Putting sci/fi & nonhuman elements in other catagories?

[HeyAll]

Does anyone have any experience with this?

What would the results be in putting a story with werewolves, sorcerers, magic, demons, ect... in categories like lesbian or nonconsent?

Reason being, it'll probably get more views than simply keeping it in nonhuman.

Or should stories like these stay in nonhuman where they're welcomed?

thanks

 

[Asbel]

My story has a shitton of elements to it.

Vampires.
Sadomasochism.
Pain play.
Gore.

But for the most part, 90% of the chapters are in Gay Male except for one where we're mostly focusing on the appearance of a new, female possible love interest. I've been wondering if I should just move all of them to Nonhuman and be done with it, but the story just seems to appeal to Gay Male more.

In the end, it's really just where you think more people would appreciate it. However, with things like Lesbian elements, they're way more widely accepted in other genres than gay male. For some reason, two chicks making out is totally okay with most people, but you put a dick in a dude's butt and everyone loses their shit.

Anyway, hope that helps.

 

[NotWise]

Does anyone have any experience with this?

What would the results be in putting a story with werewolves, sorcerers, magic, demons, ect... in a categories like lesbian or nonconsent?

Reason being, it'll probably get more views.

Or should stories like these stay in nonhuman where they're welcomed?

thanks

I'm curious about this too. I read the general guidance is that stories should go into the category that represents their most polarizing aspect. I doubt that non-human characters are as polarizing as incest (for instance) or lesbianism or non-con or gay male. Has anyone ever compiled a list of topics in order of what the public might see as most polarizing? Kind of a hierarchy of squirks.

Years ago I wrote a story in which a young couple met a group of ghosts. The story was lost, but I liked it and I'd like to reconstruct it for Lit. In the original the young couple were a brother and sister, so because of the closing of the story it would go to I/T. My first rewrite had the young couple as two college kids and so that version would probably go to nonhuman. Or somewhere else?

 

[Asbel]

That being said, NotWise, would you say Erotic Horror is purely gore and stuff, or can ghosts and horror elements fall into that category too? If I write a story about someone fucking the TV ghost from The Ring, does that fall into Nonhuman or Erotic Horror?

 

[le_kitty]

Does anyone have any experience with this?

What would the results be in putting a story with werewolves, sorcerers, magic, demons, ect... in a categories like lesbian or nonconsent?

Reason being, it'll probably get more views.

Or should stories like these stay in nonhuman where they're welcomed?

thanks

Yep!

My second series treads non-con/reluctance in a historical setting, with a non-human vampire element. I've hopped between categories, but you'd be correct, I find that it does better in non-con.

I would not say that non-human welcomed my series. I think what happens is, people shrug and reason: Well there are vampires.

Stories that do very well in non-con have a similar flavour to them, as stories that do well in non-human have a different flavour. I alienate readers who are not interested in reading vampires, but it's revealed in the first para of ch. 1 what the story entails. There is a readership for historical romance/reluctance stories. It grows smaller when non-human elements are thrown in. But it is not so far afield that it does not belong in the non-con/reluc category simply because my male protagonist happens to be a vampire.

I am certain plenty of people dropped off before they even got through ch. 1 simply because I had a vampire protagonist.

Has anyone ever compiled a list of topics in order of what the public might see as most polarizing? Kind of a hierarchy of squirts.

Would you be referring to this? It's a take on categories by Tx Tall Tales.

 

[Ewobbit]

I thought I remembered some good stuff about categories, but a search of the threads showed about eighty-four different ones using "choosing which category" and I couldn't find EXACTLY what I was looking for.

Over in the "How To" submissions, I found this old (but good) chestnut: https://www.literotica.com/s/love-your-readers

But, it wasn't exactly what I was remembering either.

As a general rule, best I can recall, the advice was that GM and/or Incest are trump categories. That is, if there is even a hint, they should go there.

BDSM and... uh... uh... fetish(?) I think were the other two immediately after.

After that, I think the rule of thumb was to aim where the majority was the best fit for the readership and Laurel would make corrections where she saw a problem.

If it were me, I probably wouldn't take Sci-Fi/Fantasy out into another category and, in fact, might even counter the trumps. But, that's just my thought.

(Edit: Ack! Damn it, too quick for me again Le_Kitty)

 

[GoldenMaia]

Most of my stories have some supernatural and BDSM but I tend to put the under romance because the romance is the stronger element to the story. I do get comments when people think the story belongs in the different category, but the lines are so blurred. I put a strong magic-based story in Mature and the score was so-so, the views were great and got some comments about wrongfully submitting, but the story was about an older guy and a younger woman. The magic was just part of it.

Just brace yourself for getting a nasty comment and go for it. If it really doesn't fit, Laurel will say something.

I hope the site upgrade will include some changes to the way stories can be sorted.

 

[Asbel]

I hope the site upgrade will include some changes to the way stories can be sorted.

It would actually be great if a story could take up several categories or have "sub categories" that could be added to it, but then I feel like people would take advantage of that in order to take up the entire site with their garbage.

 

[TxRad]

And in the end Laurel has the last say in which category a story goes.

 

[Asbel]

And in the end Laurel has the last say in which category a story goes.

She's never changed a story's category as far as I'm aware.

 

[NotWise]

That being said, NotWise, would you say Erotic Horror is purely gore and stuff, or can ghosts and horror elements fall into that category too? If I write a story about someone fucking the TV ghost from The Ring, does that fall into Nonhuman or Erotic Horror?

I don't know the limits of Erotic Horror, but I would guess that other elements can fit into it, and that things that might be Erotic Horror can fit into other categories.

My Valentine's Day story has what I thought of as a Horror (or maybe just horrific) episode in the middle of it. The protagonists were hunted through a talus field by moonlight by two thugs intent on raping her and killing them both. The thugs were attacked and killed by the spirit of a cougar that the protagonists unknowingly conjured from a petroglyph.

The protagonists were brother and sister, so the story went to Incest/Taboo and there were no complaints about including native spirits or suspense or violence. The Taboo element was far more polarizing than anything else.

 

[SciFurz]

My take

I always look at what theme is most apparent in the story, and with the exception of one, the rest are non-human.
I had my doubts on Double Secret, but since the transforming element came before the romance and sex ,I felt it fit less with the pure human ideas in the incest category. It was more of an accident it happened between a brother and his little sister, and even then I was more interested in the romance than the sex.
I posted scifi and fantasy stories on my Wordpress site which contained anthro characters, but since it would be normal to see those hybrid creatures in those worlds I wouldn't use non-human as the main category.

To avoid disappointing readers (apart from my writing ), I added a short summary at the top of the story to give an idea where it would lead to. That way readers who don't like certain elements don't have to find out later.

There might be readers who will never get to read a story because they only check a certain category, and who might just have liked it, but that could only be solved by the ability to select multiple categories. Abuse is a risk the site would have to take, but it could be taken care of by the ratings it would receive by the readers.

 

[Zeb_Carter]

She's never changed a story's category as far as I'm aware.

There a plenty of threads about how someone's story was re-positioned into another category. And the only one that do that is Laurel.

You can, however, request a change back to the original category by PM'ing her with and explanation why you think it might belong in the original category.

 

[Bramblethorn]

That being said, NotWise, would you say Erotic Horror is purely gore and stuff, or can ghosts and horror elements fall into that category too? If I write a story about someone fucking the TV ghost from The Ring, does that fall into Nonhuman or Erotic Horror?

EH doesn't have to be gore. I have two not-remotely-gory, non-explicit pieces in EH and the readers were pretty kind to them.

It would actually be great if a story could take up several categories or have "sub categories" that could be added to it, but then I feel like people would take advantage of that in order to take up the entire site with their garbage.

From things L&M have said, the long-term plan is to shift to a tagging system that will achieve pretty much that (hopefully minus the "take up the entire site" bit ;-) - you tag your stories with whatever categories are relevant, and then people can filter a search by categories.

 

[sr71plt]

There a plenty of threads about how someone's story was re-positioned into another category. And the only one that do that is Laurel.

You can, however, request a change back to the original category by PM'ing her with and explanation why you think it might belong in the original category.

Yep, those of us who have been around for a while have seen examples of category changes by Laurel.

I take Gay Male as a trump (and would take Incest as a trump too). If that's in a sci/fi or nonhuman story, I put it in the trump category (and Laurel has switched any of them).

 

[AMoveableBeast]

That being said, NotWise, would you say Erotic Horror is purely gore and stuff, or can ghosts and horror elements fall into that category too? If I write a story about someone fucking the TV ghost from The Ring, does that fall into Nonhuman or Erotic Horror?

To me, this mostly seems about flavor.

Non-Hunan is generally more romantic. Being with the non-human in these stories is typically a wonderful thing. It's amazing, because this creature is fantastic or capable of some marvelous feat that a human isn't. There may be some general drawbacks, but, for the most part, stories found here are usually about how "cool" it is to fuck Swamp Thing, or how the animalistic side of a garou is appealing sexually.

Twilight is the prototypical non-human novel.

Erotic horror is often, well, horrific. Vampires and ghosts are scary creatures, and their roles in the story are often less romantic, and sometimes not sexy or sexual at all. A woman who loves a man that is cursed by some awful transformation is a good example.

Dracula is an erotic horror romance in many ways.

Now there are a thousand excepts to this, and it is anything but hard and fast. But generally, it seems, if the creatures in question conjure more awe and longing, it will be well-received in non-human. If the being are scary and gruesome more often than alluring, it's EH.

So, to answer your question about the gwishin from The Ring, it all depends on how you write it, but considering the intensity and fear level of the source material, I'd say it would probably by erotic horror.

Just my take on what seem to be the patterns.

 

[Hypoxia]

I've only written a little of sexual entities other than living adult humans -- mostly ghosts, with a few evil deities and some human-ape hybrids. The lattermost (Bride of Kong) are definitely SciFi as I avoided other trump elements (GM and IT). The others all involved families fucking and are clearly Incest. IT and LW gain the most eyeballs and I can see throwing some nonhumans into LW-suitable tales so long as the relationship trumps the inhumanity.

 

[49greg]

I worked on a Halloween story last fall, (didn't get it done in time,) that had huge monster spiders and other horror monsters. Because the monsters weren't the central thrust of the story, but more of side issue I thought I would put it into Erotic Couplings rather than Erotic Horror or Non-Human.

 

[HeyAll]

I'd like to add that last Halloween contest, I did a mother/son story where they vacationed in Eastern Europe, and the mom saved a gypsies life (almost hit by a car) and the gypsy gave something to the mom. Anyway, the mom had visions of an old queen and her incestuous lifestyle and the mom felt powerful urges to live that out with her son.

The story was popular on all accounts and managed a 4.60 from 2 pages, which is hard to do, imo.

So I defienetly think nonhuman/supernatural elements can succeed in other categorizes, if there's some sort of forewarning in the title/description, and the heart of the story is something that's erotic.

 

[DreamCloud]

Just posted a Sci-fi in Romance. It went live last night and is doing fairly well with no complaints.

As long as the story has the elements of the category, I don't think it matters a great deal.

 

[HandsInTheDark]

The categories don't make much sense, so it almost doesn't matter where you put them.

I have non-consent in Mind Control (Toymaker). I have D/s in BDSM, where it didn't really fit but it continues to flirt with the hall of fame there, so whatever (Why I Hate My Roommate.) I have sci-fi settings in Reluctance (Why I Love My Job; The Captured Princess) and reluctance in Sci-Fi (Becoming Marie).

The best you can do is try to determine what's central to your story, and categorize accordingly.

If you're really conflicted, the best you can do is minimize reader shock. So:

If your story contains any incest, put in there, regardless of other themes.
If your story contains non-consent, put it there, regardless of anything but incest. (Reluctance is apparently much less of a dealbreaker.)
If your story abuses a wife, put it in the paradoxical Loving wives, regardless of anything but etc.
Erotic Horror is next.

I mostly follow these rules and my stuff ranks ok. Take it for what it is worth.

 

[Handley_Page]

Does anyone have any experience with this?

What would the results be in putting a story with werewolves, sorcerers, magic, demons, ect... in categories like lesbian or non-consent?

Reason being, it'll probably get more views than simply keeping it in nonhuman.

Or should stories like these stay in non-human where they're welcomed?

thanks

The last thing I want to see in the "LW" or "EC" or, god help me, a "Romance", is tentacles, ghosts or giant spiders, thank you.
If I saw something which 'didn't fit' to my mind, a 1 star would be the best you might hope for, I expect.

And in the end Laurel has the last say in which category a story goes.

She's never changed a story's category as far as I'm aware.

Probably because it happens before it gets out., I expect.
It's her train set; she can do whatever she wants !

 

[sr71plt]

Probably because it happens before it gets out., I expect.
It's her train set; she can do whatever she wants !

Or someone just isn't observant or makes calls without being here long enough to see what's what. The day after the "never seen" call, the commenter responded to someone over on the Story Feedback forum on a story put in a different category than requested.

 

[karaline]

I was going to try and articulate my thoughts on this question, then I read Tx Tall Tales' How To on Categories as linked by Le Kitty and yup, that about covers it for me.

 

[Hypoxia]

The best you can do is try to determine what's central to your story, and categorize accordingly.

If you're really conflicted, the best you can do is minimize reader shock. So:

If your story contains any incest, put in there, regardless of other themes.
If your story contains non-consent, put it there, regardless of anything but incest. (Reluctance is apparently much less of a dealbreaker.)
If your story abuses a wife, put it in the paradoxical Loving wives, regardless of anything but etc.
Erotic Horror is next.

I agree that the central theme is controlling. I disagree that *any* incest, non-con, or wife-play (or MM or BDSM) demands rigid categorization. I did well with such as non-central themes in Group Sex, Erotic Couplings, and other categories. I leave little warnings of deviances in a prefatory Author's Note to try to avoid reader shock. Of course almost anything in LW will be shat upon by irate customers. Such is life.

EDIT: This is my LIT post #7000. Only 777 more to go.