Categories-How much do they matter?

[Biggalute]

I've nearly finished a story and it involves characters being held and stripped against their will. Logically I think it should go in non consent but I've never posted there before and rarely read stories from that category. I've also noticed that even the top rated stories in that category have very few readers.
At a stretch I could submit it in Exh/Voy, my most used category.
How much does it matter which category you post in? Is it misleading readers if a story appears in one category but probably belongs in another.

Any advice or opinions would be helpful.

 

[8letters]

Read this thread. Noncon has twice the audience of E&V, but has lower average ratings.

 

[SimonDoom]

First of all, read this article, if you have not already: https://literotica.com/s/love-your-readers-categories

This is the essential primer on how to choose a category in which to publish your story.

Your observation that the nonconsent category has few readers is incorrect. Read the thread with 8Letters's analysis. Nonconsent is one of the more popular categories, although it ranks below Incest and Loving Wives in terms of views.

It sounds like a nonconsent story to me, but I would need to know more about it to know for sure.

 

[NotWise]

I've nearly finished a story and it involves characters being held and stripped against their will. Logically I think it should go in non consent but I've never posted there before and rarely read stories from that category. I've also noticed that even the top rated stories in that category have very few readers.

My only story in NonCon (dating from last spring) is my least-viewed story. Its only competition for that title are the two parts at the end of an old novel.

Part of the reason for the low views is that Noncon stories are systematically placed at the end of the New list. Today, for instance, that puts all of the new Noncon stories in a group on page three of the new list.

You're better of using a different category if you can.

At a stretch I could submit it in Exh/Voy, my most used category.
How much does it matter which category you post in? Is it misleading readers if a story appears in one category but probably belongs in another.

Any advice or opinions would be helpful.

Be careful with polarizing content. The readers will let you know if you put it in the wrong category. I think non-consent is always a big no-no in I/T, but how polarizing it is will depend a lot on how much your story emphasizes the non-con aspect.

 

[Biggalute]

Thanks for the advice and links. Given me plenty to think about

 

[Black_and_White_Writer]

It’s always best to stick to posting the story in the category you’re writing for. If you want more votes, more engagement, then pick the category that has those. I know people who don’t write incest/taboo erotica and are fine with it not getting the lions share of the attention.

 

[ElectricBlue]

It’s always best to stick to posting the story in the category you’re writing for. If you want more votes, more engagement, then pick the category that has those. I know people who don’t write incest/taboo erotica and are fine with it not getting the lions share of the attention.

In any event, Laurel might move it to a category where: a) she thinks the content belongs; or b) where she thinks it might run best. She's the final arbiter, and will pay attention to a specific request. The OP could ask her to decide, if they're uncertain.

 

[theMasterBaiter]

Just don't ever post in Loving Wives. Especially if your story doesn't have a male "Hero" who is the typical alpha male. Any story with a character that doesn't match the perfect definition of an "alpha male" and a submissive female who is perfectly faithful, will be abused and voted down.

 

[SimonDoom]

Just don't ever post in Loving Wives. Especially if your story doesn't have a male "Hero" who is the typical alpha male. Any story with a character that doesn't match the perfect definition of an "alpha male" and a submissive female who is perfectly faithful, will be abused and voted down.

But it may get more attention. That's always something to consider. For many authors, the score is not the end-all and be-all. It's just a means to an end. The end for some is gathering appreciative readers, and posting in Loving Wives may very well in some cases be the way to do that, even if you also attract negative readers, too.

 

[MyBareTorso]

My stories are essentially CFNM, and move across the E/V and Non- Con categories. My stories in the Non-Con category always score lower than those in the E/V category. I think my stories are all of a similar quality, so I'd assumed this was because readers of Non-Con might like their tales a little "rougher". Mine are quite mild (enforced stripping, mild humiliation etc) in the scheme of things. I think categories matter - my highest scored but least read story is in the Celebrities/ Fan Fiction category...

 

[gordo12]

But it may get more attention. That's always something to consider. For many authors, the score is not the end-all and be-all. It's just a means to an end. The end for some is gathering appreciative readers, and posting in Loving Wives may very well in some cases be the way to do that, even if you also attract negative readers, too.

A lot of out-of-category stories end up in LW because of the traffic. It tends to piss the natives off and the scores suffer. It shows up in comments too.

Not highly recommended.

 

[SimonDoom]

A lot of out-of-category stories end up in LW because of the traffic. It tends to piss the natives off and the scores suffer. It shows up in comments too.

Not highly recommended.

We may have a difference of opinion about what "out of category" means.

This category was created for the purpose of featuring stories about wives who have sex outside marriage, and have fun with it, along with their husbands. That's how the category is described. Those types of stories are very much "in category" whether the detractors of those stories like them or not.

 

[gordo12]

We may have a difference of opinion about what "out of category" means.

This category was created for the purpose of featuring stories about wives who have sex outside marriage, and have fun with it, along with their husbands. That's how the category is described. Those types of stories are very much "in category" whether the detractors of those stories like them or not.

Those are the type of stories I write Simon. It's the new authors that see the title "loving wives" and post stories about the wonderful time they had with their loving wife last night (example) and others. Gay stories that have little or no wife involved. The list goes on and on.

It's become a catch-all category for stories that have no relationship to the description. Some are great like Todd172 and others...

I've always thought the site needs a general category. One not aimed at sexual stories.

 

[SimonDoom]

Those are the type of stories I write Simon. It's the new authors that see the title "loving wives" and post stories about the wonderful time they had with their loving wife last night (example) and others. Gay stories that have little or no wife involved. The list goes on and on.

It's become a catch-all category for stories that have no relationship to the description. Some are great like Todd172 and others...

I've always thought the site needs a general category. One not aimed at sexual stories.

I didn't know that. I'm aware of the "cheating with consequences" stories and the "happy hot wife/cuckold" stories but wasn't aware of those others. It sounds like a mess.

 

[gordo12]

I didn't know that. I'm aware of the "cheating with consequences" stories and the "happy hot wife/cuckold" stories but wasn't aware of those others. It sounds like a mess.

The consequence and cuck stories were always acceptable until recently. Since covid hit it's become a sewer of comments that would get the back of my hand if the commenter was in front of me. Consequence stories have become hugely acceptable while cuck stories are in the toilet.

The critique of a wife having sex with another man used to be when it involved a wimpy husband. Now it's spread to any woman having sex with anyone that's not her husband a cuck story.

I'm kinda getting away from the thread here but the biggest laugh I get out of the comments is the How dare you violate your marital vows of forsaking all others.

I looked up a slew of vows commonly used in weddings and forsaking all others appear in damn few of them.

 

[gordo12]

A prime example this morning. Despite there being a category for cross-dressing we have a story purely about his nylon and cross-dressing fetish that his wife discovered. Not a hint of a story fitting the LW description.

 

[yowser]

The first story of mine to end up in LW was involuntary. Silly me, I had assigned it group sex and was surprised when it ended up in LW.

So I had the introduction that many have commented on already - tons of views, tons of comments (some remarkable by any standard) but most amusingly, several complained loudly that I'd put the damn thing in the wrong category. (Somebody said bdsm, somebody NC, nobody said it should have been GS.) What do I know.

The world, and Lit, are multivariate.