The importance of the title

[Britva415]

To me as a reader, the shortdesc is even more important than the title. They're both important.

 

[RejectReality]

The description is available nearly everywhere the title is, and not much less prominent. As far as I'm concerned, they're a pair. I can have a story title that doesn't necessarily evoke anything, but if I put the right buzzwords in the description, it's going to fly just as well.

 

[Euphony]

The description is available nearly everywhere the title is, and not much less prominent. As far as I'm concerned, they're a pair. I can have a story title that doesn't necessarily evoke anything, but if I put the right buzzwords in the description, it's going to fly just as well.

I really hope this is universal. I've not been able to get over my hang up w/sacrificing title (often an extension/subtext of my theme) to garner looks on my small portfolio account.

Description feels the other side of the author/reader agreement coin (for the masses) but I'm willing to admit I'm perhaps being a little precious.

 

[Smuttyandfun]

My most read stories, probably have the most provocative titles: Sexy Sadie, Mating Season, Breeding Bull, My Wicked Neighbor and Taking Care of Mom.

I think the choice of title actually helps to determine how many people will take the time to read it. I have higher rated stories that haven't seen nearly as much traffic, which makes me think that a catchy title actually does help to draw in a reader.

 

[RejectReality]

I really hope this is universal. I've not been able to get over my hang up w/sacrificing title (often an extension/subtext of my theme) to garner looks on my small portfolio account.

Description feels the other side of the author/reader agreement coin (for the masses) but I'm willing to admit I'm perhaps being a little precious.

I say don't sacrifice your creative license with title. The description can do the lifting for those who want more "who's fucking who, and how".

 

[RejectReality]

Holly Jolley Christmas - Sister's bi roomie needs some Xmas cock... And so does Sis. ( Incest )

Rim Fire - Breaking the bro-code with best friend's little sister. ( Anal )

Peppermint Patty - Sis craves peppermint and brother craves sis. ( Incest )

Recycled - Daughter dumps boyfriend, but Mom's into recycling. ( Mature )

Taste of Sherry - He's not 21, but he wants a taste of his mom's friend Sherry. ( Mature )

Boned - Hot Mom's witch costume gets her a bone for her cauldron. ( Mature )

Sunny Daze - Little sister Sunny grew up while I was away at college. ( Incest )

One Incredible Costume - Daughter's friend has an unexpected Halloween treat for Dad. ( Mature )

( Ordered by number of views ) That's why I say the description can do the lifting. Even in Incest, my most read submissions don't call out the couplings in the title. Actually, two as Les that would be #1 and #2 on this list if included do both have Mom in the title, but it's not because I sacrificed any creative license. The play on words that appealed to me happened to include it.

Could they maybe do more if I threw those buzzwords in the title? I suppose. Whatever the difference, it's a sacrifice I'm willing to make to have fun with my titles.

 

[SimonDoom]

I agree with RejectReality that the tagline/description can complement the title. If the title is allusive/suggestive but not descriptive, then make the description clear and descriptive.

But I'll add that the FIRST thing the prospective reader will see is the title, not the description. That is your first and best opportunity to grab the prospective reader's attention.

 

[Rob_Royale]

RejectReality and Simon both make great points and I'm so very torn. I may sacrifice my next chosen title for something with a buzzword mostly out of morbid curiosity.

 

[SimonDoom]

RejectReality and Simon both make great points and I'm so very torn. I may sacrifice my next chosen title for something with a buzzword mostly out of morbid curiosity.

Try it both ways and see what happens. What do you have to lose?

 

[Rob_Royale]

Try it both ways and see what happens. What do you have to lose?

Yep. You're right. The next title will be MILF Cruise - Upgraded instead of just Upgraded. We'll see how it goes.

 

[RejectReality]

Yep. You're right. The next title will be MILF Cruise - Upgraded instead of just Upgraded. We'll see how it goes.

That one's in my list of one word titles, and as yet unused on Lit when I checked it. ( been a while, so it may have been used since ) So I'll be happy to keep that one in reserve I'm almost as fond of one word titles as I am puns and wordplay.

 

[sirhugs]

I am going to be someone that offers a different opinion ... and I think I am in the minority at that.

Let me preface what I say - what others are saying about viewership is likely very true ... while I like that people would read my stories and like them (hopefully) ... I admit that my main goal when writing is more to write...I guess, for myself. (Admittedly, on Lit I do write a little for the audience...meaning, I put sex in the stories when I normally would not. The reason I write in Lit is a WHOLE other story though...I will try to keep on topic...)

Anyway, to me, the title is a huge deal. I try to pick something that has meaning to me and to the story. It's not necessarily descriptive of the story, but is a part of it. Again, my main objective is not to get viewership ... and again, that is just me ... I know a lot here are great writers and want viewership....there is nothing wrong with that. So what most everyone has said is correct in regards to that.

However, for me, the title of a writing .. a book...a poem ... is integral to the story told. I tend to like to tie it together with my story....and I know that a lot, if not most readers won't pick up on it. And I am okay with that.

Some examples (and I only have a few, as I have not published a lot in Lit ... so take what I say with a gazillion grains of salt)...

The story I did, that was titled, "A Costume Party at the Forum" was written about some of my experiences in Lit ... in these forum pages. While the physical setting was at the Forum in Englewood, I was really alluding to the threads and the people I met here.

In another submission, I titled it, "Butterfly Nectar". I sprinkled references or allusions to that. The name of a juice bar, the way the protagonist's err...legs....spread. I even tied it in to the opening of the doors of the juice bar. Again, would anyone else have caught that? Perhaps not ... unless you read it for themes. I guess that is how I write...and how I read.

A final example. Its a story from a very good friend who writes here, and who I think is one of the better writers - @TarnishedPenny .. and I hope its okay that I use TP's work as an example. However, TP wrote a story titled "Black to White" .... and it is GREAT. After I finished reading the story, I appreciated the title so much more. Everything just tied together for me. (I won't say what it was about in case others wish to read it.)

At any rate, perhaps the importance of a title in Lit differs from that of other sites or writing venues ... but...those are just my thoughts.

" I try to pick something that has meaning to me and to the story"... exactly what I did in my bunions story. Sacrificed views for my own satisfaction. As you say, a big deal. Thus important.
I don't think that puts you in the minority at all, DR.

 

[NoTalentHack]

I’d also say that category can matter for how artsy you do get with a title. LW, Romance, and Sci-fi lend themselves to artsy titles with good short description. On the far end, Interracial stories all seem to do best if they’re very explicit about the story content.

 

[grey228]

A title that is descriptive enough to give me a summary without spoiling the plot / outcome draws my first click.

The meat of the story will hold my attention for more than 1 paragraph.

A good hook / mystery / "draw" will get me to keep reading past page 1.

A story that has too many pages (see — https://literotica.com/s/uncertain-justice-1) may cause me to never read it (I page skipped / skimmed Uncertain Justice, and personally believe it could've been accomplished in 8-16 pages in Lit-format).

 

[K.A. Ryde]

I always have a dumb need to have a title that sounds like a William Blake quote before I pull myself back to sanity and remember that I'm writing fairly standard-concept porn.

 

[Rob_Royale]

Try it both ways and see what happens. What do you have to lose?

That one's in my list of one word titles, and as yet unused on Lit when I checked it. ( been a while, so it may have been used since ) So I'll be happy to keep that one in reserve I'm almost as fond of one word titles as I am puns and wordplay.

Well, this little experiment has been very interesting. Please note the publishing dates. The only difference between them is that MILF Cruise is 12.8k words and Hedonism House is 20k words. I suppose some people see a long story and pass.

 

[RejectReality]

Well, this little experiment has been very interesting. Please note the publishing dates. The only difference between them is that MILF Cruise is 12.8k words and Hedonism House is 20k words. I suppose some people see a long story and pass.

View attachment 2199091

What did you pull with vote totals?

 

[Rob_Royale]

What did you pull with vote totals?

 

[RejectReality]

Such a strange combination... Lower score despite a longer story. Despite the startlingly low vote totals, it still pulled in a comparable of favorites. The views aren't that far apart, really...

With the number of favorites, you would expect it consisted primarily of regular readers. The score doesn't reflect that though. Your stories are all in the category, so no split of your followers. Milf Cruise is your shortest, ( by a little bit ) but Hedonism is right in line with your previous offerings so far as length. Nothing in the comments offers any insight.

It's a baffling result to me — particularly that low vote total. I suppose you about have to chalk part of it up to being on the nose with the title, but still... Unless people don't know what hedonism means, the other title is hardly unprovocative.

Anyway, it's plot point on the graph.

 

[SabrinaGLangton]

Titles are important. One story of mine that should have been popular, if I may say so myself, was a fun tale poorly titled Funions, Onions, Bunions. It failed to find its audience. My least viewed story, but a score of 4.33 suggests more readers could have enjoyed it.

I think the title is so important to ME, maybe not the reader, they know what they like. sometimes I have a story waiting to be published because I am waiting for that magical title to appear. I also like when the title takes you by surprise, comes up in the context of the story, or refers to something you didn't realize was important in the first place. Unfortunately, our readers want to know everything from the title, I don't think they like surprises... And on a side note, my two stories with 'wife' in the title are pretty popular, ha.

 

[BobbyBrandt]

I haven't traditionally placed a lot of focus on titles here on Lit. The description carries more weight for me.

 

[ofbuttons]

My first series is called "Mistaken by Daddy", and it's not an I/T story. Despite the gay content, I put it in NC/R due to, well, the non-consenting stuff (and decided I'd rather offend prudish heterosexuals than put non-con where it shouldn't be), but I called it that to deliberately advertise its gay male content (in conjunction with the slug which makes it explicit).

I didn't realise, however, the prevalence of I/T, which will likely explain the way higher view count for my first chapter and the (relatively) low star rating, lol. Live and learn.

 

[SimonDoom]

Well, this little experiment has been very interesting. Please note the publishing dates. The only difference between them is that MILF Cruise is 12.8k words and Hedonism House is 20k words. I suppose some people see a long story and pass.

View attachment 2199091

I think the sample size is too small and the results too close for us to draw any firm conclusions. It's possible people simply thought MILF Cruise was better written, offsetting any considerations of story length or title. Maybe it had less competition from other stories when it was published.

They both seem to me like good examples of titles for the subject matter: each title contains a titillating word (MILF and Hedonism), and the titles and descriptions, taken together, clearly anchor the stories in the Mature category, giving the reader a fair expectation of finding something that will satisfy expectations.

 

[JGittes]

Well, this little experiment has been very interesting. Please note the publishing dates. The only difference between them is that MILF Cruise is 12.8k words and Hedonism House is 20k words. I suppose some people see a long story and pass.

View attachment 2199091

I rarely disagree with Reject or Simon, but if I'm reading the number of votes your two stories received correctly (you posted that screen capture later in the thread), I will disagree with both.

Votes per view for Milf Cruise (1:36) are nearly three times higher than for Hedonism (1:97), and the number of raw views is significantly higher even with a much shorter (three days v three weeks) viewing window. Two differences contribute; story length and title/description.

I write long stories and see a direct correlation between story length and the votes per view number. The metrics vary among categories, and I write in multiple categories and categories other than yours. Although my specific ratios won't directly apply to you, it is clear that the longer the story, the fewer readers who initially click a story will follow through to vote.

My interpretation is that Milf Cruise - Upgraded, and the description gives a provocative possibility and a specific gendered/age differential that 'preselects' an audience who (provided you deliver the goods) will follow through your long enough, but not too long story and vote. Headonism House isn't provocative (at least in the same way), and an older woman could be an older woman/older man, older woman/group, or something else. Readers have to click to discover if the kinks will be in their wheelhouse, and when they do click, the story may be longer than they're willing to engage, even if it aligns otherwise.

 

[SimonDoom]

I rarely disagree with Reject or Simon, but if I'm reading the number of votes your two stories received correctly (you posted that screen capture later in the thread), I will disagree with both.

Votes per view for Milf Cruise (1:36) are nearly three times higher than for Hedonism (1:97), and the number of raw views is significantly higher even with a much shorter (three days v three weeks) viewing window. Two differences contribute; story length and title/description.

I write long stories and see a direct correlation between story length and the votes per view number. The metrics vary among categories, and I write in multiple categories and categories other than yours. Although my specific ratios won't directly apply to you, it is clear that the longer the story, the fewer readers who initially click a story will follow through to vote.

My interpretation is that Milf Cruise - Upgraded, and the description gives a provocative possibility and a specific gendered/age differential that 'preselects' an audience who (provided you deliver the goods) will follow through your long enough, but not too long story and vote. Headonism House isn't provocative (at least in the same way), and an older woman could be an older woman/older man, older woman/group, or something else. Readers have to click to discover if the kinks will be in their wheelhouse, and when they do click, the story may be longer than they're willing to engage, even if it aligns otherwise.

You could be right. The data seems consistent with what you're saying. I just think we don't really know. It's also possible that Milf Cruise is a better story (I haven't read them). If true, this fact might override any other in importance.

I agree 100% that longer stories tend to have higher view:vote ratios, and it's also true that late chapters have lower view:vote ratios. But perhaps JUST as striking is that these two phenomena are not as striking as I would predict. There are long stories that have excellent view:vote ratios. Even more striking is that the view:vote ratio does not change over the course of a chaptered series NEARLY as much as my common sense tells me it should.