# How do you pimp your story hour?



## Rune (Aug 23, 2002)

Well, it's about time for another question about Story Hour Theory, so here it is:

What do you do to get people to notice?

Personally, I have one of mine linked in my sig, but mostly  just do stories so I know what to develop for the next session.  They're my prep notes, essentially.


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## Knightfall (Aug 23, 2002)

Rune said:
			
		

> *Well, it's about time for another question about Story Hour Theory, so here it is:
> 
> What do you do to get people to notice?
> 
> Personally, I have one of mine linked in my sig, but mostly  just do stories so I know what to develop for the next session.  They're my prep notes, essentially. *




Sig pimping, baby.

Hey Rune, you think some of the die hard writer's out there might find this Poll in bad taste too.  I guess we'll see.


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## Xaltar (Aug 24, 2002)

Could you describe a pimping sig.?  I think that I may have seen one or two of those around.


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## drnuncheon (Aug 25, 2002)

You forgot "I start threads to find out how other people pimp their story hours and then _casually_ mention mine..."

J


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## the Jester (Aug 25, 2002)

You guys are all pimps with your big banner ads and links and stuff.

Heck, I don't do any of that stuff; I rely on reverse psychology.

By the way, I update frequently.


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## Samnell (Aug 25, 2002)

I pimp my dead story hour in my sig and nowhere else. Maybe I'll have a new one one of these days and pimp more widely. I did back in Meepo's heyday.


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## Rune (Aug 25, 2002)

drnuncheon said:
			
		

> *You forgot "I start threads to find out how other people pimp their story hours and then casually mention mine..."
> 
> J *




Gee, I _did_ forget that, didn't I?  My bad.


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## Knightfall (Aug 25, 2002)

This is how I pimp my Story Hour.

http://enworld.cyberstreet.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=21948


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## Sialia (Aug 25, 2002)

Me? pimp?  you must be joking.


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## Bob Aberton (Aug 25, 2002)

*I?  Pimp my storyhour?*

...But now that you mention it, read my Elfblood Wanderers Storyhour!  

On the first page now for a limited time!  Would give a link but can't quite figure out how to do a link!


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## Rune (Aug 25, 2002)

*Re: I?  Pimp my storyhour?*



			
				Bob Aberton said:
			
		

> *...But now that you mention it, read my Elfblood Wanderers Storyhour!
> 
> On the first page now for a limited time!  Would give a link but can't quite figure out how to do a link!
> 
> *




Like this:

 The Elfblood Wanderers--New Story Hour!![url]

only with the last tag having a */* before the *url*


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## Jeremy (Aug 25, 2002)

Heh.  Hey look!  There's 3 Piratecats or Wulfs.


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## NiTessine (Aug 25, 2002)

I stick it in my .sig, occasionally mention it in the chat room, and try to get my players to finally register and post in the thread every time I do an update. 
I just did, by the way. Check it out. http://enworld.cyberstreet.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=14270


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## Wulf Ratbane (Aug 25, 2002)

Jeremy said:
			
		

> *Heh.  Hey look!  There's 3 Piratecats or Wulfs. *




Piratecat must have accidentally voted twice with the same Bot identity he uses to surreptitiously jack up his "Thread Views."


Wulf


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## Piratecat (Aug 25, 2002)

Oh, like I didn't email you a copy of the macro.


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## Bob Aberton (Aug 26, 2002)

See the sig.

Good.  Now read the storyhour.


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## Rune (Aug 26, 2002)

Bob Aberton said:
			
		

> *See the sig.
> 
> Good.  Now read the storyhour.
> 
> *




Speaking of pimping story hours in other people's sigs, did you decide not to include Thrallin's


> "Yep. We're dwarves, Brunta." Thrallin’s voice is calm and slow, as if he is explaining to a little tyke the nature of the world. "We kill things. That's what we do. We mine, we smith, an' we kill."




in your sig?

Not that I'm pressuring you, or anything


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## ForceUser (Aug 26, 2002)

In the sig, but I have some house rules: I never pimp in someone else's story hour thread, and I never pimp the sig more than once in any single thread. 

Sig pimp coming........now.


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## jonrog1 (Aug 26, 2002)

Nontraditional title is the key.  I went to Force User's because of the Vietnamese variation, "Posy" just struck me as delightfully whimsical.  Basically, when we look at the page o' titles, what makes yours jump out?


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## Xaltar (Aug 26, 2002)

Cash is usually a good motivator.  

Perhaps offering money to readers would be a good way to pimp your story hour.


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## (contact) (Aug 26, 2002)

I roll slow in my cherry land cruiser with gold rims and running lights after I get my hair done, and make sure all them story hours _get my money_.

Pimpin' ain't easy.


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## Rune (Aug 26, 2002)

(contact) said:
			
		

> *I roll slow in my cherry land cruiser with gold rims and running lights after I get my hair done, and make sure all them story hours get my money.
> 
> Pimpin' ain't easy. *




(contact), these boards would be a far duller place without you!


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## Knightfall (Aug 27, 2002)

Rune said:
			
		

> *What do you do to get people to notice?*




Another option that should have been included is providing visual aids such as character portraits and maps of your campaign world.

Oh, that reminds me.  Check out the character portrait of Dabuk Tigerstorm and Bactra Redwind drawn by Kip the Bold in my World of Kulan Story Hour (about three quarters of the way down).  I've also added a link to one of the maps I created for the campaign with CC2 (jpg image).

Cheers!


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## Jodo Kast (Aug 27, 2002)

*Re: Re: How do you pimp your story hour?*



			
				Knightfall1972 said:
			
		

> *Another option that should have been included is providing visual aids such as character portraits and maps of your campaign world.*




Good idea.  I've posted artwork of the PC Tothla in my _Jodo Kast Does The Adventure Path_ story hour.  It's a custom piece from the famous Claudio Pozas.  His work is most choice, if you have the means I highly recommend it.


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## Knightfall (Aug 27, 2002)

*Re: Re: Re: How do you pimp your story hour?*



			
				Jodo Kast said:
			
		

> *
> 
> Good idea.  I've posted artwork of the PC Tothla in my Jodo Kast Does The Adventure Path story hour.  It's a custom piece from the famous Claudio Pozas.  His work is most choice, if you have the means I highly recommend it. *




*MUST... RESIST ... STARTING... TO READ... ANOTHER... STORY... HOUR!*  Just kidding!  

Nice character portrait though.  I'll have to take a look at this one sometime.  So Jodo, have you checked out mine yet?  

It's like (contact) said: _Pimpin' ain't easy._

{EDIT}

And if you have then have you voted for your favorite World of Kulan character yet?

http://enworld.cyberstreet.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=21948


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## Rune (Aug 27, 2002)

*Re: Re: How do you pimp your story hour?*



			
				Knightfall1972 said:
			
		

> *
> 
> Another option that should have been included is providing visual aids such as character portraits and maps of your campaign world.
> 
> ...




Now that you mention it, I've just posted a picture of my interpretation of Ocean Deeply Sleeps in mourning from my  The Runic Storyhour: An Oriental Adventure in The Dream .

Check it out!


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## Jodo Kast (Aug 27, 2002)

I read NiTessine's _Dungeons & Warhammers_ thread for the first time today and really enjoyed it, it is extremely well written.  NiTessine had posted a kind reply to my _Jodo Kast Does The Adventure Path_ story hour, so I checked out his story hour and loved it.  I might not have ever checked it otherwise, because I know nothing about Warhammer and so the title did not intrigue me.

The same can be said for Horacio, who has a solid superhero story hour going on that I might have missed if Horacio had not posted so frequently to my old story hour.  So I think the best way to pimp your story hour might be to post encouragement on the story hours of other authors.  

Knightfall, I will check yours out tomorrow or Wednesday, depending on my schedule.  Of course, if you happen to post to mine it will remind me to be sure to check yours out!


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## Xaltar (Aug 28, 2002)

I get my players to help me pimp as well.  They have created uniform banners for the party, and other great things like this flash intro:

http://www.spacefortress.com/doc.swf 

and some interesting art (Like our halfling thief going nuts with a wand of wonder!):


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## Lars Frehse (Aug 29, 2002)

I am always naked when I post an update, but noone seems to notice.


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## Rel (Aug 30, 2002)

I think that this category "I use other writers' names in my story hour titles!" may have been originated by me.

Plus, I have it in my sig.  I even use God's name!  And worse yet, I haven't updated my SH in over a month (which I'll hopefully remedy this weekend).  

Dude, I'm goin' ta' hell.


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## Xaltar (Aug 30, 2002)

Nice sig Rel.  

I was in that Star Wars campaign, and that was one crazy Wookie!


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## Lazybones (Aug 30, 2002)

I'm on semi-hiatus right now (SH burnout), but when I was writing regularly, my answer was: volume.  

For six months I think my average was a post every 2 days.  Before you ask where I found the time to write so much, let me just say that my job is REALLY boring.  

People couldn't turn around without running into a "Travels through the Wild West" thread, and I think I got most of my readers by people misclicking while trying to get to Piratecat or Wulf and their paltry once-a-week-maybe updates.

Of course, volume's also the number one reason why people DON'T read my story hour (too much material!), but hey, them's the breaks.  

I tried posting a teaser thread on General, but got about 6 views or so (and I think those were all from my bumps).  I should have titled the thread "Sixteen reasons why the Forgotten Realms is the bestest ever campaign setting". 

Seriously, though, I have links to all my threads in my sig, post the full compilation on Morrus's hosting page, and post frequently in other folks' threads (genuine commentary, not mere pimpin'  ).  The last seems to be the best method, as there is sort of an unwritten reciprocal-reading code going on here (hey, it worked for Horacio--just about every writer on this board is indebted to him for bumps!).


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## Milo Windby (Aug 31, 2002)

I'm a sig man myself.  I have to say that I see a depressing amount of hits on my storyhour though.  Maybe I should start pimping through other means.


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## (contact) (Sep 1, 2002)

Lars Frehse said:
			
		

> *I am always naked when I post an update, but noone seems to notice. *




I noticed.  (winks)


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## Knightfall (Sep 1, 2002)

Here's another way I pimp my story hour.  I quote other story hour author's who have posted in my thread.  For example:

*Taboo:* _Great update. I could almost picture it in my mind and that's the kind of writing I like to read.

The emotions were there. Really excellent. I can't wait for the next one!_


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## ThePsionicist (Sep 1, 2002)

Shouldn't that be Piratecat, Wulf or Sepulchrave?  After all, Sepulchrave is only behind those two in total thread views, and his story hour hasn't been around nearly as long as Piratecats or Wulf.  But maybe I'm just a fanatic.


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## Lars Frehse (Sep 2, 2002)

(Contact), oh, you did notice... That is good. I was about to wonder whether I am freezing of my balls here for nothing!


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## Carnifex (Sep 2, 2002)

Well, I pimp by posting stuff on General, or as I have just done by posting links in more widely-read story hours like Piratecat's


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## (contact) (Sep 2, 2002)

Lars Frehse said:
			
		

> *(Contact), oh, you did notice... That is good. I was about to wonder whether I am freezing of my balls here for nothing! *




You know, I got a pair of story hours that'll keep you warm.  Fine ass ones, too-- not them raggedy story hours from around the way.

The Risen Goddess and The Liberation of Tenh.

And while we're on the topic of pimpin', here's an excerpt from the Risen Goddess Story Hour:



> _From Chapter 35, Play On, Play On._
> 
> The duo make their way to Southspur, Ratik’s “troublesome district”, and are accosted along their way by a gaudily dressed fellow who warns the duo that he’ll brook no competition on his turf. Indy is completely baffled by the man’s hostility, but Kyreel understands his meaning.
> 
> ...


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## Lars Frehse (Sep 2, 2002)

(Contact), you really *are* the masterpimp in here!


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## Knightfall (Sep 2, 2002)

(contact), that was cool!

Now, here's another quote from a well known EN Worlder.  This one about my new story hour - Realmsian Dragonstar.



			
				Horacio said:
			
		

> *Wow! That was simply genial  *




Heh!  Thanks again Horacio.

{edit}

BTW, I just posted the conclusion of Book One.


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## Knightfall (Sep 15, 2002)

*P'Cat quote pimping*



			
				Piratecat said:
			
		

> *This just keeps getting better and better!
> 
> Thought: other people may disagree, but I find it easier to read a couple of shorter posts and a few really long ones. Take that for what it's worth.   *




There's no better way to pimp ones story hour then having P'Cat post a positive comment in your story hour.  (I'm sure that goes the same for Wulf and Sep but they've never posted in any of my ongoing ones so I can't say for sure.)

You just can't buy that kind of publicity.  BTW, this was for my Realmsian Dragonstar thread.  Thanks again, P'Cat.

I have to go lie down now... still ill.

Cheers!


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