General Questions. One about categories

[Tomh1966]

Am I the only one who cares about their stupid fictional characters? I know weird but I cant leave poor John Butler without a clear road up from the bottom he is currently sitting at.

Categories. 4 minutes thirty seconds is definitely loving wives. This is a story about John Butler (made up name) and follow up is either erotic couplings or E&V if it were stand alone but it is the next part of that person's life but without his cheating wife. Is it Loving wives or one of the others?

 

[ElectricBlue]

How much heat can you handle? You'll get the great divide in advice here, LW being a world unto itself. My suggestion would be to sample the wares before you buy, and decide whether you might start someplace else.

In other words, do some homework, then decide. Alternatively, take a tally of replies here, and make a note as to who does, and who doesn't, write there. That won't help you decide, but at least it will be democratic.

 

[SimonDoom]

For starters, a good general rule is that if there's no category-based content in a chapter, don't post that chapter in that category. You'll likely lose readers and get angry disappointed readers. Literotica readers are often (not always) picky about what they're looking for.

I'd suggest starting a new John Butler series and if you can try to keep it in one category. Some of the readers from before will migrate over, and some won't, and you'll get some completely new readers, but everyone will be focused on getting whatever content the category for the story suggests.

 

[Tomh1966]

Many thanks. Im 25% through a much longer story called Camaros and Ferraris. I can definitely see that one migrating straight into E&V with a few possible other stops.

John Butler will be just one more story at least for now.

Another stupid question. What is the difference between erotic couplings and romance? Overlap can make things confusing.

 

[SimonDoom]

Another stupid question. What is the difference between erotic couplings and romance? Overlap can make things confusing.

Romance is for stories that emphasize the romantic angle of a relationship. They tend to be a bit lighter and less sexually explicit. They can have sex, but the sex tends to be less explicit and vulgar words are less appreciated.

Erotic Couplings is where you put an erotic story when you can't figure out where else it's supposed to go. A man and woman get stuck in an elevator in an office building and decide to have sex. It's not romantic. It doesn't really fit any particular category kink. So it would probably go into Erotic Couplings. I generally avoid Erotic Couplings because its stories usually, though not always, don't get many views.

 

[gunhilltrain]

This a pretty good guide to categories that someone wrote a while ago. (Oh, we all care about our fictional characters or we wouldn't be publishing this stuff.)

https://classic.literotica.com/s/love-your-readers-categories

Personally, I have a lot of stories in Erotic Couplings; the category generally gets a decent amount of attention. The only problem I've had with Romance is that if I have a break-up at the end of a series, the Romance readers may not like it. At least one suggested that the such stories should go into Non-erotic for a lack of any better place to put them. What Simon said above about EC versus Romance is accurate, although it may require a judgment call on your part.

The biggest surprise I've had on Lit is the popularity of Incest/Taboo. I tried one story about non-blood relatives, but I never finished it.

 

[Seadog777]

Am I the only one who cares about their stupid fictional characters?

I think that any author should car about their main characters.

Categories. 4 minutes thirty seconds is definitely loving wives. This is a story about John Butler (made up name) and follow up is either erotic couplings or E&V if it were stand alone but it is the next part of that person's life but without his cheating wife. Is it Loving wives or one of the others?

I personally think that you should always do your best to keep a story that's going to be more than a stand alone, in the same category as the original story.

I'm not disparaging other authors POV or opinions, that's just what I believe.

Loving Wives is a hard category to navigate.

My advice to you is to write the story for yourself and place it where you want to put it.

 

[gunhilltrain]

I think that any author should car about their main characters.

I personally think that you should always do your best to keep a story that's going to be more than a stand alone, in the same category as the original story.

I'm not disparaging other authors POV or opinions, that's just what I believe.

Loving Wives is a hard category to navigate.

My advice to you is to write the story for yourself and place it where you want to put it.

Ideally, I series should all be in the same category, but I've had some trouble with that. I've had first chapters that I didn't put in Erotic Couplings because, well, there were none depicted there. The last chapter may also have none, but it's hard to place break-up stories if that's what happens. They really don't really fit into either EC or Romance very well.

I wouldn't say Loving Wives is hard to navigate; maybe it's just hard to "endure." My first story there was near the end of my first year, so I had some idea of what to expect.

 

[BobbyBrandt]

Am I the only one who cares about their stupid fictional characters? I know weird but I cant leave poor John Butler without a clear road up from the bottom he is currently sitting at.

I care so much for my characters that I never leave them hanging on an unknown path by posting any part of a story until it is completely finished.

Story management and character integrity are so much easier when patience prevails.

 

[Seadog777]

Ideally, I series should all be in the same category, but I've had some trouble with that. I've had first chapters that I didn't put in Erotic Couplings because, well, there were none depicted there. The last chapter may also have none, but it's hard to place break-up stories if that's what happens. They really don't really fit into either EC or Romance very well.

I wouldn't say Loving Wives is hard to navigate; maybe it's just hard to "endure." My first story there was near the end of my first year, so I had some idea of what to expect.

I've seen a quite a few people express your POV as well.
We just have differing opinions on this subject matter.

Loving Wives is hard to navigate if you're not writing for yourself.
If you're writing to please what the readers want, all you're doing is pissing into the wind.
You have to try to navigate the BTB trolls, the RAAC people, and all the other little sub-groups.

 

[gunhilltrain]

I've seen a quite a few people express your POV as well.
We just have differing opinions on this subject matter.

Loving Wives is hard to navigate if you're not writing for yourself.
If you're writing to please what the readers want, all you're doing is pissing into the wind.
You have to try to navigate the BTB trolls, the RAAC people, and all the other little sub-groups.

The two stories I have there I've were written for myself. I've heard of people deliberating trolling the BTB people to see the explosions, and it seems to work! I guess people deliberately court the RAAC people, but I can't think of any examples. Doesn't sound like as much fun.

 

[Seadog777]

The two stories I have there I've were written for myself. I've heard of people deliberating trolling the BTB people to see the explosions, and it seems to work! I guess people deliberately court the RAAC people, but I can't think of any examples. Doesn't sound like as much fun.

Yeah, I've seen a few authors troll the trolls.
I end up laughing my ass off reading the comments.

 

[Trionyx]

I generally avoid Erotic Couplings because its stories usually, though not always, don't get many views.

Interesting. My most viewed and most ‘favorited’ but not highest scoring story was in EC.

 

[ElectricBlue]

Interesting. My most viewed and most ‘favorited’ but not highest scoring story was in EC.

Yeah, people think it's a wasteland, but it's not always. My second most commented story is EC, with 4.76/280, off 36k Views. By comparison, my most commented on story is in Mature, with 4.79/358, off 48k Views; most Views (and third highest comments) is in Fetish, with 4.84/414, off 78k Views. All in the same ballpark.

Sure, they're not I&T numbers (Simon's main criteria), but my mum is dead and was only ever erotic for my dad, and mom in a title doesn't do it for me.

 

[gunhilltrain]

Yeah, I've seen a few authors troll the trolls.
I end up laughing my ass off reading the comments.

True, they almost never realize that they are being played, and they usually take the bait. Although, I can understand how it can be hard to tell the difference sometimes between a "genuine" LW story and one that is merely planted there. It makes me wonder what percentage of LW stories are fakes. Maybe it really doesn't matter!

 

[gunhilltrain]

Interesting. My most viewed and most ‘favorited’ but not highest scoring story was in EC.

Yes, but you kind of choose the category (and write the story!) first and worry about the consequences later. I guess some people are just chasing popularity, but most of us have other goals beyond that. I was kind of bothered when I accidentally put a story in the wrong category. Lit fixed it in about six days, which is pretty fast for them. But in that first week I must have confused the hell out of readers and by then the damage had been done.