How are you supposed to promote yourself as an author on this website? I have a patreon and two books on Amazon, and the only method of promotion is mentioning them in my profile. I'm not allowed to put links in my stories, and I'm not even allowed to tell readers to check out my profile. Unless I'm missing something, it seems like Literotica wants unlimited free content without helping the authors at all while exposing them to the risk of having their stories stolen which seems to happen all the time on this site.
How to Promote Yourself on Literotica
- Thread starter IllyHymen
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NotWise
Desert Rat
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Literotica doesn't exist to promote you, and it certainly doesn't exist to promote your stories on competing sites. As a result, the opportunities for promoting off-site material is pretty limited.
There is this sticky thread at the top of the forum where you are welcomed to announce your latest and greatest.
EDIT: People can and do advertise their off-site work in their signatures, but I don't think you can link to the site.
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ElectricBlue
Joined 10 Years Ago
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Yes you can - if you can see my signature block, you should be able to click off to my lulu bookstore. I just did, from the Preview of this post.
NotWise
Desert Rat
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I stand corrected.
RejectReality
Errant Smut Slinger
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So long as you're published on Lit, and the site you're linking to in your signature is either a personal site or an Ebook type site. I've not seen any Patreon type links removed, so I assume that's within bounds as well. You can't link to a direct competitor — as in another free-to-read erotic story site.
I know of no other erotica site that allows any more outside linking than Lit does. If they have some direct affiliation with a Ebook publishing arm, there's more leeway for that specific venue, but none that I know of allow you to willy-nilly link to whatever you want, wherever you want.
And none that allow story submissions to be used as advertising venues.
Anyone who might be willing to shell out cash for your work is also going to be motivated enough to check out your profile and discover the link to it.
If your primary reason for publishing on any erotic story site is redirecting traffic to your paid work, you're probably going to find the value of the effort put forth doesn't amount to much on the back end. People come to free sites for a reason. Most of them are here specifically because its free. You may wow a few people enough to toss a shilling or two your way, but most people are going to take what you give them, and that's it.
I know of no other erotica site that allows any more outside linking than Lit does. If they have some direct affiliation with a Ebook publishing arm, there's more leeway for that specific venue, but none that I know of allow you to willy-nilly link to whatever you want, wherever you want.
And none that allow story submissions to be used as advertising venues.
Anyone who might be willing to shell out cash for your work is also going to be motivated enough to check out your profile and discover the link to it.
If your primary reason for publishing on any erotic story site is redirecting traffic to your paid work, you're probably going to find the value of the effort put forth doesn't amount to much on the back end. People come to free sites for a reason. Most of them are here specifically because its free. You may wow a few people enough to toss a shilling or two your way, but most people are going to take what you give them, and that's it.
So writers incur all the risk of having their stories stolen without receiving any benefit? Patreon and Amazon are not rival sites. I'm not trying to advertise rival sites. And it doesn't make a tremendous amount of sense I can put links for these alleged rival sites in my profile but not tell people to look at my writer's profile.
ElectricBlue
Joined 10 Years Ago
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You just have to accept it like we all do. Literotica is what Literotica is, and you can moan and gnash your teeth all you like, but it's not going to change anytime soon. As a free publishing site you get tons of exposure, all at zero cost to you.
As a pedantic "oh by the way," when something is stolen there's never a benefit. That's sorta kinda the definition of stolen
.
RejectReality
Errant Smut Slinger
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Lit doesn't allow advertisements in story submissions. If you tell people to look at your profile to find the links to your paid work or your Patreon, then you're using a story submission for advertising.
The policy is unlikely to change, because it's more or less universal across similar sites, and there's nothing to be gained by bucking that trend. Most people posting to free erotica sites have no paid work or Patreon, so there's little demand for advertising them.
The policy is unlikely to change, because it's more or less universal across similar sites, and there's nothing to be gained by bucking that trend. Most people posting to free erotica sites have no paid work or Patreon, so there's little demand for advertising them.
lovecraft68
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More and more authors are using lit as a platform to make money. They set up patreon accounts and tell readers-through their home pages as suggested-where they will have links to blogs and patreaon itself, that for donations they can get the next story/chapter ahead of everyone else on lit.
TBH I don't think this is fair to lit. This is a free site, and if any money should be made it should be made by them. Laurel seems either oblivious to this at the moment, or maybe flat out doesn't care, but I think she should and at some point may curb it when more and more people are doing it.
The biggest abuser here, has a series that is over 100 installments and will never end because they are making hundreds of dollars on every chapter through Patreon and off lit's readership.
Want to make money, sell on selling platforms like many of us do rather than take advantage of someone else's business.
TBH I don't think this is fair to lit. This is a free site, and if any money should be made it should be made by them. Laurel seems either oblivious to this at the moment, or maybe flat out doesn't care, but I think she should and at some point may curb it when more and more people are doing it.
The biggest abuser here, has a series that is over 100 installments and will never end because they are making hundreds of dollars on every chapter through Patreon and off lit's readership.
Want to make money, sell on selling platforms like many of us do rather than take advantage of someone else's business.
Vix_Giovanni
Literotica Guru
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Ditto.
oggbashan
Dying Truth seeker
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The easiest way to promote yourself and your work is to enter the themed contests like April Fool's running now.
PS: Since my three entries have gone live on the front page, several of my older stories have been favorited and comments left.
PS: Since my three entries have gone live on the front page, several of my older stories have been favorited and comments left.
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jsmiam
Literotica Whisperer
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If I send you my list of stories, will you link to them and promote them for me from your Patreon and Amazon accounts? Thanks!
What a swell guy!
JaxRhapsody
Literotica Guru
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Why would Laurel allow users to send the sites readers to another site? You realize most sites won't let you do that, right? Some sites won't even make if past the word filter here, even in PMs. For example; my Stories of Velocity link goes to that one blog site owned by Google, where my blog is, has it's site name censored so the link doesn't work. In my sig. But the one to Medium currently still works, but that's not a site for stories.
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lovecraft68
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Patreon isn't an erotica site, its for any creator, all the big youtube content providers have them, each seller has their own home page
So in that case, the author is taking you to another site so you can pledge and donate and read their updates and whatever else they provide.
It really is scamming lit, and more and more are doing it.
If it were my business, I wouldn't allow it, but its not mine (hell, if it was mine it wouldn't be free
) or ours, it's Laurel and Manu and if they can't be bothered there's no sense really complaining much, they want to get screwed, its their life.
JaxRhapsody
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Patreon isn't an erotica site, its for any creator, all the big youtube content providers have them, each seller has their own home page
So in that case, the author is taking you to another site so you can pledge and donate and read their updates and whatever else they provide.
It really is scamming lit, and more and more are doing it.
If it were my business, I wouldn't allow it, but its not mine (hell, if it was mine it wouldn't be free
I know what patreon is and I agree, that is scamming. They'll catch it sooner or later, or not. Their concern is probably more about competing sites, than anything else. Webcomic artist do it, too. It can be a slight missuse of the site too if what they are posting on it, people are going to be paying to see, can just wait and see it free here, unless it's like some bonus content- which is how some youtubers and webcomic artist do it. I wish I had a reason to have a patreon account, honestly, sadly there is no demand for me.
SimonDoom
Kink Lord
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Patreon isn't an erotica site, its for any creator, all the big youtube content providers have them, each seller has their own home page
So in that case, the author is taking you to another site so you can pledge and donate and read their updates and whatever else they provide.
It really is scamming lit, and more and more are doing it.
If it were my business, I wouldn't allow it, but its not mine (hell, if it was mine it wouldn't be free
It's only unfair to Lit if it results in a net loss of traffic to Lit, traffic that otherwise would come to Lit. I'm not sure that's true. Lit's 2 greatest virtues are that its free, and that it has a huge repository of stories. The only way it makes money, I assume, is by monetizing its traffic.
If Lit were to place a bunch of restrictions on how authors can advertise, then they might leave this place and go elsewhere. That would hurt traffic, Lit's only asset. Lit is attractive in part because it has so few restrictions. I suspect that the current model works well and that its owners know this. But I'm just guessing.
Desiremakesmeweak
Literotica Guru
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'I assume...'
Hmn.
Hmn.
gordo12
Experienced
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Lit gets tons of free content from the authors to generate tons of free traffic. They sell sex site memberships, cams and toys from that traffic. Decades ago that was lucrative. Now...not so much.
Some allowance for promotion purposes is a suitable reward. I believe the current options for promotion are reasonable for the authors.
The site would be parasitic otherwise.
Some allowance for promotion purposes is a suitable reward. I believe the current options for promotion are reasonable for the authors.
The site would be parasitic otherwise.
