How do you decide on a category?

CandiCame

Rocket Grunt
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Apr 12, 2011
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I took down all my stories a while back because I found that I wasn't really getting any feedback. When I posted those same stories on other sites, I found that I did- even if I didn't alter the story in any way.

I think the problem is that I was maybe miscategorizing them or not properly tagging?

I was thinking of coming back to this site to post some new stuff, but the reason that I put things online is because I want feedback. I was hoping that someone could explain to me how the categories work, because they aren't what I thought they were. One story in particular, I did get feedback- I got about 20 comments that were along the lines of "This does not belong in the 'Loving Wives' category" and "No one wants to read this because it wasn't what I thought it was going to be".

I replied to them, "I tagged it EXTENSIVELY."

I understand that not everyone is going to like what you write, but when I keep getting comments saying I've posted to the wrong category, I'm pretty sure that's the problem.

I'd really appreciate any help!
 
I took down all my stories a while back because I found that I wasn't really getting any feedback. When I posted those same stories on other sites, I found that I did- even if I didn't alter the story in any way.

I think the problem is that I was maybe miscategorizing them or not properly tagging?

I was thinking of coming back to this site to post some new stuff, but the reason that I put things online is because I want feedback. I was hoping that someone could explain to me how the categories work, because they aren't what I thought they were. One story in particular, I did get feedback- I got about 20 comments that were along the lines of "This does not belong in the 'Loving Wives' category" and "No one wants to read this because it wasn't what I thought it was going to be".

I replied to them, "I tagged it EXTENSIVELY."

I understand that not everyone is going to like what you write, but when I keep getting comments saying I've posted to the wrong category, I'm pretty sure that's the problem.

I'd really appreciate any help!

I don't get a lot of feedback here either. Not public anyway. I do get some PMs. For me as long as few people like them, that's fine. I also noticed on reading them for the umpoteenth time that there was a misspelled word or two or a missing or wrong word here and there. Seems no matter how many times I read them through, I will miss something.

It does seem to me that the big winners here are incest and I just will not go there. No interest in that whatever. And some of my stories are a mixed bag. There may be some anal or BDSM in there. I know if I put them in those categories, I may turn off some readers and they won't even look.

You know what else I noticed here? A lot of people found the chat or the bulletin board but didn't even realize that there were stories until someone pointed it out to them.

I used to have my own website. No stories there but I did have poems. I had someone contact me and ask if she could feature my poems on her poetry site. I also won a USA Today Haiku contest some years ago. So I know I can write. Feedback would be nice though. Especially if it's good.
 
If you are looking for a good explanation of how categories work, read this article: https://literotica.com/s/love-your-readers-categories


Loving Wives is a tricky category, because the readership is divided into two mutually hostile groups: one that wants to read stories depicting extramarital sex positively, and one that doesn't. The second group is vicious toward stories that appeal to the first group.

Most stories do not receive many comments. On average I get less than one comment for each 1000 views I receive. If you want feedback you should request it on the Feedback forum and submit a link to your story.
 
My thoughts have always been that one valuable comment is worth more than 100 votes. That’s me, but there is some truth to that - there has to be. Otherwise, I wouldn’t keep writing and posting stories if I didn’t get at least one comment in 2+ years of posting on this site🌹Kant
 
Wot Simon says.

My story file sits around one vote per hundred views, one comment per thousand - feedback via comments is quite rare. Any improvement in those ratios, I know a story is doing better than okay.

But yes, if you explicitly seek feedback, go start a thread in the Feedback Forum - you'll get some thoughtful comments there (but still, don't expect to get swept away - it ain't a deluge).
 
I replied to them, "I tagged it EXTENSIVELY."

Tagging is meaningless for warning purposes.

Tags show up at the end of the story. The only way that a reader will know that your story has tag X is if (a) they scroll to the end of the story before reading (almost no one does this), or (b) they're searching by tags and your story comes up (which someone who doesn't want a story with X is never going to).

So, if for example, your story has m/m sex in it, you can put 5 different varieties of "This has gay male content!" in the tags, and it won't matter in terms of alerting people that don't want to read that content.

If you're going to include content in your story that you know that some segment of the community might not be into (e.g., incest in a Lesbian story, or lesbian in an Incest story), your best bet is a warning at the top of the story.

Though, if you're posting something that a segment of the community flat-out thinks is a trump for another category (e.g., m/m content outside of Gay Male), you're going to get those comments regardless of anything you say.
 
I don't get a lot of feedback here either. Not public anyway. I do get some PMs. For me as long as few people like them, that's fine. I also noticed on reading them for the umpoteenth time that there was a misspelled word or two or a missing or wrong word here and there. Seems no matter how many times I read them through, I will miss something.

It does seem to me that the big winners here are incest and I just will not go there. No interest in that whatever. And some of my stories are a mixed bag. There may be some anal or BDSM in there. I know if I put them in those categories, I may turn off some readers and they won't even look.

You know what else I noticed here? A lot of people found the chat or the bulletin board but didn't even realize that there were stories until someone pointed it out to them.

I used to have my own website. No stories there but I did have poems. I had someone contact me and ask if she could feature my poems on her poetry site. I also won a USA Today Haiku contest some years ago. So I know I can write. Feedback would be nice though. Especially if it's good.

Yeah, I... don't get the appeal and it creeps me out. The incest thing.

See, I'm NOT a good writer- that's the reason I need feedback. I've never really been published and I've sure as hell never won anything.

If you are looking for a good explanation of how categories work, read this article: https://literotica.com/s/love-your-readers-categories


Loving Wives is a tricky category, because the readership is divided into two mutually hostile groups: one that wants to read stories depicting extramarital sex positively, and one that doesn't. The second group is vicious toward stories that appeal to the first group.

Most stories do not receive many comments. On average I get less than one comment for each 1000 views I receive. If you want feedback you should request it on the Feedback forum and submit a link to your story.

Thanks! I'll get right to reading. I think that might help me a lot.

So... is Loving Wives SUPPOSED to be about extramarital affairs? Because that is extremely counter-intuitive. I thought it would be about, you know, wives in love. Which is more-or-less the main theme of my story that I kept getting hate from.

I didn't know the feedback forum existed- that seems like... I don't know, really egotistical? I feel like I'd have a hard time posting begging for feedback because the whole reason you post something on the internet in the first place is to receive feedback- like it's already implied so heavily that to /ask/ for it feels wrong on a pretty deep level that I would have to overcome. I mean, you're begging at that point.

Tagging is meaningless for warning purposes.

Tags show up at the end of the story. The only way that a reader will know that your story has tag X is if (a) they scroll to the end of the story before reading (almost no one does this), or (b) they're searching by tags and your story comes up (which someone who doesn't want a story with X is never going to).

So, if for example, your story has m/m sex in it, you can put 5 different varieties of "This has gay male content!" in the tags, and it won't matter in terms of alerting people that don't want to read that content.

If you're going to include content in your story that you know that some segment of the community might not be into (e.g., incest in a Lesbian story, or lesbian in an Incest story), your best bet is a warning at the top of the story.

Though, if you're posting something that a segment of the community flat-out thinks is a trump for another category (e.g., m/m content outside of Gay Male), you're going to get those comments regardless of anything you say.

This is a really bad system? I've never seen another site that works like this. Like... I'm actually gonna say that this one isn't on me. I don't know who coded this, but why the hell aren't the tags at the top so people can see what they're reading? Or to the side? Or anywhere other than the bottom? Aren't they also on the listing when people click on it? It's been a long time since I've used this site. I can probably answer a lot of those questions myself just by looking.

To be fair for MY mistakes, though, I wouldn't think I needed to tag things like "m/m". I would think most "warning" tags would be about possible triggers like "character death" or something like that.

I really appreciate all the help, guys! I wanted to write something for the Halloween contest and you guys got back to me so fast!
 
Feedback...what's that? :D

Really though it is hard to get comments on stuff posted here. For my Halloween entry I have 1 comment, and it's so illiterate all I can make out is I'm a shitty writer and they hated the whole 8 pages of my story but did manage to read all of it.

I did receive two very nice emails about it, so that was extremely nice for people to do that and very much appreciated.

I do sometimes post on the feedback forum asking for feedback. Sometimes I'll write something and it just isn't getting any sort of anything, no views or ratings or anything so I'm wondering why.

And you can't please everyone all the time.
I have gotten feedback from people saying my stories are boring, too long to get to the sex, so I wrote a short story basically one page sex scene and got comments that sex could never happen like that with no build up :/
So yeah...

You can always ask about categories if you get stuck. Some things trump everything else, like incest needs to go in incest even if there are other things in the story like horror for example.

Incest isn't for me either, and sadly it seems to be one of the most popular categories. And I say sadly only because I feel like it gets more views and ratings, not sadly for any other reason. To each their own in what they like to read and or write.
 
So... is Loving Wives SUPPOSED to be about extramarital affairs? Because that is extremely counter-intuitive. I thought it would be about, you know, wives in love. Which is more-or-less the main theme of my story that I kept getting hate from.

The title of the forum seems to be a sarcasm.

I didn't know the feedback forum existed- that seems like... I don't know, really egotistical? I feel like I'd have a hard time posting begging for feedback because the whole reason you post something on the internet in the first place is to receive feedback- like it's already implied so heavily that to /ask/ for it feels wrong on a pretty deep level that I would have to overcome. I mean, you're begging at that point.

The feedback forum will get you critical commentary that isn't like the gut reactions you get from readers. If critical comment is what you need, then it's for you.


This is a really bad system? I've never seen another site that works like this. Like... I'm actually gonna say that this one isn't on me. I don't know who coded this, but why the hell aren't the tags at the top so people can see what they're reading? Or to the side? Or anywhere other than the bottom? Aren't they also on the listing when people click on it? It's been a long time since I've used this site. I can probably answer a lot of those questions myself just by looking.

You seem to be using tags for things they aren't intended for on Lit. Tags are there so that people can use them to search for a story. It seems like what you're doing is making comments in the tags, and that won't get you anywhere.

If you need to caution your readers, then do it with a note at the top of the story.

Lit is an old site, and any change they make results in all kinds of bitching and moaning by long-time users. They've made some changes recently, which I understand were mostly prompted by Google's threats to bury sites that don't meet certain design standards. There will be more changes. I think that one of them will be to put the tags at the top of the story.
 
So... is Loving Wives SUPPOSED to be about extramarital affairs? Because that is extremely counter-intuitive. I thought it would be about, you know, wives in love. Which is more-or-less the main theme of my story that I kept getting hate from.

I didn't know the feedback forum existed- that seems like... I don't know, really egotistical? I feel like I'd have a hard time posting begging for feedback because the whole reason you post something on the internet in the first place is to receive feedback- like it's already implied so heavily that to /ask/ for it feels wrong on a pretty deep level that I would have to overcome. I mean, you're begging at that point.

On the main story page, here is the description of the Loving Wives category: "Married extra-marital fun: swinging, sharing & more." So, yes, it's all about wives having extramarital sex. Or, at least, it's mostly that.

If it's missing that element, then I might suggest looking for another category that might apply.

Re feedback: purge your mind of concerns about egotism. The features of this site are here for a purpose. Use them. You will get far more detailed helpful feedback via this forum than you ever will via comments at the end of the story.
 
On the main story page, here is the description of the Loving Wives category: "Married extra-marital fun: swinging, sharing & more." So, yes, it's all about wives having extramarital sex. Or, at least, it's mostly that.

If it's missing that element, then I might suggest looking for another category that might apply.

Re feedback: purge your mind of concerns about egotism. The features of this site are here for a purpose. Use them. You will get far more detailed helpful feedback via this forum than you ever will via comments at the end of the story.

I genuinely could not find that anywhere? That is SUPER helpful. Yeah, that was 100% my bad. Those readers were right.
 
The title of the forum seems to be a sarcasm.

That kind of doesn't translate well over text, but apparently that description was listed and I just didn't see it, so it really was my fault, 100%. I didn't know there was somewhere to go to get descriptions for the categories. I thought what you got when you submitted was it.


The feedback forum will get you critical commentary that isn't like the gut reactions you get from readers. If critical comment is what you need, then it's for you.

I just... feel like it would be mean? I guess I can't really explain it any more than I already have, and if I do wind up submitting, I will use it now that I feel like I've been "given permission" in some weird way. Are you supposed to post your story there before or after you submit it?


You seem to be using tags for things they aren't intended for on Lit. Tags are there so that people can use them to search for a story. It seems like what you're doing is making comments in the tags, and that won't get you anywhere.

If you need to caution your readers, then do it with a note at the top of the story.

If you go to Critique Circle, Royal Road, AO3, FF.net, BDSM Library, even places like tumblr where the tags are on the bottom, this is how tags are used- for SEO and trigger warnings. That's not a "comment", that's literally the point of tags. When you design a website, like when you are coding, that's the point of tags. That is, 100% what they're intended for. They're to let humans and robots know the content of the work. In an algorithm, you can exclude certain tags from a search- so when I replied to that user, that was the first time in my life I had ever gotten a response to tagging like that. Normally if you say, "I tagged it," people won't read it- and if they read it anyway, you're like, "Well I tagged it" and that means it's on them. It's so pervasive it's a meme.

Usually the response is a picture of some guy in a blue shirt and the text, "I don't know what I expected"- to signify that they accept that they were wrong- that you did tag it, and they consumed it knowing it would have the content that they didn't like. Because they used the tags as intended.

It just really seems like it's going to be really annoying to put an extra thing at the top of the page that is basically the tags but in comment form. If I were to do this, I think I would just copy/paste the tags? I've never encountered this problem before Lit and I swear it feels like a coding issue.

Lit is an old site, and any change they make results in all kinds of bitching and moaning by long-time users. They've made some changes recently, which I understand were mostly prompted by Google's threats to bury sites that don't meet certain design standards. There will be more changes. I think that one of them will be to put the tags at the top of the story.

Yeah, I think that this might be part of the disconnect. I think Lit has an older readerbase, as well- older as in "older than me and other sites I use" not as in "old". I think that there may be a generational difference? Like the idea of posting begging for notes is abhorrent to me in ways that it doesn't seem to be for some other users of this site- but that's so "begging for notes"? I would just have a really hard time doing that. But I am going to push past it and try, because I know I need the help.

Likewise with the tag thing- I can't imagine going into a story that was tagged and then getting mad that it was what it said on the tin. Because I can't imagine going into a story not reading the tags. I don't understand how anyone could possibly have time for that- so when I was talking to that reader, we were coming from two different places- and I STILL don't understand where people who don't read the tags are coming from. Do they really just read every single story in the order they're presented until they run out? I don't know how they pick something to read. I don't understand how they're filtering their content without even looking at the tags- and I don't understand how someone can live without filtering their content.
 
I just... feel like it would be mean? I guess I can't really explain it any more than I already have, and if I do wind up submitting, I will use it now that I feel like I've been "given permission" in some weird way. Are you supposed to post your story there before or after you submit it?

Post your story before you go to the feedback forum, then give them a link to the story. Read the feedback forum for a while. You'll see how it works.

If you want feedback before you post a story, then you can go to the editor's forum and ask for beta readers. Tell them your story's category, its length in words, and give a little synopsis. Then wait. If you don't get an immediate response, then bump your request up to remind people.

People come here from other sites where the feedback is friendly and non-specific, and they get offended. I've seen comments on other sites and frankly -- aside from a little buzz -- I don't know what writers get out of it. Comments here -- and especially on the feedback forum -- aren't usually like that. If readers have something to say, then they speak their minds without regard to whether it makes you feel good. On the feedback forum, people usually respond to help you improve your writing, and that is often not very flattering.

Compared to most other story sites, Lit is the Big Time. It has more new stories, more readers, and an archive of more than a hundred thousand stories going back 20 years. A lot of other sites seem to be like little clubs. Lit isn't a club.

As to the tags thing, there's no point in arguing about it. Tags on Lit are there to help readers find your story, and that isn't going to change. Use them that way. If you need to post cautions to the reader then do it with an italicized note at the top of the story. Look at other posted stories. Many have those notes.
 
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I didn't know the feedback forum existed- that seems like... I don't know, really egotistical? I feel like I'd have a hard time posting begging for feedback because the whole reason you post something on the internet in the first place is to receive feedback- like it's already implied so heavily that to /ask/ for it feels wrong on a pretty deep level that I would have to overcome. I mean, you're begging at that point.
Not at all. The forum is here for writers who want to discuss the craft of writing, and to improve their skills. The folk who regularly respond will give more detailed feedback to you as a writer if you specifically ask for it. Most writers don't specifically ask for feedback or critique, many don't want it (and will turn off comments and the feedback channels). But for those who say, "hey, tell me how I'm doing" this forum is ideal.

There's a separate debate about how "good" or qualified a critique might be, but that's a whole 'nother can of worms. But egotistical? Not always.
 
Oh my GOD this is so helpful.

I think I understand how this site works a lot better now. I'm going to try submitting my Halloween entry! I'll list it in "horror" and paste the tags at the top and see what happens!

Thanks so much, everyone!
Putting content tags and trigger warnings in the body of your intro might help you filter out some crapola reaction and negative commentary, but don't rely on it.

The story tags are used in Lit as part of the story search function, less so for content warnings (because they show up in the wrong place). If you feel you must cater to sensitive readers, sure, go for your life with content warnings, but the reality is, for every reader you make happy with a content warning, the next person is going to say, "For fucks sake, really? Do we have adults here or kiddies?"

My advice is submit your story, it will sink or swim on its merits. If it sucks, people will tell you, if it's brilliant, they'll tell you. If it's middle of the bell curve and ordinary, expect to be deafened by silence.

If you DO want feedback from other writers, the Feedback Forum is the place to go. Most of the regulars there are writers here on Lit, and you get the added bonus of polar opposite opinions being expressed, which often results in quite spirited but usually respectful debate. Put your ego and any preciousness you might have in a little box, put it in a high shelf, and you'll be fine.

Also, don't bother comparing Lit to any other place on the net - it's its own unique universe, and only Lit rules apply. You'll figure it out, just like the rest of us did.
 
Is there a thread where you can ask what particular category a story should fall under?

I am in the process of writing a story, and I REALLY don't want to submit it to "Loving Wives" but yet it technically does involve a wife cheating on her wealthy "sugar daddy" husband (without his consent- because I do know a lot of people are offended if the cheating partner actually has the consent of her spouse.)
 
Is there a thread where you can ask what particular category a story should fall under?

I am in the process of writing a story, and I REALLY don't want to submit it to "Loving Wives" but yet it technically does involve a wife cheating on her wealthy "sugar daddy" husband (without his consent- because I do know a lot of people are offended if the cheating partner actually has the consent of her spouse.)

If you don't want to publish it to Loving Wives, then add another element to the story that makes it fit in another category, and publish it there. Possibilities include Exhibitionism and Voyeurism (which I've tried with success with a hot wife story), group sex, bdsm, interracial, fetish, nonconsent (this category is very popular), among others.
 
I genuinely could not find that anywhere? That is SUPER helpful. Yeah, that was 100% my bad. Those readers were right.

To be fair, if you had posted stories about extramarital sex in LW, you would still have been slammed by readers, because there's a certain element who really don't like that stuff and go out of their way to read it so they can hate on it. (No, it doesn't make sense to me either.)

I just... feel like it would be mean? I guess I can't really explain it any more than I already have, and if I do wind up submitting, I will use it now that I feel like I've been "given permission" in some weird way. Are you supposed to post your story there before or after you submit it?

Don't post complete stories on the forums. If you want feedback before posting, you're going to need to find volunteers (Editor's Forum or by asking specific people) and then share it via PM/email.

If you go to Critique Circle, Royal Road, AO3, FF.net, BDSM Library, even places like tumblr where the tags are on the bottom, this is how tags are used- for SEO and trigger warnings. That's not a "comment", that's literally the point of tags. When you design a website, like when you are coding, that's the point of tags. That is, 100% what they're intended for. They're to let humans and robots know the content of the work. In an algorithm, you can exclude certain tags from a search- so when I replied to that user, that was the first time in my life I had ever gotten a response to tagging like that. Normally if you say, "I tagged it," people won't read it- and if they read it anyway, you're like, "Well I tagged it" and that means it's on them. It's so pervasive it's a meme.

Literotica predates all of those sites by quite a long way. When it was first built, it didn't even have tags; those were implemented later, with some computer-generated tagging applied to the stories that were already up. There have been noises about better support for tags, along the lines of these other sites, but from what I hear it's a lot of work overhauling a site with this much content and the Literotica technical team is not large.

Yeah, I think that this might be part of the disconnect. I think Lit has an older readerbase, as well- older as in "older than me and other sites I use" not as in "old". I think that there may be a generational difference?

It has quite a wide range. I know we have regulars here who are in their eighties, and others who are barely old enough to be allowed on here. (Probably some who are lying about that.)

Likewise with the tag thing- I can't imagine going into a story that was tagged and then getting mad that it was what it said on the tin. Because I can't imagine going into a story not reading the tags. I don't understand how anyone could possibly have time for that- so when I was talking to that reader, we were coming from two different places- and I STILL don't understand where people who don't read the tags are coming from. Do they really just read every single story in the order they're presented until they run out? I don't know how they pick something to read. I don't understand how they're filtering their content without even looking at the tags- and I don't understand how someone can live without filtering their content.

Some people look for story ratings or red "H"s. Some people look for stories by specific authors. Some go by the blurb that appears with the story. But I think a lot of folk start by going to specific categories.

(Yes, this is frustrating for those of us whose stories don't fit neatly into a single category, but we did that discussion like a month ago and I'm not going to get into it again just now.)
 
If you don't want to publish it to Loving Wives, then add another element to the story that makes it fit in another category, and publish it there. Possibilities include Exhibitionism and Voyeurism (which I've tried with success with a hot wife story), group sex, bdsm, interracial, fetish, nonconsent (this category is very popular), among others.

Or Romance, if the extramarital thing has the feels missing from the marriage. But what do I know? 95 percent of my stuff is in Sci-Fi/Fantasy, where settings trump kinks.
 
Or Romance, if the extramarital thing has the feels missing from the marriage. But what do I know? 95 percent of my stuff is in Sci-Fi/Fantasy, where settings trump kinks.

Romance isn't a reasonable alternative to Loving Wives, unless it's a really atypical LW story.
 
Romance isn't a reasonable alternative to Loving Wives, unless it's a really atypical LW story.

Depends. The tyrannical, preferably older husband drives his young, beautiful and inexperienced wife to the brink of doing something stupid, like jumping off a bridge. Enter handsome stranger who pulls her off the ledge and, after a couple of more or less random encounters, shows her what true love, sex and passion are, building up her confidence and self-esteem in the process. She discovers a hidden talent, divorces the old guy and lives happily ever after.

Done right, it could be the plot of a damn chick flick.

And if anyone wants to do this, go right ahead. I have too many bunnies to wrangle already.
 
Depends. The tyrannical, preferably older husband drives his young, beautiful and inexperienced wife to the brink of doing something stupid, like jumping off a bridge. Enter handsome stranger who pulls her off the ledge and, after a couple of more or less random encounters, shows her what true love, sex and passion are, building up her confidence and self-esteem in the process. She discovers a hidden talent, divorces the old guy and lives happily ever after.

Done right, it could be the plot of a damn chick flick.

I think for LW, the husband would have to get revenge on his cheating wife, so that she and her new boy are left in ruins.

For Romance, the first marriage should have never happened in the first place, or it should be long over and out of the way before the story starts. Either way, the story would start when she meets the handsome stranger.
 
I think for LW, the husband would have to get revenge on his cheating wife, so that she and her new boy are left in ruins.

For Romance, the first marriage should have never happened in the first place, or it should be long over and out of the way before the story starts. Either way, the story would start when she meets the handsome stranger.

I don't like either of these choices. Not interested in feeding the LW trolls. And omitting/downplaying the bad marriage would rob the Romance version of a ton of tension and potential character growth. Maybe I should write that thing after all and see how it does.
 
I don't like either of these choices. Not interested in feeding the LW trolls. And omitting/downplaying the bad marriage would rob the Romance version of a ton of tension and potential character growth. Maybe I should write that thing after all and see how it does.
So write it with the angst and tension and the bad marriage, and still put it in Romance. It's the ending that matters, isn't it? And how many tissue boxes you get your audience through...
 
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