Mature Category...best kept secret?

[lovecraft68]

There's a lot of threads here about how to get more eyes on your work, maxing numbers etc... Whenever those come along, people will be told that unfortunately numbers are category related, some are simply more read than others.

The next part will always mention the biggest numbers are in Incest and LW, which is true, but both categories, have some inherent issues.

LW....well, you'll get views and votes and a lot of comments, but many votes are bombs and the comments hate filled. A lot of attention, but mostly bad, and if you're looking for a good score, not easy.

Incest is mostly a love or leave it, and many people are too put off by it to want to write there, or if they try, the story misses the mark because the readers can tell when a story is being forced or phoned in, and you may not do as well as the average story there.

But Mature doesn't seem to pop up often in those discussions, so I'll make a case for it for anyone who may write in a low read category and is trying to get some eyes on their work.

Mature isn't on the level of I/T LW in numbers, but I'd say its in the next tier down, and most likely at the top of that tier. Now I don't spend time on graphs and analysis, this is from an experience and 10 years of being here and seeing what I see.

So you will get pretty good numbers. Also, the category is very easy to write for. Even though as recently discussed, it could mean older couples, the majority of the category is age gap...older man/ young girl, Milfs cougars...there is nothing complex or off putting to writing those stories, its an easy concept.

Another benefit is Mature seems to embrace both stroky one handed read type stories as well as deeper more romantic pieces and pretty much whatever is in between.

Every category has a few trolls, but the crowd there seem easy going, and if you give them their basic fix you're not going to get too much abuse. The category doesn't have the "sick fuck" trolls of incest or NC, the homophobe Gaymale trolls and the woman hating spew of LW, readership there seems to be pretty happy go lucky.

So if you're looking for a little more exposer without setting yourself up for being trashed by trolls or writing something you're uncomfortable with, I suggest trying Mature.

 

[RejectReality]

I couldn't agree more.

I only discovered the category because Laurel changed the category of a story from EC to Mature in the far-flung past. I thought it would be a death knell for the story.

Damn, was I wrong. I consider anything that gets less than 650 votes in the initial week a failure nowadays.

LC has nailed the acceptance of stroke and romance as well. Both perform very well, with romance typically outscoring stroke, and stroke typically posting bigger numbers otherwise. LCs top rated story in the category is proof that both can happen as well. It's romance with numbers that blow most of the category away. Well over 10k votes the last time I looked, and that's been quite a while ago.

Yes, you read that right. 10,000+ VOTES.

Same with the easygoing readership. I'll add that you can write short or long stories in the category and do well. LCs romance is a long tale, while I have a lot of success with shorter stuff. Shorter romantic-themed pieces can do well too.

Mature is a category that many authors overlook, thinking it's about senior citizens taking out their teeth to snog and break each other's hips. Give that Milf/Cougar or older man with a pretty young thing idea a go, and see just how surprising the Mature category can be.

 

[oggbashan]

After a quick count I have 17 in the Mature category but only 5 with an H.

What does that prove? Nothing...

 

[Zeb_Carter]

And I have only one in Mature and it's done very good. Maybe I should be writing some for that category. I'll have to think about that.

 

[lovecraft68]

After a quick count I have 17 in the Mature category but only 5 with an H.

What does that prove? Nothing...

Maybe because you've passed Mature and reached ancient status.

 

[oggbashan]

Maybe because you've passed Mature and reached ancient status.

As have some of the characters in my stories.

 

[RejectReality]

Just about done with my next one. Divorced sawyer with his own mill and a pretty little redneck girl who sells wooden dildos turned on her lathe. The terminology of sawmilling lends itself perfectly to my propensity for wordplay and double entendre.

Called "Curl and Figure"

Can you guess where I'm going with that? LOL

http://www.darkniciad.com/covers/curl_n_figure_cover.jpg

 

[jaF0]

Just makes me feel old.

 

[lovecraft68]

Just makes me feel old.

My daughter turned 31 three days ago....so I feel your pain.

 

[lovecraft68]

Just about done with my next one. Divorced sawyer with his own mill and a pretty little redneck girl who sells wooden dildos turned on her lathe. The terminology of sawmilling lends itself perfectly to my propensity for wordplay and double entendre.

Called "Curl and Figure"

Can you guess where I'm going with that? LOL

http://www.darkniciad.com/covers/curl_n_figure_cover.jpg

I like that image, reminds me of the old lurid porn coves from years ago

 

[macymadison]

The most thoughtful emails that I have received have been from people reading stories in the mature category.

 

[NotWise]

I've heard good things about Mature, but the category hasn't worked out for me, and I don't really know why.

I put consecutive stories into Mature for the Summer Lovin' and Holiday contests in 2017. The first one didn't break 4.5 while it was on the Mature hub, but once it fell off the hub the score rose quickly. The second was the first story in my Pixie series (which was conceived from the beginning for the Mature category), and it has stayed permanently below 4.5. Both have a good number of views because they were contest stories.

My second published Pixie story (and all the rest) went to EC, and it has both more views and a higher score than the first story in Mature, despite not being in a contest. One of the Coffee Shop denizens read the story in Mature and offered the opinion that it didn't have the sentimental ending that readers in the category like so much.

I can live with that, and with the possibility that the story just wasn't very good, but it does make me think that Mature isn't all that easy.

 

[oggbashan]

My highest rated story in the Matre category is this one:

https://www.literotica.com/beta/s/english-lane

 

[lovecraft68]

I've heard good things about Mature, but the category hasn't worked out for me, and I don't really know why.

I put consecutive stories into Mature for the Summer Lovin' and Holiday contests in 2017. The first one didn't break 4.5 while it was on the Mature hub, but once it fell off the hub the score rose quickly. The second was the first story in my Pixie series (which was conceived from the beginning for the Mature category), and it has stayed permanently below 4.5. Both have a good number of views because they were contest stories.

My second published Pixie story (and all the rest) went to EC, and it has both more views and a higher score than the first story in Mature, despite not being in a contest. One of the Coffee Shop denizens read the story in Mature and offered the opinion that it didn't have the sentimental ending that readers in the category like so much.

I can live with that, and with the possibility that the story just wasn't very good, but it does make me think that Mature isn't all that easy.

Interesting, seems like an anomaly compared to what I usually see there for myself and others. The first the score probably took a trolling from being in a contest, then rose when the smoke cleared.

Really surprised you have EC stories with better numbers than mature, that's strange.

 

[RejectReality]

I typically get around double in Mature for the same age-difference stories I used to post to EC. Those first couple before Laurel moved one have around 500 votes, and most everything in Mature breaks 1k.

If it didn't have a sentimental or at least HFN ending, that's not so much the category as a general preference of the site's readership overall. Bittersweet gets mixed reviews at best, no matter where you post it.

 

[NotWise]

Interesting, seems like an anomaly compared to what I usually see there for myself and others. The first the score probably took a trolling from being in a contest, then rose when the smoke cleared.

Really surprised you have EC stories with better numbers than mature, that's strange.

I might try Mature again someday, but it looks like sentimental stories are what really get the Mature readers going, and I might be more likely to put those in Romance.

I just leafed through the two weeks+ of stories on the Mature hub, and the number of views was highly variable (not surprising). The author's name recognition is clearly a big factor, and those votes may be coming as much from the New list as from Mature. Ann Douglas and Reject Reality both have good views on their recent stories. NoJo's story, on the other hand, has less than 6k views in ten days.

 

[lovecraft68]

I might try Mature again someday, but it looks like sentimental stories are what really get the Mature readers going, and I might be more likely to put those in Romance.

I just leafed through the two weeks+ of stories on the Mature hub, and the number of views was highly variable (not surprising). The author's name recognition is clearly a big factor, and those votes may be coming as much from the New list as from Mature. Ann Douglas and Reject Reality both have good views on their recent stories. NoJo's story, on the other hand, has less than 6k views in ten days.

I've had two romance types do well there, but I also have a student/teacher story that is pretty much 5 pages of lusting after the teacher, then having sex with her. Its somewhere in the top 50 all time last I looked and has more votes than the romance RR referred to and is a year newer.

There's a ton of variables to the whys of numbers or lack of so I try not to over think it, my reason for the thread is that the category seems overlooked when people are looking for a popular place to write.

 

[NotWise]

IThere's a ton of variables to the whys of numbers or lack of so I try not to over think it, my reason for the thread is that the category seems overlooked when people are looking for a popular place to write.

I agree that the category is overlooked. In terms of the number of stories in the category, it's below Novels and Novellas and only slightly above T&C. A story in Mature can be on the hub for quite a while, and that's a good thing if the category readers like it.

The level of writing there might also be better than average.

 

[SimonDoom]

I've been meaning to try it out and publish a story there. I did publish a story there a year ago but it was for the 750-word contest, and that doesn't really count.

 

[RejectReality]

Looked up the track from where Laurel first moved one of mine to Mature.

I had 16 stories up in this name at the time and I was averaging 186 votes and 32k views.

That one debuted in the track with 362 votes and 85k views. Next two were 287, 54k and 235, 58k. The fourth one was the break-away with 1502 and 78k that took all my numbers on a rocket ride with it. ( Recycled, in the Earth Day contest )

 

[Zeb_Carter]

If you think about it, most of Incest, ie. Mon/Son, Dad/Daughter, etc. are Mature. So if anyone has written incest they can write mature without really thinking about it, except you will have to change the way the pair meet. *shrugs*

 

[SyleusSnow]

Mature is very much overlooked and a great place for stories.

Just over a year ago I posted my first story in that category and yowza... what a response! Appreciative and encouraging comments, lots of votes, and a huge increase in followers. that story and the sequel remain my highest scoring stories so far.

 

[RejectReality]

If you think about it, most of Incest, ie. Mon/Son, Dad/Daughter, etc. are Mature. So if anyone has written incest they can write mature without really thinking about it, except you will have to change the way the pair meet. *shrugs*

You don't even have to change how they meet that much if it's Mom's friend who lives next door and is a fixture in the house.

 

[lovecraft68]

You don't even have to change how they meet that much if it's Mom's friend who lives next door and is a fixture in the house.

Case in point I have a Milf Tails series on here, and in most cases, the milf is a friend of the MC's mother, or the mom of one of his friends. I wanted to use My friend's Hot Mom was the series title, but naughty America has a site under their 'umbrella' with that name.

 

[RejectReality]

Case in point I have a Milf Tails series on here, and in most cases, the milf is a friend of the MC's mother, or the mom of one of his friends. I wanted to use My friend's Hot Mom was the series title, but naughty America has a site under their 'umbrella' with that name.

I think your title is better anyway. Of course, me and wordplay always get along.