I dunno if you've noticed...

[BiscuitHammer]

But I've become convinced that different types of readers tend to hang out in different genres. The reason I say this is because the general quantity/quality of reviews varies from category to category. I've got stories in either six or seven categories, and I have to tell you, the reviews tend to be a LOT more thoughtful and well put-together in Novellas than they generally are in Incest/Taboo.

This is not to say that all Novella readers are possessed of Wellingtonian discretion, nor that all Incest readers are barbarians who hide in the bushes and shove berries up their noses, but I can't help but see something of a pattern to how critiques and reviews are handled. Illiterate troll flames seem to be a LOT more common in Incest/Taboo, while lengthy, constructive critiques happen in Novellas. And not just my stories, but others I've perused as well.

Granted, Incest has the most submissions, along with Erotic Couplings, if memory serves, certainly in comparison to Novellas and other more esoteric categories, so it might just be a function of traffic volume.

But I still feel like the type of reader/reviewer might also be at play here.

I just want to know if any other authors have noticed a similar pattern. I'm not coming down on anyone, I am merely curious. What say you, denizens of AH? Am I alone in this experience?

 

[ElectricBlue]

I just want to know if any other authors have noticed a similar pattern. I'm not coming down on anyone, I am merely curious. What say you, denizens of AH? Am I alone in this experience?

Absolutely. Each category has its own unique dynamic, and the one guarantee is that each dynamic is very different. The reader behaviour from one category to another is not comparable.

 

[Bebop3]

To be honest, I'm surprised to hear that your writing gets trolled at all. Alex and Alexa seems to be universally appreciated and highly rated. The sequel series seems to be going strongly as well.

I haven't spent much time perusing the comments of stories I haven't written but it seems like Loving Wives posters are the most vitriolic, Romance posters are generally kind and polite and Taboo/Incest posters are somewhere in the middle.

The ratings for the Taboo/Incest story I wrote are strong but the comments run the gamut of scornful to laudatory.

By the way, was Bram the dungeon master a tip of the hat to Brom the fantasy artist?

 

[oggbashan]

Fetish is the most difficult to categorise.

Either the reader has that particular fetish and enjoys anything with that, or the fetish is at best non-arousing or at worst appalling or repulsive.

Unfortunately there are hundreds of fetishes so the likelihood of meeting a particular reader's exact turn-on is very low.

The comments are either a few 'wonderful' or the majority range from 'what was that crap?' to attacks on the author.

 

[JasonClearwater]

Fetish is the most difficult to categorise.

Either the reader has that particular fetish and enjoys anything with that, or the fetish is at best non-arousing or at worst appalling or repulsive.

Unfortunately there are hundreds of fetishes so the likelihood of meeting a particular reader's exact turn-on is very low.

The comments are either a few 'wonderful' or the majority range from 'what was that crap?' to attacks on the author.

Have you found it helps if you list the tags in the header of the story, so's they can avoid their squick?

 

[jaF0]

But I've become convinced that different types of readers tend to hang out in different genres.

Really!!!!


Ya' mean Trekkies don't hang out in the romance section in bookstores drooling over Pirate stories?

And Cowboys don't generally read old English literature?

 

[lovecraft68]

Novels and Novellas tend to be more like 'actual stories' as in long, a lot of plot, character development and at times not that much erotic content. The people reading over there are looking for that, people in many other genres are looking for 'hot'

I'd say IMO the other categories that way story over sex are Romance, Sci Fi and Non Human...erotic Horror as well, but in my limited experience they seem a little more into the sex...you will be succubus to death over there

As for the other 'sex' categories in my time I have found group sex to be the absolute strokiest category that can survive on pure sex and absolutely nothing resembling story and at times even competent writing. "lots of girls on one guy? Lots of guys on one girl? Hawttttt!

 

[BiscuitHammer]

To be honest, I'm surprised to hear that your writing gets trolled at all. Alex and Alexa seems to be universally appreciated and highly rated. The sequel series seems to be going strongly as well.

I haven't spent much time perusing the comments of stories I haven't written but it seems like Loving Wives posters are the most vitriolic, Romance posters are generally kind and polite and Taboo/Incest posters are somewhere in the middle.

The ratings for the Taboo/Incest story I wrote are strong but the comments run the gamut of scornful to laudatory.

By the way, was Bram the dungeon master a tip of the hat to Brom the fantasy artist?

Well, thank you for your kind words, first of all. Alex & Alexa do get flames, in fact. I have a (legal age) niece who maintains my uploads and comments for me, and she is enthusiastic in her deleting of unconstructive or trollish comments. I even warn people in the disclaimers that flames will be deleted.

And while the Brom thing had casually occurred to me, the truth is that when I began playing D&D in '76, my first DM was an older kid named Bram. Juuuust me reminiscing... ^^v

 

[Bramblethorn]

Novels and Novellas tend to be more like 'actual stories' as in long, a lot of plot, character development and at times not that much erotic content. The people reading over there are looking for that, people in many other genres are looking for 'hot'

I'd say IMO the other categories that way story over sex are Romance, Sci Fi and Non Human...erotic Horror as well, but in my limited experience they seem a little more into the sex...you will be succubus to death over there

Lesbian is also pretty accepting of not-much-sex stories, in my experience, and I've had a friendly reception in EH with a couple of almost-no-sex pieces.

 

[jaF0]

and she is enthusiastic in her deleting of unconstructive or trollish comments. I even warn people in the disclaimers that flames will be deleted.

Start them out in censorship early, eh?

 

[BiscuitHammer]

Start them out in censorship early, eh?

Constructive criticism is fine, I have no problem with that. Illiterate and pointless flames are deleted. I will not reward utter morons with screen-time. My niece has the time to handle this, I do not. I work for a living. Literotica is cathartic. Trolls and haters are cast out.

 

[8letters]

Constructive criticism is fine, I have no problem with that. Illiterate and pointless flames are deleted. I will not reward utter morons with screen-time. My niece has the time to handle this, I do not. I work for a living. Literotica is cathartic. Trolls and haters are cast out.

I find that I get a lot of glowing comments in response to trollish comments. Cruise Doubledate With My Sister has lots of flaming comments (particularly when you consider it has a 4.72 rating) and it's interesting to see the interplay between commenters.

 

[SimonDoom]

Constructive criticism is fine, I have no problem with that. Illiterate and pointless flames are deleted. I will not reward utter morons with screen-time. My niece has the time to handle this, I do not. I work for a living. Literotica is cathartic. Trolls and haters are cast out.

It's not censorship to delete comments. You're not preventing someone from making comments, you're just choosing not to keep them on your story page. I personally do not delete any comments, but I can understand completely those who do. Some of them can be really awful, and utterly without any redeeming value. But those also sometimes can be the funniest.

 

[Charmolypi]

Inbreeding does negatively impact intelligence..,

 

[Zeb_Carter]

I write what I like to read therefore what I read is in the categories I post too. Simple formula.

Although, I started a story yesterday that will go into a category I have never read of even opened a story there. Just dipping my toes in so to speak.

 

[RocketLauncher]

Start them out in censorship early, eh?

Lol I needed a good laugh, ty!
Do you have your niece edit comments because you're afraid they might influence your score? I suppose I'm a purist in that sense.
I write because I'm lucky to have a hobby that I find enjoyable and cathartic and for the people that send me personal, intimate feedback saying how beautifully a piece was written and that they have had similar experiences irl and how cathartic and oddly stimulating it was to reminisce about the past.
Some categories have a very specific set of rules and the readership won't tell you what those rules are they just punish you with 1 votes.
If you're worried about the score a story may receive in a specific category then I suggest you (or your niece if you're pressed for time) do some research into each category to discover their particular dynamic and write according to their specifications.
Imo some of the most skilled and beautifully written pieces receive scores of two and threes because of their particular kink , Sissy Boys is the first that comes to mind.
Am I bad author? Maybe. Do I care about my scores? No. Should I write to please the general readership and not myself? Prolly. Will I? No.
I'm sure my muse would like me to stop torturing her, along with majority of the Literotica readership but as long as I enjoy writing and I know my writing has touched others on a personal level I will continue.
Categorically I would avoid BDSM that isn't SSC and LW unless you have thick skin. They tend to have the most critical and/or vocal audiences.

 

[MindsMirror]

It seems like this is the reason that the holiday competitions are so full of 1 bombs and trolls. Lit doesn't put the category on the stories in the list and many readers who 'stay in their lanes', so to speak, find anything out side of that offensive.

We like your work on Alex and Alexa but aren't surprised to hear it gets trolled. Almost anything in the hall of fame seems to get it periodically.
-MM

 

[Kantarii]

I write what I like to read therefore what I read is in the categories I post too. Simple formula.

Although, I started a story yesterday that will go into a category I have never read of even opened a story there. Just dipping my toes in so to speak.

I operate on the same guidelines.

 

[BiscuitHammer]

I've often wondered...

If that's why I get trolls. Very rarely (okay, never) do my stories stay in one genre. I've had people screech at me in reviews and PMs that a certain story belonged in a different category because it contained elements out that category, even if the overarching theme clearly set it in the chosen category, at least to my mind.

I have a story in the Fantasy section, because it deals with a bard. But someone snarled that it belonged in Incest, because two background characters had sex and were siblings.

Consumers of free erotic lit sure know how to get butthurt when you don't conform to their will... :/

 

[SolarRay]

I write what I like to read therefore what I read is in the categories I post too. Simple formula.

Although, I started a story yesterday that will go into a category I have never read of even opened a story there. Just dipping my toes in so to speak.

Agreed. And I did this recently too, posting in a category way outside my comfort zone, and not one I read in (Erotic Horror). Thankfully I haven't heard from the trolls. However, it's not getting many reads, and it struggled for a while to achieve an [H], where it now teeters on the edge.

I thought it came out pretty well, and I do hope it gets more reads, despite not being the standard category fare -- as far as I can tell. But it just goes to show you how much category can make a difference, and what kind of expectations to set when you experiment with something new. In the end, you gotta write what you want to write, because you enjoy it.

 

[ChloeTzang]

Agreed. And I did this recently too, posting in a category way outside my comfort zone, and not one I read in (Erotic Horror). Thankfully I haven't heard from the trolls. However, it's not getting many reads, and it struggled for a while to achieve an [H], where it now teeters on the edge

I like the competitions for that. They give me the motivation to write in categories I don't usually write in and it's good for me. I also find my fan readers follow me into those categories and read the stories which is great.

 

[BiscuitHammer]

Agreed. And I did this recently too, posting in a category way outside my comfort zone, and not one I read in (Erotic Horror). Thankfully I haven't heard from the trolls. However, it's not getting many reads, and it struggled for a while to achieve an [H], where it now teeters on the edge.

I've had a few ideas for Erotic Horror, but they probably wouldn't make it past the submission gate. People who read them said they were way too intense.

I read sone EH stories and see what they mean, I guess. And most of the reviews would probably just say 'WTF is wrong with you?'

 

[NotWise]

Agreed. And I did this recently too, posting in a category way outside my comfort zone, and not one I read in (Erotic Horror). Thankfully I haven't heard from the trolls. However, it's not getting many reads, and it struggled for a while to achieve an [H], where it now teeters on the edge.

I've had a few ideas for Erotic Horror, but they probably wouldn't make it past the submission gate. People who read them said they were way too intense.

I read sone EH stories and see what they mean, I guess. And most of the reviews would probably just say 'WTF is wrong with you?'

There are people who read in EH? I thought it was a dead zone, read by incubi and succubi looking for new ideas.

I posted what I've always thought was a great story ("Oscar's Place" in my sig) to EH. It's been there for a year and a half and it remains one of my least-viewed/voted stories.

I'm not going to post to EH again, because I don't write to be ignored.

 

[Bramblethorn]

There are people who read in EH? I thought it was a dead zone, read by incubi and succubi looking for new ideas.

I posted what I've always thought was a great story ("Oscar's Place" in my sig) to EH. It's been there for a year and a half and it remains one of my least-viewed/voted stories.

I'm not going to post to EH again, because I don't write to be ignored.

EH is pretty quiet in terms of views/votes, yeah. But I will say, I've had some good/encouraging comments there, which counts for a lot.

 

[NotWise]

EH is pretty quiet in terms of views/votes, yeah. But I will say, I've had some good/encouraging comments there, which counts for a lot.

I had some good, well-considered comments on the story, some leading to conversations. On the other hand, about half of the small number of reader comments are from AH friends rather than from from readers at large.

But that is how I learned I should be careful to distinguish between "handsom" and "hansom."