Understanding the ratings through descriptive statistic.

[NancyVeeners]

Hello there
I am new to LIterotica. I have published my first three stories and I am surprised by the number of ratings--33 in a few days for the most voted. That's great! Such a number of votes could already be a significant sample, and if we had access to the single (anonymized) ratings we could understand more about their reasons. For example, a four-star average rating could derive from a normal (Gaussian) distribution of four, five, three, and maybe just a few two and even less one star ratings. Or derive from a lot of five-stars ratings and just a few one-stars, signalling trolls. Or there could be other non-normal distributions that could be interpreted, giving the author suggestions.
What is needed is just the list of ratings.
I checked the FAQs etc., and I guess it would be an advanced feature, not available.
But in that case it could be a nice idea to the Literotica managers, to improve the power of an already excellent website & community.
Best
Nancy Jo

 

[AnnieLit]

"Or there could be other non-normal distributions that could be interpreted, giving the author suggestions."

What sort of suggestions? Let's say your 4* average for story #1 comes from a normal distribution:
1* -1
2*
3* - 2
4* - 30
5* - 5

And the same average for story #2 comes from a 2 mode distribution:
1*
2* - 1
3* - 20
4* - 1
5* - 20

What are you going to do? Write more stories like #1? Like #2? Or just more stories that YOU like, that YOU want to tell and hope that eventually YOUR readers will find you?

 

[NancyVeeners]

Thank you Annie for your answer.
Well, I guess that if you have forty-plus ratings like in your examples you may also have a couple of comments or more. I don't know how we can generalize my case, but actually got 33 ratings and two comments, a very negative one (incipit: 'ludicrous, in every way possible. Almost as stupid as...) and a positive one (incipit: The author is a fine storyteller. All three of her works published here show a great talent to combine a great story with great erotica...). So, the 2-mode distribution could make sense in this case. In this case, I'd try to understand the reasons for the lower reviewers, by contacting them. And I'd thank them for the honest review, as I'd like to do for the first reviewer if he was not anonymous.
You make a good point Annie, But I'll always tell MY stories and I don't see a contradiction between Nancy the author and Nancy the statistician. Thank you again and good luck with YOUR stories.

 

[AnnieLit]

Thank you Annie for your answer.
Well, I guess that if you have forty-plus ratings like in your examples you may also have a couple of comments or more. I don't know how we can generalize my case, but actually got 33 ratings and two comments, a very negative one (incipit: 'ludicrous, in every way possible. Almost as stupid as...) and a positive one (incipit: The author is a fine storyteller. All three of her works published here show a great talent to combine a great story with great erotica...). So, the 2-mode distribution could make sense in this case. In this case, I'd try to understand the reasons for the lower reviewers, by contacting them. And I'd thank them for the honest review, as I'd like to do for the first reviewer if he was not anonymous.
You make a good point Annie, But I'll always tell MY stories and I don't see a contradiction between Nancy the author and Nancy the statistician. Thank you again and good luck with YOUR stories.

On Lit, and everywhere else for that matter, written comments ALWAYS will be either very positive or very negative. It is just how people are - one needs pretty strong motivation to write anything, so only those that really liked your story (and rated it with a 5) and those that hated it (and rated it with a 1) will comment. All the 3s and 4s are very unlikely to say a word.

The most common reasons for the negative reviews (assuming that the story is readable) are
- wrong category
- wrong labels
I.e. nothing is wrong with the story or the storytelling, but the subject didn't match the expectations of the reader. If somebody writes about a rape, but puts it in, for example, BDSM because there are some chains involved, there will be a ton of angry comments. If the same story goes in non-consent, it will do just fine. Same with incest, gay topics, etc.

 

[NancyVeeners]

Annie, you make a good point ('one needs pretty strong motivation to write anything...'), and you almost convinced me, so I had a look at my ratings and those of some friends and other authors on amazon.com, and the hypothesis is not completely (ALWAYS) supported by the empirical record. I guess your excellent insight could not be general but specific to some books, and maybe the whole 'erotica' genre belongs to the class. I write also stories in other genres (Women's Fiction, Historical Fiction) so I know that Erotica is peculiar.
Very good insight the one about category and labels Annie, I'll definitely need to learn how to manage them. Thank you!
Best from the Mediterranean
Nancy Jo

 

[AnnieLit]

Ok, I looked through comments on my stories. There are 7 published stories, 57 comments in total. Out of these 57 six are mine, so those do not count.
Out of the remaining 51:
1 negative (probably that was 1* or 2**) - the guy hates stories directed at the reader, no "you" for him. Well, too bad
2 CCs (both 4s as stated in the comments)
48 are very positive and most likely 5s.

Plus there were a few private comments here and there, but I don't collect them, so no stats. I don't think any one of them was negative though.

What conclusion can I make based on these results? That I am the best writer ever? But then only TWO of my stories are in the Hot range, i.e. 4.5 and above, most of them are barely above 4, one is even below that.

 

[NancyVeeners]

Annie, you may not be the best writer ever, but you are an excellent writer. Two Hot stories! Congratulations!
And yes, I believe your insight about wrong category and/or wrong label is right, and a precious suggestion.
So, I want to try and check, and I'd appreciate your advice. My worst story (according to the ratings, at 3.09) is categorized as 'Celebrities and Fan Fiction': it depicts an aging James Bond who finds himself tied to bed at the mercy of a sexy and clever woman. I would like to re-categorize it as BDSM and revise the tags as well. It makes sense because I have also a few minor edits on that story. I guess the only way to do so is to delete and resubmit, losing the rating and the one (very good) comment. Is that the best way? Do you think it is an experiment worth doing? Any other suggestions? Thank you in advance. Best. Nancy Jo.

 

[AnnieLit]

OK, I just read that story.
Whatever you do with it, do NOT put it into the BDSM category - it is not going to do any better there. Just because it has restraints it doesn't automatically become BDSM.

 

[jsmiam]

I suggest you lurk in the authors hangout a bit. These topics come up a lot, but so do lots of “same ole” responses from the same ole usual suspects too (me included, I confess.)

It’s interesting to see subtle differences outside of the authors hangout though.

Two cents: wishing for new features here is a bit on the futile side. That doesn’t mean we don’t do it anyway, it just means it’ll never happen, sad to say.

Good luck and keep writing!

 

[NancyVeeners]

Thank you Jsmiam for your kind answer. And yes, you are right, I'm 'lurking' and also actively participating in Literotica social activities, trying to understand the social context. I am amazed by the number of ratings. I write also in other genres (Women's Fiction, Historical Fiction, SF...) and I am inclined to conclude that in the Erotica genre (or maybe it is Literotica) there are comparatively fewer (good) writers and more interested readers than in other genres. And that is great!
About my request of the data, since the rates are given on a discrete set, it would be relatively easy to provide a histogram like Amazon does. But actually I realized that if you follow chronologically the buildup of the rating you can even mathematically derive the single votes. Best from the Mediterranean. Nancy Jo.

 

[jsmiam]

…I realized that if you follow chronologically the buildup of the rating you can even mathematically derive the single votes. Best from the Mediterranean. Nancy Jo.

Very true. It unfortunately involves obsessively checking scores over and over when a story is new. Not that anybody ever does that! ;-)

You’ll at times notice anomalies, where votes will go down, in a “sweep” where votes (more often when a contest is going on) that seem suspicious (they can be good or bad scores) disappear, so occasionally your vote count and score will change in mathematically impossible ways (it means that perhaps 2 new votes came in and some other vote was swept away).

Overall, it’s the widest audience for erotica on the internet. And the bad parts of it must be taken with the good. Develop a strong Eyeroll muscle and you’ll do great!

 

[TarnishedPenny]

Pondering the Why of scores is arguably the most popular discussion topic among Lit authors. I agree with most of the above, but would add a couple of my own insights.

The best advice on where to put what story is Tx Tall Tale's Love Your Readers. Highly recommended.

A general rule of thumb is that one reader in 100 votes, one in 1,000 comments. YMMV, and everybody's stories show some ebb and flow, but that's typical. Note that 'reads' do not necessarily imply that people have read a tale all the way through. Just opening a story counts, even if it's immediate closed.

Many people have wished for, asked for, prayed for authors to be able to get a better picture of scoring trends. It may happen, but the site owners seem resistant to such changes and no doubt they have their reasons. Sweeps are generally welcomed as they deal with the inevitable one-bombing trolls. You'll get a feel for scores in time, but I wouldn't get your hopes up WRT new features.

The two most important bits of advice have already been given - write for yourself and grow a thick skin.

Welcome to the Monkey House!

 

[NancyVeeners]

First of all, let me congratulate you for choosing the canopied penny farthing bicycle as your symbol, the logo of The Prisoner. The work of art immediately caught my attention as the awning is an unlikely component of what were race bicycles at their times. Great choice! And thank you for your answer and pieces of advice. I agree, but creative writing is so fun, so I always write for myself as (I suspect) many authors; all the same as a writer I enjoy assuming others' point-of-views. In Erotica, other kinks, not just mines. So, I guess we can also write 'for others' as we write in our distinctive way, for ourselves. Finally, my experience with the rating system elsewhere (yes, I have something 'out in the cold', because I also publish in other genres), suggests that you need an ever thicker skin out there. The magic of Lit (and I guess Erotica at large) is that there are readers there. Real readers who want to read our stories, and some of them want even to rate them (and a few don't like them, of course). Real readers who don't want to write, they want to read! Thank you, Literotica.