Let’s be honest with ourselves—we all want feedback for our fics. Pageviews are awesome of course, but they don’t tell us the whole story. It can be hard to judge from a number count whether people actually like the content you’re putting out or whether they were reaching for the back button within 1 second of clicking on your fic.

So if you’re wondering how to get more comments on your stories, here are 5 tips from a seasoned review-hound:

1. Clean up your act – If you’re experiencing a woeful dearth of reviews, the first thing to make sure of is that your story passes the badfic litmus test. Correct spelling and grammar are obvious and essential; however, some characteristics of badfic are more insidious, and you may need to do some soul-searching in order to snuff them out.

   

   A badfic may get flamed by a reader who’s particularly bored or spiteful, but in general, people aren’t going to waste their time commenting on a piece-of-garbage story. Can you blame them?

2. Up your summary game – The importance of a good summary cannot be stressed enough. I’m going to use a fishing analogy here, since I’m old and like that sort of thing: You wouldn’t expect to catch a nice fat trout with a bare hook or a piece of boot leather. In much the same way, you’re not going to lure in readers (and by extension, reviewers) with a mediocre fic description. The summary is your hook—your ONE CHANCE to grab your audience’s attention and reel them in.

   

   Okay, enough with the fishing metaphors. But the point remains—put time and effort into writing an eye-catching summary. Your fic deserves it!

3. Share the love – No, it’s not a Jedi mind-trick—give reviews to get reviews. We’re all (or at least most of us are) trying to become better at our craft. Give solid feedback on the stories you’re reading, and your fellow authors will be inclined to return the favor. Not to mention your conscience will be clear whenever you grumble to yourself about people reading but not reviewing.

   

4. Show your gratitude – Okay so you’ve gotten some reviews—congrats! Now the question is, how to keep them coming? Thanking your reviewers is not only a nice thing to do—it lets them know that you value their feedback, and they’ll be more likely to continue sharing their thoughts in the future. I know this takes time, and not all of us have it to spare, but your reviewers are taking the time to comment, so try to make an effort as much as you can—especially if someone leaves you a lengthy review.
5. Ask (nicely) – It never hurts to ask for feedback! Just don’t be obnoxious about it. And for God’s sake, don’t hold your fic “ransom” until you get X number of reviews. It’s juvenile, petty and bound to backfire just from the sheer off-putting-ness of it.

   

   Instead, politely ask for readers to share their thoughts and reactions, especially if there’s a particular part of the chapter you’d like feedback on. Engaged readers are more likely to respond—and keep responding. So pose thoughtful questions and invite your readers to answer.

If you’ve followed this advice and are still hearing crickets, my final tip is this: be patient. It takes time to build up a following, especially if you’re brand new to the scene. But keep putting good work and good vibes out into the universe, and the fanfiction community will take notice.

Have some tips of your own? Feel free to share! <3