The Official Authors' Hangout Summer Lovin' 2024 Contest Support Thread

[OffNSFW]

Is there some system of automated bots over there voting on stuff?

I doubt it, but I wouldn't be surprised if a lot of it was people with multiple burner accounts and/or coordinating with each other to target anything with categories or tags that they don't like.

 

[gordo12]

This may be off topic (but maybe related to the "sweeps" above)

I had my first "Loving Wives" story published last night (it was not for the contest so sorry for straying)

I've heard some comments in this thread and other places that people can get quite mad at you over there.

I freely admit the latest story is not for everyone and likely not to the same standards as my other works (all rated >4.4)

It was ~8K words. Within 5 mins of midnight (i.e. no human could have read the work reasonably) I had a rating of '1' with 6 votes !

Now this morning, I have 100 votes (which is more than 10x what my other works had at the same time) and a score in the 2s

Is there some system of automated bots over there voting on stuff?

A lot of trolls there. They like to lie in wait for new sacrifices when the stories publish. A 1 vote within seconds is normal. But the real readers come during the day and your story will probably rise in score. Don't be discouraged. There are multiple interest groups in that category to get offended.
But as you noticed, there are tons of reads, comments and votes that will come from practising there. Much more than any other category other than Incest.

 

[nicksouth]

A lot of trolls there. They like to lie in wait for new sacrifices when the stories publish. A 1 vote within seconds is normal. But the real readers come during the day and your story will probably rise in score. Don't be discouraged. There are multiple interest groups in that category to get offended.
But as you noticed, there are tons of reads, comments and votes that will come from practising there. Much more than any other category other than Incest.

Thanks. I don't really care about the score, it was just interesting that it happened there and not in Group Sex which can have a lot of similar themes. For me, the story had to get written so it did. I could have put it in Group Sex honestly because it has both themes

For me I/T is a category that just doesn't work although I know it is hugely popular

Thanks so much for your reply

 

[FreyaGersemi]

A lot of trolls there.

Well, I'm going to say it. There are a lot of trolls here. Within an hour of me posting about the timetable of sweeps, I've gotten a handful of new votes (all of the sudden) and my score dropped considerably. I don't have the math skills to (nor the interest in) calculating exactly what's what, but with over 150 votes and a score that was 4.64, it doesn't take a math scholar to figure things out. I've noticed a definite correlation (on a few different occasions in the past) between posting something about one of my stories on the Author's Hangout and a sudden influx of votes coupled with a drop in that story's rating. Clearly I'm reminding fellow authors that they forgot to "downvote that Freya girl."

That being said, I still enjoy submitting stories on Literotica as there are readers that seem to appreciate and encourage my work. And luckily "1 Bombs" don't affect my life in any appreciable way, so life goes on.

And by the way, you may want to mark your calendars so you get a front row seat for my Halloween Contest submission. I've written some wacky and messed up stuff and a friend that read the first draft charitably categorized this story as "bold." I think he was just being polite.

 

[Morevinila]

Question: My story is still "pending" after I re-submitted with minor rewordings to avoid confusion after being sent back for "possible underaged sexual relationships" (which was not there). Does that mean it won;t get there? What if it gets approved after deadline?

 

[nicksouth]

Well, I'm going to say it. There are a lot of trolls here. Within an hour of me posting about the timetable of sweeps, I've gotten a handful of new votes (all of the sudden) and my score dropped considerably. I don't have the math skills to (nor the interest in) calculating exactly what's what, but with over 150 votes and a score that was 4.64, it doesn't take a math scholar to figure things out. I've noticed a definite correlation (on a few different occasions in the past) between posting something about one of my stories on the Author's Hangout and a sudden influx of votes coupled with a drop in that story's rating. Clearly I'm reminding fellow authors that they forgot to "downvote that Freya girl."

That being said, I still enjoy submitting stories on Literotica as there are readers that seem to appreciate and encourage my work. And luckily "1 Bombs" don't affect my life in any appreciable way, so life goes on.

And by the way, you may want to mark your calendars so you get a front row seat for my Halloween Contest submission. I've written some wacky and messed up stuff and a friend that read the first draft charitably categorized this story as "bold." I think he was just being polite.

So weird, you'd think people would have better things to do with their lives.

 

[gordo12]

Question: My story is still "pending" after I re-submitted with minor rewordings to avoid confusion after being sent back for "possible underaged sexual relationships" (which was not there). Does that mean it won;t get there? What if it gets approved after deadline?

Do what I did. When a story wasn't posted 48 hours after the event, I pulled it. No point; nobody would be looking for it, nor would it get a fair shake in the winnings! And there is money involved. Not a lot, but it's a nice change from FREE!

The site isn't perfect, and occasionally, something runs off the track. It's not deliberate, and you just have to accept it and move on.

 

[nicksouth]

So weird, you'd think people would have better things to do with their lives.

Been getting some inspirational comments at least ! (From my Anon readers of course

"Just another whore and stupid wimp story garbage"

"He should leave the club and go straight to a lawyer to start divorce proceedings! Shit thing to do to a person, especially someone you proclaim to love. Well written, shit story!"

"here again we have an author who insists in including anal sex in his story without an anal tag
You get a zero, nothing, nada ... and a promise from me that I will never read anything of yours
again"

Not letting it bother me but it's illuminating

 

[Morevinila]

My story finally made it - I suppose one of the last to be approved. If you are in for group sex stories you might want to have a look at An Impromptu Sex Beach Party. As the title says, it's impromptu - none of the characters involved that would happen but it did! Comments would be appreciated, especially to help in coining other stories - I have several plots in mind but I still need polishing my English, as I said, not my native language.

 

[Agent0069]

Did it make my story better? worse? about the same? Should this story ever have been written?

There’s still a week of voting ahead, but I think that the readers have reached consensus on my story: some liked dialogues at the beginning, some thought they were boring, at the same time some readers loved intimacy scenes, while others were outraged about them.

“What kind of Incest story is that? Get that brotherly penis stuffed all the way into the little sister and quit wasting our time!” was among the lines of a few commenters.

At the moment it’s my second most viewed, voted on, and favored story, while its rating simultaneously is second to worst.

In conclusion: I’m glad that I don’t really care about user feedback, or I would be extremely confused by now.

 

[Rustyoznail]

My votes have died off dramatically over the last week. Just one vote...

 

[Duleigh]

My votes have died off dramatically over the last week. Just one vote...

Same here. One last pass by the troll society and my stories have sat venting steam.

 

[nicksouth]

Same here. One last pass by the troll society and my stories have sat venting steam.

Activity is slowing for me but still 3-6 votes a day. Score pretty stable. Dropped a little after my Loving Wives adventure haha

 

[Duleigh]

Activity is slowing for me but still 3-6 votes a day. Score pretty stable. Dropped a little after my Loving Wives adventure haha

same here, my LW cratered! Who knew that LW fans hate wives that love their husbands???

 

[gordo12]

My votes have died off dramatically over the last week. Just one vote...

The reader's warmth for a new story doesn't last long enough. 2 days is about it! Sad.

 

[yowser]

Reader behavior on contests defies normal understanding, even quite different from challenges (which of course are minus the competition factor.)

The only real universal is that once a story crosses the Undemilitarized Red Line, hammers come out of the toolshed to push it back into place.

So far, barring any last-minute slipped-under-the-gate entries, there's eight more stories than last year, a healthy mass of summer reading adventures.

 

[ChasBozwell30]

Question: My story is still "pending" after I re-submitted with minor rewordings to avoid confusion after being sent back for "possible underaged sexual relationships" (which was not there). Does that mean it won;t get there? What if it gets approved after deadline?

I had the same issue, I had to resubmit it a couple of times. I had to delete a line, and then at the finally just put a disclaimer at the beginning, it got there in the end, hope yours does too!

 

[Wineandcheese]

I had the same issue, I had to resubmit it a couple of times. I had to delete a line, and then at the finally just put a disclaimer at the beginning, it got there in the end, hope yours does too!

I always put a disclaimer at the beginning, just so there’s no doubt that all characters are 18+.

 

[forgotmyantidepressants]

Are we experiencing the "sweep"?

I've gotten more votes in the past 24 hours than I have in the past week...

 

[MelissaBaby]

Are we experiencing the "sweep"?

I've gotten more votes in the past 24 hours than I have in the past week...

I haven't seen any sign of it, but sweeps don't always take place all at once. Generally though, in a sweep your number of votes will go down, not up.

 

[forgotmyantidepressants]

I haven't seen any sign of it, but sweeps don't always take place all at once. Generally though, in a sweep your number of votes will go down, not up.

Thanks. I've never participated in a contest before and I was surprised to get so many votes all at once.

 

[nicksouth]

same here, my LW cratered! Who knew that LW fans hate wives that love their husbands???

Mine cratered for kind of the opposite reason - which is what I thought LW was about - i.e. wives with other men. What I got was a bunch of puritan comments about cheating - maybe I misunderstood ?

Whatever, I write what my brain needs me to write and I don't care if people don't like it

 

[Wineandcheese]

Mine cratered for kind of the opposite reason - which is what I thought LW was about - i.e. wives with other men. What I got was a bunch of puritan comments about cheating - maybe I misunderstood ?

Whatever, I write what my brain needs me to write and I don't care if people don't like it

It’s one of the great mysteries of life. Why do people come to Lit to read erotic stories and then complain that the characters are having sex?

 

[nicksouth]

It’s one of the great mysteries of life. Why do people come to Lit to read erotic stories and then complain that the characters are having sex?

Indeed. They were all upset that the wife pre-meditated having sex with two other guys - with and in front of her husband, and I got a lot of moralizing. Weird

I also got more votes in one day than all but one of my other stories in total, so make of it what you will I guess. It definitely isn't a story for everyone but no need to be rude - yeah ?

 

[Morevinila]

I had the same issue, I had to resubmit it a couple of times. I had to delete a line, and then at the finally just put a disclaimer at the beginning, it got there in the end, hope yours does too!

it did thank you - name Impromptu Sex Beach Party - have a look if you please and vote