My stats after nearly 8 months as an Original Works poster
So, after years as a lurker I started posting my original stories on AO3 on the 23rd of September 2025.
My main storyline is a near-future hard sci-fi revolving mostly around an m/m couple of adoptive brothers atm but I also have a vampire AU posted in which they aren't step-siblings and that one has the most engagement (left the "vampire AU" visible to find it easier. Finished posting on the 20th of March) together with a series of illustrations I did for a diff entry (og being right under the vampire AU. Posted on Jan 5)
Except than in April (had to catch up after spending 3 months working on a contest) I posted around 1ch/week or 1 every 2 weeks at need. The last work in the screenshot was posted a few hours ago (chp1/3).
I want to premise that while ofc I'd love to know what people think of my blorbos I find these to be good stats. I didn't start posting for engagement. I post for archival and therapeutic reasons (I'm fighting my social anxiety and started posting on AO3 specifically because I knew original works are stuff a lot of people don't even remember being a thing and having no social media presence beside using Tumblr for updates people finding me is left to pure chance).
The reason I'm sharing this is to help a few people put things in perspective. I've seen several of you worry that your story isn't good because you got low stats for your fandom when maybe you got a hundred hits in a week.
I likely have not read your story but I read many stories with stellar engagement I couldn't get to the end of and just as many with 5 hits and stellar plot and execution.
Sometimes, your story simply has not found its audience yet.
Maybe you didn't get a kudos or bookmark or comment because the person who loved it is shy or has friends or family who would get insufferable if they see the tags.
And sometimes you happened to post when the main demographic for your fandom is going through a busy time like a national holiday or exams seasons or whathaveyou.
Take pride in your achievements, however small they may be. Put down items to remind yourself of how many people those hits and comments and kudos are. I saw someone putting rubber ducks on their bed to get an idea of the size of their audience and found that an amazing idea.
Find writing friends to share the creative process with since we do thrive with sharing (IRL or online, thru forums and servers) and keep writing because it's fun and eventually you'll find your wider people. One of my teachers (art academy) spent over a decade posting her necronomicon fancomic on DeviantART as a hobby and now she's a very well known face in lovecraftian circles with several commercial projects and con invites under her belt.
You got this, even when it doesn't seem like it. We all do.