Valentine's Day Story Contest 2009 Reminder and Support Thread

[tickledkitty]

Any particular reason why they allow votes and comments by "Anonymous"? I've seen some really awful, unfair, rude comments by "Anonymous" on several stories, and I'm starting to wonder if they are all from the same person who is trying to mess up everyone's scores. It's transparent, and extremely childish. And I know that not everyone who posts anonymously is rude or has an agenda (I've received some very encouraging anonymous feedback), but some of the slams I've seen are so cutting and ruthless that it's ridiculous. I don't even have a story entered this time around, but it's definitely discouraging for the future.

Don't be discouraged by that. It comes with the territory. Even if people had to sign in to vote, as Freddie suggests, they'd just do it under an alt anyway. You have to grow a thick skin as far as feedback is concerned. Even the hurtful comments can be of value if you can learn something from them. If not, just ignore.

 

[DG Hear]

Don't be discouraged by that. It comes with the territory. Even if people had to sign in to vote, as Freddie suggests, they'd just do it under an alt anyway. You have to grow a thick skin as far as feedback is concerned. Even the hurtful comments can be of value if you can learn something from them. If not, just ignore.

I don't really have a problem with Anonymous comments. Most seem to be positive. There are those few out there that just want to cause trouble and can just be ignored. If you are really disturbed with them, they can always be deleted.
DG

 

[impressive]

I've neglect my reading of contest entries. If you've read & commented on my story, and I've not yet reciprocated, please PM me a nudge.

Thanks!

 

[BOSTONFICTIONWRITER]

Don't be discouraged by that. It comes with the territory. Even if people had to sign in to vote, as Freddie suggests, they'd just do it under an alt anyway. You have to grow a thick skin as far as feedback is concerned. Even the hurtful comments can be of value if you can learn something from them. If not, just ignore.

I agree with you, but if they use an alt, it is still better than them using "anonymous". After a while we will all recognize who the offenders are. After a while we will all know who the alt belongs to. After a while this board will be a better place for writers and readers.

Okay, this is the part where we all join hands and start singing (lol).

Seriously though, am I the only writer who publically announces how much he cherishes this the value of this site? Think about it. If this site was gone tomorrow, where would you all post your stories?

To me, it has always been about the story. To be able to publically post what you write and to have other writers and readers comment on what you have written is invaluable.

Before I found this site, whatever I wrote was never read by anyone other than the people closest to me.

"Oh, gees, don't go in there."

"Why?"

"Freddie's written another story and he'll ask your opinion."

I don't understand why we must log in to post a comment on the boards when readers don't have to log in to post comments to our stories. That makes no sense to me. At the very least, even though we all voluntarily post our stories here for free, we should be given the courtesty of a reader identitifying who they are, even if they log in with an alt.

 

[Darkniciad]

Don't forget to sing out if you're short on votes, or barely over the 25 vote threshold. Those who haven't been able to keep up with all the entries can focus in on you, if they haven't read you yet, and perhaps put you into qualified territory.

I've read and voted on almost everything, even though I'm not leaving comments. Takes me too long to think of what to type in the comment box, cutting down on reading time

 

[Darkniciad]

It's a business decision more than anything, I should imagine. One of the reasons that the site is so huge is that it doesn't require you to give out anything. Not everyone is willing to sign up for a spam-catcher e-mail so that they can sign up for a forum/site. Many take caution to the extreme, which isn't necessarily a bad thing. It doesn't take much to let your identity slip to someone who's observant enough and has the right tools at his or her disposal.

When those people will come here instead of places that require sign-up, or places that have less/no categorization of the stories, that's revenue from the sheer volume.

You just have to learn to sift out the grain ( if any ) from the chaff in venomous comments, and laugh at the rest of it.

The feedback would drop off from the already dismally low levels to negligible fractions if sign-ups were required.

I agree with you, but if they use an alt, it is still better than them using "anonymous". After a while we will all recognize who the offenders are. After a while we will all know who the alt belongs to. After a while this board will be a better place for writers and readers.

Okay, this is the part where we all join hands and start singing (lol).

Seriously though, am I the only writer who publically announces how much he cherishes this the value of this site? Think about it. If this site was gone tomorrow, where would you all post your stories?

To me, it has always been about the story. To be able to publically post what you write and to have other writers and readers comment on what you have written is invaluable.

Before I found this site, whatever I wrote was never read by anyone other than the people closest to me.

"Oh, gees, don't go in there."

"Why?"

"Freddie's written another story and he'll ask your opinion."

I don't understand why we must log in to post a comment on the boards when readers don't have to log in to post comments to our stories. That makes no sense to me. At the very least, even though we all voluntarily post our stories here for free, we should be given the courtesty of a reader identitifying who they are, even if they log in with an alt.

 

[_Lynn_]

I've read and voted on almost everything, even though I'm not leaving comments. Takes me too long to think of what to type in the comment box, cutting down on reading time

Same here. I spent much of the last two days reading/voting.

I suppose the timing is good for me to be sick -- writing is a struggle so I have more time to read.

 

[Katiecat]

Don't be discouraged by that. It comes with the territory. Even if people had to sign in to vote, as Freddie suggests, they'd just do it under an alt anyway. You have to grow a thick skin as far as feedback is concerned. Even the hurtful comments can be of value if you can learn something from them. If not, just ignore.

I don't really have a problem with Anonymous comments. Most seem to be positive. There are those few out there that just want to cause trouble and can just be ignored. If you are really disturbed with them, they can always be deleted.
DG

I do understand...and a lot of the comments I've gotten on my stories, either PC's or emailed have been anonymous -- and they've either been encouraging or constructive, so I haven't had an issue with it in the past. I've just seen some anonymous comments on several of these contest entries that just look like nothing but troll votes. Some of the gripes were just pointless, ludicrous, and totally unfair. Ah well, maybe the sweeps and the Lit Hoover will take care of most of the ballot-box stuffing with undeserved good OR bad votes.

 

[Munachi]

agree... the internet always attracts trolls, no matter what security you take, they will always be there in some way or another, unless you limit a site to a really small number of handpicked people - and that will just lead to there not being much going on, not many comments, not many readers...

and it is in a way just like real life... would of course be nice in a way if you had a way to avoid all the annoying people, and only deal with the nice ones - but then again that'd also mean to miss out on a lot of nice things, so it is better to just deal with the annoying ones...

 

[Darkniciad]

I picked up about seven votes in the last six hours, and the score dropped .02

Looks like that's common across all the contest entries ( at least those in H territory )

I'm already 2000 words into my Earth Day story

 

[scouries]

votes

QUOTE mr heat The sweeps have arrived on my stories. Story one votes down from a high of 450 to 282 ….When all is said and done it doesn't seem to make a big difference in my score.

Thank god for you Mr. Heat!

Without your reports of stolen votes I don’t think I could even continue posting contest stories. Apparently you’re the only fellow LITEROTICAN who regularly suffers the same fate as I. My latest, up less than two days, seems to be losing votes almost as fast as it’s receiving them.

On the one hand I wouldn’t wish it on anyone else, yet on the other, somehow your vote loss assuages my own.

I can’t decide which is better – to post a story the first day of the contest and get to love my little votelets over a two to three week period (I’ve tried this system in the past), or to post it the last day of the contest (which I did this time) and have the little lovelies kidnapped and slaughtered before I grow to love them.

And the funniest thing is that I, like you, never see my “average score” change much as all these nefarious votes are swept away to be butchered.


I’m james r scouries and I hate losing votes…

[size=+2]Dolphins love voters…[/size]

 

[scouries]

comments

QUOTE some babe Any particular reason why they allow votes and comments by "Anonymous"?.. And I know that not everyone who posts anonymously is rude or has an agenda (I've received some very encouraging anonymous feedback

QUOTE freddie My complaining about so called anonymous feedback fell on deaf ears when the nice folks here at Literotica called me a whinner... You just need to read some of the comments posted to writers' stories, writers who work hard at crafting their stories, writers who pour out their hearts, only to have some emotional disturbed person, who thinks it's funny and who thinks they are smart, leave their shit behind.

With free speech aside, I don't understand why Laurel would want her site, a site that could be a much greater place for reader and writer, to be destroyed by those who, generally, don't contribute anything to the site by writing a story.

I think it's time that every writer who has been bashed anonymously banned together and complain to the only one who can make a positive change to this site, Laurel

I love my old friend freddie . He’s a great guy! Except when he gets back on this ‘anonymous commenter’ bullshit and starts whinning.

First off freddie , lets not just leave free speech aside. This is mister bleeding heart asking us to leave free speech aside? C’mon man!

We writers need “anonymous commenters”. Way, way more than they need us!

One of the greatest problems with this site is that so few readers let us know what they think of our stories – whether good or bad. Someone told me that the average LITEROTICA story only receives 1.74 comments.

The other great problem with this site is that so few of the comments that are made are negative (positive comments outnumber negative ones 8 to 1).

I’m afraid freddie that your suggestion would exacerbate both of these problems. We’d have both fewer total comments made and less honest critiques of our work.

Without solving the small problem that exists. Yes there are some mean spirited comments posted freddie , but I (and I think you too) realized long ago that it’s not the general reading public that posts them, its instead mean spirited AH authors who make the majority of them.

Your log-in proposal will do nothing to these people – they’ll always exist.

What it will do is cut we authors off from our real readers. A really stupid idea!

Mr Heat said it best: I don't really have a problem with Anonymous comments. Most seem to be positive. There are those few out there that just want to cause trouble and can just be ignored. If you are really disturbed with them, they can always be deleted.

Amen!

I’m james r scouries and I love comments…

[size=+2]Dolphins love commenters…[/size]

 

[EesomeBeastie]

I am right in thinking that the order in which the stories are listed on the Valentine's Day competition main page are in order of popularity? Or is it just in the order they qualified?

I'm not too fussed where I end up in the ratings, though I'd prefer it wasn't absolutely last! Though with the mediocre votes rating I'm getting, I probably won't be far off that.

 

[DG Hear]

I picked up about seven votes in the last six hours, and the score dropped .02

Looks like that's common across all the contest entries ( at least those in H territory )

I'm already 2000 words into my Earth Day story

I pick up a few votes everyday and by night I lose double that. Story one just lost 28 more votes but score went over 4.50. Getting lost of reads.

Story two only lost 3 votes last night but score stayed the same. Totals below.

The Amish Woman 4.53 231 34361
Erotic Couplings (English) 01/20/09
Public Comments: 47

Valentine's Day Date 4.51 358 10569
Romance (English) 01/27/09
Public Comments: 21

To be honest I really enjoy the contest. Even the up and down roller coaster rides. In the end we all wrote stories that we should be proud of and hopefully learned from one another.

I do really wish the best for each of you. Best of luck to all.
With respect
DG Hear

 

[tickledkitty]

I am right in thinking that the order in which the stories are listed on the Valentine's Day competition main page are in order of popularity? Or is it just in the order they qualified?

I'm not too fussed where I end up in the ratings, though I'd prefer it wasn't absolutely last! Though with the mediocre votes rating I'm getting, I probably won't be far off that.

No, they're random. They change every time you go out and back into the page, I think.

 

[EesomeBeastie]

No, they're random. They change every time you go out and back into the page, I think.

OK. Ta for that.

 

[RainierWriterII]

Votes

I was kind of curious if there was an issue with the voting as well. My V-Day story has rec'd waaay more votes than anything I've ever written after such a short time. I had 566 until I was Hoovered to 529, but that's still really high for me. I have received 30 e-mails though, so maybe people just really get into the V-Day theme.

Regardless, it's been fun.

 

[oggbashan]

I was kind of curious if there was an issue with the voting as well. My V-Day story has rec'd waaay more votes than anything I've ever written after such a short time. I had 566 until I was Hoovered to 529, but that's still really high for me. I have received 30 e-mails though, so maybe people just really get into the V-Day theme.

Regardless, it's been fun.

The Valentine's Day contest is probably the most popular to enter and read of all the themed contests.

Unless you are a known author you are likely to get far more exposure and votes in this contest than in the other ones, and certainly far more than a story posted that isn't a contest entry.

However, you'll also attract some of the unwelcome attention - low votes, snide comments, rude email - that goes with the exposure.

If you are a known author you might get LESS attention than a newbie because readers know, or think they know, what to expect from you. They'll read a story by a known author if they've liked the previous story but if the theme/style is different they'll be disappointed. If the theme/style is the same some might be disappointed by that too. I struggle to get the minimum 25 votes for a contest entry while others, not so well known, get votes in the hundreds.

Og

 

[Darkniciad]

I was kind of curious if there was an issue with the voting as well. My V-Day story has rec'd waaay more votes than anything I've ever written after such a short time. I had 566 until I was Hoovered to 529, but that's still really high for me. I have received 30 e-mails though, so maybe people just really get into the V-Day theme.

Regardless, it's been fun.

If this is the first incest/taboo story that you've written, it's not surprising that you would have vastly higher vote totals than expected. That category has a lot of readers. When you add the exposure of the contest on top of it, it jumps even higher.

You're holding a fine score for the category in a contest, too. It's often blasted relentlessly by people on the subject matter alone, doubly so because you don't see the category from the contest list before clicking the story. Quite an achievement, especially with so few votes swept. That means that the positive response to the story is managing to bury the malicious 1 voters.

Yours is one of them I haven't gotten around to reading yet. Suppose I'd best snap to *laugh*

 

[CrimsonMaiden]

I don't know about my votes (I have more every time I check), but my score is dropping. It's gone from a 4.59 to a 4.50 since early yesterday. Apparently, it had dropped under a 4.50 some time during that time because my H is gone for the moment, but my page registers a 4.50, so it's gone back up.

 

[RainierWriterII]

Thanks!

If this is the first incest/taboo story that you've written, it's not surprising that you would have vastly higher vote totals than expected. That category has a lot of readers. When you add the exposure of the contest on top of it, it jumps even higher.

You're holding a fine score for the category in a contest, too. It's often blasted relentlessly by people on the subject matter alone, doubly so because you don't see the category from the contest list before clicking the story. Quite an achievement, especially with so few votes swept. That means that the positive response to the story is managing to bury the malicious 1 voters.

Yours is one of them I haven't gotten around to reading yet. Suppose I'd best snap to *laugh*

That's good to know, thanks! Maybe next year I'll have to try a Romance story or something else. Certainly have plenty of time to plan anyway...

 

[Munachi]

reading this thread is frustrating, really. people getting hundreds of votes, people's scores dropping so they are closer to losing an H. i have 27 votes right now, some of which are bound to be removed in a sweep (though so far none were), and my score is slightly above 4.0 ... ah well, i guess i should write different stories... thing is, i like my story. i like also most of those i read so far...

 

[RainierWriterII]

Wow!

reading this thread is frustrating, really. people getting hundreds of votes, people's scores dropping so they are closer to losing an H. i have 27 votes right now, some of which are bound to be removed in a sweep (though so far none were), and my score is slightly above 4.0 ... ah well, i guess i should write different stories... thing is, i like my story. i like also most of those i read so far...

I just read your V-Day story...amazing! Hopefully my comment will hit the feedback portal and encourage others to take a look, it's well worth it. Even if you do not score well in the contest, you should be proud as it's a wonderful story!
RWII

 

[Munachi]

just saw your comment... thanks! glad you liked the story...

am still busy reading all the entries, will see that i check out yours soon...

oh and surry if my post above came above a bit like wining... am a bit tired today, so that always puts me into a strange mood... generally i write because i enjoy writing, and because there are so many thoughts in my head that are looking for a way out... so scores aren't that important... but it is of course still nice to get votes and stuff...

 

[CrimsonMaiden]

Munachi, you might not be getting as many votes, etc because you told the readers right off the bat that it was an under the wire submission that wasn't edited. I would bet that would cause many people to back click without even bothering to read it. Normally, Romance stories get a decent amount of votes.