AO3 Stats Meme (2015)

[thisbluespirit]

Oh, look, time for the annual self-indulgent AO3 stats meme...

Last year's results


By hits (excluding 3 fics that clearly have either suffered from bugs or bots skewing things, because there is no way they could have earned their current hit count*):

1. Truth & Compromise (Discworld, 4404 words, William de Worde/Sacharissa Cripslock, NYR 2011) - 1302 hits
2. Ten Times The Doctor (Almost) Got Hitched (DW, 5358 words, Multi-era humour.) - 1108 hits
3. This Single World Is Double Till I Die (OUaT, 4138 words, Emma Swan/Regina Mills.) - 1098 hits
4. Observation (Miss Marple/Harry Potter, 357 words, Jane Marple & Luna Lovegood.) - 1030 hits
5. So We Meet Again (Miss Marple/Dracula, 758 words, Jane Marple, Count Dracula, John Seward, Van Helsing.) - 995 hits
6. Not Bad For a First Attempt (Georgette Heyer, 200 words, Horatia Winwood/Marcus Drelincourt.) - 975 hits
7. The Man Who Cried Lion (DW, 327 words, Six & Evelyn, Fandom Stocking 2013.) I'm dubious about this one, too. I think it's another borked hit count. - 958 hits
8. Century's End (Poldark, 2692 words, Ross Poldark/Demelza Carne.) - 891 hits
9. something in the heart (Hist RPF/Shadow of the Tower, 730 words, Henry VII/Elizabeth of York.) - 864 hits.
10. Five Times the Doctor Got in the Way of Captain Janeway (and One Time They Got Along Just Fine) (ST:V/DW, 5260 words, Kathryn Janeway, various Doctors, multi-era humour.) - 840 hits.

I'm sure 7 is wrong, so the real no. 10:

11. Take the Second Path (OUaT, 2828 words, Emma Swan/Regina Mills.) - 743 hits.


* Police Boxes Don't Just Vanish, Do They? (Public Eye/Doctor Who) has over 7000 hits, Time No Longer (a Tom's Midnight Garden drabble) 3000+ and there was a darkness, call it solitude (Midnight Is A Place) 1000+. (I've seen other people having the same issue doing this, so it's maybe some bot-related thing? Very odd.)


By kudos, which I always think is probably the most reliable method for judging popularity on AO3:

1. So We Meet at Last - 106 kudos
2. Take the Second Path - 60 kudos
3. Observation - 58 kudos
4. Five Times the Doctor... - 52 kudos
5. Century's End - 51 kudos
6. This Single World... - 49 kudos
7. The Time Traveller’s Guide: Important Additional Information (Time Traveller's Guide, 1722 words, humour, Yuletide 2013.) - 46 kudos
8. Of Elements and Existence (Sapphire & Steel/Discworld, Various, Yuletide 2012.) - 44 kudos
9. Extract From the Memoirs of a Credit Snake (I,Claudius, 693 words, Snake, Humour, Yuletide 2014.) - 41 kudos
10. Truth & Compromise - 37 kudos

Basically, Poldark being on TV did wonders for a random and obscure little fic I wrote ages ago, and Emma Swan/Regina Mills is a Big Ship, comparatively anyway. Otherwise, Miss Marple still rules.

By comments (excluding multi-chapter works):

1. So We Meet At Last - 34 comments
2. Of Elements and Existence (Yuletide 2012) - 26 comments
3. Persistence in Porcelain (Jonathan Creek, 4090 words, Jonathan Creek & Maddy Magellan, Yuletide 2013.) - 24 comments
4. Hit and Run (B7, 4533 words, Roj Blake, Kerr Avon, Jenna Stannis, Yuletide 2010.) - 22 comments.
5. Seeking Dragons (Tough Guide, 2059 words, humour, Yuletide 2010.) - 22 comments.
6. Compendium (B7, 4846 words, Avon/Servalan, Yuletide 2011.) - 22 comments.
7. The Quality of Mercy (Is Most Definitely Strained) (B7, 509 words, Avon/Servalan, Yuletide 2014.) - 20 comments.
8. New Tricks for Old Dogs (or Five Alternate Universes Where Sandra Pullman Was Always Awesome) (New Tricks, 2746 words, team fic, Yuletide 2012.) - 19 comments.
9. The Time Traveller’s Guide: Important Additional Information (Yuletide 2013) - 19 comments.
= 10. Extract From the Memoirs of a Credit Snake (Yuletide 2014) - 18 comments.
= 10. Vigil (Measure for Measure, 1246 words, Isabella/Duke Vincentio, Yuletide 2012.) - 18 comments.

And, ha, random new(ish) fandoms and pairings have altered the top ten counts in hits and kudos, but when it comes to people actually talking to you on AO3, Yuletide still rules. And I do like people talking to me, I have to say. It's all a bit lonely and slightly pointless otherwise (though it'll be fine as long as LJ survives ♥).


Most unpopular, really, are mainly a few drabbles with low hits and no kudos or comments. (Most unpopular this time, avoiding things with kudos or new things, or vids: Bachelor Auction because writing a Percy & Frank drabble for Public Eye is not a thing a writer does for attention. But even that has 15 hits, which is more than it deserves.)


Anyway, there you go - navel-gazing over for another year. It is amusing, though. Yuletide fics usually have a fair bit of work that went into them, and I'm still proud of some of them, but this year my lists have hit some random things like new Poldark and The White Queen suddenly boosting attention to previously super-obscure fics, and the weird automatic hits you get if you write a popular pairing (Emma/Regina). Also writing things because you made a wrangling error & preferred writing a double drabble to fixing it seems to pay off (Not Bad For A First Attempt). Other than that, humour and Miss Marple being awesome in other people's fandoms is clearly the key. (Well, not really. If you want hit counts in tens of thousands with hundreds of kudos, obviously I am not the person to talk to!)

Comments

[liadt]

Aw, I enjoyed your 'Public Eye' drabble, though I said so on lj. As much as I like MiaP I think 1000 hits for a fic must be an error! I looking forward to seeing how my UC fic does this year, considering the inexplicably high hit rate I have for that Bulman fic. It is quite amusing people looking for fic featuring characters will go for a fic with the characters in a different version.

Miss Marple rules it's official - again!

Re:

[thisbluespirit]

Oh, there's definitely some sort of bug or bot that's hit a few things, because there is no way on this earth any of those three have been generating that sort of hit count otherwise. (Besides, if you get that many hits and it's real, you usually get at least some matching upsurge in kudos, too.)

The UC fic may be because of the fest, so more people are aware of your work; also on AO3 some people actually do read by tropes, so maybe you hit something there. :-)

Miss Marple is the best, so it's only right and proper, really!

[liadt]

I can't imagine "pretend wedding" fans being so starved of that trope they have to read my UC fic. Must be for the Spice Girls warning;p.

[scripsi.livejournal.com]

What a fun idea. I Think I will gack you. I have only posted on AOU since December, but I have now managed to upload all my fics there and it might be fun to do this meme now and then again in a years. :)

And I clearly need to go and read some fics now. :)

[thisbluespirit]

It is always interesting to look at. Sometimes it's predictable what's racked up the hits and kudos and sometimes it's a bit surprising.

[scripsi.livejournal.com]

Yes, just to look at these four months I have been posting gave some surprises. :)

A question; What is Yuletide?

[thisbluespirit]

yuletide is the annual fic exchange for rare fandoms. It's been going for I think about 12 years now, and these days is hosted via AO3. All the details are at yuletide_admin and the whole marvellous collection is here

Basically, if you've ever been browsing AO3 and suddenly found one marvellous fic in a fandom you thought nobody else had ever heard of, it's probably a Yuletide fic. There's a general tradition of commenting and reccing, especially while things are still anonymous, and I'm very fond of it. It's no use for people who don't really like exchanges, or are more mono-fannish, but for those people who want fic for their favourite children's story, old TV show, or breakfast cereal, or song, or that amusing blog entry they found yesterday, Yuletide is pretty great.

[scripsi.livejournal.com]

Oh I see! Thank you! That sounds intriguing, I shall remember it. :)

[lindahoyland.livejournal.com]

You do way better on AO3 than I do.

My all time most popular story is "Nightmares with Nightshirts".

This year, two very old Voyager stories I wrote about 15 years ago are in the top 5, weird!

[thisbluespirit]

Tolkien fandom still has its own big archive (or archives), doesn't it? Most of my stuff is way under these sorts of hits and kudos I've got in the top ten, and a lot of it is still down to Yuletide, because Yuletiders are great at genuinely scouring through the collection and leaving comments.

My DW stuff mainly has less hits and comments - until recently our archive Teaspoon has been where people read things still, although Teaspoon is getting quieter and quieter, and some of the DW stuff on AO3 is now rising a bit.

But it's always a bit random!

[a-phoenixdragon.livejournal.com]

Nearly all of my work has low hits counts or kudos...so I applaud (heartily!!) your AO3 success! *Beams* These are fantastic numbers, sweetie! Whoot!

*HUGS*

[thisbluespirit]

Aw, thanks. Most of it is kind of accidental - writing Emma/Regina last year was such a shock, because almost all the hits they got came in day after posting & it was obviously just people getting the feed for a popular pairing. I've never had that experience before!

Also Yuletide is amazing for getting actual comments and kudos and it still skews things. It's taken me about 4 years or so, but my AO3 counts don't look too dusty now - if we ignore all the unloved drabbles at the other end!!

It is sometimes seriously so random, though. ♥ However, my advice is ... write Miss Marple!! (She hasn't defeated Dr Frankenstein yet, after all.) ;-)

[a-phoenixdragon.livejournal.com]

I think it is amazing and you have more than earned all the kudos and adoration in the world!

*HUGS*

[sallymn.livejournal.com]

You get more than me :)

[thisbluespirit]

I do Yuletide! I mean, not solely for the attention, but... it is nice. :-)

Also last year I wrote a popular pairing, which was a startling experience, especially since I got masses of hits and a hate-comment for something I thought nobody would read. /o\

Getting the BBC to make updated versions of things you wrote for also works a treat, as does writing Miss Marple! But, yeah, it's so random and depends an awful lot on fandoms, where else things get posted & read, and time, and if somebody recs somebody. And clearly, bugs and bots skewing things.

(I feel pretty pleased with mine these days, but if you peek at super popular fandoms, people get 10,000+ hits and 100s or 1000s of kudos and it's just unreal.)

[sallymn.livejournal.com]

Oh I know - when LOTR was at its height I peeked that way (I did love the movies) but decided I liked the shallower, peaceful corners of fandom.

[thisbluespirit]

It is nice in the shallow end, isn't it? :-)

[swordznsorcery.livejournal.com]

Those look like some good stats to me! Well done for another year. Are your Old Poldark stories likely to confuse viewers of New Poldark, or could they work for both shows? I imagine the characters are a bit different in the two versions.

Incidentally, there's a new Network release specially for you! Well, I say new - it's not out yet, and being them it probably won't be for ages! But it's something: http://networkonair.com/shop/2240-single-play-the-volume-1-5027626434946.html

[thisbluespirit]

Aha, thanks for the link. :-)

There are differences between the two versions of Poldark, but at the same time, they're both actually fairly faithful to the books, so it seems to have worked out for people.

[flowsoffire.livejournal.com]

Navel-gazing ftw! And Miss Marple and Luna together?! God, this sounds like a dream :D

[thisbluespirit]

Thanks! And that's what happens when I ask my flist for crossover prompts! ;-)

[flowsoffire.livejournal.com]

Haha, your flist is clearly brilliant! :D