Someone 1-bombed my latest story and killed my red H!

Some us have to get slapped on the back of the head.

We can't all have a sleazy looking love handle hanging off the back of our head like you.:D

And what's up with makin' fun of my schoolin'? I gradiated the fifth grade!

Hey now, that's not a love handle. It's a ponytail and ya know what you find under a ponytail? A horses ass.

My apologizes. I didn't know you had reached such a high level in edumacation. :cool:
 
Maybe it should be obvious, but . . .

I can see the overall score and the number of people who voted. How do you see the actual number of one-star, two-star, etc., votes?

And I'll ask another obvious question -- what is a sweep? I have a nice editor who is mystified at the rating on one of my stories. I didn't get worked up about it, but now that I am learning about trolls I am better at maths.

When does a broken-hearted author request a sweep and what happens?
 
And I'll ask another obvious question -- what is a sweep? I have a nice editor who is mystified at the rating on one of my stories. I didn't get worked up about it, but now that I am learning about trolls I am better at maths.

When does a broken-hearted author request a sweep and what happens?

A "sweep" is when the owner of the site deletes votes that appear to be made for improper purposes, such as multiple votes by the same person under different alts to drive down a story score. No one knows exactly what the formula is, but they are frequent during contests and happen at other times as well.

If you think your story has been unfairly bombed, go ahead and message Laurel. You should get a fairly prompt response.
 
And I'll ask another obvious question -- what is a sweep? I have a nice editor who is mystified at the rating on one of my stories. I didn't get worked up about it, but now that I am learning about trolls I am better at maths.

When does a broken-hearted author request a sweep and what happens?

I've just read your stories, and I'm surprised at your scores too. I've read and voted - the second story, PowerPoint, very hot and to my taste. I'd think a sweep should help tidy those scores up to where they should be, but by the same token, the scores across the board are also arbitrary, and it pays to keep that in the back of your mind. They're based, at least in part, on the culture and readership of the site. Some of the harder kinks and fetishes get a lot of favourites, but low scores from the squeamish. And sometimes, you just need to be found.

The troll we've got is a sadist, who's fuzzing for people who seem like they'd care. The site has mechanisms for dealing with that, so it's best not to bother too much about it. That said, you can always ask for feedback, and the community should be supportive and help you out.

Part of the reason I posted this thread, other than to have a laugh, is that I know n00bs (and I was one, it seems only yesterday), do get bombed, and don't understand what's happening, and doubt themselves. It's good to know you're not alone, and it's nothing to get worked up about.

If we, as a community, support one another, and make sure newcomers understand it really isn't them, but just one, maybe a couple, of sad little limpets that, for whatever reason (likely how their own work would have been received had they not manipulated the scores for everyone else), have chosen to bomb stories on Literotica rather than watch Netflix. Personally, I don't understand that choice, but then, I'm not a sadist.

You write well, and the scores are not reflective of your ability as a writer, or the hotness of your content.

Edited to add - include a link in your signature to your work so we can navigate there more easily to help you out. :)
 
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Maybe it should be obvious, but . . .

I can see the overall score and the number of people who voted. How do you see the actual number of one-star, two-star, etc., votes?

I don't think you can. You can work it out but the maths is quite convoluted, I wouldn't say necessarily difficult, but then I'm a maths geek. Basically a 1* pulls your rating down more severely but the larger the number of votes cast the less effect it has. So if you have, say fifty votes then a one star vote has comparatively little effect, maybe dropping your score by 0.1 or 0.2, Sorry if this is stating the obvious.
 
Part of the reason I posted this thread, other than to have a laugh, is that I know n00bs (and I was one, it seems only yesterday), do get bombed, and don't understand what's happening, and doubt themselves. It's good to know you're not alone, and it's nothing to get worked up about.

I’m a full blown n00by. 3 submissions to my name! I lost a red H today with a very sharp decline in my rating. It is disheartening and a little bit heartbreaking as a writer to think that someone is purposely acting cruely against a piece of work that has taken weeks (or months, in the case of my first submission) to put together.

What I find hardest to swallow is that I know with a lower score my work is less likely to be read. All I want is for people to read and enjoy what I write. If they actually took the time to read the work they’re bombing then they’d probably really enjoy it.

https://www.literotica.com/s/the-cop-the-cam-and-the-crooks
 
Don't get disheartened by it, that's their intention. Your score will consolidate, you write well.
 
Part of the reason I posted this thread, other than to have a laugh, is that I know n00bs (and I was one, it seems only yesterday), do get bombed, and don't understand what's happening, and doubt themselves. It's good to know you're not alone, and it's nothing to get worked up about.

If we, as a community, support one another, and make sure newcomers understand it really isn't them...

You write well, and the scores are not reflective of your ability as a writer, or the hotness of your content.

Edited to add - include a link in your signature to your work so we can navigate there more easily to help you out. :)

Many thanks for the explanation and the words of support, JasonClearwater. I have experienced the same as JugheadJane, where the score on my precious baby drops like a rock all of a sudden. But then again as others have pointed out, I don't have many total votes and therefore one bad score can really impact it.

I'm slowly learning to write, so when I figure out the whole concept of characters, I'll go back, edit, and thread my vignettes into a storyline. At that point I might be offended by trolls; right now I'm definitely a newbie. All in all I have gotten nothing but support from people on the site and I am very grateful for that (in fact it took me six months to realise I had lovely private messages in my inbox!). But I will take multiple people's suggestions and ask for a sweep.

I've also added a signature...
 
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A guy getting a hard time from a girl, sure to get you the 1*! I would be pretty sure it's the same one that 1 bombs my FemDom stuff. Poor lad has a problem with strong women.
 
Welcome to the club, OP. I have a very determined “fan” (or possibly more than one) who closely monitors my scores and one-bombs any story that reaches 4.5. It’s hilarious, because at one point I saw that something like 15-20 stories were all scored 4.48 or 4.49. I mentioned this in an author’s note on my bio page, and like magic, all of those scores suddenly fell to the 4.45-4.46 range!

Out of morbid curiosity I followed my scores and vote totals throughout the day when my last two stories were published. It was amazing to see how many votes I got in such a short period of time! I got as many votes in 24 hours as some of my four-year-old stories have collected to date! It seems that someone was very busy clicking those stars!

My question is: how much time must it take to create such an impact on a story’s score? To vote a single time, you must scroll all the way to the end of the story and click on a star. To vote again, you’d have to somehow change or mask your IP address, refresh the page, scroll to the end, and click again. Lather, rinse, and repeat 20-30 times, and how much time are we talking? Hours? It must be, right? In a way, it’s flattering to know that someone cares so much!
 
One piece of advice I’d like to add, for what it’s worth: on this site, and for the purpose of votes and red Hs, I think you should stop regarding your stories as “precious babies.” If you can’t detach yourself, at least somewhat, from the work you produce, you’ll always react with WAAAAY too much emotion to the opinions of this site’s readership, which is never advisable. On that path lies danger, or at least ulcers.

Your stories are your own special treasures... until the moment you publish. At that point, they may come to mean many different things to many different people, many of whom just won’t like your work. Accepting that is a part of growing as a writer.

So your red H goes away. Big deal. Perhaps your story wasn’t as good as you thought it was, or maybe it just failed to find an audience. We’ve all been there before, in both ways.
 
Don't get disheartened by it, that's their intention. Your score will consolidate, you write well.

My scores have followed the same pattern almost every time.

Phase 1: High initial scores as my followers read and vote.

Phase 2: Steady decline of about .20-.30 points.

Phase 3: Scores climb back up to about .10-.20 points below Phase 1.

So typically, I might get an initial score of @4.80, then it drops to @4.60, then rises and settles in at @4.70.

I don't know if others have such a standard pattern, but it seems I do.
 
One piece of advice I’d like to add, for what it’s worth: on this site, and for the purpose of votes and red Hs, I think you should stop regarding your stories as “precious babies.” If you can’t detach yourself, at least somewhat, from the work you produce, you’ll always react with WAAAAY too much emotion to the opinions of this site’s readership, which is never advisable. On that path lies danger, or at least ulcers.

Yes, you're right. And I was joking. :) I'm of the belief that everything on the web is already owned by Cambridge Analytica.
 
So your red H goes away. Big deal. Perhaps your story wasn’t as good as you thought it was, or maybe it just failed to find an audience. We’ve all been there before, in both ways.

Nooooooooooooo! You'll get my red H's when you pry them from my cold, dead hands!
 
Many thanks for the explanation and the words of support, JasonClearwater. I have experienced the same as JugheadJane, where the score on my precious baby drops like a rock all of a sudden. But then again as others have pointed out, I don't have many total votes and therefore one bad score can really impact it.

I'm slowly learning to write, so when I figure out the whole concept of characters, I'll go back, edit, and thread my vignettes into a storyline. At that point I might be offended by trolls; right now I'm definitely a newbie. All in all I have gotten nothing but support from people on the site and I am very grateful for that (in fact it took me six months to realise I had lovely private messages in my inbox!). But I will take multiple people's suggestions and ask for a sweep.

I've also added a signature... I confess this is one of the most confusing sites from a "technology" point of view and I'm old enough to remember the birth of the internet. :eek:


I've just read Why Not, or, Your Problem, and rated it a 4.00.

I think you've got a good natural talent. Nice, dynamic use of language. The tricky thing in writing sex scenes, I think, is to walk the line between repetition and silliness. In one paragraph the narrator referred as "south to the place he loves best", "my sopping pussy" and "my cunt". It read like naturalistic speech without repeating the same word again and again or resorting to "my gaping cavern" type bullshit.

You need some work on mechanics, it's a bit clunky in places. There is a gap between the tone of your language and the way your words read on the page. If this makes sense, it doesn't sound like it looks. I am a broken record on this, because I say it to just about every new writer I critique, but I do so because it was a key for me; read your story aloud before you submit it. You will find that extremely helpful in making it a smooth and pleasant read.

Good luck!
 
Thanks Jason . . .

. . .for your explanation about voting.

I'm not too hung up about the ratings. At least I have an audience, which is better than writing in a vacuum.

If someone puts me on a favorites list, I do send them a thank you note.
 
. . .for your explanation about voting.

I'm not too hung up about the ratings. At least I have an audience, which is better than writing in a vacuum.

If someone puts me on a favorites list, I do send them a thank you note.

I send a thank you to those that favorite me as an author most of the time. The sad thing is - few who favorite me as an author leave a comment and tend to have hundreds of stories and authors favorited. I feel lost in the pile, but at least they thought I was good enough to “favorite”🌹
 
. . .for your explanation about voting.

I'm not too hung up about the ratings. At least I have an audience, which is better than writing in a vacuum.

If someone puts me on a favorites list, I do send them a thank you note.

Just so you know, most will never see it. A lot of readers use a toss away e-mail address for lit, especially those who are reading here without the other halves knowledge, so many never see the messages.
 
. . .for your explanation about voting.

I'm not too hung up about the ratings. At least I have an audience, which is better than writing in a vacuum.

If someone puts me on a favorites list, I do send them a thank you note.

I prefer a thank you in snail mail. I love running out to the mailbox to see what's in it. It''ll cost you a link to your stories.
 
Just so you know, most will never see it. A lot of readers use a toss away e-mail address for lit, especially those who are reading here without the other halves knowledge, so many never see the messages.

And YOU! You've written so much stuff here over the years. I had to stop reading some time last night. ;)
 
Thanks MelissaBaby

I've just read Why Not, or, Your Problem, and rated it a 4.00.
...

You need some work on mechanics, it's a bit clunky in places. There is a gap between the tone of your language and the way your words read on the page. If this makes sense, it doesn't sound like it looks. I am a broken record on this, because I say it to just about every new writer I critique, but I do so because it was a key for me; read your story aloud before you submit it. You will find that extremely helpful in making it a smooth and pleasant read.

Many thanks for your compliments and that advice. That story was the first thing I ever wrote. The latest one, I spent much more time on revision, and learned more about how posting and formatting behaved on the site. Most importantly, I worked with two volunteer editors and they were very very helpful. Your advice to read it out loud is also a great tip which I will follow.

I am enormously grateful for the encouragement and help provided by readers and authors and editors. With their prodding, I will surely improve.
 
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Personally, I give a 5* if I liked it, or nothing if it wasn't my cup of Bondi Loose Leaf Tisane. Reason being, my '4' could pull down a story that others are enjoying and rating more highly than I might. Placing no vote does no harm to the scores being placed by other readers.


I think the most productive thing we can do to support each other in that instance, where a story isn't our thing, is leave a comment saying what we liked (if anything) and then give private feedback on what could be improved.

It's hard enough to find your readership here - we want to make sure we're not unintentionally hijacking new writers. I think established writers sometimes forget the days before they had followers who support their work. ;)
 
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