How to categorize my planned Valentine's Day contest entry

[A_Little_Show]

[deleted]

 

[StrangeLife]

It kinda depends on the audience you are writing for.

Both "Romance" and "Incest/Taboo" are nice crowds without too many trolls and one-bombers (the general score is over 4 in both). Sounds to me that your story would be welcomed in either room.

 

[HeyAll]

Sounds more like Romance.

People who read that category love stuff to cry over. I don't mean that in a bad way, but that's just the way it is.

Plus in-laws based stories are generally frowned upon in the Incest category. They must be directly related for it to mean something!

 

[lovecraft68]

Hmmm...

first off the incest crowd does enjoy romance. It is not entirely filled with people saying "bend mom over!" they do like an emotional and sweet storyline.

I think your issue is this.

Its a father in law. In law will sometimes get chewed up in incest because it is not incest.

On the other hand father in law may be a bit much for the basically vanilla romance crowd so I think you may have an issue either way.

A third option and one that might work better is the mature category. They enjoy romance and the father in law might work there.

Tough call though.

 

[PennLady]

I'd say mature or romance. I really don't think incest fits. For one thing, since her husband is gone, she is no longer really related to her in-laws. Connected, perhaps, but not related, so it's not incest.

 

[TxRad]

What PennLady said.

 

[RejectReality]

Mature. I don't see the in-law connection bothering the readership. They're perfectly happy with romance. Big, engaged readership.

Depending upon how the story plays out, it might score higher in Romance, but I'm willing to make a fairly large wager that you'll get more readers in Mature.

The way I look at it, the ( likely ) larger audience and lower saturation of both romance and older man stories as compared to MILF/Cougar tales in the category is the way to go - contest or no. The last two older man sweet-leaning ( I won't call them full-blown romance ) stories I've posted in the category have performed nicely.

Nude Holly Day: 4.70, 1558 votes, 93366 views, 28 comments, 32 favs
Summer's Heat: 4.68, 1537 votes, 131683 views, 35 comments, 45 favs


If you're really concerned about the score or trying to place, Romance may be a consideration, but I think the additional exposure is far better in the long run. If the story is really sex-lite ( not necessarily as a percentage of the story, but rather how explicit it is ) then Romance may be the better choice, so long as the building of the relationship is front and center.

 

[sr71plt]

From your description, I'd put it in Romance, which is a good one for the Valentine's Day contest, and then let Laurel override that if she wants to.

I think all disclaimers are defensive and invite slamming, so, no, I wouldn't do that. Anyone who considers sex with in-laws as incest is anal retentive anyway, I think.

 

[lovecraft68]

I looked at this early this morning and did not catch the husband no longer in the picture.

Mature is your category not romance. The reason being yes it is romance and it may play well there, but if you go in mature(and there is an obvious age difference and that is what they enjoy there) you are taking advantage of their "kink"

Remember the tag line to Mature is "May December Romances"

From personal experience a couple of years ago I was on the fence with romance/mature in a story featuring a young man and older woman that was a romance. I asked Pennlady and Darknciad for their opinion and they said Mature.

These are the numbers.

Home is Where The Heart Is
4.85 2878 185731 Mature (English) 01/31/12 approved
Public Comments: 190

The story you read recently Karma which could have fit in either, but I went with mature

Karma
4.85 1200 61061 Mature (English) 11/04/13 approved
Public Comments: 44

I don't think I could have pulled better in romance

as for your disclaimer:

I know Pilot just posted he feels they are defensive and that's his opinion. I see it as an authors opinion. I also feel its a little inconsiderate to the reader.

I would put a disclaimer as a courtesy to the reader. They don't like In law stories then they are warned and will click off. You do not warn them maybe nothing will happen maybe you get some bombs and nasty remarks.

Its all your call, but I would go mature and a disclaimer.

 

[RejectReality]

I don't think a disclaimer is necessary. They're both single now and never lived in the same household. There's very little there to squick anyone.

 

[lovecraft68]

I don't think a disclaimer is necessary. They're both single now and never lived in the same household. There's very little there to squick anyone.

You may be right depending on how they write the story. My feeling is "in law" may get a knee jerk reaction.

But I think the proper category is more important than the disclaimer and I hold to mature they may be more forgiving on in law stuff as well as I am sure I have read some mother ion law fantasies there.

 

[A_Little_Show]

[deleted]

 

[Handley_Page]

Today, I wrote a romance that I think is very sweet. It chronicles the growing love and intimacy of a young widow and her father-in-law. Given that relationship, I assume the story should go in incest (even though they are not blood relations). However, I think the story is sweet and endearing. I cried a few times while writing it. It is about discovering love after tragedy. It is about forming a family out of what little two people have left.

Could I get away with putting the story in Romance instead of Incest? If I do, should I provide a content warning up front?

Are any of you willing to be a beta reader or edit the story? Right now, the story is two full Lit pages. I'm interested in feedback regarding its length relative to whatever category it ends up in. Aren't romances usually longer?

For me, it's a "mature".

 

[carlieplum]

Another vote for mature.