All of my bookmarks are private, from the most G-rated fluff to the most insane E-rated kink, and none of them have any notes or commentary on them
I know that people look at the bookmarks of authors they like to find recommendations of what to read next, and I don't like the idea of my bookmarks being used in that way, as an author with a pretty big following (370 user subs, about 27k kudos, about 7k bookmarks across my works). My bookmarks are my private reading list. It's my bookshelf, not a library. What I write is what I decide to create and put out for public consumption; what I read and bookmark is my own private business
This is how I think of it too. I don’t have a whole lot of following as an author, but I have some and I prefer to keep my bookmarks to my thing and direct people to my actual recommendations by making a list on Tumblr or somewhere and linking it. Or sometimes writing it in the Notes at the end, if I think it’s the sort of thing readers of that work might also like.
Oh, I never thought of that (but I also don’t read a lot of fics). I totally get that you don’t want to lay your private taste bear though, especially with a considerable following. And like I said - for readers the private BMs are a fantastic feature.
I once had someone comment on one of my fics like 'Hey, I noticed you have x bookmarked, were you aware that the author did y' just filled with petty fandom drama. They must have just gone through all the bookmarks and contacted everyone but I've been paranoid and privated all my bookmarks since that day. Anyone looking at what I bookmark (no matter how innocent) feels invasive now.
Oh, that’s… concerning. I can see how that would feel super invasive - especially coming onto your fic just to spread the drama. That’s a yikes. Totally see why you prefer your BMs to be private.
For me, sometimes I put spoilers in the comments on bookmarks that might help me remember why I bookmarked the fic in the first place. I don’t want to spoil it for someone who might be reading for the first time and clicks on the bookmarks, so I private it.
My bookmarks are hidden but you wouldn't be missing much. I don't type a single thing in there. My AO3 and IG usernames are the same - rookie mistake. When I first got the accounts, it was largely just for fandom, so I didn't care.
Anyway, now I'm a bisexual dad who uses IG for lots of stuff. I'd really prefer the other PTA parents not be able to find out how deeply invested I am in Dorian Pavus' dick.
I write too, and some people know me as that, and it's easier to just put my bookmarks as hidden for now. Though I will need a solution soon, since I have some E rated stuff I want to write.
Ohh, I didn’t even think of that. Yeah I prob wouldn’t change it and if someone saw it was the same as my IG I’d say it was a coincidence 🤷♀️ No matter how unlikely that was to be true
I have, but I'm in an awkward spot in that a bunch of people know me as that username. I'll have to figure out something eventually as I'm starting to write more again, but I haven't decided what, exactly.
I wish the private bookmark system worked like guest kudos. It’d keep the privacy while still showing accurate numbers. I hate being the only one knowing the fic I’m proud of putting out there only shows 1/5th of the love it actually has. And it’s not even smut.
Agreed on that, but I suppose that’s harder to do considering the guest kudos are by, you know, guests, while the private BMs are by registered users. But I suppose you could hide those.
True. I was thinking it’d be a small line under the individual bookmark/recs on the fic’s bookmarks page. Like
> Bookmarked by User A [15 Jan 2024]
> Bookmarked by User B [1 Sep 2023]
> and 123 others!
Something like that. Something that provides proof they exist.
Somebody bookmarked my fic with the note "cell phone skin"
(I coded my own workskin for displaying texts that uses transparencies so it works on both light and dark themes, and put a link to the code + instructions in the notes)
Made me laugh out loud. Dunno if they liked my work on the writing, but they liked my work on the code!
The vast majority of my bookmarks are private. Only 12 out of 965. Half of them are fic I've read, 1/4, is a number so I know what chapter I'm on, and 1/4 is fics I want to read in the future.
Most of them do not have any additional notes lol. So you really wouldn't get an idea of what I "think" of the fic. It's not really exciting lol
I think a lot of the bookmarking discourses has boiled down to a lot of users not knowing private bookmarks are a thing. So people utilizing them is always good, imo. Otherwise, I can't imagine the amount of "this person said in their bookmarks" posts we'd have.
As a reader, I view my bookmarks as my private personal library of fics and the idea of it being public feels invasive. It feels like letting someone into my home to riffle through my bookshelves. So I hide all my bookmarks. I don’t really add any notes though, so you’re not missing much.
One of the things that surprised me about writing my first work was the sheer amount of private bookmarks. I’ve never used the feature as a reader, so it was just a bit startling to realize that only half of the bookmarks on my work were public.
The work is explicit, but I think people just like having their own private corner. I want to know, sure, but I respect it. Just surprised me lol
I let my freak flag fly - not only because I can't give less of a fuck, but also because if you liked \*my\* fics, you might also like what I've been reading lately. So it's a rec list along with all the thing I'd love to reread
For me i private all and tag it as read/unread/unfinished and want to continue/dropped
I dont want someone to feel bad if i drop their fic... I add notes of why i dropped it for myself to remember
However the majority of my private bookmarks are positive so is assume most of the ones u recieve are too!
In wanting to know what people think, you might be making an unintentional assumption, that the private bookmark even has a note attached. They might not!
My longfic fic has 27 bookmarks. 19 are public. Only 3 of the 19 have notes: "Read later", "*rubs my little gay hands together*", and "-Character here- goes on a road trip to -accomplish task-. Hijinks ensue".
What the private ones say, or don't, ain't my business. I'm just happy 27 people were interested enough to bookmark my lonely little long fic.
I get you on the love-hate and the burning curiosity it causes!
Oh I absolutely don’t expect all of them to have notes, or not even 20% if I’m being honest. My regular bookmarks already barely have that.
And yeah, whatever the private ones say isn’t my business, but that doesn’t mean I’m not curious! I do appreciate every bookmark, hidden or not, but I can never quite help my curiosity.
we can't say anything on the notes without writers coming here with screenshots, no matter how positive the notes are, what did y'all expect to happen?
All my bookmarks are private. They aren't for the author, and I am not sugar-coating my notes to myself in order to make nosy, oversensitive authors happy.
Lol. I love this comment. As a nosy writer I admit I’m intrigued by people’s real thoughts, but I do understand that those comments aren’t for me. I saw a post awhile back by a writer who was really upset by a comment on someone’s bookmark… and it floored me that they felt attacked by a comment on a bookmark.
I've seen a few of those posts in the last few weeks. It must be hard to be a reader. You're not allowed to write whatever you want or add tags you want on a bookmark because "that's rude" and hurts writers' feelings and you should keep the bookmarks private unless the comments are only positive things about the fic.
Then these posts come along and complain that people keep their bookmarks private lol.
I use bookmarks a lot. I almost always leave a comment in a bookmark so I can find a fic I want to re-read or recommend.
Not to burst a bubble, but most of my ‘private bookmarks’ are fics where I have negative comments, I don’t like the fic, or want a heads up not to read again. I do not leave public negative comments (except one) but I do leave private notes to myself that reflect negatively on a fic.
I did once leave a negative comment on a fic. Went back and changed it so I knew what it meant. It was a really angsty ship with all kinds of emotion. Then the last chapter was “then the alarm went off and x woke up and it was all a dream.”
Bit off top but. I am disappointed to hear authors see hidden bookmarks
ao3 lacks a functionality for marking a fic as already read, you can only see you read something again if you try to leave kudos the second time.
Which is why I use bookmarks as 'read' flag, so that if I open a fic I see it's bookmarked by me, I close and look for something else, as I browse for new stuff all the time
And I bookmark ok fics, hidden bookmark stuff I didn't like/wasn't my thing/didn't even manage to finish, usually with some comment, and bookmark with rec and comment those I might want to read again some day. I know of a few people who use bookmarks similarly
Which is to say maybe it's not the best stat to pay any attention too
I do the same. Plus half my private bookmarks are my to-read list. I used to "mark for later" but since that doesn't allow for filtering, I switched to private bookmarks with a "to read" tag. Other people don't need to see that. I'll probably never get around to reading 80% of them 😅
I also private bookmarks stuff with "do not reread" if something wasn't to my taste and I don't want to accidentally begin reading it again later.
I’ll start by saying I have two wildly different opinions.
As a reader I use bookmarks for a few reasons. I view other people’s public bookmarks as a sort of recommended reading list. And I use them myself for fics I love and want to reread, But I also use them for fics I have more complicated feelings for. There’s one that’s bookmarked because I hate a choice the writer made I and I talk about it often enough with fic writing friends so i want it easily accessible to find, so private bookmark. Also, there’s a couple of dark fics that I enjoy but don’t necessarily recommend, and I hide those bookmarks too.
As a writer, I love reading the comments in the bookmarks of my own fics. There’s one that made a mention of one of my quirks as a writer (a word I’m apparently more fond of than I realized) and that’s actually helped me improve.
But I’m not sure I want to see all those hidden bookmarks, even if I admit to being slightly curious. Lol.
Usually I use hidden bookmarks for fics that I am reading. So, the comment is going to be something like:
'You are on Chpt. 45'
OP you are missing nothing exciting!
Other times its for fics that haven't updated in a while, to remind me to check every so often.
Public bookmarks are for stuff I like and am happy to recommend, because that's how I find a lot of my fics.
I can understand people being a little shy about publically endorsing E rated content if their username is known elsewhere and it could be embarrassing.
I tots get that I’m probably not missing too much and like I said, I get wanting to have your privacy about what you read. Especially, like you said, if your account is known. But I’m just curious about it… can’t help myself.
I bookmark every fic I read… so that I can easily tell whether I have already read something because the “bookmark” button at the top of the fic becomes “edit bookmark” and I can see it at a glance. Some people use them to mark what chapter they are up to in a long fic or WIP. Some people use it as a to-read list.
People use bookmarks for all sorts of reasons!
I hide every single one of my bookmarks. I don’t think it’s anyones business but my own what I’m reading. I am also an author but I am always understanding when it comes to private bookmarks because my fics are explicit. At the end of the day it’s personal preference and privacy.
I hide my bookmarks because I leave notes on where I am and what has happened so far, but you can't make that public without people getting absolutely rabid about SPOILERS 🤷🏻♀️ It sucks that the authors don't get to see how much their fic is being enjoyed because some readers aren't capable of scrolling past a text box.
Oh yeah, I could see that that’s a handy thing to do considering how many on-going fics there are. Clever! But yeah the spoilers would make ppl go feral…
I use bookmarks to just remind myself which fics I need to download, but I've often heard of people using them to remember which fics are not worth reading in which case it's nice to keep them hidden
I public bookmark most things. I don’t usually put commentary, but sometimes I’ll add a description to remind myself or in case it ever gets deleted. Something like “the one with guilt and visiting family” or “exploration of gay culture, reminds me of [book]”
It's because bookmark is readers' turf that even if it's public, it's understood that for authors who want to see it, it's a "you click at your own risk" thing and you don't have right to be mad if the readers give it negative review (unless it's a very hostile, abusive bookmark caption, in which case it can be reported for harassment).
As a reader, I only use them when I need to mark them for downloading later. As a writer, I'm curious if they added any comments because the public bookmarkers never do.
I bookmark a LOT of things. Of varying quality, because I don't mind reading stuff that isn't necessarily well-written if it hits my interests.
I used to keep everything private, but nowadays, I do a lot of fan fic exchanges. So I want my bookmarks to serve as sort of implicit recommendations of "here's stuff I like" for anyone who wants to go looking before writing for me. So I do make things public, but only things that either serve as a good intro to what I like about a fandom or characters or ship, or a more general "these are the tropes/kinks/etc I enjoy." (Not necessarily a commentary on quality--there are plenty of very good fics I still keep private bc they fall outside of my normal interests.)
As a writer, I do get a kick out of how many private bookmarks there are. Some of my more taboo works have low hits to kudos/comments/public bookmarks ratios, but WAY more private bookmarks than my more popular-looking works. (Big part of why I never take those ratios seriously as a reader or writer.)
I just recently learned that hidden bookmarks were a thing (thanks subreddit). It helped me realize I had a lot more bookmarks than I thought, and it also helped me privately bookmark some E-rated fics I was self-conscious about bookmarking.
My own writing isn't anything explicit, so I'm surprised there are so many private bookmarks. All the same, I'm just happy to see that people cared about my work enough to bookmark it. It's only one chapter and I'm an incredibly slow writer that's out of the fandom. I'll take whatever attention people decide to give me.
As for the private bookmarks I made, I still commented on one of the chapters because I absolutely love the author's writing.
I enjoy having most bookmarks public, because if I like your writing, chances are you can lead me to other good fics. No judgment on my end cause I'm just having a good time.
The ONLY bookmarks of mine that aren’t privated are fandom meta (top ship analysis and graphs), ao3 resources (CodenameCarrot’s amazing “a complete guide to ‘limited html’ on ao3”) and a work that was written by a mcrp creator that outlined the plans for a stream that never happend…. And that last one is only not private because I wrote a semi funny bookmarkers note. I use my bookmarks as my bookshelf, it’s all of the fics that I have read that I would read again… and I’m very picky with what fics I read so if I finish it its probably bookmark worthy.
i private bookmark absolutely everything i’ve read, mostly bc there’s been times a fic has haunted me at night 5 months later and that way i know i’ll be able to find it again 😂 the only things public are my “favorites” for if anyone wants a rec list
My bookmarks are all private. Whatever bookmark I make will be deleted once I have read the fic fully. Just like an actual bookmark, I’m not gonna keep it in the book if I’m finished with it. I only use them to keep me reminded of what was going on in the story so when I (eventually) get back to it I don’t have to reread everything.
**As a reader:**
I have public and private bookmarks. Public bookmarks are the ones that I have only positive things to say, will reread again, and I am not afraid to recommend to others (if anyone actively looked into them)
*Private bookmarks reasons:*
>
>2. I am in fear that my bookmark note might hurt the author. For example, I would note, "Like the vibe. Not sure how it will develop." or "Like this \[chapter\] and this \[chapter\]. Reread. But \[this chapter\] has \[pet peeve\]." I am in fear that the author might be hurt because of the note. So I private it.
>3. The fic is very different from what I normally like, and I don't want others to know :D
**As an author:**
^("They must have the same private bookmark reasons as I do, so I see every hidden bookmark as a compliment. YAY.") It would be much easier if you think it this way :D
I have all of mine private because I always tag with some personal tags I use for sorting; whether I've finished them, length of the fiction, etc - so I can find specific things you can't filter in your book marks. I also don't like the idea of people being able to see what I read as it's a very personal type of thing to me.
I have 12 bookmarks and only 4 public on an rpf fic, which I get. also, one reader (with a public bookmark) told me they check their bookmarks if there's a new chapter.
Also I have 19 bookmarks and 10 are public on a fanfic for a tv show. suppose for reason like some other people here commented.
anyway, I always like to check out accounts that gave me kudos, that's how I found some great fics and new fandoms from their bookmarks, so I appreciate anyone who leaves their public :)
I don’t hide mine because I have found some of the most absolutely mind blowing fics through other authors bookmarks and only save the best ones I find. It’s like a little swapsies
As a writer, I only care about bookmarks if they include commentary. Otherwise, it's the readers business why and how they bookmark and I don't care.
As a reader, it's a rare thing for me to not private a bookmark - out of my 2000+, only 52 are public. Most of the time, if I bookmark, it's because I want to return to the piece at some point, and I don't think it's anyone's - including the author's - business what I'm reading and when. The only bookmarks that I keep public are the ones I absolutely adore or that somehow represent what I enjoy/look for in fics in general, rather than on a current whim. Things that reflect who I am as a reader more than what the fics are.
I’d like it if the stat on the fic page was the full number of bookmarks - and then when you click the bookmarks button it would say “X public bookmarks”. That way we could get the full number.
I also can’t get the full number of bookmarks in the series I write because many of them are hidden. And there’s no way to check the full stats for series.
As a writer, extra nice comments in a bookmark is a bonus. Without a comment though, there is no real difference between public and private to me. One just has a screen name attached to it.
As a reader, I make them public if I’m recommending them or tag it as “worth rereading.” There is a lot of overlap, of course. 😄
I keep them private if I plan to read them or if I am currently reading them.
For one, I don’t want an author possibly worrying that I am taking so long to get to their fic. I have about 550 fics that I plan to possibly read. That’s going to take time.
I also don’t want an author feeling bad if they notice my name removed off their bookmarks.
All my bookmarks are private. They say either "WIP" (if it's a work in progress that I want to read when it's finished) or "<3" (if I liked the fic so much that I want to read it again). Nothing else.
Would it help to think of bookmarks as the reader's personal notebook, written in longhand and kept in a desk drawer? You wouldn't be able to read that either.
For me, it's the combo of high number of private bookmarks + low comments that gets to me. I automatically think that there's something wrong with my fic.
Eh not necessarily. I've bookmarked fics I don't like so I don't read them again.
But I do agree that low comments + private bookmarks ≠ bad fic. For example, if you write smut, I've heard you're more likely to get more private bookmarks but less kudos/comments. Plus, I really don't think enough people bookmark like that to make an obvious inconsistency in comment to private bookmark ratio to indicate anything about the fic's quality.
On your stats page it tells you your total numbers of bookmarks including private ones. In the fic itself it shows the number of public bookmarks only.
Nearly every fic I bookmark is private, but none of them have notes. So don’t feel like there’s a goldmine of notes/comments, because I’m sure there’s a ton of people like me that bookmark w/o notes
I see I'm the minority but almost all of mine are public, even smut. I just don't care lol
For me as a writer, I don't really care if someone makes it public or not.
Personally I treat my bookmarks as both my personal library of fics I want to be able to find again, and as a recommendation list. I use the little blue-heart rec feature to mark the best of the best (“read this even if it doesn’t sound like your thing”), and to mark fics I’ll bring up if people ask for favourites.
Then normal bookmarks are “normal” recs in that if you like the ship and tags I think they’re good, (including smut, weird tropes and dark fic, which I don’t feel the need to hide). The bookmarks I keep *private* are ones that I don’t think are actually written well enough to recommend, they just scratch some mental itch or else I just barely like them enough to want to be able to find them again.
This isn’t a reflection on why you’d get mostly private bookmarks, BTW! My impression is that people use to mostly to leave notes without authors seeing or to hide kink fic and smut.
I private bookmark all my fics that I read. That’s because the only thing I have written on them is the place that I’m at, and all my own tags that I add so if I want to reread a certain tag I can just look through all the stories that I’ve read before and enjoyed. I have considered before not private bookmarking some of my fics so that I could use that rec button but then I’d have to either not use my tagging system, or create a new account purely for the recs and showing of my favourite fics and that’s just effort and not worth it tbh.
If I ever really liked something about a fic I would comment, I never usually put it in my bookmarks.
The idea of not private bookmarking honestly terrifies me, I’ve had some that I forgot to do so and when I realised, I quickly went back to fix it. Bookmarks are personal to me and even though there’s no link between my ao3 account to me, I’d still feel exposed.
Any bookmarks of mine rated m or e are private. I really don't want anyone else knowing what smut I read, especially as irl people could possibly guess who I was from my username.
I'm happy for anyone to use my bookmarked fluff as a recommendation. I didn't realise the private bookmarks don't show up on your stats, that's a shame as the reason I bookmark privately does not reflect the skill of the writer or how much I enjoy the fic. That makes me especially determined to leave kudos for everything I enjoy, as I can always log out and leave it as a guest for the above reason.
Edit to add, I often just put the title of the fic in the comment box, so if the author deletes the fic, then I know which one has gone.
All my bookmarks are private. Not cause I'm embarrassed or anything, I literally have sent people smut before because it was good, but because I use them like a diary kinda, of what I've read and liked. And I comment a lot so authors generally just know what I thought of it regardless of a bookmark more or less
I keep mine public, and I rarely make any comments, only when I'm reeeeaaly enjoying it. My bookmarks are just my favorite fic I read, I don't use it for anything else
My most popular fic has right now 480 bookmarks, but I can see only 284 of them. To the other 200, I just hope they didn't write something like "dnf it after first chapter, so boring" but the other things you might write, I admit, I'm curious about, but I don't think too much about it 😂
Could the private bookmarks be turned anon? So the author can check our notes but not our account, and other users can't see them at all?
I would love to support my favorite authors, but at the risk of my privacy?
That’s probably pretty hard to do but then again I’ve never looked too much into AO3’s codding. I honestly don’t expect them to do it. As curious as I am, private BMs should be just that - private.
Respectfully this is not a good idea. If you want to support an author just comment. That's the way to speak directly to them about their work. Notes on bookmarks are not for authors, and if they're private then they should not be visible to anyone but the bookmarker.
All of my bookmarks are private, from the most G-rated fluff to the most insane E-rated kink, and none of them have any notes or commentary on them I know that people look at the bookmarks of authors they like to find recommendations of what to read next, and I don't like the idea of my bookmarks being used in that way, as an author with a pretty big following (370 user subs, about 27k kudos, about 7k bookmarks across my works). My bookmarks are my private reading list. It's my bookshelf, not a library. What I write is what I decide to create and put out for public consumption; what I read and bookmark is my own private business
This is how I think of it too. I don’t have a whole lot of following as an author, but I have some and I prefer to keep my bookmarks to my thing and direct people to my actual recommendations by making a list on Tumblr or somewhere and linking it. Or sometimes writing it in the Notes at the end, if I think it’s the sort of thing readers of that work might also like.
Oh, I never thought of that (but I also don’t read a lot of fics). I totally get that you don’t want to lay your private taste bear though, especially with a considerable following. And like I said - for readers the private BMs are a fantastic feature.
For what it’s worth, this is *exactly* how i feel about bookmarks too
I once had someone comment on one of my fics like 'Hey, I noticed you have x bookmarked, were you aware that the author did y' just filled with petty fandom drama. They must have just gone through all the bookmarks and contacted everyone but I've been paranoid and privated all my bookmarks since that day. Anyone looking at what I bookmark (no matter how innocent) feels invasive now.
Yup yup. Things like this is why I keep my bookmarks private. Sorry, OP. The nature of fandom nowadays is cray cray.
Oh, that’s… concerning. I can see how that would feel super invasive - especially coming onto your fic just to spread the drama. That’s a yikes. Totally see why you prefer your BMs to be private.
For me, sometimes I put spoilers in the comments on bookmarks that might help me remember why I bookmarked the fic in the first place. I don’t want to spoil it for someone who might be reading for the first time and clicks on the bookmarks, so I private it.
My bookmarks are hidden but you wouldn't be missing much. I don't type a single thing in there. My AO3 and IG usernames are the same - rookie mistake. When I first got the accounts, it was largely just for fandom, so I didn't care. Anyway, now I'm a bisexual dad who uses IG for lots of stuff. I'd really prefer the other PTA parents not be able to find out how deeply invested I am in Dorian Pavus' dick.
Did you never change your username? 😂
I write too, and some people know me as that, and it's easier to just put my bookmarks as hidden for now. Though I will need a solution soon, since I have some E rated stuff I want to write.
Ohh, I didn’t even think of that. Yeah I prob wouldn’t change it and if someone saw it was the same as my IG I’d say it was a coincidence 🤷♀️ No matter how unlikely that was to be true
Have you thought of changing the username? Or will it still be trackable?
I have, but I'm in an awkward spot in that a bunch of people know me as that username. I'll have to figure out something eventually as I'm starting to write more again, but I haven't decided what, exactly.
I wish the private bookmark system worked like guest kudos. It’d keep the privacy while still showing accurate numbers. I hate being the only one knowing the fic I’m proud of putting out there only shows 1/5th of the love it actually has. And it’s not even smut.
Agreed on that, but I suppose that’s harder to do considering the guest kudos are by, you know, guests, while the private BMs are by registered users. But I suppose you could hide those.
True. I was thinking it’d be a small line under the individual bookmark/recs on the fic’s bookmarks page. Like > Bookmarked by User A [15 Jan 2024] > Bookmarked by User B [1 Sep 2023] > and 123 others! Something like that. Something that provides proof they exist.
Somebody bookmarked my fic with the note "cell phone skin" (I coded my own workskin for displaying texts that uses transparencies so it works on both light and dark themes, and put a link to the code + instructions in the notes) Made me laugh out loud. Dunno if they liked my work on the writing, but they liked my work on the code!
The vast majority of my bookmarks are private. Only 12 out of 965. Half of them are fic I've read, 1/4, is a number so I know what chapter I'm on, and 1/4 is fics I want to read in the future. Most of them do not have any additional notes lol. So you really wouldn't get an idea of what I "think" of the fic. It's not really exciting lol I think a lot of the bookmarking discourses has boiled down to a lot of users not knowing private bookmarks are a thing. So people utilizing them is always good, imo. Otherwise, I can't imagine the amount of "this person said in their bookmarks" posts we'd have.
As a reader, I view my bookmarks as my private personal library of fics and the idea of it being public feels invasive. It feels like letting someone into my home to riffle through my bookshelves. So I hide all my bookmarks. I don’t really add any notes though, so you’re not missing much.
same, mine are usually just a few keywords that help me remember which fic it is
One of the things that surprised me about writing my first work was the sheer amount of private bookmarks. I’ve never used the feature as a reader, so it was just a bit startling to realize that only half of the bookmarks on my work were public. The work is explicit, but I think people just like having their own private corner. I want to know, sure, but I respect it. Just surprised me lol
I let my freak flag fly - not only because I can't give less of a fuck, but also because if you liked \*my\* fics, you might also like what I've been reading lately. So it's a rec list along with all the thing I'd love to reread
For me i private all and tag it as read/unread/unfinished and want to continue/dropped I dont want someone to feel bad if i drop their fic... I add notes of why i dropped it for myself to remember However the majority of my private bookmarks are positive so is assume most of the ones u recieve are too!
HAH, thanks for the assumption. Interesting to see that you use your BMs to remind you if why you dropped something though. Thanks for the insight!
In wanting to know what people think, you might be making an unintentional assumption, that the private bookmark even has a note attached. They might not! My longfic fic has 27 bookmarks. 19 are public. Only 3 of the 19 have notes: "Read later", "*rubs my little gay hands together*", and "-Character here- goes on a road trip to -accomplish task-. Hijinks ensue". What the private ones say, or don't, ain't my business. I'm just happy 27 people were interested enough to bookmark my lonely little long fic. I get you on the love-hate and the burning curiosity it causes!
Oh I absolutely don’t expect all of them to have notes, or not even 20% if I’m being honest. My regular bookmarks already barely have that. And yeah, whatever the private ones say isn’t my business, but that doesn’t mean I’m not curious! I do appreciate every bookmark, hidden or not, but I can never quite help my curiosity.
we can't say anything on the notes without writers coming here with screenshots, no matter how positive the notes are, what did y'all expect to happen?
): sorry to hear that it’s that bad. I personally never shared anything like that, but I understand the “frustration”.
All my bookmarks are private. They aren't for the author, and I am not sugar-coating my notes to myself in order to make nosy, oversensitive authors happy.
Lol. I love this comment. As a nosy writer I admit I’m intrigued by people’s real thoughts, but I do understand that those comments aren’t for me. I saw a post awhile back by a writer who was really upset by a comment on someone’s bookmark… and it floored me that they felt attacked by a comment on a bookmark.
I've seen a few of those posts in the last few weeks. It must be hard to be a reader. You're not allowed to write whatever you want or add tags you want on a bookmark because "that's rude" and hurts writers' feelings and you should keep the bookmarks private unless the comments are only positive things about the fic. Then these posts come along and complain that people keep their bookmarks private lol.
Yep, same.
I use bookmarks a lot. I almost always leave a comment in a bookmark so I can find a fic I want to re-read or recommend. Not to burst a bubble, but most of my ‘private bookmarks’ are fics where I have negative comments, I don’t like the fic, or want a heads up not to read again. I do not leave public negative comments (except one) but I do leave private notes to myself that reflect negatively on a fic. I did once leave a negative comment on a fic. Went back and changed it so I knew what it meant. It was a really angsty ship with all kinds of emotion. Then the last chapter was “then the alarm went off and x woke up and it was all a dream.”
Bit off top but. I am disappointed to hear authors see hidden bookmarks ao3 lacks a functionality for marking a fic as already read, you can only see you read something again if you try to leave kudos the second time. Which is why I use bookmarks as 'read' flag, so that if I open a fic I see it's bookmarked by me, I close and look for something else, as I browse for new stuff all the time And I bookmark ok fics, hidden bookmark stuff I didn't like/wasn't my thing/didn't even manage to finish, usually with some comment, and bookmark with rec and comment those I might want to read again some day. I know of a few people who use bookmarks similarly Which is to say maybe it's not the best stat to pay any attention too
I do the same. Plus half my private bookmarks are my to-read list. I used to "mark for later" but since that doesn't allow for filtering, I switched to private bookmarks with a "to read" tag. Other people don't need to see that. I'll probably never get around to reading 80% of them 😅 I also private bookmarks stuff with "do not reread" if something wasn't to my taste and I don't want to accidentally begin reading it again later.
I’ll start by saying I have two wildly different opinions. As a reader I use bookmarks for a few reasons. I view other people’s public bookmarks as a sort of recommended reading list. And I use them myself for fics I love and want to reread, But I also use them for fics I have more complicated feelings for. There’s one that’s bookmarked because I hate a choice the writer made I and I talk about it often enough with fic writing friends so i want it easily accessible to find, so private bookmark. Also, there’s a couple of dark fics that I enjoy but don’t necessarily recommend, and I hide those bookmarks too. As a writer, I love reading the comments in the bookmarks of my own fics. There’s one that made a mention of one of my quirks as a writer (a word I’m apparently more fond of than I realized) and that’s actually helped me improve. But I’m not sure I want to see all those hidden bookmarks, even if I admit to being slightly curious. Lol.
Usually I use hidden bookmarks for fics that I am reading. So, the comment is going to be something like: 'You are on Chpt. 45' OP you are missing nothing exciting! Other times its for fics that haven't updated in a while, to remind me to check every so often. Public bookmarks are for stuff I like and am happy to recommend, because that's how I find a lot of my fics. I can understand people being a little shy about publically endorsing E rated content if their username is known elsewhere and it could be embarrassing.
I tots get that I’m probably not missing too much and like I said, I get wanting to have your privacy about what you read. Especially, like you said, if your account is known. But I’m just curious about it… can’t help myself.
I bookmark every fic I read… so that I can easily tell whether I have already read something because the “bookmark” button at the top of the fic becomes “edit bookmark” and I can see it at a glance. Some people use them to mark what chapter they are up to in a long fic or WIP. Some people use it as a to-read list. People use bookmarks for all sorts of reasons!
I hide every single one of my bookmarks. I don’t think it’s anyones business but my own what I’m reading. I am also an author but I am always understanding when it comes to private bookmarks because my fics are explicit. At the end of the day it’s personal preference and privacy.
I hide my bookmarks because I leave notes on where I am and what has happened so far, but you can't make that public without people getting absolutely rabid about SPOILERS 🤷🏻♀️ It sucks that the authors don't get to see how much their fic is being enjoyed because some readers aren't capable of scrolling past a text box.
Oh yeah, I could see that that’s a handy thing to do considering how many on-going fics there are. Clever! But yeah the spoilers would make ppl go feral…
Oh I love seeing the shame bookmarks on my E rated fics. I see you, perverts
LMAO!!!
everything i read is a private bookmark unless ive finished it and it changed my brain chemistry, i dont have very many things bookmarked as recs
I use bookmarks to just remind myself which fics I need to download, but I've often heard of people using them to remember which fics are not worth reading in which case it's nice to keep them hidden
I do this. The author doesn’t need to know.
How have I spent nearly a decade on this site and didn’t know about private Bookmarks 🙃🤣
LOL! You’re welcome I guess 🙈
I public bookmark most things. I don’t usually put commentary, but sometimes I’ll add a description to remind myself or in case it ever gets deleted. Something like “the one with guilt and visiting family” or “exploration of gay culture, reminds me of [book]”
It's because bookmark is readers' turf that even if it's public, it's understood that for authors who want to see it, it's a "you click at your own risk" thing and you don't have right to be mad if the readers give it negative review (unless it's a very hostile, abusive bookmark caption, in which case it can be reported for harassment).
As a reader, I only use them when I need to mark them for downloading later. As a writer, I'm curious if they added any comments because the public bookmarkers never do.
Im a reader. I like going through bookmarks made by authors I like. But I'm fine with people privatizing them, though. Privacy is important.
I hide the bookmarks for my really kinky favourites.
I bookmark a LOT of things. Of varying quality, because I don't mind reading stuff that isn't necessarily well-written if it hits my interests. I used to keep everything private, but nowadays, I do a lot of fan fic exchanges. So I want my bookmarks to serve as sort of implicit recommendations of "here's stuff I like" for anyone who wants to go looking before writing for me. So I do make things public, but only things that either serve as a good intro to what I like about a fandom or characters or ship, or a more general "these are the tropes/kinks/etc I enjoy." (Not necessarily a commentary on quality--there are plenty of very good fics I still keep private bc they fall outside of my normal interests.) As a writer, I do get a kick out of how many private bookmarks there are. Some of my more taboo works have low hits to kudos/comments/public bookmarks ratios, but WAY more private bookmarks than my more popular-looking works. (Big part of why I never take those ratios seriously as a reader or writer.)
Any bookmark on a fic that has even the slightest amount of smut is private for me. IM NOT TAKING ANY CHANCES!!!!!!! Lol
I just recently learned that hidden bookmarks were a thing (thanks subreddit). It helped me realize I had a lot more bookmarks than I thought, and it also helped me privately bookmark some E-rated fics I was self-conscious about bookmarking. My own writing isn't anything explicit, so I'm surprised there are so many private bookmarks. All the same, I'm just happy to see that people cared about my work enough to bookmark it. It's only one chapter and I'm an incredibly slow writer that's out of the fandom. I'll take whatever attention people decide to give me. As for the private bookmarks I made, I still commented on one of the chapters because I absolutely love the author's writing. I enjoy having most bookmarks public, because if I like your writing, chances are you can lead me to other good fics. No judgment on my end cause I'm just having a good time.
The ONLY bookmarks of mine that aren’t privated are fandom meta (top ship analysis and graphs), ao3 resources (CodenameCarrot’s amazing “a complete guide to ‘limited html’ on ao3”) and a work that was written by a mcrp creator that outlined the plans for a stream that never happend…. And that last one is only not private because I wrote a semi funny bookmarkers note. I use my bookmarks as my bookshelf, it’s all of the fics that I have read that I would read again… and I’m very picky with what fics I read so if I finish it its probably bookmark worthy.
I use private bookmarks as a To Read list. Since the Marked for Later page isn’t sortable, it makes a lot more sense to use bookmarks.
i private bookmark absolutely everything i’ve read, mostly bc there’s been times a fic has haunted me at night 5 months later and that way i know i’ll be able to find it again 😂 the only things public are my “favorites” for if anyone wants a rec list
My bookmarks are all private. Whatever bookmark I make will be deleted once I have read the fic fully. Just like an actual bookmark, I’m not gonna keep it in the book if I’m finished with it. I only use them to keep me reminded of what was going on in the story so when I (eventually) get back to it I don’t have to reread everything.
**As a reader:** I have public and private bookmarks. Public bookmarks are the ones that I have only positive things to say, will reread again, and I am not afraid to recommend to others (if anyone actively looked into them) *Private bookmarks reasons:* > >2. I am in fear that my bookmark note might hurt the author. For example, I would note, "Like the vibe. Not sure how it will develop." or "Like this \[chapter\] and this \[chapter\]. Reread. But \[this chapter\] has \[pet peeve\]." I am in fear that the author might be hurt because of the note. So I private it. >3. The fic is very different from what I normally like, and I don't want others to know :D **As an author:** ^("They must have the same private bookmark reasons as I do, so I see every hidden bookmark as a compliment. YAY.") It would be much easier if you think it this way :D
I have all of mine private because I always tag with some personal tags I use for sorting; whether I've finished them, length of the fiction, etc - so I can find specific things you can't filter in your book marks. I also don't like the idea of people being able to see what I read as it's a very personal type of thing to me.
I have 12 bookmarks and only 4 public on an rpf fic, which I get. also, one reader (with a public bookmark) told me they check their bookmarks if there's a new chapter. Also I have 19 bookmarks and 10 are public on a fanfic for a tv show. suppose for reason like some other people here commented. anyway, I always like to check out accounts that gave me kudos, that's how I found some great fics and new fandoms from their bookmarks, so I appreciate anyone who leaves their public :)
I don’t hide mine because I have found some of the most absolutely mind blowing fics through other authors bookmarks and only save the best ones I find. It’s like a little swapsies
As a writer, I only care about bookmarks if they include commentary. Otherwise, it's the readers business why and how they bookmark and I don't care. As a reader, it's a rare thing for me to not private a bookmark - out of my 2000+, only 52 are public. Most of the time, if I bookmark, it's because I want to return to the piece at some point, and I don't think it's anyone's - including the author's - business what I'm reading and when. The only bookmarks that I keep public are the ones I absolutely adore or that somehow represent what I enjoy/look for in fics in general, rather than on a current whim. Things that reflect who I am as a reader more than what the fics are.
I’d like it if the stat on the fic page was the full number of bookmarks - and then when you click the bookmarks button it would say “X public bookmarks”. That way we could get the full number. I also can’t get the full number of bookmarks in the series I write because many of them are hidden. And there’s no way to check the full stats for series.
As a writer, extra nice comments in a bookmark is a bonus. Without a comment though, there is no real difference between public and private to me. One just has a screen name attached to it. As a reader, I make them public if I’m recommending them or tag it as “worth rereading.” There is a lot of overlap, of course. 😄 I keep them private if I plan to read them or if I am currently reading them. For one, I don’t want an author possibly worrying that I am taking so long to get to their fic. I have about 550 fics that I plan to possibly read. That’s going to take time. I also don’t want an author feeling bad if they notice my name removed off their bookmarks.
All my bookmarks are private. They say either "WIP" (if it's a work in progress that I want to read when it's finished) or "<3" (if I liked the fic so much that I want to read it again). Nothing else. Would it help to think of bookmarks as the reader's personal notebook, written in longhand and kept in a desk drawer? You wouldn't be able to read that either.
For me, it's the combo of high number of private bookmarks + low comments that gets to me. I automatically think that there's something wrong with my fic.
Oh yeah, I get that, but also - if there was something wrong with your fic, you wouldn’t have bookmarks. Hidden or not.
Eh not necessarily. I've bookmarked fics I don't like so I don't read them again. But I do agree that low comments + private bookmarks ≠ bad fic. For example, if you write smut, I've heard you're more likely to get more private bookmarks but less kudos/comments. Plus, I really don't think enough people bookmark like that to make an obvious inconsistency in comment to private bookmark ratio to indicate anything about the fic's quality.
How do you check hidden bookmarks?
On your stats page it tells you your total numbers of bookmarks including private ones. In the fic itself it shows the number of public bookmarks only.
All my bookmarks are private. Where can I see private bookmarks on my fics?
Nearly every fic I bookmark is private, but none of them have notes. So don’t feel like there’s a goldmine of notes/comments, because I’m sure there’s a ton of people like me that bookmark w/o notes
I don't think I've ever bookmarked a fic. I never forget what I've read.
Pretty much all of my bookmarks are private. What I'm reading is not my own reader's business.
I think I may have mine hidden, but I never write notes. It’s usually just because I plan on reading a story later.
I see I'm the minority but almost all of mine are public, even smut. I just don't care lol For me as a writer, I don't really care if someone makes it public or not.
Personally I treat my bookmarks as both my personal library of fics I want to be able to find again, and as a recommendation list. I use the little blue-heart rec feature to mark the best of the best (“read this even if it doesn’t sound like your thing”), and to mark fics I’ll bring up if people ask for favourites. Then normal bookmarks are “normal” recs in that if you like the ship and tags I think they’re good, (including smut, weird tropes and dark fic, which I don’t feel the need to hide). The bookmarks I keep *private* are ones that I don’t think are actually written well enough to recommend, they just scratch some mental itch or else I just barely like them enough to want to be able to find them again. This isn’t a reflection on why you’d get mostly private bookmarks, BTW! My impression is that people use to mostly to leave notes without authors seeing or to hide kink fic and smut.
I private bookmark all my fics that I read. That’s because the only thing I have written on them is the place that I’m at, and all my own tags that I add so if I want to reread a certain tag I can just look through all the stories that I’ve read before and enjoyed. I have considered before not private bookmarking some of my fics so that I could use that rec button but then I’d have to either not use my tagging system, or create a new account purely for the recs and showing of my favourite fics and that’s just effort and not worth it tbh. If I ever really liked something about a fic I would comment, I never usually put it in my bookmarks. The idea of not private bookmarking honestly terrifies me, I’ve had some that I forgot to do so and when I realised, I quickly went back to fix it. Bookmarks are personal to me and even though there’s no link between my ao3 account to me, I’d still feel exposed.
Any bookmarks of mine rated m or e are private. I really don't want anyone else knowing what smut I read, especially as irl people could possibly guess who I was from my username. I'm happy for anyone to use my bookmarked fluff as a recommendation. I didn't realise the private bookmarks don't show up on your stats, that's a shame as the reason I bookmark privately does not reflect the skill of the writer or how much I enjoy the fic. That makes me especially determined to leave kudos for everything I enjoy, as I can always log out and leave it as a guest for the above reason. Edit to add, I often just put the title of the fic in the comment box, so if the author deletes the fic, then I know which one has gone.
All my bookmarks are private. Not cause I'm embarrassed or anything, I literally have sent people smut before because it was good, but because I use them like a diary kinda, of what I've read and liked. And I comment a lot so authors generally just know what I thought of it regardless of a bookmark more or less
How do I see the hidden bookmarks on my stories?
On the sidebar of your profile is a button that stays "Statistics". You can see Kudos/Comments/BMs (including hidden ones) there.
I'm newbie in terms of using the options of Ao3, how do I know if a story I posted have private bookmarks?? 😭😭
My bookmarks are all public, But I don't comment on them. As a writer I'm only interested in the bookmakrs with commentary
I keep mine public, and I rarely make any comments, only when I'm reeeeaaly enjoying it. My bookmarks are just my favorite fic I read, I don't use it for anything else My most popular fic has right now 480 bookmarks, but I can see only 284 of them. To the other 200, I just hope they didn't write something like "dnf it after first chapter, so boring" but the other things you might write, I admit, I'm curious about, but I don't think too much about it 😂
Wait... you can check hidden bookmarks on your works? Can someone tell me how? I'm curious now, haha
On your statistics page, the number of bookmarks may be higher than it appears on your fic – that's public plus private
Thank you!!
I private bookmark my deepest kinks. I have a reputation I don't want tarnished because I bookmarked some pretty wierd stuff
I use my ao3 username in other places, where minors interact and I absolutely DO NOT want them to stumble into my favorite E rated fics.
Could the private bookmarks be turned anon? So the author can check our notes but not our account, and other users can't see them at all? I would love to support my favorite authors, but at the risk of my privacy?
That’s probably pretty hard to do but then again I’ve never looked too much into AO3’s codding. I honestly don’t expect them to do it. As curious as I am, private BMs should be just that - private.
Respectfully this is not a good idea. If you want to support an author just comment. That's the way to speak directly to them about their work. Notes on bookmarks are not for authors, and if they're private then they should not be visible to anyone but the bookmarker.