Help on raising my Author profile? Attracting more comments

[inhalesdeeply]

Hello all,

I've been writing stories and publishing on Literotica for several years and have 14 published stories so far.

I would LOVE to have any of my stories submitted for competition consideration, but as I understand it, the only way to have a story entered is by getting enough likes/ratings, which in itself is a hard thing to do.

I find it mildly frustrating as I think that the site has so much content; so many authors publish so often that it's incredibly hard to get any serious amount of attention to a newly published story. Some of my stories take 10+ hours to write, plus another 5+ hours of proofing & editing, and then they get little or no comments or ratings.

The problem is that I'm not really sure how Literotica can change it!

I'd love to find a way to attract more attention to my stories and collect feedback to improve my writing, which is why I thought that if I could get one (or more) entered into a competition, it might help.

Any advice will be gratefully received.. thanks in advance.

(I hope it's OK to post this here, if not please feel free to remove it.)

 

[Jackie.Hikaru]

I would LOVE to have any of my stories submitted for competition consideration, but as I understand it, the only way to have a story entered is by getting enough likes/ratings, which in itself is a hard thing to do.

Absolutely no such requirement. You need to reach a minimum number of votes (25 for the holiday and 50 for monthly) to be considered for a prize but that's different. The sooner you enter a story into a competition the easier it is to reach the min vote requirement. Otherwise, as long as you follow the guidelines for the competition your story counts.

 

[BobbyBrandt]

There is the ongoing "competition" to attract readers, which increases the "popularity" of a story and impacts its rank among stories in particular categories and on the site overall.

Then there are the numerous "contests" that occur throughout the course of a year, such as the Halloween contest going on right now.

The contests are easy to enter and can get a writer more visibility for all of their stories as readers discover them. You might want to consider dipping your toes into the contests arena.

 

[ElectricBlue]

Write more stories, try other categories.

Fourteen stories is a good enough start, but it's not a huge portfolio. Also, it's mostly in two categories only. Fetish is a hard nut to crack, because any fetish, really, is a niche, so your audience is thus fairly narrow.

 

[inhalesdeeply]

Absolutely no such requirement. You need to reach a minimum number of votes (25 for the holiday and 50 for monthly) to be considered for a prize but that's different. The sooner you enter a story into a competition the easier it is to reach the min vote requirement. Otherwise, as long as you follow the guidelines for the competition your story counts.

thank you for the feedback.. How do I enter my story into a comp, please?

 

[inhalesdeeply]

There is the ongoing "competition" to attract readers, which increases the "popularity" of a story and impacts its rank among stories in particular categories and on the site overall.

Then there are the numerous "contests" that occur throughout the course of a year, such as the Halloween contest going on right now.

The contests are easy to enter and can get a writer more visibility for all of their stories as readers discover them. You might want to consider dipping your toes into the contests arena.

thank you for the feedback.. How do I enter my story into a comp, please?

 

[inhalesdeeply]

Write more stories, try other categories.

Fourteen stories is a good enough start, but it's not a huge portfolio. Also, it's mostly in two categories only. Fetish is a hard nut to crack, because any fetish, really, is a niche, so your audience is thus fairly narrow.

Thats great feedback.. I guess that so far I have only written content that is within my own 'special interest'. It would be good for me to try to think outside the box. Thanks

 

[ElectricBlue]

thank you for the feedback.. How do I enter my story into a comp, please?

2023 Contest Schedule - with Instructions

 

[alohadave]

thank you for the feedback.. How do I enter my story into a comp, please?

The monthly ones are automatic as long as you meet the vote threshold (be aware that the site is something like a year behind on awarding them, so don't worry about them).

For the events, there is the official list: https://forum.literotica.com/threads/author-organized-challenge-list-2023-updated-july-23rd.1496456/ (sadly out of date, pay attention to this forum for more up to date info). The basic gist is you write to the theme, post in the posting range for the event, and use the tags and Admin Note (if any) for that event. Then, when the event 'goes live', you'll be included in the list and you'll get a bump in readership.

 

[Rob_Royale]

Put links to your work in the signature line of your forum profile. Being active on the forums helps if you chime in on subjects that your work is covering.

Also, you have at least five wife stories but have put them in Fetish rather than Loving Wives. Now you would not be the first person to put them elsewhere to avoid the trolls that frequent that dark realm, but the fact is, it's a popular category and they will get more attention and they will get more comments.

 

[Bazzle]

Hello all,

I've been writing stories and publishing on Literotica for several years and have 14 published stories so far.

I would LOVE to have any of my stories submitted for competition consideration, but as I understand it, the only way to have a story entered is by getting enough likes/ratings, which in itself is a hard thing to do.

I find it mildly frustrating as I think that the site has so much content; so many authors publish so often that it's incredibly hard to get any serious amount of attention to a newly published story. Some of my stories take 10+ hours to write, plus another 5+ hours of proofing & editing, and then they get little or no comments or ratings.

The problem is that I'm not really sure how Literotica can change it!

I'd love to find a way to attract more attention to my stories and collect feedback to improve my writing, which is why I thought that if I could get one (or more) entered into a competition, it might help.

Any advice will be gratefully received.. thanks in advance.

(I hope it's OK to post this here, if not please feel free to remove it.)

I am equally 95% "Fetish" dweller of an author. After 53 stories votes and comments are still hard to come by, because fetish is broad spectrum.

As such you have to make sure your fetish is broad enough for enough peeps to like.

I write in a very niche corner, so don't expect large numbers of votes, or comments.

Some used to complain about my English, as such I have tried to improve, and my scores have gone up accordingly. HOWEVER after all of that. Write for yourself and what you enjoy.

B

 

[EmilyMiller]

Help on raising my Author profile? Attracting more comments​

Hi & welcome

Others have explained that anyone can enter a competition or event. There are detailed instructions on how to do this included in a support thread for each separate gig.

But don’t expect this to be a universal panacea. It can help, but only a little.

Same as adding a signature to your forum profile. The people who frequent the forums are a tiny sliver of the readership. So this can only help at the margins. Same with being active on the forums.

But… the forums are good places for interacting with other authors. Maybe you’ll make friends with a popular author and maybe they will help you promote your work. Please note, I’m not suggesting anything as transactional as targeting popular authors, let it emerge organically, otherwise it’s fake.

However, the only real way to get a bigger audience is simple to say and hard to do:

1. Write compelling stories - be that smoking strokers where it’s all about the sex, or more nuanced works with rounded characters and real emotions / motivations.
2. Publish often. There is so much new stuff flooding this place every day (much of it of questionable quality) that you need to be out there with a new story regularly.

Hope that helps. There is no silver bullet I’m afraid. I’m still figuring out a lot of it.

Em

 

[AG31]

I'd love to find a way to attract more attention to my stories and collect feedback to improve my writing, which is why I thought that if I could get one (or more) entered into a competition, it might help.

I asked a similar question a while ago and learned that I could put links to my stories in my signature. I'm not sure it's helped at all, but it's something to do.

 

[firmbutgentle]

I have nothing to add to the good advice everyone has posted except that getting noticed is not easy.

Is there any appetite for mutual reads? Not for stars or likes, but for discussion. Or a writing circle where a small group reads/talks together?

 

[geronimo_appleby]

yeah, competitons can bump your numbers. posting stories on a regular basis helps, too.

keep writing.

 

[geronimo_appleby]

yeah, competitons can bump your numbers. posting scenes on a regular basis helps, too.

oh, and add a link in youe sig line if you post on threads.

keep writing.

 

[inhalesdeeply]

Put links to your work in the signature line of your forum profile. Being active on the forums helps if you chime in on subjects that your work is covering.

Also, you have at least five wife stories but have put them in Fetish rather than Loving Wives. Now you would not be the first person to put them elsewhere to avoid the trolls that frequent that dark realm, but the fact is, it's a popular category and they will get more attention and they will get more comments.

This is great feedback. I will have to see if its even possible to change the the category I put them in! I wasn't trying to avoid trolls as I didn't know that was a thing! LOL

 

[Rob_Royale]

This is great feedback. I will have to see if its even possible to change the the category I put them in! I wasn't trying to avoid trolls as I didn't know that was a thing! LOL

It is. Resubmit the story with EDIT in the title line, next to the title. Change the category in the pull-down window and then add a note to the admin. Anticipate a one-month wait.

But just make sure it's some form of non-monogamy between married folk so it truly fits the LW category.

 

[djrip]

This is great feedback. I will have to see if its even possible to change the the category I put them in! I wasn't trying to avoid trolls as I didn't know that was a thing! LOL

Moving your existing stories will not have a huge effect on their views because they will not appear as a new story on the front page, they will just silently switch to the other category, if I understand correctly. But putting your next wife oriented story in Loving Wives when it comes out is likely to draw a large audience to it. Just be aware of the trade-off: you are likely to have more views, but lower ratings, and more comments, but more of them negative or outright hostile.

 

[ElectricBlue]

Moving your existing stories will not have a huge effect on their views because they will not appear as a new story on the front page, they will just silently switch to the other category, if I understand correctly.

Correct. It's a behind the scenes change, really. The story doesn't get another run on the front page.

But putting your next wife oriented story in Loving Wives when it comes out is likely to draw a large audience to it. Just be aware of the trade-off: you are likely to have more views, but lower ratings, and more comments, but more of them negative or outright hostile.

@inhalesdeeply As djrip notes, I'd go sample some stories and the comments made before you consider this category, and make your own mind up. There's a great divide across Literotica, this is it. If you go there, go with your eyes wide open.

 

[NoTalentHack]

Correct. It's a behind the scenes change, really. The story doesn't get another run on the front page.

@inhalesdeeply As djrip notes, I'd go sample some stories and the comments made before you consider this category, and make your own mind up. There's a great divide across Literotica, this is it. If you go there, go with your eyes wide open.

Abso-fuckinglutrely agree here. Your stories are mostly hotwife/cuck, reading the taglines. If that’s true, you’ll likely get more views and comments in LW, but the comments are going to be very negative overall. You’ll also get lower ratings. But you’ll probably pick up a fair few followers; on the back of my sone cuck story in there, I picked up probably a hundred new followers whose names made it clear they were there for those type of stories.

 

[SimonDoom]

This is great feedback. I will have to see if its even possible to change the the category I put them in! I wasn't trying to avoid trolls as I didn't know that was a thing! LOL

I don't recommend resubmitting or recategorizing stories. As others have pointed out, they won't be resubmitted as new stories so they won't get the attention that new stories get.

Onward and upward. That's the best advice. Learn from what you've done in the past, learn from what other people do, and write new stories.

This is what I did for years and years before I wrote and published my first story: I read other stories. I figured out what I liked, and what kinds of stories I wanted to write. I paid very careful attention to the stories I liked and figured out what it was about those stories that made me like them. By the time I wrote my first Literotica story I had a very clear idea of what I wanted to do. I suggest you read other Literotica stories and figure out which others write stories you like and who seem to have achieved the success you seek, and figure out why.

I scanned a couple of your stories. I don't think you necessarily need to recategorize them. I have written "hot wife" style stories and published them in Exhibitionism and Voyeur with considerable success. They get much higher scores than they probably would if I had published them in Loving Wives, and the view numbers are good too.

I have a stylistic recommendation. I scanned a few of your stories. Incorporate more dialogue. Especially dialogue with the wife. Your stories are sometimes skimpy on dialogue. If you want to succeed with a story about a hot wife, then do everything possible to make the hot wife an interesting person and not just an object of the husband's fantasy. The hot wife should talk a lot. She should have dialogue with the husband and with other people.

 

[ElectricBlue]

The hot wife should talk a lot. She should have dialogue with the husband and with other people.

What, like a human being with a mind of her own?

EB started to collect wood. Simon had uttered heresy, and the AH hasn't had a witch burning for quite some time.

 

[mirafrida]

I'm still waiting for that glorious day when I feel inspired to write about anything vaguely related to any of the contest themes...

 

[Bamagan]

What, like a human being with a mind of her own?

EB started to collect wood. Simon had uttered heresy, and the AH hasn't had a witch burning for quite some time.

I understand the lack of witch-burning is largely due to the fact that the advocates of it kept posting comments saying 'BTW' and everyone paused in anticipation, allowing the witches time to escape.