Brand New Author -- Hoping to avoid "newbie" mistakes.

[MisterWildCard]

Good morning, folks. I've been reading various stories here for years, but never actually created an account until yesterday. I've submitted my first story, and hopefully it'll be approved and up for people to read in a few days.

So since I'm new here, I figured I'd check in, and try to get a feel for how things work around here. A lot of online communities have a unique culture to them, and a few unwritten rules about what said communities feel is appropriate or not. So rather than rush in headlong, I figured it couldn't hurt to just ask some questions of the community directly.

First and foremost -- are there any discussion topics that are tired, worn-out, or outright taboo here, that I should avoid bringing up? For example, on the old message boards for Mystery Science Theater 3000, things used to get really heated if someone asked if people preferred Joel over Mike or vice versa, to the point that the mods made even bringing it up a bannable offense, not just a social faux pas.

Is it considered tacky to promote your own posted stories on these boards? So many new stories get published here every day, I'd imagine it's easy to get lost in the shuffle, and my main goal is to get direct feedback to help improve my writing, erotic and otherwise.

What are the "newbie" mistakes you see new posters making here, that make for bad first impressions? I haven't read enough of the boards to even get a sense of what questions to ask in that regard, so I'd appreciate all the help I can get.

Thanks again, and looking forward to some great discussion,

- MisterWildCard

 

[8letters]

First and foremost -- are there any discussion topics that are tired, worn-out, or outright taboo here, that I should avoid bringing up?

Personally, I get pissed off when people post stuff about ninja trolls throwing story contests. It's also considered very bad to post anything about stories that are performing well. I once posted links to the top 5 rated stories in a contest as it was going on and people got quite upset with me because I was making it easy for the ninja trolls to attack.

Is it considered tacky to promote your own posted stories on these boards?

I would say yes. You can post a link to your latest story in your sig. You can create a thread in the Story Feeback forum for your new story. Anything beyond that I think is frowned on.

So many new stories get published here every day, I'd imagine it's easy to get lost in the shuffle, and my main goal is to get direct feedback to help improve my writing, erotic and otherwise.

The best way early on is (1) to get an editor for your story and (2) after it's published, to post a link to your story in the Story Feedback forum. Depending on how popular your kink is, you can get several people who'll give you feedback on your story. After a while, you'll build some relationships and those will provide you with a lot of detailed feedback.

What are the "newbie" mistakes you see new posters making here, that make for bad first impressions? I haven't read enough of the boards to even get a sense of what questions to ask in that regard, so I'd appreciate all the help I can get.

I'd say the biggest newbie mistake is thinking that people are going to be excited about a new author showing up on the AH. So many authors come and go here. Chat and publish for a while and then it's a lot easier for at least me to take you seriously.

 

[oggbashan]

The Authors' Hangout is more welcoming than it used to be.

Ninja trolls? Unfortunately they exist. Posting or mentioning a new story can attract low votes and sometimes abusive comments. Mentioning how well your story is currently rated is likely to produce a sudden drop in the rating.

Until a new author has acquired some knowledge of how Literotica works it is best to avoid posting any story in the Loving Wives category.

The stickies - the permanent posts at the top of the Authors' Hangout - are worth looking at to answer many questions a newbie might have. Searching the How To category can find a large amount of useful help.

The best way to get readers and reactions is to enter a story in a themed contest. The Valentine's Day contest is still open for entries; April Fool is next.

 

[SimonDoom]

Welcome! You can get a lot of useful information here. Some of the people here (not me) have been contributing stories here for years.

Check out the Welcome Authors and Everything FAQ permanent threads, highlighted in blue at the top of the Author's Hangout thread list. You can find lots of information there.

I suggest checking out stories in the "How To" section. There's lots of helpful information about how to write stories, about what categories mean, and how to take advantage of the features and peculiarities of this site.

If you want feedback on stories, it's best to do that over at the Story Feedback forum.

The rules aren't too stringent here. If you want to avoid trouble, avoid personal attacks on other members, and leave the politics to the politics forum.

Plus, respect the Site's content restrictions. Authors sometimes raise red flags with inquiries that are, basically, asking how to get around this site's prohibition on stories about underage sexual activity. There hasn't been a lot of that lately, but for a while it came up very often.

But, beyond avoiding things that clearly break the rules, you should feel free to ask away.

 

[MisterWildCard]

This is all really helpful, thank you! "Loving Wives" isn't really my thing, so I'll be avoiding that one regardless, but it's good to know that it's a contentious category.

Anything I should know or be doing to avoid these ninja trolls that everyone's talking about?

 

[8letters]

This is all really helpful, thank you! "Loving Wives" isn't really my thing, so I'll be avoiding that one regardless, but it's good to know that it's a contentious category.

Anything I should know or be doing to avoid these ninja trolls that everyone's talking about?

If you write Incest/Taboo stories (which I do), they aren't an issue as that category has so many readers that their votes overwhelm any possible mischief. It's the categories with much small readership that a down tick in a story's rating can provoke cries about ninja trolls.

 

[MisterWildCard]

If you write Incest/Taboo stories (which I do), they aren't an issue as that category has so many readers that their votes overwhelm any possible mischief. It's the categories with much small readership that a down tick in a story's rating can provoke cries about ninja trolls.

I was planning to focus more on Erotic Couplings and Group Sex, but I had noticed that Incest/Taboo was a very popular category. Literal incest between biological relatives isn't my thing at all, but step-sibling stories are another thing altogether. Food for thought, that.

 

[oggbashan]

I was planning to focus more on Erotic Couplings and Group Sex, but I had noticed that Incest/Taboo was a very popular category. Literal incest between biological relatives isn't my thing at all, but step-sibling stories are another thing altogether. Food for thought, that.

Erotic Couplings is a low traffic category.

Incest/Taboo? Close relations are popular - e.g. mother/son, sister/brother. Step-siblings are considered not so exciting.

 

[Handley_Page]

Welcome to the AH.
Take your time and settle in, easy-like.
One thing that causes no end of arguments;
Steer Very Clear of anything resembling "under age" stuff.
Nothing exists before the age of 18, right ?
At all.
Ever.

 

[MisterWildCard]

Welcome to the AH.
Take your time and settle in, easy-like.
One thing that causes no end of arguments;
Steer Very Clear of anything resembling "under age" stuff.
Nothing exists before the age of 18, right ?
At all.
Ever.

That won't be a problem, I prefer to work with characters that are well into college-age or older, usually mid-twenties or so.

Also, even if erotic coupling is low-traffic, and step-siblings isn't considered the popular flavor on the incest/taboo category, I'm still going to stick to my preferences. As long as I get *some* feedback, that's the main thing. It doesn't need to be superstar-popular, even just a few readers would be nice.

 

[oggbashan]

That won't be a problem, I prefer to work with characters that are well into college-age or older, usually mid-twenties or so.

Also, even if erotic coupling is low-traffic, and step-siblings isn't considered the popular flavor on the incest/taboo category, I'm still going to stick to my preferences. As long as I get *some* feedback, that's the main thing. It doesn't need to be superstar-popular, even just a few readers would be nice.

Good for you. Write what YOU want to write. There will be readers for it.

 

[8letters]

That won't be a problem, I prefer to work with characters that are well into college-age or older, usually mid-twenties or so.

Flashbacks can be a problem. You can say that someone had sex when they were under 18, but you can't describe them having sex when they were under 18.

Also, even if erotic coupling is low-traffic, and step-siblings isn't considered the popular flavor on the incest/taboo category, I'm still going to stick to my preferences. As long as I get *some* feedback, that's the main thing. It doesn't need to be superstar-popular, even just a few readers would be nice.

The pay's the same whether you post in EC or in I/T. Write what you want. The most important thing is to enjoy the writing experience.

That being said, it's a lot fun getting lots of reads/votes/PM's/comments and I/T will get you the most reads/votes (not sure on the rest - I hear SF/Fantasy is very good to their authors). And step-siblings will do just fine in I/T. As long as they are considered family and there's a taboo aspect to their relationship, the story can do well. My top-rated story is about half-siblings (and they don't even know they're half-siblings the first few times they fuck).