categorize my story

[joy_of_cooking]

Where would you put this story?

Title: "Snowed in with a predator"
Description: "A junior analyst must share a hotel room with her boss"
Tags: asian,blackmail,boss,female masturbation,high heels,hotel,masturbation,non-con,reluctance,work

<em>This story depicts a particular slice of the American experience. It includes workplace sexual harassment, blackmail, and racist micro- and macro-aggressions. The viewpoint character is neither male nor white. There is very little sex. Please ask yourself whether that sounds like a warning or an advertisement.</em>

It's a claustrophobic slow-burn psychological story about a young woman from an immigrant family snowed in at a hotel with her predatory boss. "Very little sex" means a 130 words at the end (spoiler alert) when she masturbates while reliving how she managed to turn the tables on him.

I'm worried it won't be well received in any of the categories I've considered so far.

It's definitely a noncon story, but NC/R readers seem to prefer their victims more victimized. The FMC here has quite a bit of agency and (spoiler again) eventually manages to escape.

The racial dynamics feature prominently, but it's not a story of Interracial Love. Besides, that category seems to be mostly about fetishization and race play, and I'll be very disappointed if anyone enjoys this story from that angle.

There is a little bit of shoe fetish stuff, but not in a way that would satisfy Fetish readers (speaking as one). It's very brief and not presented in a sexy way.

I'm almost tempted to say Non-Erotic, but it's all about sex. Also, I hear nobody reads Non-Erotic.

Help?

 

[AwkwardlySet]

I'd say NC/R is still the best fit. Were you to put it in any other category, I believe you would get some backlash due to the nature of your story.

 

[K155]

Any story with non concent or reluctance should be in that category, but if you really think she turns the tables why not put it in EC

 

[RejectReality]

Have to say NC/R as well. It's not really going to hit most of the readership, but anywhere else feels like the backlash/ignore factor would be either a toss-up or worse.

 

[BobbyBrandt]

How many words? If long enough, slide it into Novels/Novellas with the tags listed.

 

[astuffedshirt_perv]

...NC/R readers seem to prefer their victims more victimized.

Definately has not been my experience. I would say NC/R.

 

[Djmac1031]

From the general description, NC/R seems the primary category.

 

[Altissimus]

From what you've said, I'd echo the NC/R shout.

 

[MediocreAuthor]

NC/R all the way. Just make sure you tag "Reluctance" in the tags.

You've read The Price of Embezzlement, right?

That was all resistance and extortion/coercion, with literally no physical contact. It's got a 4.53 (currently)

Perhaps it isn't higher because some people like things more aggressive, but if you put the story in EC, people will DEFINITELY bitch that it belongs in NC/R.

 

[MediocreAuthor]

Slight alteration to my previous statement:

Considering you said:

I'm almost tempted to say Non-Erotic,

You might want to put it in Fetish (depending on how much the shoe stuff is featured), with an NC/R disclaimer.

If it has no sex in it, that will not make it popular in NC/R, imo.

 

[pink_silk_glove]

Toys and masturbation? (shrugs)

 

[joy_of_cooking]

Seems like overwhelming consensus is to put it in NC/R, with the note that it's probably not going to be rated well because of (among other things) the lack of sex.

I'm curious, how do NC/R people feel about victims turning the tables? Sort of a "I'm not locked in here with you, you're locked in here with me!" moment.

I currently have a very restrained confrontation where she films him fondling her foot with a huge bulge in his pants. I wanted to write a relatively realistic story and this felt right.

On the other hand, it'd be pretty fun for me (having the particular perversions I do) to expand that into a more explicit femdom scene where she forces him to kiss and lick her shoes, submit to being trampled underfoot, come on her feet and lick it off, etc.

It would also be a nice play on the title, which doesn't specify who is the predator.

 

[Djmac1031]

Seems like overwhelming consensus is to put it in NC/R, with the note that it's probably not going to be rated well because of (among other things) the lack of sex.

I'm curious, how do NC/R people feel about victims turning the tables? Sort of a "I'm not locked in here with you, you're locked in here with me!" moment.

I currently have a very restrained confrontation where she films him fondling her foot with a huge bulge in his pants. I wanted to write a relatively realistic story and this felt right.

On the other hand, it'd be pretty fun for me (having the particular perversions I do) to expand that into a more explicit femdom scene where she forces him to kiss and lick her shoes, submit to being trampled underfoot, come on her feet and lick it off, etc.

It would also be a nice play on the title, which doesn't specify who is the predator.

I don't think there's any way to predict reader reactions.

Some will love it. Some will hate it.

Can't focus on the haters IMO.

It actually sounds like an interesting story to me, despite not really being my kink.

I look forward to reading it.

 

[MediocreAuthor]

I cannot speak for all NC/R fans, only myself... but I'm perfectly fine with the table turning, EXCEPT:

In the incredibly unrealistic noncon that I prefer, the "victim" (male or female) slowly warms to their unwanted paramour. Normally, that does not involve the sub desiring revenge.*

That said, Fucky Friday is one of my most popular stories, and it is all about marital rape and revenge marital rape. (Although unsurprisingly, all the people who got mad, complain because of the revenge, not the original rape). YMMV.

I am interested in reading this story as well. But I'm not sure how "normal" I am when compared to the rest of the NC/R crowd.

*One except is my Women's World series, which will feature revenge (but I have no idea how it will be received)

 

[oneagainst]

If it has no sex in it, that will not make it popular in NC/R, imo.

I found the exact opposite... no sex in a femdom setting is almost guaranteed to tick the box, provided you specify femdom up the top of the story.

 

[lovecraft68]

Since the racial aspect places a big part and there's a femdom angle...

I'm going to buck the trend and go with fetish.

Fetish fits the focus on race, and femdom is more welcome in fetish than NCR because there's a smarter class of male reader there.

 

[joy_of_cooking]

Since the racial aspect places a big part

The racial thing is a bunch of micro-aggressions, not raceplay. Like, awkward conversations where people ask her where she's from (New York), and compliment her (native) English. I would consider myself to have failed if people got off on it. Does that change your recommendation?

no sex in a femdom setting is almost guaranteed to tick the box

Do you have an example of that handy? (I know your corpus pretty well and I can't remember anything in there.)

 

[oneagainst]

Do you have an example of that handy? (I know your corpus pretty well and I can't remember anything in there.)

Most of Alena's Game stacks pretty well score wise with the MC not getting his kicks for most of it. Ch02 and 03 aren't hardcore femdom but hit the target with the particular readership. Interestingly, The Light Between The Trees also held up well based on the maledom dynamic of the FMC not getting her dues in the same way, which leads me to conclude that if you label up front correctly in the header with a 'these are not the droids you are looking for' warning for the tourists, you'll get a good rating from the aficionados. It's not so much about not appealing to the readership and therefore getting slammed in the scores as being considerate of their time and not letting them start out on something they won't enjoy.

 

[lovecraft68]

The racial thing is a bunch of micro-aggressions, not raceplay. Like, awkward conversations where people ask her where she's from (New York), and compliment her (native) English. I would consider myself to have failed if people got off on it. Does that change your recommendation?

Do you have an example of that handy? (I know your corpus pretty well and I can't remember anything in there.)

Regardless of the race aspects, femdom works better in fetish because BDSM is now NCR Lite and bitch gets hers is what most of the readers want.

You can take a beating in NC which is where everyone is telling you to go...or you could get a better reception in fetish. Don't get me wrong, I don't think it will do extremely well, but less flaming from the NCR crowd who will feel you deprived them of their fix.

 

[MediocreAuthor]

I found the exact opposite... no sex in a femdom setting is almost guaranteed to tick the box, provided you specify femdom up the top of the story.

"Tick the box"? What does that mean in this context?

I'm going to buck the trend and go with fetish.

I bucked the trend before it was cool lol
See?

You might want to put it in Fetish (depending on how much the shoe stuff is featured), with an NC/R disclaimer

 

[lovecraft68]

"Tick the box"? What does that mean in this context?

I bucked the trend before it was cool lol
See?

I must have missed it as I skimmed and kept seeing NC NC NC

Well, that settles it, we both can't be wrong.

 

[oneagainst]

"Tick the box"? What does that mean in this context?

So, I focus on the R rather than the NC part of the category - leaving out the debate on cons/non-con going on in the other thread for a moment - and Reluctance locks in on the MC being sucked into something new that eventually changes their world view. These stories (and their readers, from what I've observed) seem to thrive on the slow-burn descent into [insert end game here] - i.e. not so much about the sex but about the anticipation, the tease and quite often the denial. That's what appeals to me when I write in that category, the mind games are as important if not more so than the act. Yeah, there's the same crowd there as everywhere, who are just wandering into the bar looking for their drinks, but beyond that I've found a smart and perceptive crowd of people who are looking for something with a little more to chew on. Maybe some other authors can corroborate their own experiences.

 

[Bramblethorn]

Regardless of the race aspects, femdom works better in fetish because BDSM is now NCR Lite and bitch gets hers is what most of the readers want.

You can take a beating in NC which is where everyone is telling you to go...or you could get a better reception in fetish. Don't get me wrong, I don't think it will do extremely well, but less flaming from the NCR crowd who will feel you deprived them of their fix.

I don't read Fetish a lot, but I think the feet bit might get a good reception there.

 

[MediocreAuthor]

So, I focus on the R rather than the NC part of the category - leaving out the debate on cons/non-con going on in the other thread for a moment - and Reluctance locks in on the MC being sucked into something new that eventually changes their world view. These stories (and their readers, from what I've observed) seem to thrive on the slow-burn descent into [insert end game here] - i.e. not so much about the sex but about the anticipation, the tease and quite often the denial. That's what appeals to me when I write in that category, the mind games are as important if not more so than the act. Yeah, there's the same crowd there as everywhere, who are just wandering into the bar looking for their drinks, but beyond that I've found a smart and perceptive crowd of people who are looking for something with a little more to chew on. Maybe some other authors can corroborate their own experiences.

I don't want to argue, but I'm going to contradict you here. The first chapter of Alina's Game has a 4.4 rating. That isn't -bad- but I'm assuming it's considerably worse than you deserve... I've read your work, and I know your talent level.

Your story is a multi-part story and after the first chapter, the ratings improve back to where I assume they belong.

If Joy's story is stand alone, he won't get the chance to improve the ratings. Just a thought. Of course, chasing ratings is a fools errand, but it's something most of us do regardless.

 

[pink_silk_glove]

So it seems to me that the issue here is that you have a story that you fear won't score well and you are looking for a way to still have it score well.

Perhaps you may have to just face the fact that it probably just won't score well?

So you'll have to ask yourself what is more important to you, your belief that this story deserves to be out there, or your desire to not drag down your average score / make sure you have as many red Hs on your trophy page as possible?

If you believe in your story I would suggest picking the category (that is at least somewhat relevant) that gets the most hits, and get it out there for people to see.

If you want to ensure a good score keep this one to yourself, don't post it and go back and write a fluffy cardboard romance with an HEA.