Reader Retention: the Conundrum

This is something I’ve been pondering quite a bit lately: what makes people finish a book?  What makes them finish a series?  It’s more than a strong opening paragraph, or even chapter.  And what counts, for lack of a better term, as a good conversion rate?  As in, not every single person who starts your book is going to finish it; what percentage of complete, first to last chapter reads qualifies as a success?  And then, of course, if the book is part of a series the question becomes: how can you quantify, with statistics, if the series is gripping?  If fifty percent read through to the last book?  If twenty-five percent do?  If five?

Authors might not like to think about numbers but numbers matter; they help you to understand, and thus control, your career.  Ignoring the fact that, say, no one’s finishing your book is no way to write a better book next time.  Nor is it wise to ignore criticism about your series arcs as a whole.  Yes, at the end of the day, you’re telling your story; but if it’s not captivating anyone, are you really?  You’re trying to, maybe…but don’t you want your story to be as gripping on the page as it is in your mind?

Of the roughly (at the time of this writing) 28,000 people who’ve read the first chapter of Book of Shadows, only about twenty-one percent made it through to the end of the book.  Now, with my other, non-Wattpad books, I never got to see these metrics.  Most people don’t; how could they?  I have absolutely no idea how many people started, and then lost interest in The Demon of Darkling Reach.  So I’m really not sure if this is a fantastic conversion rate or a terrible one.  One thing I have noticed is that, as the series progresses (and, presumably, less dedicated readers are weeded out), my numbers have gone up dramatically.  Pretty much everyone who’s read the first chapter of Blood to Drink has also read the most recent chapter I’ve posted.

Thoughts?