Having 4 friends helps too. Get them to vote up your story (simultaneously!!) so that it goes on the front page even for a few minutes. After that, if it's any good, it'll be self-sustaining. (If not, having those friends won't help much - it'll fall off if it doesn't keep getting votes from other people who think it's valuable.)
I never actually done this, but I see it all the time.
I never actually done this, but I see it all the time.