Listen up, silent majority!

I feel the sting of being criticized for not making more comments and I will do better. I like and appreciate many of the stories.

Let me explain. I am not generally comfortable with stories that have children being spanked, exposed, exploited, or extreme humiliated by adult men. In many stories (for me) the corporeal punishment becomes brutal or sadistic. I am credited with reading many stories but the truth is I will read just enough to determine this story is not for me.


I am more of the man spanks wife or another adult woman (girlfriend, aunt, sister, teacher ...) in a semi- plausible situation. Mom can spank her children, the baby sitter, her husband, sister .... I like role reversal. I like discipline for adults - corner time, mouth soaping, grounding, lines/essays, detailed apologies followed by a good, sound spanking for the misbehaving grown woman.


I am not suggesting you change anything. Please do not feel I want to censor anything. This is part of my excuse for my lack of comments. I will do better.

ckpollman

Before clicking on a story, if you hover your mouse over the content icons, you can see whether it describes adults, teens etc, so if you're only interested in adult spankings you can see at a glance which stories to go for and which to ignore.
Also, if you subscribe to the site (a mere ten dollars a year) you gain access to other facilities including the Search function; once Search is enabled, you can search on a number of parameters - sexual content, age of spankees etc.
Hope that helps.
flopsy

...and there's nothing stopping you from commenting on all the stories that don't contain children Chase that ratio; see it as a challenge! I always try to comment on everything that I read, even if I didn't like the story. I mean, someone put a whole lot of work into writing it and uploading it, all on their unpaid time. It's not that hard to find something to say really. Even if I didn't like it, it might have been well written. Authors are always eager to hear what the readers liked and didn't like about their stories and to get ideas for sequels or improvements, or just how the reader might have wanted it instead. It's like water for a dying man inn the desert to me. Everything, even just a short, kind word helps and gives confirmation that it was worth the trouble for the author.
I mean, I have five stories up this time and this far with a total of 751 views, the comment/view ratio is 0.0079, meaning that not even one out of a hundred felt it worthwhile to comment...

I always felt more comfortable to blend in with the majority and tried to. But this time it makes me a little uncomfortable. And I am trying my best to express myself. Well not my best; but still, I am trying.

I surf few more sites and blogs and it has been going on for few years, hopefully there will be many more. In the past, I was shy to comment. The reasons were very similar to thousand others, so not going there. But once I started to comment, I found it was fun and I really liked it. I even thought about volunteering as an editor, so I can give more input (Thank God, my senses came back).

Now I am enjoying my status as a commenting Deity, so I call it progress . I made my 100th comment few days ago and thought I'd be awarded with an honorary badge but I was a bit disappointed . I guess I'd have to live with just being a commenting Deity, for now.


My VCR was like 2:1 but now it is closer to 3.5:1. I could check old stories for synopsis, orientation etc but with new ones I don't have that luxury and it took a bite there.

There are 2 things that made commenting on every story I enjoyed a bit difficult. If it is an old story, I often find that 1 or more people have already said what I want to say. And sometimes I just enjoy a story, can't explain or pin point why I enjoyed it. But I guess "Good story / Enjoyed it / Good Job" etc are not acceptable. But still there are plenty of opportunities to comment and show your appreciation.

What I am going to say now, I am sure was discussed more than once. But I am going to say it from my perspective and a little bit of experience.

First, we have to pay the writers for their work. The library is free and the writers don't get paid with cash. Our little words of gratitude is their payment. If you don't pay a worker good enough, he will quit. Don't let that happen, without the writers, the library is dead.

Second, make your presence known. Comment on what you enjoyed in a story. Or what you disliked (Though I avoid it myself but it can be also done in a nice, friendly way). Chances are that the writer will keep it in mind and you'll find his/her future works more to your liking. So by commenting on stories, you are essentially improving your experience.

Third, it can be rewarding on a whole new level. When your favorite writer thanks you for your comment, you'll really feel special and sooner or later, it will happen. It can start a new friendship as well where you can make specific requests or ask for sequels. Ordinary fans do that too but you will feel like having a front row seat while others are just a part of the crowd.

In conclusion, Readers and Writers are both part of this library. Our generous writers are doing their part and we should do ours as well. Our comments make the writers appreciated and it usually generates more stories. It is the easiest way to be a part of the development, even if we can't write a story ourselves. And again, commenting is fun and enjoyable. Experience it yourself.

Oh, sorry for taking such a long space.

Sugarcane
You've articulated what many of us authors feel - that comments are a "currency" with with we're paid for our efforts. We value input, plus a connection with our readers. I love the popup exchanges, often only once or twice back and forth, initiated by a comment. A comment that refers even to just a tiny detail (a description, a bit of dialogue, an emotion) can really provide validation for our craft. (But no, you'll never get a sequel out of me; it's just not my "thing")

I agree with blimp. I like feedback from those that read my stories. but I accept the fact that some of them do not want to comment for some reason. My personal rule concerning comments to stories that I've read is - If you have nothing nice to say - then don't say anything. I always read the comments, but I rarely repeat what has already been said. And sometimes a comment points out something that I overlooked as i read the story.

...but it sort of scares me when I just realized that 124 och of 125 readers apparently had nothing nice to say about my most recent uploads...

Other readers say they do this too. I tend to avoid reading previous comments on a story before writing my own, so that my response is really my own. I think it's a shame when commenters write 'Everyone's already said it' - whatever it is, the author's usually happy to hear it again!


You mustn't draw that conclusion, Mr Gloup. I'm sure they'd say extremely nice things if they were inclined to say anything, but as I'm sure you've noticed the comment-rate has been declining for some time - several historically prolific commenters are sadly no longer with us, while the newer generation of readers are perhaps either too busy, too shy or feel too 'entitled' to do it. However, as Triple Top Prize Winner of successive Kilahara Library Story Challenges, you must surely know the delight your stories provide and how much they are appreciated.

Thanks EnglishMaster,

I feel the same, I just didn't want to say it. It doesn't matter if I get ten almost identical comments on the same story, I get just as happy for each and every one of them. It's important for me to know if I did something right, so I can learn what angle that appeals to the average reader. Okay, I write much to please myself, but I don't want to upload a lot of stories that no one likes and would just clog the site. But as long as no one comments, the only way to know if it's a suitable story is to launch a series and see how many that moves on to read the second and third part. So, yes, feedback is extremely important to me, to allow me to stay on the right track.

...and your kind words about my stories probably being appreciated, even though there are fewer and fewer comments, warmed my heart as well

I make it a point to comment, especially if a story piqued my interest. Some probably wish I wouldn't.
I'm also happy to get a reply from the authors.