Category selection - Mind Control vs Horror

APilgrimSquare

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Apr 1, 2024
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Morning, litizens.

I’m working on a new standalone story about a man who is hypnotized and dominated by a woman he believes to be his daughter. There are horror elements that only become truly apparent at the climax, and my hope is the reveal provokes a reinterpretation of the rest of the story.

It seems to me that erotic horror is the most appropriate category, although hypnosis/mind-control and BDSM elements are present throughout, while horror is only emphasized at the end.

With this in mind, how would you suggest I go about choosing the category I submit to? Looking for advice from writers/readers in the horror and mind control categories. Will mind control readers be put off by something darker? Will horror readers be put off by something that just seems like incest-related hypnosis/BDSM for most of the story? No telling how readers will react, I suppose, but really just wondering how people choose between categories when a story could fit multiple themes.
 
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To be honest, I would just pick the most active category that fits.

In this case I think I would go for mind control if I were you. It seems like it fits for the entire story and horror just comes apparent at the end. Mind Control also seems to have a lot more readers than horror, so your story will get more exposure there. I wouldn't go for incest, you say that he believes that she is his daughter, letting me believe that at the end it is revealed that it's not actually his daughter. Some incest enthousiasts may be disappointed at that and leave the story on a sour note, they probably wouldn't be giving good ratings in that case.

Make sure to put the other categories that fit in the tags.

Finally, this forum section is for story ideas. I think this post should be in the 'Author's hangout' section.
 
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