OK Boomers!

[JuanSeiszFitzHall]

Monday I had a story posted in Mature, for the first time. It had sat unfinished, and thus unsubmitted, for months. I should have gotten it done a lot sooner, because I’m getting more readership in this category than I have anywhere else (EC, Humor, L&T, Romance, SF/F). In a day and a half, this story has had more views and votes than any of my 13 other posts.

It doesn’t surprise me that Boomers, and now GenXers, make up a big readership on Lit. This was simply the first story idea I had that involved characters with whom readers in these age groups might identify. The reception has been good overall, with a rating of 4.26 when I checked a few minutes ago. (Eerily, it was 4.26 at 23 votes, and 47 votes, and now 58 votes. I guess the story is what it is.)

I've now done a little research on Mature, maybe non-conclusive, but I'll share it. On the day mine was posted, there were four others debuted in Mature that weren't parts of series. Two had 1.5 views, and 10 and 12 votes. One had 6k views and 117 votes. The other had 7k views and 80 votes. This last story was posted by someone with more than 200 followers; the other authors, like me, have too few followers to generate a large readership.

I don't know if tags mattered. I've had one comment, very short and (I guess) not negative.

To folks who read stories in the Mature category: You are clearly people who don’t need May-December to find a story worthwhile. All three characters in my story are middle-aged (or, as I call them, young whippersnappers). So, my regards to you, Mature readership, for reading a story in which all of the people are age-appropriate. You're OK, Boomers.

I'm not fishing for readers here, but if anyone wants to experience this story's 4.26-ness, the title is "Suite 510," and it's in my submission list below.

https://www.literotica.com/stories/memberpage.php?uid=5116173&page=submissions

 

[NotWise]

Good luck with Mature. I've posted in there twice, and I don't think I have them figured out. I keep coming up with stories that might fit there, but without "getting" the crowd, I may never post to Mature again.

 

[oggbashan]

I have several mature stories that seem to do well.

E.g.

https://www.literotica.com/beta/s/english-lane
https://www.literotica.com/beta/s/hedgehog-feud
https://www.literotica.com/beta/s/laying-the-ghosts-of-war
https://www.literotica.com/beta/s/rural-station

 

[ElectricBlue]

It's one of my favourite categories. I've had stories do very well there and, even better, readers are generous with their feedback and commentary. They're an appreciative bunch.

 

[yukonnights]

Nor have I ventured there. However, I have toyed with the idea. Thanks for sharing your experience, as well as all the others who chimed in. I can see why such a story could be a good one. It seems Mature offers a lot of opportunity to explore past happiness and past regrets while inserting a chance for another shot in the present.

 

[SamScribble]

I've posted a few stories in Mature and, while they almost always get bombed on Day One (actually, all of my stories do), they generally end up settling somewhere around the Red H.

 

[ThisNameIsntTakenYet]

Interesting, I had been wondering about that category. But I guess I might just be too young still to write an appropriate story for it. At least I've been severely lacking in ideas that could potentially go in that category.

 

[yukonnights]

Interesting, I had been wondering about that category. But I guess I might just be too young still to write an appropriate story for it. At least I've been severely lacking in ideas that could potentially go in that category.

Why not write it as a younger person who is an observer of an "older relationship". Most of us knew our grandparents, etc. It could offer a fresh take on the theme?

 

[ThisNameIsntTakenYet]

Why not write it as a younger person who is an observer of an "older relationship". Most of us knew our grandparents, etc. It could offer a fresh take on the theme?

Does a relationship between an older and younger character count? Because if so I might have just gotten an idea... Also, what's the line for a character to count as mature? Like, the minimum age, so to speak.

 

[RejectReality]

Oh my, yes. LOL

I've gone as low as a mid 30s woman with an 18 year old guy and had it do well. The age-difference kink sort of offsets the minimum age, so long as there's at least 10-15 years between protagonists.

I personally consider anything that gets less than 600 votes in the first few days a dud in the category. I'm well established there with a large reader base, so obviously that's not realistic for someone taking their first crack at it. I'd still expect numbers that will make your eyes bug out a little, though.

My two most recent.

Old Man Winter ( Pushing 50 guy with 19 girl ) 4.61 on 625 votes, 17.6k views, 26 favs, and 8 comments.

Hung by the Chimney ( Pushing 50 woman with 20/21 guy ) 4.75 on 726 votes, 46.1k views, 61 favs, and 16 comments.

Does a relationship between an older and younger character count? Because if so I might have just gotten an idea... Also, what's the line for a character to count as mature? Like, the minimum age, so to speak.

 

[ThisNameIsntTakenYet]

Oh my, yes. LOL

I've gone as low as a mid 30s woman with an 18 year old guy and had it do well. The age-difference kink sort of offsets the minimum age, so long as there's at least 10-15 years between protagonists.

I personally consider anything that gets less than 600 votes in the first few days a dud in the category. I'm well established there with a large reader base, so obviously that's not realistic for someone taking their first crack at it. I'd still expect numbers that will make your eyes bug out a little, though.

My two most recent.

Old Man Winter ( Pushing 50 guy with 19 girl ) 4.61 on 625 votes, 17.6k views, 26 favs, and 8 comments.

Hung by the Chimney ( Pushing 50 woman with 20/21 guy ) 4.75 on 726 votes, 46.1k views, 61 favs, and 16 comments.

Looks like I had the wrong idea of the category, haha. I kind of assumed it was only about older people (think 50/60+ at minimum) and as such never read a story from there. Yukonnights' comment about grandparents further enforced that idea for me, but turns out I was wrong all along. Well I guess I should have some story ideas that fit the category after all then, although I'll have to see about when I'll get to writing them... Too many ideas, too little time, haha.

 

[RejectReality]

Looks like I had the wrong idea of the category, haha. I kind of assumed it was only about older people (think 50/60+ at minimum) and as such never read a story from there. Yukonnights' comment about grandparents further enforced that idea for me, but turns out I was wrong all along. Well I guess I should have some story ideas that fit the category after all then, although I'll have to see about when I'll get to writing them... Too many ideas, too little time, haha.

I posted my first few Milf/Cougar stories to Erotic Couplings, believing the same thing. Then Laurel changed the category to Mature on one, and I thought for sure it would be a death knell.

Needless to say, I was wrong. I sat there stunned for quite a while, watching the numbers rise at an astounding rate every time I clicked the refresh button. If I'm remembering right, that one hit almost a thousand votes on the first day.

If you write a longer, more substantial romance with an age-difference couple, you can also pull down a lot higher scores along with some pretty amazing numbers. Lovecraft has one really well done story that's slowly edging toward 10k votes.

 

[gordo12]

Lovecraft has one really well done story that's slowly edging toward 10k votes.

I'm not aware of anyplace on Lit you can get the other author's vote totals. Views and Favs yes, but not the votes. ???

As far as mature goes I would think 40+ and I like (being an old fart and a boomer) the May/Dec type of stories. The category appears to reward a writer nicely although the numbers RR shows don't hold a candle to the LW response. Except for scores.

 

[Inkhorn]

I’m GenX and I am not mature.

(My wife reminds me of this often...)

 

[NotWise]

I'm not aware of anyplace on Lit you can get the other author's vote totals. Views and Favs yes, but not the votes. ???

You can get the votes on the top lists. They're the parenthesized number after the score.

 

[gordo12]

You can get the votes on the top lists. They're the parenthesized number after the score.

Wow, never followed that link through before. Thanks for the info.

I thought I got a lot of votes but some of those LW stories, 14,000 votes, 12,000, 6,000. Mind boggling!

 

[NotWise]

Wow, never followed that link through before. Thanks for the info.

I thought I got a lot of votes but some of those LW stories, 14,000 votes, 12,000, 6,000. Mind boggling!

In I/T Threads: The Island by JimmyJammy has 27,382 votes. It was the top of the toplist for a long time, but its score is down at 4.83 now. I don't know what happened.

 

[RejectReality]

In I/T Threads: The Island by JimmyJammy has 27,382 votes. It was the top of the toplist for a long time, but its score is down at 4.83 now. I don't know what happened.

I/T has always been one of the most shenanigan-laden toplists. The fans are industrious in their promotion of their favorites and cutting down the opposition. They have to be considering how many votes it often takes to move the score by even .01

A sweep will run at some point, and it will be right back on the Hall of Fame. At which point, the cycle will begin anew.

 

[JuanSeiszFitzHall]

May-December is in the Mature category’s definition. A wide age difference between characters, influencing each person’s wants, needs, values, knowledge, experience, etc., can be what the characters have to work through to fulfill their attraction and affection. But there are plenty of stories in Mature in which there is no May representative. It could be a coin flip whether a story like that should be in Mature or Romance. In the case of “Suite 510,” Romance wouldn’t have been a good fit.

My take on a minimum age for Mature is 40, but what probably matters more is what makes this person not-young: settling down socially, prosperity after youthful penury, aligning with the status quo after having fought it (or even the reverse, if that can be made convincing), what the character learned (or didn’t) (right or wrong) from relationships, etc.

One way to find a story’s vote count, when it’s in the category’s hub, is to float the cursor over the star next to the rating. This will show a box with a number in it.

 

[gordo12]

One way to find a story’s vote count, when it’s in the category’s hub, is to float the cursor over the star next to the rating. This will show a box with a number in it.

Shit, I've been around here for twenty years and didn't know that one either

I really should pay more attention. Thanks for the heads up.

 

[Zeb_Carter]

I wrote on for Mature, it has done very well. I did make a big edit at the suggestion of on of the comments.

Homeless

I'm a Boomer yet feel more like a youngster until I pull a muscle or wrench an joint. Right now my back is telling my I can't do acrobatics anymore.

 

[JPGmvny]

I wrote on for Mature, it has done very well. I did make a big edit at the suggestion of on of the comments.

Homeless

I'm a Boomer yet feel more like a youngster until I pull a muscle or wrench an joint. Right now my back is telling my I can't do acrobatics anymore.

While I've published a number of stories with characters over 40, I've never put them in "Mature." Seeing this gave me confidence to write one and see what happens to it in "Mature."

Crossing It's about a couple in their early 60s taking the Queen Mary 2 from Southampton to New York. And they meet a British couple on board.