1- How many new Lit stories do you read/day/month/year? And 2- what is your strategy for looking for new stories to read?

[AG31]

Literotica can be overwhelming. It took me literally months to finally settle on this pattern. For a long time I really didn't look for stories in any consistent way at all.

I'll go first.

1- Probably less than one a week. I have a very restricted taste in erotica. (Watch for a new post someday on "How picky are you?")

2 - Here's my daily procedure to look for new stories.

All on the Story side.

Click on my avatar/My Home to see if any of the authors I'm following have published something.

I have three categories that I think might contain appealing stories. For each category I do this:
Scroll down to the random section and read the short descriptions for all those visible. The reason I do Random first is that it disappears if you click the "More" link.
Go back to the New section, see if today's date fills it up. If it does, I click on More New <category> Sex Stories so I can see all for the current day.
Skim those.

Check the AH/New Story Advertisements to see if anything grabs my attention. I'll read stories here not just because I think they'll turn me on, but because the author has some interesting thing to say in their post.

 

[alohadave]

1. I read 3-7ish a day.

2. I go through the new story listings every day and open every story that looks interesting into a new tab. I'll read through most of them if they are short (under 5-6k words), and leave the longer ones for later.

If I don't get to them all that day, I leave the tabs open in case I want to read them later. The tabs build up and I'll periodically go through and close out tabs that I've made no effort to read in a while. At my peak, I've had a hundred tabs open.

 

[ElectricBlue]

One or two a week, not many. Usually, they'd be written by someone who has just followed me, or if the follower doesn't write, I'll look at their Following list, both authors and individual stories, and choose something from there. I figure I'll be finding content I'm going to like.

If the new follower is following hundreds of authors, I don't bother looking at their lists. In those cases, I'm just a consumable, and I figure the reader isn't going to be very discerning.

 

[samhasstories]

I should read more. I don't read them regularly. If I see something posted here about a particular work that sounds interesting, and I have time, I'll read it. But even that I don't do enough. I should be more supportive of you lovely AH people. But when I'm in erotica mode I'm usually writing or revising it - or, more often, wasting time on here.

 

[ShelbyDawn57]

I read a few a week.

Usually, I start with my home page, looking for submissions by authors I follow.

Then I go the individual categories I enjoy and look for something new.

My last step is to go to the one or two authors I love and just pick something I haven't read before. Trying not to binge that last group as sometimes I just need a nice surprise and I'm pretty sure I can find it with them.

 

[KeithD]

Zero.

 

[Voyeurkenneth]

Good question. I used to follow other Author's favorites in hopes of finding something similar. But when I started doing my own writing, I feel like it's been harder for me to be more "open" to new stories at this point in time. My brain is having trouble computing minor things like how others' formatting styles (e.g. how dialogue and action can get mushed in the same paragraph) differ from my own.

But I want to get back to that point where I can be open to different styles, different types of stories, in hopes of expanding my horizons as a writer. It just seems like a crapshoot to browse new stories. I wish there was a way to scan 100-word blurbs for stories.

 

[AchtungNight]

I generally don’t read new stories unless asked or I’m bored enough to look for them. Or if I’m researching something. That said, I’ll always gladly read a recommendation.

 

[Devinter]

Between none at all and about three, I'd say. Exclusively from other Author's Hangout people or contestants/challenge participants in an event, such as the Winter Holidays one. I spend a at least ten times as much time writing as I do reading. But always happy to help out a fellow writer if they need assistance.

 

[SimonDoom]

Not as many as I'd like. Probably two a week on average. I used to read a lot more before I became an author.

I follow quite a few authors so I see their stories pop up when they publish them and that's probably my main method for finding stories to read. I scan the contest and challenge lists. Also, if someone points to a story in the Hangout that intrigues me I might check it out. I try to make an effort to read stories of authors who have read mine, especially if they've said something nice.

 

[forgotmyantidepressants]

I don't have a consistent reading habit, but I read two stories on Lit this week. One I thought had excellent writing, but didn't really do anything for me, and the other I thought had simply godawful writing, but I loved it anyway. I used to read tons of Lit stories, but I've slowed down quite a bit since most of my free time goes toward writing. I don't put a ton of effort into searching... if something in new stories catches my interest, I click on it. Or if I'm looking for something in particular, I search tags.

 

[MillieDynamite]

Jo and I read on here together once or twice a week—no particular system to pick a story. Sometimes, we look at new stories by friends on here (other than Mary's). Other times, Jo's found something, and we read that story after Donnie is down for the night. Honestly, I read kid stories to Donnie most of the time. Not my cup of tea, but a mother does what's good for her kid.

 

[Dhfranklin94]

Usually read an average of one a day. Check four categories for the new stories for that day and find one I like. If I like a series, I will look for the new story in the series and read that to keep up with the series.

 

[Rob_Royale]

I read between 2 and 4 stories a week. And when I'm in the mood, I'll go up to the EXPLORE icon, pull it down to the SEARCH function, and then select something from the popular searches keyword list. Then I just scroll down the results until I find something that sounds like it's in my wheelhouse. Red Hs do draw my eye, but interesting titles do it even more. There are so many stories out there that are just the same old schtick, and there's nothing wrong with that, but someone who tries to get a bit more original than Fuck my Wife or Vacationing with Mum, gets my attention.

 

[AG31]

1. I read 3-7ish a day.

2. I go through the new story listings every day and open every story that looks interesting into a new tab. I'll read through most of them if they are short (under 5-6k words), and leave the longer ones for later.

If I don't get to them all that day, I leave the tabs open in case I want to read them later. The tabs build up and I'll periodically go through and close out tabs that I've made no effort to read in a while. At my peak, I've had a hundred tabs open.

How many different categories do you cover in your selected reading? Do you know? Do you have favorite categories?

 

[AG31]

One I thought had excellent writing, but didn't really do anything for me, and the other I thought had simply godawful writing, but I loved it anyway.

This is frequently my experience.

 

[alohadave]

How many different categories do you cover in your selected reading? Do you know? Do you have favorite categories?

I'll read anything that looks interesting, but I tend to I/T, TG/CD, E/V, EC, Romance, some Noncon. I tend to stay out of BDSM, as that's not really a kink I'm interested in.

 

[pezzheaddazzler]

I'd say 1 or 2 a day mostly on the mobile app. on my phone
If I find a good story I binge read their stories one right after the other.
current binge author RUSHETTE

 

[DustofFallenStars]

I come and go in cycles. I'll leave literotica at months for a time, moving media to video, picture, or comic sites. I'll come back and binge a bunch of stories from whatever category I feel like. My category preferences change as often as my media format. And I don't seem to read at all when I'm writing; I sent to be able to one but not both.

When looking for stories, these days I usually start with tags, often in combination. Look for red H as a first pass, see what jumps out. Look for familiar authors. But then I usually jump into author story pages for people with interesting-looking stories and look at both their body of work, their descriptions, and then pick other stories of theirs to read.
Which is to say I usually start with something near to what I want, then use that to go on a discovery tour to find an author with a solid/interesting rating profile and then try something that looks interesting. I use ratings / red H not to read a particular story, but as a signpost indicating that particular author probably writes well, and then read whatever appeals.

 

[Kumquatqueen]

A couple a week, maybe. I'm horribly picky, which is one reason I write my own stories (which I do re-read several of, not just to confirm details for when I re-use characters).

I tend to look at faves of my followers, the Pink Orchid stories because there's a high proportion I enjoy there, Laurel's picks because they're always interesting, but I think I've read them all, sometimes look through the last 12 months toplists (no minimum number of votes, so tends to reward merit over popularity better than the all-time or 30-day toplists). Sometimes I look at category pages, and scan until I see a title and description that pique my interest.

Generally I'd rather read a story with style, originality and a veneer of plausibility over one that contains certain acts or people. I avoid non-con as most stories are too non for me, and generally I/T because the premise bores me, but all other categories are fair game. Searching for British, UK, Irish, Australia often yields good stuff.

 

[Candy_Kane54]

I started out as a reader before I became a writer. I used to read several stories a day before I started writing. The amount of reading I did went down as I spent more time writing. Now, I hardly read anything, but I always check out the stories published by the people I follow and put them in my 'to-be-read' list. It's up to 350+ now and I don't know if I'll ever get them all read.

 

[AG31]

A couple a week, maybe. I'm horribly picky, which is one reason I write my own stories (which I do re-read several of, not just to confirm details for when I re-use characters).

Me too, on both counts.

, the Pink Orchid stories because there's a high proportion I enjoy there,

What/where's that?

Laurel's picks because they're always interesting,

She only has 2 favorite stories. Are you referring to favorite authors?

Searching for British, UK, Irish, Australia often yields good stuff.

Interesting you should say that. I'll try it. I've often wondered about the fact that a very high proportion of the people I end up conversing with in erotica-land come from some English speaking place outside the U. S. As I've mentioned elsewhere, I wonder if it's connected with the phenomenon of man-on-the-street interviews in London featuring people-on-the-street who speak in full sentences, usually paragraphs, and who use multi-syllable words. Amazing!

 

[AG31]

I'd like to know how many stories Boyd Percy reads in a day. Everywhere I look, he's there. It seems like he only sleeps for two hours a day and spends the rest of his time reading.

"He's there." What, making comments? Is there some Lit stat I don't know about? Or... I just looked at his list of favorites. Is that what you're talking about?

 

[BobbyLaker]

I should read more. I don't read them regularly. If I see something posted here about a particular work that sounds interesting, and I have time, I'll read it. But even that I don't do enough. I should be more supportive of you lovely AH people. But when I'm in erotica mode I'm usually writing or revising it - or, more often, wasting time on here.

+1 ... me to a tee

 

[Kumquatqueen]

What/where's that?

Pink Orchid is an event that @Omenainen has run for a couple years and will happen again next year - the idea is to post stories with a female character who makes sense - have a look for past threads on it. Stories will have the tag 'Pink Orchid' which is probably the easiest way to find them.

She only has 2 favorite stories. Are you referring to favorite authors?

She gives a green E for stories she finds particularly interesting - though I'm not sure if she has in the last couple years, nor do I recall how to find them.

I've often wondered about the fact that a very high proportion of the people I end up conversing with in erotica-land come from some English speaking place outside the U. S. As I've mentioned elsewhere, I wonder if it's connected with the phenomenon of man-on-the-street interviews in London featuring people-on-the-street who speak in full sentences, usually paragraphs, and who use multi-syllable words. Amazing!

Well most of our prudish Puritan types were banished or strongly encouraged to fuck off to Europe, and then pushed off to the Americas. Which possibly results in a higher percentage of pervs left in the UK, some of whom then went to Oz/NZ.

There is more of a culture of playing with words and expecting people to keep up with your wordplay. I wouldn't trust any vox pops, but I suspect there are more polysyllabic words used in British soaps and sitcoms and by sports commentators. One thing I notice is the French words that Brits are expected to understand, whereas Americans will translate. I saw an ad a while back for Doctors Without Borders, who seemed to do good work but I thought it a shame they'd be competing with MSF. Took me ages to realise they were actually the same charity, just they are always called Médicins Sans Frontières in Europe - people know what médicin and sans mean and can guess at frontier.