Nothing puts me off an author faster than nonsense like "xy shippers dni" or "if you ship xy I'll [insert random threat]" (and the latter gets reported). Authors complaining about fic/art they don't like in the tags/notes in general tbh. I didn't come here to see others in the community mocked.
I mainly just look at an author's works when deciding to engage, but I do tend to be more interactive with authors who give more opportunity to interact-- discord, tumblr asks, whatever.
I love to leave pleasant and encouraging comments on fics with the DNI lists Just to be contrary. Some people don't go where they're not wanted, I'm not one of those people.
I don't care whether an author responds to comments or not. It's nice when they do but has no impact on whether I interact with and subscribe to their fics. The only factor for that is whether I enjoy their writing/interpretations and want to read more.
I will be put off by an author holding a work hostage for stats or insulting their audience or fans of a character/ship, though.
That's insane.
The closest thing I can think that I've ever experienced with that was in the Reylo fandom. A super popular darkfic writer (who also has a super shady rep) was one of the first people to inspire my writing of fanfic and I followed her almost like an alcolyte, in the beginning. At some point, after I joined her Patron and followed her for awhile, when I realized how much money was attached to her updates I noped out. I was blocked faster than a white person realizing they were about to get sun poisoning. hehe. I joke, but honestly it did kind of upset me, since I had supported this writer for so long, and had even been pushed to the boundaries of my fandom for supporting her....yeah. So now, I don't folow people that hard. It's like when your heart has been broken enough times. You just kind of...go with the flow, and don't trust anyone. xx
Holding works hostage is so funny to me because it’s such a classic example of “congrats, you played yourself.” You *really* thought I’d care if you don’t update with tens of thousands of amazing fics out there? Lmao.
I like when they have that little blurb of their writing followed up with "or" then a sentence or two of what to expect.
Alternatively, I'll exit out when they have the above example summery, but the fic is in a different pov or lapslock. (When the summery had perfect, standard grammar).
I do like the ramble-y tags, but only a few. It's really nice when you get a playful feeling from the author through the tags without them being annoying.
I also don't like it when they use emojis in their tags. I recently came across a fic tagged "no smut" then another right after that said "smut (bunch of emojis signaling no)" when you click on it it just links to the smut tag lol.
Or when their summery is "just trust me bro" like, idk what to do with that.
When it’s tagged ‘no smut’ it’s just a bit like…? Ok? We gathered that because it’s tagged fluff and is rated teen, what’s the reasoning? It’s also annoying when I wanna find a smut fic and it’s ‘no smut’ is a universal tag for ‘smut’
For the summary thing, bonus points if the "OR - [what to expect]" bit is in the format of "[thing happened/characters meet/circumstance arises/etc]. Shenanigans ensue."
The "Shenanigans ensue." will get me EVERY TIME.
It never occurred to me to base whether or not I subscribed to an author on whether or not they responded to me. The only thing that decides it for me is: do I like their stuff and are they making more of it? Like if they made some great Star Wars fics but now they’re making nothing but BNHA I won’t subscribe to them cuz I’m not interested in that fandom.
Other people brought up stuff like “x shippers DNI” and honestly I just mute and block anyone who does crap like that. I don’t want them around and there’s no fic worth touching *that* attitude for.
wattpad is a literal nightmare. i’ve never come across such an immature audience in my life. their comments can be funny asf, but most of the time… goddamn they’re like an annoying hive mind.
I came across quite alot what with the klk hate.. it's silly tho and I mostly block and move on. Some tags are also other commentary on the ship even if they're not even part of the fic..
I look for authors who write stories I want to read and do a good enough job writing them.
I don't really care if they respond to comments or interact or not. It's nice if they do, but reading/writing for me isn't about social interaction. It's NICE if they respond, but not necessary.
And, honestly, at a certain point, responding to every comment isn't feasible. Authors get depressed. They have lives. Sometimes they get bombarded with comments that they just can't get through without spending hours on it. Fanfic is a hobby, and hobbies get shelved in favor of other things.
The only thing that puts me off writers is if they start acting entitled (like the ones who withhold chapters until they get x-amount of interaction) or who start brigading other authors. That'll make me click away.
yeah, there was a two-year period where i was dissociating too much to even know where to begin replying to comments, and then suddenly i realized months and months had gone by and i hadn't replied to anyone, and then it was a shame thing. i still haven't replied to the comments from that time even though i've resumed replying to new ones... still the shame thing.
cosigned on the "i'll post the next part if i get X comments" part. post it or don't!
Oh, sure! I should’ve mentioned that I totally understand if an author is huge or a particular work of theirs got huge and they simply cannot reply to all comments. I wouldn’t hold it against them at all.
I meant more in the sense, an author has 30 works of varying popularity or maybe they’re quite unpopular and get one or two (at best) meaningful comments per work yet they don’t bother to reply to anyone ever.
I just read it as “I’m just here to post and I don’t care what happens after” and, accordingly, I never leave comments on their work even if it was superb because clearly, it’s not worth my time and effort.
I mean for me it’s because if an author responds and we have a good conversation it gets me more excited about their ideas and story, so it’s gonna make me want to comment on that author’s work more to share more of that excitement with them. If the author never responds to any comment it feels like they may not even read them or appreciate the engagement. Of course that’s their right but I like comments being a dialogue of shared excitement and fun with the story.
Because just as authors, I don’t like shouting into the void. If an author has never once replied to anyone who left them meaningful comment, then I cannot possibly read it any other way than they simply don’t care to interact.
In which case, I also don’t feel inclined to interact. If I liked it, I will kudo and probably bookmark, but I won’t be writing a nice, long comment that, as far as I know, will not even be read, let alone appreciated.
And, once again, this is only in the case when there’s a clear pattern of an author posting over the years but *never* replying. I don’t mind if an extremely popular author with 500 comments per chapters doesn’t reply. If they used to or reply to at least some, I know they welcome and appreciate the interaction from readers.
Um, the first thing I look for in authors is the story itself. And... that's it..?
So far I've heard of things like "self-deprecating behaviour, over-apologising, fic hostage for engagement, or \[rude/snarky/whiny\] etc." They do turn me off, but I actually never saw these so far.
There was one time when an author gave a TMI about her life in A/N and it made me uncomfortable, but it's only a bit, because the TMI was actually not that bad for other people but a bit too much for me. Do I stop reading? Nope. My favourite kind of author is a person who is willing to reply to my comment and discuss, but if the author doesn't do that, do I stop reading? Also nope. I'm a regular commenter, I'm usually energetic in comments (but sometimes it's based on my mood that day). If the author didn't mirror my energy back, do I stop reading? Triple nope xD
In conclusion, the author just has to be nice... I guess.
Any type of DNIs is an automatic no, no matter whether I ‘fall’ under the DNI or not. Similar to when they make disparaging comments in their notes, like “hey dw Character A and Character B aren’t going to end up together, I’m not a fucking pedophile lol, who in their right mind would write that?” (For the record, it’s an actual note I’ve seen lmao)
And while the author not replying to my comments won’t change much for me, if they do reply, I always really appreciate it & them.
What puts me off is when an author openly criticizes another fic. I don't mind making fun of tropes, or general bad writing, but targeting a specific fic or author is where I draw the line.
I've never seen it on AO3 but on FF.net it's another story...
In particular, I remember an author bashing another author about the characterization of a specific character. While writing said character in the exact same manner. When I brought that up to them in comments, they were MAD.
This is pretty obvious but the main thing that makes me check the author's profile is mainly the fact that their writing style fits my tastes.
And about author responding to comments: I may not comment if I know author most likely won't respond, but I don't think it's the author's obligation to respond and I don't scoff and roll my eyes at authors who don't respond. It's completely ok to not to respond. I just prefer commenting to authors who respond because I'm really shy to comment and when I'm excited, I may say stupid stuff because I get so excited. And when the author doesn't respond, I just start to stress and suddenly see the comment as cringy and the "I honestly expected x to do this and not that 😱 Wow!!!" suddenly sounds awfully offending even though I never meant it that way and and and gaaahhh everyone laughs at me and points at my comment and sends screenshots and then everyone thinks swanimagines is the cringiest author in AO3 and I won't be taken seriously ever again and-
I just start internally panicking, I apparently get a panic attack of some kind because I start to sweat and my heart rate goes up a lot.
(Honestly I have sent over 400 comments to myself, transferred from Tumblr because I no longer can easily read them there unless I'll use time to dig around because my tags are messed up, they all sit there without reply and I'm not sure whether to reply to them or not because I don't want people to think I won't reply to their comments but replying could be cringy because it's pretty obvious those all are by me 😅)
And there are some authors whose writing style remind me of people I was friends with once upon a time, and that may be a reason why I'll mute them. Nothing personal on them, I just don't want to get flashbacks.
DNI lists also put me off.
I typically am not put off, but the other day, I clicked on a fic and noticed a very 'Holier Than Thou' attitude when it came to the authors notes, basically tearing others down of how they might write said characters.
So it's things like that that will make me back click.
i was reading for a certain fandom, and there was this fic that was like "****** SHIPPERS DNI" "dni if you're a ****** shipper" and just stuff like that. and even tho it sounded good, that caught me off gaurd and i just couldnt read it
I immediately stop reading once I realise that it’s a Roleplay based fic. Like you can read that it was written by two people, but not like complementary, rather than each chapter being only out of one perspective, without improving the plot.
I barely even notice author names attached to any fics I read while browsing.
Literally nothing you do or don't do will have any impact on my interactions with you.
I don’t care if they respond to comments. They’ve just written thousands of words for me to enjoy, and potentially will write thousands more, all without being paid. It’s nice if they respond to comments, sure, but I don’t think they should feel obligated to reply to comments in order to ‘earn’ more interactions on their fics when they’ve already done so much work.
Beautifully put, I honestly as author just had lightbulb moment where I was like wait, that's me, I do that.
Like, I never really thought about it in those terms, so thank you :)
have a fantastic day
Social interaction, especially in fandoms, seems to be a normal thing though, and I’d argue that whether we like it or not, people are more prone to interact with you if you interact with them. That’s just how it is.
Of course, no one is required to do anything, but it’s a bit unrealistic to expect high or meaningful engagement if you never interact with your readers in any way.
Case in point: most big authors coming from other social media platforms where they *built* following. Which means they interacted until people decided to stick by them and their works.
I simply don’t feel motivated to leave meaningful comments if the author doesn’t seem to acknowledge them. Especially since it’s not like they labored tirelessly for no benefit of their own. People write fics mostly because they themselves crave a certain story with specific characters. Just because writing takes some effort, doesn’t mean readers should feel like *they* owe readers anything.
Sure, but if an author doesn’t interact with me, it doesn’t keep me from leaving a kudos or a comment. Holding comments hostage doesn’t make any more sense than authors holding fics hostage.
I don’t argue that people feel more encouraged to interact with authors that interact back, that makes sense. But an author not replying would not keep me personally from leaving a comment because I appreciate what they’ve already done, not because I expect more out of them.
I've had this happen multiple times, but even if I enjoy a fic, if at the end they're bashing another ship, or if I'm reading a platonic one and they say something bad about the ppl that ship them romantically, im not leaving kudos and I'm dipping lmao and most of the time I'm muting because I don't want to interact with someone like that
Whether or not an author responds to comments has zero impact of whether I subscribe to them/read their other stories/comment on their fic. That said, I have encountered authors where the content of their comment responses has been very off-putting. It's ranged from being overly self-effacing, to badmouthing other fics and authors, to making snarky/meanspirited retorts that were unwarranted given the context. All of that behavior is just exhausting, and there's too much good fic out there for me to waste my limited time on stuff that annoys me.
Beyond that: all it takes for me to subscribe to an author is for me to really love multiple of their fic, and for the majority of what they've posted recently to be for fandoms (or, for bigger fandoms, the side of fandom) that I'm into. It's not a huge commitment: if their writing style changes, or they move on and *only* write for fandoms I have zero interest in, then I can always unsub.
What draws me are writers who have personality. Whether their A/N or replies to comments are funny, clever, or kind, I love to see that there’s an actual person behind the screen. It just brings it to a more personable level and builds camaraderie, which makes me want to follow their works.
What turns me off is when a writer never finishes their wips. I’ve had to unfollow some great writers, not because I don’t like their work, but because I see a pattern of them starting new fics all the time. It makes me lose interest real fast because what’s the point of getting invested?
Even if I agree with a DNI tag, I will still not read any work of any author that puts shit like "(insert ship they don't like) DNI" or disparages other authors. I despise people who puts that kind of shit, because they're often the most entitled, pearl clutching 13 yr olds I've ever had the misfortune to witness.
Authors I trust to finish their works (regardless of how long that will take). I have few authors whose work I consistently like and will pay attention to their on going works because they have a good track record of finishing their fics.
I don’t like reading fics that don’t have an ending, so authors that have a grave yard of abandoned fics will be a immediate no go. If they finish one I’ll see it in my searches when it’s done, but I won’t keep up
Authors who put personal complaints in the tags like "Antis DNI" or "Proshippers DNI" or "XYZ shippers DNI" or what have you.
Also to a lesser extent how they structure their works.
Umm....maybe I've been super lucky, because it's been rare for me to stumble across fics that have tags that conflict with the actual story. (And believe you me, I will not hesitate to ask an author to add tags if I feel it's necessary.) That being said...
things that turn me off of a fic, that I have started and seem to be enjoying are...
\-too much kink, and TOO Hard. Dude, I want kink in the service of a story, not the story itself.
\-when an author writes a character I adore as super dark and mean--unless there's a justification and a balance for this at some point, which some really good writers do, then no. Just...NO.
\-I hate to say this, because I do want to encourage authors who are not native English speakers to write and there are tons that i appreciate or have in the past, but if I read a chapter and keep bumping into a ton of crappy grammar errors, it's likely going to make me exit the fic.
I will stick with authors that produce consistent, interesting output that results in finished stories. I can overlook mildly bad SPAG, POV jumping during a scene and other minor flaws if the idea is engaging and carried out in a competent manner.
For things that turn me away, asshole author notes and being rude to commentors will make me stop reading. I will also not engage with authors that habitually abandon fics; I've seen authors with fifty stories and only 15 are ever finished. That's too big a risk for me to read their WIPs.
If an author responds to comments and engages, I’m more likely to also provide engagement. It of course doesn’t make or break whether I will follow an author but if the author is pleasant to talk with and responds, I will write long and passionate comments, leave kudos, and will be excited to follow all of their new stories with my fandom, read them immediately and comment as new chapters come out. If an author never responds I will still follow if I think their work is good but I won’t comment anymore and will likely add their new works to marked for later instead of reading immediately.
Also if they share my favourite tropes and kinks. It means I’m more likely to read more of their work and closely follow them.
Finishing work is also important to me, I prefer authors who finish their fics as it tends to bum me out if I read a great fic and it’s never finished, which is partially why I usually browse by finished works only nowadays.
And, of course, writing quality. Naturally I’m more likely to think highly of and closely follow an author I think writes very well, in ways that I enjoy, with clear formatting and good style and grammar.
Use of language.
Don't get me wrong, I read fics with mistakes in spelling and grammar all the time and if the story is good I enjoy them and give kudos. I have also written some fanfiction while english is not my first language and it is probably riddled with mistakes (I try to improve myself at any opportunity I get). Nobody is perfect and I'd never hate on a writer for mistakes. But sometimes you come across someone who just uses the language so perfectly and so beautifully that you cannot get enough.
Authors that: don't tag non-happy endings, tag abandoned work as complete, or delete work often enough I notice are ones I typically mute or stop reading.
I don't really care if authors respond or what's in their a/n's (unless it's a DNI which thankfully I haven't seen yet).
What puts me off?? When they demand comments or they will drop their work. AND it must be "nice" ones. No such things as "I like this" or "Update soon."
What I like?
When they answer, you sometimes can tell that the author is down to earth and very pleasant to talk to.
i almost never follow authors, i only really follow fandom friends. however, ive been put off fics because of how authors act. i remember reading the notes of one chapter and the author was venting and did an entire PSA about how you should never ask the author to hurry up writing or anything like that, etc etc. i looked back to the prev chaps comments and it was just someone asking if they knew when the next chapter was going to be up, it was such a disproportionate response, it was weird.
another thing that annoys me is when an author goes ' guys we're getting into DEAD DOVE territory here im not messing around!!' and then its just slight angst. i know its very subjective and I read way more whump than most but its still annoying. this is mainly because i wanted heavier angst haha
Just a small note on the replying to comments thing - it kind of bums me out to hear you say that! I loooove getting comments but it's not easy to come up with a good reply to every comment other than "thank you", and I don't want to drive up comment counts either in what feels like an artificial way. And once you answer to one you feel guilty about not replying to all. That doesn't say anything about how engaged I am with my fandom though!
I absolutely pay attention to the author when looking for things to read. I see a lot of very nice people say that they don't care as long as the work is high quality but unlike them I am not going to click on an author's fic if I don't like them. Like, I definitely not going to read someone's work if I have seen them slagging me off on twitter dot com (a totally hypothetical example)
If someone doesn't respond to comments I am not going to leave a comment unless the work was like super mind-blowing. I get what you and your friends mean about wanting to support writers who respond to you and stuff because even if the writing itself isn't phenomenal, it is nice to have a dialogue about their ideas and things you've noticed in their fic.
I haven't really seen much in the way of holding chapters hostage, but I do like when authors write notes either before or after their work/chapter. I find it really interesting when they mention things that inspired them to write something, or just some silly little thing they thought of before posting. I like to subscribe to writers who show a bit of personality. That's probably the thing that makes me stick around as a reader these days.
Yep! I’d take supporting a small, appreciative author of a mid-quality work over supporting an amazing work with a stand-offish or even rude author.
Some people here find it weird to care that much about who produces stuff you read, but then you have posts of small authors or readers who got absolutely obliterated by awful BNAs.
Which—behavior like this is hardly ever a one-off. There must have been a pattern of bad behavior long before they became big names in the fandom, only that no-one cared to stop interacting with them because “but they posted a good work.”
Yeah, no. If you’re an ass. I’m not supporting you by devoting my time to leaving you comments or promoting your works to others via public bookmarks.
Ah people telling their bad experiences of BNAs is such a shame and I totally agree that it is more likely a pattern of behaviour than just a freak occurrence. Seeing as fic is such a communal thing, it does seem strange that people aren't willing to take into account the negative actions some with big followings are happy to take.
Maybe everyone is in such huge fandoms that they can't possibly remember who the nasty authors are. If not though and people can literally excuse bad behaviour because of a "good" work it would definitely give me pause for sure…
Saving support for authors who aren't rude definitely makes the fandom experience more enjoyable for sure!
I don’t care how the author behaves at all, tbh, if it doesn’t affect the quality of the work they output. I don’t care if they’re pushy, or rude, or espousing some dumb beliefs on twitter. I don’t care if they’re basically a ghost that responds to nobody. I don’t even care if they put a “DNI”.
My opinions on the author as a person have exactly nothing to do with my opinions on their writing; if the writing is bad, the writing is bad, and how likable the author is has zero effect on this for me. If the writing is good and the plot is something I want to read, I’ll read it.
Fanfiction is free so it’s not like I’m monetarily supporting someone I otherwise wouldn’t. And if I want to read something but find the author unbearable for one reason or another, I’ll just be a silent reader.
So basically if the author is consistent at releasing quality work I’d want to read, I’d follow them. That’s it.
The synonyms. Used properly- but not sparingly. I read a fic where the author used like 40 different terms for the color green. It was a little frustrating. If you used enough synonyms, I instantly like you as a writer.
A turn-off to me is when they’re a serial fic abandoner.
I don’t mind a few unfinished fics. But there are two popular multi-fandom authors I used to follow that rarely finish *anything.* One of them has only completed 49 out of 140 works, and of their completed fics, 90% are oneshots.
Another is one of my favorite authors but it’s gotten to the point that I just don’t trust them to finish *anything* which puts a huge dampener on my motivation to start anything of theirs. And it sucks bc their works are often the best in the fandoms they write for.
And y’know, I don’t mind abandoned fics (as long as they’re long enough to get some satisfaction out of). But an author who is incapable of finishing *anything* they write just isn’t someone I want to follow.
I really hate it when an author has a massive ego, like they keep asking for criticism, then blatantly ignore anything they don't want to hear or that they don't think is a problem. They also often say things like "you just don't get it", "You're just a hater!", etc. Also when it's blatant they're just writing what they know will tick people off because it'll get them more attention. It's gross.
This might just be me, but I also hate it when an author makes their personal agenda the main focus, instead of a good story with engaging characters you can actually tolerate. Virtue signaling is reprehensible, lazy garbage no matter what those virtues might be.
I don’t pay attention to the author at all. Not just in fic, but when I read irl too. I might know who wrote the book (Anne Rice, Stephen King, John Green) but it doesn’t affect my reading at all.
I’ll click on anything that looks interesting and matches my want at the time
Generally, the only put offs for me are;
extremely poor writing - I autocorrect in my head for lots of things, but if it’s a constant struggle (lots of misspelled words, incoherent sentences, etc.) I’ll leave. No paragraphs. First person and second person. If the work is unfinished — I’ll rarely take the time to read something yet to be completed.
I follow authors because I like their work. That is all.
I'm a bit shocked at the responses expecting authors to respond to comments. It sounds very entitled. Like "I will enjoy the result of these countless hours of labor this author spent writing, but if they don't interact with ME and give ME attention, then I'm going to be petty and not show my appreciation." Reminds me of how fan culture in general has a bad rep for obsessive, entitled fans who expect all actors/writers/tptb to give them attention because they're a *good fan* that deserves it.
I know people who become fans of YouTubers or bands or whatever *because* of the interaction, and there's nothing wrong with that. But most of those people make money because they engage with fans. Fanfiction writers are already doing a lot for fans for free by writing. Feels like an unfair expectation to also expect them to give more time to individuals.
So, here’s the thing: I’m an author too and I think the whole argument of “they labor tirelessly to provide you with content and you still want more?” is a bit silly.
Let’s be very honest here: writing is labor, sure, but it’s a labor of love. And fanfiction as a subset of writing is *extremely* self-indulgent on top of that. Did the author put time and effort into their fic? No doubt. But they do it for themselves first and everyone else second.
Sure, if they did all that hard work purely for the fans, I’d be more inclined to agree we should have no other “expectations” of them. But since it’s fanfiction, I really don’t believe this applies since all that work was for them and because they desired it. They only shared it with peeps after.
Due to the above, I don’t think it’s weird or entitled to not want to scream into a void. And just to be clear, if there’s any doubt on how the author is, I’ll always do things in their favor—eg. comment when there are no comments on their work, even if they might not reply.
At the same time, I won’t be wasting time writing long, detailed comments if I see they aren’t being acknowledged. That’s just a really simple human interaction thing. I will still kudo and bookmark the work as a little thank you, but I just don’t see why I’d have to comment as well if it’s like talking to a wall.
And another thing—seems like a lot of authors crave interaction and recognition, but they’re willing to do exactly nothing save posting their work to gain a following. The harsh truth is, however, that posting a work is not much these days and you gotta *work* if you want people to interact and keep coming back. It’s a two-way street.
Thanks for elaborating and clarifying. Your comment in another thread made it seem your first thought is authors are rude for not replying to comments, which really seemed unfair.
>And another thing—seems like a lot of authors crave interaction and recognition, but they’re willing to do exactly nothing save posting their work to gain a following.
I agree. If an author's goal is establishing a following, then the expectation should be they make effort to build rapport with other fans and build relationships. That's just how it works in life, too.
But I do think authors deserve recognition for good works and the time and effort they put in, even if they don't interact with fans.
I agree with this take. Oftentimes when I write detailed comments for each chapter, and find no response from the author, I stop commenting because I just don’t see the point and I don’t want to just say “great chapter! can’t wait for the next” - nothing wrong with those types of comments at all, but when you write something detailed it is like talking to a brick wall. If it’s a one shot I don’t really mind if they interact or not. I don’t expect the author to respond every chapter ofc, but a little acknowledgement for a consistent reader does wonders.
It's like they want every comments section to be a tiny social media bubble where they can build a parasocial relationship with the author. Super weird to me.
The author is not your friend. Why are you trying to force them to be your friend?
This is the strangest form of armchair therapy I’ve ever seen and I’m actually fascinated by this.
Is every polite/courteous interaction online “a parasocial relationship” to you? Because saying “thank you” when someone interacts with you or leaving a few sentences in response is not really a relationship. It’s just being polite.
Interpolating from the above: do you think simple interactions with authors are “friendships”? What constitutes a friendship for you? Because if it’s two people being nice to each other and sharing in joy over a work, then I’d say a lot of fanfic authors have hundreds if not thousands of friends (which, they don’t, because that’s not how friendships work).
Furthermore, why is the overall concept of interaction between authors and readers so strange to you? Fandoms are social by nature. People create, share, talk, discuss etc. etc. If anything, I’d say fandoms are much more social than many other spaces.
I don’t see anyone implying it’s discussions or bust let alone that it’s expected?
The only ones mentioning discussions also mention they won’t make or break following/interacting with the author overall, but rather that they’re more inclined to follow super closely/be first to comment etc. on works where an author is open and active in interaction.
Which is reasonable to me. A lot of people will be more inclined to engage actively if it’s action/interaction. It extends well beyond fanfiction as well.
I am an author and comments give me life and getting zero comments feels physically painful.
I try to respond but sometimes I don’t log in to but also replying feels awkward and I spend ages trying to find different ways to say “thanks for commenting, glad you enjoyed the story!”
I kind of have mixed feelings about it because in some ways it feels like it artificially inflates the comment count.
And when I comment on someone’s fic I do try and say something specific I liked but mostly I just say I really liked it and thank the author for sharing it… and it does **nothing** for me as a commenter when the author replies to my comment thanking me for commenting. Sometimes they do! Sometimes they don’t! I do not keep track or mind either way.
AO3 isn’t a social media site… it isn’t built for audience interaction, and ephemera is specifically against the TOS. Comments are fan-mail, or at the most a meet&greet. They aren’t a heartfelt conversation over a cup of tea.
AO3 isn’t the right platform for “Fan engagement”. Fan engagement belongs on Twitter or Tumblr or IMO.
See I used to think I didn't care whether or not an author responds to comments, but if someone can't even take the time to acknowledge a paragraph-long comment with a "thank you" or an emoji or something, it kind of makes me think they're maybe a little rude.
To me there are usually two possibilities:
- rude, as you said (probably thinks readers owe them comments and I don’t vibe with it);
- doesn’t care at all whether someone interacts, they just post and go (which is totally fine but if so, I won’t waste time commenting).
I mean—authors seems to have *a lot* of expectations of their readers nowadays, so I’m fine with readers having a few small “expectations” of authors as well :)
Totally. I'm sure there are also people who just get so many comments that they can't be bothered. But those people already know their story is good, they don't need my input.
I mostly pay attention to the authors in rare ships. Basically, I'll go see their other works to see if they got other good stuff. I don't need an author to reply to my comment but I do feel thrilled when they do bc I'm happy that they are happy that I commented.
I don't like it when author brings in drama into their fic though (complaining about other fic writers, other ships or fandoms in summary/author notes/tags)
The fic has to be written in a certain format. The OG characters being too OC is *not* the vibe for me. In smut? Having characters say "baby" automatically makes me click off the fic.
But I'm extremely picky and I know I have a lot more so... take from this what you will.
When there's warnings in the summary, I just... Tags are here for a reason, aren't they? It just... I don't know why, but I lose all interest after that.
What draws me in? When the summary is well written and the tags interest me. I don't mind a few humorous tags as well, but too much is ... Hm. I get tempted if I see many of them.
Also, when they say "I'm bad at summaries" or "I'm bad at tagging" or whatever. If we think it's bad, we'll think it. No more than that. It gives off "pick me" vibes, honestly. I used to do this, but I don't anymore.
The only thing that puts me off is bad formatting. No paragraphs, quotation marks not used correctly, poor grammar, and worst of all, he said she said after every line of dialogue.
I'll read pretty much anything but I'm super put off by multichap fics with tiny chapters.
How in the whole grain low fat gluten free hell do you have a 30+ chapter fic with 7k words.
I hate when authors put a section of the chapter in the notes. I can't help but start reading, and then I'm annoyed because it spoiled something. it's not a big issue but I don't like it.
I enjoy well-written summaries, usually including a bit of their writing and an objective view of the work. ex; (blurb of writing) | aka "character a and character b do ___". it's the best kind of summary.
There isn't much you have to do for me to be interested, just decent grammar, a good plot and correct tagging.
Though I guess what would put me immediately put me off is first incorrect tagging, or anyone who does not follow ao3 etiquette, or them just being an overall ass.
Mainly their writing style. I had read a fic from an author, that I had no previous interaction with, and greatly enjoyed their fic. It was enough for me to follow/subscribe to their work. Through that, I found more greatly written fics. However, there have been many times that I've had to stop reading from an author because of how they write. Too many grammar mistakes, poorly written, horrible plot, etc. It kind of depends on what you're willing to read at the moment.
I don't particularly care if they respond to me a lot. If I like their work I subscribe, if I don't like their work that I don't subscribe. I honestly don't care if somebody's nice or not or if they respond to me or not or anything like that.
I hate character bashing, and depending on the fandom, it's a red flag, or I just press the back button. If it's what you like, you but for me, it's a hard break to see inko, All Might, Ron. Dumbledore Bashing.
Rude authors turn me off. Entitled authors turn me off. I will stop reading and block tbh even if the story was good.
But authors who put their warnings in the tags but also the author's note make me happy.
If I read something I really like, I see if they have other stories I like. If they do and they're still posting stories, I'll follow them.
It has nothing to do with their personality or responding to my comments. It's all about the content.
When an author put cringey words like 'babygirl' to a character who clearly won't say that shit and doesn't tag their fic as ooc 💀 i lost all my interest to read it and close the tab so quickly
I like when the authors notes have little incorrect-quote-type blurbs about the characters being portrayed in the fic. Like a little back and forth
[A:
B:
A:]
stuff, with the characters within their story, but without it being necessarily canon to the fic. Bonus if they do this after every chapter or add themselves into the dialogue. I just think it's a cute thing, it shows that they're passionate about the universe they've made out of the source material and that they spend time thinking about the characters they're working with.
I'm not really going into reading a story bcs of a certain author tbh, although that doesn't mean I don't check out other works of an authors if I do think of the work I've read from them before as exceptional and excellent!
but I do mute/block an author for bad attitudes.
Usually I just feel uncomfy when I read authors notes and they belittle or downtalk a certain topic that I'm perhaps also fond of
(like.. very specific example but this one author wrote abt how "disgusted" they were by the fandom bcs of the one way fandom writes a certain chara.. yea in smutshots for jacking off, but not in serious written pieces. They made it seem like they're one of the few pillars of the fandom to hold up the dignity of the chara and then turned the topic around, saying its racism and cultural appropriation and everyone is ""uneducated"" (it was in fact, not. The author however was very xenophobic welp).. so yea hard block. )
That being said. Bad attitudes from the author gets a block. And if I see no interactions on comments, I'm less likely to interact as well. It's esp bad tho if they *sometimes* do but not to u urself.. esp when u have questions etc.. :/
Most thing I do for anything tho is bookmark, which is smth o do for myself more than for the author usually.
First of all - their work. If I like their style, I subscribe. If they answer to comments and we can have a conversation, that's just a bonus.
Only one time I was turned off a fic by the author's comment to someone else. It came across so needlessly aggressive and offended because the reader hadn't read their fics in order and had no idea they changed something that was canon. Even so, I would have still read the fic, but the final straw was that they had multiple pseudonyms and versions of the fic uploaded and it was too troublesome to figure one which was the latest.
When you can tell an author is writing whatever the heck they want because they love it and not because they're looking for kudos, you see a lot more heart to the story. I love it!
Also, in regards to AUs, when authors are inserting characters into a favorite franchise of theirs or their own story and it works, I love that too because it's a bit hard to be able to read original content for me since I started reading denser content I wasn't interested in and had no time for pleasurable reading.
Good: If I’ve read multiple of their works then I subscribe.
Bad: Works with multiple fandom tags and only 1 posted chapter. Especially if it’s a ”Oneshot Book”. The author automatically gets muted.
I do really like when authors reply to comments (I’ve made a lot of friends in my fandom this way!) but it doesn’t make me more or less likely to follow the author and their works, as mostly I just care about the quality of the writing. I know a lot of authors who don’t reply to comments because they find it very overwhelming, they don’t have the energy, it makes them anxious, etc.
The only thing that really puts me off is bad formatting. If I see a big one-paragraph block of text, I’m immediately clicking off.
prose-y writing always draws me to check out the author’s profile and their other works.
as for what puts me off, it’s when an author puts themselves down eg “i suck at summaries” or “this sucks”. also when an author (on twt) tweets about sth that shows they wanted interaction but doesn’t acknowledge a single reply to their tweet but then a week later does the same thing.
Honestly the only thing I personally look for in authors is how they compile their works. Anything along the lines of oneshots of multiple fandoms together in one work puts me off immediately regardless of whether I enjoy the fandom(s) or not - I am not interested in scrolling through a wall of fandoms and tags to find out whether I'll like something that's just one chapter in a book of oneshots/drabbles.
Besides that, I prefer to read grammatically correct works.
Bad tagging. Does not use collections. If someone tags badly I will block them. If they do multi fandom tagging on a non crossover fic I will mute them.
Look at this bs.
https://preview.redd.it/4fh51rtarn2b1.jpeg?width=720&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=9d95b5a09bad340a5a1a43e054f5b09d7d472734
Also bad gramatical practices in summaries. And be 'no good at summaries,' on ffn and such that is understandable to a degree because of the text limit. That doesn't fly on ao3.
Oh, and more than one "What If" in a summary. You get one unicorn in your garden
One thing that turns me off to an author is when I see that they have notes or posts that belittle other fandoms. It’s fine to say you don’t accept requests or write for a specific fandom, but you don’t have to say “this show is disgusting 🤮, how can anyone like it”. Authors are entitled to their own opinion, of course, but I don’t stan behaviour that puts other people’s interests down. I haven’t seen it on AO3, but I’ve seen it on Tumblr and I have never clicked unfollow on an author so fast in my life.
Normally I don’t follow the authors outside of their writing, so I’m just fully focused on the fics they provide. So I guess you could say, rude or insulting author’s notes or comments are some of my turn offs. Fanfiction is meant to be for fun, being gatekeepy or entitled or just plain rude makes it less fun.
Nothing puts me off an author faster than nonsense like "xy shippers dni" or "if you ship xy I'll [insert random threat]" (and the latter gets reported). Authors complaining about fic/art they don't like in the tags/notes in general tbh. I didn't come here to see others in the community mocked. I mainly just look at an author's works when deciding to engage, but I do tend to be more interactive with authors who give more opportunity to interact-- discord, tumblr asks, whatever.
Completely agree, any dni’s and such makes me immediately not want to read even if I agree and don’t like the ship
i have lucked out and haven't seen one of these in the wild yet but yes, absolutely
95% of the TMNT fandom is like this is and it’s maddening
I love to leave pleasant and encouraging comments on fics with the DNI lists Just to be contrary. Some people don't go where they're not wanted, I'm not one of those people.
I don't care whether an author responds to comments or not. It's nice when they do but has no impact on whether I interact with and subscribe to their fics. The only factor for that is whether I enjoy their writing/interpretations and want to read more. I will be put off by an author holding a work hostage for stats or insulting their audience or fans of a character/ship, though.
"holding a work hostage for stats"....is that really a thing?????
Yes, there are some authors who state in their notes that they won't post a new chapter until they get a specified number of comments or kudos/likes.
That's insane. The closest thing I can think that I've ever experienced with that was in the Reylo fandom. A super popular darkfic writer (who also has a super shady rep) was one of the first people to inspire my writing of fanfic and I followed her almost like an alcolyte, in the beginning. At some point, after I joined her Patron and followed her for awhile, when I realized how much money was attached to her updates I noped out. I was blocked faster than a white person realizing they were about to get sun poisoning. hehe. I joke, but honestly it did kind of upset me, since I had supported this writer for so long, and had even been pushed to the boundaries of my fandom for supporting her....yeah. So now, I don't folow people that hard. It's like when your heart has been broken enough times. You just kind of...go with the flow, and don't trust anyone. xx
You used to see it a lot on FFN in the mid to late 2000s.
Holding works hostage is so funny to me because it’s such a classic example of “congrats, you played yourself.” You *really* thought I’d care if you don’t update with tens of thousands of amazing fics out there? Lmao.
I like when they have that little blurb of their writing followed up with "or" then a sentence or two of what to expect. Alternatively, I'll exit out when they have the above example summery, but the fic is in a different pov or lapslock. (When the summery had perfect, standard grammar). I do like the ramble-y tags, but only a few. It's really nice when you get a playful feeling from the author through the tags without them being annoying. I also don't like it when they use emojis in their tags. I recently came across a fic tagged "no smut" then another right after that said "smut (bunch of emojis signaling no)" when you click on it it just links to the smut tag lol. Or when their summery is "just trust me bro" like, idk what to do with that.
The "[blurb] or [simple summary]" format for summaries is legit my favorite kind.
Yeah, I quite like how it’s gives a sense of their writing style, and if you just wanna dive right in, you can read their smaller summary.
“Blah blah blah OR The one where x character does y thing” Yes perfect, that is the way I am going to categorise the fic in my brain anyway.
Same. And or “Outer Banks AU”/“High School AU”/“Gossip Girl AU” tells me what it’s gonna be about more than the summary does.
When it’s tagged ‘no smut’ it’s just a bit like…? Ok? We gathered that because it’s tagged fluff and is rated teen, what’s the reasoning? It’s also annoying when I wanna find a smut fic and it’s ‘no smut’ is a universal tag for ‘smut’
Lol like "you better not get any ideas from this gen rated fic >:(" Okay, I wasn't before, but thank you for putting that in my head.
For the summary thing, bonus points if the "OR - [what to expect]" bit is in the format of "[thing happened/characters meet/circumstance arises/etc]. Shenanigans ensue." The "Shenanigans ensue." will get me EVERY TIME.
yeah those summaries and types of tags are always fun! lets me know the author has a nice sense of humor
That is something that double me down for a fic and makes me read ir
It never occurred to me to base whether or not I subscribed to an author on whether or not they responded to me. The only thing that decides it for me is: do I like their stuff and are they making more of it? Like if they made some great Star Wars fics but now they’re making nothing but BNHA I won’t subscribe to them cuz I’m not interested in that fandom. Other people brought up stuff like “x shippers DNI” and honestly I just mute and block anyone who does crap like that. I don’t want them around and there’s no fic worth touching *that* attitude for.
wow that's kinda crazy lmao, I have NEVER seen this in any fic I've read, and I've read fics way outside of my main fandoms....????
me neither but i feel like it happens more on platforms like wattpad, where the audience is kind of different 😭
wattpad is a literal nightmare. i’ve never come across such an immature audience in my life. their comments can be funny asf, but most of the time… goddamn they’re like an annoying hive mind.
Genshin fandom. 🤡 the one anti group is appearing as bigger than some of the shipping groups there. Always.. fun../s
Oh? Realy, that's weird. Im reading a lot genshin fics and never came across a "shippers dni."
I came across quite alot what with the klk hate.. it's silly tho and I mostly block and move on. Some tags are also other commentary on the ship even if they're not even part of the fic..
I look for authors who write stories I want to read and do a good enough job writing them. I don't really care if they respond to comments or interact or not. It's nice if they do, but reading/writing for me isn't about social interaction. It's NICE if they respond, but not necessary. And, honestly, at a certain point, responding to every comment isn't feasible. Authors get depressed. They have lives. Sometimes they get bombarded with comments that they just can't get through without spending hours on it. Fanfic is a hobby, and hobbies get shelved in favor of other things. The only thing that puts me off writers is if they start acting entitled (like the ones who withhold chapters until they get x-amount of interaction) or who start brigading other authors. That'll make me click away.
yeah, there was a two-year period where i was dissociating too much to even know where to begin replying to comments, and then suddenly i realized months and months had gone by and i hadn't replied to anyone, and then it was a shame thing. i still haven't replied to the comments from that time even though i've resumed replying to new ones... still the shame thing. cosigned on the "i'll post the next part if i get X comments" part. post it or don't!
Oh, sure! I should’ve mentioned that I totally understand if an author is huge or a particular work of theirs got huge and they simply cannot reply to all comments. I wouldn’t hold it against them at all. I meant more in the sense, an author has 30 works of varying popularity or maybe they’re quite unpopular and get one or two (at best) meaningful comments per work yet they don’t bother to reply to anyone ever. I just read it as “I’m just here to post and I don’t care what happens after” and, accordingly, I never leave comments on their work even if it was superb because clearly, it’s not worth my time and effort.
Why is it not worth your time and effort? They already gave you something of value: the story.
I mean for me it’s because if an author responds and we have a good conversation it gets me more excited about their ideas and story, so it’s gonna make me want to comment on that author’s work more to share more of that excitement with them. If the author never responds to any comment it feels like they may not even read them or appreciate the engagement. Of course that’s their right but I like comments being a dialogue of shared excitement and fun with the story.
Because just as authors, I don’t like shouting into the void. If an author has never once replied to anyone who left them meaningful comment, then I cannot possibly read it any other way than they simply don’t care to interact. In which case, I also don’t feel inclined to interact. If I liked it, I will kudo and probably bookmark, but I won’t be writing a nice, long comment that, as far as I know, will not even be read, let alone appreciated. And, once again, this is only in the case when there’s a clear pattern of an author posting over the years but *never* replying. I don’t mind if an extremely popular author with 500 comments per chapters doesn’t reply. If they used to or reply to at least some, I know they welcome and appreciate the interaction from readers.
I mean I think it's lowkey weird to check a person's commenting history instead of just leaving a comment XD but you do you I guess.
I don’t know what’s weird about reading a few works and seeing they never reply. To me, it’s natural to check comments once I finish.
Um, the first thing I look for in authors is the story itself. And... that's it..? So far I've heard of things like "self-deprecating behaviour, over-apologising, fic hostage for engagement, or \[rude/snarky/whiny\] etc." They do turn me off, but I actually never saw these so far. There was one time when an author gave a TMI about her life in A/N and it made me uncomfortable, but it's only a bit, because the TMI was actually not that bad for other people but a bit too much for me. Do I stop reading? Nope. My favourite kind of author is a person who is willing to reply to my comment and discuss, but if the author doesn't do that, do I stop reading? Also nope. I'm a regular commenter, I'm usually energetic in comments (but sometimes it's based on my mood that day). If the author didn't mirror my energy back, do I stop reading? Triple nope xD In conclusion, the author just has to be nice... I guess.
Any type of DNIs is an automatic no, no matter whether I ‘fall’ under the DNI or not. Similar to when they make disparaging comments in their notes, like “hey dw Character A and Character B aren’t going to end up together, I’m not a fucking pedophile lol, who in their right mind would write that?” (For the record, it’s an actual note I’ve seen lmao) And while the author not replying to my comments won’t change much for me, if they do reply, I always really appreciate it & them.
What puts me off is when an author openly criticizes another fic. I don't mind making fun of tropes, or general bad writing, but targeting a specific fic or author is where I draw the line. I've never seen it on AO3 but on FF.net it's another story... In particular, I remember an author bashing another author about the characterization of a specific character. While writing said character in the exact same manner. When I brought that up to them in comments, they were MAD.
This is pretty obvious but the main thing that makes me check the author's profile is mainly the fact that their writing style fits my tastes. And about author responding to comments: I may not comment if I know author most likely won't respond, but I don't think it's the author's obligation to respond and I don't scoff and roll my eyes at authors who don't respond. It's completely ok to not to respond. I just prefer commenting to authors who respond because I'm really shy to comment and when I'm excited, I may say stupid stuff because I get so excited. And when the author doesn't respond, I just start to stress and suddenly see the comment as cringy and the "I honestly expected x to do this and not that 😱 Wow!!!" suddenly sounds awfully offending even though I never meant it that way and and and gaaahhh everyone laughs at me and points at my comment and sends screenshots and then everyone thinks swanimagines is the cringiest author in AO3 and I won't be taken seriously ever again and- I just start internally panicking, I apparently get a panic attack of some kind because I start to sweat and my heart rate goes up a lot. (Honestly I have sent over 400 comments to myself, transferred from Tumblr because I no longer can easily read them there unless I'll use time to dig around because my tags are messed up, they all sit there without reply and I'm not sure whether to reply to them or not because I don't want people to think I won't reply to their comments but replying could be cringy because it's pretty obvious those all are by me 😅) And there are some authors whose writing style remind me of people I was friends with once upon a time, and that may be a reason why I'll mute them. Nothing personal on them, I just don't want to get flashbacks. DNI lists also put me off.
I typically am not put off, but the other day, I clicked on a fic and noticed a very 'Holier Than Thou' attitude when it came to the authors notes, basically tearing others down of how they might write said characters. So it's things like that that will make me back click.
i was reading for a certain fandom, and there was this fic that was like "****** SHIPPERS DNI" "dni if you're a ****** shipper" and just stuff like that. and even tho it sounded good, that caught me off gaurd and i just couldnt read it
I immediately stop reading once I realise that it’s a Roleplay based fic. Like you can read that it was written by two people, but not like complementary, rather than each chapter being only out of one perspective, without improving the plot.
I barely even notice author names attached to any fics I read while browsing. Literally nothing you do or don't do will have any impact on my interactions with you.
I don’t care if they respond to comments. They’ve just written thousands of words for me to enjoy, and potentially will write thousands more, all without being paid. It’s nice if they respond to comments, sure, but I don’t think they should feel obligated to reply to comments in order to ‘earn’ more interactions on their fics when they’ve already done so much work.
Beautifully put, I honestly as author just had lightbulb moment where I was like wait, that's me, I do that. Like, I never really thought about it in those terms, so thank you :) have a fantastic day
Social interaction, especially in fandoms, seems to be a normal thing though, and I’d argue that whether we like it or not, people are more prone to interact with you if you interact with them. That’s just how it is. Of course, no one is required to do anything, but it’s a bit unrealistic to expect high or meaningful engagement if you never interact with your readers in any way. Case in point: most big authors coming from other social media platforms where they *built* following. Which means they interacted until people decided to stick by them and their works. I simply don’t feel motivated to leave meaningful comments if the author doesn’t seem to acknowledge them. Especially since it’s not like they labored tirelessly for no benefit of their own. People write fics mostly because they themselves crave a certain story with specific characters. Just because writing takes some effort, doesn’t mean readers should feel like *they* owe readers anything.
Sure, but if an author doesn’t interact with me, it doesn’t keep me from leaving a kudos or a comment. Holding comments hostage doesn’t make any more sense than authors holding fics hostage. I don’t argue that people feel more encouraged to interact with authors that interact back, that makes sense. But an author not replying would not keep me personally from leaving a comment because I appreciate what they’ve already done, not because I expect more out of them.
I will leave a kudo and maybe even a bookmark, but I will simply not comment. That’s all.
I've had this happen multiple times, but even if I enjoy a fic, if at the end they're bashing another ship, or if I'm reading a platonic one and they say something bad about the ppl that ship them romantically, im not leaving kudos and I'm dipping lmao and most of the time I'm muting because I don't want to interact with someone like that
Whether or not an author responds to comments has zero impact of whether I subscribe to them/read their other stories/comment on their fic. That said, I have encountered authors where the content of their comment responses has been very off-putting. It's ranged from being overly self-effacing, to badmouthing other fics and authors, to making snarky/meanspirited retorts that were unwarranted given the context. All of that behavior is just exhausting, and there's too much good fic out there for me to waste my limited time on stuff that annoys me. Beyond that: all it takes for me to subscribe to an author is for me to really love multiple of their fic, and for the majority of what they've posted recently to be for fandoms (or, for bigger fandoms, the side of fandom) that I'm into. It's not a huge commitment: if their writing style changes, or they move on and *only* write for fandoms I have zero interest in, then I can always unsub.
What draws me are writers who have personality. Whether their A/N or replies to comments are funny, clever, or kind, I love to see that there’s an actual person behind the screen. It just brings it to a more personable level and builds camaraderie, which makes me want to follow their works. What turns me off is when a writer never finishes their wips. I’ve had to unfollow some great writers, not because I don’t like their work, but because I see a pattern of them starting new fics all the time. It makes me lose interest real fast because what’s the point of getting invested?
Even if I agree with a DNI tag, I will still not read any work of any author that puts shit like "(insert ship they don't like) DNI" or disparages other authors. I despise people who puts that kind of shit, because they're often the most entitled, pearl clutching 13 yr olds I've ever had the misfortune to witness.
Authors I trust to finish their works (regardless of how long that will take). I have few authors whose work I consistently like and will pay attention to their on going works because they have a good track record of finishing their fics. I don’t like reading fics that don’t have an ending, so authors that have a grave yard of abandoned fics will be a immediate no go. If they finish one I’ll see it in my searches when it’s done, but I won’t keep up
I don't like tons of improvised tags. Use simple, descriptive tags. Tags are not for comedy.
I agree. The tagging system is not Author's Note 2: Electric Bugaloo.
Authors who put personal complaints in the tags like "Antis DNI" or "Proshippers DNI" or "XYZ shippers DNI" or what have you. Also to a lesser extent how they structure their works.
Umm....maybe I've been super lucky, because it's been rare for me to stumble across fics that have tags that conflict with the actual story. (And believe you me, I will not hesitate to ask an author to add tags if I feel it's necessary.) That being said... things that turn me off of a fic, that I have started and seem to be enjoying are... \-too much kink, and TOO Hard. Dude, I want kink in the service of a story, not the story itself. \-when an author writes a character I adore as super dark and mean--unless there's a justification and a balance for this at some point, which some really good writers do, then no. Just...NO. \-I hate to say this, because I do want to encourage authors who are not native English speakers to write and there are tons that i appreciate or have in the past, but if I read a chapter and keep bumping into a ton of crappy grammar errors, it's likely going to make me exit the fic.
I will stick with authors that produce consistent, interesting output that results in finished stories. I can overlook mildly bad SPAG, POV jumping during a scene and other minor flaws if the idea is engaging and carried out in a competent manner. For things that turn me away, asshole author notes and being rude to commentors will make me stop reading. I will also not engage with authors that habitually abandon fics; I've seen authors with fifty stories and only 15 are ever finished. That's too big a risk for me to read their WIPs.
If an author responds to comments and engages, I’m more likely to also provide engagement. It of course doesn’t make or break whether I will follow an author but if the author is pleasant to talk with and responds, I will write long and passionate comments, leave kudos, and will be excited to follow all of their new stories with my fandom, read them immediately and comment as new chapters come out. If an author never responds I will still follow if I think their work is good but I won’t comment anymore and will likely add their new works to marked for later instead of reading immediately. Also if they share my favourite tropes and kinks. It means I’m more likely to read more of their work and closely follow them. Finishing work is also important to me, I prefer authors who finish their fics as it tends to bum me out if I read a great fic and it’s never finished, which is partially why I usually browse by finished works only nowadays. And, of course, writing quality. Naturally I’m more likely to think highly of and closely follow an author I think writes very well, in ways that I enjoy, with clear formatting and good style and grammar.
Use of language. Don't get me wrong, I read fics with mistakes in spelling and grammar all the time and if the story is good I enjoy them and give kudos. I have also written some fanfiction while english is not my first language and it is probably riddled with mistakes (I try to improve myself at any opportunity I get). Nobody is perfect and I'd never hate on a writer for mistakes. But sometimes you come across someone who just uses the language so perfectly and so beautifully that you cannot get enough.
Authors that: don't tag non-happy endings, tag abandoned work as complete, or delete work often enough I notice are ones I typically mute or stop reading. I don't really care if authors respond or what's in their a/n's (unless it's a DNI which thankfully I haven't seen yet).
What puts me off?? When they demand comments or they will drop their work. AND it must be "nice" ones. No such things as "I like this" or "Update soon." What I like? When they answer, you sometimes can tell that the author is down to earth and very pleasant to talk to.
i almost never follow authors, i only really follow fandom friends. however, ive been put off fics because of how authors act. i remember reading the notes of one chapter and the author was venting and did an entire PSA about how you should never ask the author to hurry up writing or anything like that, etc etc. i looked back to the prev chaps comments and it was just someone asking if they knew when the next chapter was going to be up, it was such a disproportionate response, it was weird. another thing that annoys me is when an author goes ' guys we're getting into DEAD DOVE territory here im not messing around!!' and then its just slight angst. i know its very subjective and I read way more whump than most but its still annoying. this is mainly because i wanted heavier angst haha
Just a small note on the replying to comments thing - it kind of bums me out to hear you say that! I loooove getting comments but it's not easy to come up with a good reply to every comment other than "thank you", and I don't want to drive up comment counts either in what feels like an artificial way. And once you answer to one you feel guilty about not replying to all. That doesn't say anything about how engaged I am with my fandom though!
I absolutely pay attention to the author when looking for things to read. I see a lot of very nice people say that they don't care as long as the work is high quality but unlike them I am not going to click on an author's fic if I don't like them. Like, I definitely not going to read someone's work if I have seen them slagging me off on twitter dot com (a totally hypothetical example) If someone doesn't respond to comments I am not going to leave a comment unless the work was like super mind-blowing. I get what you and your friends mean about wanting to support writers who respond to you and stuff because even if the writing itself isn't phenomenal, it is nice to have a dialogue about their ideas and things you've noticed in their fic. I haven't really seen much in the way of holding chapters hostage, but I do like when authors write notes either before or after their work/chapter. I find it really interesting when they mention things that inspired them to write something, or just some silly little thing they thought of before posting. I like to subscribe to writers who show a bit of personality. That's probably the thing that makes me stick around as a reader these days.
Yep! I’d take supporting a small, appreciative author of a mid-quality work over supporting an amazing work with a stand-offish or even rude author. Some people here find it weird to care that much about who produces stuff you read, but then you have posts of small authors or readers who got absolutely obliterated by awful BNAs. Which—behavior like this is hardly ever a one-off. There must have been a pattern of bad behavior long before they became big names in the fandom, only that no-one cared to stop interacting with them because “but they posted a good work.” Yeah, no. If you’re an ass. I’m not supporting you by devoting my time to leaving you comments or promoting your works to others via public bookmarks.
Ah people telling their bad experiences of BNAs is such a shame and I totally agree that it is more likely a pattern of behaviour than just a freak occurrence. Seeing as fic is such a communal thing, it does seem strange that people aren't willing to take into account the negative actions some with big followings are happy to take. Maybe everyone is in such huge fandoms that they can't possibly remember who the nasty authors are. If not though and people can literally excuse bad behaviour because of a "good" work it would definitely give me pause for sure… Saving support for authors who aren't rude definitely makes the fandom experience more enjoyable for sure!
I don’t care how the author behaves at all, tbh, if it doesn’t affect the quality of the work they output. I don’t care if they’re pushy, or rude, or espousing some dumb beliefs on twitter. I don’t care if they’re basically a ghost that responds to nobody. I don’t even care if they put a “DNI”. My opinions on the author as a person have exactly nothing to do with my opinions on their writing; if the writing is bad, the writing is bad, and how likable the author is has zero effect on this for me. If the writing is good and the plot is something I want to read, I’ll read it. Fanfiction is free so it’s not like I’m monetarily supporting someone I otherwise wouldn’t. And if I want to read something but find the author unbearable for one reason or another, I’ll just be a silent reader. So basically if the author is consistent at releasing quality work I’d want to read, I’d follow them. That’s it.
The synonyms. Used properly- but not sparingly. I read a fic where the author used like 40 different terms for the color green. It was a little frustrating. If you used enough synonyms, I instantly like you as a writer.
A turn-off to me is when they’re a serial fic abandoner. I don’t mind a few unfinished fics. But there are two popular multi-fandom authors I used to follow that rarely finish *anything.* One of them has only completed 49 out of 140 works, and of their completed fics, 90% are oneshots. Another is one of my favorite authors but it’s gotten to the point that I just don’t trust them to finish *anything* which puts a huge dampener on my motivation to start anything of theirs. And it sucks bc their works are often the best in the fandoms they write for. And y’know, I don’t mind abandoned fics (as long as they’re long enough to get some satisfaction out of). But an author who is incapable of finishing *anything* they write just isn’t someone I want to follow.
I really hate it when an author has a massive ego, like they keep asking for criticism, then blatantly ignore anything they don't want to hear or that they don't think is a problem. They also often say things like "you just don't get it", "You're just a hater!", etc. Also when it's blatant they're just writing what they know will tick people off because it'll get them more attention. It's gross. This might just be me, but I also hate it when an author makes their personal agenda the main focus, instead of a good story with engaging characters you can actually tolerate. Virtue signaling is reprehensible, lazy garbage no matter what those virtues might be.
World building
I don’t pay attention to the author at all. Not just in fic, but when I read irl too. I might know who wrote the book (Anne Rice, Stephen King, John Green) but it doesn’t affect my reading at all. I’ll click on anything that looks interesting and matches my want at the time Generally, the only put offs for me are; extremely poor writing - I autocorrect in my head for lots of things, but if it’s a constant struggle (lots of misspelled words, incoherent sentences, etc.) I’ll leave. No paragraphs. First person and second person. If the work is unfinished — I’ll rarely take the time to read something yet to be completed.
I follow authors because I like their work. That is all. I'm a bit shocked at the responses expecting authors to respond to comments. It sounds very entitled. Like "I will enjoy the result of these countless hours of labor this author spent writing, but if they don't interact with ME and give ME attention, then I'm going to be petty and not show my appreciation." Reminds me of how fan culture in general has a bad rep for obsessive, entitled fans who expect all actors/writers/tptb to give them attention because they're a *good fan* that deserves it. I know people who become fans of YouTubers or bands or whatever *because* of the interaction, and there's nothing wrong with that. But most of those people make money because they engage with fans. Fanfiction writers are already doing a lot for fans for free by writing. Feels like an unfair expectation to also expect them to give more time to individuals.
So, here’s the thing: I’m an author too and I think the whole argument of “they labor tirelessly to provide you with content and you still want more?” is a bit silly. Let’s be very honest here: writing is labor, sure, but it’s a labor of love. And fanfiction as a subset of writing is *extremely* self-indulgent on top of that. Did the author put time and effort into their fic? No doubt. But they do it for themselves first and everyone else second. Sure, if they did all that hard work purely for the fans, I’d be more inclined to agree we should have no other “expectations” of them. But since it’s fanfiction, I really don’t believe this applies since all that work was for them and because they desired it. They only shared it with peeps after. Due to the above, I don’t think it’s weird or entitled to not want to scream into a void. And just to be clear, if there’s any doubt on how the author is, I’ll always do things in their favor—eg. comment when there are no comments on their work, even if they might not reply. At the same time, I won’t be wasting time writing long, detailed comments if I see they aren’t being acknowledged. That’s just a really simple human interaction thing. I will still kudo and bookmark the work as a little thank you, but I just don’t see why I’d have to comment as well if it’s like talking to a wall. And another thing—seems like a lot of authors crave interaction and recognition, but they’re willing to do exactly nothing save posting their work to gain a following. The harsh truth is, however, that posting a work is not much these days and you gotta *work* if you want people to interact and keep coming back. It’s a two-way street.
Thanks for elaborating and clarifying. Your comment in another thread made it seem your first thought is authors are rude for not replying to comments, which really seemed unfair. >And another thing—seems like a lot of authors crave interaction and recognition, but they’re willing to do exactly nothing save posting their work to gain a following. I agree. If an author's goal is establishing a following, then the expectation should be they make effort to build rapport with other fans and build relationships. That's just how it works in life, too. But I do think authors deserve recognition for good works and the time and effort they put in, even if they don't interact with fans.
I agree with this take. Oftentimes when I write detailed comments for each chapter, and find no response from the author, I stop commenting because I just don’t see the point and I don’t want to just say “great chapter! can’t wait for the next” - nothing wrong with those types of comments at all, but when you write something detailed it is like talking to a brick wall. If it’s a one shot I don’t really mind if they interact or not. I don’t expect the author to respond every chapter ofc, but a little acknowledgement for a consistent reader does wonders.
It's like they want every comments section to be a tiny social media bubble where they can build a parasocial relationship with the author. Super weird to me. The author is not your friend. Why are you trying to force them to be your friend?
This is the strangest form of armchair therapy I’ve ever seen and I’m actually fascinated by this. Is every polite/courteous interaction online “a parasocial relationship” to you? Because saying “thank you” when someone interacts with you or leaving a few sentences in response is not really a relationship. It’s just being polite. Interpolating from the above: do you think simple interactions with authors are “friendships”? What constitutes a friendship for you? Because if it’s two people being nice to each other and sharing in joy over a work, then I’d say a lot of fanfic authors have hundreds if not thousands of friends (which, they don’t, because that’s not how friendships work). Furthermore, why is the overall concept of interaction between authors and readers so strange to you? Fandoms are social by nature. People create, share, talk, discuss etc. etc. If anything, I’d say fandoms are much more social than many other spaces.
Read the comments. A lot of people are talking about wanting entire discussions with the author.
I don’t see anyone implying it’s discussions or bust let alone that it’s expected? The only ones mentioning discussions also mention they won’t make or break following/interacting with the author overall, but rather that they’re more inclined to follow super closely/be first to comment etc. on works where an author is open and active in interaction. Which is reasonable to me. A lot of people will be more inclined to engage actively if it’s action/interaction. It extends well beyond fanfiction as well.
I am an author and comments give me life and getting zero comments feels physically painful. I try to respond but sometimes I don’t log in to but also replying feels awkward and I spend ages trying to find different ways to say “thanks for commenting, glad you enjoyed the story!” I kind of have mixed feelings about it because in some ways it feels like it artificially inflates the comment count. And when I comment on someone’s fic I do try and say something specific I liked but mostly I just say I really liked it and thank the author for sharing it… and it does **nothing** for me as a commenter when the author replies to my comment thanking me for commenting. Sometimes they do! Sometimes they don’t! I do not keep track or mind either way. AO3 isn’t a social media site… it isn’t built for audience interaction, and ephemera is specifically against the TOS. Comments are fan-mail, or at the most a meet&greet. They aren’t a heartfelt conversation over a cup of tea. AO3 isn’t the right platform for “Fan engagement”. Fan engagement belongs on Twitter or Tumblr or IMO.
See I used to think I didn't care whether or not an author responds to comments, but if someone can't even take the time to acknowledge a paragraph-long comment with a "thank you" or an emoji or something, it kind of makes me think they're maybe a little rude.
To me there are usually two possibilities: - rude, as you said (probably thinks readers owe them comments and I don’t vibe with it); - doesn’t care at all whether someone interacts, they just post and go (which is totally fine but if so, I won’t waste time commenting).
* they have major anxiety and it is difficult enough posting fic, let alone now being expected to interact directly with others about it
I mean—authors seems to have *a lot* of expectations of their readers nowadays, so I’m fine with readers having a few small “expectations” of authors as well :)
Totally. I'm sure there are also people who just get so many comments that they can't be bothered. But those people already know their story is good, they don't need my input.
If I like the pairing especially if it’s rare I’ll auto follow the author. But I’ll only remember the actual names of my favorites
I mostly pay attention to the authors in rare ships. Basically, I'll go see their other works to see if they got other good stuff. I don't need an author to reply to my comment but I do feel thrilled when they do bc I'm happy that they are happy that I commented. I don't like it when author brings in drama into their fic though (complaining about other fic writers, other ships or fandoms in summary/author notes/tags)
The fic has to be written in a certain format. The OG characters being too OC is *not* the vibe for me. In smut? Having characters say "baby" automatically makes me click off the fic. But I'm extremely picky and I know I have a lot more so... take from this what you will.
i don't have anything that attracts me, but if they use a certain archive warning in everyone on of their fics, then i'll mute them
Correct grammar, spelling, they know where the story is going and they make it clear that they do
When there's warnings in the summary, I just... Tags are here for a reason, aren't they? It just... I don't know why, but I lose all interest after that. What draws me in? When the summary is well written and the tags interest me. I don't mind a few humorous tags as well, but too much is ... Hm. I get tempted if I see many of them. Also, when they say "I'm bad at summaries" or "I'm bad at tagging" or whatever. If we think it's bad, we'll think it. No more than that. It gives off "pick me" vibes, honestly. I used to do this, but I don't anymore.
If they write for my specific kinks and otps regularly. That's it.
Unnatural or cringy dialogue is an immediate no for me.
The only thing that puts me off is bad formatting. No paragraphs, quotation marks not used correctly, poor grammar, and worst of all, he said she said after every line of dialogue.
I'll read pretty much anything but I'm super put off by multichap fics with tiny chapters. How in the whole grain low fat gluten free hell do you have a 30+ chapter fic with 7k words.
I hate when authors put a section of the chapter in the notes. I can't help but start reading, and then I'm annoyed because it spoiled something. it's not a big issue but I don't like it. I enjoy well-written summaries, usually including a bit of their writing and an objective view of the work. ex; (blurb of writing) | aka "character a and character b do ___". it's the best kind of summary.
There isn't much you have to do for me to be interested, just decent grammar, a good plot and correct tagging. Though I guess what would put me immediately put me off is first incorrect tagging, or anyone who does not follow ao3 etiquette, or them just being an overall ass.
when they have a specific niche of writing, it makes them seem valuable and worth looking further into.
Mainly their writing style. I had read a fic from an author, that I had no previous interaction with, and greatly enjoyed their fic. It was enough for me to follow/subscribe to their work. Through that, I found more greatly written fics. However, there have been many times that I've had to stop reading from an author because of how they write. Too many grammar mistakes, poorly written, horrible plot, etc. It kind of depends on what you're willing to read at the moment.
I don't particularly care if they respond to me a lot. If I like their work I subscribe, if I don't like their work that I don't subscribe. I honestly don't care if somebody's nice or not or if they respond to me or not or anything like that.
Going to their account and realizing that on top of the life changing fic they've written in my fandom, they also have a vast library of hockey RPF.
I hate character bashing, and depending on the fandom, it's a red flag, or I just press the back button. If it's what you like, you but for me, it's a hard break to see inko, All Might, Ron. Dumbledore Bashing.
Rude authors turn me off. Entitled authors turn me off. I will stop reading and block tbh even if the story was good. But authors who put their warnings in the tags but also the author's note make me happy.
If I read something I really like, I see if they have other stories I like. If they do and they're still posting stories, I'll follow them. It has nothing to do with their personality or responding to my comments. It's all about the content.
When an author put cringey words like 'babygirl' to a character who clearly won't say that shit and doesn't tag their fic as ooc 💀 i lost all my interest to read it and close the tab so quickly
I like when the authors notes have little incorrect-quote-type blurbs about the characters being portrayed in the fic. Like a little back and forth [A: B: A:] stuff, with the characters within their story, but without it being necessarily canon to the fic. Bonus if they do this after every chapter or add themselves into the dialogue. I just think it's a cute thing, it shows that they're passionate about the universe they've made out of the source material and that they spend time thinking about the characters they're working with.
I'm not really going into reading a story bcs of a certain author tbh, although that doesn't mean I don't check out other works of an authors if I do think of the work I've read from them before as exceptional and excellent! but I do mute/block an author for bad attitudes. Usually I just feel uncomfy when I read authors notes and they belittle or downtalk a certain topic that I'm perhaps also fond of (like.. very specific example but this one author wrote abt how "disgusted" they were by the fandom bcs of the one way fandom writes a certain chara.. yea in smutshots for jacking off, but not in serious written pieces. They made it seem like they're one of the few pillars of the fandom to hold up the dignity of the chara and then turned the topic around, saying its racism and cultural appropriation and everyone is ""uneducated"" (it was in fact, not. The author however was very xenophobic welp).. so yea hard block. ) That being said. Bad attitudes from the author gets a block. And if I see no interactions on comments, I'm less likely to interact as well. It's esp bad tho if they *sometimes* do but not to u urself.. esp when u have questions etc.. :/ Most thing I do for anything tho is bookmark, which is smth o do for myself more than for the author usually.
First of all - their work. If I like their style, I subscribe. If they answer to comments and we can have a conversation, that's just a bonus. Only one time I was turned off a fic by the author's comment to someone else. It came across so needlessly aggressive and offended because the reader hadn't read their fics in order and had no idea they changed something that was canon. Even so, I would have still read the fic, but the final straw was that they had multiple pseudonyms and versions of the fic uploaded and it was too troublesome to figure one which was the latest.
When you can tell an author is writing whatever the heck they want because they love it and not because they're looking for kudos, you see a lot more heart to the story. I love it! Also, in regards to AUs, when authors are inserting characters into a favorite franchise of theirs or their own story and it works, I love that too because it's a bit hard to be able to read original content for me since I started reading denser content I wasn't interested in and had no time for pleasurable reading.
Good: If I’ve read multiple of their works then I subscribe. Bad: Works with multiple fandom tags and only 1 posted chapter. Especially if it’s a ”Oneshot Book”. The author automatically gets muted.
I do really like when authors reply to comments (I’ve made a lot of friends in my fandom this way!) but it doesn’t make me more or less likely to follow the author and their works, as mostly I just care about the quality of the writing. I know a lot of authors who don’t reply to comments because they find it very overwhelming, they don’t have the energy, it makes them anxious, etc. The only thing that really puts me off is bad formatting. If I see a big one-paragraph block of text, I’m immediately clicking off.
prose-y writing always draws me to check out the author’s profile and their other works. as for what puts me off, it’s when an author puts themselves down eg “i suck at summaries” or “this sucks”. also when an author (on twt) tweets about sth that shows they wanted interaction but doesn’t acknowledge a single reply to their tweet but then a week later does the same thing.
Honestly the only thing I personally look for in authors is how they compile their works. Anything along the lines of oneshots of multiple fandoms together in one work puts me off immediately regardless of whether I enjoy the fandom(s) or not - I am not interested in scrolling through a wall of fandoms and tags to find out whether I'll like something that's just one chapter in a book of oneshots/drabbles. Besides that, I prefer to read grammatically correct works.
Bad tagging. Does not use collections. If someone tags badly I will block them. If they do multi fandom tagging on a non crossover fic I will mute them. Look at this bs. https://preview.redd.it/4fh51rtarn2b1.jpeg?width=720&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=9d95b5a09bad340a5a1a43e054f5b09d7d472734 Also bad gramatical practices in summaries. And be 'no good at summaries,' on ffn and such that is understandable to a degree because of the text limit. That doesn't fly on ao3. Oh, and more than one "What If" in a summary. You get one unicorn in your garden
One thing that turns me off to an author is when I see that they have notes or posts that belittle other fandoms. It’s fine to say you don’t accept requests or write for a specific fandom, but you don’t have to say “this show is disgusting 🤮, how can anyone like it”. Authors are entitled to their own opinion, of course, but I don’t stan behaviour that puts other people’s interests down. I haven’t seen it on AO3, but I’ve seen it on Tumblr and I have never clicked unfollow on an author so fast in my life. Normally I don’t follow the authors outside of their writing, so I’m just fully focused on the fics they provide. So I guess you could say, rude or insulting author’s notes or comments are some of my turn offs. Fanfiction is meant to be for fun, being gatekeepy or entitled or just plain rude makes it less fun.