High-traffic categories?

[UsuallyPresent]

I was surprised, perhaps naively, to find that the one NonCon submission I've got on the site has already equaled the total reader count of all six of the sci-fi/fantasy submissions I've put up. This made me curious - which categories are the 'busy' ones, and which have the dust bunnies hanging out in plain sight?

Are there any good statistics available on readership by category? I ran a quick couple searches but didn't find anything addressing reader count by category.

Thanks in advance.

 

[SimonDoom]

Threads have been started on this subject before. Here's the most informative one I know:

https://forum.literotica.com/showthread.php?t=1487508&highlight=story+stats

If what you want to know is which categories draw the most readers, it's like this:

Incest/Taboo draws by far the most readers of any category.

Loving Wives is a solid second, well behind incest but well ahead of the others.

After that are several that typically do well: anal, nonconsent, mature ,first time, group sex.

Illustrated is an oddball category that sometimes ranks up there with incest/taboo. If you want to get amazing numbers of readers, write a hot incest story with great illustrations.

Categories like gay male, lesbian sex, exhibitionist, etc. come after that.

Sci Fi typically ranks low.

Keep in mind these are averages. There are exceptions to the rule.

 

[NotWise]

I was surprised, perhaps naively, to find that the one NonCon submission I've got on the site has already equaled the total reader count of all six of the sci-fi/fantasy submissions I've put up. This made me curious - which categories are the 'busy' ones, and which have the dust bunnies hanging out in plain sight?

Are there any good statistics available on readership by category? I ran a quick couple searches but didn't find anything addressing reader count by category.

Thanks in advance.

SciFi/Fantasy produces a lot of reads for known authors. In my experience, not much for other authors.

Incest/Taboo has the big readership. If you want 40,000 views on day one then go there. BDSM, Erotic Coupling and Loving Wives will all get you views. They aren't necessarily "quality" views, as readers in a lot of categories may open a story, read the setup, and go away.

And of course, in LW your readers might just express a lot of hatred.

 

[Hypoxia]

Incest/Taboo has the big readership. If you want 40,000 views on day one then go there.

Only if Mom or Oh Daddy! are in the title. None of my I-T tales grabbed 40k views fast, and half aren't there after 5 years. But the audience can be appreciative. Especially if Mom is anally raped by her studly quadruplet sons. (Some readers will request this. Acceding is called 'fanservice'.)

BDSM, Erotic Coupling and Loving Wives will all get you views. They aren't necessarily "quality" views, as readers in a lot of categories may open a story, read the setup, and go away.

I can't tell how many flee. I *could* run a spreadsheet to count views vs votes for my stories per category -- more votes per view means more who finished reading. But I 1) am lazy and 2) don't care.

And of course, in LW your readers might just express a lot of hatred.

A small but smelly subset of LW readers are easily aroused to comment negatively when their iddy biddy widdle feelings is hurted bad. Know that when you approach the ape cage too closely, feces WILL be flung.

That said, LW stories needn't provoke the fucktards. Avoid bitch-burning territory and you'll do fine. I occasionally prod the beasts but I post under an .alt for safety. Paraphrasing an old non-PC zing: Feed the trolls, they're fun to watch.

So much for high-traffic. Post to Poetry for high votes from all 79 readers.

 

[UsuallyPresent]

Thanks, all - appreciate all the insights and the hard detail work that derived them.

 

[RetroFan]

SciFi/Fantasy produces a lot of reads for known authors. In my experience, not much for other authors.

Incest/Taboo has the big readership. If you want 40,000 views on day one then go there. BDSM, Erotic Coupling and Loving Wives will all get you views. They aren't necessarily "quality" views, as readers in a lot of categories may open a story, read the setup, and go away.

And of course, in LW your readers might just express a lot of hatred.

I've never written a Loving Wives story and don't intend to, but this year I've branched into Incest Taboo with some different ideas and found the readers there very hard to please. The stories I wrote there had plenty of likes and views so I must have been doing something right, but the comments and scores were mostly negative.

Who doesn't like a Sapphic story about two squabbling 19-year-old stepsisters, one an uptight, anal, girly-girl Australian brunette and the other a loudmouthed, messy, tomboy British blonde? The IT readers on Literotica.

One never sees IT stories about foster siblings, so who wouldn't like to read about a guy getting a crush on his foster sister and perving on her just for something different? The IT readers on Literotica.

But as much as these stories were poorly received, nothing compared to a fantasy IT series I wrote called 'Body Swap With Sister's Boyfriend'. In this story series, a studious nerd swaps bodies with his twin sister's football playing jock boyfriend, who isn't very bright. This causes no end of trouble given the sister wants to do certain things with her boyfriend, and there are other obstacles too, such as suspicious and humorless relatives, teachers, work colleagues and friends, a violent football team, a vicious guard dog and angry cat, driving (the brother doesn't have his license), work and school. It's not Shakespeare, just a bit of silly fun not meant to be taken seriously, and plenty of humor and beautiful scenery given its setting in the Brisbane - Gold Coast region of Queensland Australia.

It takes something big to anger readers the way this story series did, but I somehow managed it. In a way its kind of an impressive achievement on my part. It reminds me of the reaction to movies such as 'Freddy Got Fingered', 'Movie 43', 'The Cat in the Hat', 'Battlefield Earth' and 'Garbage Pail Kids'. There was so much anger in the comments, vitriol usually seen only on Loving Wives. The first comment on the first submission was 'What a pile of shit' and the rest of the comments were similar or more strongly worded, very few positive. One comment told me to go and kill myself, although site administrators later deleted this. The dismal scores reflected the readers' disdain.

Has anyone else found IT difficult to please? Do they not like new or different ideas, or stories intended to make people laugh? Or maybe they just don't like me?

 

[Inkhorn]

Who doesn't like a Sapphic story about two squabbling 19-year-old stepsisters, one an uptight, anal, girly-girl Australian brunette and the other a loudmouthed, messy, tomboy British blonde? The IT readers on Literotica.

You mean "April Leads Julie Astray"? Nice story, actually! I'm not sure why you say it's not liked. It's got a 4.7 rating and all of the comments look positive. And I know I enjoyed reading it!

 

[RejectReality]

The Incest readership on Lit is looking for the purest form of the kink. They're looking for blood relatives, as close to the nuclear family as possible, and they expect sex. They're also looking for happy ending, not drama or non-con.

Once you go outside that box, you're going to start getting low scores and snarky commentary.

The "Taboo" part of the category name? Forget it exists. The readership doesn't acknowledge it.

The swap one probably should have gone to Sci-Fi & Fantasy with an incest warning up front. ( Even though it appears no sex between them actually happens )

I've never written a Loving Wives story and don't intend to, but this year I've branched into Incest Taboo with some different ideas and found the readers there very hard to please. The stories I wrote there had plenty of likes and views so I must have been doing something right, but the comments and scores were mostly negative.

Who doesn't like a Sapphic story about two squabbling 19-year-old stepsisters, one an uptight, anal, girly-girl Australian brunette and the other a loudmouthed, messy, tomboy British blonde? The IT readers on Literotica.

One never sees IT stories about foster siblings, so who wouldn't like to read about a guy getting a crush on his foster sister and perving on her just for something different? The IT readers on Literotica.

But as much as these stories were poorly received, nothing compared to a fantasy IT series I wrote called 'Body Swap With Sister's Boyfriend'. In this story series, a studious nerd swaps bodies with his twin sister's football playing jock boyfriend, who isn't very bright. This causes no end of trouble given the sister wants to do certain things with her boyfriend, and there are other obstacles too, such as suspicious and humorless relatives, teachers, work colleagues and friends, a violent football team, a vicious guard dog and angry cat, driving (the brother doesn't have his license), work and school. It's not Shakespeare, just a bit of silly fun not meant to be taken seriously, and plenty of humor and beautiful scenery given its setting in the Brisbane - Gold Coast region of Queensland Australia.

It takes something big to anger readers the way this story series did, but I somehow managed it. In a way its kind of an impressive achievement on my part. It reminds me of the reaction to movies such as 'Freddy Got Fingered', 'Movie 43', 'The Cat in the Hat', 'Battlefield Earth' and 'Garbage Pail Kids'. There was so much anger in the comments, vitriol usually seen only on Loving Wives. The first comment on the first submission was 'What a pile of shit' and the rest of the comments were similar or more strongly worded, very few positive. One comment told me to go and kill myself, although site administrators later deleted this. The dismal scores reflected the readers' disdain.

Has anyone else found IT difficult to please? Do they not like new or different ideas, or stories intended to make people laugh? Or maybe they just don't like me?

 

[SimonDoom]

I've never written a Loving Wives story and don't intend to, but this year I've branched into Incest Taboo with some different ideas and found the readers there very hard to please. The stories I wrote there had plenty of likes and views so I must have been doing something right, but the comments and scores were mostly negative.

Who doesn't like a Sapphic story about two squabbling 19-year-old stepsisters, one an uptight, anal, girly-girl Australian brunette and the other a loudmouthed, messy, tomboy British blonde? The IT readers on Literotica.

One never sees IT stories about foster siblings, so who wouldn't like to read about a guy getting a crush on his foster sister and perving on her just for something different? The IT readers on Literotica.

But as much as these stories were poorly received, nothing compared to a fantasy IT series I wrote called 'Body Swap With Sister's Boyfriend'. In this story series, a studious nerd swaps bodies with his twin sister's football playing jock boyfriend, who isn't very bright. This causes no end of trouble given the sister wants to do certain things with her boyfriend, and there are other obstacles too, such as suspicious and humorless relatives, teachers, work colleagues and friends, a violent football team, a vicious guard dog and angry cat, driving (the brother doesn't have his license), work and school. It's not Shakespeare, just a bit of silly fun not meant to be taken seriously, and plenty of humor and beautiful scenery given its setting in the Brisbane - Gold Coast region of Queensland Australia.

It takes something big to anger readers the way this story series did, but I somehow managed it. In a way its kind of an impressive achievement on my part. It reminds me of the reaction to movies such as 'Freddy Got Fingered', 'Movie 43', 'The Cat in the Hat', 'Battlefield Earth' and 'Garbage Pail Kids'. There was so much anger in the comments, vitriol usually seen only on Loving Wives. The first comment on the first submission was 'What a pile of shit' and the rest of the comments were similar or more strongly worded, very few positive. One comment told me to go and kill myself, although site administrators later deleted this. The dismal scores reflected the readers' disdain.

Has anyone else found IT difficult to please? Do they not like new or different ideas, or stories intended to make people laugh? Or maybe they just don't like me?

The incest readership is the easiest readership to please, as long as you understand what they are looking for. They are looking for incest -- real, blood-relative incest -- and nothing more. They're not looking for body swapping, or anal, or noncon, or other kinks. They want the delicious pleasure of mom-son, brother-sister, or father-daughter getting it on with each other, preferably after overcoming some degree of reluctance stemming from the taboo against such liaisons.

I scanned the first segment of your body-swap series. I didn't agree with the tone of some of the comments but I understand where the readers are coming from. Your story strays too far into other kinks and directions, and it obviously left some of the readers frustrated or turned off. You may think it's narrow-minded, but it's completely predictable if you're familiar with this category.

I've written some incest stories that have been well-received, but I've received some disapproving comments in stories that were otherwise popular. One reader was turned off when mom touched her anus. No self-respecting mom, this reader wrote, would do that. Other readers are very insistent that only the son can have the mom -- no sharing. People are very particular about their kinks, and many don't want them mixed up with others.

I strongly recommend reading TxTallTAles how-to essay Love Your Readers:Categories. It explains it all and I've found it to be 95+% true.

 

[RetroFan]

You mean "April Leads Julie Astray"? Nice story, actually! I'm not sure why you say it's not liked. It's got a 4.7 rating and all of the comments look positive. And I know I enjoyed reading it!

Hi Inkhorn - I'm glad you liked 'April Leads Julie Astray' and it was one of my most successful stories, but this isn't the story in question, and April and Julie are neighbors rather than stepsisters.

The story that didn't rate well was on the Incest Taboo board, and was called 'The Squabbling Stepsisters'. It is set in Canberra, Australia in 2009 and is about two very different stepsisters who seem to despise each other in public, but are secret lesbian lovers in private. It was light-hearted in nature, and did get some favorites but in general it wasn't a success.

It was quite interesting, because when I posted 'The Squabbling Stepsisters' I was convinced that this amusing story would be a huge success and readers would love it. I was more nervous about posting 'April Leads Julie Astray' because of the serious themes in the story which I worried people would not enjoy, but the readers really liked it.

 

[Rustyoznail]

Has anyone else found IT difficult to please? Do they not like new or different ideas, or stories intended to make people laugh? Or maybe they just don't like me?

Well, my first 3 stories went into I/T. The first two were Uncle/Aunt/Niece, and they were well received. No negative comments. The third was definitely incest - twins fucking - and I had a comment that they never laughed so hard from a story on this site. Go figure...

Have a look at Hypoxia’s https://www.literotica.com/s/what-is-incest. I think you’ll find it useful.

 

[Hypoxia]

How to figure what will do well in any category? See what does well there. Learn at the feet of the leaders. Plagiarize ideas but not passages. Pander for brownie points.

Even meeting all the kink standards in a category guarantees no Red-H. I've written a lot for Incest and Group and yes, I touch the bases. Some do well, some not so well. I'm not here for brownie points anymore. I write for those who fave and follow and fairly comment me. And for myself. I can take the haters.

 

[Inkhorn]

Hi Inkhorn - I'm glad you liked 'April Leads Julie Astray' and it was one of my most successful stories, but this isn't the story in question, and April and Julie are neighbors rather than stepsisters.

The story that didn't rate well was on the Incest Taboo board, and was called 'The Squabbling Stepsisters'. It is set in Canberra, Australia in 2009 and is about two very different stepsisters who seem to despise each other in public, but are secret lesbian lovers in private. It was light-hearted in nature, and did get some favorites but in general it wasn't a success.

It was quite interesting, because when I posted 'The Squabbling Stepsisters' I was convinced that this amusing story would be a huge success and readers would love it. I was more nervous about posting 'April Leads Julie Astray' because of the serious themes in the story which I worried people would not enjoy, but the readers really liked it.

Ahhh! I'll take a look at that one and the other later!

 

[eroticstoryspinner]

The Incest readership on Lit is looking for the purest form of the kink. They're looking for blood relatives, as close to the nuclear family as possible, and they expect sex. They're also looking for happy ending, not drama or non-con.

Once you go outside that box, you're going to start getting low scores and snarky commentary.

The "Taboo" part of the category name? Forget it exists. The readership doesn't acknowledge it.

The swap one probably should have gone to Sci-Fi & Fantasy with an incest warning up front. ( Even though it appears no sex between them actually happens )

I don't have the number of stories that others do, but I have been reading here for a long time. My stories are set in a near future alt history where crime is punished by terms of penal slavery. I have had good luck with I-T with a warring at the front about the non-con and bisex aspects. So it can work. OTOH, I have had comments that they would done even better in non-con. In the end your mileage may vary.

 

[NotWise]

I don't have the number of stories that others do, but I have been reading here for a long time. My stories are set in a near future alt history where crime is punished by terms of penal slavery. I have had good luck with I-T with a warring at the front about the non-con and bisex aspects. So it can work. OTOH, I have had comments that they would done even better in non-con. In the end your mileage may vary.

I think RR's statement is essentially right, but he doesn't cover the variability. I have successful stories in I/T that intentionally tweak some of the expected tropes (like "Mommy forever" and "daughter loves Daddy").

You can push the limits. Whether the story is well-accepted then depends on other things, like the quality of the plot, characterization, and writing.

 

[eroticstoryspinner]

I think RR's statement is essentially right, but he doesn't cover the variability. I have successful stories in I/T that intentionally tweak some of the expected tropes (like "Mommy forever" and "daughter loves Daddy").

You can push the limits. Whether the story is well-accepted then depends on other things, like the quality of the plot, characterization, and writing.

Agreed. I should have made it clear that RR is correct in the main but that you can push the envelope and you shouldn't shy away from that.

 

[RetroFan]

The incest readership is the easiest readership to please, as long as you understand what they are looking for. They are looking for incest -- real, blood-relative incest -- and nothing more. They're not looking for body swapping, or anal, or noncon, or other kinks. They want the delicious pleasure of mom-son, brother-sister, or father-daughter getting it on with each other, preferably after overcoming some degree of reluctance stemming from the taboo against such liaisons.

I scanned the first segment of your body-swap series. I didn't agree with the tone of some of the comments but I understand where the readers are coming from. Your story strays too far into other kinks and directions, and it obviously left some of the readers frustrated or turned off. You may think it's narrow-minded, but it's completely predictable if you're familiar with this category.

I've written some incest stories that have been well-received, but I've received some disapproving comments in stories that were otherwise popular. One reader was turned off when mom touched her anus. No self-respecting mom, this reader wrote, would do that. Other readers are very insistent that only the son can have the mom -- no sharing. People are very particular about their kinks, and many don't want them mixed up with others.

I strongly recommend reading TxTallTAles how-to essay Love Your Readers:Categories. It explains it all and I've found it to be 95+% true.

Thanks for your reply, it was very helpful.

It's an interesting observation that the IT readers don't seem to like other kinks or fetish type themes. So as a hypothetical if there was a story where two sisters aged 21 and 19 caught their 18-year-old brother going through their laundry hampers smelling their panties and punished him by pulling down his pants and giving him a spanking (this leading to more intimate things between the trio), the IT readers for the most part would not appreciate the fetish (panty sniffing) and BDSM (spanking) aspects of the story and vote and comment negatively?

 

[Hypoxia]

Has anyone else found IT difficult to please? Do they not like new or different ideas, or stories intended to make people laugh? Or maybe they just don't like me?

That's it. Nobody likes you.

Otherwise, like Group, the IT audience is not monolithic and has accepted out-of-category sub-themes. Usually. The IT vignette Big Banana is my most-viewed, highly-faved, and lowest-scored story. Because it's, ah, different. I didn't expect great votes. I wrote it for me, not them.

But as mentioned, step-kin ain't real kin, not unless there's an adoption error or some such twist. Cousins barely count, too. With cousin- or foster-fucking, I always add close blood kin. Sis joins Bro and Cuz; or distant Unc turns out to be Daddy.

Keep in mind that cousins born of sisters are more reliably blood kin than cousins born of brothers. Without DNA tests, how can you be sure who's Daddy? A trick here would be fuckers not knowing their shared paternity.

Dueling stepsisters? Not LIT Incest. 'Stepsisters' dueling over a guy who turns out to be their actual brother, all from the same womb or scrotum, as they learn to their [insert reactions here]? That's IT!!

 

[NotWise]

Thanks for your reply, it was very helpful.

It's an interesting observation that the IT readers don't seem to like other kinks or fetish type themes. So as a hypothetical if there was a story where two sisters aged 21 and 19 caught their 18-year-old brother going through their laundry hampers smelling their panties and punished him by pulling down his pants and giving him a spanking (this leading to more intimate things between the trio), the IT readers for the most part would not appreciate the fetish (panty sniffing) and BDSM (spanking) aspects of the story and vote and comment negatively?

I haven't found that the I/T readers necessarily find other kinks to be offensive. Maybe other kinks are fine as long as the main focus is the incestuous relationship.

Voyeurism played a major part in my Holiday Contest story ("A Christmas Tart") and my Nude Day Contest story ("Watch Me!"). Both of those stories are in I/T, and both are successful. I'm writing an I/T story now that's pretty rich in kinks. I guess we'll see how that goes.

 

[Hypoxia]

I haven't found that the I/T readers necessarily find other kinks to be offensive. Maybe other kinks are fine as long as the main focus is the incestuous relationship.

Some of my well-received I-T stories included incidents or sub-themes of male-male, non-con, anal, fetish, and multiracial (major theme) -- only nonhuman wasn't appreciated.

For high I-T scores, pander. But for fun, write whatever comes to mind.

 

[Vix_Giovanni]

Thanks for your reply, it was very helpful.

It's an interesting observation that the IT readers don't seem to like other kinks or fetish type themes. So as a hypothetical if there was a story where two sisters aged 21 and 19 caught their 18-year-old brother going through their laundry hampers smelling their panties and punished him by pulling down his pants and giving him a spanking (this leading to more intimate things between the trio), the IT readers for the most part would not appreciate the fetish (panty sniffing) and BDSM (spanking) aspects of the story and vote and comment negatively?

That’s basically Magnus Rhodes’ Alex’s Gifts. Just add watersports and an extended harem of girls into every kind of kink. Every chapter of AG was a red-H banger.

I write I/T that makes grown men cry. In my experience, more people come to I/T expecting kinks than tears, but they that read and vote do so positively.
.

 

[Blind_Justice]

I wrote one I/T story on a dare, to see if I could. Didn't do any research, just went in on gut feeling alone. That thing made 80k views in less than a week and has more views than the other 41 stories I posted over six years combined. Despite only doing aunt/nephew with a "bad" ending (they decide once was enough and they prefer to keep their friendship intact). "More than Video Games" has a 4.38 and a lot of complaints.

Maybe I should do another one using the "proper" formula. Writing unrealistic incest is much like writing high fantasy. Good, believable characters and a tight plot.

 

[NotWise]

I wrote one I/T story on a dare, to see if I could. Didn't do any research, just went in on gut feeling alone. That thing made 80k views in less than a week and has more views than the other 41 stories I posted over six years combined. Despite only doing aunt/nephew with a "bad" ending (they decide once was enough and they prefer to keep their friendship intact). "More than Video Games" has a 4.38 and a lot of complaints.

That would be a little like reading a SciFi story where the science is economics and the fiction is a recession that almost happened, but then didn't.

 

[Hypoxia]

That would be a little like reading a SciFi story where the science is economics and the fiction is a recession that almost happened, but then didn't.

An interesting metaphor for sex, there. Rising and diminishing expectations; periodic booms and crashes; irrational exuberance. Yeah baby! With easy equations: A(d)=H(m) -- the angle of the dangle equals the heat of the meat. Beware an early sell-off.

 

[MichaelGH]

Hey does anyone any tips for story titles and their descriptions to optimize the amount of views?