Oh, the ratings agony!

[Nightwaves]

Ah, to touch the sky (in this case, a 4.5 hot rating a couple of days ago), then to have it slip from my fingers...

https://www.literotica.com/s/tits-are-made-for-sucking-ch-05

 

[TarnishedPenny]

Ah, to touch the sky (in this case, a 4.5 hot rating a couple of days ago), then to have it slip from my fingers...

https://www.literotica.com/s/tits-are-made-for-sucking-ch-05

Annoying, but all too typical. If it’s any comfort, most scores tend to creep back up.

 

[ChloeTzang]

Ah, to touch the sky (in this case, a 4.5 hot rating a couple of days ago), then to have it slip from my fingers...

https://www.literotica.com/s/tits-are-made-for-sucking-ch-05

Ohhhhhhhh, I know the feeling. You’re there, and then it slips away. Likely it’ll creep back up tho, it just takes a while.

 

[TarnishedPenny]

Annoying, but all too typical. If it’s any comfort, most scores tend to creep back up.

I get the feeling that the first wave of scoring comes from people who either find the story in the New section or else follow a given author. Most people, I think, only score ones they like, so initial scores are high.

Then the trolls emerge from under their bridge and drop a bunch of one-bombs, ‘cause that’s what they live for. As most stories haven’t been scored by many people, a few one-bombs can have a disproportionate effect on scores.

Then more readers find the story and the rating creeps back up.

 

[TxRad]

And then Laurel comes along with her magic broom and sweeps a lot of the troll votes away.

 

[Nightwaves]

And then Laurel comes along with her magic broom and sweeps a lot of the troll votes away.

That's a most excellent type of sorcery!

 

[ChloeTzang]

That's a most excellent type of sorcery!

The best.

 

[Hypoxia]

Ah, to touch the sky (in this case, a 4.5 hot rating a couple of days ago), then to have it slip from my fingers...

Are high ratings your motivation for posting on LIT? Will low votes drive you away?

 

[ChloeTzang]

Are high ratings your motivation for posting on LIT? Will low votes drive you away?

Ohhhhh but that red H just feels soooooo good. Just like a heart on a FB post.

 

[blozo]

One of my least favorite stories has a red H, but seriously, no one reads it. I wrote a story that I thought was cute and funny, and it can't even claw it's way over 3. But tons of people open it at least, and all of it's comments are favorable.
So while we all love our red H (at least I do) it's inevitable that some of your better work will never see one.

 

[SimonDoom]

One of my least favorite stories has a red H, but seriously, no one reads it. I wrote a story that I thought was cute and funny, and it can't even claw it's way over 3. But tons of people open it at least, and all of it's comments are favorable.
So while we all love our red H (at least I do) it's inevitable that some of your better work will never see one.

Wise words. My experience as well. Authors just have to keep reminding themselves of this so they don't get too caught up in that number of the red H.

I've had a story at 4.49 for about a year and a half. I want to reach through my computer screen and somehow nudge it over the line, but I can't do that. I can't honestly say my life would be any better if it suddenly popped up with a 4.5.

 

[Nightwaves]

James Joyce I Ain't

Ohhhhh but that red H just feels soooooo good. Just like a heart on a FB post.

Are high ratings your motivation for posting on LIT? Will low votes drive you away?

I've posted stories on Lit since 2010. Only in the past year have I received a HOT rating. So I'll be sticking around, but as Chloe so aptly puts it, what a feeling.

 

[Nightwaves]

Eros is in the mind of the beholder

One of my least favorite stories has a red H, but seriously, no one reads it. I wrote a story that I thought was cute and funny, and it can't even claw it's way over 3. But tons of people open it at least, and all of it's comments are favorable.
So while we all love our red H (at least I do) it's inevitable that some of your better work will never see one.

Agreed. While I'm not writing the great American novel, some of what I consider my best work has rated well under 4.5. But really, I'm just havin' fun and gettin' off...putting into words some of the more twisted parts of my brain. When a certain number of other pervs give praise, it's icing on the cake.

 

[WoolyWorm]

As a reader, I find red H's to be nearly useless as an indicator of quality. A lot of my favorite stories here reside in the low 4s, high 3s, or occasionally even lower. They tend to be more "literary" in style (which is not necessarily rewarded by the readership here), or else contain content likely to draw 1-bombs from some segment of the population (e.g. strong, confident, female characters).

I try to remember that when my own stories don't get red H's, but I admittedly still get annoyed when they don't. As a writer, I always want the bling next to my story titles, even though I know it's mostly meaningless.

 

[rescatooor]

As a reader, I find red H's to be nearly useless as an indicator of quality. A lot of my favorite stories here reside in the low 4s, high 3s, or occasionally even lower. They tend to be more "literary" in style (which is not necessarily rewarded by the readership here), or else contain content likely to draw 1-bombs from some segment of the population (e.g. strong, confident, female characters).

I try to remember that when my own stories don't get red H's, but I admittedly still get annoyed when they don't. As a writer, I always want the bling next to my story titles, even though I know it's mostly meaningless.

Preach. I get frustrated when I see with other authors too, their best works getting ignored.

Never underestimate a 3-star story. Chances are that they're acquired taste and only you know how to truly appreciate them.

 

[ElectricBlue]

I've had a story at 4.49 for about a year and a half. I want to reach through my computer screen and somehow nudge it over the line, but I can't do that. I can't honestly say my life would be any better if it suddenly popped up with a 4.5.

But you know you'll have a shit-eating little grin on your face when it does .

We all have those little flowers that aren't quite tall poppies, and from what I can see from my back-file, they'll get there one day. I have a few sub-orbitals slowly creeping higher - I don't understand how it works, but it does.

 

[Vix_Giovanni]

Never underestimate a 3-star story. Chances are that they're acquired taste and only you know how to truly appreciate them.

This advice should be a sticky somewhere on the site.

 

[Hypoxia]

As mentioned in a nearby thread, a Red-H or ten can be satisfying, and we maybe expect readers will be drawn to high-rated stories. But that's not my experience. My most-viewed story (with a catchy title) is my lowest-scored; my high-scorers get solid sub-par view counts. So for me, that Red-H grabs no appreciable eyeballs. YMMV.

Q: How do readers choose what to read? (I'll skip the "and if and how to respond" part of the question.)
A: To each their own. I'll guess: Categories. The latest. Contest entries. Titles and plugs. Magnetic authors. Serial addiction. And madness. But not scores, apparently.

I'll reach any particular story in various ways. Once there, what next? That's when I leaf through the author's back catalog. I *may* skip stories in repulsive categories, or I may be curious. But I won't let a piece's low score deter me from at least the first page.

I've tales with scores steadfastly lurking just below 4.50, ay yi yi. So near and yet so far. It's a torture.

 

[MelissaBaby]

Wise words. My experience as well. Authors just have to keep reminding themselves of this so they don't get too caught up in that number of the red H.

I've had a story at 4.49 for about a year and a half. I want to reach through my computer screen and somehow nudge it over the line, but I can't do that. I can't honestly say my life would be any better if it suddenly popped up with a 4.5.

I waited about that long for my first submission to finally hit 4.5. It did make my life better, but only for ten minutes or so.

 

[colddiesel]

Hello Nightwaves,

There's another dimension to consider. For the number of views, you only get about half as many comments as the average author. Melissa Baby, for example, in contrast gets a lot of comments, way more than the average per number of views. Why? I dunno.

 

[CuteSlaveLisa]

...My most-viewed story (with a catchy title) is my lowest-scored; my high-scorers get solid sub-par view counts...

If there is any validity whatsoever to the scores in relation to number of voters It must indicate that I am a 'niche-writer.' In 30/32 stories there is nearly a 1:1 relationship (the plotted line was +7, -5 percent, and just those two outliers, both above the line, I was at work and bored) between number of voters and score with the stories that have the highest number of voters getting the lowest scores.

I can't graph looks, I have some bizarre counts. I really doubt a million people (or even 986k) read one of my stories and I have another in which 80 percent of the indicated viewers supposedly voted so GIGO.

But, who cares, the numbers aren't being used to write a royalty check.

Love and Kisses

Lisa Ann

 

[Hypoxia]

But, who cares, the numbers aren't being used to write a royalty check.

Precisely. We're only here for the lulz.

 

[MelissaBaby]

Hello Nightwaves,

There's another dimension to consider. For the number of views, you only get about half as many comments as the average author. Melissa Baby, for example, in contrast gets a lot of comments, way more than the average per number of views. Why? I dunno.

I may get a higher than average number of comments because I have mostly written long series, and I have regular followers who comment on each chapter as I post them.

 

[GroverLang]

Only three things matter.

Only three things matter in my decision whether or not to read a story and a red H isn’t on the list.

1. Does the title of the story pique my interest?
2. Does the story description make me want to investigate?
3. If the first two work does the story grab me in the first two hundred words?

If those three work then there’s a 90+% chance I’ll read the the entire story. Some 4.8’s aren’t worth shit and some 3.7’s are a joy to read.

 

[Hypoxia]

Only three things matter in my decision whether or not to read a story and a red H isn’t on the list.

1. Does the title of the story pique my interest?
2. Does the story description make me want to investigate?
3. If the first two work does the story grab me in the first two hundred words?

If those three work then there’s a 90+% chance I’ll read the the entire story. Some 4.8’s aren’t worth shit and some 3.7’s are a joy to read.

Try my 2.39 piece (with over 150k views). Your points #1 and #2 probably grab viewers. I don't know how many make #3. But the story is meant to provoke, not arouse. Still, with 33 faves, SOME must have found it "a joy to read." Maybe they're the pervs.