ignored by your fandom, possible reasons why no one leaves kudos anymore, and so on.
There’s a pervasive idea that you can build your own audience if you’re consistent and good at what you do, but the most popular thing I ever wrote was a steaming heap of garbage that I posted on FFN back when FFN was still mainstream in, like, 2009. I think a lot about how maybe I missed a window of opportunity, and how maybe I just wasn’t born in the right year. Like, maybe if I were a little older, maybe I would have been able to “make it” before social media blew up and collapsed in on itself. Or maybe, if I were younger, I would have had access to the resources and platforms that could have helped me develop my skills and community when I was still a student.
I’m afraid that the real truth is that some people are never going to make it, and maybe I’m just one of those people, unfortunately. Even worse, maybe my entire generation is never going to make it.
I don’t have a positive conclusion, except to say that I’m happy to be a shill for anyone who asks; it would be an honor and a pleasure. I’m actually planning on making a post about this at some point before the end of the month, but first I have to figure out what a sustainable level of “shill” would be for me.
no subject
Date: 2019-04-24 08:37 pm (UTC)I think all of this is definitely worth worrying about, and not just from the perspective of a writer. Over the past four years, I've seen so many incredibly talented fic authors just up and disappear after expressing frustration with not getting any feedback, and it kills me. I wanted them to keep writing for very selfish reasons; like, I wanted them to finish a story they were serializing, or I really enjoyed reading their work and would have read anything they posted in any fandom. I hope they stopped sharing fanfic because they became professional writers, but I'm afraid that a lot of people probably just give up and quit.
And I know that I'm partially to blame. I used to be very shy about leaving kudos, and I'm still working on finding the courage to leave comments. I'd like to put more effort into that over the summer, actually, because I fucking love fanfic.
For what it's worth, in my experience, the only real way to get people to pay attention to your work is to have a big name artist reblog it on Tumblr. I have a lot of bitter feelings about this, so it's probably better if I don't expand on it too much. Perhaps it will suffice to say that I don't understand why artists don't promote fanfic, and one of the main reasons I've been working so hard on my art recently is so that I can promote fanfic myself.
I just. I have a lot of negative feelings about professional publishing, and also about Twitter. I have immense respect for professionally published authors, as well as people who are capable of doing the social media hustle, but I also desperately want to see the re-emergence of a healthy fanfic culture on more subcultural platforms like Tumblr.
Wow, I ended up ranting a bit too. But I want to say - your work is also appreciated!!
no subject
Date: 2019-04-25 07:24 pm (UTC)But legit, I see fics get way more attention when a fan artist does something for it. Or even just reblogs it. The difference between what fic writers get in attention versus a fan artists makes me want to vomit.
And also thank you! :D I'm glad you like the stuff I write! ♥
no subject
Date: 2019-04-26 04:42 pm (UTC)GOOD LUCK FRIEND!!
I love seeing this sort of thing. I've gotten a bit of pushback in my own circles of fandom, like seeing myself talked about on discord servers and during livestreams as "someone who's just showing off" or "someone who will do anything for attention," but like. It's so much fun to work with artists on a collaborative project, and it's so cool to learn about other people's work through fanfic illustrations. I really wish more fanfic authors were comfortable working with artists to illustrate their stories, because I think it would be wonderful for this sort of collaboration to be normalized in fandom.
no subject
Date: 2019-04-30 02:02 pm (UTC)W H A T.
I don't fucking understand people who say shit like that. Whenever I see an artist post a commission, I'm so happy to see that someone helped fund that artist's well-being and creativity. And when I see the same person pop up for commissions? I just think they're a damn patron saint to artists spreading the love. My dream job is to throw money at artists forever and have my own museum of badass art I found throughout the world to help promote these artists. I sadly don't have this kind of cash, thus I have my tumblr to share art. And I always bookmark artists I love so I can commission them if I have an extra splurge of money out of nowhere. Hell, even at conventions, I try to save up money so I can commission an artist at the artist alley or whatever. And those artists are always so damn grateful and that makes me happy in turn.
So to know people view that as showing off? Or wanting attention? I just... what????? Not to mention the comics you commission and write a script for the artists and stuff is like... par for the course when you do that? Like the fact you have direction and an idea is really key for what you want. Like if you wanted to do a sequential art piece and the artists asks what you have in mind and all you do is shrug and go, "Well, I just like this ship, so as long as it involves them." That's uh... super unprofessional. It's one thing to give an artist room for their own artistic expression; it's another to not even give them a clue as to where to start.
Sigh. Fucking people.