Categories - take 247

[tenyari]

All of my work is in either Sci-Fi or NonHuman. Though most of it could easily blend into exhibition and/or voyeur, but because I don't do 'embarrassed' themes I only tag to there, not post in it.

NonHuman gets more views but similar ratings. So if you can find an excuse to be in that category, take it.

Both categories are known for long multi-chapter stories. Stories that can be 5-10 pages per chapter and have 100+ chapters while viewership goes UP as time goes on.

People read in there for novels.

But things can be slow to pick up, and readership is lower than in other places.

I'm happy if a story hits 2-3k reads by the end of it's first weekend. While there is usually a drop off after that, some of my stories will still get a many reads a week 2 decades after being put out.

Some other erotica sites favor these two categories even more - but often not in themes I like (lot of "Prepper erotica" on SoL for example - stories where half the "erotic" moment is in describing survival gear and ammunition caliber sizes because some people get off on that...)

A story I posted at the end of March (Jacaranda, in my sig) is still pretty low in views (3.1k), but I also think it got 1-bombed as it's the kind of story I suspect a 'Prepper type' would hate. The score seems to have magically bumped up today without any new votes as far as I can tell.

Two stories I posted on March 10, 2023 have 7.1 and 5.6k views each, and are in the 'hot' category - which they hit into within 10 minutes of being posted.

A story I posted on August 13, 2002 has 53k views. That's probably shockingly low to those of you who post in the popular categories. It still gets multiple reads a week. Especially now with me having some new stuff.

I'd love to get the reads some of you get in other categories, but I can't write short stuff (it never goes well when I try), and my genres are... what they are...

 

[Bazzle]

As I've said elsewhere. My stories go into fetish.
The maximum eyeballs I get is 16000 clicks after a year or so.
I'm not going to enter competitions again as my vote numbers are so low that the 1 bombs kill them.
But the stories I know are good, have great scores, my soul cleansers are lower.

 

[John_Vandermeer]

I personally score about 1/2 point less in I/T than in BDSM or Fetish. And that 1/2 point drop seems to come from the 1-bomb tail all of a sudden getting a lot heavier in I/T, not from no longer earning 5s or 4s. A segment of the I/T readership that will vote with very extreme prejudice against kinks or fetishes they don't like (somehow a sister strategically sexually denying her brother is just not acceptable in I/T world!). In the end it is not clear to me readership ends up being larger in I/T for me, thought there is incremental readership I pick up that would not have gone to BDSM or Fetish but are happy to read I/T stories with BDSM or Fetish in them.

I wish I understood the readership of each category better, as for example i wonder whether NC/R might also be semi natural for me to. Does anybody have an impression how that compares to BDSM or Fetish?

At first I though like I/T, some of my stories could go in LW. But having read about what LW really is--eg incel misogyny republic--I guess I would say thanks but no thanks. My stories would just get taken to the woodshed and shot there, I am pretty clear.

 

[NoTalentHack]

I know we've carried on ad infinitum about "ideal" story length, but speaking for myself, I'll drop out of a story once I get to the bottom of the first page and see that it is >4 pages. LitE pages are long, and even after adjusting the display parameters, I find the format fatiguing to read. But, frankly, I find reading from the screen fatiguing in general.

This is mostly why I organize and publish in chapters. Inception, development, climax and conclusion in a single satisfying chunk, typically roughly a half-hour to spend staring at the screen. Sort of like sitcom episodes. If the overall story seems like a fun/interesting read, I'll move on to the next chapter after giving my eyes a rest.

YMMV, of course.

FYI, I looked it up at one point, and the rule of thumb seems to be that ~300 words is the length of a paperback book page. So a LitE page is roughly equivalent to 12 paperback pages. A 4 LitE page story is about 50 pages of a paperback. And that's a high estimate; there are others that go to as low as 230 words/page.

 

[Zenith77]

I wish I understood the readership of each category better, as for example i wonder whether NC/R might also be semi natural for me to. Does anybody have an impression how that compares to BDSM or Fetish?

FWIW, I post quite a lot in NC/R.

16th Jan story - 23k views, 4.5
14th Feb story - 20k views, 4.69
18th Feb story - 30k views, 4.58. Story begins with an 'A', so is high on my story list, which I also think makes a difference.

These are all first-chapters in series, with viewings dropping and scores rising for subsequent parts (naturally).

I have 223 followers, to give you an idea. I've never posted in I/T or LW.

In a few days' time my first entry into the 'Fetish' category will get published, and I'll let you know how that gets on in comparison, if you're interested.

 

[ElectricBlue]

I guess the problem is that the two biggest categories (LW and I/T) are not in my wheelhouse (whorehouse?).

No point bitching about it, I guess.

Em

So what if those are the biggest categories? Erotica is more than adolescent men and their mothers, or angry men and their departed wives. It's only a "problem" if you think those themes exclusively define sexuality. Which they don't.

 

[Zenith77]

So what if those are the biggest categories? Erotica is more than adolescent men and their mothers, or angry men and their departed wives. It's only a "problem" if you think those themes exclusively define sexuality. Which they don't.

Funnily enough, I prefer to write stuff I think will be well-received by a female audience. Which is almost certainly a minority demographic on Lit. Not to say men wouldn't enjoy them too.

Not sure I would enjoy writing anything for:

adolescent men and their mothers, or angry men and their departed wives

...so I guess I'll have to console myself with nicer comments, fewer 1-bombs, and an order-of-magnitude fewer reads.

 

[ElectricBlue]

But then you get stars like @ChloeTzang who write much longer works. I am unsure that thee is a recipe for getting people to read.

Em

There is a recipe.

It's called writing good stories and following your own heart.

Sure, people have written essays with various story formulas in them, and you could follow those, but that just makes more formulaic stories, doesn't it?

 

[ChloeTzang]

But then you get stars like @ChloeTzang who write much longer works. I am unsure that thee is a recipe for getting people to read.

Em

LOL. Not exactly a star. As far as recipes for getting people to read, apart from building up a following of readers over time who like your stories and follow you, the one infallible thing to do is understand your audience and what your readers enjoy. Write what they want to read, in a category they like, and they will come.

But first you need to persuade them to start reading, and initially that's the title and the secondary title. THAT is what grabs readers initially if they don't already know you, so you need to put some real thought into that. It's got to be something that appeals, not just "Mary fucks Sue" - and something with a little twist is even better. I have one lined up = "The Winter Of Our Disco Tent" - now for anyone that gets it, well, you've got their interest at least and the secondary title should nail that down.

After that, you have the first line - and first line's are important. And then the first paragraph to capture them and the first 350 words (that first page in a paper book) to nail it down so that they turn that page to the next, and the next, and the next...hooks all the way. Technique is important, and understanding things like hooks does make a difference. You just have to learn how to position your story so that they fit in naturally. As soon as something appears forced, it throws the reader out, and throwing them out is where you loose them. I use a few racial slurs in some of my stories every now and then, and there's a subset of readers who are thrown by those, but there are others that enjoy them, so again, you need to understand your audience and who you're talking to.

The best compliment to my mind is a reader who says that stayed up to 5am because they couldn't stop reading. THAT is where you want to be.

As for longer, I always use my little introductory note at the start of each story to warn readers if it's long, and I tell them how long, too. I think that's only fair, because again, there are readers who don't like long stories. And if there's not too much sex, I say that too, because there's the odd one of mine that doesn't. I try and set expectations, so as not to waste readers time. Nothing worse than wanting a short stroke story and finding yourself in a 150k word novel....that just annoys readers.

Aside from that, writing a story that readers will enjoy does it. Write it, and they will come, eventually, but you also have to keep category in mind. I like writing Sci-Fi but in general I find its a category that just does not get many readers, and there are so many stories going thru that you disappear off the new stories list within a couple of days. My last sci-fi story, Hanging Seven, has about 2.7k views as of now, which is not very high at all. "I Married a Heptapod" which was really sci-fi altho I slipped it in to First Time, got way more views in First Time than it would have in Sci-Fi and for a while was even in the First Time top 20 HofF, which actually really surprised me.

Category IS important. Some get way more than others, but again you have to understand the category expectations, and you still have to write a good story that readers of that category will enjoy if you want to be read and followed, and get good ratings. YOu can go outside the expectations, of course, and a good story will get you through that too. But in the end, it all boils down to....

.....write a good story that readers will enjoy. LOL. The recipe for success! Easy to say, and so hard to do.

 

[onehitwanda]

"The Winter Of Our Disco Tent"

oh my god. Here in the UK, there's a chain that always runs Winter Discount Tents, but yours is so much better.

 

[ChloeTzang]

oh my god. Here in the UK, there's a chain that always runs Winter Discount Tents, but yours is so much better.

LOL. There's another title. "Now is the Winter of Our Discount Tent" - a disastrous sex story.....

 

[Zenith77]

LOL. There's another title. "Now is the Winter of Our Discount Tent" - a disastrous sex story.....

It gives a whole new perspective to "O, happy dagger, this is thy sheath"!

 

[onehitwanda]

LOL. There's another title. "Now is the Winter of Our Discount Tent" - a disastrous sex story.....

Scene: Desolate moorland adjacent a small stream. A cheap, day-glo yellow tent flaps in the moderate wind. Beside it is a damp pile of sticks and a kettle balanced on three river stones. A woman squats before the pile of sticks; her hair has blown over her face.

She is clearly cold and miserable.
A man emerges from the tent. He is cursing under his breath His jacket is too thin for the weather, and his gloves are muddy.

Man: The matches are wet
Woman: This was a bloody stupid idea. Coming out here.
Man: A badger got the cold meat
Woman: I wish the badger had got you
Man: What?
Woman: I said...
Man: I heard you the first time. It's not my fault you wanted to go camping.
Woman: It sounded romantic! You said it would be romantic! We'd light a fire, watch the stars, get drunk, have sex...
Man: We did have sex.
Woman: Is that what you call that then? Sex is not two seconds of fumbling followed by you trying to get it into me dry...
Man: Listen, it was bloody freezing out
Woman: It was bloody freezing in as well
Man: ...
Woman: Its' fucking freezing and we've got no way to warm water.

They are silent for a while. The wind whistles. The grasses rustle.

Man: fancy a shag then?
Woman: yeah, alright.

 

[Zenith77]

Scene: Desolate moorland adjacent a small stream. A cheap, day-glo yellow tent flaps in the moderate wind. Beside it is a damp pile of sticks and a kettle balanced on three river stones. A woman squats before the pile of sticks; her hair has blown over her face.

She is clearly cold and miserable.
A man emerges from the tent. He is cursing under his breath His jacket is too thin for the weather, and his gloves are muddy.

Man: The matches are wet
Woman: This was a bloody stupid idea. Coming out here.
Man: A badger got the cold meat
Woman: I wish the badger had got you
Man: What?
Woman: I said...
Man: I heard you the first time. It's not my fault you wanted to go camping.
Woman: It sounded romantic! You said it would be romantic! We'd light a fire, watch the stars, get drunk, have sex...
Man: We did have sex.
Woman: Is that what you call that then? Sex is not two seconds of fumbling followed by you trying to get it into me dry...
Man: Listen, it was bloody freezing out
Woman: It was bloody freezing in as well
Man: ...
Woman: Its' fucking freezing and we've got no way to warm water.

They are silent for a while. The wind whistles. The grasses rustle.

Man: fancy a shag then?
Woman: yeah, alright.

A little while later, and the badger lights up a cigarette. "When shall we three meet again?"

 

[onehitwanda]

A little while later, and the badger lights up a cigarette. "When shall we three meet again?"

Maybe the real friends were the badgers we nadgered along the way?

 

[FifthEstate]

LOL. Not exactly a star. As far as recipes for getting people to read, apart from building up a following of readers over time who like your stories and follow you, the one infallible thing to do is understand your audience and what your readers enjoy. Write what they want to read, in a category they like, and they will come.

But first you need to persuade them to start reading, and initially that's the title and the secondary title. THAT is what grabs readers initially if they don't already know you, so you need to put some real thought into that. It's got to be something that appeals, not just "Mary fucks Sue" - and something with a little twist is even better. I have one lined up = "The Winter Of Our Disco Tent" - now for anyone that gets it, well, you've got their interest at least and the secondary title should nail that down.

After that, you have the first line - and first line's are important. And then the first paragraph to capture them and the first 350 words (that first page in a paper book) to nail it down so that they turn that page to the next, and the next, and the next...hooks all the way. Technique is important, and understanding things like hooks does make a difference. You just have to learn how to position your story so that they fit in naturally. As soon as something appears forced, it throws the reader out, and throwing them out is where you loose them. I use a few racial slurs in some of my stories every now and then, and there's a subset of readers who are thrown by those, but there are others that enjoy them, so again, you need to understand your audience and who you're talking to.

The best compliment to my mind is a reader who says that stayed up to 5am because they couldn't stop reading. THAT is where you want to be.

As for longer, I always use my little introductory note at the start of each story to warn readers if it's long, and I tell them how long, too. I think that's only fair, because again, there are readers who don't like long stories. And if there's not too much sex, I say that too, because there's the odd one of mine that doesn't. I try and set expectations, so as not to waste readers time. Nothing worse than wanting a short stroke story and finding yourself in a 150k word novel....that just annoys readers.

Aside from that, writing a story that readers will enjoy does it. Write it, and they will come, eventually, but you also have to keep category in mind. I like writing Sci-Fi but in general I find its a category that just does not get many readers, and there are so many stories going thru that you disappear off the new stories list within a couple of days. My last sci-fi story, Hanging Seven, has about 2.7k views as of now, which is not very high at all. "I Married a Heptapod" which was really sci-fi altho I slipped it in to First Time, got way more views in First Time than it would have in Sci-Fi and for a while was even in the First Time top 20 HofF, which actually really surprised me.

Category IS important. Some get way more than others, but again you have to understand the category expectations, and you still have to write a good story that readers of that category will enjoy if you want to be read and followed, and get good ratings. YOu can go outside the expectations, of course, and a good story will get you through that too. But in the end, it all boils down to....

.....write a good story that readers will enjoy. LOL. The recipe for success! Easy to say, and so hard to do.

Everyone on this thread makes valid, useful points, but if you really want to hit it out of the park, Chloe’s suggestion of knowing what your readers want and then writing really great stories that address those desires is the key. And I’ll take it one step further, if you truly want large view numbers, the stroke component needs to be an integral part too. Readers will return over and over if that’s achieved. And the two are not mutually exclusive!

And yes, category matters, but great stories can surpass category expectations. My apologies if you’ve heard me reference this before, but I published my most recent chapter of Warden’s Wife Pays His Debt (C7) in NC/R in early October. As of this moment it is #1 on the NC/R all time HOF list with almost 1000 votes. But why I brought it up here is that while NC/R is a middle sized category, that chapter has reached 167k views and will at some point surpass chapter 1. And, while I know it gets a lot of first-time views for content, I am certain the high view count is due as much or more to “return customers”. Sex matters…make it good too!

 

[Duleigh]

I know Sci-Fi is not popular

I've had great success in Sci-Fi, maybe I'm far more Geek than you, the readers may recognize the electrical tape holding my glasses together

 

[EmilyMiller]

I've had great success in Sci-Fi, maybe I'm far more Geek than you, the readers may recognize the electrical tape holding my glasses together

Oh I like this game. It’s like Pokemon. My turn:

• Author on two papers published in high-ranking journals

Over to you .

Em

 

[Zenith77]

Oh I like this game. It’s like Pokemon. My turn:

• Author on two papers published in high-ranking journals

Over to you .

Em

That's nothing. I've er... well, I... er.... but... um...

Yeah, ok. I've wasted my life.

 

[AwkwardlySet]

Oh I like this game. It’s like Pokemon. My turn:

• Author on two papers published in high-ranking journals

Over to you .

Em

Hmm...

• Been on national and foreign TV as a performer (music)

Beat that, Nerd!

 

[EmilyMiller]

Hmm...

• Been on national and foreign TV as a performer (music)

Beat that, Nerd!

Impressive, but unsure as to the applicability to Sci-Fi .

Em

 

[AwkwardlySet]

Impressive, but unsure as to the applicability to Sci-Fi .

Em

Wait, you wrote two papers about Sci-Fi?

 

[EmilyMiller]

Wait, you wrote two papers about Sci-Fi?

Yes. One in Nature : Sci-Fi. And one in, er… Science : Sci-Fi.

Em

 

[AwkwardlySet]

Yes. One in Nature : Sci-Fi. And one in, er… Science : Sci-Fi.

Em

In that case, I was playing a guitar of alien origin that had tentacles instead of strings. The idea doesn't gross me out at all...

 

[djrip]

That's nothing. I've er... well, I... er.... but... um...

Yeah, ok. I've wasted my life.

But wasn't it really about the friends you made along the way...