Your 2021 Success Stories & Fails

[RetroFan]

With the year 2021 nearly over, which of your 2021 stories were successes on the site, and which were flops either getting negative feedback or failing to make an impact?

My biggest success was a Geek Pride story 'Cousin Rikki to the Rescue' set in Melbourne, Australia in the early 1990s where a pretty blonde gymnast saves her socially awkward male cousin from bullies, and the two become secret lovers. I thought the IT crowd may not go for it, but it was a big hit.

My biggest disappointment was the lack of interest of readers in an Erotic Horror story series I wrote called 'Crazy Cornelius & The Magic Pills'. In this story, set in Sydney Australia in the late 1990s slacker son Cornelius (a stupid and sadistic psychopath) scores some new drugs. He and his sluttish wife take two of the pills, and the rest are given to Cornelius's abusive father, stressed out mother, mousy younger sister and the sister's boyfriend as a practical joke. Everyone freaks out and flee the house, going on an insane road trip through New South Wales thinking they are being chased by monsters, ghosts, UFOs and demons. I'd always wanted to write a road trip story and I thought the readers in this category liked weird stories with far out premises, but this one failed to land.

What were your experiences in 2021?

 

[MelissaBaby]

I have nothing to complain about. I put 5 stories on the top lists in 3 different categories.

White Castle Christmas is currently the #2 story of the year in Humor and Satire, The Adventures of Ranger Ramona Ch.2 is #9 in Novels and Novellas.

 

[Bramblethorn]

I posted the last three chapters of "Anjali's Red Scarf" and a stand-alone, "Loss Function". Both of them did better than I expected.

Red Scarf starts out with a romance-style premise but doesn't finish with the romantic HEA that I knew some readers would be hoping for. I got a little bit of pushback on that but the vast majority of readers seem to have been happy with it even though Sarah and Anjali didn't end up together.

Loss Function has a complex conceit, and at the point where I finished writing I really wasn't sure if I'd managed to convey the idea in my head. I was a bit meh about it, but one of my trusted readers told me "this is the best thing you've written". I knew I was pushing the boundaries a bit by choosing Romance for a lesbian story where the love interest and the pet dog both die, but again most readers apparently liked it and some were amazingly kind to it.

I think I've been underestimating the open-mindedness of Literotica readers since 2013, and they still keep on pleasantly surprising me. Not all of them, but most.

 

[Blind_Justice]

Yay: I managed to deliver a passable Geek Pride Day story, the fourth in as many years. Made some epic music with my lady love and even managed to sell a couple EPs.

Nay: Everything else. Didn't finish " Mud&Magic". Didn't manage to write sequels to either "The Rembrandt Legacy", "Express Delivery" or "Fading Stars". My sci-fi shapeshifter spy thriller stalled after 50k words. Stuck with major depression. Hate being an uncreative, moody bitch. Also, if the shrink you're seeing is prescribing heavy meds after less than 30 minutes of consultation on the first appointment, seek a second opinion. Especially if one of the three (!) psychtropes has potentially lethal side effects for asthma patients. Not a good practicioner if he doesn't remember shit I told him literally ten minutes earlier.

In short: Fuck 2021 with a nail bat.

 

[SimonDoom]

I can't even begin to describe the gratitude I have for this weird, pervy place.

I start every year with plans and resolutions, and they never come true. The stories I plan to write, I don't. 2021 was a perfect example of this. But stories came bubbling up, somehow, from the deep dark places in the imagination, and I published some of them. And I'm grateful for every kind word that readers had for them.

I published 9 stories at Literotica in 2021, and I feel good about that, even though what I actually published is not at all what I planned to publish. Like my story Teddy Bear. Utterly daft and absurd, conceived on a whim--but I feel proud of it, too.

Best wishes to all of you in 2022.

 

[NotWise]

2021 might have been my most productive year.

I put out the final two chapters of "A Valentine's Day Mess" and was so glad to have it done that I didn't and don't care about their reception. I synopsised three more stories (one in two parts) while finishing "Mess." I'm personally happy with all of them, but their reception has been a little spotty. Two out of three went to categories I'd never used before.

My last two stories for 2021 were both disappointments for me. In retrospect, my Nude Day contest entry was a rambling mess, and I never found an ending for my Halloween story that I was really happy with. The voters were not as critical as I am.

 

[MrPixel]

I don't have much on LitE - 8 up with two in the queue, and half was in 2020. Anyway:

Off Campus, the Sequel Pt. 2 still has its "HOT" badge after two weeks, so I'm pleased with its acceptance. The "Off Campus" GS series seems to be doing well, the three that are up are comfortably > 4.

One you could call a "failure" was a deliberate one in LW, a ho-hum story with a ho-hum central character and little explicit sex, and that was diluted in being related secondhand. I was testing the waters to see just how bad the peanut gallery was in LW, and I wasn't disappointed. I'll not waste my efforts there.

 

[RejectReality]

Successes are really "You Serious?" which blew up everywhere it posted. I expected it to do fairly well, but it exceeded expectations. It's another one of those I had a follow up actually started for, but which will likely never see the light of day for fear of diluting the original's lightning in a bottle.

Maybe an exclusive follow-up on my website. I have done that before. With most of the site down for recoding ( indefinitely, as I can't summon up the energy to do it ) That's not even remotely in the cards for the foreseeable future.

That one owes itself to a meme.

While it didn't do particularly well anywhere ( about average ) "Becalmed" also came out this year and arose from a meme.

The other big success ( as far as I'm concerned ) here is "Inexcusable". I can honestly say that I expected little to nothing from this one in Letters & Transcripts. It was written in a few hours, edited after only a few hours of sitting, and then immediately posted. I never expected it to pick up almost 200 votes, a 4.61, 6.5k views, 18 favs, and 5 comments.

While it only performed to expectations here, "Overheard" absolutely exploded elsewhere. It had 4x the votes of any other story on the site for about a week in either direction. Closing in on 30k views in less than a year, passing up many of my stories that have been up there for around a decade, making it my 21st "Famous" story with 30k+ views. ( Only one of mine has 100k "Legendary" status with another less than 3k away from that mark )

As for fails... I don't even really consider it one, but my collection of microfiction stories only garnered 114 votes, 2.5k views, and a 4.23. It's the lowest score in my entire 3 pen name catalog. The only reason I look down on it a little is because "Inexcusable" overperformed so much. If that had come out with the sub 100 votes and sub H score I was expecting, this one wouldn't have seemed out of sync with expectations. It boosted my hopes beyond what they otherwise would have been. Absent that, this is more or less where I expected it to fall as I was considering putting the compilation up here.

 

[lovecraft68]

I only put out two stories this year, and I'm sure much to the chagrin of the majority of my followers, neither were in taboo.

I posted my first mature story in four years and my first group sex story in over 7 years.

Both have scores in the mid 4.8's

Good to know I haven't lost my touch in other categories.

Not related to lit, but in the pay market I also posted a hotwife story, several milf stories, a dub con, and a milf/maid fetish hybrid. All did fairly well, so my goal to branch out from taboo this year was achieved.

Next year I'm hoping to do something in the lesbian category, another one I haven't touched in years.

 

[Rustyoznail]

I came third in a comp! How awesome is that?

In a couple of shit years, this has been a great area of normality- believe it or not…

 

[DarkWhispers2U]

Failure

Haven't produced a single story this year. In fact, everything I tried to do for myself has failed. Kinda gave up on all my hobbies, to be honest.

I guess too much of my energy went to nursing a sick husband back from the brink of death while chauffeuring a grumpy uncle to all his doctor appointments. Chores and errands take up the rest of my time until I'm forced to put my ever-swelling feet up for a bit.

*Sigh* Just wish I could have been as productive as you all. Good work, everyone. I'll take your successes as inspiration to do better, and, hopefully, I'll get back in the writing saddle before too long.

Best wishes!

 

[TadOverdon]

Well, I joined lit.

Posted all of our work to date here, and then completed and posted a new book this year as well.

Those are successes.

Fail? We wanted to publish another book in fall or early winter of 2021. It certainly will not be complete before the end of January 2022. It has taken about twice as long to write as I'd anticipated.

 

[lovecraft68]

I only put out two stories this year, and I'm sure much to the chagrin of the majority of my followers, neither were in taboo.

I posted my first mature story in four years and my first group sex story in over 7 years.

Both have scores in the mid 4.8's

Good to know I haven't lost my touch in other categories.

Not related to lit, but in the pay market I also posted a hotwife story, several milf stories, a dub con, and a milf/maid fetish hybrid. All did fairly well, so my goal to branch out from taboo this year was achieved.

Next year I'm hoping to do something in the lesbian category, another one I haven't touched in years.

Fails? Nothing really as I didn't come in to this year with any lit aspirations. Otherwise I didn't get the fourth novel in my series this year finished as I'd wanted to, this one is fighting back

 

[ElectricBlue]

Seven stories/chapters out the door - my entry in the Mickey Spillane anthology probably the most fun to write, three chapters of a breast-feeding fetish yarn which was well received, two chapters continuing on from my Adam and Ruby stories, featuring a side character, Lizzie, who comes into her own, and a little stand-alone lingerie story.

All in all, pretty happy with that lot.

 

[KeithD]

Published 63 stories here (separate stories--separate chapters posted aren't counted as separate stories) in 2021 and 16 titles in the marketplace. No comment on success/fails, as my stories here are heavily trolled in terms of how well they do elsewhere they are posted.

 

[LAHomedog]

I posted 22 stories on Lit. A few hits. A couple of dogs. Two or three I'm actually happy with. I guess that's good enough for a rough year.

 

[SamScribble]

For me, it seems to have been a great year for the trolls. I have had several stories get off to a great start only to get smashed into the weeds a few days later. Sweeps have probably rescued some, but by no means all. Still, I guess that's the game.

 

[shakna]

I wrote my first piece of erotica ever in February, and now have twenty six stories posted, at close to about 750k words all told, with about four of those stories ongoing series that haven't yet finished.

Almost all of them have been received in a way that I would call a success. My primary indicator for which is that I enjoy them, but it seems that for the most part my likes have garnered an audience.

I've made a couple of penpals and worked on a couple collaborations, and those probably mean the most.

The only real sour note is probably "In the Silence", which I still quite like, and which I received multiple death threats for making the love interest have slightly promiscuous tendencies. Which ended, thankfully, after a protective order was put against one particularly overzealous individual.

Overall, it's been a year of fun times.

 

[shakna]

I guess too much of my energy went to nursing a sick husband back from the brink of death while chauffeuring a grumpy uncle to all his doctor appointments. Chores and errands take up the rest of my time until I'm forced to put my ever-swelling feet up for a bit.

Surviving and getting through that sounds like a success story, all in itself. You have my sincerest sympathies, and I hope this next year treats you a little bit more gently.

 

[PennameWombat]

I managed to post seven stories this year, which isn’t so far off the number I’d hoped, but weirdly not the set of stories I’d planned. But my Nude Day story topped the 30 Day Anal Top List for much of that period and is for now settled in the top 100 of that all time top list. Which is my most notable placement.

Overall, the reception was mostly positive. I had two stories that never quite came together, though, and the scores track with that. But I also had some sudden inspirations that worked out quite successfully, such as the Nude Day story.

Further on the ‘down’ side, I didn’t manage to push forward with some sequels and chapter additions I’d originally planned. Too much energy devoted to a hoped-for novel that’s still just a pile of scenes .

 

[Voboy]

Not a bad year! My stories did what they normally do.

I don't look at this as anything but a diverting hobby from real life, so I don't think of it in terms of successes and failures. I started a few stories that didn't go anywhere; no biggie. I moved on. If this isn't fun, I don't see the point in doing it.

I did try doing something I told myself I'd never do: I tried to write a fantasy story to a deadline. I'd tried that before and it soured me on writing for awhile, but I took the shot again with the Leinyere thing and I don't hate the result even though it didn't always flow freely. So? I guess I'll call that a "story success."

 

[oggbashan]

My success? Surviving 2021 at all. I didn't expect to still be alive, but I am with only a few hours of the year to go.

I have managed to write a number of stories in 2021 and some have got red Hs, a better hit rate than 2020. I still have three stories part completed. I hope to finish one by the end of today. For the other two, I will have to edit the copyright date to 2022.

 

[TadOverdon]

My success? Surviving 2021 at all. I didn't expect to still be alive, but I am with only a few hours of the year to go.

You win the thread.

 

[Omenainen]

In 2021 I published eight stories. 1 toys&masturbation, 2 sci-fi&fantasy, 1 group sex, 1 mature, 2 lesbian sex of which one was my first ever collaboration, and 1 erotic couplings.

I count as a success that I was so versatile, and I am happy I managed to squeeze one out for the winter holidays competition. I was super happy with the collaboration, both on doing it and how well it was received. Of my own stories the group sex one is my most viewed yet, despite not even reaching the hot-threshold.

My sci-fi stories received very few views and that was a bit of a disappointment. I rather liked them myself. But apparently short (or very short - one of them is the 750 word story) do piss poorly among the multi chapter massive world builders in sci-fi...

I am also mighty pleased with myself for hosting the Pink Orchid event. Be the change you want to see in the world and all that. Year 2022 will tell how much of an achievement the actual event will be. I have high hopes, but until the time comes, I can't be certain of any participating stories beside my own, and one story is hardly an event. So I hope for the best and prepare for the worst (and promote my event in all the threads very sneakily like this.)

 

[PeytonMirabelle]

Succeses: For Lit, I made eleven posts (some chapters, so six or parts of six unique stories). I have no complaints about the scores or comments. I tried some writing in some new categories for me like LW and BDSM and the stories were received pretty well. Also, I tried a Fan Fiction (first I had ever written) and it turned out okay. Off-site, I did publish the last book in my last fantasy trilogy and have two books ready for publication this year.

Fail: I stalled on the erotic fantasy novel (my first stab at the SFF category) around 30K words and was never able to get back into it. Also, I failed for the second year in a row to publish/launch my steamy romance books, of which I have five written now. Goals for 2022!