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Potential audiences.
I had a quick chat with ![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
ac1d6urn yesterday, and, as usual, the topic became stuck in my brain, and now my poor flist has to hear about it.
One of the most common mistakes a new writer often makes is in assuming that everyone will want to read his or her story. (It reminds me of one of the other major problems, which is the Inability to Narrow the Story Down to One Genre. "It's an action/adventure/romantic thriller/espionage/fantasy set in a Victorian world!" Yeah, just try to shelve that in a bookstore, and you'll see what I mean.) In reality, of course, nobody's story will appeal to everybody. For everyone who loves Mercedes Lackey, there's someone who deplores quick angsty fantasy books and adores long, intricately plotted books like Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norris. You get the picture.
When I first started selling crafts at craft shows, I thought most people would like what I was selling. In fact, the first time I set up, I wasn't certain that I had made enough items. I was convinced I was going to sell most, if not all, of the items. I brought nearly $2000 in merchandise. By the time the show ended, my sales totaled $100. Turns out that not everybody was interested in what I had made.
Fanfiction, of course, is quite similar. Some people read epics; some people, only drabbles. Some people only read certain pairings, or only Gen stories. Which brings us to what I was thinking about, which is how what you write narrows your audience, sometimes in ways you never considered.
Take the Last Sanguimagus, for example.
It's a ss/ofc fic. There is a large faction in fandom that will not read anything with original characters. There are also people who aren't interested (*gasp*) in reading about Snape. So subtract at least 50% of the reading audience.
It's 150,000 words long already. There are people who aren't interested in novel-length stories. Subtract another 25% of the reading audience.
It's a slow-burn romance, meaning that it takes awhile for the characters to be brought together. There are people who like their characters brought together quickly. Subtract another 10%.
It's rather plotty. There are people who don't like too much plot and background information. Subtract another 10%.
Even though these percentages are mostly (okay, completely) arbitrary, the general idea holds. Each subsequent layer dissuades another segment of fandom from reading the piece.
There are other reasons why people won't read your fic. Perhaps they're not drawn in by your summary, or perhaps your fic just isn't accessible to them. Perhaps you posted it to a comm on LJ, and they accidentally skipped it, or perhaps they missed a rec.
What I didn't expect about tLS is that the story would not appeal to everybody who liked Snape. I really did think that any Snape fan would be interested in it. But now I realize that it's my interpretation of Snape, and that truly canon-Snape seeking readers aren't interested, and that a lot of fanon-Snape seeking readers aren't interested as well. I never realized that some fans really do enjoy Snape Manor fics, fluffy!Snape, only-pretending-to-dislike-Harry!Snape, and just plain OOC!Snape. Just as fanfiction pairings alienate readers, so does the interpretation of the characters themselves. Everybody prefers a different mix of traits for their Snape. I remember the Build-a-Snape meme from a year or so ago...that was hilarious, but it was also eye-opening. Everyone has their own unique view of his character. Some traits are present in most fics; some rarely show up. And what happens it that a reader who likes Noble!Snape will be very put off by In-It-For-Himself!Snape. So even interpretation can be another layer.
When I first wrote tLS, I really didn't know what to expect. I had no idea if anyone would read it or not. Because I'd worked in a bookstore for so long, I knew that there would only be a small number of people who would possibly read it, though. (Most people who buy books have pretty well-defined reading habits. Romance readers will often narrow their purchases down to just Regency romances, or just historical romances set in Ireland, etc.) After a couple years in online fandom, I can see how that number gets reduced even further. In HP, like in many fandoms, there are specific groups--target audiences, if you will--of readers that are drawn together by certain pairings. There are people who read slash pairings, people who read het pairings, people who read gen stories, and people who read stories with original characters. Certainly some people jump in and out of groups at will, or belong to more than one group. But what I've found is that some people in the first three groups avoid the last group like the plague. After my discussion with ac1d, I thought about my own reading habits. I generally don't read anything with the kids in the story, unless they're adults. I did try to read them a few times, but I'm just not interested enough.
So there are entire areas of fandom that I'm completely unfamiliar with. I am not part of the potential audience for those fics, just like many readers are not part of the potential audience for my fics. The key must be maximizing your fic's exposure to the target audience, and hoping that you reach those readers. I'm always curious about how some of the reviewers who have reviewed tLS found it, and why they keep reading. I have mostly Snape het fans for an audience, but I know that there is an occasional slash fan who reads it as well.
I see that good writers often cross boundaries and attract more readers just from their writing style alone. I would normally never read a story with Draco in it, but once in a while one of my favorite writers will write a Draco story, and I'm more likely to try it. So the potential audience can be expanded, I think, with exposure, recs, and just plain word-of-mouth.
This isn't a very cohesive entry, but I just wanted to jot down some of the thoughts I had after I chatted with ac1d.
What do you think of the fandom, and potential audiences within it?
ac1d6urn yesterday, and, as usual, the topic became stuck in my brain, and now my poor flist has to hear about it.One of the most common mistakes a new writer often makes is in assuming that everyone will want to read his or her story. (It reminds me of one of the other major problems, which is the Inability to Narrow the Story Down to One Genre. "It's an action/adventure/romantic thriller/espionage/fantasy set in a Victorian world!" Yeah, just try to shelve that in a bookstore, and you'll see what I mean.) In reality, of course, nobody's story will appeal to everybody. For everyone who loves Mercedes Lackey, there's someone who deplores quick angsty fantasy books and adores long, intricately plotted books like Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norris. You get the picture.
When I first started selling crafts at craft shows, I thought most people would like what I was selling. In fact, the first time I set up, I wasn't certain that I had made enough items. I was convinced I was going to sell most, if not all, of the items. I brought nearly $2000 in merchandise. By the time the show ended, my sales totaled $100. Turns out that not everybody was interested in what I had made.
Fanfiction, of course, is quite similar. Some people read epics; some people, only drabbles. Some people only read certain pairings, or only Gen stories. Which brings us to what I was thinking about, which is how what you write narrows your audience, sometimes in ways you never considered.
Take the Last Sanguimagus, for example.
It's a ss/ofc fic. There is a large faction in fandom that will not read anything with original characters. There are also people who aren't interested (*gasp*) in reading about Snape. So subtract at least 50% of the reading audience.
It's 150,000 words long already. There are people who aren't interested in novel-length stories. Subtract another 25% of the reading audience.
It's a slow-burn romance, meaning that it takes awhile for the characters to be brought together. There are people who like their characters brought together quickly. Subtract another 10%.
It's rather plotty. There are people who don't like too much plot and background information. Subtract another 10%.
Even though these percentages are mostly (okay, completely) arbitrary, the general idea holds. Each subsequent layer dissuades another segment of fandom from reading the piece.
There are other reasons why people won't read your fic. Perhaps they're not drawn in by your summary, or perhaps your fic just isn't accessible to them. Perhaps you posted it to a comm on LJ, and they accidentally skipped it, or perhaps they missed a rec.
What I didn't expect about tLS is that the story would not appeal to everybody who liked Snape. I really did think that any Snape fan would be interested in it. But now I realize that it's my interpretation of Snape, and that truly canon-Snape seeking readers aren't interested, and that a lot of fanon-Snape seeking readers aren't interested as well. I never realized that some fans really do enjoy Snape Manor fics, fluffy!Snape, only-pretending-to-dislike-Harry!Snape, and just plain OOC!Snape. Just as fanfiction pairings alienate readers, so does the interpretation of the characters themselves. Everybody prefers a different mix of traits for their Snape. I remember the Build-a-Snape meme from a year or so ago...that was hilarious, but it was also eye-opening. Everyone has their own unique view of his character. Some traits are present in most fics; some rarely show up. And what happens it that a reader who likes Noble!Snape will be very put off by In-It-For-Himself!Snape. So even interpretation can be another layer.
When I first wrote tLS, I really didn't know what to expect. I had no idea if anyone would read it or not. Because I'd worked in a bookstore for so long, I knew that there would only be a small number of people who would possibly read it, though. (Most people who buy books have pretty well-defined reading habits. Romance readers will often narrow their purchases down to just Regency romances, or just historical romances set in Ireland, etc.) After a couple years in online fandom, I can see how that number gets reduced even further. In HP, like in many fandoms, there are specific groups--target audiences, if you will--of readers that are drawn together by certain pairings. There are people who read slash pairings, people who read het pairings, people who read gen stories, and people who read stories with original characters. Certainly some people jump in and out of groups at will, or belong to more than one group. But what I've found is that some people in the first three groups avoid the last group like the plague. After my discussion with ac1d, I thought about my own reading habits. I generally don't read anything with the kids in the story, unless they're adults. I did try to read them a few times, but I'm just not interested enough.
So there are entire areas of fandom that I'm completely unfamiliar with. I am not part of the potential audience for those fics, just like many readers are not part of the potential audience for my fics. The key must be maximizing your fic's exposure to the target audience, and hoping that you reach those readers. I'm always curious about how some of the reviewers who have reviewed tLS found it, and why they keep reading. I have mostly Snape het fans for an audience, but I know that there is an occasional slash fan who reads it as well.
I see that good writers often cross boundaries and attract more readers just from their writing style alone. I would normally never read a story with Draco in it, but once in a while one of my favorite writers will write a Draco story, and I'm more likely to try it. So the potential audience can be expanded, I think, with exposure, recs, and just plain word-of-mouth.
This isn't a very cohesive entry, but I just wanted to jot down some of the thoughts I had after I chatted with ac1d.
What do you think of the fandom, and potential audiences within it?
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Still, once in a great while I want to read Snape/ofc. Not a female canon character, only original. To be honest I think that deep down the ofc stands in for me. I'm not ashamed to admit it. : ) I once read a Snape/ofc that started out very well but then kind of went mushy. That one stuck in my head and kind of haunted me until I asked my f'list for recs of other snape/ofc stories. Tls was one of the recs and by far the best.
I think for a slasher tls works because a) fantastic snape and b) the female character is not annoying (in fact she's wonderful but for a slasher "not annoying" is pretty high praise by itself). I am very taken by your ofc - enough that deep down I'm willing to let her stand in for me with Snape. : )
I also love the suspense, plottiness, and JKR-style of the story.
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I feel totally the same way. I liked canon characters the most, and it's so rare for me to find a romance story with an OFC that really appeals to me. Most of them lose me somewhere.
I think for a slasher tls works because a) fantastic snape and b) the female character is not annoying
Yay! That makes me very happy. On rereads I've noticed that she begins in a Sueish manner, and that bothered me a little.
Thing is, I doubt that many slashers will find tLS. Something I've always thought about. I mean, I bet I'm missing out on some great stories because of that, too. It's just that finding them is so difficult.
Thank you for your incredibly kind words! :)
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I've been e-mailed by people who tell me how much they enjoyed my Ashwinder stories. Occasionally, when I mention that I have stories on several of the other archives, including two longish works in progress on Occlumency, I am floored by the response: "I don't read Mary Sues." One reader went so far as to suggest her disappointment in me and that I should quit writing garbage to concentrate on good stories.
For the record, I am very glad I stumbled across TLS. You know how much I enjoy the story and I'm always looking forward to an update. :-)
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Oh, yes, I totally understand this.
Then again, I spent my first three months in fandom looking at every promising Snape story at ffnet. Seriously. Every single one. Just to find some that were interesting.
I don't do that now, but I use "filters" instead, and this brings me better options to wade through.
I am floored by the response: "I don't read Mary Sues." One reader went so far as to suggest her disappointment in me and that I should quit writing garbage to concentrate on good stories.
Wow! That's pretty astonishing. And the sad part is, your story is great, and you've gotten awards and lots of fans, and yet this person will probably never bother to click on it, even though there is a pretty good chance that she would enjoy it.
I mean, yes, there are a lot of MS stories in the ofc category...it goes with the territory. Still, I think you can garner a good following with better-than-average writing.
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Why do I like it? Because the story has a rich background and the OC and Snape are set up as very believable characters, with flaws, likes and dislikes. I like how you take your time with them as well.
I read it in spite of that I omit WIPs, because I don't like catching up with a story after months of delay. And no blame on you for that!
While in the world of fandom I love Draco-centric stories - we are so incompatible on that point! lol - I will read stories with Snape, Harry, Ron or Hermione as well. I'm a slasher with a strong love for gen-fic. I will read any story if I like the author's style in general. I will also read most of the stories of the people on my flist, especially when I know that discussing the story is something we both enjoy.
All in all, it's more about authors and style than about OTP for me. I would never actively search for another character than Draco, but give me a good rec for any story - and if I trust your taste, if the story is not a WIP or actually finished but over 20 k words long, and if I have the time, I will give it a try.
I just realise that I have answered with my personal taste and not with a good analysis of potential audiences in the fandom. *sheepish grin* I think you are right that there are these reading borders, that many people never jump over the fence. But I do, sometimes, for the reasons given above.
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All in all, it's more about authors and style than about OTP for me.
Yes, I always have this feeling that a good author can make people read pairings/genres they normally would have avoided.
And recs are a huge part of fandom. They point people towards new and interesting stories, or help those who don't have a lot of time find more stories in their pairing to read. They help authors who are new and don't have a lot of exposure. I love that people take the time to pimp new stories...it's terrific.
I think you are right that there are these reading borders, that many people never jump over the fence. But I do, sometimes, for the reasons given above.
Yes, I think recs are really helpful for pushing us to jump over fences. :)
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It really does go back to "you can't please all the people all the time." Reading is sooo subjective. What appeals and resonates to one will be offensive or dull to another. Your Mercedes Lackey example is an excellent case in point.
I hop from genre to genre, pairing to pairing. I have my favorites but am open to most anything. I've read fantastic Snupin and Snagrid by
I no longer have the time these days to jump into reading huge fanfics, though the long ones are my preference. I have heard tLS is an excellent Snape/OC story and hope to have time in the future to give it a crack. Even with all I stated above, Snape/OC is still my favorite. : )
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Working in the bookstore really opened my eyes to this. I mean, I'd always read a lot, but it never really occurred to me until I started having to recommend books to people. Most people want a book that's "like" another that they read. They like to stay in certain comfortable genres, and they end up with certain favorite authors, whose work they really enjoy. Same with fandom.
There are some authors whose stories I read regardless of pairing/genre; there are some pairings/genres where I will read a less-than-stellar story simply because I love that pairing so much.
Even with all I stated above, Snape/OC is still my favorite. : )
I'm always fascinated by the people who have that pairing as their favorite. Most likely because it isn't a static pairing. I mean, the Remus/Tonks pairing will always have, well, Remus and Tonks. But the Snape/OFC pairing could be SS/Celeste von Murgerburger, or SS/Alexandra Topiary, or even SS/Mary Sue. There is a lot of variety in Remus/Tonks, but Snape/OFC is even more varied. Perhaps it's like what
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But you know, even back in 2002 when I was writing that, there were a lot of well-known OFCs and they were all different. I wrote Juliana Malfoy,
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But OFCs...they're each individuals, driven by completely different things, often with wildly disparate backgrounds.
Ooh, a vampire OFC...interesting!
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It's immensely difficult to portray a woman with the precise measure of intellect and character (best to not even get into appearance -- the less said about it the better, especially in fic) that puts her past boring and short of Mary Sue.
Absolutely. Some people drain their OFC of everything to avoid appearing Sueish, and end up with a drab, uninteresting drain. There's a delicate balance involved.
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Same here! I really have read so very few OFCs who really interested me. I'm almost unable to read romance stories any more.
The kinds of OFCs who interest me are usually very reserved, almost cold, fairly unemotional OFCs...women who are hard to get to, tough as nails, yet with a core that does feel. I love that kind of character.
As you say, "plucky" makes me squirm. I can't handle "spunky" or "feisty", either. They make me mental.
I've read good writers who, in trying to not make the character a Sue, still have all the other characters observing in passing how "strangely attractive" she is, commenting on how "stubborn" she is
Yes, exactly! The other characters sometimes admire Sues, mentioning negative traits in a positive light. Sues who argue relentlessly, and rather emotionally, often are told after the argument that "it's about time someone did that!" Especially in the Snapeverse. But it's so insane...in real life, people that stubborn, argumentative, and fiery drive everyone else crazy.
I suppose the thing is you need to love your character without being in love with her.
That is the best advice ever.
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Guys are never attracted to me, except really creepy ones...you know, those guys who are rejected over and over again because they ask every girl to go out with them.
I'm very forgettable as well. Guys always seem uncomfortable around me. I've never understood it, though I think it might be the combination of height (5'10") and really really spectacularly negative body language (according to friends).
People like me (cynics) do not have a high tolerance for Sue-ish characters or the men who love them. Guess that's why I slash. :)
Thank goodness for slash, honestly. I swore off romantic comedies and romance novels about eight years ago, and when I found slash two years ago it really seemed to fill that void more than adequately.
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Jesus. You're scaring me here. We are twins. Although 5' 9 1/2" for me, and the word people have used (male and female acquaintances and friends) is intimidating, not forgettable, so I'd be willing to bet it's the same for you *g*. I'm sorry to have to say this, but thank God. I can't tell you how comforting it is -- I probably don't have to tell you -- to not be the only one.
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Hells yes. I thought for years I was cursed, and I made my friends and family completely miserable. Now I just kind of keep going forward. The way my life is structured, I have no way of meeting any single men at all, really, except maybe in a fan environment...and HP seems to be nearly 99% female, so that's pretty much shot too. Crazy, isn't it?
:)
Am friending you, btw.
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And, yeah, fandom does seem to be nearly all women. I wonder how the few men feel about that, if they feel weird about it.
But at least fandom offers its own rewards. :)
here from D_S
Re: here from D_S
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This is a very interesting point (followed by a very interesting discussion), and I would add that it's not only new writers who do it. Now that it's been put plainly in front of me, forcing me to think about it - I think I do it!
I had some very useful (and dead-on, I thought) critiques of a recent story I wrote which basically said (from non-Snape/Lupin shippers), "I don't buy the Snape/Lupin here. It wasn't convincing." And it made me realise that I had written the story for Snape/Lupin fans. I took the relationship completely for granted.
The weird thing, though, is that somehow I'm not happy having an only Snape/Lupin shipper audience. I always want more. I want to convince non-shippers of the pairing. Which is... folly, in a way. Why can't I just "know my audience," write for them, and be happy? Sigh.
[/thinking out loud] :)
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Yes! I got a comment like that once (well, re: Snape/Harry) and ... damn it. I couldn't refute it. Damn damn damn. Not that I mind writing for Snape/Harry fans, but that doesn't mean you get to skip the proper characterization it takes to get them where you want them. That's taking too many shortcuts, but it's all too easy to fall into.
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Hee! Yes, I'm obsessed with that as well. I always want more than just the ss/ofc audience. I always want everybody just to try it, though that is rather impossible to attain.
I've noticed with slash that some authors end up being a "gateway" writer, like
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I find that people often read my work out of politeness. Some then like it and others don't and I feel they are just trying to be polite. The novel I'm writing with my friend is a bit too strange for some of them.
An interesting post and things to think about for sure.
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Most people in regular life who have read my work all say the same thing. "It's nice. When are you writing more?" Not that this is bad, but it is unhelpful. :(
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Something somewhat unrelated. Where did you get the idea for the pain stone in the fic?
Here via the Snitch
In fanfic I don't think about the audience at all, but the nature of my writing (bland, vanilla, workmanlike, whatever you want to call it) is such that that's never had any negative effect on me. So you might say I've never had to think about audience (although "had to" has an implication I don't like. No fanfic writer is forced to think about her audience; people choose to do so or not). The urge to write is entirely personal, and the desire to post fanfic, for me, came after I already knew there were people interesting in reading, broadly, the sort of junk I write. The latter was enough for me to know that, at least, what I put out might please some readers. So far, though I've stumbled across some low opinions of my work, no one has ever flamed me or sent me hate e-mails or come to my house or any of the things that might make me think twice about sharing (no doubt partly because of my 3 fandoms, 2 are very small, and also partly because my writing is so innocuous the worst it's likely to do is bore someone, not outrage them).
I understand the goal of marketing, of course, I just don't care. It works -- I'm an OTPer, but I will occasionally branch out, as you discuss, and reading something outside my OTP because it's come to my attention (through pimpage or recs) or I know the author's brilliant already. But of course that's not about writing with your audience in mind, it's after the fact. I can't imagine writing with anyone else in mind but the story and the characters ... the more I think about it (thinking is a good thing, d'oh) it seems you are referring more to after-the-fact than as-you're-writing, right?
Re: Here via the Snitch
But yeah, you're right, I was mostly talking about how the audience you generate is not being drawn from a very wide-reaching pool...how each particular detail or setting you add to the fic seems to limit your potential audience even further.
Re: Here via the Snitch
I think that's a real function of fanfic, which is the genre-est of genre writing, often. The bad side is if you're one of those who chooses to branch out, you do risk alienating your loyal followers, like a romance novelist who writes a crime drama or v.v.
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