About the Top of the Top Lists

[Nynah]

I'd like to see a separate list for top rated series.

Because I'm slightly masochistic and I like data, I collated the data for the top 25 standalone stories to get a lay of the land for what that's like. This is just a snapshot in time from today and obviously will be out-of-date in time, but I think it's still fun to see.



Apologies for the colors; I gave each author who appears multiple times their own.
DreamCloud leading the way with 5. CleverGenericName, Malraux and qhml1 each with 2.

Some more fun data:
- Romance leads the Genre/Category list with a runaway 15 total entries. Non-Erotic, First Time, Sci-Fi & Fantasy and Novels and Novellas follow with 2 each. Mature and Lesbian Sex have 1 each.
- All of these stories require a bit of time investment as the average word count is 38,300. There is quite the range from miwoodsman's "Word of Mouth" with 18,700 to BurntRedstone's behemoth "Satyr Play" with 115,000.
- The average Works authors on this list have put out is 70, but again the range is quite varied, Malraux has the fewest at 11 (but has 2 entries!) along with Sammael Bard and ronde is on the opposite end with 288.
- The average follower count for authors here is 5,071, from Maonaigh's 717 to BurntRedstone's 11,628.

From looking at this very small and unscientific set of data, one would assume that the recipe for standalone story Top List success on Lit is write at least 70ish Romance stories each with about 35-40k words. Obviously there is way more nuance to that but I found it fascinating.

 

[TheLobster]

From looking at this very small and unscientific set of data, one would assume that the recipe for standalone story Top List success on Lit is write at least 70ish Romance stories each with about 35-40k words.

But apparently the recipe for the ultimate success, the coveted #1, is to write in the Non-Erotic category on a erotica website.

 

[lovecraft68]

The topic comes up over and over again.

"My story had a 4.98 rating and was number one on the all time top list, but then it got one bombed and now it's only 4.80 and disappeared from the front page."

Those who have never experienced it might roll their eyes at the hubris of authors who complain because, of the more than half million stories on Lit, theirs isn't the highest rated. But for those who have enjoyed that flash of glory, the let down can be disheartening. That's understandable, and not just as a matter of pride. A place on the Top Lists almost always means more views and most writers want their audience to grow.

But realistically, even the best authors should not expect to maintain a story near the top of the list. Let's look at the facts.

Here is the current top ten on the all time list (100 votes to be eligible):

View attachment 2553219


The first thing to notice is that the number one highest rated story on the site is at 4.92. Not 5.00, not 4.99; when your story crosses the 100 vote threshold at those kind of numbers, it is a guarantee it will drop. Will some of that be due to one bombs? It's likely. Is natural attrition and regression to the mean more responsible? Certainly.

The current #1, Wintering Over in Wyoming Territory, has been up for less than a week, and has only 304 votes. Chances are overwhelming it won't be in the top ten for more than another day or two.

#2, The Rehab, is at 4.91 after more than ten years. It has 21,859 votes. It ain't going nowhere. A hundred one bombs would not budge it from the top ten. In terms of ratings, it's the most successful story on the site.

#3, The Wind Off The Lake, was published in February, and should be considered very successful for still hanging in so high. But most likely, it will gradually slip into the high 4.80s for the long term. And if authors have ambitions to get stories into the top list, that's a realistic goal.

Apart from #6, a series chapter with only a hundred votes which will certainly slip down the list soon, the top ten is dominated by chapters in a series that has been running for almost eight years, by a very popular actor who promotes her work widely.

The bottom line is that you aren't likely to have a top ten story for more than a day or two. If you put one there, enjoy it, take a screenshot as a momento, swallow your disappointment when it slips down the list, and have the humility to understand that an awful lot of writers here would kill for a 4.85 rating.

What category is this? Or is there an all time list that encompasses everything?

Also, what I always notice and has been bitched about for years and the site has promised multiple times to fix is the way endless chapter series completely dominate. I don't care how long the series is you haven't told an actual story until you type the end. 114 chapters of the same BS over and over.

I have a a lot of respect for any stand alone series that cane make it in the top 10 because the site has the deck stacked in favor of people manipulating it-and bilking people on patreon-by never finishing their series.

 

[filthytrancendence]

But apparently the recipe for the ultimate success, the coveted #1, is to write in the Non-Erotic category on a erotica website.

Or perhaps they are spared the fuckery of the 1-bomb bots because the bombers don't care about that category?

 

[AwkwardlySet]

What category is this? Or is there an all time list that encompasses everything?

Also, what I always notice and has been bitched about for years and the site has promised multiple times to fix is the way endless chapter series completely dominate. I don't care how long the series is you haven't told an actual story until you type the end. 114 chapters of the same BS over and over.

I have a a lot of respect for any stand alone series that cane make it in the top 10 because the site has the deck stacked in favor of people manipulating it-and bilking people on patreon-by never finishing their series.

https://www.literotica.com/top/

What Melissa linked from that page are stories ranked by reader voting. There is also the ranking by number of views.

 

[lovecraft68]

Because I'm slightly masochistic and I like data, I collated the data for the top 25 standalone stories to get a lay of the land for what that's like. This is just a snapshot in time from today and obviously will be out-of-date in time, but I think it's still fun to see.

View attachment 2553236

Apologies for the colors; I gave each author who appears multiple times their own.
DreamCloud leading the way with 5. CleverGenericName, Malraux and qhml1 each with 2.

Some more fun data:
- Romance leads the Genre/Category list with a runaway 15 total entries. Non-Erotic, First Time, Sci-Fi & Fantasy and Novels and Novellas follow with 2 each. Mature and Lesbian Sex have 1 each.
- All of these stories require a bit of time investment as the average word count is 38,300. There is quite the range from miwoodsman's "Word of Mouth" with 18,700 to BurntRedstone's behemoth "Satyr Play" with 115,000.
- The average Works authors on this list have put out is 70, but again the range is quite varied, Malraux has the fewest at 11 (but has 2 entries!) along with Sammael Bard and ronde is on the opposite end with 288.
- The average follower count for authors here is 5,071, from Maonaigh's 717 to BurntRedstone's 11,628.

From looking at this very small and unscientific set of data, one would assume that the recipe for standalone story Top List success on Lit is write at least 70ish Romance stories each with about 35-40k words. Obviously there is way more nuance to that but I found it fascinating.

Romance is far and away the softest easiest to please category.

Meanwhile looking at this made me take a look at the I/T list because myself and a couple others were at 4.87 and now I see we're all at 4.86 and thing is the stories have thousands of votes, which means that is a serious concerted effort to bring them down even a point. Looks like someone has a bug up their ass with that category.

If I wanted to go by history, the story Colleen by Texas Refugee has an insane following that has bombed the crap out of other top list stories to get it back to number one. This caused a popular series in I/T "Conflicted" to be pulled from the site completely after the author kept getting bombed out, Laurel would sweet it for them, then a week later same thing.

Its all bullshit and it shouldn't be the focal point that it is among so many people.

 

[MelissaBaby]

What category is this? Or is there an all time list that encompasses everything?

Also, what I always notice and has been bitched about for years and the site has promised multiple times to fix is the way endless chapter series completely dominate. I don't care how long the series is you haven't told an actual story until you type the end. 114 chapters of the same BS over and over.

I have a a lot of respect for any stand alone series that cane make it in the top 10 because the site has the deck stacked in favor of people manipulating it-and bilking people on patreon-by never finishing their series.

All categories: https://www.literotica.com/top/top-rated-erotic-stories/

I agree, when you look at that list you see just how much there should be separate top lists for standalone and series.

 

[lovecraft68]

https://www.literotica.com/top/

What Melissa linked from that page are stories ranked by reader voting. There is also the ranking by number of views.

The all time viewed list is generally a product of longevity as much, if not more, than popularity. Look at how old most of those stories are. Majority are older than 10 years. I have #39 which is over 4 million views but from 2014.

There is only one story there that's only a couple of years old. One from 2024 (#and the title is totally porno eye rolling and interesting that the score is not that high-4.63- and one from 2023 (#179) written by some hack.

 

[MelissaBaby]

But apparently the recipe for the ultimate success, the coveted #1, is to write in the Non-Erotic category on a erotica website.

That is a factor, but with respect to the author, lots of stories hit the top spot when they are new and then drop down the list.

 

[onehitwanda]

Because I'm slightly masochistic and I like data, I collated the data for the top 25 standalone stories to get a lay of the land for what that's like. This is just a snapshot in time from today and obviously will be out-of-date in time, but I think it's still fun to see.

View attachment 2553236

I'm not sure how I feel about this.

 

[lovecraft68]

All categories: https://www.literotica.com/top/top-rated-erotic-stories/

I agree, when you look at that list you see just how much there should be separate top lists for standalone and series.

I don't show up until #103 and I also have #104

I need to start doing long series that get less votes. That's the combo for this list.

 

[MrHereWriting]

Apart from #6, a series chapter with only a hundred votes which will certainly slip down the list soon, the top ten is dominated by chapters in a series that has been running for almost eight years, by a very popular actor who promotes her work widely.

Don't you mean "author"?

 

[MelissaBaby]

I don't show up until #103 and I also have #104

I need to start doing long series that get less votes. That's the combo for this list.

At one point my Mary and Alvin series held 24 spots in the Romance top 250. Five years after the series finished, it still has 5. Even though I benefited from the system, I can see how unfair it it.

 

[lovecraft68]

Apart from #6, a series chapter with only a hundred votes which will certainly slip down the list soon, the top ten is dominated by chapters in a series that has been running for almost eight years, by a very popular actor who promotes her work widely.

No one is worse than that grifter Tefler.

 

[MelissaBaby]

Don't you mean "author"?

Indeed I did, although I can't say with certainty that she doesn't act as well.

 

[lovecraft68]

At one point my Mary and Alvin series held 24 spots in the Romance top 250. Five years after the series finished, it still has 5. Even though I benefited from the system, I can see how unfair it it.

way the hell back, my SWB series were all in the 4.8's but not a lot of votes, as each one hit the 100 votes to show up near the top it was sniped down within a couple of days.

This game is as old as the top lists themselves, nothing is going to change and the site will never live up to its claim it is going to take the chapter stories out of the top lists.

 

[Nynah]

I'm not sure how I feel about this.

I haven't read any of the other stories so it was nice to round out my data set with a familiar name, especially since it's my favorite of yours.

Maybe if I decide to put off writing some more I'll pull the rest of the non-series top list just to see if the trends hold out but I don't have any interest in trying to understand the series top lists.

 

[Five_Inch_Heels]

I'm not sure how I feel about this.

I feel as it will never apply to me.

 

[TheLobster]

No one is worse than that grifter Tefler.

Let's just be thankful that the real doorstopper, Six Times a Day, is not available on Lit in its entirety.

 

[lovecraft68]

Let's just be thankful that the real doorstopper, Six Times a Day, is not available on Lit in its entirety.

That's part of his grift

Now, if people wanted to test a lit rule-though like anything else, not consistently enforced-there's a rule that a series that starts here cannot be sold unless it was finished here. In other words, posting 3 chapters then saying "read the full story on Smashwords".

So, if Tefler has part of a series here where he promotes his Patreon and that's the only way you can read the rest-and that's selling it because you have to pay to be a member and he releases one every so often so you have to keep supporting him-that would be a violation of those rules.

Just saying.

 

[ronde]

That is a factor, but with respect to the author, lots of stories hit the top spot when they are new and then drop down the list.

That top story is mine and I fully expect it to drop shortly. Actually I was surprised it got that high. I think I've written better that didn't get that high.

I do write some stories in Non-Erotic, but not with the intention of getting more and higher votes. Most of my Non-Erotic stories are set in a time when morals were pretty rigid and I haven't found a believable way to turn a shy, chaste woman into the wanton woman some readers prefer.

 

[MelissaBaby]

That top story is mine and I fully expect it to drop shortly. Actually I was surprised it got that high. I think I've written better that didn't get that high.

I do write some stories in Non-Erotic, but not with the intention of getting more and higher votes. Most of my Non-Erotic stories are set in a time when morals were pretty rigid and I haven't found a believable way to turn a shy, chaste woman into the wanton woman some readers prefer.

That was my point, it’s a great achievement and you should be proud. But it won’t last, so bask in it now.

 

[HectorBidon]

That top story is mine and I fully expect it to drop shortly. Actually I was surprised it got that high. I think I've written better that didn't get that high.

I do write some stories in Non-Erotic, but not with the intention of getting more and higher votes. Most of my Non-Erotic stories are set in a time when morals were pretty rigid and I haven't found a believable way to turn a shy, chaste woman into the wanton woman some readers prefer.

I haven't read your other stories, but "Wintering" is a corker and certainly deserving of a high score. It shows that a lot of readers do appreciate well written, emotionally resonant stories, even when the heroine is a shy, chaste woman.

 

[Actingup]

The topic comes up over and over again.

"My story had a 4.98 rating and was number one on the all time top list, but then it got one bombed and now it's only 4.80 and disappeared from the front page."

Those who have never experienced it might roll their eyes at the hubris of authors who complain because, of the more than half million stories on Lit, theirs isn't the highest rated. But for those who have enjoyed that flash of glory, the let down can be disheartening. That's understandable, and not just as a matter of pride. A place on the Top Lists almost always means more views and most writers want their audience to grow.

But realistically, even the best authors should not expect to maintain a story near the top of the list. Let's look at the facts.

Here is the current top ten on the all time list (100 votes to be eligible):

View attachment 2553219


The first thing to notice is that the number one highest rated story on the site is at 4.92. Not 5.00, not 4.99; when your story crosses the 100 vote threshold at those kind of numbers, it is a guarantee it will drop. Will some of that be due to one bombs? It's likely. Is natural attrition and regression to the mean more responsible? Certainly.

The current #1, Wintering Over in Wyoming Territory, has been up for less than a week, and has only 304 votes. Chances are overwhelming it won't be in the top ten for more than another day or two.

#2, The Rehab, is at 4.91 after more than ten years. It has 21,859 votes. It ain't going nowhere. A hundred one bombs would not budge it from the top ten. In terms of ratings, it's the most successful story on the site.

#3, The Wind Off The Lake, was published in February, and should be considered very successful for still hanging in so high. But most likely, it will gradually slip into the high 4.80s for the long term. And if authors have ambitions to get stories into the top list, that's a realistic goal.

Apart from #6, a series chapter with only a hundred votes which will certainly slip down the list soon, the top ten is dominated by chapters in a series that has been running for almost eight years, by a very popular author who promotes her work widely.

The bottom line is that you aren't likely to have a top ten story for more than a day or two. If you put one there, enjoy it, take a screenshot as a momento, swallow your disappointment when it slips down the list, and have the humility to understand that an awful lot of writers here would kill for a 4.85 rating.

I think this is a helpful perspective- thanks @MelissaBaby. Coupled with the reality of more than half a million stories on the site, I think those lists are really just best suited to keeping us all humble. I did enjoy that the wonderful @Nynah found a way to show that the always remarkable @onehitwanda may not be misnamed after all

I had a thread a while back that talked about using vote percentiles in each category (eg top 1%, top 10%) as a measure of worth. That wouldn’t deal with the Chaptered issue but at least it helps us compare the non-erotic and very-erotic categories.