How do I get reviews???

1466 Views 17 Replies 11 Participants Last post by PXsL8708aC80fp, Jan 10, 2013

wiccanhot

Discussion Starter · Jan 9, 2013

So I'm taking a fiction writing class at college and one of the stories I wrote was loosely based on The Devil Wears Prada. The teacher recognized the reference immediately. He said that it qualified as fanfic. So I decided to post it on ff.net and see if people liked it. I did and according to story stats 95 people looked at it but there are zero reviews.

How do I get reviews

1 - 18 of 18 Posts

dalya

· #2 · Jan 9, 2013

Hmm. Most of us are trying to get reviews for books that are for sale on Amazon, etc.

There may be some ff.net writers around here, but wouldn't there be a forum there for asking this? I don't think most of our methods would be applicable to fanfic. Golly, it's hard enough to get some book bloggers to accept self-pub.

J. Tanner

· #3 · Jan 10, 2013

You wait until more people have read it and eventually some of them write reviews.

It's really out of your control when it comes to anonymous readers.

If you want feedback on your writing, the class you're taking is probably a quicker path. (Sounds like you got some from the teacher.) Joining critique groups online would be another option.

MsTee

· #4 · Jan 10, 2013

Big ol' fanfic writer here.

How do you get reviews on FFnet?

Read other people's fics and review them. But please, please, do NOT 'emotionally blackmail' someone into reviewing your work just because you reviewed theirs. Also, find LiveJournal communities that play in your fandom's sandbox and try to join in writing fests/competitions. Post to other fanfic archives beside FFnet, too. For instance, give AO3 (Archive Of Our Own) a go.

What really helps a lot, though, is playing in a larger fandom first. Larger fandoms: Supernatural, Harry Potter, Naruto, Twilight, Pirates of the Caribbean. Larger fandoms means more readers, means more eyes on your stories, means more reviews. Also, also, if after getting your feet wet you enjoy the experience, look around for a beta-reader. Although FFnet readers have high tolerance levels, there are going to be the ones who despise unbetaed works and will tell you (quite rudely) what they think about your story.

The Devil Wears Prada isn't a very huge fandom - if it exists at all. But googling 'devil wears prada fanfiction' wouldn't hurt.

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wiccanhot

Discussion Starter · #5 · Jan 10, 2013

Thanks Tracy, that's really helpful.

Rashaad Bell

· #6 · Jan 10, 2013

Tracy Leach said:
Big ol' fanfic writer here.

How do you get reviews on FFnet?

Read other people's fics and review them. But please, please, do NOT 'emotionally blackmail' someone into reviewing your work just because you reviewed theirs. Also, find LiveJournal communities that play in your fandom's sandbox and try to join in writing fests/competitions. Post to other fanfic archives beside FFnet, too. For instance, give AO3 (Archive Of Our Own) a go.

What really helps a lot, though, is playing in a larger fandom first. Larger fandoms: Supernatural, Harry Potter, Naruto, Twilight, Pirates of the Caribbean. Larger fandoms means more readers, means more eyes on your stories, means more reviews. Also, also, if after getting your feet wet you enjoy the experience, look around for a beta-reader. Although FFnet readers have high tolerance levels, there are going to be the ones who despise unbetaed works and will tell you (quite rudely) what they think about your story.

The Devil Wears Prada isn't a very huge fandom - if it exists at all. But googling 'devil wears prada fanfiction' wouldn't hurt.

Your gif made me think there was a bug on my iPad screen. I tried to kill it...

Rashaad Bell

· #7 · Jan 10, 2013

wiccanhot said:
So I'm taking a fiction writing class at college and one of the stories I wrote was loosely based on The Devil Wears Prada. The teacher recognized the reference immediately. He said that it qualified as fanfic. So I decided to post it on ff.net and see if people liked it. I did and according to story stats 95 people looked at it but there are zero reviews.

How do I get reviews

Instead of putting it there, why don't you polish it up and sell it on amazon?

Ryne Billings

· #8 · Jan 10, 2013

I'm a bit more knowledgeable about FFnet than I am about Kindle or Amazon, so this is a question I can actually answer.

The trick to getting reviews on that site is to write a number of different stories. When I publish anything over there, about a thousand emails are sent, informing people about it. That typically results in my getting anywhere from 10-50 reviews per chapter.

Oh, and it also helps to write in a popular fandom. I haven't done anything in several months, but I started out writing in the second most popular fandom on the site and have found that anything I write there gets at least forty reviews in a single day.

I almost wish it was as easy to get reviews for my original fiction, but then I'm reminded of all the times that I was flamed over there. While it doesn't affect me as much when I'm getting those for a hobby, getting it for what I view as my more serious writing would be a pain.

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Judi Coltman

· #9 · Jan 10, 2013

Rashaad Bell said:
Your gif made me think there was a bug on my iPad screen. I tried to kill it...

ME TOO!

Rashaad Bell

· #10 · Jan 10, 2013

Judi Coltman said:
ME TOO!

Prime example of how a thumbs up feature would be awesome...

wiccanhot

Discussion Starter · #11 · Jan 10, 2013

Rashaad Bell said:
Instead of putting it there, why don't you polish it up and sell it on amazon?

I'm taking baby steps with my writing. ff.net is relatively non-threatening to my ego. Also, because I intended it as a homage I wanted to see if any actual fanfic readers recognize that and would possibly respond positively to it.

I have a different short story that I'm working on for class that I plan to polish up and submit to places. This one's just for fun.

G

· #12 · Jan 10, 2013

Rashaad Bell said:
Instead of putting it there, why don't you polish it up and sell it on amazon?

Wait... is it legal to sell actual fanfic?

I guess you could change the names, I would do that if I had an extensive backlist of fanfic.

Jerri Kay Lincoln

· #13 · Jan 10, 2013

Rashaad Bell said:
Your gif made me think there was a bug on my iPad screen. I tried to kill it...

I almost broke my laptop screen trying to get at the darn thing!!

Carradee

· #14 · Jan 10, 2013

Rashaad Bell said:
Instead of putting it there, why don't you polish it up and sell it on amazon?

[wry tone] IaNaL, but I'm pretty sure that selling fan fiction would be a violation of IP rights.

Aya Ling

· #15 · Jan 10, 2013

Um...I wrote fanfiction nearly ten years ago

The easiest way to get more reviews is just to post more chapters. Every time I posted a new chapter I'd get 20~30 reviews. I do ask for reviews at the bottom of each chapter, but other than that, I don't really bother. I don't review others' stories frequently either, but I made sure to add them to my "alert" list (ff.net has their own mailing list) so when they release a new chapter, I can check it out immediately. And readers of my later stories will go and seek out my other pieces. Sounds a lot like self-publishing!

Rashaad Bell

· #16 · Jan 10, 2013

Well if she changed the names on it, I'm sure it would be good to go then. Once she did that then it's just about a girl working for her horrible boss in the fashion industry.

50 shades of grey started out as fan fiction. She changed the name, polished it up a little bit and we all know how that story ended.

At the bank...

B. Justin Shier

· #17 · Jan 10, 2013

glutton said:
Wait... is it legal to sell actual fanfic?

Only if you are a master of the universe...

B.

G

· #18 · Jan 10, 2013

glutton said:
Wait... is it legal to sell actual fanfic?

Depending on the fandom it's extremely easy to rework an existing fanfic into an original work.

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