Voting on your own stories

[RacyWilde]

I noticed authors have the ability to vote on their own stuff. As an author, do you vote on each chapter you put up? Or is it frowned upon here?

And what's a good average for views to votes. I have 969 views to a star 4.64 score. I think obviously that is the average score, but how do you know how many people have voted? (Just curious because I'm used to the Amazon system.) Having two people vote for that score is good, but having 500 people voting for that score means (in my book) the story is what people want.

Any incites are much appreciated!

x

 

[Bramblethorn]

I noticed authors have the ability to vote on their own stuff. As an author, do you vote on each chapter you put up? Or is it frowned upon here?

And what's a good average for views to votes. I have 969 views to a star 4.64 score. I think obviously that is the average score, but how do you know how many people have voted? (Just curious because I'm used to the Amazon system.) Having two people vote for that score is good, but having 500 people voting for that score means (in my book) the story is what people want.

I vote on my own stories. I figure if authors are told not to vote on their own stories, that benefits the dishonest ones, so better just to assume everybody can vote on their own (once ;-)

On your member submissions page you should have the option to view stats including views & votes: https://www.literotica.com/members/submissions_view.php

I typically get one vote per 50-200 views, depending on the story.

 

[ElectricBlue]

Your Submissions page will tell you how many votes you have received - go to the View Current Submissions tab, and you will see your score out of 5, and the number of votes giving you that score. The typical pattern seems to be about 1% of views will score - it varies from category to category, some folk are more generous in their response than others.

Red H means your story has more than ten votes, with at least 4.5.

You might see the number of votes drop occasionally. The site runs "sweeps" to remove unusual voting patterns, especially during comps, to remove strings of trolling one bombs and votes recorded with only a few seconds on the page (ie: scoring without reading).

No rule says you can't score your own, but if your story is running strong, it won't make a huge difference.

 

[Hypoxia]

And how is anyone to know if you've voted for yourself? We can't frown upon the undetectable. Using alts to give yourself favorites or post congratulatory comments *is* rather despised. But if you don't give yourself five stars, why should anyone else? Do you look at what you've written and think, "Naw, that's only a three-star performance"? If it's that bad, why post it?

I used to track votes and votes-per-views but I don't bother any more. Faves are enough for me.

 

[Kantarii]

Honestly, it gives everyone the ability to receive at least one (5) star rating despite the fact their written work not being a "hotel". But, seriously, I'm sure everyone is going to give themselves a (5) star vote for a job well done if they completed the story and posted it on Lit no matter how horrible it was written. That lone (5) star vote the author gives his own written work will be the highest vote rating the piece will ever theoretically achieve as it is all down here from there no matter how bogus someone tries to manipulate the score ratings.Kant

So enjoy the lone vote people. That one vote only means something to the author. If you wouldn't give your own work a (5) star rating, you never would have posted sub standard material to the public for scrutinity and criticism in hopes of praise.

 

[NOIRTRASH]

Some of my wares get 100s of votes, so my vote is a drop in the sea. Most of the time I don't vote. All my stories are one-bombed to hell when they post, but most rise to 4 or better after a month or two. The nice folks here are passive aggressive mother fuckers, so beware.

 

[lovecraft68]

There's no rule against it so its more a matter of ethics I guess.

Personally I don't do it. I have no issue with getting votes and even if I did, I still wouldn't. Just seems kind of tacky.

But if you look through some of the How to Essays a very popular author here does mention they vote on their own story and right away. The reason being you need 10 votes to get to a red H and when people see the H they are more likely to read your story. So there's a method behind it.

Its not a bad strategy, but again, I won't do it.

I also think that since an author is just going to go to the back of his story and click a 5 that at some point its going to end up swept anyway. But going back to the 'race to 10' by then the story has the votes anyway so it won't matter.

Personal preference I suppose is the answer here.

 

[RacyWilde]

Thanks everyone for your replies. Oh, I didn't know about the Stats page (there is so much to learn).

I do find Literotica set out in such a away that it's difficult for me to find things but I guess I'll get used to it after a while.

I find it frustrating that you can't have a full blurb. Capturing a whole novel in a short sentence is unsatisfying...lol.

Do author's ever write an Author's Note at the end of their chapters reaching out to readers? I've seen one author always write in the comments - a kind of "thanks for reading in advance" type of line. What do you think of this?

Cheers

 

[lovecraft68]

Thanks everyone for your replies. Oh, I didn't know about the Stats page (there is so much to learn).

I do find Literotica set out in such a away that it's difficult for me to find things but I guess I'll get used to it after a while.

I find it frustrating that you can't have a full blurb. Capturing a whole novel in a short sentence is unsatisfying...lol.

Do author's ever write an Author's Note at the end of their chapters reaching out to readers? I've seen one author always write in the comments - a kind of "thanks for reading in advance" type of line. What do you think of this?

Cheers

Authors have a control panel and that has the most up to the minute stats. You can see your scores and such in the category hubs and lists, but they will be a coupel hours behind your page.

Yes, many authors include both opening and closing notes to the readers. I do it all the time. They are especially useful if your story is in one category, but may contain other material that might be worth warning about, example something non consensual in a category other than non con/reluctance.

The best way to learn all these things-besides asking here of course-is to just dive in with both feet and do your thing and do it your way.

Best thing about lit is the readership is huge and varied and whatever you write and whatever style you write, people who enjoy it will find you

Oh, and yeah, the one line thing...there's been times I swear it was harder to come up with a tag line than it was to write part of the damn story

 

[sexywriterfla]

Thanks everyone for your replies. Oh, I didn't know about the Stats page (there is so much to learn).

I do find Literotica set out in such a away that it's difficult for me to find things but I guess I'll get used to it after a while.

I find it frustrating that you can't have a full blurb. Capturing a whole novel in a short sentence is unsatisfying...lol.

Do author's ever write an Author's Note at the end of their chapters reaching out to readers? I've seen one author always write in the comments - a kind of "thanks for reading in advance" type of line. What do you think of this?

Cheers

Agreed, but this is a forum site, and hasn't been upgraded in forever. And probably won't be. Incidentally, you may want to link your posted stuff in your profile, Racy. Makes it easier. See how mine is below? I put it in my signature.

I try to respond to any comments of value. Hateful or mean spirited criticisms are just someone's opinion, but I always appreciate honest, thoughtful responses.

 

[lovecraft68]

Agreed, but this is a forum site, and hasn't been upgraded in forever. And probably won't be. Incidentally, you may want to link your posted stuff in your profile, Racy. Makes it easier. See how mine is below? I put it in my signature.

I try to respond to any comments of value. Hateful or mean spirited criticisms are just someone's opinion, but I always appreciate honest, thoughtful responses.

Just wanted to say...awesome AV! Love Zombie, seen him several times.

 

[DwellerDark]

I've never voted for my own stories. Seems kind of tacky, and it wouldn't make any difference considering how many other votes there are.

 

[NOIRTRASH]

For real world concerns I discover whats useful. Voting for yourself is useful when there's a conspiracy to discount your appeal to readers. We take scores seriously at LIT and AMAZON. So LITs system encourages writers to create enough alts to neutralize discount conspiracies. When you get 5 one bombs, add 5 five-bombs. Sweeps cleanse them all but it repairs the immediate damage.

 

[Kimikimidoll]

I vote 5 on my stories. It's like mastrubation.
You don't deserve it but you do it anyways. Everyone needs some lovin'...

 

[TxRad]

For real world concerns I discover whats useful. Voting for yourself is useful when there's a conspiracy to discount your appeal to readers. We take scores seriously at LIT and AMAZON. So LITs system encourages writers to create enough alts to neutralize discount conspiracies. When you get 5 one bombs, add 5 five-bombs. Sweeps cleanse them all but it repairs the immediate damage.

This is about the silliest thing i think you ever said here.

You keep yelling about the authors in the AH bombing you. Sorry but that doesn't fly. Maybe you should take it up with your buddies over in the GB or better yet, take it up with Laurel who can see the damned votes. The rest of us don't care.

As for your suggestion to make alts to give yourself 5 votes, we already have that going on now by a few. So nothing new there.

 

[lovecraft68]

This is about the silliest thing i think you ever said here.

You keep yelling about the authors in the AH bombing you. Sorry but that doesn't fly. Maybe you should take it up with your buddies over in the GB or better yet, take it up with Laurel who can see the damned votes. The rest of us don't care.

As for your suggestion to make alts to give yourself 5 votes, we already have that going on now by a few. So nothing new there.

Oh, I'm sure we could find sillier.

As for the alts, that's old news....but they can get swept at times.

The issue we've had the last couple years is gang voting and those are seen as legit votes from real members so they stick.

 

[Bramblethorn]

When you get 5 one bombs, add 5 five-bombs. Sweeps cleanse them all but it repairs the immediate damage.

Five 5s won't negate the effects of five 1s, unless you had an average of 3.0 beforehand.

 

[NoJo]

After reading one of my stories, I really felt like voting 5. But instead I just sent myself a nice PM saying how much I enjoyed it. As an author, I really appreciated that personal touch.

 

[8letters]

I don't vote on my own stories. The score is a metric for measuring how the readers like my story and artificially pushing up my score seems stupid to me.

I was sorely tempted to give my Summer Lovin' story a 5 vote and 1 bomb my competition for the top spots. But I wanted to win fairly and was happy with how I placed.

I can see the "Race to the Red H" as a valid reason for voting on your own story. However, I post to Incest/Taboo and stories in that category get so many votes that my stories are way beyond ten votes before I even notice they've been published.

I find it frustrating that you can't have a full blurb. Capturing a whole novel in a short sentence is unsatisfying...lol.

Your title drives a significant amount of the response to your story. If you think people are going to make the decision to read your story based upon a multi-sentence blurb, you're likely to be disappointed.

Do author's ever write an Author's Note at the end of their chapters reaching out to readers? I've seen one author always write in the comments - a kind of "thanks for reading in advance" type of line. What do you think of this?

I've gone to having Author's Notes at the end of my stories and in those, a link to an Extended Author's Notes thread in the Story Feedback forum. See the story in my sig for an example.

 

[sr71plt]

The question of whether a vote for yourself (from the same account you submitted the story in) has been posed before and Laurel at least once weighed in that it would be counted. I subsequently ran a couple of experiments on that and it looks to me like the vote gets swept. (For what any of that is worth.) In any event, it might help you early in the story's life--until a sweep comes along to take out both votes--if you discern that your stories are routinely zapped in the first few days.

 

[Hypoxia]

Do author's ever write an Author's Note at the end of their chapters reaching out to readers? I've seen one author always write in the comments - a kind of "thanks for reading in advance" type of line. What do you think of this?

I've gone to having Author's Notes at the end of my stories and in those, a link to an Extended Author's Notes thread in the Story Feedback forum. See the story in my sig for an example.

I don't go that far -- and I see from your example that it's not well-received. Has anyone tried linking to a general discussion thread in Story Feedback? Hmm, if Comments were switched off and the link in place, only registered members, not Anonymous, could comment. But who would bother to?

My practice: 1) a brief Author's Note up front disclaiming fact, violations, and responsibility, and maybe previewing the tags. 2) another brief endnote, begging for votes and feedback, and maybe previewing follow-ups. 3) Sometimes a first comment, the Author's Comment, giving a little of the story background and alternatives. The I eagerly await the influx of praise and death-threats.

And yes, as I said, I vote for my stories. SOMEBODY has to!

 

[Hypoxia]

Do author's ever write an Author's Note at the end of their chapters reaching out to readers? I've seen one author always write in the comments - a kind of "thanks for reading in advance" type of line. What do you think of this?

I've gone to having Author's Notes at the end of my stories and in those, a link to an Extended Author's Notes thread in the Story Feedback forum. See the story in my sig for an example.

I don't go that far -- and I see from your example that it's not well-received. Has anyone tried linking to a general discussion thread in Story Feedback? Hmm, if Comments were switched off and the link in place, only registered members, not Anonymous, could comment. But who would bother to?

My practice: 1) a brief Author's Note up front disclaiming fact, violations, and responsibility, and maybe previewing the tags. 2) another brief endnote, begging for votes and feedback, and maybe previewing follow-ups. 3) Sometimes a first comment, the Author's Comment, giving a little of the story background and alternatives. The I eagerly await the influx of praise and death-threats.

And yes, as I said, I vote for my stories. SOMEBODY has to!

 

[HandsInTheDark]

I drop a 5 on mine (ONCE) when they appear. This is because traditionally I had a pair of 1 bombers, and I want the story to have a shot at a red H by the time people are looking at it. It became a habit.

By the time you have 100 votes, a single biased 5 is in the noise anyway, so this isn't harmful. If assholes and their 1 bombs weren't a thing, I wouldn't bother.

 

[hadruprider]

Racy,
I agree with you about this site being hard to navigate.
Just one example - you've written a story, evidently, but how do I get from here to read it?
The only way I know takes a lot of clicks and typing!

 

[sr71plt]

Racy,
I agree with you about this site being hard to navigate.
Just one example - you've written a story, evidently, but how do I get from here to read it?
The only way I know takes a lot of clicks and typing!

Yes, it's "interesting" that there is no one-click transport from the forum to the story file.