How do you find out how many readers you have? I imagine with books, you know my sales when your check comes in, but how would you find out your sales before you've earned back your advance? Is this something you can ask you publisher? With the short fiction and short creative nonfiction I've published, I know how roughly many subscribers these places have, but when something is also or only online, is there a way to find out how much love your writing is getting? Can you ask your publisher or is that weird? I'm not even sure what's considered good or bad by these places when it comes to online readers so how would I figure that out? Like if they say, Oh, your piece got 1,000 clicks the month it was published, is that good? Would I have to ask if that was good? Maybe other pieces are getting 5,000 clicks. And maybe I have something like 12 clicks. I don't know. I've recently sold a few pieces to paces that have published me online. I was paid a decent amount for my work so the editor and publisher obviously thought I would do well, but I honestly don't know what that really means, and I would like to know more about how I am doing, how my published work is doing. I'm looking forward to my next fiction publication coming out this fall. That one will just be in print, but I won't have to go crazy trying to get followers on twitter and more shares on Facebook. I don't even know how much I really need to be self promoting my own work. I just want to do well, and I want the opportunities I've been given to lead to more opportunities. Has anyone here asked a publisher or editor directly how your published work is doing? Any tips on how to go about this are much appreciated. I don't want to look foolish or unprofessional. I feel like the other writers they publish aren't asking these questions. But I really want to know if my writing means anything in this big world.
I haven't been in that exact situation but when I made videos for a company I asked for/received details about how it was received. How many people watched/for how long. I think it's completely appropriate that you ask for that information. Ask how your clicks compare to others. You can suggest you want the information in order to understand what the readers enjoyed more or less. I'm sure they are keeping track and have the information on hand.
In your case I think you'd have to ask. When I was putting out the drabbles regularly, I had an audience of about 1000 and about 2-300 of those reading each one - but I knew those numbers because I was the one in charge of the Facebook account and the e-mail list, so I could see the viewing stats and open rates. Without that kind of access, I don't see how you can tell.
I'm moving this to the Publishing forum, as it isn't about the writer's craft. Anyways, seems to me that as a party to the publishing contract, you have every right to share in the readership stats, however they are compiled. Who is it at the publishers whom you talk to about disbursements? He or she would be a good place to start. And, as I'm sure you're doing already, ignore the comedians.
