I just submitted my first story...

[MillieDynamite]

Yes, you can!

Can I #MeToo your post?

I absolutely write for me. While not autobiographical, most of my stories are variations on me dealing with my own dysphoria. But in writing for me, I also do my best to have relatable characters that people will like, or hate, as the case may be.

It is also important to write well and to tell an engaging story. Even my shorter works tell a story and are more than just wankers(I love that word. Thank you my Empirical friends)

I find that having those two things, characters people care about, and an engaging story will carry pretty much anything well. This being an erotica site, well that's important, too. One of my best stories is 21K long and doesn't have any sex until the last page or so. It carries a 4.88/853.

 

[FreyaGersemi]

When your new story is up, go the thread What have you posted recently?, and put up a link.

Done!!! Thank you!!!!

 

[FreyaGersemi]

Also: New Story Advertisements
@FreyaGersemi

Done! Thank you!!!

 

[FreyaGersemi]

They blame the readers for being misogynistic incels or only wanting some formulaic story they refuse to provide, when in reality their story is best suited for another category.
I have have only a couple real flops. Some did not get the response I'd hope for. I've seen poorer written 'jerk off fodder' get better scoring. That is on me for putting my story in the wrong place.

I struggled with which category to submit under already!! I have a series where the stories move around between characters and situations. This allows me to explore a lot of territory category-wise. I'm thinking that a good strategy would be to sprinkle them around as many (appropriate) categories as possible to draw reader into the series.

BUT... what if a story is about mff bondage that includes anal play with a dildo? BDSM? Toys & Masturbation? Lesbian Sex? And if the story is well-written and the characters truly love and care about each other (and that is a central theme), should it be under Romance?

Does anyone have any insights on effectively choosing categories?

 

[ElectricBlue]

Done! Thank you!!!

And one tiny, barely noticed, tense shift! Don't need to fix it though, it's a perfect piece of wabi-sabi .

 

[ElectricBlue]

Does anyone have any insights on effectively choosing categories?

Write the story, then figure out the key erotic theme. Don't think category first, story second.

One hint, though, a full meal can be better than a smorgasbord. I'm never sure it's the best idea to bolt too many kinks into one story. There are plenty of kinks, but also, plenty of stories.

If you pile too many kinks into a short story (two Lit pages is short, by this site's standards), you run the risk of a bunch of people dangling for their favourite thing, but you've moved on to the next person's, and no-one is quite satisfied.

You can, of course, write longer stories - but you're still in the rush of your first stories, and a whole set of short stories is doing a very sensible apprenticeship.

 

[FreyaGersemi]

And one tiny, barely noticed, tense shift! Don't need to fix it though, it's a perfect piece of wabi-sabi .

And I noticed it yesterday! But figured it wasn't worth changing and bumping the story back another three days. I'll make all the corrections when everyone is clamoring for signed hardcover anthologies!!

 

[Gamblnluck]

BUT... what if a story is about mff bondage that includes anal play with a dildo? BDSM? Toys & Masturbation? Lesbian Sex?

In a way that depends on how the action is portrayed. I used all that in a nonconsent story. Of course it was a slave story (My Mother Owns Me) so it had to go into Nonconsent along with the other slave stories. As you can guess from the title, it included incest.

I do not think jumping a series among categories is going to gather more readership. In fact it might lose you some. Imagine putting a first chapter in BDSM, then the next 2 in romance. Many people will not read those later chapters. Then you go to erotic coupling and then fetish later. When I see a chapter 4 in fetish, I am NOT likely to go back to read the previous chapters to catch up. Even if the author says this in a stand alone story but it follows the same characters introduced in "....", if i see it submitted as a series, I assume I am going to be lost when it comes to background unless I go back. And unless the scoring is high and the comments tell me otherwise, I won't.

I read a lot on Lit, but there are only so many hours in the day so I get selective. I don't read some categories at all. I might go read a few if I thoroughly enjoy some of the author's stuff. But if he has 10 stories in Loving wives, rated over 4 and another 3 in anal, I probably would never read the anal ones.

 

[ShelbyDawn57]

Does anyone have any insights on effectively choosing categories?

I base it on the central theme of the story as I see it. I have one that touches on BDSM, NC/R, Fetish, Group, Anal, Trans/CD, possible Mind Control, and if I wanted to be generous, there's some Romance in there, too. I put it under Trans/CD because the overriding theme is the MC get transitioned from male to female, um, whether he'she likes it or not.

 

[MillieDynamite]

Sounds like another day at the office to me.

I struggled with which category to submit under already!! I have a series where the stories move around between characters and situations. This allows me to explore a lot of territory category-wise. I'm thinking that a good strategy would be to sprinkle them around as many (appropriate) categories as possible to draw reader into the series.

BUT... what if a story is about mff bondage that includes anal play with a dildo? BDSM? Toys & Masturbation? Lesbian Sex? And if the story is well-written and the characters truly love and care about each other (and that is a central theme), should it be under Romance?

Does anyone have any insights on effectively choosing categories?

 

[MillieDynamite]

You have to judge several things in what fits it most, do they have some aversion to one more of the other kinks in the story? Mary has been sticking to Interracial Romance but still gets a kickback from readers who don't like cuckolding. For all my stories featuring transgender, I stick to Trans and Crossdressing and haven't had any kickback about the BDSM elements in them so far. My Bully Girl stories have all gone in BDSM or Interracial Love. I can't figure out which is better, but BDSM might be the best, or maybe not. The two Chapters of Mr. Lucky are BDSM, and the first of She's a Bully is IR. She's a Bully is just below a 4.5. Lucky #1 is only 4.03 Lucky #2 (both BDSM) is 4.53. Therefore, I really can't say which is best. I just wonder if She's Bully would've done better in BDSM or not.

I struggled with which category to submit under already!! I have a series where the stories move around between characters and situations. This allows me to explore a lot of territory category-wise. I'm thinking that a good strategy would be to sprinkle them around as many (appropriate) categories as possible to draw reader into the series.

BUT... what if a story is about mff bondage that includes anal play with a dildo? BDSM? Toys & Masturbation? Lesbian Sex? And if the story is well-written and the characters truly love and care about each other (and that is a central theme), should it be under Romance?

Does anyone have any insights on effectively choosing categories?

 

[Gamblnluck]

I put it under Trans/CD because the overriding theme is the MC get transitioned from male to female, um, whether he'she likes it or not

The whether he likes it or not is the key. If it is a happy "I got convinced to transition and I love it now despite needing a little push." is far different from the humiliation of being forced. Plus your readership changes. Transgender and lesbian are two categories I might read if the nonconsensual kink factor is there. But how do I know? For me it is title and the short description.

I'm not sure how the readership of some of the categories go. Nor do I know how others select which stories they read out of the hundreds posted daily.

This is my 'reader' profile:
Personally, when I open Lit in the morning, I look over 4 categories. Non consent, BDSM, fetish, and Loving wives. I rarely read more than 2 or 3 stories in the first 3 categories unless it is a continuation of a story I recognize. I might do a quick skim. In LW, I read it for sure if the score is 3.7 or higher and/or I recognize the author. For marginal stories (3.5), I look at initial comments, the introduction and tags, in that order.

There are only so many hours in a day. I do not care to read 'happy' liaisons whether they be gay, lesbian, trans or hetero like romance or erotic coupling. I even skim over long involved sex (wank) scenes in any category unless the mental aspect is there. Humiliation or even anticipation might catch my interest. Something that evokes angst like in a LW story.

There are exceptions of course. If, after looking over my regular categories, I go to 'new' stories and see what title or description catches my eye. If I see a story written by an author I recognize, I open it and look. I have often had a pleasant response there.

Now that is how I read. I know others do not follow a similar pattern. And I have a far different pattern for older stories.

 

[ShelbyDawn57]

Transgender and lesbian are two categories I might read if the nonconsensual kink factor is there. But how do I know? For me it is title and the short description.

It's called The Art of Reconstruction. (Misogynistic Jerk gets taught a lesson that changes his life.)
Id' appreciate your opinion. as far as nonconsensual kink, the MC gets trained as a house pet. Just a little teaser...

 

[yowser]

I do not think jumping a series among categories is going to gather more readership. In fact it might lose you some. Imagine putting a first chapter in BDSM, then the next 2 in romance.

In my experience there are some exceptions to this. I started two LW series in the right place (where the story belongs) but chose to put middle chapters in a different category, appropriate for the theme (in both cases middle sections in Group).

There is always a drop-off of viewers after the first chapter of any series, but after that, in these cases at least, readership stayed quite steady, and of course the 'scoring' in the GS was way higher than the fussy LW crowd was willing to provide (how odd, same characters, same story arc, same level of writing).

It's a mixed bag, and I think authorial instincts can be accurate at times, even when going against the common advice.

 

[MillieDynamite]

I don't mean to say you guys are wrong, but every series has its own peccadillos.


My first story has the highest score but the lowest views. However, it was published well before the next two.

In my experience there are some exceptions to this. I started two LW series in the right place (where the story belongs) but chose to put middle chapters in a different category, appropriate for the theme (in both cases middle sections in Group).

There is always a drop-off of viewers after the first chapter of any series, but after that, in these cases at least, readership stayed quite steady, and of course the 'scoring' in the GS was way higher than the fussy LW crowd was willing to provide (how odd, same characters, same story arc, same level of writing).

It's a mixed bag, and I think authorial instincts can be accurate at times, even when going against the common advice.

 

[StillStunned]

Sounds like another day at the office to me.

At what kind of office do you work?!

 

[Gamblnluck]

I don't mean to say you guys are wrong, but every series has its own peccadillos.

The three stories you have, while you put them in a series, is more a grouping of similar stories. They read like fully stand alone stories. When I think of a series, the plot of each subsequent story relies on the first. It is one continuous story. If you begin with the third, you will not follow until you go back and read the previous chapters.
That is generally why readership may fall off drastically but as readers get involved, scores can go up.

 

[yowser]

I don't mean to say you guys are wrong, but every series has its own peccadillos.

View attachment 2296461
My first story has the highest score but the lowest views. However, it was published well before the next two.

I was speaking to chaptered series rather than your example, very different things. You've got a wide time gap here between tales (and likely evolution to your follower list), less explicit series connection, so apples to oranges.

 

[MillieDynamite]

Okay. Not a big deal!

 

[MillieDynamite]

Home office...

At what kind of office do you work?!

The Mr. Lucky Series (not a long time between the two that are up) Does have a drop off in readers and an increase in the score. It will have more stories, but the stories themselves are stand-alone, though, reading the first helps you know the characters.

The three stories you have, while you put them in a series, is more a grouping of similar stories. They read like fully stand alone stories. When I think of a series, the plot of each subsequent story relies on the first. It is one continuous story. If you begin with the third, you will not follow until you go back and read the previous chapters.
That is generally why readership may fall off drastically but as readers get involved, scores can go up.