The Official Authors' Hangout Summer Lovin' 2024 Contest Support Thread

[FreyaGersemi]

You posted on the Summer Lovin support thread. The contest finished back in Sept. You might want to go look for the proper Halloween support thread.

I got confused, too, because all of the sudden, the Summer Contest thread heated up again.

 

[Rustyoznail]

You posted on the Summer Lovin support thread. The contest finished back in Sept. You might want to go look for the proper Halloween support thread.

@Morevinila - this...

These things happen. Just copy/paste across to the right thread.

 

[Morevinila]

Os sorry about that . Thank you. I think I got my answer anyway (about when to use tag MATURE) - but I'll do as you suggest post it again on Halloween support thread.

 

[gordo12]

I'm pleased to announce I finally heard from Laurel, and my Amazon Certificate prize arrived a few minutes later. Thank you to all who responded, especially if you read and voted for the story.

 

[WittyUserName]

Thanks to everyone who voted on Abbott Trails! I'm honored by third place. Sorry this reply took so long. I just got access to the forums.

 

[Slingshot7]

Welcome to:

The Official Authors' Hangout Summer Lovin' 2024 Contest Support Thread​

Today, June 20 2024, is the first day of SUMMER!!! A weekend at the beach, a campsite in the forest, a hike along the Appalachian Trail, cheap seats at the ball game, a bucket of beer and a back yard full of friends, these are all signs of summer and I'm sure you have more. While our friends in Oz are scraping frost off the windshield and thawing out the drop bears, up north we're tossing hotdogs on the grill. Either way nothing says summer like a hot keyboard and an overworked imagination!

Let's go!

Summer Lovin' (summertime)
Themes: warm weather, summer activities, bikinis, etc.
Submissions start on (or before): August 16
Last Submission: September 6 at 11:59 EDT
Winners announced: September 13

The rules:

- All submissions must be stand-alone stories created for this contest theme. We will not accept individual chapters of a larger work submitted separately. If you have a multi-chaptered contest-themed submission, please submit all chapters together as one story submission. (It is perfectly fine to continue your contest story in another tale, either for the monthly contests or another special contest.)

- We will allow authors who have won in our monthly contests within the last 6 months to win in this special contest However, if you have won a prize in one of the last two special contests, you are not eligible to win in this one.

- A story has only to accrue 25 votes to be eligible, rather than the 50 required for the monthly contest.

- Submissions must have a Summer Lovin' theme: hot weather, beaches, barbecues, vacations, etc. Be creative! Please don't just submit a normal story that takes place in a pool. That would not be in the spirit of the contest, and readers (aka voters) will likely punish you for your trickiness.

- Please ensure you have "SUMMER LOVIN 2024" in the Notes to Admin field and use it as a tag. We recommend that you copy and paste to avoid typos. If it is not in the NOTES field – or if it's typoed - we cannot easily find your story and it may not be approved in a timely manner to be entered into the contest!!


This thread is to SUPPORT and ENCOURAGE authors to enter stories in the 2024 Summer Lovin' Contest. Bring out the squirt guns, the inflatable mattresses, and the sunscreen, and open yourself to some sizzling summer Fun Times!

Just remember, it has to be summer related - not necessarily beach related.

As Ogg always told us, there is an advantage to entering stories in one of Literotica's themed contests. Apart from the possibility of winning, your story gets far more exposure and attention than it would typically receive.

Wait for Laurel's notice of the start of the contest as a sticky at the top of the Authors' Hangout before submitting and follow the instructions in that thread.

Good luck and have fun!

My story went over 100 ratings then dropped to 99. Seems shady.

 

[FreyaGersemi]

My story went over 100 ratings then dropped to 99. Seems shady.

Sometimes the site goes through and deletes ratings that it deems fraudulent. Usually a story's score will go up because the fraudulent votes are usually very low. Like 1.

 

[Slingshot7]

Some explanation might help. My overall rating changed by about 0.3 or less. I do agree that anyone can rate how they like, possibly skewing the process. I just wish readers would comment when rating. That might help.
In addition, do visitor ratings get erased as opposed to members' ratings. I have a few friends who read my stories who are not members.

 

[iwatchus]

In addition, do visitor ratings get erased as opposed to members' ratings. I have a few friends who read my stories who are not members.

It is not the case that anonymous votes get erased in general. The site has a mechanism for identifying votes that it deems invalid, which may or may not include considering whether it is an anonymous vote. A small percentage of votes get voided and I suspect a substantial percentage of votes are from unregistered readers. I suspect the majority of traffic is from un-registered readers.

 

[Slingshot7]

Well, I liked my ratings and the site diminished them. No reply required.

 

[Actingup]

My story went over 100 ratings then dropped to 99. Seems shady.

You can find lots of discussion about that in many places, including the 2025 support thread. This is the 2024 thread, roaring back to life…