paper bones

content type.

people tend to go for short works, like drabbles, ficlets, and headcanons ! that doesn’t mean that you shouldn’t post fics and series, though. they just don’t do as well as the short ones. usually, these long types take more time to get notes, especially if you’re not that big of a blog.

time.

the best time to post on tumblr, based on my experience, is 5 - 11 pm, GMT+8. not-so-best would be 10 am - 3 pm :)

self - reblogs & the queue.

notes are important ! they serve as both motivation and exposure. the more reblogs a fic has, the more likely it is to be shown on the search results. so, on that note, do self - reblogs ! i usually srb on a 3-6 basis. meaning, for example, i publish a post at 6 pm. i queue srbs for 9 pm (3 hours later), 12 am (6 hrs later), 6 am, 12 pm, and 6 pm !

taglist.

make a taglist ! sometimes, even with srbs, a lot of followers miss your posts and content. so, to ensure that more people do see it, make a taglist ! this is basically a list of people that want to be tagged everytime you post. i have my taglist linked to my navigation, so check it out there if you’d like a reference :)

tags.

use the tags ! they’re what get you discovered. remember that although you can include up to 30 tags in a post, only the first 20 work. if you have a fic that you’d like to put more than 20 tags in, you can include them in the other self reblogs, that’d work too.

something i wish i knew before, which i’d like to tell you as well !

if you’re a small blog, don’t expect the notes to garner as fast as the blogs you follow.

there is no shame in self - reblogs !

not all your works get as many notes as you’d like them to get. sometimes, it happens to the fics you’re really proud of. that’s ok ! it really can be demotivating, and i’m not sure how you can make yourself feel better when this happens ; but i usually just ignore it and think about the posts that did do well.