What makes a story successful?

I think like any good fiction a good spanking story needs to be about the characters and not just about the spanking. The players really need to be relatable to the reader. When a story works for me I find myself thinking, that could be me or yes, I'd love to meet this person in real life.

I think you hit it on the head with that ChardT

We have a winner! This is the key right here. I would add, though, that it's not necessary to feel exclusively positive towards the characters; they just need to be interesting. Unlike in real life, I think it's great when a fictional character makes me feel furious or frustrated or depressed, even more than if they make me happy.