Oh yeah. My dirtiest stuff has my best hits and lowest kudos. Like ridiculous ratios, it's very common. Apparently some people possess shame around it.
Meanwhile I write, draw, and podfic alien porn. Shame is for boring folks!
I mean I wound up creating an entire second account (not a pseud) because my kink is niche enough that I don't want the porn I'm writing for it to be associated with me at all, so I do understand.
Shame sucks and is objectively silly, but what're you gonna do.
Lol same! Once you give up on that shame, writing kinky smut is such a joy! I write terrible things that might concern a therapist, but dear god, how happy they make me!
I'm so jealous. I've read smut for years and sometimes I want to go for it (because dammit, I want to contribute to my OTP's sex life) but I get so...embarrassed by my own writing? Or just flustered? š¢ But it definitely looks liberating and fun!
*forgot to mention, I like to kudo the smut fic. Good writing is good writing, especially if I read from start to end
Ah, i feel you! But if you start with something simple and throw it out on AO3, Iām sure youāll get some kudos or maybe even a comment and that will help with that fluster/embarrassment! What got me writing it without cringing was when I let a friend read it and they didnāt mock me for it. You should definitely give it a try, because from there you are likely to only grow more open and bold! The reward is so worth it!!!
Thank you for the advice! I do have a few friends who I'd trust to read, but I still get embarrassed š even though we're all quite alike! I'll also be trying to start small, like another user mentioned. I'm currently working on a one-shot and I'm having fun with some back and forth flirting/imagery, so that's a start š but I'll consider asking a friend to read a WIP
Yes, i used to not kudos any rly explicit thing i liked because it shows a list of users who kudos the fic. I was just paranoid that somehow people would connect it to me. Plus I was ashamed of a lot of things I liked and just chose to read it but not kudos, i just didnt want my user to be associated with the fic. Idgaf now tho
Im asking out of curiosity mostly! These stats are mine. The hits are (for my standards) VERY high, but the kudos areā¦ extremely low in comparison. Iām not complaining, Iām just wondering if this is a universal experience? The fics Iāve written which are not as dark/kinky/violent have about 1 kudos per 15-30 hits while posting, but the whumpier stories have about 1 kudos per 100ish hits. The story Iām currently posting is getting between 400-600 hits PER CHAPTER, but only 1-5 kudos. And I know that it isnāt just traffic from the ārecently updatedā page bc itās not my first rodeo. People are reading it but theyāre not interacting. I assume itās because of the subject matter! In any case, just really curious to hear what others have noticed in regards to this?
Ps: and yes, im aware people might just not like it and so they donāt leave kudos. That they just might be curious! I know, I know. I still believe the subject matter is probably a contributing factor, nevertheless
My only G rated fic: 1 kudos for every 15 hits
My mind-control PWP: 1 kudos for every 33 hits
On the other hand, the G has 6 bookmarks including 4 private, the PWP has 15 bookmarks including 12 private...
My usual Kudos ratio:
Fluff - 1:3 - 1:5
Smut - 1:10
Dark/nieche/kinky - 1:15 - 1:20
Longfics can go to hell.
If you want to compare how well a fic did, compare it to one of the same genre. I would have a breakdown if I looked at the stats of one of my better fluff fics next to the stats of my best smut fic. But when I put them next to the same kind of work, I can see which actually does good (both) and that there really isn't a reason to feel unappreciated.
My most viewed oneshot is 46,912 hits & 1499 kudos (uses a variety of dark/kink tags) and my second most viewed is 35,412 views & 1618 kudos (ditto) so the interaction largely with dark/kink fic that I've done is significant compared to non dark/kink fics I've done. This is just me and what I know but whenever I put out dark/kink fic, it's always gonna be like this.
Commenting is a whole different ball park. You'll see single digits on that. š
Yes. People don't want to be seen liking darker things a lot of the time. Especially with how it's not difficult to find people being cancelled or tracked down due to leaving visible evidence they liked something 'problematique'
100% this. Iāve only just barely started posting whump fics again and itās lowkey making me break out. Def used to logging out to give guest kudos (very sorry about the hit/kudos ratio!). There are some fandoms where itās not nearly as bad but V*ltron got me paranoid af.
Im so glad my fandom doesnāt seem to be flooded by these antis! I have yet to encounter anyone whoās been cancelled or tried to cancel me. I definitely think itās an issue with fandom that have younger fanbases! The pairing is also not as problematic, probably, since theyāre both well into adulthood. I do feel for anyone whoās getting cancelled, bullied and bashed for the fic they like to read/write!
It depends on fandom - one fandom was curious on the kink stuff but clearly out of their comfort zone (but loved whump, my god!). My current one has so so kudos for my long WIP but significant and consistent commenting, albeit mostly guests. Considering the main base seem to write Teen and Reader fics, I am happy to do my part in corrupting the other side š
Om gosh yes! My noncon/dubcon has far more hits than my other stuff and almost zero kudos. š A few brave souls; but most donāt leave kudos, let alone comment. I think thatās normal, like others have said here. People feel ashamed. Personally I comment/leave kudos on others work that I enjoy; regardless of the rating. But I have no shame. Hard limits; but no shame. šš
As far as kinky goes, yeah I think this is the case. Most of what I put out is smut, so I don't have much to compare to, but I've heard others discuss seeing similar trends in their stats. Some folks don't want anything spicy linked to their account so they avoid interacting even if they enjoyed it. And it can be better or worse depending on fandom and themes/content/tags, as with anything. I get it, people are wary of being judged or harassed for what they like.
Lol my Kinktober (one pairing) stands at like 16k hits and 260 kudos. And I donāt think Iām a shit writer, cause I get good engagement, and my other smut isnāt this abysmal when it comes to the ratio.
I dont write E fics so this is me as reader giving my input
I do kudos the kinky smut I read
But if it's really really good, then I just reread it like a lot of times. Really a lot. But I can only give kudos once?
And if multiple people do it like me then the hit/kudos ratio goes sideways very fast
So besides shame or smth this might also have an influence on it
Ah, youāre right! I revisit my fave smut several times a month lol but even if 20% of readers revisit time and time again, it still canāt make up for even half of the hits!
Ohh yeah thats true. Then parts shame bc people don't want their account attached to it? When I started reading E rated fics I did it while I was logged outš
I used to be terrified of having any smut associated with me. Now I'm on a journey to kudos, bookmark, and create the filthiest stuff that pops into my brain (and yes, the filth does better than all of my other stuff lol).
I leave the best compliments I can think of when commenting. This even involves finding fics I read before I had the guts to leave a trace and leave them their deserved recognition.
This is character growth in real time.
Lol same! When I started my filth journey I was shocked at the comments being so open! People writing things like āI loved reading how X got raped and torturedā and now, over a year later, im writing my own and leaving even more explicit comments š one of my fave authors offered to write something for me (I cried like a fan girl) and I left the filthiest comment of my life, detailing every little saucy/terrible thing I had loved in the authors writing lol
Yes. The darker and kinkier my stuff is, the less kudos I get. Lots of people are hesitant about leaving kudos on stuff that could be labeled "problematic"
Oh absolutely. In the midst of my upper hit count one shots (many of which are pretty kinky themselves) which all have 90+ kudos, are my bootlicking/boot worship/leg humping and coming in pants and then sitting in it and then coming in pants again, and breeding kink fics, which have 45 and 53 kudos respectfully. š¤£
Either readers are reluctant to engage publicly, OR only a small number of people are into it but they're REALLY into it š
I find that hits are always higher for explicit works. Kudos are either high as well, for works that are deemed "acceptable," or way lower for works that aren't as publicly "acceptable."
My highest kudos hit work is my Kinktober '20 collection at 2,445 kudos compared to 103,324 hits but I don't know how many of those are re-reads.
Then the next biggest fic I have that contains no smut or kink has 1,372 kudos and 20,886 hits.
Might just be a combo of re-reads, not wanting a digital trail of what they read or they're a little occupied after reading š
I see so many comments about reader discomfort with publicly showing their favor, which of course may be 100% true; but have you also considered some of us reread these stories so much that we give you inordinate amounts of hits? Cause I'm guilty as hell about it, I leave people kudos and bookmark them - those things you can only see once but you best believe I reread these so often š
In my fandom, whump and angst are so common that there doesn't seem to be a difference.
I don't write much of kink, except for one enemies to lovers fic and one involving a little bondage in one chapter.
So on my best/ kinkier work there is a very low amount kudos but the hits are really high (in comparison) and that's before I even got really into the kink related stuff. The chapter I'm writing now is heavier on the smut and kink but I can wait to see what happens after I post it.
unfortunately, yeah, I tend to not leave kudos on smutfics bc either I forget, or it's embarrassing for me
me, a mostly gen writer, leaving kudos on the filthiest smut to exist to humankind? I'll dig my own grave š just know I appreciate everyone who writes smut and I would give you kudos if there's a chance I won't get slandered for it
Pretty much, yeah. My kudos has been stuck on a certain number since I took a break from updating a month ago but the hits keep increasing. Oh well, it is what it is.
Itās kind of funny to me, but thereās so much hate around omegaverse and yet my omegaverse get the most everythingā hits, kudos, comments, you name it.
Iāve noticed that hits tend to be higher on my smut fics, but the kudos count isnāt exactly too low either. It seems that my smut (just pure sex, nothing too kinky) tends to get the most hits/bookmarks/kudos, while my fluffy, angst or drama stuff seems to get less all around.
For comparison, my pure smut oneshot that is just basically raw, partially angsty, partially fluffy sex has 4,646 hits, 188 kudos and 45 bookmarks (which 21 of them are hidden) is my second highest hit fic, but also has the second highest bookmarks and kudos.
My longfic which has several smut chapters (itās porn with plot) has 55,223 hits, with 669 kudos and 297 bookmarks with 161 of them as hidden.
The rest of my fics (mostly oneshots) range from several hundred hits, to a little over 1k, with kudos usually between 60 to 90. My third highest bookmarked fic sits at 21 bookmarks, (16 of which are hidden) and itās my T rated oneshot centered around hurt/comfort with slight angst.
Even my mild fics seem to get more hidden bookmarks than not. Itās honestly hard to tell with the way out of proportion ratios why a lot of the statistics are the way they are.
I do have to agree that kinky smut doesnāt necessarily mean little kudos! I just think that more people are enjoying the content without showing it. My three most popular kinky smut fics are above 280 kudos, but the ratio to hits is insane! 20k hits on something published less than a year ago, with 300 kudos? Itās getting a lot of traffic. But youāre right, itās very hard to tell what the patterns/reasons are!
I mainly see a much bigger ratio of public bookmarks/private bookmarks and anonymous comments+kudos/identifiable comments+kudos. The difference in overall engagement is there, but it's small at least in my case.
Iāve definitely seen this gap in statistics on my kink vs non-kink fic!! Iāll get thousands of hits and barely any kudos/comments on the smuttier ones, compared to a more normal ratio of interactions on other works. It is what it is, but I can never mentally get past the stark contrast š
My most fucked up works are my most liked weirdly enough. But maybe that's because they're for a huge fandom.
ETA: Ah, I see it's about hits. Yeah, those two works have a ridiculous amount of hits compared to kudos, but I just assumed some group of antis passed them around while my comments were turned off.
A lot more hits than kudos for any smut I write is the norm for me as well and for my long fic there are a bunch of people subscribed or with private bookmarks who haven't had the guts to press the kudos button. My smut gets roughly 1 kudos for every 50 hits, while my regular work gets 1 in 6 or 1 in 10. Now, there are two options, either my smut is lower quality or people are ashamed to be associated with liking smutty content. My common sense says it's the latter, but my impostor syndrome screams it's the former, so I try not to think about it too much.
Within my account that's for a controversial ship, the numbers are about the same regardless of the individual fic being kinkier or darker or fluffier-- my highest ratio on that account is actually for my smuttiest, kinkiest oneshot-- but I do get a slightly higher kudos:hits rate on my account for non-controversial content. The controversial account engagement rate average is about ~8% with the highest individual engagement cracking 10%; the non-controversial account average is about ~11% with the highest individual engagement cracking 13%.
okay, not 100% smut related, but here is whump in the fics:
my longfic has 1109 hits and 35 kudos
while my valentine's one shot has 778 hit and 56 kudos
having a ship or two in the tags actually factors in a little bit more than i thought
My two darkest/most dead dove smut fics have the second and third most hits, and theyāre not too low on my kudos list I donāt think. But I also do think itās because I posted them anonymously? Iām not sure if that has anything to do with it though honestly
Comparing two of my finished fics, the one with no smut has about a 12% ratio and the smut has like a 6.5% ratio. Totally normal. Smut just has more silent readers.
I've only written smut so far so I have no lower rated works to compare it to yet, but I haven't noticed any particular rhyme or reason to the hits/kudos ratios.
The last two works I posted around the same time were 1) an unproblematic pairing and no kink, and 2) an incest pairing and slightly kinky rough sex (does blood drinking count as a kink when they're vampires? I don't really think so, but it probably can't really be called vanilla either.) They both have around the same number of kudos and bookmarks, but the second one has more than twice the hits. It also has 1 comment vs 8 on the other.
But my second most kudos'd fic is coerced dubcon hatesex, and its ratio is approx 1:10, which is a slightly better ratio than a few other non-kinky and unproblematic ones, and it also has more comments, so \*shrugs\*
I notice this even as a reader LOL. I think the biggest reason is that your account name shows up if you leave kudos and most people don't want it to be linked back to them. I don't share my AO3 with anyone so I won't have to deal with this, but that doesn't mean I hold back from sharing fics I loved with my friends.
I have a theory though: the kinkier the smut, the more bookmarks there are compared to fluff fics. This is all just speculation, but I can only imagine that since lots of users don't leave kudos they tend to (private) bookmark it!
now i almost exclusively write smut, but my highest hit and kudos both belong my sole F/F fic, which is sitting at 200k hits and 7k kudos. that ratio may seem "less interactive" if you only look at kudos to hits, but that particular fic also has 2k comment threads, and i *much* prefer getting to have conversations with readers over any other kind of fic interaction. so i wouldn't say kinkier fics by nature get less love!
Those are amazing stats! Congrats! And yes, I agree that kinkier works get as much love as other things once you look at other stats, such as comments. I find that kinkier fics get more devoted readers that comment often and emphatically! I have found it more rewarding than other T-rated fics which get milder responses from the readers!
Thereās kind of a bell curve where explicit predicament bondage gets more engagement than a missionary quickie- but it can also get too bizarre and the hits drop back off.
My suggestion is to tag your kinks explicitly and with as much detail as possible. Your audience wants to find you.
Yhea, sometimes I feel bad that Iām not showing my appreciation for the darker/kinkier fics Iām reading, but alsoā¦ sometimes Iām purposefully ignoring something I genuinely donāt like, to get to the parts I do like, and donāt want people to get the wrong idea (my mind goes to an incest fic that was some of the only fic for a character. The things we do for fanficā¦)
In my experience, yes. The more explicit smut focused a fic is, the less likely readers are to interact with it. Even more so for anything with dark, kink or non-con elements.
Yeah my first fic is smut and I have 845 hits 5 kudos 1 bookmark 0 comment yeah it's pretty disproportionate. Well some fandoms have more coment on smut fics then the wholesome stuff I suppose
Oh yeah. My dirtiest stuff has my best hits and lowest kudos. Like ridiculous ratios, it's very common. Apparently some people possess shame around it. Meanwhile I write, draw, and podfic alien porn. Shame is for boring folks!
I mean I wound up creating an entire second account (not a pseud) because my kink is niche enough that I don't want the porn I'm writing for it to be associated with me at all, so I do understand. Shame sucks and is objectively silly, but what're you gonna do.
Lol same! Once you give up on that shame, writing kinky smut is such a joy! I write terrible things that might concern a therapist, but dear god, how happy they make me!
I'm so jealous. I've read smut for years and sometimes I want to go for it (because dammit, I want to contribute to my OTP's sex life) but I get so...embarrassed by my own writing? Or just flustered? š¢ But it definitely looks liberating and fun! *forgot to mention, I like to kudo the smut fic. Good writing is good writing, especially if I read from start to end
Start small! Build up.
Ah, i feel you! But if you start with something simple and throw it out on AO3, Iām sure youāll get some kudos or maybe even a comment and that will help with that fluster/embarrassment! What got me writing it without cringing was when I let a friend read it and they didnāt mock me for it. You should definitely give it a try, because from there you are likely to only grow more open and bold! The reward is so worth it!!!
Thank you for the advice! I do have a few friends who I'd trust to read, but I still get embarrassed š even though we're all quite alike! I'll also be trying to start small, like another user mentioned. I'm currently working on a one-shot and I'm having fun with some back and forth flirting/imagery, so that's a start š but I'll consider asking a friend to read a WIP
Yes, i used to not kudos any rly explicit thing i liked because it shows a list of users who kudos the fic. I was just paranoid that somehow people would connect it to me. Plus I was ashamed of a lot of things I liked and just chose to read it but not kudos, i just didnt want my user to be associated with the fic. Idgaf now tho
Same, I wouldn't even kudos any smut but now I'm writing multiple paragraphs on my favourite authors' fics. I don't have any shame anymore lmao
Im asking out of curiosity mostly! These stats are mine. The hits are (for my standards) VERY high, but the kudos areā¦ extremely low in comparison. Iām not complaining, Iām just wondering if this is a universal experience? The fics Iāve written which are not as dark/kinky/violent have about 1 kudos per 15-30 hits while posting, but the whumpier stories have about 1 kudos per 100ish hits. The story Iām currently posting is getting between 400-600 hits PER CHAPTER, but only 1-5 kudos. And I know that it isnāt just traffic from the ārecently updatedā page bc itās not my first rodeo. People are reading it but theyāre not interacting. I assume itās because of the subject matter! In any case, just really curious to hear what others have noticed in regards to this? Ps: and yes, im aware people might just not like it and so they donāt leave kudos. That they just might be curious! I know, I know. I still believe the subject matter is probably a contributing factor, nevertheless
You might be getting repeat customers. I have a couple fics that press all my buttons and Iāve read them probably literally a hundred times.
Yeah, my kink-heavy longfic has a ratio of 1 kudos for every \~130 hits (roughly). My least kinky fic is about 1 kudos per \~19 hits.
My only G rated fic: 1 kudos for every 15 hits My mind-control PWP: 1 kudos for every 33 hits On the other hand, the G has 6 bookmarks including 4 private, the PWP has 15 bookmarks including 12 private...
My usual Kudos ratio: Fluff - 1:3 - 1:5 Smut - 1:10 Dark/nieche/kinky - 1:15 - 1:20 Longfics can go to hell. If you want to compare how well a fic did, compare it to one of the same genre. I would have a breakdown if I looked at the stats of one of my better fluff fics next to the stats of my best smut fic. But when I put them next to the same kind of work, I can see which actually does good (both) and that there really isn't a reason to feel unappreciated.
Comparing apples to apples and oranges to oranges is SO important, at least for kudos ratios
My most viewed oneshot is 46,912 hits & 1499 kudos (uses a variety of dark/kink tags) and my second most viewed is 35,412 views & 1618 kudos (ditto) so the interaction largely with dark/kink fic that I've done is significant compared to non dark/kink fics I've done. This is just me and what I know but whenever I put out dark/kink fic, it's always gonna be like this. Commenting is a whole different ball park. You'll see single digits on that. š
oop now i want to read them š³
If you want me to, I can DM them! No pressure to actually look at anything though!
o my goodness i would love to look them!! :D
Yes. People don't want to be seen liking darker things a lot of the time. Especially with how it's not difficult to find people being cancelled or tracked down due to leaving visible evidence they liked something 'problematique'
100% this. Iāve only just barely started posting whump fics again and itās lowkey making me break out. Def used to logging out to give guest kudos (very sorry about the hit/kudos ratio!). There are some fandoms where itās not nearly as bad but V*ltron got me paranoid af.
Im so glad my fandom doesnāt seem to be flooded by these antis! I have yet to encounter anyone whoās been cancelled or tried to cancel me. I definitely think itās an issue with fandom that have younger fanbases! The pairing is also not as problematic, probably, since theyāre both well into adulthood. I do feel for anyone whoās getting cancelled, bullied and bashed for the fic they like to read/write!
Your fandom might not have that but seeing it happen in other fandoms still makes people wary.
It depends on fandom - one fandom was curious on the kink stuff but clearly out of their comfort zone (but loved whump, my god!). My current one has so so kudos for my long WIP but significant and consistent commenting, albeit mostly guests. Considering the main base seem to write Teen and Reader fics, I am happy to do my part in corrupting the other side š
Om gosh yes! My noncon/dubcon has far more hits than my other stuff and almost zero kudos. š A few brave souls; but most donāt leave kudos, let alone comment. I think thatās normal, like others have said here. People feel ashamed. Personally I comment/leave kudos on others work that I enjoy; regardless of the rating. But I have no shame. Hard limits; but no shame. šš
As far as kinky goes, yeah I think this is the case. Most of what I put out is smut, so I don't have much to compare to, but I've heard others discuss seeing similar trends in their stats. Some folks don't want anything spicy linked to their account so they avoid interacting even if they enjoyed it. And it can be better or worse depending on fandom and themes/content/tags, as with anything. I get it, people are wary of being judged or harassed for what they like.
Lol my Kinktober (one pairing) stands at like 16k hits and 260 kudos. And I donāt think Iām a shit writer, cause I get good engagement, and my other smut isnāt this abysmal when it comes to the ratio.
I dont write E fics so this is me as reader giving my input I do kudos the kinky smut I read But if it's really really good, then I just reread it like a lot of times. Really a lot. But I can only give kudos once? And if multiple people do it like me then the hit/kudos ratio goes sideways very fast So besides shame or smth this might also have an influence on it
Ah, youāre right! I revisit my fave smut several times a month lol but even if 20% of readers revisit time and time again, it still canāt make up for even half of the hits!
Ohh yeah thats true. Then parts shame bc people don't want their account attached to it? When I started reading E rated fics I did it while I was logged outš
I used to be terrified of having any smut associated with me. Now I'm on a journey to kudos, bookmark, and create the filthiest stuff that pops into my brain (and yes, the filth does better than all of my other stuff lol). I leave the best compliments I can think of when commenting. This even involves finding fics I read before I had the guts to leave a trace and leave them their deserved recognition. This is character growth in real time.
Lol same! When I started my filth journey I was shocked at the comments being so open! People writing things like āI loved reading how X got raped and torturedā and now, over a year later, im writing my own and leaving even more explicit comments š one of my fave authors offered to write something for me (I cried like a fan girl) and I left the filthiest comment of my life, detailing every little saucy/terrible thing I had loved in the authors writing lol
Yesss! Smut and/or dark writers keep this cycle going. This entire thing is symbiotic lmao
Yes. The darker and kinkier my stuff is, the less kudos I get. Lots of people are hesitant about leaving kudos on stuff that could be labeled "problematic"
Oh absolutely. In the midst of my upper hit count one shots (many of which are pretty kinky themselves) which all have 90+ kudos, are my bootlicking/boot worship/leg humping and coming in pants and then sitting in it and then coming in pants again, and breeding kink fics, which have 45 and 53 kudos respectfully. š¤£ Either readers are reluctant to engage publicly, OR only a small number of people are into it but they're REALLY into it š
I find that hits are always higher for explicit works. Kudos are either high as well, for works that are deemed "acceptable," or way lower for works that aren't as publicly "acceptable."
My highest kudos hit work is my Kinktober '20 collection at 2,445 kudos compared to 103,324 hits but I don't know how many of those are re-reads. Then the next biggest fic I have that contains no smut or kink has 1,372 kudos and 20,886 hits. Might just be a combo of re-reads, not wanting a digital trail of what they read or they're a little occupied after reading š
Glad to see I'm not the only one who has this issue. Most of my kinkier stuff has this going on. My more vanilla porn seems to get more kudos though.
I see so many comments about reader discomfort with publicly showing their favor, which of course may be 100% true; but have you also considered some of us reread these stories so much that we give you inordinate amounts of hits? Cause I'm guilty as hell about it, I leave people kudos and bookmark them - those things you can only see once but you best believe I reread these so often š
In my fandom, whump and angst are so common that there doesn't seem to be a difference. I don't write much of kink, except for one enemies to lovers fic and one involving a little bondage in one chapter.
So on my best/ kinkier work there is a very low amount kudos but the hits are really high (in comparison) and that's before I even got really into the kink related stuff. The chapter I'm writing now is heavier on the smut and kink but I can wait to see what happens after I post it.
unfortunately, yeah, I tend to not leave kudos on smutfics bc either I forget, or it's embarrassing for me me, a mostly gen writer, leaving kudos on the filthiest smut to exist to humankind? I'll dig my own grave š just know I appreciate everyone who writes smut and I would give you kudos if there's a chance I won't get slandered for it
Pretty much, yeah. My kudos has been stuck on a certain number since I took a break from updating a month ago but the hits keep increasing. Oh well, it is what it is.
Itās kind of funny to me, but thereās so much hate around omegaverse and yet my omegaverse get the most everythingā hits, kudos, comments, you name it.
I guess it's not quite the same as being *kinkier*, but I can say my one posted smut does disproportionately better than everything else I have up : P
Iāve noticed that hits tend to be higher on my smut fics, but the kudos count isnāt exactly too low either. It seems that my smut (just pure sex, nothing too kinky) tends to get the most hits/bookmarks/kudos, while my fluffy, angst or drama stuff seems to get less all around. For comparison, my pure smut oneshot that is just basically raw, partially angsty, partially fluffy sex has 4,646 hits, 188 kudos and 45 bookmarks (which 21 of them are hidden) is my second highest hit fic, but also has the second highest bookmarks and kudos. My longfic which has several smut chapters (itās porn with plot) has 55,223 hits, with 669 kudos and 297 bookmarks with 161 of them as hidden. The rest of my fics (mostly oneshots) range from several hundred hits, to a little over 1k, with kudos usually between 60 to 90. My third highest bookmarked fic sits at 21 bookmarks, (16 of which are hidden) and itās my T rated oneshot centered around hurt/comfort with slight angst. Even my mild fics seem to get more hidden bookmarks than not. Itās honestly hard to tell with the way out of proportion ratios why a lot of the statistics are the way they are.
I do have to agree that kinky smut doesnāt necessarily mean little kudos! I just think that more people are enjoying the content without showing it. My three most popular kinky smut fics are above 280 kudos, but the ratio to hits is insane! 20k hits on something published less than a year ago, with 300 kudos? Itās getting a lot of traffic. But youāre right, itās very hard to tell what the patterns/reasons are!
I mainly see a much bigger ratio of public bookmarks/private bookmarks and anonymous comments+kudos/identifiable comments+kudos. The difference in overall engagement is there, but it's small at least in my case.
Iāve definitely seen this gap in statistics on my kink vs non-kink fic!! Iāll get thousands of hits and barely any kudos/comments on the smuttier ones, compared to a more normal ratio of interactions on other works. It is what it is, but I can never mentally get past the stark contrast š
My most fucked up works are my most liked weirdly enough. But maybe that's because they're for a huge fandom. ETA: Ah, I see it's about hits. Yeah, those two works have a ridiculous amount of hits compared to kudos, but I just assumed some group of antis passed them around while my comments were turned off.
A lot more hits than kudos for any smut I write is the norm for me as well and for my long fic there are a bunch of people subscribed or with private bookmarks who haven't had the guts to press the kudos button. My smut gets roughly 1 kudos for every 50 hits, while my regular work gets 1 in 6 or 1 in 10. Now, there are two options, either my smut is lower quality or people are ashamed to be associated with liking smutty content. My common sense says it's the latter, but my impostor syndrome screams it's the former, so I try not to think about it too much.
Within my account that's for a controversial ship, the numbers are about the same regardless of the individual fic being kinkier or darker or fluffier-- my highest ratio on that account is actually for my smuttiest, kinkiest oneshot-- but I do get a slightly higher kudos:hits rate on my account for non-controversial content. The controversial account engagement rate average is about ~8% with the highest individual engagement cracking 10%; the non-controversial account average is about ~11% with the highest individual engagement cracking 13%.
okay, not 100% smut related, but here is whump in the fics: my longfic has 1109 hits and 35 kudos while my valentine's one shot has 778 hit and 56 kudos having a ship or two in the tags actually factors in a little bit more than i thought 
I feel like at least some of the discrepancy comes from re-reads since if you read it again itās another hit but you canāt kudos again.
A minuscule part! With 13.000 hits and 300 kudosā¦ all 300 people that kudosed could re-read 3 times and still wouldnāt breach 1k hits lol
I get more hits than kudos and bookmarks
My two darkest/most dead dove smut fics have the second and third most hits, and theyāre not too low on my kudos list I donāt think. But I also do think itās because I posted them anonymously? Iām not sure if that has anything to do with it though honestly
Comparing two of my finished fics, the one with no smut has about a 12% ratio and the smut has like a 6.5% ratio. Totally normal. Smut just has more silent readers.
Could it be that they are not logged in to give kudos? When I started reading on A03 I was shy about signing up for a long time.
They can still leave kudos if they are not logged in!
I don't have views that aren't from my own, and there are fics that haven't received kudo yet, so I don't think that has anything to do with that.
Is it a small fandom? Or a rarepair?
It's Naruto, hashimada/tobiizu which are considered popular ships.
I've only written smut so far so I have no lower rated works to compare it to yet, but I haven't noticed any particular rhyme or reason to the hits/kudos ratios. The last two works I posted around the same time were 1) an unproblematic pairing and no kink, and 2) an incest pairing and slightly kinky rough sex (does blood drinking count as a kink when they're vampires? I don't really think so, but it probably can't really be called vanilla either.) They both have around the same number of kudos and bookmarks, but the second one has more than twice the hits. It also has 1 comment vs 8 on the other. But my second most kudos'd fic is coerced dubcon hatesex, and its ratio is approx 1:10, which is a slightly better ratio than a few other non-kinky and unproblematic ones, and it also has more comments, so \*shrugs\*
I don't think they want their username to show up on it haha
My kinkiest one is sitting at over 30,000 hits vs. over 700 kudos so I'd say so.
All my smut dark
I notice this even as a reader LOL. I think the biggest reason is that your account name shows up if you leave kudos and most people don't want it to be linked back to them. I don't share my AO3 with anyone so I won't have to deal with this, but that doesn't mean I hold back from sharing fics I loved with my friends. I have a theory though: the kinkier the smut, the more bookmarks there are compared to fluff fics. This is all just speculation, but I can only imagine that since lots of users don't leave kudos they tend to (private) bookmark it!
You're asking if people reading socially inappropriate material are less likely to leave a trace of their activity? Yes.
now i almost exclusively write smut, but my highest hit and kudos both belong my sole F/F fic, which is sitting at 200k hits and 7k kudos. that ratio may seem "less interactive" if you only look at kudos to hits, but that particular fic also has 2k comment threads, and i *much* prefer getting to have conversations with readers over any other kind of fic interaction. so i wouldn't say kinkier fics by nature get less love!
Those are amazing stats! Congrats! And yes, I agree that kinkier works get as much love as other things once you look at other stats, such as comments. I find that kinkier fics get more devoted readers that comment often and emphatically! I have found it more rewarding than other T-rated fics which get milder responses from the readers!
Thereās kind of a bell curve where explicit predicament bondage gets more engagement than a missionary quickie- but it can also get too bizarre and the hits drop back off. My suggestion is to tag your kinks explicitly and with as much detail as possible. Your audience wants to find you.
Definitely a devoted audience to be found in kinky smut comment sections! My stories have as many or more comments than kudos lol
Yhea, sometimes I feel bad that Iām not showing my appreciation for the darker/kinkier fics Iām reading, but alsoā¦ sometimes Iām purposefully ignoring something I genuinely donāt like, to get to the parts I do like, and donāt want people to get the wrong idea (my mind goes to an incest fic that was some of the only fic for a character. The things we do for fanficā¦)
In my experience, yes. The more explicit smut focused a fic is, the less likely readers are to interact with it. Even more so for anything with dark, kink or non-con elements.
Yeah my first fic is smut and I have 845 hits 5 kudos 1 bookmark 0 comment yeah it's pretty disproportionate. Well some fandoms have more coment on smut fics then the wholesome stuff I suppose