The Official Author's Hangout 2015 April Fool's Day Contest Support Thread

[Kethandra]

I don't vote on other contest entries either, and it is possible that votes by contestants might be swept, although that might require a more sophisticated stripping formula than Lit. has.

I'm no algorithm expert but I figured "here's a short list of members whose votes on this similarly short list of stories shouldn't be counted at this time" would make sense and not be too tough to develop since they already have an exclusive list of those stories and authors on a separate linked page.

 

[sr71plt]

Right. I just don't quite see the Web site making that effort. And I'm not sure they should without stating that they are doing it--which could be added to the announcement message. But then Laurel has directly said that an author can vote on his/her own story and the vote won't be swept--and I think it will. The stars on the story voted in that account got zeroed out when I checked that out and they don't when you vote for someone else's story.

 

[Kethandra]

Right. I just don't quite see the Web site making that effort.

Nuff said.

BTW, SR, my story for your "challenge" on the Trans/gay/bi/lesbian/romance et cetera for the contest
has a life of its own. I'm enjoying combining all the elements but April Fools is the one I can't fit in without feeling I'm betraying the characters and story. I'll finish it soon, but it won't be in the contest.
Still, the joking challenge opened my writing to some new areas of exploration.

 

[sr71plt]

Nuff said.

BTW, SR, my story for your "challenge" on the Trans/gay/bi/lesbian/romance et cetera for the contest
has a life of its own. I'm enjoying combining all the elements but April Fools is the one I can't fit in without feeling I'm betraying the characters and story. I'll finish it soon, but it won't be in the contest.
Still, the joking challenge opened my writing to some new areas of exploration.

Mine is in the contest. It's being slammed right and left, but we'll see how it fares after the sweeps. I'll have the last laugh regardless. It's already set up as an e-book, and I'm sure it will make money as that. All said and done. Lit. is not really the place to expect much from innovative stories.

 

[masterandmargarita]

My favorite so far is Amy Says Yes. Absolutely hysterical. I can't remember enjoying a story so much.

I couldn't agree more, I loved Amy Says Yes! I finally took the time to read it on the plane yesterday (yes, that quiet gentleman in the suit that looks like he's reading about change management could very well be reading Lit).

I'm confused by the Fetish category though, and think that might have been a mistake. As a Group Sex devotee, I highly recommend that Serafina1210 gives Group Sex a try--a category that is extremely friendly to both humor and gangbangs, not to mention ratings.

 

[AMoveableBeast]

True. But here we also have voters for whom a one* means "you wrote something in there that made my boner go away."

I think of votes a little like grading a test or paper, rounding off the score:
90% or better is a 5

Readable, enjoyable, but definite flaws...4

Passing but just barely...3

Failing on several major levels...2

In theory, basically nothing worthwhile in content or language...1 (but that means I would have stopped reading in disgust and not voted anyhow, since I didn't finish it)

I don't vote on contest entries as I assume contest sweeps would remove votes from other contestants and there is no sense in making the sweep swings any bigger than they are.

I read and vote on the contest entries fairly extensively. I have always felt it is my responsibility to do so. None of us are getting paid for our contributions here. If I want people to read my tripe, the least I can do is read and vote on their work. Others don't agree. That's fine.

I'm also not much for gamesmanship. You will, more often than not, get my honest feedback if I feel like you desire it as such. Some people don't. That's fine too.

I've never seen any indication that my votes, or votes from any contest participant, for that matter, are swept. To think they should be is silly to me. The All-Star games in most major sports are voted on by the coaches, who are trusted to be mature and even-handed enough not to vote for only their own players, and not vote against their rivals, out of emotional bias.

If the authors here cannot be trusted to do the same, it's a real shame. Their opinions and feedback would be among the most valuable.

 

[Serafina1210]

I'm confused by the Fetish category though, and think that might have been a mistake. As a Group Sex devotee, I highly recommend that Serafina1210 gives Group Sex a try--a category that is extremely friendly to both humor and gangbangs, not to mention ratings.

Thanks to you, too, masterandmargarita (I love that novel) for your comments both on the story and here. Choice of category was hard. There are (IIRC) five sex scenes, only two of which involve more than two people, so I thought probably it wasn't groupy (groupie?) enough for Group. I did well a while ago, on the other hand, with a comic Fetish story (much squickier than this one--DON'T read it) that settled in at 4.71/2 and still gets a fair amount of traffic. That's not contest-winning territory, but my aim isn't actually to win the contest, so that's not a consideration.

But if you think a story that's only 2/5 group would do well in Group, please say so--it would be useful knowledge!

 

[Serafina1210]

I've never seen any indication that my votes, or votes from any contest participant, for that matter, are swept. To think they should be is silly to me. The All-Star games in most major sports are voted on by the coaches, who are trusted to be mature and even-handed enough not to vote for only their own players, and not vote against their rivals, out of emotional bias.

I got a lovely comment from a contest entrant on my V-day entry. I think the comment mentioned a vote, too. It meant a lot to me. I have also voted on contest entries, when I wanted to leave a 5 (the only vote I ever cast).

 

[lovecraft68]

Thanks to you, too, masterandmargarita (I love that novel) for your comments both on the story and here. Choice of category was hard. There are (IIRC) five sex scenes, only two of which involve more than two people, so I thought probably it wasn't groupy (groupie?) enough for Group. I did well a while ago, on the other hand, with a comic Fetish story (much squickier than this one--DON'T read it) that settled in at 4.71/2 and still gets a fair amount of traffic. That's not contest-winning territory, but my aim isn't actually to win the contest, so that's not a consideration.

But if you think a story that's only 2/5 group would do well in Group, please say so--it would be useful knowledge!

If you have a lot of sex in addition to group encounters it will do fine. I have a couple that open with one on one scenes before it gets to the threesome and one placed in a contest and the other is close to a 4.8

 

[Kethandra]

I read and vote on the contest entries fairly extensively. I have always felt it is my responsibility to do so. None of us are getting paid for our contributions here. If I want people to read my tripe, the least I can do is read and vote on their work. Others don't agree. That's fine.

I'm also not much for gamesmanship. You will, more often than not, get my honest feedback if I feel like you desire it as such. Some people don't. That's fine too.

I've never seen any indication that my votes, or votes from any contest participant, for that matter, are swept. To think they should be is silly to me. The All-Star games in most major sports are voted on by the coaches, who are trusted to be mature and even-handed enough not to vote for only their own players, and not vote against their rivals, out of emotional bias.

If the authors here cannot be trusted to do the same, it's a real shame. Their opinions and feedback would be among the most valuable.

Well considered and put. Thanks for that.
I read as many entries as I can (contests were my favorite read here before I joined or submitted anything) and I comment when a story moves me to. I'll reconsider my assumptions on voting.

 

[masterandmargarita]

But if you think a story that's only 2/5 group would do well in Group, please say so--it would be useful knowledge!

2/5 (group/couple) is not only acceptable, it's above and beyond. It sure outgroups my current entry, which is a 1/4. Group Sexers care not how groupy. A blowbang and gangbang combo (with some collateral non-group spurts along the way) would easily take the charts by storm.

Glad that you appreciate the handle! My wife gets the credit; she's the Bulgakov fan and I'm the guy who just read it to try and impress her.

*then edits his reply to spell Bulgakov correctly*

 

[Serafina1210]

2/5 (group/couple) is not only acceptable, it's above and beyond. It sure outgroups my current entry, which is a 1/4. Group Sexers care not how groupy. A blowbang and gangbang combo (with some collateral non-group spurts along the way) would easily take the charts by storm.

Glad that you appreciate the handle! My wife gets the credit; she's the Bulgakov fan and I'm the guy who just read it to try and impress her.

*then edits his reply to spell Bulgakov correctly*

This is good to know. There's not much point in moving it now, but I'll keep it in mind for the future. I love writing group sex, especially at parties!

Did you read Bulgakov before or after your wedding? My husband did a lot more to impress me before than after ...

Score is bouncing up and down in the 4.4s. The latest was probably a 3.

 

[masterandmargarita]

This is good to know. There's not much point in moving it now, but I'll keep it in mind for the future. I love writing group sex, especially at parties!

Did you read Bulgakov before or after your wedding? My husband did a lot more to impress me before than after ...

That question made me laugh, as you probably intended. I read it when we first met, but like to think I've done the bulk of my impressing after the wedding. Group sex parties are the best, keep them coming!

 

[TxRad]

Got sidetracked by a rewrite on a couple of points in a new novel.

I might get back to this story by the weekend.

 

[geronimo_appleby]

I read and vote on the contest entries fairly extensively. I have always felt it is my responsibility to do so. None of us are getting paid for our contributions here. If I want people to read my tripe, the least I can do is read and vote on their work. Others don't agree. That's fine.

I'm also not much for gamesmanship. You will, more often than not, get my honest feedback if I feel like you desire it as such. Some people don't. That's fine too.

I've never seen any indication that my votes, or votes from any contest participant, for that matter, are swept. To think they should be is silly to me. The All-Star games in most major sports are voted on by the coaches, who are trusted to be mature and even-handed enough not to vote for only their own players, and not vote against their rivals, out of emotional bias.

If the authors here cannot be trusted to do the same, it's a real shame. Their opinions and feedback would be among the most valuable.

i usually see a significant change in scores following the sweeps. i would attribute these changes to culling of suspicious/malicious votes. how Laurel determines which votes are smashed, i dunno.

this suggests to me it isn't necessarily other contributors who can't be trusted - although there are likely a couple.

in my view, just because someone writes and submits their opinion and feedback are no more valuable than tat which is sent in by a reader who is on the site solely to read the stories.

 

[AMoveableBeast]

i usually see a significant change in scores following the sweeps. i would attribute these changes to culling of suspicious/malicious votes. how Laurel determines which votes are smashed, i dunno.

this suggests to me it isn't necessarily other contributors who can't be trusted - although there are likely a couple.

in my view, just because someone writes and submits their opinion and feedback are no more valuable than tat which is sent in by a reader who is on the site solely to read the stories.

I said among.

Many pure readers are possessed of keen minds and vast insights and a great deal of writers don't have the wherewithal God gave a bowl of mashed potatoes. And I'll take the opinion of someone who only reads over that of someone who only writes any day of the week.

Still, being interested in something in a participatory way often lends itself to a more comprehensive study of the subject, if not necessarily a more worthy interaction.

All opinions are equal in that those of others, regardless of source, mean nothing to a fool, but each contains something useful for a wise man. But when it comes down to brass tacks, I'll generally take someone who's held a hammer before.

 

[geronimo_appleby]

I said among.

Many pure readers are possessed of keen minds and vast insights and a great deal of writers don't have the wherewithal God gave a bowl of mashed potatoes. And I'll take the opinion of someone who only reads over that of someone who only writes any day of the week.

Still, being interested in something in a participatory way often lends itself to a more comprehensive study of the subject, if not necessarily a more worthy interaction.

All opinions are equal in that those of others, regardless of source, mean nothing to a fool, but each contains something useful for a wise man. But when it comes down to brass tacks, I'll generally take someone who's held a hammer before.

it must be the coffee, but i'm struggling to make sense of a lot of that!

 

[sr71plt]

I said among.

Many pure readers are possessed of keen minds and vast insights and a great deal of writers don't have the wherewithal God gave a bowl of mashed potatoes. And I'll take the opinion of someone who only reads over that of someone who only writes any day of the week.

Still, being interested in something in a participatory way often lends itself to a more comprehensive study of the subject, if not necessarily a more worthy interaction.

All opinions are equal in that those of others, regardless of source, mean nothing to a fool, but each contains something useful for a wise man. But when it comes down to brass tacks, I'll generally take someone who's held a hammer before.

Oh, I don't think that it's anything as hard-edged doctrinaire as any of this.

Is there an English translation for that last paragraph, though?

 

[SandraMustard]

Looks like I picked the wrong week to quit sniffing glue...

 

[JKendallDane]

I said among.

Many pure readers are possessed of keen minds and vast insights and a great deal of writers don't have the wherewithal God gave a bowl of mashed potatoes. And I'll take the opinion of someone who only reads over that of someone who only writes any day of the week.

Still, being interested in something in a participatory way often lends itself to a more comprehensive study of the subject, if not necessarily a more worthy interaction.

All opinions are equal in that those of others, regardless of source, mean nothing to a fool, but each contains something useful for a wise man. But when it comes down to brass tacks, I'll generally take someone who's held a hammer before.

Well said, AMB. Your take on this is what puts the LIT in Literotica.

It doesn't take much to see the demographics of visitors here are widely varied. The site obviously attracts millions of readers for both "get on...get off...sign off, quickies" and "time commitment and brain cells required, much more intense stories and series" but some people have a problem with anything that doesn't come across as a total stroker being a part of the offerings here. I think some authors get off themselves by using terms like "porn site" and "you write for a smut site, whaddaya expect from readers?" when they make postings about Lit. It seems as if they have a major issue...for some unknown reason...that the site has the wide range of offerings it does.

Lit has been around for more than fifteen years now and it has matured over time. Unfortunately, some of its contributors apparently haven't.

 

[sr71plt]

Well, then, maybe Duane can provide an English translation for that last paragraph--or maybe at least diagram the sentence for us.

And, hey, dude, I think you are out of touch with 80 percent of the readers (and writers) who use Literotica. But then you're giving to delusions of grandeur.

 

[Kethandra]

I'll take an completely unauthorized stab at translating the last paragraph:
"Other people's opinions are the same in that a fool will likely not take anything useful out of any of them (the opinions) while someone wiser can find a useful take-away from any opinion offered. When it comes to writing, I have more regard for the opinions of those who have written."

That's how I took it.
I rather liked the brass tack/ hammer metalepsis.
It was the implied insult to mashed potatoes that struck me.

Oh, I don't think that it's anything as hard-edged doctrinaire as any of this.

Is there an English translation for that last paragraph, though?

{Originally Posted by AMoveableBeast
I said among.

Many pure readers are possessed of keen minds and vast insights and a great deal of writers don't have the wherewithal God gave a bowl of mashed potatoes. And I'll take the opinion of someone who only reads over that of someone who only writes any day of the week.

Still, being interested in something in a participatory way often lends itself to a more comprehensive study of the subject, if not necessarily a more worthy interaction.

All opinions are equal in that those of others, regardless of source, mean nothing to a fool, but each contains something useful for a wise man. But when it comes down to brass tacks, I'll generally take someone who's held a hammer before.}

 

[sr71plt]

Can't parse Kethandra's translation attempt either (but thanks for trying), but I'm afraid that it, in some way, is saying that all opinions are equal, which is a crock of crap promoted by Internet discussion boards. The equality of the internet is equal access, not equal knowledge. No two persons' knowledge on a given topic is equal, regardless of whether or not they are posting to a discussion board, so their opinions are not, in fact, equal.

And that's why I don't pay much attention to literary criticism in story comments here unless it is on specific "facts" (e.g., you have Freddie zipping around on page three but you killed him on page one) in the story or if they go beyond "I liked it/I didn't like it"--unless the source of the comment is known enough to me to have respect for their knowledge on the issue. I can often gather what I need on that from repeated signed comments over time, but from Mr. Anonymous? Not a chance.

If you're truly interested in constructive literary criticism of your writing, Literotica just isn't the place to get that. So, if you don't want to be led down blind paths, you probably don't want to put too much regard in the "literary" part of the Literotica name. This isn't a reliable critique site. And it doesn't really claim to be despite the nifty name.

 

[geronimo_appleby]

Well said, AMB. Your take on this is what puts the LIT in Literotica.

It doesn't take much to see the demographics of visitors here are widely varied. The site obviously attracts millions of readers for both "get on...get off...sign off, quickies" and "time commitment and brain cells required, much more intense stories and series" but some people have a problem with anything that doesn't come across as a total stroker being a part of the offerings here. I think some authors get off themselves by using terms like "porn site" and "you write for a smut site, whaddaya expect from readers?" when they make postings about Lit. It seems as if they have a major issue...for some unknown reason...that the site has the wide range of offerings it does.

Lit has been around for more than fifteen years now and it has matured over time. Unfortunately, some of its contributors apparently haven't.

someone somewhere always has an issue with something.

 

[Kethandra]

You're welcome. I think the part not parsed was the phrase "in that."
I didn't take the statement as meaning all opinions are equal, except in a very limited sense.

As an example:
"All coins are equal in that a bunch of any of them will jingle in your pocket" doesn't mean that a penny equals a pound.

Can't parse Kethandra's translation attempt either (but thanks for trying), but I'm afraid that it, in some way, is saying that all opinions are equal, which is a crock of crap promoted by Internet discussion boards. The equality of the internet is equal access, not equal knowledge. No two persons' knowledge on a given topic is equal, regardless of whether or not they are posting to a discussion board, so their opinions are not, in fact, equal.

And that's why I don't pay much attention to literary criticism in story comments here unless it is on specific "facts" (e.g., you have Freddie zipping around on page three but you killed him on page one) in the story or if they go beyond "I liked it/I didn't like it"--unless the source of the comment is known enough to me to have respect for their knowledge on the issue. I can often gather what I need on that from repeated signed comments over time, but from Mr. Anonymous? Not a chance.

If you're truly interested in constructive literary criticism of your writing, Literotica just isn't the place to get that. So, if you don't want to be led down blind paths, you probably don't want to put too much regard in the "literary" part of the Literotica name. This isn't a reliable critique site. And it doesn't really claim to be despite the nifty name.