Restrictions on second/third accounts?

[NoTalentHack]

I've got something kind of meta that I'm toying with for the On The Job event. Is there any kind of restriction on having additional accounts? Obviously I shouldn't/won't use them to rig votes or sockpuppet, but are there any other restrictions?

 

[ElectricBlue]

None. Several AH writers have different accounts for different content, and are quite open about it.

Some do sock puppet themselves, but look ridiculous doing it, because they've been spotted.

 

[Carnevil9]

It's smart of you to ask, because I know of message boards where "socking" is an insta-bannable offense. But here it is considered pretty much standard order of business.

 

[SimonDoom]

Some do sock puppet themselves, but look ridiculous doing it, because they've been spotted.

Hmmm. Maybe I need to re-think "DoomFan."

On a serious note, which I take once in a while, in response to the OP: I don't have a separate account, but I can seem being useful if you write stories to different categories and worry that the fans of one won't be appreciative of your stories in another. Some people don't like incest stories and don't want to read authors who write them. Some fans hate certain kinds of Loving Wives stories and will downvote your other stories if you write the kind they don't like.

 

[Lifestyle66]

Second accounts seem deceptive to me. Just my opinion. But I am who I am, and I write what I write.

I write as a first-person male geek, as my main character. If I change to suddenly creating another account as a female, who am I kidding?

And that raises another issue with another recent forum blog when a new author asked for a FEMALE POV,and was slammed by authors here!!! Many told him to read FEMALE authored stories!

How many of YOU authors here are males pretending to sell a female POV with another account claiming you are there and KNOW from your lifetime perspective how females really feel??? I know of at least TWO of you who are males with female-named accounts!

So, basically OP, create a second account for whatever reason, and go with the flow. You wouldn't be the first ... or the last to do so!

 

[ElectricBlue]

How many of YOU authors here are males pretending to sell a female POV with another account claiming you are there and KNOW from your lifetime perspective how females really feel??? I know of at least TWO of you who are males with female-named accounts!

I write plenty of female point of view stories, but they're all put out under EB66, and anybody who knows of me here, knows I'm male. Except those who think I'm a woman. I personally don't see the point of alt accounts, but then, I don't write in the most vociferous categories.

 

[ElectricBlue]

Hmmm. Maybe I need to re-think "DoomFan."

CaptainDoomandtheUnicorn?

 

[KeithD]

As sr71plt, I wrote and posted across the board. But because many of my stories were GM, I got slams both in story comments and here on the discussion board for writing in any other categories. Since I separated accounts by genre, my scores and comments have been better in non-GM accounts and story comments haven't pursued this. The Web site permits it, so it happens and those who don't like it can pound sand.

 

[ChloeTzang]

Hmmm. Maybe I need to re-think "DoomFan."

On a serious note, which I take once in a while, in response to the OP: I don't have a separate account, but I can seem being useful if you write stories to different categories and worry that the fans of one won't be appreciative of your stories in another. Some people don't like incest stories and don't want to read authors who write them. Some fans hate certain kinds of Loving Wives stories and will downvote your other stories if you write the kind they don't like.

Yep. I have a second account for my dystopian Sci-Fi stories, because they're a lot different from all my other stories. Not much sex and way more violence. I thought I'd get a lot of kickback on them when I wrote them, but I didn't, so it was a bit pointless. LOL My fears were groundless.

 

[Rustyoznail]

Three characters in one of my stories wrote a fictional piece of fiction here under the name "RedLezRedemption". I created an account with that name so no one else could pinch it.

 

[TxRad]

If alts were not allowed, there would only be three people on the GB and four in the Political forum.

 

[KeithD]

If alts were not allowed, there would only be three people on the GB and four in the Political forum.

Apples and kumquats. Think it's story-producing accounts being discussed here.

 

[Britva415]

Apples and kumquats. Think it's story-producing accounts being discussed here.

Not sure what's being said here.

Story alts are allowed but forum alts are not?

 

[KeithD]

Not sure what's being said here.

Story alts are allowed but forum alts are not?

Both allowed. One or more regular poster on the Political Board changes alts every couple of days, often due to being banned.

 

[Lifestyle66]

I write plenty of female point of view stories, but they're all put out under EB66, and anybody who knows of me here, knows I'm male. Except those who think I'm a woman. I personally don't see the point of alt accounts, but then, I don't write in the most vociferous categories.

There's nothing deceptive about a guy writing female POV stories as you're doing with your account. And there's nothing deceptive with setting up a second account to post in different categories to rid yourself of the 1-bombing followers.

But if I created another account with a name like CarrieShaw, and claimed to be a female to write from a female POV, it would be hilarious to see the fawning response those stories would receive. I could probably even post the same male POV stories and add more than 1.0 to my average ratings.

This is the Internet, and people are that gullible ...and unscrupulous.

I just found it interesting when the advice to a guy asking for a female POV was told to "read stories written by females!" They were clueless!

 

[MelissaBaby]

But if I created another account with a name like CarrieShaw, and claimed to be a female to write from a female POV, it would be hilarious to see the fawning response those stories would receive. I could probably even post the same male POV stories and add more than 1.0 to my average ratings.

So, when a female identified writer gets a high score, it's not because they wrote a good story, but because they are female?

 

[KeithD]

I just found it interesting when the advice to a guy asking for a female POV was told to "read stories written by females!" They were clueless!

Yes, but there are postings here on the board occasionally giving stats on the "female" or "male" site members. It's clueless, of course, to take a claimed account gender at face value here.

 

[AwkwardlySet]

He so walked into that one. I wouldn't say anything about the scores, but the predominant male reader community does make a difference in general, as the sexual appeal for them is certainly greater if a woman wrote an erotic story (even more if it's an attractive woman) rather than a male (I am talking about non-gay male readers of course). I would guess that female authors get more feedback on average, both inappropriate and positive one.

 

[KeithD]

I would guess that female authors get more feedback on average, both inappropriate and positive one.

Speaking of walking into it: The point is that there's no way to tell who is actually a female author here.

 

[Djmac1031]

I've considered creating a second account where I could crank out super easy, super lazy Stroke Stories just to see what would happen.

But I don't see the point. If I decide to write one of those, I may as well own it and post it under my main account.

 

[Lifestyle66]

So, when a female identified writer gets a high score, it's not because they wrote a good story, but because they are female?

I think there are a lot of male readers who give a higher rating to a story told from a female POV, if they think it's written by a female. Those male readers would probably be more critical of the same story posted by a male author.

Regardless of how well a guy might write a romance story, let's face facts: fewer women will buy a romance novel from an author named Ralph. And for a sex story, more guys will salivate over a female writing about going wild, more so than a guy writing about being a female going wild. They'll more likely consider the latter as "in your dreams."

Look at the story trends in Loving Wives for evidence. Those trolls will 1-bomb a story of a guy finding his wife cheating, and the guy accepts it. BUT the same scenario wife-cheating-husband-accepts-it when told from the wife POV rates much higher. It's not a stretch to think they rate female POV stories higher because they want to hear the female writer's POV. It's part of the total package for sales to create the account name to lead them to better acceptance. And there are at least two authors here who could provide their own experience of their stories ratings from their female accounts.

Life is not always fair. It's just life, and ad agencies exploit their knowledge of reality that sex sells.

 

[Bramblethorn]

Second accounts seem deceptive to me. Just my opinion. But I am who I am, and I write what I write.

I write as a first-person male geek, as my main character. If I change to suddenly creating another account as a female, who am I kidding?

There are plenty of non-deceptive reasons for using alt accounts.

Some folk use it for brand differentiation - the romance writer Nora Roberts also publishes crime novels as J.D. Robb, there's no secret about it, but it means people who want romance aren't inadvertently buying a book about gruesome murders instead. Many other pro authors have done similar things.

Some authors who've built up a reputation use an alt pen-name because they want to see what kind of reaction their work gets on the strength of the story rather than on their reputation (e.g. Stephen King/Richard Bachman, arguably JK Rowling/Robert Galbraith although I'm inclined to suspect that was more of a promotional gimmick).

Some use an alt for collaborations.

And some want to be able to post a story to LW without having the basement dwellers shit all over everything they've ever written. Fair enough.

I don't have an alt on this site but if any of the above reasons applied, I'd have no reservations about creating one.

And that raises another issue with another recent forum blog when a new author asked for a FEMALE POV,and was slammed by authors here!!! Many told him to read FEMALE authored stories!

How many of YOU authors here are males pretending to sell a female POV with another account claiming you are there and KNOW from your lifetime perspective how females really feel??? I know of at least TWO of you who are males with female-named accounts!

This seems like a separate issue. People don't need to be running alt accounts to masquerade as somebody they're not, and running alts doesn't mean that they are.

 

[MelissaBaby]

I think there are a lot of male readers who give a higher rating to a story told from a female POV, if they think it's written by a female. Those male readers would probably be more critical of the same story posted by a male author.

Regardless of how well a guy might write a romance story, let's face facts: fewer women will buy a romance novel from an author named Ralph. And for a sex story, more guys will salivate over a female writing about going wild, more so than a guy writing about being a female going wild. They'll more likely consider the latter as "in your dreams."

Look at the story trends in Loving Wives for evidence. Those trolls will 1-bomb a story of a guy finding his wife cheating, and the guy accepts it. BUT the same scenario wife-cheating-husband-accepts-it when told from the wife POV rates much higher. It's not a stretch to think they rate female POV stories higher because they want to hear the female writer's POV. It's part of the total package for sales to create the account name to lead them to better acceptance. And there are at least two authors here who could provide their own experience of their stories ratings from their female accounts.

Life is not always fair. It's just life, and ad agencies exploit their knowledge of reality that sex sells.

So, to my question:

So, when a female identified writer gets a high score, it's not because they wrote a good story, but because they are female?

Your answer is "Yes."

 

[Djmac1031]

I think there are a lot of male readers who give a higher rating to a story told from a female POV, if they think it's written by a female.

In all honesty I rarely check the "gender" of any author in particular before reading a story.

That said; you're probably on point. As a man, reading a sexy story written by a woman has the particular edge of being more titillating just by the thought that the woman who wrote it MIGHT be as hot and sexually open as her character.

When we read male POV stories, it's usually from the perspective if "Yeah, that's what I'd do to that woman, too."

When we read female POV stories, especially written BY a woman, we're thinking "wow, I wish I knew a woman like this."

Not claiming to speak for every guy, of course, because of course everyone is different. Just generally.

 

[Lifestyle66]

So, to my question:


Your answer is "Yes."

In some many words: Yes!

This is like women saying they need to work twice as hard as a man in the business world to receive the same pay or recognition. If that is true, then in the real world, there are other gender advantages which work as well, and in writing. the guys looking for jerk-off material want to hear from young sexy ladies more than from some old man.

I've written one of those gender advantages is in my next chapter (probably publishing in a week or two), where the wife points out how she can enjoy far more sex than her husband is physically capable of, just because she's a woman.

But as AwkwardlySet pointed out: I really walked into that one.