Award for first stories

[MadelynW]

I would like to suggest that literotica start a new award for first stories. It could have the same rules as the monthly award, but be limited to an author's first story. I guess there aren't many first stories each month, but that's a good thing - it'll make it easier to win.

I recently posted (and subsequently removed - I uploaded it before it was ready!) my first story, and it's clear that it is really hard to get noticed if you're not one of the popular authors.

It was up for a month or so, and I had over 5,000 people look at it, but only 13 people voted, and only two left comments. Both comments were very positive, but hey, there's not much food for thought in two comments. I try to leave a comment on all the stories I read. Maybe I was expecting too much.

My score was OK - 4.69 - but it wasn't high enough compared to the established writers to put me in any of the lists.

I think an award limited to first stories could go a long way to encourage new writers.

What do others think?

 

[Guest]

It does take time to get noticed, that's very true. I don't think you should have pulled your story so soon!

I'm all for encouraging new writers - hell, I'd love to get some encouragement to get my own tail writing again - but I wonder if it's just too much work for the site owners to implement this sort of thing.

And how could you check to see if the writers are indeed new? It would be fairly easy to just make a new identity and submit again.

What would be the prize, do you think?

 

[starrkers]

What would stop someone from posting their story, leaving it up for a bit and then pulling it and posting another story as their "first"?

Nice idea, but I don't think it'd be policeable (is that even a word??)

 

[only_more_so]

I got kind of lucky with my first story. Someone read it and then told someone else, so word spread. It's my only story with double digit comments, and has twice as many votes as my next most voted on story.

Maybe instead of a contest for first time stories, put a little star next to an author's story if it is their first story. Of course, that will only help if it is a good story.

 

[king_wesley]

Wouldn't putting a first ever story tag on a story act like a learner plate on a car. People would avoid it expecting it to be a low quality first attempt.

It's of course not the reality but many people may avoid a story if it is labelled as being potentilly the first piece of creative writing person x has ever produced.

 

[only_more_so]

Wouldn't putting a first ever story tag on a story act like a learner plate on a car. People would avoid it expecting it to be a low quality first attempt.

It's of course not the reality but many people may avoid a story if it is labelled as being potentilly the first piece of creative writing person x has ever produced.

There is something to that, but it can go either way. I would guess that most readers would avoid those stories, but the readers who are most likely to give comments and ratings are more likely to read a new writer.

 

[Boxlicker101]

I would like to suggest that literotica start a new award for first stories. It could have the same rules as the monthly award, but be limited to an author's first story. I guess there aren't many first stories each month, but that's a good thing - it'll make it easier to win.

I recently posted (and subsequently removed - I uploaded it before it was ready!) my first story, and it's clear that it is really hard to get noticed if you're not one of the popular authors.

It was up for a month or so, and I had over 5,000 people look at it, but only 13 people voted, and only two left comments. Both comments were very positive, but hey, there's not much food for thought in two comments. I try to leave a comment on all the stories I read. Maybe I was expecting too much.

My score was OK - 4.69 - but it wasn't high enough compared to the established writers to put me in any of the lists.

I think an award limited to first stories could go a long way to encourage new writers.

What do others think?

Hi, Madelyn. Welcome to Lit. and the AH. I hope your last name isn't Albright.

Depending on the category, those might be pretty good numbers. The score is highly respectable, even if not a contender for any awards. It's certainly better than most of mine.

The problem with having a "first time" award is that nobody could know if a story was really the first or not. An author, who felt extra good about a specific story, could make up a new handle and enter it as the first time for the "new author.

 

[Jenny_Jackson]

Look, MW,

4.69 ain't bad, especially for a first story. I read it, it was generally pretty well written.

You are right. It does take a while to gain a following and become known on Lit. But there are other ways to do that. Posting is one way. Being moderately insane is another. And you can alway make a posting in the new story announcement in the Feedback forum. But mostly, writting well is the most effective method.

Wecum, btw

 

[slyc_willie]

First off, this is not an attack against you, Madelyn.

Offering a first-time-authors award would be like giving a parade to a child who just learned how to walk, or ride a bike. For a writer, offering up a story for public comment and critique is a necessary thing. While I agree that a 'first time' award would be a nice encouragement for a beginning author on this site, it would ultimately mean nothing, and may even be detrimental.

Perhaps Lit's voting and ratings system aren't the best; I'm sure we have all seen the truth of that. However, in the long run, Lit does a very good job of rewarding authors on a basic level by keeping stories relatively easily to access, as opposed to other sites where older stories become drowned out by newer submissions. The AH and Story Feedback forums both do a great job of keeping the 'old' from becoming too old.

The point is that anyone's work can remain fresh on Lit, and frankly, if your work is good enough, people will look for you and read your newest stories.

When it comes down to it, the best praise and recognition is that which is earned through talent and perserverance. All in all, it does not take long to become recognized, if you keep at it and the skill is there.

Give it some time, Madelyn. You'll get there.

 

[_Lynn_]

First off, this is not an attack against you, Madelyn.

Offering a first-time-authors award would be like giving a parade to a child who just learned how to walk, or ride a bike. For a writer, offering up a story for public comment and critique is a necessary thing. While I agree that a 'first time' award would be a nice encouragement for a beginning author on this site, it would ultimately mean nothing, and may even be detrimental.

Perhaps Lit's voting and ratings system aren't the best; I'm sure we have all seen the truth of that. However, in the long run, Lit does a very good job of rewarding authors on a basic level by keeping stories relatively easily to access, as opposed to other sites where older stories become drowned out by newer submissions. The AH and Story Feedback forums both do a great job of keeping the 'old' from becoming too old.

The point is that anyone's work can remain fresh on Lit, and frankly, if your work is good enough, people will look for you and read your newest stories.

When it comes down to it, the best praise and recognition is that which is earned through talent and perserverance. All in all, it does not take long to become recognized, if you keep at it and the skill is there.

Give it some time, Madelyn. You'll get there.

Yes it's great to watch the ratings and votes go up on your very first story. But did you write that story just to get high numbers? Or did you enjoy writing it, were you happy with the finished product. And if your first story does super, it isn't a guarantee your second and third will as well.

Having readers send feedback asking for more from Me after reading My initial story meant more than a number on a page. Readers wanting a second chapter or saying they told a friend about My work was over-whelming. Those votes don't tell Me that.

The amount of talent found here is amazing. To be a part of that is humbling. A feeling no rating can ever give Me.

Slyc made several good points here. Give it some time. If your work is good enough, people will look for it. That means more than all the ratings and votes put together. Trust Me on that.

 

[cloudy]

First off, this is not an attack against you, Madelyn.

Offering a first-time-authors award would be like giving a parade to a child who just learned how to walk, or ride a bike. For a writer, offering up a story for public comment and critique is a necessary thing. While I agree that a 'first time' award would be a nice encouragement for a beginning author on this site, it would ultimately mean nothing, and may even be detrimental.

Exactly.

We've all gone through a rite of passage of sorts with our first efforts, so why shouldn't everyone have to learn and grow just like the rest of us have?

I think it's not only unnecessary, but, like willie said, it may just get a new author thinking they can do no wrong, and then *BOOM* their second effort gets trolled right out of the gate, their score plummets, and they're left whining about how they're the next Hemingway, but everyone's too dense to see it.

Yes, it takes awhile to gather a fan base, but those that have it have earned it.

Take your lumps, friend....you'll learn from them.

 

[gauchecritic]

Most authors would happily kill for a H, but your basic premise is faulty anyway.

Being well known enough to have a 'following' means that your top list rating will probably be achieved by a concerted effort of 5 votes by your adherents. This wouldn't be exactly representative now would it?

(the following numbers are off the top of my head)
A simiilar situation exists now in the music industry. Selling 20-30 thousand singles will get a number one spot in the UK top 50. During the 60/70s 20 -30 thousand would maybe get you in the top 100.
20-30 thousand are sold purely on advertising and fans. sales of 100,000 is indicative of merit.

Further, the new list changes faster than visitors can read. Not all visitors wish to read your category.
Leaving stories up is one method of getting them read because when your new story appears, new readers may be so enchanted by your prose that they want to read other things you've written.

Crying in the AH is a fabulous pastime. We've all done it for various reasons but the motives are always, without exception, the same.

 

[rgraham666]

Madelyn, 5,000 views and 13 votes in the first month isn't bad, isn't bad at all.

My first story didn't get anywhere near that many views and votes in the two years it was up

Just sayin'.

 

[_Lynn_]

Madelyn, 5,000 views and 13 votes in the first month isn't bad, isn't bad at all.

My first story didn't get anywhere near that many views and votes in the two years it was up

Just sayin'.

You can't predict for sure. In 10 days My first story, in erotic-couplings, had close to 24,000 views and something like 70 votes. In the same category now, after three weeks, My third story has only 6 votes and a bit over 2300 views.

If I was looking just at numbers.......................go figure.

 

[MadelynW]

I reckon the idea still has wings

OK, so it would be good to encourage new writers, but you can never be sure that people won't rort the system by creating new users and entering every story they do as though it's their first.

But how likely is that? And I've noticed somewhere that you can't create a new user and vote for yourself - they have ways to detect and undo this kind of thing, so my guess is they would be able to detect someone sending in their second story logged in a new user pretending to send their first story.

And to those of you who spoke to my feelings, thank you very much. Yes, I was hoping for a bigger splash, but I didn't realize how big the pond was until I dived in!

 

[Divulgence]

*****

 

[starrkers]

OK, so it would be good to encourage new writers, but you can never be sure that people won't rort the system by creating new users and entering every story they do as though it's their first.

But how likely is that? And I've noticed somewhere that you can't create a new user and vote for yourself - they have ways to detect and undo this kind of thing, so my guess is they would be able to detect someone sending in their second story logged in a new user pretending to send their first story.

And to those of you who spoke to my feelings, thank you very much. Yes, I was hoping for a bigger splash, but I didn't realize how big the pond was until I dived in!

Quite a few people here have more than one identity on Lit. So, I doubt it'd be that hard to rort the system.
I also have a feeling it would just encourage the trolls that like the chop people down just because they can - the ones that one-bomb contest winners and stories at the top of toplists - to hit newbie stories.

 

[Vermilion]

They figure out whether you have voted more than once for a story by the IP address of the computer. They wouldn;t be able to discount second (alternative) identities based on this reason because it would prevent people who share a computer (possibly like Mr and Mrs Deathlynx) from being able to post under separate identities...

x
V

 

[MadelynW]

Voting from the same computer

Quite a few people here have more than one identity on Lit. So, I doubt it'd be that hard to rort the system.
I also have a feeling it would just encourage the trolls that like the chop people down just because they can - the ones that one-bomb contest winners and stories at the top of toplists - to hit newbie stories.

Well, my husband tried to vote for me, and the next day his vote had been removed, even though he'd logged on using his own user name (not mine).

To me, that seemed cruel but maybe necessary to prevent rorting. Have any others had this problem?

As for trolls, hey, if we let the trolls dictate what we do, we'll never have any fun.

 

[Vermilion]

Well, my husband tried to vote for me, and the next day his vote had been removed, even though he'd logged on using his own user name (not mine).

To me, that seemed cruel but maybe necessary to prevent rorting. Have any others had this problem?

As for trolls, hey, if we let the trolls dictate what we do, we'll never have any fun.

Like I said - they discount multiple votes from the same IP address - no matter what identity.