How many people read this stuff, anyway?

[emmagrant01]

I've often wondered how many people read my fic. I assume there's a proportional relationship between the general readership and the number of comments left for fics posted on LJ, but what's the proportion? Without a way of measuring the number of "hits" on an LJ post, it's hard to tell.

In addition to LJ and my web page, I also post selected fics on Skyehawke, which does measure hits, so I thought I'd look there for a point of reference. Now, I don't get a lot of reviews on Skyehawke, and I thought perhaps it was just me. I calculated the proportion of reviews left to the number of hits (on fics that were actually reviewed; I didn't count the ones that weren't reviewed by anyone), and found that the review rate was a fairly dismal 0.5%! Yes, less than 1% of people who read my fics on Skyehawke leave a review! I'm sure a certain percentage start to read and then get bored, but I'd like to think that a fairly large number of those who read actually finish.

I wondered if it was just me, so I looked at the Skyehawke pages of a few other HP writers (selected at random from the author directory from the names I was familiar with). Here's what I found:
geoviki, whose fic A Thousand Beautiful Things seems to be one of the most widely read on Skyehawke, has a review rate of 0.4%.
dorrie6 has a review rate of 0.8%.
abbycadabra has a review rate of 0.5%.
amanuensis1 has a review rate of 0.6%.
ivyblossom has a review rate of 0.6%.

At this point, I had to stop looking up authors, because I'm doing this on my lunch break and it's taking up lots of time. But all of those numbers are pretty consistent, at around 0.6%. I was also surprised at the sheer number of fics on these authors' pages with no reviews left, yet with lots of hits. (I didn't count those in the review rate, btw.) Many of these authors post on LJ, on their own pages, and in multiple archives, so maybe their reader base tends to review elsewhere. At any rate, I feel a little better, as I seem to be close to the (non-statistically sound) average.

But my question is this: Is this review rate of 0.6% fairly representative of Skyehawke, and is it representative of review rates in general? So if there are 30 comments left on an LJ story, would it make sense for me to use that rate -- or, to make the arithmetic easier, round it to 1% -- to get an estimate of 3000 as the number of people who actually read my fic? That seems really high, but it's possible that readers really are that uninclined to review.

Thoughts? Other review rates to add to the list?

Disclaimer: I know that what I've done here is very, very far from being statistically sound, and I have no interest in designing an experiment that would be. Sorry! :-P

Damn slow LJ!!!

Comments

[libel.livejournal.com]

Don't know if this helps.

Until recently I didn't realize that I could post a review on skyehawke. I though I had to have an account. I use to just lurk on LJ's to see when people updated fics that I followed. I just recently got in this whole LJ thing and started using it as a commication tool rather than a glorified mailing list. So yes, I do read you wonderful fics!!

LJ is being rather slow.

[emmagrant01.livejournal.com]

And that's why i was wondering if that number was representative of LJ as well. I am guessing that people are more inclined to review on LJ, perhaps because they know the authors will be likely to respond, or perhaps just because we're used to commenting on each other's LJ posts. It's true that some archives make it a bit difficult to review (in the interest of cuttiing down on flamers).

[thalia]

I have absolutely no evidence to back this up, but I do think that the comment rate is probably higher on LJ than in other places. Also, I think people who do review are likely to do it where they first read the story--so if they read LMH on your LJ, for instance, then they went to re-read it at Skyehawke, they'd have been more likely to leave a comment on your LJ.

That's probably no help at all, and it's completely my opinion, but I thought I'd toss it out.

[emmagrant01.livejournal.com]

Yeah, it seems easier here to leave comments, and there is a "pro-reviewing" culture on LJ. People seem less inclined to lurk than they do on mailing lists, IMO. I wonder what the actual rate is, though? I suppose one could put a counter on an individual fic post to find out, huh?

As A Prolific Reader

[sabrinagb.livejournal.com]

I tend to read a LOT of fic on a daily basis - close to 4 fics per night depending on size. I am an extremely fast reader and try to devour as much as I can in any one sitting. I read most of my fic through lj and the m_a mailing list. However, there are times that I will bookmark a link someone has sent out and then read it from a website. Or, mostly recently, I have been taking suggestions from people's recs. You, alone, have gotten me into quite the variety of HP fics (I never would have thought that I would read in that fandom, but your writing and recs are always great).

I prefer reading from lj and mailing lists precisely because those allow me an "easy" out as far as commenting. I do not have to pulkl up an address (often I find them out of date) to let someone know what I think. There are also times when I truly do mean to let someone know that I enjoyed their story, but get caught up in another one and forget to go back.

- Side Note: I sometimes feel awkward sending people "good job" comments because I feel as though I should be more specific or even more analytical about it all. As a non-writer in these realms, I often feel as though I would be over-stepping the boundaries.

Re: As A Prolific Reader

[emmagrant01.livejournal.com]

Oooh, have I been a bad influence? ;-)

I suspect the rate is a little higher on LJ than elsewhere because of ease of commenting, but I wonder if it's true?

Do you really feel that leaving a "great fic!" comment would insult a writer? I'd be pleased as punch, personally! :-P

[mrshamill.livejournal.com]

I have no clue about actual review rates, but speaking as a writer, I get about the same amount of comment on LJ as I do on-list. I believe that it's probably about an eight or ten to one rate -- out of eight or ten people reading, one will actually send feedback. I might be wrong on that too, I really just pulled it out of my hat from sitting and thinking about it hard.

I try to send feedback on every story I enjoy, though I almost hate doing that, because what usually comes out is, 'good job!'. But, as Emila-Wan once said (I think it was her), some feedback is better than no feedback. But when I've got a backlog of stories to read against a backlog of stories to write, guess which is going to be sacrificed?

We're all feedback whores, the lot of us, it's kinda like asking a guy if he masturbates. We may not acknowledge it openly, but it surely feels good when we get it!

[emmagrant01.livejournal.com]

10% seems reasonable, but I wonder if we'll ever really know? How'd you come up with that number, anyway?

And yes, reading feedback is a bit like mental masturbation, huh? ;-)

[ms-mindfunk.livejournal.com]

I think LJ is probably a little high due to the community aspect. Friends tend to go out of their way to review another friend's work, y'know? Especially in such a simple format. I know I do a lot more reviews on LJ than anywhere else.

At the same time, I don't know that 3000 is that far off the mark for certain works. Recently a story was pulled from fanfiction.net, so the author created a Yahoo group to keep in touch with readers and let them know where she'd be reposting the story. The author is not famous in the fandom and the story is not one of the classic titles we see mentioned repeatedly on rec list after rec list. However, within 24 hours there were over 1000 members in her group. In a month there were over 2300 members. Now, maybe every single person who ever read her fic has joined the group, but that's unlikely. I'd think the percentage of group members to readers is probably fairly high, at least 60%, but I doubt it's near 100%. That means that this one fic has a probable reader base of 3000 or more, and I'd bet that there are at least a handful of other fics by "no name" authors that also have several thousand readers. With the better known authors and stories, it's probably more.

[(Anonymous)]

This would be A Year Like No Other, yes? On skyehawke now? I <3 it!! And i have not joined the yahoo group.

[spellingwitch.livejournal.com]

I think most of these comments are sound. I'm definitely more likely to comment on LJ or a blog that says "comments" like LJ does. I admit I don't always leave feedback on sites like FanFiction.net or FictionAlley. I also sometimes either print out or download a story to read on the train, and by the time I get home I don't remember to log on and comment. Sometimes I don't comment, but remember the story, and later go back to it and read it again, and if it becomes a favorite, then I'll definitely take the time to send a comment. Or if I want to ask the writer if they'll write anything more.

I wouldn't take it personally if you don't get a lot of feedback. I also don't know if you can extrapolate 30 comments to 3000 readers...but it could be 3000 visitors, easy.

[emmagrant01.livejournal.com]

You know, I didn't comment a lot when I first became involved in the HP fandom. My other fandom was small and fairly tightly knit, and I felt like I was commenting to friends. HP seemed so big and impersonal, and there are so many archives everywhere! It wasn't until I started getting to know people on LJ that I began commenting at the same rate in this fandom. I tend to leave a comment on almost everything I read on LJ, even if it's just a "I read this and it was great". I leave longer comments when I have time. Off of LJ, I only do it if it's easy, like on Skyehawke.

I don't take lack of feedback personally, but I have to say I love getting it and always wish people would tell me what they thought! It's hard not to interpret lack of feedback as "no one is reading this".

[wordplay.livejournal.com]

FWIW, I consider Skyehawke to be well-known for being a place that everybody loves to archive and nobody ever reviews. I'm sure there are interesting whys and wherefores associated with that (like the person who posted who said that she hadn't realized she COULD review at Skyehawke) but it's definitely a Skyehawke issue. I often wonder how much of that has to do with their star rating systems - maybe people just do that instead of actual feedback?

I suck at reviewing - my reviews are usually just of the SQUEEEE!!!! variety. I mean, I can offer good concrit for betaing, but most people don't really want that when they present something as finished, so I never know what to say other than "yay, you". Which is banal, obviously, so I don't review often. Yes, I suck.

[emmagrant01.livejournal.com]

I consider Skyehawke to be well-known for being a place that everybody loves to archive and nobody ever reviews.

*grins* that certainly semms to be the consensus here! And yeah, the star rating system is nice, though it would be cool to know how many people did that, too. I know, I'm so demanding! :-P

On another topic, are you still thinking of coming to Austin next weekend? If so, drop me an email (emmagrant01 at gmail dot com). :-D

[dorrie6.livejournal.com]

I don't have any way of knowing how many people read my fic on LJ, but I *do* know that I get far more reviews that way than anywhere else I have my fic archived, including my own site, despite the fact that there are easy-to-use review boards there (as well as on skyehawke and FA). I'd say FA comes in second. I don't know if it is just that most people who click on my fic in other places have already read it on LJ, or if people just don't review much off LJ.

[geoviki.livejournal.com]

Okay, I believe in the awesome and terrific power of statistics. So I've concluded from Emma's research that something is amiss - I mean, you are cruising at a whopping 0.8% rate while I'm lingering at a paltry 0.4%. And the norm is 0.6%, so do you see what I'm driving at here?

You are stealing my comments!!!! Give them back!!!!

If you do not take my threat seriously, I will write nothing but Dudley/Filch until you do. You have been warned!

[phaballa.livejournal.com]

I honestly think people on LJ are a lot better about leaving reviews than people elsewhere. For example. I've gotten almost as many reviews from smut fics of less than ten pages posted on LJ than I have on all 13 chapters of my novel length fic posted at Schnoogle combined. The Sugarquill has a really good review rate too. I think it partly depends on the community--the larger the place, the less likely people will review. Maybe it's because on LJ and SugarQuill, it's a much more tight-knit community and everyone sort of knows everyone else. Or at least of them.

[emmagrant01.livejournal.com]

Oh, that's a whole 'nother issue: the amount of fic left for short vs. long fics! I've heard lots of people say they get much more feedback for short fics than for novel-length ones.

LJ is definitely a more tightly-knit community than are most mailing lists, though, so I think you're right that people are more inclined to review in this context.

[licoricegirl.livejournal.com]

I know that I bookmark my favorite stories, and go back and reread them often. I'm assuming i'm not the only person who does this. Sites that keep track of the number of hits will count me and others rereading as a hit, yes? I doubt many people review a reread. Just a thought. I know personally, I like to review on LJ because it gives the opportunity for a dialogue, whereas skyehawke and other places it's not readily available to respond to your reviews.

[emmagrant01.livejournal.com]

Ah, right. So if it took me a week to read ATBT, each time I opened it was recorded as a hit, huh? Good point.

And I agree with your point about dialogue between readers and writers!

[ixchelmala.livejournal.com]

I'm sure a certain percentage start to read and then get bored

Ha! Right.

Are you insane? Dude, your universe, aside from the slash, is the main draw and what I sell your fic to others on. And even the theorists I talk to online outside of the fic part of fandom, are so in love with your fic. And others that you mentioned.

I'm not sure what to tell you, it's hard to tell unless you have your own server where you can see the stats of what the traffic is like.

As for the last two on your list, I know that amanuensis1 has some great stuff that is followed pretty closely and as for Ivy, even though she's not in fandom as she was a few years ago, there was a great outcry for her stuff to come back when the domain her stuff was on originally went dead.

but to the leaving of reviews, I find most people are lurking and don't feel up to par to leave a review that isn't monosyllable in nature. To leave something that is worthy of what they just read, means in a way that they have to de-construct the world you've just assembled for them and some people may not want to do that, and instead just re-read it or, rec it to others as much as they can.

Does that make any sense?

[emmagrant01.livejournal.com]

Thanks for your LMH comments, first of all -- I really have no idea how many people have read LMH, so it's nice to hear good things about it!

I know what you mean about leaving little one-line reviews. But I can tell you that most writers really do appreciate even that sort of feedback! Otherwise, you don't really know that people are reading your fic!

[wivern.livejournal.com]

For me, I tend to comment on fic more often on a mailing list, especially if it's a list I'm fairly active on and/or feel 'attached' to.

On LJ I probably comment less (for fic and general posts)because it's 'public', sometimes it seems silly to say what lots of others have already said, or to add a comment that doesn't seem very coherent or important.

[emmagrant01.livejournal.com]

That's interesting! Most people so far have responded the opposite -- that they tend to comment more on LJ than anywhere else.

[serasarahhhh.livejournal.com]

I think it's just Skyehawke in general that doesn't get a lot of reviews for some reason. And I've never really understood why, especially since a lot of better quality HP fics are posted there rather than, say, Fanfiction.net. Though more people definitely review at FF.net. Look at aspenlight for example. When she had her story, A Year Like None Other, on FF.net, it had over 4000 reviews. Granted, there were about 58 chapters, but she posted a new chapter each week. When they removed her fic (for absolutely no reason, I have to add), she got an account at Skyhawke, and I think most of her readers followed her over there. So now she has 18428 hits and a whopping 538 reviews, which is still only about 3%. But again, I think those are from her FF.net readers, and for some reason people over there just seem to review a lot more, though since there's no hit measurer there's no way of knowing how many people aren't reviewing.

Pimping my own work, heh, one of my fics at FF.net has 279 reviews for 5 chapters, and the same one at Skyehawke only has 4 reviews with only 295 hits, though it hasn't been up there near as long. On livejournal (maxine_chan), I usually get about 30 to 35 comments per chapter. So it really all depends. Most of the Skyehawke users have livejournal accounts, I think, so they probably get more comments there, and FF.net is more well known and has been around longer, so it definitely has more users. As for how many readers you actually have...well, if you can find someone who has a paid account on FF.net (because then they get the hit counter) and a Skyehawke account and a livejournal, and then try to compare all three, maybe you'll get a better idea. But good luck with that! ^.~

Oh, and you probably have to keep in mind that many of the hits and reviews are from the same people, so if you wanted to be realistic, you'd have to like, divide everything by the number of chapters and stuff like that... ^^;;

[emmagrant01.livejournal.com]

FFN seems to be a place where people review a lot! Too bad they don't accept pr0n... But it's so huge that it's really difficult to find good stuff there.

Good point about multiple hits for multi-chaptered fics. Damn, that makes my hit number for LMH that much lower!

[kupukello.livejournal.com]

So many people have already said this so I'm just going to join the chorus. I am a bad reviewer, I hardly ever leave a comment even if I loved the story. Bad me, but does it really make a difference if a run-of-the-mill reader leaves a "SQUEEEE! I loved it! Write more!" review? Do you appreciate all (positive) reviews or just the detailed ones?

I'd watch the hit rates on the later chapters, if someone didn't like the fic, that someone would have stopped reading after a couple of chapters, wouldn't she?

[licoricegirl.livejournal.com]

The problem with that, is many people who dislike the story also do not review. So even an 'OMG LOVE!' lets authors know that people are liking their fic.

And your icon is ADORABLE.

[ashe-frost.livejournal.com]

I'm all for the "LJ gets more play" theory. Livejournal just makes everything easier. You comment on the stories you like and people start recognising who you are and knowing that they've seen your name before.. More people read fic on LJ so more people recognise you, and it's less anonymous that way.

I think ficlets are inclined to get more reviews than WIP on astronomytower/schnoogle/thedarkarts. I have a ficlet that's had around 250 hits and 51 reviews. I have a friend who has WIP that's been going around for over a year. She has over 1000 hits to every chapter, and has a Y!group with over 600 people in it that is focused around the fic. She's lucky to get seven or eight reviews per chapter. That's the phenomenon I'd like to explore.

[emmagrant01.livejournal.com]

There's definitely a sense of community on LJ. There's a small set of people who comment on everything I write, and I try really hard to read and comment on their fic in return.

And yes, the ficlet vs. novel-length issue... What's up with that?

[obi-ki.livejournal.com]

qurinas and I have discussed this very topic quite often. He was making the same comment about the HP femslash lists that he posts to--tons of hits but very few or no reviews.

I think that sadly your calculations are relatvely accurate and that feedback cannot be used an any indication of how many people are reading a story.

Feedback seems to be sporadic and there seems to be no rhyme or reason to why something gets a lot while other stories get very little or none. Not sure if it's because my fandom is not very heavily into LJ, but I've gotten even less feedback when I've posted on LJ than on list.

[emmagrant01.livejournal.com]

So he thinks femmeslash fics get less feedback than traditional slash? Wow, I wonder why?

The MA folks tend not to be so active on LJ, it seems. Either that or people will send their feedback to the list or directly to the author instead of leaving it on LJ.

[corinnethewise.livejournal.com]

I know I review a lot more on LJ than anywhere else (except FF.net when I still read stuff there). FA's review boards always kind of confused me and then they wouldn't let me sign in and it required a lot of effort to not say anything of substance at all. Most places that I review fic give the author's email address to review the fic. I rarely review that way because if I click on the link it opens Outlook express which I don't use, so I have to open a separate window, open yahoo mail, copy and paste the address and then I've fogotten what I wanted to say anyway.

[emmagrant01.livejournal.com]

It's definitely important to make it easy for people to review! On my personal archive, I have my email listed and I also have links to a journal that I use exclusively for collectign comments. Each fic has its own post, and that seems to wok pretty well.

[burningchaos.livejournal.com]

I tend to read at lj the most and I almost always leave a comment. As a writer myself(newbie to hp) I enjoy all the fb I can get, even if it is just a simple "I loved this." So I do unto others as I wish ect.. I read at skehawke and others but not as often and I have to admit(hangs head) I don't fb there very often if at all. I just like lj better, it feels like home.

[emmagrant01.livejournal.com]

Leaving feedback on LJ is so much more interactive, and that's what I think is appealing about it. Sending an email or posting a comment is less likely to generate a reply, you know? It feels more personal, I think.

[aidenfire]

I've noticed that too. No one seems to review on skyehawke at all. I must admit, I sometimes fall into that trap as well. I don't know why. It just doesn't seem to be a place for reviewing, or something. I've no logical reason for you. But, I do read a lot of fics on LJ and other places, and review there, and then just go look at them again at skyehawke if I really really like them. Meh. I don't know. Maybe I'm just weird

[emmagrant01.livejournal.com]

Maybe no one reviews at Skyehawke because... no one else does? :-P It sure seems that way, anyway!

[sciencegeek.livejournal.com]

I tend to not review things unless they (as corny as it is) really touch me, and/or if I find them really exceptional. I also don't review until the fic is finished.

That being said, I tend not to review. I'm not really sure what to say. Is a "I really enjoyed reading this" sufficient, or is something more wanted? Also, I want it to look like I actually put effort into the review, instead of a quick one line, but I don't really know what to say after "I really enjoyed this fic, and really like your writing style" or whatever.

I have found I comment more in LJ, than any other posting...place. I think, partly, because I feel like I know the writer better, as it's not just the fic that's posted, usually, but also RL events. The fact that I'm able to see a bit of their personality gives me an idea of if I have con-crit how it will be taken.

Being a non-writer, I'm not sure how con-crit would be taken - it's not like I can write, and if I did, I'm not sure I'd have the guts to post it - you (being the authors) are a lot braver than I am, so who am I to critise their work? For somethings, I think it's personal taste, as well. What I think is OOC, may not be to the author.

I think part of it is that I don't want my comment to be taken personally, and I don't want to offend anyone. Just because I don't like it, or some aspects of it, doesn't mean other people won't, and it doesn't mean I think the author is a terrible writer, just because I don't like the fic. For me, I'm not sure what they author considers a flame, and what they don't. Is it the basic objection to the fic, just because of the pairing, because it contains, OOC, is AU, etc, or would some authors consider "I find that, for me, that the plot is a bit disjointed, and/or *insert character here* is a bit AU" a flame? Again, it comes down to personal taste, I suppose, and ties in a bit in feeling like I know the author or not.

I think I've rambled enough. Does any of this make sense?

Lauren

[geoviki.livejournal.com]

As a writer, I think what you say makes sense. Still, I think even a one-line note will always be welcome. Plus, if you are interested in participating at all in any fandom, it gets your name out there in front of someone else who enjoys the same characters - and that can lead to great connections and friendships.

As far as con-crit, I must admit I do want to know a bit of history of the person offering it. I've been thrilled at serious concrit from writers I already admire, but I would be a bit more unsettled if it comes from a complete stranger. I want to know how the reviewer approaches the issue - their street cred, as it were. I suppose it's the difference between having a medical doctor tell you there's something wrong with your child and having someone in the shopping mall do the same thing.

[ishafel.livejournal.com]

I've found that stuff posted at skyehawke--and not just HP stuff either--gets no feedback whatsoever. Seriously, I'd be thrilled with .6 %. I'm not sure why this is, either. I don't get a huge number of LJ reviews, but my friendslist is very small. Anything I posted on Fiction Alley--which also does hit counts-- got 15% feedback and even on silverlake, which requires you to privately email the author, I got more response. I really like skyehawke, and I don't see where the review system is hard to use, so it is frustrating. The mods posted this on their archive page a couple of days ago, btw: "We commence 2005 with some 800 authors and in excess of 5300 stories. This averages out to 6.6 stories per author. We also have 8260+ reviews in total, which translates to 1.6 reviews per story."

[emmagrant01.livejournal.com]

I wonder what the deal is, then? You're right: it isn't difficult to review there. *scratches head*

[maeglinyedi.livejournal.com]

Skyehawke is rather notorious for generating so few reviews, so I'm not sure if that percentage is representative of review rates in general.

Last year, I did a comparison of about five of my fics. They all generated a lot more comments on my lj than on any of the major archives out there (Skyehawke, ISF, RS). It think it was something like for every ten comments on lj I only received one comment on an archive.

For some reason, people find it easier to review on lj. Perhaps it's the intimacy (you usually know people a bit more than just the stories you read from them), or perhaps it's just because the comment feature on lj is easy to use. (then again, most review options on archives aren't that difficult either).

[sciencegeek.livejournal.com]

For some reason, people find it easier to review on lj. Perhaps it's the intimacy (you usually know people a bit more than just the stories you read from them), or perhaps it's just because the comment feature on lj is easy to use. (then again, most review options on archives aren't that difficult either).

I think that's part of it, but I think also the fact that the author replies to the comments in LJ helps. It's nice to know that the author cares about the fact that you give input on their story (that might just be me, though). I'll be honest and say I'm not sure if it can be done at archive sites as I don't frequent that many, but I don't think it can be done at the ones I do use.

My Revelation

[alia-eternal.livejournal.com]

Hmmm, personally I always try and review whenever I read a fic whether I like it or not. Thinks I as I read your post.

Then, shock horror!, it occurs to me that I cant remember if I ever reviewed LMH.

See, I had a summer-long baby sitting gig. And so, in anticipation of sitting around all summer watching a perfectly capable 12 year old, I copy pasted in swathes all of LMH onto my lap top and contentedly read it on the job. Well, not On The Job…. That would be rather strange.

But because I was not reading it online I had no access to a reviewing medium and I think I may have forgotten.

So let me take a quick moment here to declare; I LOVED beyond all measure of man, beast, light, sound and verging into the quantum, your wonderful fic. The end had me screaming out loud; “No Way!” and scaring small children in the process.

I eagerly await the much sought after sequel and am desperately looking for the time to read the rewrite.

Re: My Revelation

[littleroo27.livejournal.com]

I did this at work all the time. Not allowed to be on the net except on breaks? No problem!!! that's what copy and paste into word is for!!! We have a program that required time to rate and save everything we do, so I'd read a paragraph every time I had to save a document. You can get through a 100 page story on a good day!

[geoviki.livejournal.com]

I think you've hit the issue squarely. I wish the rate was higher than 0.6%, and for some of my other stories, it's worse than that - 1 review total. Statistically, when I posted Waters of March on FA, I got many more comments than when I later posted it on Skyehawke; however, they were predominently of the "squee, I wanna have your babies, sequel?" genre. The Skyehawke comments are far more thoughtful and lengthy.

Readers don't know what they're missing, 'cause I answer each and every comment I get!

Still, I'll keep posting at Skyehawke (I mean, I can't imagine trying to poste 100K words on my LJ at one go!) Plus the admin of Skyehawke are delightfully responsive to problems. Also, you know, Australia! Cool accents and kangaroos and shrimps on the barbie and stuff!

[emmagrant01.livejournal.com]

I think my most meaningful comments have been via private email. There have been quite a few on LJ too. I honestly haven't gotten enough comments on Skyehawke to constitute a sample! :-P

[littleroo27.livejournal.com]

I'm guessing that's fairly accurate. I don't actually read stories at that website, but I read them at several other major sites. As someone else mentioned, reviewing on LJ can be hard when the site is slow, but I tend to only review sporadically and on stories that make me go "huh." A lot of times I finish reading and go "that was a fabulous story!" but I can't think of anything profound to write in a review and feel stupid saying "wow, that fic rocked!" so I don't say anything at all. Time constraints can also get in the way of reviewing. As you said, you were doing your research at work. Well, before I made my New Years resolution, I did a great deal of fic reading at work and wouldn't take the time to review because there is only so much you can get through in 60 minutes!!! Plus, there is only so much time between getting home and going to bed. Sometimes I make the most of my reading and save my reviewing for the weekends :)

[emmagrant01.livejournal.com]

I guess one of the nice things about LJ is that you can fire something quick off, and then say more later if you want. Posting a comment on a discussion board or sending an email is a bit more daunting!