your under-loved fic/art

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The AO3 stats meme is going around. I love this meme because people talk about their stories and their readership(s). I always sound like I'm whining when I talk about readership, but sometimes I really just want to make observations about why people read the things they do. Also, apparently I don't like to do memes I just like to do meta on memes. So here we go!

Please comment to this post with a link to a fic/art/meta you're really proud of having created, that hasn't received the attention you felt it deserved. Tell us what the story/art/meta is about, what you really liked about it, and tell us why you think it didn't get as many hits/kudos/comments/replies/recs/etc as you'd secretly hoped.

I'm not promising to read your story/meta/look at your art, because I might not have time, but I find this interesting and cathartic to talk about. If you are not a writer/artist, comment with a fic you like that you wish had gotten more love. Please feel free to direct people to this post so that they can share the fic they're proud of and discuss things like readership.

ETA: The fic doesn't have to be on AO3. Also, the hit/kudos/comment/whatever count doesn't have to be low. For instance, the fic I have that feels under-appreciated got a lot of nice comments and nice attention. I still feel sad that it didn't really get the wide readership I feel it deserves. This is your place to talk about that without feeling self-conscious about wishing something got more attention.

Comments

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Usually I'd feel weird and self-conscious about it

As I said to someone above, it's really petty so most people don't talk about it, but I think it's alright as long as we all understand that our responses are really emotional and not always logical. It's not okay to say, "But that fic sucks and mine is brilliant so more people should be commenting on mine!" But it's okay to feel that your fic didn't get the appreciation it deserved, and I think it's an appropriate thing to discuss if we do so in a rational manner in a space where we're all of an understanding. The idea that a large percentage of the fannish population all feels the same way but shouldn't talk about it seems silly.

I have this abiding conviction that my fic couldn't possibly be "worth" as much as stuff that lots of people read and comment on.

I think a lot of us feel that way. Almost everything I wrote last year was gen, and while it got a lot of appreciation, it didn't get nearly the response shippy fic in the same fandom is getting. And I'm afraid that's the reason I'm in such a slump right now. Which is ridiculous, but I'm having trouble getting over it.

minor character het

I feel like minor character het is even below gen on the totem pole, insofar as what readers are gonna pay attention to. And that makes me sad.

[snickfic]

Better comment later, but in the meantime would you mind if I repost the gist of this on my blog as a meme kind of thing?

[lettered]

nope, no problem :o)

[snickfic]

Almost everything I wrote last year was gen, and while it got a lot of appreciation, it didn't get nearly the response shippy fic in the same fandom is getting. And I'm afraid that's the reason I'm in such a slump right now. Which is ridiculous, but I'm having trouble getting over it.

Aw. :( I am very sorry to hear that. Last year you wrote The Chuck Writes Story, didn't you? And that was amazing. (Which reminds me, I totally have to rec that at rocksalt_recs when I handle genfic next month.) And I enjoyed your Bruce&Natasha fic quite a bit, although my interest in Avengers things kind of petered out shortly afterwards, alas.