Category Tips

[TwistedManc]

I was just wondering if anyone had any tips that tend to help for specific categories?

For example, I find that for gay male as long as you have a good sex scene, it tends to get high ratings.

And for noncon, my highest ratings tend to be when the woman gets degraded more.

I was wondering if anyone had any advise for other categories that you've found go down well? I am trying to break into the incest category but the stories I've done have had mixed reviews

 

[Euphony]

Incest is an easier audience *if* you stay within parameters: loving relationships, chase hesitation/should we shouldn't we?, build up goes over well too but quality writers don't have to employ it always.

Mutual respect is often paramount. Abuse, degradation, or otherwise just not caring for the other person is frowned on.

You can have snarky discourse, they can pull their cruelty punches too, but foundationally they need to care and respect each other.

 

[Rob_Royale]

Put a happy ending on a loving mature story, and it can't miss.

 

[EmilyMiller]

And for noncon, my highest ratings tend to be when the woman gets degraded more.

I may have to frame this text.

Em

 

[joy_of_cooking]

And for noncon, my highest ratings tend to be when the woman gets degraded more.

I may have to frame this text.

Em

Yeah it's telling what goes without saying isn't it?

 

[joy_of_cooking]

If anyone wants to offer some tips for BDSM or fetish, that'd be great.

 

[EmilyMiller]

If anyone wants to offer some tips for BDSM or fetish, that'd be great.

I have written in both (sometimes hard to work out which category to go with). It’s a box of chocolates.

Three of my top ten rated stories are in one or either of these categories, and two others have very major BDSM, Fetish, or both, elements.

I’ve had success with mild Lesbian Femdom and also [very annoyingly] have a similar story that has been at 4.49 in perpetuity.

I’ve got a girl on boy Femdom sitting at 4.59.

Then my most extreme BDSM story is at a lowly 4.37.

I’m not sure what the secret sauce is, TBH.

Em

 

[SimonDoom]

If anyone wants to offer some tips for BDSM or fetish, that'd be great.

I have a few random ideas based on my reading and writing.

For BDSM, focus hard on the relationship and motivation rather than the whips and ropes. Focus on what motivates a person to be a sub or a masochist, or on another to be a dom or a sadist. Consent is important; what BDSM aficionados get into is that process by which a person truly, consensually submits to another, and all that goes into it.

For fetish, dive into it. Take the fetish on full-throttle. Get into the heads of the people who like the fetish and explore why they like it so much. Explore it in all its dirty, naughty, fetishy aspects.

I have a general erotica motto that, "first time is best." For me, the most erotic moment is the moment the main character chooses, once and for all, to engage in BDSM or fetish.

 

[Bamagan]

If anyone wants to offer some tips for BDSM or fetish, that'd be great.

The Fetish category in particular seems very broad and winds up enfolding some things that don't necessarily fit together easily, so the audience it draws is probably more of a hodgepodge as well, making them problematic to 'write for.' Readers in some categories seem to cluster into camps based on some subdivision in the genre, but when the category is the principal repository of waste fetishists, ABDL, amputees, smoking, transformation, clothing fetishes, shrinkage and growth, and so forth... well, kind of scattershot. I think @SimonDoom is right to suggest focusing pretty directly on the mindset of the characters in such a story, especially if it's about the character discovering the fetish. It might be a strategy that reduces readership but increases engagement from the fetishists being targeted, but I suppose one takes victories where they can.

 

[mirafrida]

And for noncon, my highest ratings tend to be when the woman gets degraded more.

In the small sample-set of my own stories, I can't say I've observed this correlation much at all.

 

[AchtungNight]

Keep your vote options on, treasure whatever ratings you receive. Beyond that, explore unique ideas and respect your characters along with your readers. That is the key to success here.

 

[Altissimus]

In the small sample-set of my own stories, I can't say I've observed this correlation much at all.

I concur.

If anyone wants to offer some tips for BDSM or fetish, that'd be great.

I only have one piece in Fetish, but it's been well-received with some very strong comments. While it is a Fetish piece it isn't what I would've expected to do well in that category. It isn't, for example, feet. Or smoking. Or... nope, I'm all out. I dunno what predominantly goes in there.

TBH my experience has never really aligned to the concept that 'readers of such-and-such a category want this-or-that'. I think readers want a) a stroker, when they're in the mood, or b) a good story with hot eroticism. I don't think it matters what category you apply this to. Good premise, good writing, good characters, hot sex. Unless you deliberately wish to pander to what the masses desire (and if that's your goal, fair enough - it's as valid as any other) then I would say 'write what you like'. I think passion in your own work will earn you far more points than trying to predict what your readers want. You can't please the mob anyway.

 

[ElectricBlue]

If anyone wants to offer some tips for BDSM or fetish, that'd be great.

Fetish? Go hard on the fetish, but go even harder on the characters. Good stories revolve around interesting people, not what they're wearing (or whatever it is their fetish involves).

 

[RejectReality]

Mature is dominated by age difference stories. Two Mature people ( especially romantic stories ) can do quite well there, but May/Dec. is what "sells".

You want at least 10-15 years of gap to hit the sweet spot, but it's a sliding scale. The younger the young person is, the less of a gap you need.

When you're in that box, you can do just as well with a romantic story or a nasty romp.

Older woman will almost always outperform older man. The younger guy instigating the encounter will typically outperform the older woman taking that role, but it's almost negligible. An older man instigating is a dicey proposition. It's seen in a much more sinister light by enough people that it can hurt a story's performance, so be prepared for that if that's the story your muse is presenting you.

The older person doesn't have to be aging like Ralph Macchio or Salma Hayek. They can be regular people so long as you don't go on and on about their physical flaws.

 

[bumpercars]

In the small sample-set of my own stories, I can't say I've observed this correlation much at all.

I definitely agree with you. My second-most popular story in the category is about a woman who goes camping, and the guy in the neighboring tent drunkenly comes to her tent instead of his own and mistakes her for his wife in the dark. The whole erotic focus is about how she knows she ought to tell him the truth, but she can't resist the pleasure. It's not focused on degradation, and yet it did pretty well.

Some readers in the category (men and women) get off on degradation. Others get off on surprise, or struggle, or being unable to resist pleasure. The unifying factor is "I know this is wrong but it's also exciting". And as long as folks know the difference between fantasy and reality, there's nothing wrong with that.