Correct Category?

[msgrant67]

http://www.literotica.com/s/negotiating-my-prenuptial-agreement

I recently posted a story titled "Negotiating My Prenuptial Agreement" & placed it in the "Loving Wives" category, since the main characters were engaged. I've received several e-mails, some rather over the top, blasting my category choice for various reasons. Anything from "they're not married yet" so it should be in "Erotic Coupling" to there are two girls involved so it should be in "Group." Even, for me to consider exibitionist category since they wear lingerie or BDSM since the point of the story is to control the male in the story.

When I read stories I typically don't pay much attention to the categories, other than avoiding a select few. Are there a lot of people who just read one category & really get that offended if the story doesn't exactly match their expectations?

If anyone wants to read my story above & let me know if they think I should change the category, I'd appreciate it!

 

[PennLady]

I just looked this over, and frankly, I don't know where where it should go. Loving Wives seems as good as anything, although it is a point that they aren't married yet.

Group sex doesn't fit, nor non-con nor mind control nor erotic couplings.

If LW is wrong, then perhaps Exhibitionist would have worked, since there's a lot of that going on in the story.

 

[redzinger]

When I read stories I typically don't pay much attention to the categories, other than avoiding a select few. Are there a lot of people who just read one category & really get that offended if the story doesn't exactly match their expectations?!

I'll read any category apart from Incest/Taboo. I get really annoyed when incest pops up in a story in another category without warning. I like that lots of non-human storylines pop up in Gay Male, but wonder why they're not in Non-Human.

Lesbianism (and some of the other categories) isn't my thing but I've still read a lot of the top-rated stories.

 

[Darkniciad]

Loving Wives is a shark pit. You're never going to please them, so there's no real sense in trying. If you make one group happy, then another two or three groups will hate on you in comments and 1 vote you.

Once you start crossing genres, you're always going to have a hard time of it. BDSM is one of those "trump" genres that can get you ill commentary in any other category. But, if it's not a huge part of the story, it probably won't go over well in that category either.

Once there are more than two people involved, Erotic Couplings should really be out of the question -- though it can be a catch-all to cover other types of genre crossing stories where no one thing is dominant.

You really don't have a perfect choice of category for this one, but when there's any other sensible choice, avoid LW like the bad side of town that it is.

 

[lovecraft68]

I'll read any category apart from Incest/Taboo. I get really annoyed when incest pops up in a story in another category without warning. I like that lots of non-human storylines pop up in Gay Male, but wonder why they're not in Non-Human.

Lesbianism (and some of the other categories) isn't my thing but I've still read a lot of the top-rated stories.

They're not in non human because Gay Male trumps most categories. Just like incest. I'm surprised incest would pop up elsewhere. One of the first things most incest authors learn here is that incest trumps every other category.

 

[kuellar]

I think the previous posters are right in that certain categories "trump" others - in other words, certain categories are more polarising. Incest, for example: if incestuous elements turn up in a story not in the Incest category, it's more likely to anger readers (or, it's likely to anger more readers) than if sci-fi elements turn up in a story not in the Sci-fi & Fantasy category. So a story containing both sci-fi and incest should be in the Incest category.

In general, when choosing a category for a story that has elements of several, I would suggest keeping that in mind - choose a category that minimises the risk of readers getting an "unpleasant surprise". This might require a bit of research on your part, and a bit of time to get used to the system and environment here on Literotica. The key point, though, is that it's basically a numbers game. You'll never please everyone; you just have to focus on displeasing as few people as possible. (Perhaps that's rather cynical, but I think that's the reality of the situation!) You may also find it worthwhile to put in a brief note at the beginning of your story detailing some of the things readers can expect. That could help to head off some nasty comments that you might otherwise get.

With regards to your story in particular - I've just read it, and I actually enjoyed it quite a bit. Unfortunately, it really is hard to say which category is best. I do think that Loving Wives probably isn't the best choice, both because they aren't married yet and because it's one of those polarising categories. I think the people who read LW are really looking for very specific things (and ironically, it seems that some of those people look specifically for things they dislike just so they can bash the author). I would suggest maybe Exhibitionism... but those are just suggestions, and I don't think anything fits perfectly.

I guess at the end of the day it's a bit unlucky that there isn't a category that's right for your story. But that's life! I hope this doesn't discourage you from continuing to write

 

[Darkniciad]

That can go both ways -- with proper warning notes at the beginning.

The readers of some categories that have catch-all properties and are less polarizing pay attention to those content warnings, and either read or don't, rather than using the note as a reason to bash the story unread ( as is common in categories like LW )

You can put BDSM, Non-Con, Incest, Group sex, Gay Male, seriously squicky fetishes like watersports and mensturation, etc., all in a story in Sci-Fi&Fantasy and do quite well, so long as the readers are warned in advance so they know what they're getting into. Even a "here there be dragons" type warning without specifics can be sufficient to head off nasty commentary.

 

[mikey2much]

I have faced this problem myself

I can't figure it out, either I write oddball stories or the categories are just not open enough.
One story, The Difference Between Homeless and Helpless, I tried to post in 'Mature', but Lit posted it in 'erotic horror', where the reader is looking for vampires and werewolves. I had written a story about an older woman being kidnapped and mistreated by a man young enough to be her son. While the follks who have read it seemed to like it, overall it has had fewer readers than any other story I have written. It also has my highest score 4.73 or somewhere around there.

The reason I bring this up in this thread is because I have another story that has been misplaced as far as categories go. I am ready to post a second chapter now and am undecided what to do.

Since I've moved to Florida I have discovered a whole new culture.

Let me explain, I am an old hippy. I have lived my life in the 'drug culture'. I seldom worked at a regular job, instead I put my artistic talents to work and designed and installed custom interiors in custom car and restorations. So I could drop out of the system, the jobs where I worked were hobbies not something the customers could use as a deductions on their taxes. I dropped out of the system before the system's computerization

So my life has been lived in the black market area of the economy. But when I came to Florida I found the crack culture. People with very little reason to wake up tomorrow except for the high they hope to draw through a pipe stem.

In the old days of my hippy life , we felt that we were united against the cops and their system. But what was important was the 'we'. We were not alone, we were a movement.

The crack culture is every man for himself. They live with the law hanging from them like spanish moss. Most have no drivers license, and are unable to get to work if they could find a job. Most are on parole or probation which puts the burden of coming up with the payments for that harassment each month. Each one of these people live right at the edge of desperation, abusing anything and everything that brings them relief from their lives. There are so many more of them then we realize.

I have chosen this culture for my setting. I want to tell the story of a womans life for a single week-end as a crack whore. The first chapter is posted in erotica horror. Its title is 'Skeeter Bates Great Escape', it covers the first four hours or so of the week-end. The second chapter will cover from dawn until around ten thirty.

I have been knowing this one crack whore and everything in my story is based of things that I know she has did or has had done to her in the last couple of years since I have known her.

Which category would you think it would do the best in? Any advice would be helpful.

 

[Feotakahari]

@Darkniciad: Seconded. As someone who posted a scifi/BDSM story in scifi rather than BDSM, without any author's note at all, I've learned the hard way that content warnings are your friend.

@Mikey: Wow, I have no idea where to put that. If the story's largely about her suffering, Nonconsent might be the best choice.

Edit: Skimmed it, and still have no idea where to put a continuation. Your best bet might be to mention in the submission note that you're not sure where it goes, and you'd appreciate it if the reader put it wherever it best belongs.

 

[mikey2much]

I'll soon see where they put it

@Darkniciad: Seconded. As someone who posted a scifi/BDSM story in scifi rather than BDSM, without any author's note at all, I've learned the hard way that content warnings are your friend.

@Mikey: Wow, I have no idea where to put that. If the story's largely about her suffering, Nonconsent might be the best choice.

Edit: Skimmed it, and still have no idea where to put a continuation. Your best bet might be to mention in the submission note that you're not sure where it goes, and you'd appreciate it if the reader put it wherever it best belongs.

I submitted the story last night, We will soon see where they put it. Since I feel that it does not belong in exotic horror I put it in erotic couplings, but it does not belong there either.