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Hypoxia
doesn't watch television
- Joined
- Sep 7, 2013
- Posts
- 28,080
That's the secret. Don't obsess unless you like obsessing. I used to build spreadsheets of titles and results. Fuck that. Authors write and post on LIT for our own satisfaction, and I don't find that satisfying anymore. YMMV.
Kantarii
I'm Not A Bitch!
- Joined
- May 9, 2016
- Posts
- 9,360
Most people fail to realize that Laurel can remove bogus 5* ratings just as easily as she can bogus 1* ratings. It happens more often than not and I’ve see it happen on my sweeps, too. After a while, you’ll appreciate a nice, thoughtful comment/critique of your work more than a rating. I do. 
Kant
Kant
TANSTAAFL58
Lost and Profound
- Joined
- May 18, 2018
- Posts
- 19,854
So, do the numbers mean anything? My Geek Pride story's score has been steadily dropping for a week. I thought it was pretty good. I was hovering around 4.3 - 4.4 until about a week ago. It's at 4.11 on 28 votes now. I scrapped my idea of a sequel; clearly the story was crap.. My second story is stuck at 9 votes / 4.67 score after 13 days and 1500 views. Think about that: fifteen hundred people opened that one page story, and only nine could be bothered to vote, and nobody could offer any criticism.
I'm so pissed off at all those views with so few votes and even fewer comments that I vote on every story I open and comment as much as I can. Especially new authors.
So, again, do the votes mean anything? I wasn't expecting a Nobel Prize for Stroke Fiction, but am I reading the numbers right? Should I just pack it in and delete the 50 Word pages I have written and stick to reading?
I'm so pissed off at all those views with so few votes and even fewer comments that I vote on every story I open and comment as much as I can. Especially new authors.
So, again, do the votes mean anything? I wasn't expecting a Nobel Prize for Stroke Fiction, but am I reading the numbers right? Should I just pack it in and delete the 50 Word pages I have written and stick to reading?
SamScribble
Yeah, still just a guru
- Joined
- Oct 23, 2009
- Posts
- 38,861
I think that we have to remind ourselves from time to time that nine out of ten people who vote on Lit wouldn't recognise good writing if it sneaked up and bit them on the bum. 
Kantarii
I'm Not A Bitch!
- Joined
- May 9, 2016
- Posts
- 9,360
Contests are a great way to build a fan base. You’ll be able to see that when readers start favoriting you as an author or favoriting your stories, but more so as an author. I tend to see favoriting an author’s stories as a book mark. Honestly, your probably over reacting if you’re fairly new to posting stories. Hang in there and keep posting your stuff.
Kant
NotWise
Desert Rat
- Joined
- Sep 7, 2015
- Posts
- 13,606
I track voting on my stories, and if the votes are fairly low when a sweep comes then I can also see what has been swept. It's very common for sweeps to pick off high votes. I've had more 5* votes than 1* votes swept on some stories.
We don't know anything about how the site determines if a vote is invalid and should be swept. The score doesn't seem to be part of the formula.
I have a common voting pattern on one of my stories. The votes often come in two-at-a-time, then shortly after that a vote is removed. I don't know what those votes are. The vote count is too high for the score to move based on a single vote.
NotWise
Desert Rat
- Joined
- Sep 7, 2015
- Posts
- 13,606
I think that we have to remind ourselves from time to time that nine out of ten people who vote on Lit wouldn't recognise good writing if it sneaked up and bit them on the bum.
It's also good to remind ourselves from time to time that the voting system is really a popularity pole and has little or nothing to do with the quality of the writing.
JasonClearwater
Absent
- Joined
- Apr 3, 2017
- Posts
- 951
Since I started locking my stories' scores, I've slept better. I know nothing's going to change. And I look at the ones I've left open, and think.... they're going to stay low, so, nothing's going to change there either. And it doesn't matter so much anymore.
It's cheaper than those guided meditation apps.
It's cheaper than those guided meditation apps.
ElectricBlue
Connoisseur
- Joined
- May 10, 2014
- Posts
- 15,435
And twice as much fun...
JasonClearwater
Absent
- Joined
- Apr 3, 2017
- Posts
- 951
NotWise
Desert Rat
- Joined
- Sep 7, 2015
- Posts
- 13,606
The ratings on my early stories bothered me, whether they were high or low, because I didn't have any idea WHY they were high or low. That's why I started tracking the votes. I think it's given me some insight into why the ratings come out the way they do, and that's all I wanted. That process doesn't crank me up, it calms me down.
JasonClearwater
Absent
- Joined
- Apr 3, 2017
- Posts
- 951
NotWise
Desert Rat
- Joined
- Sep 7, 2015
- Posts
- 13,606
It isn't about quality of writing, and a lot of it has nothing to do with your story at all, but about when it's published, what's published at the same time, whether your story pushes the right buttons for the category it's in, etc. Scores for stories in low-traffic categories may be more influences by views from the 'New' list than from the category hub.
And then there's those early voters -- the ones that are reading with hard-on in hand and hopping through the 'New' list from one story to the next. If you kill their buzz you get 1*. If you get them off then maybe you get a 5*, but there's nothing in between.
Kantarii
I'm Not A Bitch!
- Joined
- May 9, 2016
- Posts
- 9,360
Just don’t lock off your comments. I’ve read a few of your stories and left a footprint
comment on themKantJasonClearwater
Absent
- Joined
- Apr 3, 2017
- Posts
- 951
Just don’t lock off your comments. I’ve read a few of your stories and left a footprint
I saw that, thank you.
I'll never lock off comments... the trolls can't be bothered to leave comments, and if they did, they know I'd delete them, so that's a no-win for them.
TANSTAAFL58
Lost and Profound
- Joined
- May 18, 2018
- Posts
- 19,854
Just don’t lock off your comments. I’ve read a few of your stories and left a footprint
This!
I read a story yesterday that I really liked. It was a virtual Anal primer. I voted, but I couldn't send the author feedback. She doesn't accept comments or messages. (I'm guessing at the sex because the stories are from a woman's perspective.)
Here it is fwiw. https://www.literotica.com/s/learning-the-meaning-of-hook-up
I'm going to keep writing, but I'm going to reserve my right to keep my fantasies. You folks have taught this old dog that there are a lot more kinks, fetishes and turn ons than I ever imagined. Thanks for your thoughts all.
Sorry, I kind of hijacked this topic.
