How to Become Popular on Fanfiction.Net

Last Updated: August 10, 2021 Approved

Fanfiction.net (or FFN for short) has over one million members, with at least 1,000 different submissions/updates being submitted every day. The question is, how do you become popular on the site?

Steps

1
Choose a category. Normally, the category that you choose is basically one portion of the community, and it is in this section that you will become popular. Make sure it is reasonably known, but try not to choose one that is too big to start with.
2
Start writing for that category. Start with a one-shot, and take on board the constructive criticism that comes in.
3
Review other people's fictions. Make sure you don't just write 'great story! Update soon!', leave a well-balanced, constructive review that people will remember if and when they see it.
4
Try to write a big story, with different ideas. Make sure it's not stereotypical to that section, e.g. one of the main characters falling in love with your own character. Go for something completely out there, that other people will be interested in.
5
Make friends with the people that leave you reviews. Reply to them and thank them for their advice. Take a look at some of their stories and review them. If you like what you read, add them to your 'favourite authors' list.
6
Ask some of your new friends if they'd like to collaborate on a story. This can be done by each of you sending chapters to one another to read and edit, and then one of you uploading it. Collaboration stories often get a lot of attention from readers, particularly if all/most of the authors are well known.
7
Keep writing interesting stories and one-shots. More and more people will flock to your work, and eventually you will become well-known on that sector of the community of FFN.

Community Q&A

Question

How do you get a beta?

Community Answer

On the site's main headers tab, along with "browse," there will be a drop down menu saying "Betas." Select your category to view available beta readers. If you find one interesting, send them a request and wait for them to acknowledge it.
Question

I don't have even one follower and none of my family members or friends at even acquaintances read fanfiction. How do I get followers?

Community Answer

Start in a large fandom and be an active follower and reviewer of other stories. Keep writing and publishing.
Question

How do I add line breaks and how long should a multichapter fanfiction story be?

NinjaKiki3 Fun

Community Answer

You can add line breaks by pushing shift and enter at the same time. A multichapter fanfiction story can be however long you want it to be, it just depends on how long you want it to be. I would suggest 5 to 20 chapters, as this isn’t too much. But if you do more than 5, I would suggest only uploading 1 or 2 chapters a week.
Question

How can you upload a new character to FanFiction.net?

Farella Robinson

Community Answer

Login, then go to "publish stories," then "manage stories." Click "content/chapters," then "new chapter."
Question

What should I do to make a good response message when on Fancfiction.net?

Community Answer

Don't write a short review. Try to write a couple of sentences to a paragraph. Think about how to give constructive criticism without sounding too harsh, yet getting the point across. Don't forget to praise and compliment them. Never insult or be rude, give feedback that isn't 'good job'. Instead, go for 'I really liked how you...maybe you could have...instead'. If you would like to be more formal, leave your pen name at the bottom, or address them as 'Dear...'. The article said to make new friends, so in the spirit of that ask to PM them if they want to talk more. Don't sound pushy - only say what you are comfortable with, based off of their narrative voice in author's notes.