Matt Johnston <matt2518@gladstone.uoregon.edu> wrote:

The key is quality.  The other fics are very well represented -- they can
get away with lower overall quality because, while the ratios of gems to
duds is lower, the absolute number of gems is higher.  Since there's fewer
VGAi Yaoi fics out there, your VGAi Yaoi fic has to be very very good to
get the attention of a reader who maybe selected your story by mistake.

Actually, I've heard people make the exact opposite argument: since
there are more Ranma fics, you have to write one of higher quality to
get noticed, whereas writing in the less-trodden series will get you at
least some readers. We once took an informal, unscientific survey of
this on RAAF and found people whose experience matched either side of
the argument.

It's a trade-off. Basing your fics on the less-used series will mean you
have fewer potential readers, but also less competition. Personally, I
think it about evens out. Moral: write the best fic you can -- based on
whatever works best -- and don't worry about it.

Oh, and to Seventh Messenger: the reason I, for one, didn't read your
"test fics" is because you're on my list of annoying spammers. Anyone
whose posts start with "Sorry, Tybalt" about half the time does tend to
get ignored.


Gary Kleppe
http://www.execpc.com/~kleppe/comics