What is SOL?

[Emotional]

I have had a few comments saying I should write on SOL too.

WTF is it?

Thanks

 

[gunhilltrain]

I have had a few comments saying I should write on SOL too.

WTF is it?

Thanks

It's another erotic literature site, although it has a lot more than just that. We can't mention the names of other sites here, so I will send you a private message/conversation.

 

[Duleigh]

In the military SOL stands for Shit Out of Luck. I'm sure that's not what your commenter meant.

 

[gunhilltrain]

In the military SOL stands for Shit Out of Luck. I'm sure that's not what your commenter meant.

I know, but that's not what the person meant. There is a site that uses those initials; it's sort of a "competitor" with Lit.

 

[Duleigh]

I know, but that's not what the person meant. There is a site that uses those initials; it's sort of a "competitor" with Lit.

I've seen SOL, they need some improvements to compete properly

 

[BobbyBrandt]

I've seen SOL, they need some improvements to compete properly

No kidding. If you think feedback on Literotica is bad, try SOL. And the navigation of the site is almost as confusing as their scoring.

They do accept content that Laurel rejects, though.

 

[Duleigh]

No kidding. If you think feedback on Literotica is bad, try SOL. And the navigation of the site is almost as confusing as their scoring.

They do accept content that Laurel rejects, though.

I've been haunting Lit for decades, and I've come to appreciate Lauriel's restrictions. When I go explore the smoldering remnants of her former big competition, I end up being nauseated by some of the content. Her restrictions drive the really, really gross stuff away and so many writers here are trying to produce good, entertaining stories... and smut.

 

[MillieDynamite]

No kidding. If you think feedback on Literotica is bad, try SOL. And the navigation of the site is almost as confusing as their scoring.

They do accept content that Laurel rejects, though.

Voting is a joke! They use a formula to pull everything with a high rating (except for all 10s) and everything with a low rating (other than all 1s) toward the middle.

 

[gunhilltrain]

Voting is a joke! They use a formula to pull everything with a high rating (except for all 10s) and everything with a low rating (other than all 1s) toward the middle.

I like the damn thing anyway, despite it's irrational scoring and ancient software. It gives me a place to publish different content. Sometimes I rewrite it later and put it on Lit, or I go in the other direction with something originally on Lit. I've read very little of the other content on there, but then I've read relatively little of what is on Lit. (Sorry guys!) If I feel like reading, I read regular books or sometimes blogs. (Although blog authors tend to repeat the few main ideas they've got.)

 

[Duleigh]

No need to apologize, I'm not doing a lot of reading right now myself, I'm concentrating on writing and I want to keep my content MY content. My push ends in mid-April, then I can relax and start reading again.

 

[gunhilltrain]

I've been haunting Lit for decades, and I've come to appreciate Lauriel's restrictions. When I go explore the smoldering remnants of her former big competition, I end up being nauseated by some of the content. Her restrictions drive the really, really gross stuff away and so many writers here are trying to produce good, entertaining stories... and smut.

As I said, I don't know much about the other stuff on there; I almost never look at it. Most of my work is on Lit, but that and another site give me a place to put coming-of-age stories that would not fly on Lit. (I've been here the longest, over four years now.)

Remember, one person's smut is another person's entertaining story.

 

[SimonDoom]

Is it really true that we cannot even mention the name of other sites like SOL in posts in these threads? I understand not posting links, or not being allowed to advertise and support competitor sites, but the idea that Things Cannot Be Named just seems absurd to me, if in fact that's true.

 

[gunhilltrain]

No need to apologize, I'm not doing a lot of reading right now myself, I'm concentrating on writing and I want to keep my content MY content. My push ends in mid-April, then I can relax and start reading again.

I don't have a particular "push" date. I've been thinking of writing more non-fiction essays. I've already have one series about movies (only one submission in four years!) and a series about taxi driving that could probably justify another submission. A while ago I wrote an essay about my experiences in college over forty years ago.

https://classic.literotica.com/s/the-past-is-a-foreign-country

 

[RejectReality]

It's a solid additional venue with few restrictions, and some types of stories ( especially really long ones ) will get better response than they do here. Westerns. Sci-Fi. Even fantasy to some extent. No categories means no entrenched camps trying to yank authors one way or the other. That also means that there's a place for some things that there isn't a good place for here such as hotwife & bi-male.

Lit is utterly dominant when it comes to getting eyes on your work, but additional venues like SOL have their place.

 

[gunhilltrain]

Is it really true that we cannot even mention the name of other sites like SOL in posts in these threads? I understand not posting links, or not being allowed to advertise and support competitor sites, but the idea that Things Cannot Be Named just seems absurd to me, if in fact that's true.

That's a good question. It's one of those semi-mythical things I've heard about Lit but I can't confirm it. I remember some people talking about it on the forum a while ago, but I don't know they knew it.

Absurd? There is plenty of that in the world and that's always been true. I need to find a good quote about that. Expect the absurd and you'll never been blindsided by it.

 

[Emotional]

Thanks

Whenever I see a website stuck in the 1990's I take a hard pass.

Seriously, how hard is it to modernize your product?

 

[SimonDoom]

That's a good question. It's one of those semi-mythical things I've heard about Lit but I can't confirm it. I remember some people talking about it on the forum a while ago, but I don't know they knew it.

Absurd? There is plenty of that in the world and that's always been true. I need to find a good quote about that. Expect the absurd and you'll never been blindsided by it.

I'm an incorrigible rational optimist. I tend to believe that logic and good sense will win out. But of course what seems logical to me may seem mad to others.

 

[gunhilltrain]

It's a solid additional venue with few restrictions, and some types of stories ( especially really long ones ) will get better response than they do here. Westerns. Sci-Fi. Even fantasy to some extent. No categories means no entrenched camps trying to yank authors one way or the other. That also means that there's a place for some things that there isn't a good place for here such as hotwife & bi-male.

Lit is utterly dominant when it comes to getting eyes on your work, but additional venues like SOL have their place.

Technically they don't have categories, but they do have "story type" tags that are sort of similar. In fact, a downside is that you can't make up your own tags at all, but you have to use the ones they provide from their list. That may be a function of their outdated software. And yes, there are some really long, multi-chapter series (called "serials) that are longer than average for Lit.

The only problem with "hotwife" on Lit (Loving Wives, in other words) is the - well, whatever the denizens of that place should be called. They sure give everything a ton of attention. It's like getting a thumbs-up or a thumbs-down at the Roman Coliseum.

 

[SimonDoom]

I used to read stories at SOL about 10 years ago before I became a Lit author. Since I started writing here I rarely visit other sites anymore. I think in my early days of erotic reading I wanted to read everything, just to give it a try, and SOL, like some other sites, allows some things Lit does not. Now I pretty much know what I like to focus on reading and Lit's library is so large there's no need to go elsewhere.

 

[gunhilltrain]

I'm an incorrigible rational optimist. I tend to believe that logic and good sense will win out. But of course what seems logical to me may seem mad to others.

I used to be like that, but after sixty-seven years I'm starting to lose it. Let's see, Ambrose Bierce, (the Devil's Dictionary, remember?): "Absurdity, n.: A statement or belief manifestly inconsistent with one's own opinion." A hypothesis, of course, but worth thinking about.

 

[stickygirl]

Thanks

Whenever I see a website stuck in the 1990's I take a hard pass.

Seriously, how hard is it to modernize your product?

I don't disagree but we were told that we'd never have to upgrade from Windows 10. Our secure systems at work had an expensive overhaul two years ago but now the changes are redundant and have to be upgraded once again $$.

Making a site look pretty and have decent functionality is a cinch. Keeping trolls out, protecting against DoS etc and preventing Chinese teens from sucking it into the dark web as they rewrite your code on the fly is the expensive part.

From what I can see at Lit, they've bought a well-supported system where the underlying code is like a Humvee and everything else they've added tries to make it look like a Lexus.

 

[ElectricBlue]

Is it really true that we cannot even mention the name of other sites like SOL in posts in these threads? I understand not posting links, or not being allowed to advertise and support competitor sites, but the idea that Things Cannot Be Named just seems absurd to me, if in fact that's true.

So far as I am aware (I've been here since 2014) the prohibition is on providing links to competitor sites, not yakking on about them.
Edit: obviously, one shouldn't spruik other sites as better than Lit - that might make a post disappear.

 

[gunhilltrain]

So far as I am aware (I've been here since 2014) the prohibition is on providing links to competitor sites, not yakking on about them.

Thanks, I wasn't clear on that. I thought we could talk about them without mentioning them by name - hinting at which one it was through indirect means.

 

[Rustyoznail]

Amazon is regularly mentioned, and it could be considered and alternative.

 

[KeithD]

Some of my writing is on the edges and I try to populate underserved niches, so I have stories at SOL that I wouldn't submit here. No big deal.