Virtual Literotica Convention 2025 Author Challenge Official Support Thread

[Andreas_Kreuz]

The word processors do a lot of formatting, that does not map to Literotica.

 

[AlexFourways]

The word processors do a lot of formatting, that does not map to Literotica.

The only thing I have found fails is when I tried to indicate a sign on a coloured background (imagine the following on a yellow background) [ Gold Guests --> ] but it came out as you can see it here (good job I didn't select white text!). Apart from that, as far as I have seen emojis render the same as in Word (et al). In fact all of the choices you get from the menu above messages here work OK. If you insert a link in Word, it works when it gets translated for this site and the only bounce back (like Freya did) was when I copied a HTML link from one document into mine!

 

[Bassytian]

I just work in Word or Libre and use it's formatting and upload to Literotica a .docx file. About the only thing their software doesn't translate is if you try a coloured background for text. For links I also use the facility the word processor gives me as I never learnt HTML as I'm too old, or it's too new! So I take the easy route!

Oh okay, gotcha, I'll try that. I usually just capitalize words I want to use in italics, but italics look so much better.

I barely know how to use a computer, too!! I joke that I was the last person over the age of 11 to get a cell phone.

I didn't get my first one until I was 20 or so (that was ironically 20 years ago! ). Back then, cell phones were a still a newish invention and smartphones didn't exist yet. I barely know how to operate my iPhone.

 

[Djmac1031]

I'm actually going to take a crack at this. Hoping I can get it in under the deadline but if not I may still publish it for fun.

 

[Actingup]

The word processors do a lot of formatting, that does not map to Literotica.

There are some previous threads on this. I write in Word and then use an html conversion macro that works well, but I might try out the tool referenced in this thread at some stage.

 

[AchtungNight]

I’m too busy for this event unfortunately- unless I get inspired l, right now I’m not sure about anything-, but I encourage everyone who is participating. If you use my characters or have questions about them please let me know.

 

[AlexFourways]

Who wants Lit Con swag?

Yes, I should be writing, but when thinking about what a Literotica conference could be, I thought, "There should be swag!" So, in true procrastinator fashion, I whipped up some concept swag in Photoshop (thanks to some free PSD templates) for everyone to enjoy and/or use in your stories if you choose.

• Swag bag
• Water bottle
• Wristbands
• Custom ID badge and lanyard for Freya (as I felt she deserved one for being the ringleader)
• Generic/Example ID badge and lanyard
• Literotica brand lube (fictional, though I only just realized recently that Lit sold 3rd party sex toys)

So what else is in the swag bag? Sex toys, smutty novels, condoms, erotic art...? TBH, I almost went down a rabbit hole of making con/Lit-themed sex toys as well, but (1) I couldn't find any freebie templates and (2) I knew that could get out of hand very quickly. I know me and I would've wanted to be inclusive and have all sorts of toys and not just a vibrator or a dildo, but feel free to imagine a themed sexy toy (or more) inside the bag.

Also, what are some ideas for the different color wristbands? I like the 3 different colors, but maybe they mean something or give the wearer some sort of special access (though I'm generally not a fan of exclusivity especially since we're at a fictional conference). Either way, all this swag is my gift to you and free to use however you like in your stories.

JWtts, could you possibly do a story which is basically. "Lit Con Swag Catalog" with a little intro describing what these are items provided or avaliable for sale (ID badges provided, Lube sample in rooms, Wristbands encouraged - with note on Vanilla, Fluid and Dark - and rest for sale.) and include your images (less the not real product) so that it will form part of the story collection?

I don't know if you want to put realistic prices, exorbitant prices, or obscured ones.

 

[Lifestyle66]

Rather than search through the character lists, I thought I'd try a different approach first.

I'm working on a Lit Con story (3.6 k words into it) involving a new couple I created in my last story. They're monogamous, but she was a free-spirited, speed-dating type during her twenties before settling down with her husband. So, they're now in their forties.

They'll be at the Meet and Greet (at least to start), where they will meet four women and a few men for about an hour of their time. The women need to be adventurous enough to display their boobs for one of the women to take cellphone pics. And the men just need to hang around until the wife starts her "lesson" with her husband.

Are there any volunteer characters to help this Loving Wife?

EDIT: If anyone volunteers, give me the title of your story to read for the character description.

 

[JWtts]

JWtts, could you possibly do a story which is basically. "Lit Con Swag Catalog" with a little intro describing what these are items provided or avaliable for sale (ID badges provided, Lube sample in rooms, Wristbands encouraged - with note on Vanilla, Fluid and Dark - and rest for sale.) and include your images (less the not real product) so that it will form part of the story collection?

I don't know if you want to put realistic prices, exorbitant prices, or obscured ones.

I was planning on weaving in the swag bag and goodies into my story, but a catalog story seems like a whole new endeavor. Yet, if someone wants to take that on, the images I put up are fair game and shareable just like people's characters.

That said, I plan to introduce a Literotica Shop as part of my story. Of the few cons I've attended, there's often been a "store" where the host and/or independent sellers have sold their wares. I figured for Lit Con it could be part sex shop (toys, games, lube, etc.) and part bookstore. I added the bookstore part because I know some Lit authors are published erotica authors as well. The bookstore will also include erotic art prints for the Lit artists among us. Idk, in my head, I see this as a hybrid of a traditional Con and a weekend of horny people getting together for all sorts of debauchery.

Also, while I may not explore them fully, I thought up some additional panels and events that are also up for use if anyone is looking for ideas, scenes, or scenarios for their characters.

Added Panels:

• Category-specific Breakout Sessions
  
  • Discussions and group chats with and among various authors from the different Lit story categories
• Her Lips Are Red, His Balls Are Blue...: Erotic Poetry Panel
  
  • How to arouse your readers with only a few words
• I'll Have What She's Having: Audio Stories Panels
  
  • How to give your listeners an ear-gasm (or two)
  • Introduction to starting your own audio story; scripting your story, equipment, editing software, etc.
• Let's Talk About Art, Baby! - Erotic Art Panels
  
  • A discussion on the current state of and future of erotic art in a world becoming overrun with A.I. "art"
  • Introduction to erotic art; various mediums, style, anatomy and proportions, what makes it sexy, etc.

Additional Events:

• Naughty Campfire Tales: Live readings from new and favorite authors
  • Softcore sessions - readings from various authors who write and/or do audio stories
    (Your typical book/excerpt reading format. Maybe someone reading from a WIP, a new author testing their writing chops, etc.)
    
    
  • Hardcore sessions - interactive readings and stage displays from your favorite audio authors
    (I was thinking maybe an audio author gets on stage to perform their audio story--careful, the front row might be a splash zone--or maybe a shy audio author hides behind a curtain to read/direct their story while someone else performs it on-stage)

 

[AlexFourways]

I was planning on weaving in the swag bag and goodies into my story, but a catalog story seems like a whole new endeavor. Yet, if someone wants to take that on, the images I put up are fair game and shareable just like people's characters.

That said, I plan to introduce a Literotica Shop as part of my story. Of the few cons I've attended, there's often been a "store" where the host and/or independent sellers have sold their wares. I figured for Lit Con it could be part sex shop (toys, games, lube, etc.) and part bookstore. I added the bookstore part because I know some Lit authors are published erotica authors as well.

Ok, I'll see what I can do as a quick exercise.

 

[Actingup]

I was planning on weaving in the swag bag and goodies into my story, but a catalog story seems like a whole new endeavor. Yet, if someone wants to take that on, the images I put up are fair game and shareable just like people's characters.

That said, I plan to introduce a Literotica Shop as part of my story. Of the few cons I've attended, there's often been a "store" where the host and/or independent sellers have sold their wares. I figured for Lit Con it could be part sex shop (toys, games, lube, etc.) and part bookstore. I added the bookstore part because I know some Lit authors are published erotica authors as well. The bookstore will also include erotic art prints for the Lit artists among us. Idk, in my head, I see this as a hybrid of a traditional Con and a weekend of horny people getting together for all sorts of debauchery.

Also, while I may not explore them fully, I thought up some additional panels and events that are also up for use if anyone is looking for ideas, scenes, or scenarios for their characters.

Added Panels:

• Category-specific Breakout Sessions
  
  • Discussions and group chats with and among various authors from the different Lit story categories
• Her Lips Are Red, His Balls Are Blue...: Erotic Poetry Panel
  
  • How to arouse your readers with only a few words
• I'll Have What She's Having: Audio Stories Panels
  
  • How to give your listeners an ear-gasm (or two)
  • Introduction to starting your own audio story; scripting your story, equipment, editing software, etc.
• Let's Talk About Art, Baby! - Erotic Art Panels
  
  • A discussion on the current state of and future of erotic art in a world becoming overrun with A.I. "art"
  • Introduction to erotic art; various mediums, style, anatomy and proportions, what makes it sexy, etc.

Additional Events:

• Naughty Campfire Tales: Live readings from new and favorite authors
  • Softcore sessions - readings from various authors who write and/or do audio stories
    (Your typical book/excerpt reading format. Maybe someone reading from a WIP, a new author testing their writing chops, etc.)
    
    
  • Hardcore sessions - interactive readings and stage displays from your favorite audio authors
    (I was thinking maybe an audio author gets on stage to perform their audio story--careful, the front row might be a splash zone--or maybe a shy audio author hides behind a curtain to read/direct their story while someone else performs it on-

Great to see these Program additions! Just to note a couple of things from a chat with @PennyThompson:
- Penny has kindly agreed to let me use Scout and Jeremy from Penny's wonderful 'Accessibility Compliance' in my story. Scout will be presenting a small workshop at the conference on how to make material more accessible online (for an idea of what they might be talking about, please read Penny's story). The fictional backstory is that Scout wrote to the conference organisers expressing frustration at some relevant deficiences in the program, and they responded to Scout with an invitation to run a little workshop.
- Scout was also frustrated at how conventional the draft program was in terms of gender and neurodiversity, and speculated that it would be great to see a workshop like 'Neurodivergent in the streets, Neurospicy in the sheets'. Scout wouldn't have the confidence to run such a workshop. By default, they will be exploring ways for this to happen at a future conference, but if anybody wants to take this on in the time remaining for this conference, there are a couple of potential attendees.

 

[PennyThompson]

Great to see these Program additions! Just to note a couple of things from a chat with @PennyThompson:
- Penny has kindly agreed to let me use Scout and Jeremy from Penny's wonderful 'Accessibility Compliance' in my story. Scout will be presenting a small workshop at the conference on how to make material more accessible online (for an idea of what they might be talking about, please read Penny's story). The fictional backstory is that Scout wrote to the conference organisers expressing frustration at some relevant deficiences in the program, and they responded to Scout with an invitation to run a little workshop.
- Scout was also frustrated at how conventional the draft program was in terms of gender and neurodiversity, and speculated that it would be great to see a workshop like 'Neurodivergent in the streets, Neurospicy in the sheets'. Scout wouldn't have the confidence to run such a workshop. By default, they will be exploring ways for this to happen at a future conference, but if anybody wants to take this on in the time remaining for this conference, there are a couple of potential attendees.

This is all very hilarious and meta, these are conference sessions that I would totally give in real life, and in fact I have given presentations adjacent to both of these topics before

 

[AlexFourways]

Just submitted a hastily concocted and submitted a Lit Con 2025 Memento Catalog based on the images created by JWtts and additional comments here. Hopefully the prices are suitably exorbatant for such events!

In the Illustrated category and hopefully Admin will let it through! I have given them a plug for their actual store!

 

[AlexFourways]

I was planning on weaving in the swag bag and goodies into my story, but a catalog story seems like a whole new endeavor. Yet, if someone wants to take that on, the images I put up are fair game and shareable just like people's characters.

That said, I plan to introduce a Literotica Shop as part of my story. Of the few cons I've attended, there's often been a "store" where the host and/or independent sellers have sold their wares. I figured for Lit Con it could be part sex shop (toys, games, lube, etc.) and part bookstore. I added the bookstore part because I know some Lit authors are published erotica authors as well.

As well as the items JWtts illustrated I put the following text...
Other Exclusive Items Will Be Available on the Day

Note the Conference shops will also be selling a selected range of items from our:-

I'd have added a link but didn't want to fall foul of off link protocols - said that to Admin so they might!
Hope this helps story readers and writers. Note the pricing is favourable to Authors, less so to pre-registered Delegates and not for other delegates and day visitors. That said all of the prices are captive audience levels!
Expect last day discounts!!!

 

[Actingup]

Weather Forecast for Conference Weekend​

Expect mainly fine weather throughout the weekend, with warm temperatures and clear skies. However, a thunderstorm is expected early Saturday evening, bringing brief heavy rain and gusty winds. Attendees should be prepared for a short indoor break before resuming evening festivities.

@Andreas_Kreuz can I just clarify... the evening event is formal and in the Grand Ballroom (inside). However the thunderstorm is potentially important. Can I assume that the event starts with drinks and mingling outside?

 

[Actingup]

Has anybody thought about what other conferences are happening in the hotel? I've decided that one of them in my story should be a physics conference, just so that I can make a Schrödinger's Cat joke (below). But others might have had better ideas.

-----

She wondered what the quantum physics conference attendees on the second floor thought of it all. She didn’t know much about quantum physics, except that somehow that there was a cat involved.

I guess that’s not for me to worry about, she thought. I can’t be in two places at once, after all.

 

[PennyThompson]

Has anybody thought about what other conferences are happening in the hotel? I've decided that one of them in my story should be a physics conference, just so that I can make a Schrödinger's Cat joke (below). But others might have had better ideas.

-----

She wondered what the quantum physics conference attendees on the second floor thought of it all. She didn’t know much about quantum physics, except that somehow that there was a cat involved.

I guess that’s not for me to worry about, she thought. I can’t be in two places at once, after all.

I've been to the The Marriott Marquis in Washington, DC for a conference, it is ENORMOUS and seems to have three or four different conferences going on any any given time. I think there was, like, a hot tub sales convention going on in another wing when I was there

 

[Lifestyle66]

Has anybody thought about what other conferences are happening in the hotel? I've decided that one of them in my story should be a physics conference, just so that I can make a Schrödinger's Cat joke (below). But others might have had better ideas.

-----

She wondered what the quantum physics conference attendees on the second floor thought of it all. She didn’t know much about quantum physics, except that somehow that there was a cat involved.

I guess that’s not for me to worry about, she thought. I can’t be in two places at once, after all.

My story is turning it into a "hotel take-over" with the conference so popular that all of the rooms are rented out to LitE Con attendees.

It freed up the hotel's security office with their hallway and elevator cams for some interesting additions.

 

[Actingup]

I've been to the The Marriott Marquis in Washington, DC for a conference, it is ENORMOUS and seems to have three or four different conferences going on any any given time. I think there was, like, a hot tub sales convention going on in another wing when I was there

You weren't tempted to switch conferences?

 

[PennyThompson]

You weren't tempted to switch conferences?

I don't have a hair plug and spray tan fetish, so no

 

[Andreas_Kreuz]

@Andreas_Kreuz can I just clarify... the evening event is formal and in the Grand Ballroom (inside). However the thunderstorm is potentially important. Can I assume that the event starts with drinks and mingling outside?

Magically the weather is as the forecast predicts. So the thunderstorm is on Saturday afternoon. Friday evening is sunny and warm. Saturday evening after the rain, the atmosphere is steamy.

 

[JWtts]

I've been to the The Marriott Marquis in Washington, DC for a conference, it is ENORMOUS and seems to have three or four different conferences going on any any given time. I think there was, like, a hot tub sales convention going on in another wing when I was there

I've never been, been looked up the hotel and saw floorplans and explored the virtual tour. And you're right, it's huge with lots of rooms on different floors for various things so there could easily be more than one conference going on. I even tossed around the idea of someone sneaking away from their boring business con to attend LitCon instead.

 

[AlexFourways]

I've never been, been looked up the hotel and saw floorplans and explored the virtual tour. And you're right, it's huge with lots of rooms on different floors for various things so there could easily be more than one conference going on. I even tossed around the idea of someone sneaking away from their boring business con to attend LitCon instead.

If s/he does then s/he will have to pay the exorbitant Visitor prices if they buy any catalog items! (ie Water bottles Pack of 1: A –$15 : D – $ 60 : V – $ 70 Pack of 2: A –$25 : D – $ 95 : V – $110 Pack of 3: A –$30 : D – $110 : V – $125) A = Author, D = pre-registered Delegate, V registered on the day, either one day or delegate package.

 

[JWtts]

If s/he does then s/he will have to pay the exorbitant Visitor prices if they buy any catalog items! (ie Water bottles Pack of 1: A –$15 : D – $ 60 : V – $ 70 Pack of 2: A –$25 : D – $ 95 : V – $110 Pack of 3: A –$30 : D – $110 : V – $125) A = Author, D = pre-registered Delegate, V registered on the day, either one day or delegate package.

Quickly writes a story to get that Author discount... or maybe searches for a Sugar Mama at the Con.

Should we add a carnival games room for people to win some of the catalog prizes? Cock ring toss? Pin the suction cup dildo on the Ken doll (poster)? Etc.

 

[PennyThompson]

Quickly writes a story to get that Author discount...

Ohh you could embed a hilariously bad 750-word story by the hot tub sales con goer into the middle of your longer, better story