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lovecraft68

lovecraft68

Bad Doggie
Joined
Jul 13, 2009
Posts
41,958
A little rant/question. I received a review today on a pay site. It was one star and basically the person called out that the stories had no build up, it was mostly sex and the step fathers were pigs and not treating their step daughters well and the girls were pretty much 'in heat'

They said this was far different from my usual slow burn stories that featured emotion and sentiment with the screwing....

So okay, the one star and reason for it isn't really a huge deal as in I'm not thin skinned. They didn't like it, they said why and weren't trollish about it. They ended it with saying that 'the author' is usually far better than this. So a compliment of sorts.

Good news is being a pay site at least I got the sale and its not like here where we get trashed for free. :D

But it made me wonder a couple things. One, I guess if you write a certain way most of the time it gains a fan base which I understand, but apparently you can't deviate from it without getting flack.

The second thing is do readers, who I assume are all reasonably intelligent people, ever stop when they see something different and think...well, I guess they're branching out, or breaking things up, or trying something new so....?

The book in question was three shorts and all meant to be stroky. The step incest(its amazon) was already ongoing so these weren't first time stories and the theme was getting dirty little quickies in places they had to be quick or could be caught.

So again why is this greeted with negativity? If its not your thing, that's fine, but we pay the price because you got ham and cheese instead of your Bologna this time? Worth mentioning the description of the book alluded to these being quick and dirty and if they looked at the amount they can see for free it started off like that....

End of the day its all good. Its part of the biz and I've gotten far worse than that for far less reason. Just seeing how others interpret being locked into what people perceive as 'your thing"
 
lovecraft68 said:
But it made me wonder a couple things. One, I guess if you write a certain way most of the time it gains a fan base which I understand, but apparently you can't deviate from it without getting flack.
Click to expand...

Isn't this one reason why some authors use more than one pen name?

lovecraft68 said:
The second thing is do readers, who I assume are all reasonably intelligent people, ever stop when they see something different and think...well, I guess they're branching out, or breaking things up, or trying something new so....?
Click to expand...

I expect some readers can take it in stride, but unless all of them take it in stride you're still likely to get some huffy readers.
 
lovecraft68 said:
But it made me wonder a couple things. One, I guess if you write a certain way most of the time it gains a fan base which I understand, but apparently you can't deviate from it without getting flack
Click to expand...

That's what I wrote at the beginning of my fifth story:
I need to start with a warning to my followers. There is a reason that this story isn't classified as a romance. While there definitely is an underlying romantic element, it is a lot different from my previous stories.

lovecraft68 said:
who I assume are all reasonably intelligent people,
Click to expand...

That's a very optimistic assumption to make... :eek:
 
NotWise said:
Isn't this one reason why some authors use more than one pen name?



I expect some readers can take it in stride, but unless all of them take it in stride you're still likely to get some huffy readers.
Click to expand...

As for the pen name you'd have a point if these were different genres, but this was the same genre just a different approach within it.

Also creating a pen name in pay market is more work than creating one here and it can get to be a PIA to keep track of the names books, sales etc....
 
I have two pen names on Literotica - oggbashan and jeanne_d_artois.

Jeanne writes from a female POV.

I don't feel restricted to one genre or style as oggbashan. I don't expect anyone to like everything I write as oggbashan.

The down side of that is that many of my stories don't get red Hs perhaps because the story is not what a reader expects.
 
oggbashan said:
I have two pen names on Literotica - oggbashan and jeanne_d_artois.

Jeanne writes from a female POV.

I don't feel restricted to one genre or style as oggbashan. I don't expect anyone to like everything I write as oggbashan.

The down side of that is that many of my stories don't get red Hs perhaps because the story is not what a reader expects.
Click to expand...

You write off the beaten path which as discussed here many times is always going to be met with less than stellar results because the erotica crowd seems to want the same thing over and over again.
 
lovecraft68 said:
The book in question was three shorts and all meant to be stroky. The step incest(its amazon) was already ongoing so these weren't first time stories and the theme was getting dirty little quickies in places they had to be quick or could be caught.
Click to expand...

I reckon, there's your answer, right there. Readers wanting a bit of mindless porn probably want it predictable, and you've put them off their stroke.

I solve the problem by not knowing how to write stroke, and I'm thinking my followers probably know that, and follow me because of my languid style. Since I don't plan changing anything anytime soon, it probably works out okay, all round.

Except for those who want stroke. But they can buy that from that Lovecraft fellow, on Amazon ;).
 
electricblue66 said:
I reckon, there's your answer, right there. Readers wanting a bit of mindless porn probably want it predictable, and you've put them off their stroke.

I solve the problem by not knowing how to write stroke, and I'm thinking my followers probably know that, and follow me because of my languid style. Since I don't plan changing anything anytime soon, it probably works out okay, all round.

Except for those who want stroke. But they can buy that from that Lovecraft fellow, on Amazon ;).
Click to expand...

I spent a few years saying I couldn't write stroke. Then I got a little tired of everything needing a reason and wanted to write some down and dirty. Tell you what, I found it kind of liberating...."Mom's all over her son...why? Who cares?":D
 
NotWise said:
Isn't this one reason why some authors use more than one pen name?
Click to expand...

Yep. I've heard of quite a few who did this.

I wonder who it worked/works out for folk like Roald Dahl and Clive Barker who publish children's stories and creepy erotica/horror all under the same name.
 
Eliot Silvestri is an Amazon writer I buy, there are others, and all of them cant find a style any of like. They run hot and cold with me. But I run hot and cold with plenty of world class authors.
 
Bramblethorn said:
Yep. I've heard of quite a few who did this.

I wonder who it worked/works out for folk like Roald Dahl and Clive Barker who publish children's stories and creepy erotica/horror all under the same name.
Click to expand...

My mother used to date a fuckwit of a human raised by a fucked family. We were over at fuckwit's parent’s house when his father, a GP, gave me an instructional book for teens that he'd written and had published. His wife then handed me some 'Roald Dahl. I have a feeling you'll like this story. You strike me as the sort of person who would. My husband hated James and the giant peach (or whatever it was - she referenced one of his children's stories) and refuses to read any more of his work'.

The GP's book was filled with a lot of nonsense including advice not to masturbate. The Roald Dahl story was 'My Uncle Oswald'.

It stands out in my mind as the cleverest way anyone has ever completely undermined their foolish partner. She could have given me any number of the other dirty books she later leant me, but she instead chose Roald. Brilliant.
 
I wonder how many writers have reliable styles. Mine has been fixed for years (Emily Dicksinson). Heres a sample: "Put ur tongue up my butt or get a cap in ur gut, mother boinker."
 
lovecraft68 said:
A little rant/question. I received a review today on a pay site. It was one star and basically the person called out that the stories had no build up, it was mostly sex and the step fathers were pigs and not treating their step daughters well and the girls were pretty much 'in heat'

They said this was far different from my usual slow burn stories that featured emotion and sentiment with the screwing....

So okay, the one star and reason for it isn't really a huge deal as in I'm not thin skinned. They didn't like it, they said why and weren't trollish about it. They ended it with saying that 'the author' is usually far better than this. So a compliment of sorts.

Good news is being a pay site at least I got the sale and its not like here where we get trashed for free. :D

But it made me wonder a couple things. One, I guess if you write a certain way most of the time it gains a fan base which I understand, but apparently you can't deviate from it without getting flack.

The second thing is do readers, who I assume are all reasonably intelligent people, ever stop when they see something different and think...well, I guess they're branching out, or breaking things up, or trying something new so....?

The book in question was three shorts and all meant to be stroky. The step incest(its amazon) was already ongoing so these weren't first time stories and the theme was getting dirty little quickies in places they had to be quick or could be caught.

So again why is this greeted with negativity? If its not your thing, that's fine, but we pay the price because you got ham and cheese instead of your Bologna this time? Worth mentioning the description of the book alluded to these being quick and dirty and if they looked at the amount they can see for free it started off like that....

End of the day its all good. Its part of the biz and I've gotten far worse than that for far less reason. Just seeing how others interpret being locked into what people perceive as 'your thing"
Click to expand...

Forgive me, but I'm new here and revising/downsizing several before I submit them to the site.

My take on it is that it's only one comment. Why let it bother you?

I always assume readers are intelligent as well, but that can differ when it comes to reading warnings and/or categories when a fan reads a story of yours they don't like. Some readers don't pay attention to that if they recognize your name or if it's placed into a category/genre you don't have control over.

As for pen names; I pick one that goes with the genre it should be in.

Most of my stories are accumulations of ones I've written over the years and haven't tried submitting until recently.

My thing isn't erotica, so I'll have a pen name for that.

I'm more into drama and real life type stories based on real life events, but greatly expanded into fiction. I've written 2, working on another, and hoping for a sequel on 1. That pen name I have from that will not sway from its' genre unless it's advised I choose a different one for that genre.

1 of the above has become more sci-fi based, so I'll have to decide if I should choose another pen name.

One other I take seriously is a book about a washed up ballplayer 'haunted' by ghosts and his own regrets as he attempts to create 'recreate' a grudge match all-star game. It's a 'boys will be boys' type book, but has some graphic material, adult humor, and sexually explicit scenes. Not for kids.

Since I've been encouraged to consider erotica, I'm diving into that here.
 
lovecraft68 said:
I spent a few years saying I couldn't write stroke. Then I got a little tired of everything needing a reason and wanted to write some down and dirty. Tell you what, I found it kind of liberating...."Mom's all over her son...why? Who cares?":D
Click to expand...

Some people take it however they take it. If it's incest erotica, I expect incest erotica. If it's non erotic in nature, I don't expect it to be taboo or sexual in nature. If I don't like it that's no big deal to me. I chose to read it.

Either way, the author benefits because he/she attracted another reader.
 
I think it's just people needing to pontificate. Anonymous expertise is such a boon for people who had so much to say and no effective means of conveyance before them intartubez. Mean-spirited without the threat of getting punched in the craw.

People get so easily offended (and, dare I say, butthurt) when you change things or do something they don't like. On here, I've received irate reviews and anonymous PMs where people screeched at me about something a character did ("ALEXA WOULD NEVER DO THAT! YOU GOT HER TOTALLY FUCKING WRONG, ASSHOLE!!!").

Oh. I'm sorry. My bad. I thought I was the author and omnipotent GOD of this story universe I have created, I completely forgot that it was you, Anonymous Screechbug, who had in fact created all these characters.

Here's an idea- write a constructive review or critique, if your language skills and opposable thumbs allow for it. If you disagree with a characterization, question the purpose of it. If you wish to see something come about, humbly pray before your omnipotent Smut Deity and hope for My literary munificence.

I can pretty much guarantee that if people scream/screech/shriek/whine/wonk or otherwise threaten to never read my works again, I'll keep doing the exact same thing they're objecting to.

And you know what? Alexa's gonna love-love-looooooove me long time for it. Because I said so.

Having ranted myself now, I really do believe it's just caprice brought on by the safe, sploodgy warm womb of anonymity. I'm sorry to hear it's happening to you.
 
BiscuitHammer said:
I think it's just people needing to pontificate. Anonymous expertise is such a boon for people who had so much to say and no effective means of conveyance before them intartubez. Mean-spirited without the threat of getting punched in the craw.

People get so easily offended (and, dare I say, butthurt) when you change things or do something they don't like. On here, I've received irate reviews and anonymous PMs where people screeched at me about something a character did ("ALEXA WOULD NEVER DO THAT! YOU GOT HER TOTALLY FUCKING WRONG, ASSHOLE!!!").

Oh. I'm sorry. My bad. I thought I was the author and omnipotent GOD of this story universe I have created, I completely forgot that it was you, Anonymous Screechbug, who had in fact created all these characters.

Here's an idea- write a constructive review or critique, if your language skills and opposable thumbs allow for it. If you disagree with a characterization, question the purpose of it. If you wish to see something come about, humbly pray before your omnipotent Smut Deity and hope for My literary munificence.

I can pretty much guarantee that if people scream/screech/shriek/whine/wonk or otherwise threaten to never read my works again, I'll keep doing the exact same thing they're objecting to.

And you know what? Alexa's gonna love-love-looooooove me long time for it. Because I said so.

Having ranted myself now, I really do believe it's just caprice brought on by the safe, sploodgy warm womb of anonymity. I'm sorry to hear it's happening to you.
Click to expand...

You ranted, but I liked it. At this point, I'm longing for some type of review(s). You have a good idea or 2 there. I wouldn't do it to appease the minority of fans. Some actually like a little change. Stay w/the flow of the story as it your creation.
 
Yes, readers care about lots of things we never really considered when we started.

  • POV vs Omniscient voice.
  • Types of encounters. We've always chosen consensual as true north. Readers seem to paint the author with the character's traits. If there there's cheating, or the character doesn't act as they might or as they want, they take it out on us.
  • Tense of story. When we started a series using present tense to intensify the immediacy of happenings, readers pushed back publicly and privately.
  • Nature of the kink. If the already taboo story touches other rails, watch out...

For many of these reasons, we've been debating using an new account to post an upcoming story that doesn't follow much of our original works.
-MM
 
lovecraft68 said:
A little rant/question. I received a review today on a pay site. It was one star and basically the person called out that the stories had no build up, it was mostly sex and the step fathers were pigs and not treating their step daughters well and the girls were pretty much 'in heat'

They said this was far different from my usual slow burn stories that featured emotion and sentiment with the screwing....
Click to expand...

This just means you made it to the big leagues. You've got readers who buy all your work, and who've been put off their stride by buying something that takes a step sideways.

If you're a fan of an author and you buy everything they release without reading reviews first, and then they change their style, you might get a touch put out. I've stopped doing this, because some of the authors I read started producing work that just wasn't enjoyable.

The difference between someone who writes (and experiments, and who thinks like an author/writer) and someone who just reads books, is that readers feel entirely entitled, in this Yelp review universe, to throw down a one-star 'this is shit' when it deviates from their expectation.

It's not shit, they just didn't like it, but there seem to be a lot of people who get confused between these two concepts. It's all part of the 'my opinion matters' culture. I do wonder if half of these people fall into despair when they get older and realise, no one gives a shit about their opinion, and they haven't done anything with their lives except whine about other people's work/service/inventions.

The other side of that coin, is that at least you know you have a dedicated reader who cares about your work. And as you say, that's a win, no matter how you slice it.

My work's all over the shop from a creative perspective, but I just get a resounding silence when I head into uncharted territory where my reader base isn't interested in following.
 
lovecraft68 said:
"Mom's all over her son...why? Who cares?”
Click to expand...
Well, it’s almost always one of the following two reasons:
  • Mom inadvertently sees Son masturbating and the boy has got a third leg for a dick; Mom goes MAD WITH LUST
  • Mom’s underwear (story says “panties”) are missing, Mom catches Son sniffing them, or finds them with telltale stains; Mom goes MAD WITH POWER

And don’t forget, that when talking to each other, especially during coitus, both Mom and Son must constantly remind each other of their relationship by calling each other “Mom” and “Son” and other contrivances.
 
Oblimo said:
...

And don’t forget, that when talking to each other, especially during coitus, both Mom and Son must constantly remind each other of their relationship by calling each other “Mom” and “Son” and other contrivances.
Click to expand...

And one more item to include:

Frequent statements of 'We shouldn't be doing this...'.
 
ausfet said:
My mother used to date a fuckwit of a human raised by a fucked family. We were over at fuckwit's parent’s house when his father, a GP, gave me an instructional book for teens that he'd written and had published. His wife then handed me some 'Roald Dahl. I have a feeling you'll like this story. You strike me as the sort of person who would. My husband hated James and the giant peach (or whatever it was - she referenced one of his children's stories) and refuses to read any more of his work'.

The GP's book was filled with a lot of nonsense including advice not to masturbate. The Roald Dahl story was 'My Uncle Oswald'.

It stands out in my mind as the cleverest way anyone has ever completely undermined their foolish partner. She could have given me any number of the other dirty books she later leant me, but she instead chose Roald. Brilliant.
Click to expand...

Oh... wow. That's some weapons-grade sabotage there.
 
Putdown

One in The Sunday Times:

Father was going to a meeting of PEN - an association of authors.

Young daughter asks mother:

"What's a pen?"

Mother's answer (with father present):

"A tool for writing. Just like your father."
 
lovecraft68 said:
A little rant/question. I received a review today on a pay site. It was one star and basically the person called out that the stories had no build up, it was mostly sex and the step fathers were pigs and not treating their step daughters well and the girls were pretty much 'in heat'

They said this was far different from my usual slow burn stories that featured emotion and sentiment with the screwing....

So okay, the one star and reason for it isn't really a huge deal as in I'm not thin skinned. They didn't like it, they said why and weren't trollish about it. They ended it with saying that 'the author' is usually far better than this. So a compliment of sorts.

Good news is being a pay site at least I got the sale and its not like here where we get trashed for free. :D

But it made me wonder a couple things. One, I guess if you write a certain way most of the time it gains a fan base which I understand, but apparently you can't deviate from it without getting flack.

The second thing is do readers, who I assume are all reasonably intelligent people, ever stop when they see something different and think...well, I guess they're branching out, or breaking things up, or trying something new so....?

The book in question was three shorts and all meant to be stroky. The step incest(its amazon) was already ongoing so these weren't first time stories and the theme was getting dirty little quickies in places they had to be quick or could be caught.

So again why is this greeted with negativity? If its not your thing, that's fine, but we pay the price because you got ham and cheese instead of your Bologna this time? Worth mentioning the description of the book alluded to these being quick and dirty and if they looked at the amount they can see for free it started off like that....

End of the day its all good. Its part of the biz and I've gotten far worse than that for far less reason. Just seeing how others interpret being locked into what people perceive as 'your thing"
Click to expand...

OÒOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO




It's like actors being typecast, artists having styles...

I've never wanted a single style and tried not to. It is difficult.

People have read my "stuff" and asked how many of us are there? I love that.

I just want to be able to write and it seems to me that one style of writing is a limitation. I don't aim to have a following. I want to be free of that. I don't mind sharing but don't want to be governed. To me, adopting a style betrays the creativity, the imagination. One day I hope to make my living from writing but not to be a "writer". There is more than being a "writer". I want the excitement of more. I aim to have it soon though acknowledge it may take longer.
 
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