In response to yesterday’s Week in Review post, in which I wrote about taking a deep dive through our historical data and readership stats, Guy Stewart asks, “…now what do you do with THAT?”
We’re still digesting all we learned, and still in talks with our financial backers to determine how best to take Stupefying Stories and Rampant Loon Press forward into 2025. Like ordering a fresh bowl of Caldo de Camarón, though, the moment the data arrived on our table, we were surprised to find some obvious things staring us right in the face.
The only deep backlist posts that still get significant attention are old articles, and for some reason, certain movie reviews. That, and “Remembering the Future: 40 Years with ‘Cyberpunk’,” of course. It seems a lot of people are still far more interested in hearing me talk about “Cyberpunk” than I am in talking about it. I suppose this means I should consider reviving the “Ask Dr. Cyberpunk” column.
Sigh.
Another thing that emerged from the deep dive is the notion that I really need to pay more attention to the shifts in reader dynamics. The differences between the 7-day, 30-day, and 90-day readership stats suggest trends that are not always obvious. Some stories generate tremendous buzz for a few days, and then drop off the charts and vanish, never to be read again. Others don’t generate as much excitement when they’re first published, but have “legs,” to use the marketing term, and continue to pick up new readers for weeks and even months after first publication. These are the authors and stories I believe I want to focus on finding and nurturing.
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We can push backlist stories. For example, after we published The Pete Wood Challenge Index of all the PWC stories published so far, these four stories saw a sudden belated bump in readership.
“A Nightingale Sings,” by Sylvia Heike
“There is Only One Black Cat,” by Pauline Barmby
“The Annual Times Square Paint Dry, by Larry Hodges
Why these old stories are suddenly interesting to someone, though, and who’s reading them, remains a mystery.
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One inescapable fact that emerged from this deep dive is that no one is paying any attention to any of our archive and legacy websites, excepting perhaps some bots and A.I. crawlers. Therefore, it’s time at last to say goodbye to our old SHOWCASE webzine site—but before we do, here is your last chance to read these selected stories from October 2014.
“Till Death Us Do Part,” by E.N. Loizis
Jennifer stared at the man sitting across from her. “Excuse me?”
“I’m a vampire.”
“As in… dead?”
“We prefer the term undead.”
“Back from the Dead,” by John Lance
The crowd of angry villagers outside the iron gate was impressive.
Cassius spotted pitchforks, clubs, and torches. He felt flattered.
He drew himself up to his full height. “Yes, it is I, Cassius the
Necromancer. What brings you to my home?”
The sheriff stepped forward. “Begging your pardon, we’re at the
wrong address. Do you know where this fellow Frankenstein lives?
He’s been causing a lot of trouble lately.”
Cassius tried to hide his disappointment. “I’m dangerous, too,”
he said in a sad voice no one heard…
“The Pro Turned Weird,” by Stephen Lickman
Dr. Edward “Eddie” McDaniels knew that if there were two things
that went together, it was horrible weather and the revenge-obsessed
undead. “Rain,” he sighed. “It’s always rain with these jerks.
Couldn’t one show up in Tahiti in December?”
“A Failure to Communicate,” by Phil Temples
On a morning in late October, the alien stepped out of his
spaceship and into the bright morning sun in the Boston
Commons. “Hello, Earthling,” he said to the first human
he met.
She eyed him suspiciously. “Nice costume.”
“Excuse me?”
“This Cat Must Die!” by Jason Lairamore
The heavy ceramic angel sitting high on the shelf was perfect
for what Sham had in mind. That fat orange cat had to die.
Its death was the only way he could become a real ghost, and
get on with the job he was here to do—scaring people.
“Disclaimer,” by Bret McCormick
Thank you for pressing the “Accept” option on the
previous page and legally completing the transfer of
ownership rights and obligations of authorship in the
work of fiction entitled, My Five Minutes in Hell,
penned by Howard Phillips Derbury in 1952…
“The Thing About Analyn,” by David Steffen
In retrospect, I should have realized there was something
bizarre about Analyn much earlier than I did…
I’d been born and raised in sunny Florida, so isn’t it ironic
that the one thing I fear most in life is a night-stalking
bloodsucker? I’ve spent many nights staring out my
bedroom window, at eyes glaring back at me from the trees…
THIS WEEK ONLY! FREE E-BOOK GIVEAWAY!
SUNDAY 10/27 ~ THURSDAY 10/31!
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