The Official Author's Hangout 2014 Valentine's Day Contest Support Thread

[sr71plt]

I just read the "full contest rules". I was surprised. I couldn't see a rule saying that competition entries are not to have been published previously. Perhaps my looking was inadequate.

No, there's no such rule. (I published one of my recent Winter Holiday Contest stories to the marketplace while it was still in the contest here.) It couldn't have been published before to Literotica itself, but that's mainly because Laurel doesn't permit a second posting of the same story (more than one copy in the file) to the file at all. I got into a wrangle over this on posting a significant expansion and leaving the shorter version, with its ratings and comments in the file (but that's finally what was permitted).

 

[lovecraft68]

I just read the "full contest rules". I was surprised. I couldn't see a rule saying that competition entries are not to have been published previously. Perhaps my looking was inadequate.

You are allowed to post a story you have previously posted somewhere else, either for free or for sale. The rule is it that it cannot have been posted before to lit

although I wonder if the original was pulled months before if the site would catch it. Regardless I would imagine you would get some readers remarking they read it before.

 

[A_Little_Show]

[deleted]

 

[lovecraft68]

I suspect stories are never REALLY removed from the site. I think they are no longer displayed once "deleted". I asked to have my stories removed a few years ago, and they were. When I came back, I posted a couple of the old stories without changing the titles. The newly posted ones had "-1" appended to the URLs when the originals had no trailing number. The only reason for them to be named that way is because the original URL was still in use somewhere in the site.

They all have -1 at the end.

here is one of mine

http://www.literotica.com/s/home-is-where-the-heart-is-1

What I did recently discover is some type of "wayback feature" that links to an archive and even if you removed your stories they can still be viewed there.

Not happy about that feature.

 

[Neonurotic]

@Little,

Or maybe Laurel anticipates someone will likely name their story the same title. You could always test your theory out and change the link through your story page without the "-1". It's the same page you see your votes and views. There's a link to do that for any of your stories/poems. It takes a two or three days for it to be approved. I changed the link on one of my stories that way last year.

 

[_Lynn_]

They all have -1 at the end.

here is one of mine

http://www.literotica.com/s/home-is-where-the-heart-is-1

What I did recently discover is some type of "wayback feature" that links to an archive and even if you removed your stories they can still be viewed there.

Not happy about that feature.

They don't all have -1 at the end. I just looked at six of mine and none have that.

I think the number has something to do with how many other stories on Lit already have the same title.

 

[PennLady]

I suspect stories are never REALLY removed from the site. I think they are no longer displayed once "deleted". I asked to have my stories removed a few years ago, and they were. When I came back, I posted a couple of the old stories without changing the titles. The newly posted ones had "-1" appended to the URLs when the originals had no trailing number. The only reason for them to be named that way is because the original URL was still in use somewhere in the site.

No, it could mean that someone else submitted a story with the same title. after your deletions and before your re-submission. Theirs would have no number, yours would have the -1.

They all have -1 at the end.

here is one of mine

http://www.literotica.com/s/home-is-where-the-heart-is-1

What I did recently discover is some type of "wayback feature" that links to an archive and even if you removed your stories they can still be viewed there.

Not happy about that feature.

They don't all have a -1.

Here's one of mine: http://www.literotica.com/s/horses-in-the-city

And there are others with no number at the end.

OTOH, I have one called "Lessons Learned," and the URL has -14 at the end. If you search titles for "Lessons Learned," you can see the others with that title and their numbers. I don't know if all 14 are there, but many of them are.

Generally speaking, I am not surprised to find that anything can be found if you dig hard enough, because nothing ever really dies on the internet. And I think I've heard of that wayback site/link you mentioned.

 

[PennLady]

They don't all have -1 at the end. I just looked at six of mine and none have that.

I think the number has something to do with how many other stories on Lit already have the same title.

Said much more succinctly than I did.

 

[_Lynn_]

Said much more succinctly than I did.

I was just too lazy to type more words.

 

[lovecraft68]

Well isn't that something? I clicked the lat three stories I got comments on and they had -1

Then after looking at your comments. I started jumping around my page and as PL said found a bunch with no number and a few with random numbers.

So if it is -7 that means six other stories have that exact name?

 

[A_Little_Show]

[deleted]

 

[_Lynn_]

Well isn't that something? I clicked the lat three stories I got comments on and they had -1

Then after looking at your comments. I started jumping around my page and as PL said found a bunch with no number and a few with random numbers.

So if it is -7 that means six other stories have that exact name?

My story Trapped (from 2008) ends with -15. A search brings up sixteen stories with that title plus many more that are chapters.

 

[patientlee]

I check before I decide on a title. I'm not fond of sharing.

ETA: I mean I do now. After the second time I got a -1 I figured it out.

 

[PennLady]

Well isn't that something? I clicked the lat three stories I got comments on and they had -1

Then after looking at your comments. I started jumping around my page and as PL said found a bunch with no number and a few with random numbers.

So if it is -7 that means six other stories have that exact name?

Something like that. I think it means that the first has no number, so it'd really be seven other stories -- no number, then 1-6 -- before the -7 story. No idea if URLs are re-used, although I don't see why they couldn't be.

Seems to me it was a couple or three years ago that they did a big change, because before that the URLs weren't so "easy," as I recall. They were more numeric, or something. Like a string was assigned.

 

[PennLady]

http://www.literotica.com/s/simulated-sex brings up a 404 page, and I'm 99% sure that was the original URL because I have it in email correspondence from years ago when originally submitted.

Others would know better, but like I said in a previous post, I think that URL did not used to include the title, but I can't remember how many years ago that was. So that might have been, might not, your original URL.

It may be that the exact same URL is never recycled even if the original has been deleted and the URL is now invalid. It might be a curtesy to third parties who link to Literotica so links can break but they never point to content not created by the original author who had the URL. It could be a way to avoid misattribution.

It could also be -- and I'm just guessing, seriously -- that after you took yours down, someone else submitted one with that title, and it got the URL without the number. Then you submitted yours and it got -1, and somewhere in there, the story with no number was removed from the site.

But it could be that URLs aren't re-used, which would make some sense to me. Like I said, my guess above is just that.

 

[oggbashan]

My story Trapped (from 2008) ends with -15. A search brings up sixteen stories with that title plus many more that are chapters.

My much abused one Trapped ends with -7.

I try to avoid titles that others have used.

My Nude Day story Getting Nude With Chairman Mao has no suffix. I wonder why not?

 

[patientlee]

My much abused one Trapped ends with -7.

I try to avoid titles that others have used.

My Nude Day story Getting Nude With Chairman Mao has no suffix. I wonder why not?

Crap. That was going to be my Valentine's Day title. Maybe I'll change nude to naked.

 

[_Lynn_]

My much abused one Trapped ends with -7.

I try to avoid titles that others have used.

My Nude Day story Getting Nude With Chairman Mao has no suffix. I wonder why not?

I hadn't been writing long then and didn't know what to watch for.

 

[sr71plt]

I sometimes look at titles to make sure that I'm not duplicating in the same category, but if I really like my title, I don't bother to check. You can't copyright a title and they get duplicated in the mainstream too. They just try to avoid ones that have appeared on best-sellers or classics.

 

[hoo_hoo_boo]

I have a story I'm planning to submit for the Valentine's Day competition. It consists of a monologue with another very short quote at the end. My problem is I'm not sure about quotation marks. Is it sufficient to put quotation marks at the beginning and end of the monologue or is it necessary to put the quotation marks at the beginning of every paragraph with one at the conclusion of the monologue. I've seen it done both ways. I don't know which is correct. If some one knows I'd be very grateful. Thank you.

I also understand there is no limit to the number of stories an individual can submit to a competition. I have 5, perhaps more. It will be my last competition as far as I can tell because I'm moving to where I won't have internet access. I have no idea when I will get it as the place I'm moving to is remote. I figure I may as well put them all in as I have them. I have found the Valentine's Day concept interesting for some time and used it to base stories around as it adds piquancy to the story.

 

[sr71plt]

For quotes going across more than one paragraph, each paragraph starts with an opening quote mark and only the last paragraph ends with a close quote mark.

You're right, there's no limit to how many you can submit. A year or so ago, I submitted a dozen, all in different categories (which was the hook), just for the hell of it.

 

[hoo_hoo_boo]

For quotes going across more than one paragraph, each paragraph starts with an opening quote mark and only the last paragraph ends with a close quote mark.

You're right, there's no limit to how many you can submit. A year or so ago, I submitted a dozen, all in different categories (which was the hook), just for the hell of it.

Thank you. I will leave it as it is.

I submit some times. I find I get more comments in competitions. Thank you.

 

[HeyAll]

Question:

Could there ever be legal issues over posting a story here on Lit?

For instance, what if I wrote a story about a Mayor named John Smith, who does horrible things. As it turns out, there's actually a mayor named John Smith.

Will that lead to any problems?

 

[sr71plt]

Anybody could sue anybody for anything. Your concern is more whether anyone would do it and whether they had a good chance of winning. There's little chance anyone would sue you over a story here--little chance they could even track down who you are and could prove the connection to a court's satisfaction, or would bother to do that--but if John Smith wanted to try, he could. The success of his suit would hang on him proving that you were writing about him specifically, though. Your risks of anything of this nature happening are probably somewhere in the 1/80th of the 1 percent likelihood.

 

[oggbashan]

Bump.

Contest nearly upon you - I'm ineligible...