FanLib Story Stats for June 2nd

[freifraufischer.livejournal.com]

FanLib Story Stats for June 2nd, 2007
2PM EST

Harry Potter (513) with Adult (553) ... was (513) and (553) Unchanged Unchanged 2+ days
Stargate: SG-1 (158) with Adult (161) ... was (158) and (161) Unchanged
Supernatural (155) with Adult (188) ... was (155) and (188) Unchanged
CSI (150) with Adult (182) ... was (150) and (182) Unchanged
Stargate: Atlantis (139) with Adult (144) ... was (138) and (143) +1
Star Wars (138) with Adult (142) ... was (137) and (141) +1
Battlestar Galactica: 2003 (113) with Adult (129) ... was (113) and (129) Unchanged
Lord of the Rings (65) with Adult (71) ... was (65) and (71) Unchanged Unchanged 2+ days
Heroes (31) with Adult (32) ... was (29) and (30) +2
Law and Order: SVU (18) with Adult (19) ... was (18) and (19) Unchanged
4400 (5) with Adult (5) ... was (5) and (5) Unchanged

Sample Net Gain: 4

Fanfiction.net Comparison Stats.

Harry Potter (297,307) ... was (297,218) +89
Stargate: SG-1 (15,721) ... was (15,708) +13
Supernatural (8,621) ... was (8,622) -1
CSI (16,310) ... was (16,296) +14
Stargate: Atlantis (8,180) ... was (8,174) +6
Star Wars (17,817) ... was (17,816) +1
Battlestar Galactica: 2003 (2,205) ... was (2,203) +2
Lord of the Rings (39,968) ... was (39,963) +5
Heroes (902) ... was (894) +8
Law and Order: SVU (4,161) ... was (4,161) Unchanged
4400 (238) ... was (238) Unchanged

Sample Net Gain: 137

Read into them what you want...

Comments

[catzslave.livejournal.com]

Fanlib will probably be one of those archive stumbled across and eventually forgotten.

[kurenai-tenka.livejournal.com]

...that's much less satisfying than when they were having huge drops, I must say. =/


Still, it's quite funny when they profess to be fanfiction's 'new home' and you compare them and ff.net XD

[scarah2.livejournal.com]

Taking us all by storm.

[oconel]

Thanks for posting these!

[icarusancalion.livejournal.com]

This is fascinating. I have another interesting statistic that I'd love to know, but given I'm going to finals next week I so should not even touch FanLib or any controversy until at least June 6th.

How many authors are posting these stories? I was told by someone in the Highlander fandom that there were 40 Highlander fics -- and all of them by the same author.

I did Stargate Atlantis a few days ago, which had 137 stories at the time:

52 - reefgirl (who is not found at the two largest Stargate archives, Wraithbait (http://www.wraithbait.com/authors.php?list=authors&let=C&let=R) and Area52 (http://www.area52hkh.net/authorsql.php), but can be found at non-fandom hub ff.net (http://www.fanfiction.net/~reefgirl))
34 - cpt_ritter (who is also not found at Wraithbait (http://www.wraithbait.com/authors.php?list=authors&let=C&offset=40) and Area52 (http://www.area52hkh.net/authorsql.php), sho can also be found at ff.net (http://www.fanfiction.net/u/544784/))

The remaining stories were posted in ones and twos by 18 other authors, with the exception of venom69 who posted in the mid-range of 13 stories.

So two-thirds of the SGA stories were by the same two authors. Now you'll always have authors who've written a huge number of stories. But when you look at a number like 137 the natural assumption is "wow, 137 authors" when in fact they've netted only 21 out of the roughly 855 (www.wraithbait.com) SGA authors.

Based on where they post, as near as I can tell, these are fanfic writers who are outside the fandom community. Not just outside LJ, but outside the other main archives for the Atlantis fandom as well. This supports what fans have noticed, that they don't recognize the people posting in FanLib.

If I had lots of time, I'd cross-reference the authors to see how the number of authors shrinks once you take into account authors who write crossovers (those get counted twice) and multiple fandoms.

Icarus

[elf]

I want to push myself into writing another dozen "TV Commercials" ficlets, 'cos I think the "misc" fandom is neglected, and I'd love for it to be on their main page, or at least on the first page of fannish listings.

I'm considering grabbing some incredibly obscure fandom like "Rocky Horror Picture Show" and writing two dozen drabbles, just to make it be competitive with Law & Order and Heroes. (Aww, c'mon, tell me it wouldn't bring giggles to think of Fanlib as "the prime source of Rocky Horror fic on the web.")

[icarusancalion.livejournal.com]

Heh.

I'm sort of wondering how they'll deal with a Gandalf/Teletubbies NC-17 BDSM bloodplay fic and am tempted to write one and post it there -- if the mere idea didn't make me want to spork my eyes out. (Both posting on FanLib and writing Gandalf/Teletubbies NC-17 BDSM bloodplay. I'd have to watch the Teletubbies and I don't think I can deal.)

Icarus

[shalom]

Oh my, I'd keep you in chocolate supply if you could actually write enough to get RHPS slash up there. The idea of FL being "the prime source of Rocky Horror fic on the web" cracks me up.

[lttledvl.livejournal.com]

Not just outside LJ, but outside the other main archives for the Atlantis fandom as well.

*raises a sheepish hand*

I take full credit for being that +1 stat for SGA. I haven't ventured to wraithbait or area 51 in a long while, I'll admit. But then again, I've written a whooping 2 SGA fics. But I suppose that's no excuse...

[icarusancalion.livejournal.com]

I only checked FanLib's two most prolific SGA authors, given they've written enough (52 stories? That's a lot), if they'd posted outside of ff.net they should have at least turned up on the radar at least.

Icarus

[freifraufischer.livejournal.com]

So out of curiousity I went and dug through the Stargate Atlantis stories to physically count the authors (not easily because of the way FanLib is organized--not doing this again ;))

Please understand that these numbers may have errors in them because I had to count by hand...

12 authors total

Most prolific:

illman - 8
cpt_ritter - 34
reefgirl - 52
the_nobel_french_fry - 5
venom69 - 13

Now I've only floated on the edges of SGA fandom for a while, was active in the first year or so... but .. I dont' recognize any of those names. Supports your theory.

[icarusancalion.livejournal.com]

What I have from the other day are:

reefgirl - 52
cpt_ritter - 34
venom69 - 13
illman - 8
jaina - 4
jdll - 4
lovinjakson - 4

Then padme4000, jenwryn, gremblin, sabaceanbabe with 3 each
Briar Elwood, meredith, and cybersyd with 2 each
And theninth, wereleopard, jess13, louiseifer as single fic authors.

Who are these people?

[melyanna.livejournal.com]

Based on where they post, as near as I can tell, these are fanfic writers who are outside the fandom community. Not just outside LJ, but outside the other main archives for the Atlantis fandom as well. This supports what fans have noticed, that they don't recognize the people posting in FanLib.

I've not looked at all the authors freifraufischer dug up, but cpt_ritter is a Sheppard/Teyla shipper (I want to say reefgirl is as well, but I'm not sure) and venom_69 is a Sheppard/Weir shipper. Both het shippers, in other words, and it's really not uncommon in Atlantis fandom for het shippers to stay away from the larger fandom places. The vast majority of the fandom is made up of slash (specifically Sheppard/McKay), so there are those who don't bother with the big places because they can get what they want with the smaller places.

I mean, I'm into het and gen myself, and I just don't bother with the bigger LJ communities because the things I want to see from those communities come through the smaller ones too.

If I remember correctly, both Wraithbait and Area 52 were founded by slash fen and weren't as heavily promoted in the het side of the fandom. (Someone correct me if I'm wrong, but I really don't see a whole lot of links to fics on Wraithbait and almost never to Area 52.) Not to say there's no het on those sites, but that would probably be why neither of those authors have posted there. I've written well over 50 stories in the fandom, not including an ongoing collaborative project with two other writers, and none of my work appears on Wraithbait or Area 52. Primarily out of laziness, I admit, but also because I'm not there very often to read either.

Anyway. This was a roundabout way of saying that yes, I agree with you that the fact that this handful of authors has posted a huge chunk of stories doesn't bode well for FanLib's prospects. However, the fact that these authors aren't on the fandom's major archives or LJ communities probably doesn't mean that they're unimportant in their corner of fandom either.

[stewardess.livejournal.com]

The massive numbers of fic by single authors is, I think, explained by the prizes FanLib offered back in March. They offered one point per story. Authors got a $50 Amazon certificate, an iPod nano, and the dreaded T-shirt.

The authors who received invites learned up front they would be rewarded for posting loads of crap. That must have attracted authors with many stories, so they ended up over-represented.

OT geography rant

[scarah2.livejournal.com]

I didn't know what 4400 was, so I looked it up in Wikipedia. This debate might be old meme if you're in the fandom.

In the pilot episode, what is originally thought to be a comet deposits a group of exactly 4400 people at Highland Beach, in the Cascade Range foothills near Mount Rainier, Washington.

I know that Mount Rainier is generally considered to be a part of the Cascade Range, but it's like two hours away. That does not describe where it is, besides narrowing it down to half a state (a state which is roughly the size of France).

Re: OT geography rant

[freifraufischer.livejournal.com]

It's a Vancouver production set in Seattle. I included it as a "not white hot" fic fandom but a growing fandom as a whole, currently airing show that's about to start it's 4th season.

And it involves people with super powers which has great potential for smut. Much like Heroes.

Actually a show I rather like, but should be picked up from the beginning, watching random third season episodes is a recipe for comfusion.

Re: OT geography rant

[icarusancalion.livejournal.com]

Not to mention I wouldn't call the area around it "foothills." Yakima? Rainier valley?

[freifraufischer.livejournal.com]

I should probably add... I picked the 11 I'm tracking to get a good range of fandoms. If anyone wants another fandom or two added to the list hit me and just tell me (briefly, doens't need to be a long explaination) why and I'll add it to my tracking list.

[scarah2.livejournal.com]

Seems like a good range to me. It has the biggest ones, and a few smaller ones just for contrast.

[lttledvl.livejournal.com]

can i ask who you picked?

[icarusancalion.livejournal.com]

Your selection looks good to me. You're certainly hitting the most active fandoms I've seen.

Icarus

[prettyshiny.livejournal.com]

FanLib has also recently changed its TOS, trying to pacify the writers who were surprisingly upset at the idea of giving away free license to plagiarists. Unless I'm misunderstanding the legalese, of course.

http://www.fanlib.com/termsOfUse.do

[lttledvl.livejournal.com]

*headdesk*

I just wrote a comment about the TOS and LJ barfed on it. All text lost...

cripes...

On a different note, an interesting comparison on the reader base (or lack thereof):

I posted an SGA fic on FanLib on Friday, June 1st.
I have 5 views *whoopie*.

Yesterday, I put the same story on Wraithbait, June 2nd.
As of right now, it currently has 467 views.

Not hard to figure out where all the readers hang...

[lttledvl.livejournal.com]

Oh and on that note, I'm beginning to suspect that there is some falsification of numbers going on.

Case in point; there are 3 stories that appear under the 'newest' section with a publication date of date that already have over a hundred views.

I didn't realize that Pirates of the Caribbean, Inuyasha and Gilmore Girls were some of the popular fandoms...

Let's see; number of fics in these fandoms:
Pirates of the Caribbean (109)
Gilmore Girls (96)
Inuyasha (49)

Um...at last look, Harry Potter (552), Supernatural (188), CSI (182), Stargate: SG-1 (161), Buffy: The Vampire Slayer (152) and Stargate: Atlantis (144) all are at the top popular spots.

Hell, even Original Fandom (125) comes in higher than these three. Where in the hell are they getting these readers from?

[lttledvl.livejournal.com]

publication date of date that already

sorry, that should be date of today