Mrs. Steel

[Guest]

Just wanted to say thanks to everyone who have read and enjoyed Mrs. Steel. (And thanks to Laurel for her help on correcting an error in my story). But the question I have, though pleased Mrs. Steel is doing so well, (and by the number of terrific feedback emails I've received), it still blows me away when
it has gotten the high marks it has...and then gets attacked all of
a sudden (sitting too long in the #1 spot?) and begins to fall down in the scoring. Not wanting to be a bad sport about this...it still leaves a bad taste in one's mouth when something you are
proud of having written can "obviously" be <hit> like that in the
voting. (It's not that hard to calculate that a significant number of
1's had to be thrown at the story to drop based on the number of
votes it did have to the number of votes shortly after which seriously affected the point totals.)

Just thought I'd thrown in my 2 cents here....

But again thanks to everyone who have "honestly" voted and emailed me regarding this particular story.

The sandman

"To sleep......perchance to dream." William Shakespear

 

[Guest]

mrs. Steel

Hi, Sandman.

I've started reading Mrs. Steel and am enjoying it very much! I wish you had made it a series instead of a marathon for those of us with busy lives outside of literotica. Also I think you need a proofreader to monitor for simple spelling and grammar errors. Case in point: "everyone who have read" and "thanks to everyone who have "honestly" voted and emailed" --and these are just in your posted thread. There were many errors in your story too that distracted me from an otherwise enjoyable read. Good job!

MS.

 

[Bobby T]

I hear you. Much the same thing has happened to me and my humble efforts. As a rank novice, I was motivated by the desire to see if I could write a story that accrued a respectable level of votes. I was pleased with my progress from chapter to chapter but would always notice a dramatic slide in the score in the late stages of voting. I did a bit of math and there is no doubt that the stories were hit by a deluge of "1's".

As I wrote the "Cumming of Age" series, I made subtle changes in the way I wrote in an attempt to bring more "pleasure" to those that read them and were kind enough to vote. The feedback I have received has been very gratifying but I fear I am somewhat jaded by the need of some people who seem uncomfortable that a story may be near the top of a list and feels the need to hit it hard with 1's. I sometimes wonder if people are able to sign on under a number of user names and passwords and as such, hit you without mercy.

It is unfortunate the software that does the simple calculation to average voting scores wasn't intuitive and smart enough to discard "flyers". If you sit there with a very high average with hundreds of votes and you suddenly see your score drop dramatically in just a dozen or so additional votes, you have to think evil is lurking out there in cyber space.

It is so disheartening as a matter of fact, that I am considering forgetting about writing and submitting these little tales to the site. I have read similar comments made by others and thanks to them, I don't feel so alone with my feelings. I suppose that to some of us, the (seemingly) shallow need to get recognition in the form of a score is what drove us to write in the first place.

I can save myself the trouble of writing by daydreaming a little story for my own pleasure. I was writing however, in an attempt to share my daydreams with others and to help those who turned to this site to get a little "relief".

Not sure how I'm supposed to feel about all this but I thought I'd let you know that I share your concern.

And, by the way, well done with your writing (and your scores). I enjoy your stories.


Bobby T

 

[messy-n-nasty]

Sandman, Bobby,

I must say I have to agree as well. As a novice myself, I was rather pleased at the feedback I got for my first two stories. They seemed to be doing rather well until after a few days at the top of the chart, the vote ratings dropped dramatially. As an example, the latest story, "Amber and Maya (...)" dropped from a 4.61 to a 4.44 in a single vote. YEs, it is disheartening and at the same time hard not to sound like sore losers when we complain. But it makes you wonder.

Personally, if someone so strongly dislikes my story, I would like them to send feedback and tell me why. It seems everyone has an easy time praising, but when it comes to constructive (even if negative) criticism, it appears a little harder to do. The biggest problem with this voting system is that if someone "hits" you, you have no idea why unless they bother to send feedback as well. It would be a neat feature if when posting votes on either extremes of the scale (a 1 or 5) you coul enter a comment regarding the reason(s) of your decision. But it probably wont happen.

Anyway guys, keep up the good work. The greatest way of measuring the success of your story is not only by the voting system, but more by the people who send you feedback asking you to write more.

M-n-N

 

[Guest]

Re: mrs. Steel

Hi, Sandman.

I've started reading Mrs. Steel and am enjoying it very much! I wish you had made it a series instead of a marathon for those of us with busy lives outside of literotica. Also I think you need a proofreader to monitor for simple spelling and grammar errors. Case in point: "everyone who have read" and "thanks to everyone who have "honestly" voted and emailed" --and these are just in your posted thread. There were many errors in your story too that distracted me from an otherwise enjoyable read. Good job!

MS.

To sleep, perchance to dream - William Shakespear