So About That Feature Box... · 7:05pm Sep 18th, 2023
Hello everyone.
I'm looking for input on what I should do here. There is really no way for me to say this in a way that comes across in a humble manner, so I will speak plainly: Almost everything I publish ends up in the feature box on the front page of this site. Now don't get me wrong, I'm extremely flattered that you all enjoy my works so much that my stuff consistently ends up in there. And while I am aware that this is going to sound like a problem of the privileged, it is still something I would like some advice on. Should I change how I do things going forward? There are so many incredible authors on this site, and I don't want to keep clogging up spots that could be used to give some much-needed exposure to authors who don't already get attention like my fics do. I've had a few people come forward and express their concerns about my prevalence in that box, and I am aware that many have a real distaste for me because of it, but I simply don't know what to do about it.
Is there a way to opt out of the box that I might not be aware of? Or is there something else I might be able to do to stop my works from eating up the front page? I think the problem mostly stems from how frequently I publish, but I really hope that there's a solution other than "write less." I've received a few different messages suggesting that I just publish my stuff in an anthology, but I'm afraid that my works vary too much to do so with any amount of consistency. I will probably publish things like my Anon/Celestia one-shots in an anthology format going forward to hopefully assist with that problem a little bit, but on a grander scale, that's only going to help so much.
Again, I apologize if this comes off as pretentious or tone-deaf. I just don't want to cause problems for anyone else.
As always, thank you for your time, and remember to be kind to one another!
As far as I'm aware, there isn't any way to opt out of being on the featured box. Maybe try asking a staff member to see if they can do anything about it? That's really the only way I can think off of the top of my head that isn't "write/publish less." I guess you could try combining some of your future series' into one long story instead of a series of one-offs as well?
I would have to agree with you on that. I like the idea of one Celestia/Anon anthology though. Sounds neat.
I don't see it as an issue. From my perspective the reason why you get so many features is due to two things.
First is the low volume of stories being published vs what it was 5 or 6 years ago.
Second a lot of the stories that are posted are either not nearly as well written or target a much smaller segment of the community.
I think you're just going to need to weather the haters I'm afraid. There's no way to opt out of the feature box. i
If you're worried about smaller authors not getting attention you could do blog posts boosting stories by smaller authors.
The feature section automatically populates based on how much attention a story gets in a short period of time. I know it auto features updates to stories that were featured before, but I don't know if it auto features authors that have been frequently featured before. I think it's just a consequence of you writing high-quality work that a lot of people enjoy.
The only solution to not be featured as often, would be to not write as often, I'm afraid. Although, I wouldn't recommend going that route. Your stories get featured for a reason, and it's because I and so many others enjoy them enough to keep coming back.
Another way to look at it would be, if a story gets enough attention to be featured in the first place, it will be featured. Unless you're posting like five or six popular stories at once and clogging up the new story page, you're not hindering anyone's chance of being featured.
Your consistent presence in the feature box means that you're doing something right with your stories. That other people have a problem with that is entirely on them, and you are not obligated to "dumb down" or otherwise restrict your work out of some misplaced sense of fairness. Let them either step up the quality of their own work (if they're authors themselves) or complain to Knighty about how the featured stories are determined.
I personally enjoy seeing you pop up time and time again, partly because I'm curious to see how often you can do it and partly because it means that there'll something good to read.
And just to clarify, I completely understand those that do take issue with my works in the feature box. I imagine if I were a reader and I didn't enjoy my works, or even Anon stories in general, I would probably get tired of seeing my stuff in there all the time, too.
I don't blame anyone for taking issue with my work being there so frequently. We all enjoy different things, after all!
The quickest and easiest solution to not get featured which will work 100%:
- Turn off ratings
No one can give likes to your fics? Now the algorithm won't consider your fic to be featured anymore! It also considers how much comments are made, so turn them also off
And now some other tips which will result in less clustered feature box:
- Use other character than Anon/Make it HiE
Personalise the human in Equestria. Give him, or even her for change, some dreams, some goals, some ambitions on their own. Give them a hobby.
This way, there is no Anon tag, and thus lesser clustered feature box!
- No Anon or Human
Why use human? OC ponies or any other creature can be made too. After all, MLP was made to sell toys, so why not make your own toys? Why write a comedy Anon fic where he gives Flurry a gun when it could as well be an OC or even some canon character? The possibilities are endless—which the only downside of the main character not being Anon and thus lesser attention by the fimfiction users and thus lesser clustered feature box, which was the goal
Any way, it all depends on you. There is no point in "not getting featured" if that's what most of the readers want. You could perhaps "sleep over" a fic and return to it after several days before editing it with critical and new eyes or let it get proofread by other people and writers. This way, you publish less fics, but the quality rises—which then gives less amunition to dislike your fics.
But at the end of the day, writing fanfictions about ponies is just a hobby, and if the Anon-formula works this easily and you use it, more power to you.
5747069
Wow, those are some tough sells! Turning off ratings/comments, in my opinion, kind of takes a lot of the fun out of publishing in the first place! Plus, I don't really want to just stop publishing Anon stories - it's what I enjoy writing most - but I'll definitely take your feedback into consideration! Thank you!
This can all be summed up with haters gonna hate, you shouldn't change what your doing (please dont) to make some naysayers happy. You being in the featured slot is a good thing, that others need to strive for. I can appreciate you wanting to give others a shot but at the same time don't take your legs out just to do so. Stay the course 👌
It’s kind hearted to think of this as a potential issue, and to be aware that as you succeed, it may cause other people to dislike that. But it’s not something you should stop doing. Really, you do have a couple options: turning off ratings (to beat the algorithm) and to change your stories (Anon and HiE are the most popular stories). But those don’t really help you at all in the long run, or other authors for that matter.
Just focus on what you want to do, at a pace you want to do them at. People love your stories, myself included. They’re short, sweet, and are feel-good. That’s something to be proud of yourself in, rather than be concerned about others. Take it easy, enjoy what you do, and know that us fans support you Runic!
I don't know if there's a way tbh, but why not recommend some stories from lesser known authors that you've recently enjoyed in the author's note at the end of the fic?
It wont help with the algorithm thingie, but it would mitigate the problem of not letting other stories shine, maybe?
I can't believe some people are basically asking you not to be a better author than them. You shouldn't stop writing, nor should you publish in a different way than what you like. If they don't like that your stories appear so often in the feature box, then they should go complain to Xaquseg, or even better, focus their efforts on writing stories good enough to find a place in the feature box, like yours. It would be very unfair for you to write less or worse just to please a bunch of people who are probably just [swear deleted] envious of you.
The way I see it, seeing your stuff in featured not only serves as an added seal of quality basically given by the people, but it also reassures that these stories are alive and well.
You're one of the more active authors on this site who writes fun stories and writes often. It's not an easy feat, and not many authors can do that. And if you're a good content creator who uploads on a consistent basis, you build up followers, and that in return helps your new stories get more views and make it into the feature box. I see your success as a culmination of the effort you've put in over a long period, and that shouldn't be disregarded. Although your concerns are understandable, don't worry about "taking up space of other creators", you've certainly done enough to earn the following you have now.
Tell those people that are "concerned" to get better at writing.
So basically the problem is, "Your (sic) a better writer then (sic) me, so STAHP it!!"
...and...this is a concern for you? I get the distinct impression you're one of those rare souls who if you were a millionaire through your own hard work and sacrifice and had someone in your family who never worked a day in their life berate you for having more than them, you would feel guilty about it. The solution is simple: stop writing at the level you do, and let the haters win, or continue to be as awesome as you are.
The choice is yours.
Seriously? This is either the most well-planned "humble brag" I've ever seen written, or you have some concerning self-esteem issues.
There will always be and always have been those who stand out in the crowd. In this community, on this website, you're in good company. Ask authors like Pen Stroke, Skywriter, Cold In Gardez, shortskirtsandexplosions, or Estee how they feel about their stories getting featured Every. Time. They. Publish. These are writers with followers in the thousands, and that's not by accident. And those are just the ones who are still active. I haven't even mentioned giants like The Descendant, Obselescence, or Eakin. These are all gone now, and they're sadly missed.
So don't bemoan your success. Just be thankful for it, and continue to do what you do best.
I can understand where your coming from, but at the same time, the reason your popping up on the featured page so often is because of how many people are readying your stuff, which is due to you're hard work. There's no shame in being great or even fantastic at your craft, as long as you don't let it get to your head which from this post it's very clear you haven't. As for the problem of people not being able to get to the featured box, well as cold as it is to say, it's for the best/most popular stuff at the time, and if someones work doesn't make the cut, it doesn't get there. I don't mean to say that in a way that degrades other authors, because there stuff can be good, it's just that some people either are unlucky or don't know how to promote there own stuff on the site, What I think we need to do is teach new authors how to promote there works like with posting it to groups or in any other way that works here that I may not know about.
5747165
I miss those authors, especially The Descendant. He just went totally silent with no warning, and I can't help but hope that he's okay.
I apologize if I was too aggressive in my previous comment. It's just that I've seen many good authors leave this site due to the toxic behavior of their readers, and that enfuriates me, and I would hate for the same thing to happen to you too. I wanted to make it clear to you that most of us appreciate you and that you should never allow the comments of toxic people to outweigh those of people who respect you.
5747442
Don't worry, I'm not going anywhere!
5747462
It's a relief to hear that! Thank you very much for staying here, sharing your stories with us.