Most Commented Stories List

That's absolutely the reason. Too few people look at the older stories, and sometimes when they do, it's because they liked a newer story by the author they caught on the front page. Try something new - I'm betting you'll see more comments.

I agree, KJM. You get lost in the dusty archives unless you post. Publish or perish as they say. But when you post new things and attract readers then they search out your old ones. I still see people reading things like "Atonement" and "A Very Bright Girl" and such and those are 8-10 years old.

I do notice that when a story - new or old - attracts one comment, it usually gets more. This may be partly because it's comment-worthy, but not entirely, I think, especially since some of these are old stories that originally sunk without trace. Someone discovers the story, comments on it, and then others follow. Certainly that's welcome and I enjoy reading comments on my work, but that's because they actually have something to say.