Voting and Comments

[scribejohn]

I've been a reader on literotica for many years, but have only recently posted a story - My Stepdaughter's Yoga Class - now up to Chapter 8.

It includes many a favourite fantasy and all the first 7 have been voted HOT (above 4.5). I have a couple of readers who vet before I post, and they felt Chapter 8 was the hottest of all, and I was aiming for that with 8 votes with a 4.8 average. But then next morning checked, while I had the magic 11 votes (above 10 for a HOT rating), my score had dropped to only 4.09. I spoke to my two readers and they reckon that someone had dropped a vindictive 1 star bomb vote to tank the ratings. They said it had happened to a few other writers they knew of and agreed with me, they didn't see the point of it. If you don't like a story, you generally don't read beyond the first half page - so what's the point in rating it, since you haven't obviously read it. I personally would only rate a story I had finished, so they would generally get a 4 or 5 star rating (usually 5).

So I wondered if other literotica writers had found the same? Also, while I had two good comments on the first two stories in the series, there's been nothing since. So if you read them and enjoyed them, I'd love to hear from you. Also, if you felt the 1 star tanking rating was unfair, 5 star reviews to lift it would be welcome. I'm up at 4.33 on 18 votes, so some higher voting has come in, but that 1 star rating damage can hold things up for a while.

I say all of this because some hot stories where I was looking for continuation suddenly trail off with no follow on. And it makes me wonder that with a continuation of lack of comments and ratings trailing off, some writers simply get discouraged. After all, they are providing a free service, no payment, so comments and ratings are the only scant reward.

 

[TheRedChamber]

So I wondered if other literotica writers had found the same?

You must be new here. (Checks post count...yep)

One bombing is a constant topic on the board. It happens to us all and more if your story pushed the wrong buttons of the wrong crowd. Don't take it to heart. Your story isn't any worse today than it was yesterday when it had a higher rating.

 

[StillStunned]

Welcome to Lit, and the frustrations of reader feedback!

 

[yowser]

Congratulations, you are now an official Lit author, your first 7 were purely an apprenticeship.

Alas, your experience is common, we feel your pain, and the suggestions that will follow will say: hang in there, write your story, take the scoring with a kilo of salt, but please, please persevere.

Good luck.

 

[pink_silk_glove]

I've been a reader on literotica for many years, but have only recently posted a story - My Stepdaughter's Yoga Class - now up to Chapter 8.

It includes many a favourite fantasy and all the first 7 have been voted HOT (above 4.5). I have a couple of readers who vet before I post, and they felt Chapter 8 was the hottest of all, and I was aiming for that with 8 votes with a 4.8 average. But then next morning checked, while I had the magic 11 votes (above 10 for a HOT rating), my score had dropped to only 4.09. I spoke to my two readers and they reckon that someone had dropped a vindictive 1 star bomb vote to tank the ratings. They said it had happened to a few other writers they knew of and agreed with me, they didn't see the point of it. If you don't like a story, you generally don't read beyond the first half page - so what's the point in rating it, since you haven't obviously read it. I personally would only rate a story I had finished, so they would generally get a 4 or 5 star rating (usually 5).

So I wondered if other literotica writers had found the same? Also, while I had two good comments on the first two stories in the series, there's been nothing since. So if you read them and enjoyed them, I'd love to hear from you. Also, if you felt the 1 star tanking rating was unfair, 5 star reviews to lift it would be welcome. I'm up at 4.33 on 18 votes, so some higher voting has come in, but that 1 star rating damage can hold things up for a while.

I say all of this because some hot stories where I was looking for continuation suddenly trail off with no follow on. And it makes me wonder that with a continuation of lack of comments and ratings trailing off, some writers simply get discouraged. After all, they are providing a free service, no payment, so comments and ratings are the only scant reward.

Welcome to lit.

The anomaly is not the 1-vote that you got, it's the eight straight chapters scoring 4.8. You've been super fucking lucky so far.

If you're writing only for happy scores, you're in the wrong fucking place.

 

[AwkwardlySet]

@scribejohn
All you said is perfectly reasonable but as you can see for yourself, the reality of posting stories is quite different from expectations. This specific readers' attitude has been nourished for years and years by Lit admins, but also by us - writers. It is not going to change because it's only us - authors who want it to change, and as you will soon realize, we are at the bottom of the food chain here.

The best thing you can do is to write for yourself and your internal validation. If you are expecting a lot of engagement and feedback from readers, or even appreciation for the free stories you post, then yeah, you are in for a bitter surprise. There are exceptions to this, of course. There are some truly wonderful and appreciative readers but they are an overwhelming minority on Lit, and to be fair, on most other free story websites as well.

 

[SimonDoom]

I've been a reader on literotica for many years, but have only recently posted a story - My Stepdaughter's Yoga Class - now up to Chapter 8.

It includes many a favourite fantasy and all the first 7 have been voted HOT (above 4.5). I have a couple of readers who vet before I post, and they felt Chapter 8 was the hottest of all, and I was aiming for that with 8 votes with a 4.8 average. But then next morning checked, while I had the magic 11 votes (above 10 for a HOT rating), my score had dropped to only 4.09. I spoke to my two readers and they reckon that someone had dropped a vindictive 1 star bomb vote to tank the ratings. They said it had happened to a few other writers they knew of and agreed with me, they didn't see the point of it. If you don't like a story, you generally don't read beyond the first half page - so what's the point in rating it, since you haven't obviously read it. I personally would only rate a story I had finished, so they would generally get a 4 or 5 star rating (usually 5).

So I wondered if other literotica writers had found the same? Also, while I had two good comments on the first two stories in the series, there's been nothing since. So if you read them and enjoyed them, I'd love to hear from you. Also, if you felt the 1 star tanking rating was unfair, 5 star reviews to lift it would be welcome. I'm up at 4.33 on 18 votes, so some higher voting has come in, but that 1 star rating damage can hold things up for a while.

I say all of this because some hot stories where I was looking for continuation suddenly trail off with no follow on. And it makes me wonder that with a continuation of lack of comments and ratings trailing off, some writers simply get discouraged. After all, they are providing a free service, no payment, so comments and ratings are the only scant reward.

Yes, a hundred times yes. This is very, very common, and most of us have experienced it. There are dozens and dozens of threads that have been posted in this forum on this subject.

This is what I would recommend to all authors, new and old: Until your story has about 50 votes, put away all expectations. Don't get your hopes up that because it has a 4.8 with 9 votes it's going to have something similar with 11 votes. The sample size is so small that it has no predictive value. In a story's early stages one should expect scores all over the map. Once your vote total gets up to around 50 or more, you can start to count on some stability. Until then, expect nothing. You won't get disappointed that way.

 

[THBGato]

Welcome to Lit and, yep, as everyone else has said, this happens. I've never had such an extreme drop though, but as you get more votes you'll probably see that score rebound.

I say all of this because some hot stories where I was looking for continuation suddenly trail off with no follow on. And it makes me wonder that with a continuation of lack of comments and ratings trailing off, some writers simply get discouraged. After all, they are providing a free service, no payment, so comments and ratings are the only scant reward.

Maybe, but I suspect those writers who have a clear idea of where a story is going will just finish it anyway.

Also, I've seen many a sadly unfinished series where every entry is HOT and the writer still hasn't finished. @FeatherWatt has been writing Mittens since 2013 and it still isn't finished!

Personally, after making the mistake of publishing parts of Eve & Lucy before I'd finished the whole thing I now make sure I've written all parts before publishing Chapter 1. I love feedback and comments, but don't want to become dependent on them for motivation.

Good luck and welcome.

 

[Lifestyle66]

Look objectively at your own story.

What made this one different from the others?

I looked at your story list and opened Ch 8 for a quick browse through it (I don't usually go for Incest, and only occasionally Group Sex.)

You have interracial, anal, and fisting at least which might or might not have been in the others. And anything which catches the attention of the reader to make it stand out is a double-edge sword. You might think it's hotter to remind the reader of the additional guy's "eleven-inch Black cock", or his fist in her pussy as he fucks her ass. But if those types of actions and descriptions weren't previously introduced, you've touched a nerve in some of your audience.

And although we, as authors think our efforts are free, and many think the readers should be more generous of our free works, think about it from their POV. You WANT readers to appreciate your efforts. And they are freely committing THEIR time to read it! If you've touched a raw nerve in a reader, they should also have the right to make their view known.

 

[MillieDynamite]

One-bombs are a common way of showing displeasure with a writer (not always related to the story at all).

 

[TarnishedPenny]

Welcome to the club. Your membership card and secret decoder ring will follow in the mail.

I would add to the above posts that there is a certain class of trolls who will - no, do - one-bomb 'just because'. To me, it has little to do with them liking or hating you or the story (although those are always factors). I've often thought these particular basement-dwellers are like toddlers. Unable to build anything themselves with building blocks, they take their pleasure in knocking down what other, more creative and able people built.

Roll with it, live with it like everyone else. Take comfort in knowing that the site does do sweeps several times a year and they are reasonably effective in clearing out garbage votes. Last bit of advice - don't complain too much about it. Yup, it's a pain, but again using the analogy of toddlers. Like with a two-year-old spouting potty words, the worst thing you can do is react, for that is precisely what they want. Complain too much or too often and you have ID'd yourself as vulnerable.

Good luck and, again, welcome.

 

[pink_silk_glove]

You have interracial, anal, and fisting at least which might or might not have been in the others. And anything which catches the attention of the reader to make it stand out is a double-edge sword. You might think it's hotter to remind the reader of the additional guy's "eleven-inch Black cock", or his fist in her pussy as he fucks her ass. But if those types of actions and descriptions weren't previously introduced, you've touched a nerve in some of your audience.

All it takes is one little mention of something that one particular reader hates and there's a strong chance that that one reader will skip to the end and vote you a 1. Readers here are like that. They're a minority but often all it takes is one or two to wreck a high score. Like Simon mentioned, wait until you have 40 or 50 votes so that the occasional 1-vote won't drag the score down so badly.

There's another thread around here talking about politics is stories. I wanted to mention this in that thread but I didn't want to derail it. It's more appropriate here. Voters vote politically. Between 60-90% of votes (depending on category) are political. Think about it. What is politics? It's a group of people who think something should be done or thought one way and another group who think that it should be done or thought another. If the reader feels that your story was written the way that it should be you will get a 5, if not, you will get less than 5. It does not matter how well the story is written. You told the 'wrong' story or your told the story 'wrong', shame on you! 2-stars!

Take Romance. If you provide two perfect saintly characters and give them a happy ending, you told it 'right' and you will get 5. There are countless ATROCIOUSLY written stories in Romance that score 4.75 and up simply because they write two shallow cardboard (boring!) characters who end up living happily ever after. If you write any hint of infidelity in your Romance characters or if you do not deliver at least a 'happy for now' ending, you can basically kiss you your Red H goodbye. It's political.

BDSM is terribly political. There is a faction who believe that a Dom(me) should always be caring and never cruel. There is also a faction who believe that a Dom(me) should be cruel and never caring. If you write a caring Dom, the caring crowd will 5 you and the cruel crowd will 1 you and tell you how you got it all 'wrong' in the comments. If you write a cruel Dom, the reverse is true. The voting and comments are political.

Burn the Bitch. If the woman wallows in regret, you get a 5, no matter how shitty that you wrote it. If the woman ends up not suffering in the end, you get 1s and told what a loser asshole simp you are. Political.

And notice that none of these stories have any ballots nor lawn signs nor directly debated issues. They have no politics in them but the readers vote politically. You just have to touch on something that someone will politically be against - and it could be something like including anal in an otherwise non-anal story, or a threesome with more than one male in it, and BAM! someone's politics will jump up and give you a 1.

 

[Bazzle]

My latest story was at 10 votes and 5*... until the one bomber arrived.

Peeps don't like high scoring stories in the way of their favorite!

 

[Lifestyle66]

All it takes is one little mention of something that one particular reader hates and there's a strong chance that that one reader will skip to the end and vote you a 1. Readers here are like that. They're a minority but often all it takes is one or two to wreck a high score. Like Simon mentioned, wait until you have 40 or 50 votes so that the occasional 1-vote won't drag the score down so badly.

There's another thread around here talking about politics is stories. I wanted to mention this in that thread but I didn't want to derail it. It's more appropriate here. Voters vote politically. Between 60-90% of votes (depending on category) are political. Think about it. What is politics? It's a group of people who think something should be done or thought one way and another group who think that it should be done or thought another. If the reader feels that your story was written the way that it should be you will get a 5, if not, you will get less than 5. It does not matter how well the story is written. You told the 'wrong' story or your told the story 'wrong', shame on you! 2-stars!

Take Romance. If you provide two perfect saintly characters and give them a happy ending, you told it 'right' and you will get 5. There are countless ATROCIOUSLY written stories in Romance that score 4.75 and up simply because they write two shallow cardboard (boring!) characters who end up living happily ever after. If you write any hint of infidelity in your Romance characters or if you do not deliver at least a 'happy for now' ending, you can basically kiss you your Red H goodbye. It's political.

BDSM is terribly political. There is a faction who believe that a Dom(me) should always be caring and never cruel. There is also a faction who believe that a Dom(me) should be cruel and never caring. If you write a caring Dom, the caring crowd will 5 you and the cruel crowd will 1 you and tell you how you got it all 'wrong' in the comments. If you write a cruel Dom, the reverse is true. The voting and comments are political.

Burn the Bitch. If the woman wallows in regret, you get a 5, no matter how shitty that you wrote it. If the woman ends up not suffering in the end, you get 1s and told what a loser asshole simp you are. Political.

And notice that none of these stories have any ballots nor lawn signs nor directly debated issues. They have no politics in them but the readers vote politically. You just have to touch on something that someone will politically be against - and it could be something like including anal in an otherwise non-anal story, or a threesome with more than one male in it, and BAM! someone's politics will jump up and give you a 1.

I don't read politics into any of that. It's just human nature, people raised a certain way and feeling what they feel about things like sex.

When I write the LW stories about swingers and sharing, I don't consider their reactions political. They are emotional, as from a guy who may have been burned by a cheating wife, or an insecure type who can't stand the thought of his wife maybe, someday thinking he's inadequate. Then there are the women who can't stand the idea that maybe some women actually LIKE being dominated by a man.

So, for whatever reasons, people are who they are, and they rate the stories based on their own life experiences. And if I want the view counts to raise, indicating I'm reaching more people, I'll accept that MORE isn't always appreciative. That's the "double-edged sword".

EDIT: I'll settle for a 3.0 average for my LW stories! And even then, lately, I've been falling short.

 

[pink_silk_glove]

I don't read politics into any of that. It's just human nature, people raised a certain way and feeling what they feel about things like sex.

Well of course it's the definition of politics that varies. It may not be directly political, but it is the same brain mechanisms that drive people's direct politics that also drive these indirect politics. It's political thinking just the same. I believe that immigration is bad or I believe that immigration is good. I believe that social programs are largely just handouts and a bad incentive or I believe that social spending is necessary and that the government has a shepherd role. I believe that a cock should never enter an anus or I believe that all holes can be used for pleasure. These are all political things. It's really not much stretch at all to include I believe that a romance story should always end happily or I believe that a romance story can end in many ways just as any other. On the outside the romance story is not political, but the thought process that judges it is exactly the same as the thought process that governs personal politics. That's what I mean by the voting being political.

I believe that women who cheat are always in the wrong and must always pay dearly 1-star or I believe that a man can forgive the transgressions of his wife and move on without needed revenge more than 1-star. It's political.

 

[scribejohn]

Welcome to lit.

The anomaly is not the 1-vote that you got, it's the eight straight chapters scoring 4.8. You've been super fucking lucky so far.

If you're writing only for happy scores, you're in the wrong fucking place.

On the 'only writing for happy scores' front... mmmm, well since there's no payment, that's the only main reward. Also, the fact that if you KNOW you've written a good story, you want to see the audience appreciate it. But actually the main reason is writing a story that I feel is really hot for my own enjoyment... and then fingers crossed others enjoy it too.

Perhaps I've been a bit spoilt with enjoying a career in mainstream writing with 22 books now to my credit, some with major publishers like Penguin/Random House and Harper Collins. One of my books was in fact included in a top ten all time best legal thrillers list alongside John Grisham and David Baldacci. So, yeah, when it comes to working for nothing and also NOT getting happy scores, perhaps 'wrong place' does strike a chord. But, yeah, I've also had bomb votes on Amazon for books that others have considered very strong... so at least part of me is already hardened up to it.

 

[StillStunned]

Perhaps I've been a bit spoilt with enjoying a career in mainstream writing with 22 books now to my credit, some with major publishers like Penguin/Random House and Harper Collins. One of my books was in fact included in a top ten all time best legal thrillers list alongside John Grisham and David Baldacci. So, yeah, when it comes to working for nothing and also NOT getting happy scores, perhaps 'wrong place' does strike a chord. But, yeah, I've also had bomb votes on Amazon for books that others have considered very strong... so at least part of me is already hardened up to it.

A big difference, I think, between publishing for sale and publishing for free is that anyone who buys a book is more predisposed to like it. Presumably they think about their purchase first, and when they've spent money they're less likely to rate it poorly because that would reflect on their judgment.

So you have two elements leading to a more favourable reception: readers will stick to what they know (authors, genres, series, even "recommended by"), and it will take more to get them to shift from their initial positive attitude.

It seems contradictory that people will be harsher about something they're getting for free than something they've paid money for, but there you are. People are strange sometimes.

 

[scribejohn]

Look objectively at your own story.

What made this one different from the others?

I looked at your story list and opened Ch 8 for a quick browse through it (I don't usually go for Incest, and only occasionally Group Sex.)

You have interracial, anal, and fisting at least which might or might not have been in the others. And anything which catches the attention of the reader to make it stand out is a double-edge sword. You might think it's hotter to remind the reader of the additional guy's "eleven-inch Black cock", or his fist in her pussy as he fucks her ass. But if those types of actions and descriptions weren't previously introduced, you've touched a nerve in some of your audience.

And although we, as authors think our efforts are free, and many think the readers should be more generous of our free works, think about it from their POV. You WANT readers to appreciate your efforts. And they are freely committing THEIR time to read it! If you've touched a raw nerve in a reader, they should also have the right to make their view known.

The fisting is all female-female and only those with very small hands. No male fisting of girls. The guy with the 11 inch cock is a one off and was introduced three episodes back. There was a comment at the time... '11 inches, huh. Garbage!'... which I deleted. So it could be them returning. I wondered if I'd been too extreme - big cocks is a common fantasy - so bothered to check. There are at least 5 or 6 porn stars with 11 inches and bigger. So it's rare, but not unheard of. But I suppose if you've only got 4 inches, 11 inches is going to seem out of the question.

 

[Lifestyle66]

The fisting is all female-female and only those with very small hands. No male fisting of girls. The guy with the 11 inch cock is a one off and was introduced three episodes back. There was a comment at the time... '11 inches, huh. Garbage!'... which I deleted. So it could be them returning. I wondered if I'd been too extreme - big cocks is a common fantasy - so bothered to check. There are at least 5 or 6 porn stars with 11 inches and bigger. So it's rare, but not unheard of. But I suppose if you've only got 4 inches, 11 inches is going to seem out of the question.

Many of us have learned to just write what we like, and not become too obsessed with the ratings.

My next story will post within the next few days. It's about a hot wife fantasy gone wrong, mostly told from the POV of a swinger husband as he fucks the hot wife in front of her own husband. I'm posting it to Loving Wives, where they HATE swingers and cucks. I expect to eventually rate between 3.00 and 4.00 but will probably start out the first day hovering just over 2.0. (I have several of my personal 1-bombers, who will start at 1:30 am EST rating it a 1 so quickly, they're not even reading it.)

As Millie said above, some authors are targeted by the 1-bombers. And the way to get that target on you is to post here in the forums.

Try not to disagree too much or draw too much unwanted attention to yourself.

Welcome to the Author's Hangout!

 

[pink_silk_glove]

The fisting is all female-female and only those with very small hands. No male fisting of girls. The guy with the 11 inch cock is a one off and was introduced three episodes back. There was a comment at the time... '11 inches, huh. Garbage!'... which I deleted. So it could be them returning. I wondered if I'd been too extreme - big cocks is a common fantasy - so bothered to check. There are at least 5 or 6 porn stars with 11 inches and bigger. So it's rare, but not unheard of. But I suppose if you've only got 4 inches, 11 inches is going to seem out of the question.

There's really no point in trying to figure out where you went wrong, and there's certainly no point in trying to figure out what is wrong with this douche voter. Fuck it.

What you are going through is nothing. I'm not trying to belittle or discourage you or anyone else in any way, but to just put it into perspective I'll ask you a few things.

Have you ever woken up to find that every story in your catalog has exactly one more vote and they've all gone down? (That has happened to me a few times)

Have you ever had someone get upset with you in the forums and suddenly your catalog gets bombed?

Have you ever had a story leading a contest and suddenly drop like a stone? (hasn't happened to me but to others it is fairly common)

Have you ever had someone log into multiple accounts (like two or three dozen) and bomb your story down from 4.6 to 1.8 in a half an hour?

Have you ever posted an epic romance full of deep character development, multiple hot intimate sex scenes, sharp dialogue, plot twists and score a 4.3 while the next romance in the list is a 15k word wall of torturous exposition and scores 4.79?

Just like Lifestyle says above ...

I'll settle for a 3.0 average for my LW stories! And even then, lately, I've been falling short.

All he wants is a 3. A THREE! A 3 is a horrible score. It;s probably the 10th percentile, so he's not asking for much.

You lost your Red H. That's nothing. It's a wittle booboo. Again, not trying to belittle your experience or anyone else's, just putting it into perspective. Don't worry about it. The scores do not reflect the quality of your work, merely the popularity. Justin Bieber is staggeringly popular. He also has millions of haters. The question is: is he good? It doesn't matter. So the point is, if you get too hung up on the scores and bummed out by one of your stories not being validated by the coveted Red H, you're not going to enjoy your time here. Fickle voters is just the nature of the beast and not even Pratchett, King, Attwood or Rushdie can please them all for very long. Do what (most of) the rest of us do and get over it. It's the best advice that any of us can tell you. You will enjoy your time here much more.

 

[Lifestyle66]

All he wants is a 3. A THREE! A 3 is a horrible score. It;s probably the 10th percentile, so he's not asking for much.

I don't know whether to say "Thanks" or ... feel sad for setting my bar so low. LOL.

 

[MillieDynamite]

The medium on voting is 2.5... This is not the average score but the score in the middle. Halfway between 1 and 5 is 2.5... But what is the average score at Literotica?

My average score is 4.3294 (the 4 goes to infinity). Is that the average for stories at Lit? Average stories should have average scores, but what is that average?

 

[pink_silk_glove]

The medium on voting is 2.5... This is not the average score but the score in the middle. Halfway between 1 and 5 is 2.5... But what is the average score at Literotica?

Actually, halfway between 1 and 5 is 3. 3 is the middle. 2.5 is the midpoint between 0 and 5.

 

[MillieDynamite]

Not a mathematician. But I plugged the number set into a calculator.

If you don't include the 0,

 

[MillieDynamite]

But no matter how you look at that, it doesn't give you the average score on Literotica, which is what I was asking about.