Should Literotica have a blog feature for authors?

[ElectricBlue]

I have had plenty of stories published, not quite as many as you, but enough. But the problem still remains that the inconsistency in the moderation means that it is a lottery as to whether a story will be accepted or rejected. Also the inconsistency in the time it takes to get a story moderated. I plan a release schedule for my readers - I submit a story it takes 14 days to post. so then i post the next chapter in plenty of time to reach the schedule - and it posts the day after.

Stick around the site long enough, and you get to know these things, and can factor them in. There are any number of strategies that you can use to schedule chapter release.

For example, write the whole thing first, then submit all at the same time, and ask Laurel to schedule a chapter release. Downside, you might lose audience traction because you take a year to write it (like I did, with my 104k novel).

Or get in the roller-coaster of publishing as you go, but cope with the ups and downs of doing that.

I've done both - each strategy has its pros and cons, each strategy gets you different results. There's no ideal, perfect way.

And to avoid the lottery, get your content into the best shape you possibly can before you submit. That's always on you, not the site.

Finally, keep on an even keel... It's meant to be fun .

 

[Voboy]

I have had plenty of stories published, not quite as many as you, but enough. But the problem still remains that the inconsistency in the moderation means that it is a lottery as to whether a story will be accepted or rejected. Also the inconsistency in the time it takes to get a story moderated. I plan a release schedule for my readers - I submit a story it takes 14 days to post. so then i post the next chapter in plenty of time to reach the schedule - and it posts the day after.

You know you can request a posting date in the NOTES field when you submit, right? Plenty of people do that.

As for it being...

a lottery as to whether a story will be accepted or rejected

....well, I'll just say I've posted many, many stories and poems, and that's never been the case for me. YMMV, obviously, but it does suggest this is not a "site problem." It seems to be a "PastMaster problem."

 

[PastMaster]

Stick around the site long enough, and you get to know these things, and can factor them in. There are any number of strategies that you can use to schedule chapter release.

For example, write the whole thing first, then submit all at the same time, and ask Laurel to schedule a chapter release. Downside, you might lose audience traction because you take a year to write it (like I did, with my 104k novel).

Or get in the roller-coaster of publishing as you go, but cope with the ups and downs of doing that.

I've done both - each strategy has its pros and cons, each strategy gets you different results. There's no ideal, perfect way.

And to avoid the lottery, get your content into the best shape you possibly can before you submit. That's always on you, not the site.

Finally, keep on an even keel... It's meant to be fun .

Thanks for at least being constructive.

I am working with a great editor on my Caleb series - and he doesnt let me get away with anything. I dont doubt that if you went through them with a microscope you will find something, but I think he does a great job.

I currently am, not at odds, but in disagreement about their not posting a chapter since they say it contains underage sex. I dont think it does, but they have the final say. My problem that people keep asking where they can see the chapter. I must get 2 or 3 emails a day asking about it, but for some reason they send anonymously which means that I cannot reply to them.

It's just a little frustrating that I can't at least direct them to somewhere they could read the missing chapter.

 

[Voboy]

Thanks for at least being constructive.

I am working with a great editor on my Caleb series - and he doesnt let me get away with anything. I dont doubt that if you went through them with a microscope you will find something, but I think he does a great job.

I currently am, not at odds, but in disagreement about their not posting a chapter since they say it contains underage sex. I dont think it does, but they have the final say. My problem that people keep asking where they can see the chapter. I must get 2 or 3 emails a day asking about it, but for some reason they send anonymously which means that I cannot reply to them.

It's just a little frustrating that I can't at least direct them to somewhere they could read the missing chapter.

Email feedback is anonymous if you hit "reply" in your email browser, but in my experience emailers more often than not include their email address for a reply. You have to search for it sometimes, but it's usually there.

As for your underage sex chapter, you're right: the site has the final say. So change it until it fits, then post it. This is another problem you already have the ability to solve. Or post it someplace else and then announce it in your profile. Or refuse to post, but recognize that that's your choice.

There are solutions for most, if not all, of your problems.

 

[PastMaster]

Email feedback is anonymous if you hit "reply" in your email browser, but in my experience emailers more often than not include their email address for a reply. You have to search for it sometimes, but it's usually there.

As for your underage sex chapter, you're right: the site has the final say. So change it until it fits, then post it. This is another problem you already have the ability to solve. Or post it someplace else and then announce it in your profile. Or refuse to post, but recognize that that's your choice.

There are solutions for most, if not all, of your problems.

Sadly - the ones who have been emailing me have mostly not been including their email address, some have, and to those i have responded.

I'm not changing the chapter - it's my story and i wont be forced to change it by the site rules I am content with not posting it here.- the story is posted on three other sites - which are all referenced in my profile. Yet still I get questions and feedback saying - where's the chapter?
I also know that there is at least one more chapter that Lit will refuse to post - for the same reason.

I want to say here two things, just in case you think I am actually writing underage sex stories. - The person who is supposedly engaging in underage sex in my story - isnt - there is no sex. Also she is 17 years old, 3 months off her 18th birthday. - which is well over the age of consent in the UK (16) (where I live) and from what i understand 30+ of the 50 US states also have 16 as the age of consent. I'm not telling you this as a defence against the site rules - i just dont want you thinking that im writing about pre-teens or something of that nature.

The original question - all those comments ago was should there be a blog. - and my response was that i thought there should, as it may enable me to communicate with my readers, I would like to tell them where they can read the missing chapter(s) but I suspect this would not be allowed either. But even if only to say FFS please make sure you include your email address when you email me asking me about chapter ...

we kind of got sidetracked, and hackles got raised.

My bad.
Thanks to @electricblue66 and @Voboy for de-escalating.

 

[KeithD]

I have had plenty of stories published, not quite as many as you, but enough. But the problem still remains that the inconsistency in the moderation means that it is a lottery as to whether a story will be accepted or rejected. Also the inconsistency in the time it takes to get a story moderated. I plan a release schedule for my readers - I submit a story it takes 14 days to post. so then i post the next chapter in plenty of time to reach the schedule - and it posts the day after.

If that's something you can't "oh well" about and get past, then you really should consider posting someplace else. If you can't enjoy doing this, it becomes a why bother?

 

[ElectricBlue]

I want to say here two things, just in case you think I am actually writing underage sex stories. - The person who is supposedly engaging in underage sex in my story - isnt - there is no sex. Also she is 17 years old, 3 months off her 18th birthday. - which is well over the age of consent in the UK (16) (where I live) and from what i understand 30+ of the 50 US states also have 16 as the age of consent. I'm not telling you this as a defence against the site rules - i just dont want you thinking that im writing about pre-teens or something of that nature.

You are digging in a bit, needlessly. I too have my loss of virginity story here on Lit (don't we all?). In reality we were both seventeen and a half, upaged six months in the LitLand version. No big deal, one sentence in the story, done. Easy.

 

[PastMaster]

You are digging in a bit, needlessly. I too have my loss of virginity story here on Lit (don't we all?). In reality we were both seventeen and a half, upaged six months in the LitLand version. No big deal, one sentence in the story, done. Easy.

Its not quite as simple as that. - you'd have to read the story to understand. there is a whole byplay of being introduced to a younger sibling, Its a romance in itself. It would change the story too much for her to be over 18 in the beginning.
It's as much about the MC's restraint in not having sex with her until she is of age. The whole story is about a guy who is struggling with the ethics of having psychic powers, and this is just one more ethical dilemma he has to overcome.

 

[lovecraft68]

Its not quite as simple as that. - you'd have to read the story to understand. there is a whole byplay of being introduced to a younger sibling, Its a romance in itself. It would change the story too much for her to be over 18 in the beginning.
It's as much about the MC's restraint in not having sex with her until she is of age. The whole story is about a guy who is struggling with the ethics of having psychic powers, and this is just one more ethical dilemma he has to overcome.

Do yourself a favor and stop going around with EB he likes to pretend to be outraged about underaged stories and act like he's a hall monitor. You owe him no explanation, especially if you're not posting it here.

 

[Bramblethorn]

I'm sorry - I was finished with this thread - because i didnt feel that we were going to ever see eye to eye on this, but i just had to answer this.

They are not giving us a free publishing plaform, they are making money. pure and simple. It is a symbiotic relationship certainly. they make money - we have somewhere to publish our stories - but you make it sound like it is some kind of altruistic endeavouor which I just don't accept.

How much money do you reckon they're making?

I haven't seen Literotica's finances, I'm just going off what I can see with my own two eyes, but I'd be shocked if the site was making a meaningful profit after running costs, even before factoring in the time its owners spend on the tech and moderation side of things. I've been reading this site for 20-odd years and I don't think I've ever clicked one of the banner ads or affiliate links.

 

[PastMaster]

How much money do you reckon they're making?

I haven't seen Literotica's finances, I'm just going off what I can see with my own two eyes, but I'd be shocked if the site was making a meaningful profit after running costs, even before factoring in the time its owners spend on the tech and moderation side of things. I've been reading this site for 20-odd years and I don't think I've ever clicked one of the banner ads or affiliate links.

I have no idea - but i doubt that it would still be around after all this time if it wasnt making at least a living for those who were running it.

 

[Bramblethorn]

I have no idea - but i doubt that it would still be around after all this time if it wasnt making at least a living for those who were running it.

Not sure about that. Plenty of people run websites as a hobby project, and back when Literotica started it was pretty common for sex story sites.

 

[Voboy]

I want to say here two things, just in case you think I am actually writing underage sex stories. - The person who is supposedly engaging in underage sex in my story - isnt - there is no sex. Also she is 17 years old, 3 months off her 18th birthday. - which is well over the age of consent in the UK (16) (where I live) and from what i understand 30+ of the 50 US states also have 16 as the age of consent. I'm not telling you this as a defence against the site rules - i just dont want you thinking that im writing about pre-teens or something of that nature.

No worries on my end. I really don't care, personally. I'm well aware that in the real world, all sorts of 14-year-olds have consensual sex all the time, and I'm sure positive stories can probably be written about that... just, not here. Them's the rules here.

I get that you want to write the story YOU want to write. However. If there are this many emails begging you to post the story, then I'd fix it up and post it; if nothing else, it would stop the complaints. But that's just me. Personally, I just don't think the added difficulties of starting and moderating a blog here outweigh the other options available for solving your problem.

 

[pink_silk_glove]

They are not giving us a free publishing plaform, they are making money. pure and simple. It is a symbiotic relationship certainly. they make money - we have somewhere to publish our stories - but you make it sound like it is some kind of altruistic endeavouor which I just don't accept.

They are making money. Off of your freely submitted material I take it? If they're living off the back of your labor, then dare I say publish it yourself and keep all the profits.

 

[PastMaster]

Not sure about that. Plenty of people run websites as a hobby project, and back when Literotica started it was pretty common for sex story sites.

interesting figures if you check out worthofweb.com - the site is worth nearly $95 million and an estimated income of $46k PER DAY. So i doubt it is a hobby site.

 

[PastMaster]

They are making money. Off of your freely submitted material I take it? If they're living off the back of your labor, then dare I say publish it yourself and keep all the profits.

as i said - its a symbiosis - they get traffic, upto something like 3 million visits per day. That wouldnt happen if there were no stories posted here. - We get our stories viewed - because there are lots of people coming here. - so it's a win-win.
the question is are they now so big that they really dont care about their authors - as someone said earlier in the thread - one author leaving because they are upset - means nothing to them. I would lose far more by not posting here than they would by my not posting here.
You are apparently not allowed to have issues with the site, if you do - you get shouted down, and told to leave the site.

 

[MelissaBaby]

And so i'm not allowed an opinion? the rule is shut up or fuck off?

It's not a rule, but it's very often good advice.

 

[ElectricBlue]

interesting figures if you check out worthofweb.com - the site is worth nearly $95 million and an estimated income of $46k PER DAY. So i doubt it is a hobby site.

I find those amounts a bit hard to believe. Where's that income supposed to be coming from? I suspect suspect worthofweb is extrapolating dollars from traffic compared to other commercial sites, not taking into account that the users aren't charged here; and where's the advertising? I don't see any (other than some geriatric sites that probably don't function any more).

 

[Voboy]

the question is are they now so big that they really dont care about their authors - as someone said earlier in the thread - one author leaving because they are upset - means nothing to them.

Might have been me? I certainly feel that way. You have to look at this from the site owner's perspective, not your own. You have your wants and needs, they have theirs. And these particular owners have made it VERY clear that they value their own interests (and their readers) over their writers.

I'd gently submit that expecting Laurel and Manu to act differently than they always have is not likely to be productive. All we can do is decide how we want to react to their well-established behaviors. I choose to accept it, mostly because I would never presume to tell someone else what to do with their own money. And because, when I step back and think about it, I've gotten more out of this site than I've given. Especially once I remind myself that I ENJOY writing these stories.

So having others read them? That's just gravy.

You are apparently not allowed to have issues with the site, if you do - you get shouted down, and told to leave the site.

No no. Don't misunderstand me, since I was one of the guys who mentioned that. You're more than welcome to have issues with the site. But remember that those of us active on this forum have seen many of the same complaints again and again and again and again and again and again and again and again and again.

You'll forgive some of us if we feel a bit salty when someone else comes in HOT with an idea (the underage policy) that gets discussed here about three times a month. As you said, you're welcome to your opinion... but you should expect others to have theirs as well, and some of us are weary about repeating ours.

 

[PastMaster]

I find those amounts a bit hard to believe. Where's that income supposed to be coming from? I suspect suspect worthofweb is extrapolating dollars from traffic compared to other commercial sites, not taking into account that the users aren't charged here; and where's the advertising? I don't see any (other than some geriatric sites that probably don't function any more).

I have no idea - I am only reporting what the site says. If you want to put your fingers in your ears and go LALALA just because you dont want to hear it then that is your perogative. But lets say the figures are wildly inaccurate - and the site pulls in only 10% of the estimate - its still not a hobby site.

 

[SimonDoom]

as i said - its a symbiosis - they get traffic, upto something like 3 million visits per day. That wouldnt happen if there were no stories posted here. - We get our stories viewed - because there are lots of people coming here. - so it's a win-win.
the question is are they now so big that they really dont care about their authors - as someone said earlier in the thread - one author leaving because they are upset - means nothing to them. I would lose far more by not posting here than they would by my not posting here.
You are apparently not allowed to have issues with the site, if you do - you get shouted down, and told to leave the site.

You are free to have your opinion. Some disagree with it, but they're not shouting you down.

As you say, it is a symbiotic relationship, but as an author you (like all the rest of us authors) can only conjecture about exactly what the site owner knows and is motivated by. You have no idea what financial calculations they are making. They've been doing this for over 22 years. My impression--based only on personal observations and no hard data--is that this site, despite its status as the highest-traffic erotic story site in the world, is under-monetized. But who knows?

The objection that the site is inconsistent in the application of its content standards has some merit, but my reaction is . . . so what? It's just two people, administering the site. Of course, there will be some inconsistency. The answer to not getting your story rejected for punctuation/grammar errors is to make sure that it's clean enough that there's no risk of rejection on those grounds. That's on us, not the site. I think most authors don't have a problem with navigating this rule.

The other thing is you have to be honest with yourself about complying with the under-18 rule. It's a bright line. You cannot submit stories that feature under-18 people having sex, fantasizing about sex, being the subject of memories of sex, being naked or being spied on while naked, etc. It's a broad rule, with 18 as a bright line.

 

[alohadave]

The objection that the site is inconsistent in the application of its content standards has some merit, but my reaction is . . . so what? It's just two people, administering the site. Of course, there will be some inconsistency.

My experience is that anything that involves humans making decisions will result in inconsistent decisions being made. I've admined large groups online in the past and even with my own decisions, I've been inconsistent. It's unavoidable.

The options are: the status quo where it mostly works, but sometimes doesn't; multiple levels of hierarchy where decisions can be appealed and reviewed; and automated processes.

None of them are foolproof and each has it's issues.

Frankly, I'm amazed that Laurel and Manu do as much as they do alone. I'd have shut the site down a long time ago if I was in their place.

 

[Lady2020]

Whatever the authors want.

 

[Lovecraft_Lore]

In terms of things I think they should do to make the site better, that one is low on the list. At the end of the day they will look at ROI, this feels like a hard sell. If they set up anything I would like the interactive stories, choose you own adventure style. The sex toys for sale could be better placed as well. Hitachi magic wands were one of the best selling items out there after toilet paper and hand wash in the months after COVID. They were one of the things, along with toilet, that could be used to barter with people.

 

[pink_silk_glove]

as i said - its a symbiosis - they get traffic, upto something like 3 million visits per day. That wouldnt happen if there were no stories posted here. - We get our stories viewed - because there are lots of people coming here. - so it's a win-win.
the question is are they now so big that they really dont care about their authors - as someone said earlier in the thread - one author leaving because they are upset - means nothing to them. I would lose far more by not posting here than they would by my not posting here.
You are apparently not allowed to have issues with the site, if you do - you get shouted down, and told to leave the site.

I've been a part of a couple of erotica sites that punted people over politics drama cliques and power tripping. Literotica is not one of them.

You are perfectly free to start your own site and make your own rules.