Story length

Quite a few comments over at Literotica on chapter 4 of Alex in Pornoland saying the chapter's too short.

I did some number crunching on all the stories published on the same day Alex... went live and found that it's a couple of hundred shy of the median length - - it's around 3,500 words long, the median's 4,000 or so.

So here's my promise to the readers - - everything I write from Alex... chapter 5 onwards will be at least 4,000 words long.

This doesn't include the already submitted chapter 12 of Trophy Wives (which is 4,400 words anyway) nor the first chapter of my new story now called The Wilbraham Fungus (which is 4,200 words) nor the final chapter of Three Horny Moms (which comes in at 3,000) as they're already written.

Chapter 5 of Alex... and everything after that will be at least 4,000 words. Take it or leave it.

Alex... and Three Horny Moms news

Chapter 4 of Alex in Pornoland is up at Literotica here:

http://www.literotica.com/s/alex-in-pornoland-ch-04

I've just finished the final chapter of Three Horny Moms and am about to submit chapter 12 of Trophy Wives.

Have a picture to celebrate:

I still remember when Cassandra not only did porn but did anal as well. Shame she quit to do the glamour stuff.

Three Horny Moms - - end in sight

Started chapter eight of Three Horny Moms last night - - it's going to be the last chapter of this story so that will leave Trophy Wives, Alex in Pornoland and my new one in rotation. Still haven't settled on a definite title for the new one but it'll be closer to the Kara Lofts stories than the others.

Meanwhile, have a photo:

Today's Inspiration

Ever wonder about how big my female charaters' tits are? The above is a good reference picture.

Voter Apathy - the reaction

About a week ago I posted a small essay over on Literotica (http://www.literotica.com/s/voter-apathy-on-literotica) about the shocking lack of voting on my stories - - regardless of the rating received or the number of views the stories had, the percentage of votes per story was around 0.6%

I had a lot of comments on the site and wanted to address them to show my appreciation. By necessity, this is going to be a long post.

So in order they were posted...

    by reader1971
    why I don't vote
    I understand your concerns, BUT, listen to my reasons for not voting. I read using the android app, I haven't seen any where on the app to vote. To get here to respond I had to open my browser, get to the lit page look for your story, realize that the mobile site doesn't have voting, or comments. Then I have to back up go to the desktop version, again find your story, then comment using my tablet keyboard. This took me about 5 minutes, not counting the times I was interpreted by my kids. If literotica adds voting to the app, I might consider voting. I'm not trying to start anything, just wanted you to know why some people don't take the time to vote or comment. Thanks for reading my response.

Wow - - I didn't know the Literotica app made it that difficult to vote. Thanks for clearing that up.

    by Anonymous
    I do ....
    ... vote, whether I've liked a story, or hated it!
    Sometimes I also leave a Comment.
    But - if a story is, apparently, a writer's first Posting then if I want to make an adverse Comment I send it as a "Private" Comment in the hope of encouraging the writer to tend to what it is that's got up my nose, usually clear indications of a total lack of proof-reading. I usually suggest that they go to "Volunteer Editors" and ask someone to give them some help and advice.
    However, there are some writers with a catalogue of 30+ stories who clearly haven't a clue about proof-reading, wrong choice of word, spelling, grammar, punctuation, etc., and yet continue to inflict their miserable outpourings on readers and expect to get good ratings.
    Mind, I have seen some stories with appalling spelling, punctuation and grammar and yet some 'named' Literotica Members have 'favorited' them! Doesn't say much for those readers!!
    I've also seen some dreadfully written, poorly spelled, punctuated, etc. Comments - the written equivalent of "It is better to be thought a fool than to open one's mouth and prove it"!
    I know this missive of yours is not a 'story', per se, but since I understand what you are saying, and agree, I have 'rated' it.

Thanks for rating it - - I agree that there are some pretty awful stories out there but with a basically open policy, there's always going to be poorly written stories that get through as long as they adhere to the guidelines. Being constructive in the criticism - - particularly doing it via a private comment - - is good advice.

    by mel_pomene
    While there is much in what you have to say ...
    ... you should be aware that many authors solicit votes and comments, often with the loftiest of sentiments about 'good' and 'bad' comments, suggesting they are equally open to either, but this is, in fact, rarely the case in practice.
    I vote, more often than not, on the stories I read and I make comments, usually under my own pseudonym or occasionally, when pushed for time, as 'Anonymous'.
    In spite of this, I receive precious few acknowledgements of the comments I have made, which are, in the main, positive. I admire anyone with the gift of story-spinning; sadly. it is one I don't possess, but I try to encourage and support writers, especially new ones, but there is little reward in it.
    'Motes and beams' springs to mind, or 'what you get out depends very much on what you put in' to use a more modern turn of phrase. Perhaps 'don't tar everyone with the same brush' might be appropriate, too.
    Thank you for an interesting post. I have decided to pass on voting this time.

Thank you for commenting - - I've honestly no objection to receiving criticism if it's constructive. If it's the equivalent of "This story's crap!" then it's worthless but if it's "This story is crap and here's why..." then at least there's some thought gone into the comment. I may not agree with their assessment, but on the other hand, something useful could be suggested to improve future stories.

Regarding no acknowledgements of comments, I do make a point to thank people for commenting - - I can't respond to everyone but I try and comment in the first few days or so of a story being posted and commented upon.

    by bidingtime
    Not apathy
    I vote or comment on stories I read as I do not as a rule read in the areas you post you do not receive my votes or comments. I am indicating votes OR comments as I feel some writers are so bad I comment indicating I have not voted for their garbage.

If you don't read my stories, I wouldn't expect you to comment or vote!

    by H.H.Morant
    An insoluable problem
    It has been obvious that few people take the five minutes necessary to write a comment saving only the hot button issues (Loving wives) I had no idea so few votes were cast; that being the case it appears to me fairly clear that ratings are skewed by this fact. One author appeared about a year ago and gets consistently high (4.0 - 4.5) ratings for what amounts to the same misogynistic rant he has posted close to a hundred times. The stories are short and invariably involve the rape of virgins. Short stories are easy to read, and if debauching innocents to show the inherent superiority of males lights your fire, it won't take many similar thinking voters to reward consistently mediocre writing.
    I have no suggestion to make other than to plead with prospective readers to rate the story if they read it, and devote a couple of minutes to feedback (assuming the feedback is at least marginally constructive - many of the comments are not, particularly in the LW section.

Good point on like-minded readers rating stories higher because of their content rather than their quality.

As I don't really read the Loving Wives category, I had no idea it was such a contentious area.

    by sbrooks103
    Voting
    I actually never gave voting much thought until recently.
    Now I do vote, especially when I like a story and want to boost its rating.

And that's all I, as a writer, can ask for.

    by Anonymous
    Another reason...
    ... why some folks may not be voting is that many of your stories are multi-chapter tales. While I DO vote for YOUR chapters as they come, sometimes, depending on how things in each chapter play out and leave off at the end of said chapter, I may not vote until the story is completed. Actually I find myself doing that more lately due to the fact I've seen many tales abandoned part way through after an author promises numerous chapters and gives up part way through. If an author starts their first chapter of a story with a promise of any kind of length, I'm probably not going to take the time to vote, even if it is something as small as a couple seconds to click a star, until I see if that author is going to come through for the readers and if the story as a whole is any good. I've seen stories with outstanding first and second chapters with the remaining story little more than a rehash of what's happened or the ending is rushed. I know I've gone off on a bit of a rant here that doesn't really apply to SirSinn at all. He's never promised more than big titted, hot moms fucking their big dicked son's and/or big titted daughters and he hasn't failed yet as far as I'm concerned. I'm kind of hoping other authors read this and understand the point of view I'm coming from. If other authors are reading this, please consider these suggestions: don't state a story will be a specific number of chapters unless ALL of them are ready to go; in fact don't mention how long you THINK a story will be unless it's all ready to go. Also, show a little respect to the readers. If you HAVE promised a lengthy story and you get stuck, get writer's block, real life takes precedence or even get to the point of giving up, if you've got fans looking forward to what you've been doing, have the decency to put something in your profile or the comments of your last chapter letting folks know what's up. OK, off my soap box. SirSinn, looking forward to what's next for the Trophy Wives and Three Horny Moms, may they bang away for a long time to come. Sometimes all I want is to read about a hot broad with big tits getting a good hard pounding, thanks to you, I know where to find it pretty quick.

Thanks - - I honestly hadn't considered the multi-chapter approach to be a turn off regarding voting or commenting. While I try and make each chapter fairly self-contained I can see why you wouldn't want to rate it until it's completed.

    by Anonymous
    Voter Apathy
    I can not disagree with you as apathy is a problem that I have, but I do try and vote and on occasion even leave comments, not destructive ones. I use anonymous as I do not have an account, keep forgetting passwords.
    But also RARELY receive a comment in return; YES I know that I should not except a comment back, but comments work both ways and readers like to know that their thoughts are listened to. I hate to say but with the world becoming more the way it has, apathy will probably increase but I will try to vote more often myself.

You're right, comments should be a two-way thing. As I mentioned above, I try and acknowledge people leaving comments on my stories, even if I don't pick out every single one.

    by tygz
    I'm probably not the typical reader (after all, *nobody* is average right? Something like 80% of people polled think that they're better than average drivers; I'm sure that conceit extends to other areas of life), but I'll provide insight into my style of reading/voting.
    Similar to you, I don't vote on pieces that I've 'mistakenly' selected to read. I try to be discerning about my choices (something about the title, description and category need to be appealing; if not new, a story needs to be reasonably well rated; and if new, the author has to have other well-rated stories - unless it's a completely new author), but occasionally I do open the wrong story. You know, in the first page we find out precisely how well endowed the main actors are; all of their vitals. I've tired of seeing if the author can climb out of that pit.
    Clearly this doesn't explain 99% non-voting.
    For the stories that I do read - at least for a while - I only vote on those I actually finish. I'm not going to find the end of the end page - especially when reading on a tablet - to vote on something I didn't find worth finishing. Unless... unless the story was despicably bad, wrong, demented (not in a good way). Then I'll go out of my way to drop a 1-bomb.
    This leaves me with the stories that I actually finish. Say... well, I probably only bother opening about 2% of new stories posted (see discerning tastes, above - my two main categories don't get a lot of traction typically), and then I'll only finish half of those. Since I don't read to the finish a piece I don't really like, I'm usually left with a 4- or 5-vote - and often it defaults to a 5 to rectify obvious troll voting. Really? You didn't expect to find two women enjoying themselves without a guy in the lesbian section so you voted 1? Right.
    So how do we get 99% of a story's openers not voting on it? I see two possibilities. 1) if Lit counts every opening and not just your first reading - you probably only vote once per read. If there is something you particularly like about the story, that will reduce its vote rate, and anonymous readers can't be tracked. 2) somewhat related to #1 is a story's stroke factor - if someone's reading to get off, they'll probably not get to the point of voting... after all, the author's not immediately right there to complain if they don't get a cuddle afterwards!
    Still I find it hard to get to 99% - especially if the story isn't the stroke sort (I'm curious what the voting rate is on some of the longer "slower" {sexually that is} stories).
    I wonder if Lit is counting web crawler opens? Also I've noticed at least a few sites that rip off Lit (it's obvious that they're not other story sites that the author has cross-posted to); these must also crawl Lit. I have to think that it's the robots that are killing the percentage.
    Slightly off-topic: Does anyone else intentionally up-rate new authors whose story you manage to finish, to hopefully encourage another effort?

Good point about multiple openings - - I hadn't considered that when I wrote the original piece. As I said in my own comment on the essay, my multiple returns to my own stories to find out if someone has commented have bumped up the views though only by a dozen or so!

Regarding your question about being " curious what the voting rate is on some of the longer "slower" {sexually that is} stories" I can only offer my own experience - - early chapters of both Alex in Pornoland and Charlene's Not So Non-Nude Angels had little in the way of sex and yet the voting percentages were still around 0.5 to 0.7, the same as those stories (Trophy Wives or Three Horny Moms) which were almost nothing but sex.

    by Anonymous
    Voting
    I agree with you. In this world now, people live for themselves, they expect every thing but rarely give...
    In my case, if I read a story, I'll vote, whether I like it or not...

Thank you for voting and, in this case, leaving a comment.

    by Anonymous
    People don't vote... period
    It's a general apathy I think, although I don't really care whether people vote on my stories or not because it's the comments I enjoy. Even the negatives are welcome because at least they were interested enough to put the effort in to express their opinion, although when they get personal that's when I think it crosses the line. Never say anonymously what you wouldn't say to somebody's face is what I try to do.
    Loving wives get comments no matter what. They come out of the woodwork for those. One time I wrote an angry and admittedly shitty Loving Wives story when in a bad mood one morning. Just started typing and submitted it with so little thought that it shames me now to look at it.
    Did people vote and comment on it? In droves. Way more votes and comments than five other stories I've written that have won prizes here - COMBINED! Go figure.
    The voting has changed over the years with the addition of the explanation of what each vote score indicates. Seven or eight years ago it just indicated the score possibilities without the "Great! One of the Best" explanations and that had lowered the score I believe because if you go by the explanations then it's tough to vote a 5 since most good stories are more like 4's (even my own) and a 4 is almost an insult for contest purposes.
    Thoughtful essay on an interesting topic.

I agree that personal or abusive comments are wrong - - criticise the story (by which I mean offer suggestions on how to approve) but don't get personal about someone just because they wrote a story you don't like.

Again, as mentioned above, the Loving Wives category isn't something I'm that familiar with. I wonder why so many (apparently) vitriolic comments are levelled at that category.

    by Anonymous
    I do vote, but I have a feeling it’s in a way you won’t like.
    The default rating is 3. Neither good nor bad. Average. The story has to, well, earn, a lower or higher rating. If it’s average, if it’s okay but there really isn’t anything special about it, it’ll stay a 3. If there’s something different about it, I will give it a 4. For me, the highest rating is by definition a superlative. A story has to be really exceptional, far above the norm, to earn a 5. They are very rare.
    However, it’s far easier to lower a rating than it is to raise it. I have some very basic rules.
    If the story doesn’t include a chapter number in the title and it’s not a complete story (such as ending with “to be continued”) it gets a rating of 1. There are NO exceptions. I don’t care how good the story is, it I don’t receive a warning it’s not a complete story before opening the story, as far as I’m concerned, that’s nothing but a “fuck you” from the writer who doesn’t give a fuck about its own story or the readers. I’ve been coming to this site since the 90s, and after years of putting up with this shit, I decided enough was enough.
    I hate stories that just go on and on and on, adding chapter after chapter. If you can’t end a story in 15 chapters, you have no idea what you’re doing; anything after chapter 15 gets a 1.
    I don’t expect professional level writing, but I do expect some indication the writer’s grasp of English didn’t end with what they learned by the time they were 10. For example, piss poor punctuation, such as writing conversations as one paragraph, gets a 1.
    I HATE trying to read long stories online, especially given Liteoritica’s on breaking up stories into (what seems to be) 20kb junks – a remnant of the days of dial up. I will not read anything longer than 3 pages. However, if I open a story and it’s page after page and there’s no warning of this, as far as I’m concern you wasted my time.
    I hate people who break chapters into parts

I've no problem with that first paragraph about starting with a 3 and working from there - - also the chapter numbers thing seems a little harsh but, on the whole, I can see where you're coming from. The only time I've done that is when I accidentally submitted chapter 1 of Charlene's... without the number so I guess that earned me a "fuck you" from you! :)

Hating stories that go on for long runs, though, seems a little odd - - my longest running (Trophy Wives) is currently up to chapter 12 (written, not published) but if I get to chapter 16 that gets a 1 even if you've enjoyed previous stories? Why not simply just refuse to read them if they're over 15 chapters?

While I can agree with Literotica's site design still being odd - - I have a 20 inch monitor but when I read a story on Lit, it takes up about a third of the screen - - I'm surprised at you're dislike of anything longer than 3 pages. I think the most common comment I get is to make my stories longer!

    by LeFrog08
    Wow! These are shocking statistics
    I'd say I vote on about 85 to 90% of stories I read. I will leave a comment if I feel like it(about 10-15% of the time). Sometimes I will comment anonymously since I've gotten some crap(I don't need) using my Lit nick. And I've contacted some...not many, but some authors directly, usually to encourage them.
    I hope this essay will be widely read, sensitize readers and effect some change on these numbers- Good Luck, SirSinn.

Thanks - - I too have contacted some authors whose stories I've really enjoyed.

    by Anonymous
    I vote and comment
    On almost all stories I read. I do not do either if the spelling or grammar are so poor in the first couple of paragraphs as to make me hit the back button. Hopefully, your article will motivate readers to add just that little bit of effort to the project. The comments are also often very helpful in explaining confusing passages or raising interesting alternatives.
    But, it is irritating to me to have commented on a story, in which the author apparently accepts comments, only to have my comment deleted. My comments are never generic or four letter ones. I really try to make a specific comment to a story if I comment at all. It the author is so sensitive to negative, pointed comments, then he or she should block all comments. Otherwise those that are left are deceptively positive.

Moderating comments is useful - - having the ability to delete something that some idiot has written which is personal and offensive is sadly necessary. Deleting constructive criticism, though, is odd to say the least and is not something I've ever done. If someone doesn't like my story and takes the time to explain that's fair enough - - I'm not going to censor anyone's opinion of my story if it's intelligently expressed whether I agree with it or not.

    by Anonymous
    reasons for not voting
    Some of us don't vote or leave comments because we just don't feel like interacting with the author. Sometimes when I read half a dozen short stories in one sitting, I just don't give two shits about stroking the authors ego. In my mind, If I post one of my short stories on this site, I could care less how many views it got, how many comments or ratings it got. In fact, I would probably disable the comments and ratings if I could. You don't like it? Fine, you have a back button, use it. You like it? Fine, earmark my screen name, see if I write something else you like sometime. I don't really care what the reader thinks. If I post something on this site, I do it for me, and not for anyone else.

You can disable both voting and commenting when you submit your story. I do neither because I do like to engage with the audience even if only in general terms.

    by dreaming_daily
    When I read a story
    All through to the end I will vote. When I quit halfway through I don't vote.
    Like you said, when I read a story to the end I will showmy appreciation.Sometimes I will even comment. I love that people take the time to put a story together for our enjoyment.

Thanks - - that's exactly my take on things. If I've taken the time to read something all the way through, if the author's interested me that much, I'll click one of the stars at the very least.

    by Anonymous
    Maybe the ones not voting feel that its not worth voting on what YOU write, after reading what you said the intro was for that story, I would have hit the back button and not read it. Not voted and found another story, so maybe if all you wanted was your ego boosted go crying home to mommy, she'll boost your ego since you're so obsessed with moms fucking their sons, which is just sick.

LOL! While not the most pleasant of comments, you do back up what I've said I do - - if I open a story and find an intro or something I don't like then I do hit the back button, just like I said in the essay!

    by mrskink
    frustrated reader = no vote
    I refuse to vote on unfinished works. This may not be fair to the individual story in that series but that is how I feel. There are a lot of unfinished pieces on this site. I often wish there was an in progress or completed label that can be attached to a story so you don't spend days reading a series only for it to come to an abrupt end. I also think it ironic no one has voted on this story yet.

Do you class a completed chapter as an "unfinished work?" For example, at the moment my Trophy Wives series is up to chapter 11 with each one containing a complete scene. Does the fact that I haven't written The End yet make each of those unfinished? I do agree, however, that some series are left unfinished when the author - - for whatever reason - - simply walks away and that's unfortunate at the least.

As to no-one voting on the essay, I think it takes a day or two before the votes are displayed on the submissions pages - - at the time of writing this, the essay has a rating of 4.00

    by Anonymous
    story size
    I wonder how many readers are like me, and don't bother to read short stories. For instance, if this had been a story, I'd click on the link to see it, immediately see it's too small for me to bother reading. Since Literotica doesn't show story size, I don't know the length until I look inside, and there is really no point voting on something I can't even bother to read.

That's fair enough - - while story size isn't a factor for me, this falls into the same sort of criteria I mentioned in the essay where, for one reason or another, you open a story and find it's not something you want to read. In those instances, I wouldn't vote either.

    by swingerjoe
    Hits vs. reads
    As others have already stated, if a story fails to hold my interest or turns me off in some way, I don't bother to scroll to the end and vote; I simply hit the Back button. There is a big difference between the number of hits a story gets and the number of people who actually read that story through to the end.
    Some of the comments here are amusing. The anonymous commenter who insisted that he writes only for himself and couldn't care less about whether anyone reads his stories is apparently in a state of denial. The entire purpose of this site is to share our stories with others. If one were only writing for his own amusement, then why on earth would he publish his writing on a public forum such as this?
    Of course writers want their stories to be read, and of course they want their readers to enjoy their stories. When you give a gift to someone, and they react positively, that feeling you get isn't an "ego boost." It is a feeling of pride that you were able to add some amount of joy to another person's life. Writing is very similar in that respect.

Thanks - - totally agree with your points. If you're not looking to get anything back from readers, why submit your stories? Why not write them and just leave them on your PC?

    by Anonymous
    Well...it is an erotic story site...
    And I hate to admit it, but I'm not usually thinking of a critique when I am reading any of the works on this site. My rating usually ends up on my hand, or in especially positive cases, waking up my wife. You do make a valid point about our woeful lack of participation in the voting process and I for one, pledge to amend my ways and vote more often.

LOL! Thank you - - the line "My rating usually ends up on my hand, or in especially positive cases, waking up my wife" made me laugh so much!

    by Anonymous
    You Are Right
    I can offer several reasons why votes are not cast
    Literotica should make the vote area more visible. It is easy to miss. Put a heavy box around it and use a larger bold typeface.
    I am inclined to vote when a story is well written and doesn't have very many typos.
    Many stories are so poorly written that I don't even get to the end to vote. My guess is that well written stories get a higher percentage of votes cast.
    Authors could also help by putting a reminder to vote at the end of their stories.
    Many websites do not make it clear that anonymous readers may cast a vote. I suggest a reminder, right above the vote area, that everyone can vote.
    Thanks for a well written post.

Thank you - - I've taken your advice and, from now on, will be adding a line at the end of the story asking for a vote and/or comment. See? That's constructive criticism in action, people!

    by redzinger
    Why I vote.
    When I remember (what someone said about highlighting the vote box is a good idea), I'll do so when I have a clear idea of what I think the story should rate. When I'm undecided, I won't, as I don't want to get it wrong and inadversely affect the score.
    I'm afraid I'll always vote down a story with no prior warning of incest. Call me straitlaced but I find it icky and it always ruins any buzz I have going.

That's fair and is the sort of reason I put a little intro to my stories giving a flavour of what to expect. You might be a big Sci-Fi/Fantasy fan and be tempted to read my Alex in Pornoland stories because they're filed under that category. My intro at the start which makes it clear what you're going to get is going to save you the trouble of reading any further and me the pain of getting a negative review.

    by Anonymous
    do you truly want a vote when its a one?
    I feel bad about scoring someone really low so if I didn't vote it means I didn't like the story

Honestly, a vote of 1 would be bearable if it was accompanied by some constructive criticism. If you (or anyone else) read one of my Trophy Wives stories which are clearly headed up as being mother-son incest/big tit/big dick based and then vote a 1 because it contains incest between big titted moms and their big dicked sons then you (or anyone else) are an ass.

If you offer some pointers to say that the dialogue could be improved by doing one or two things, or the setting could be different because of this or that, then that's worth knowing.

    by Anonymous
    Here here!
    Well rounded statement outlining the apathy of readers and the need to provide feedback to the authors to encourage them on their journey to better penmenship for all of our enjoyment.
    I will take your comments on board and never again read a story without at least voting and if I consider I have a vaild comment to make I will post it for the author and other readers benifit.

Excellent news - - if a handful of readers start voting and/or offering constructive criticism when they didn't before then that's good news for everyone.

    by edspony
    I usually comment
    I almost always vote on the stories that I finished reading. I only read stories of 2 - 5 pages. So I don't vote on the others that I only find myself passing through.
    I enjoy character developement and that is usually not possible in just 1 page. Over 5 pages usually get boring for me, so again not vote.
    I usually comment when a story is still fairly new (less than a year) and it was poorly written or very unique and fun. Authors need to know what people think of their writting to improve.

Thanks - - again, this is something I can agree with on the whole - - if you're interested enough in a story to finish it, take a second to vote and/or comment.

    by Anonymous
    Don't know why you're complaining
    Most of your scores are about 4.5. Very good average if you ask me. Most of your stories are in categories which normally score higher than average. If you want a lot of feedback and scores, try something in Loving Wives. Then you can bitch about negative feedback and low scores.

Thanks for commenting but you've kind of missed the point of the essay - - I wasn't complaining about "negative feedback and low scores" I was complaining about the low number of votes even higher rated stories receive.

    by Anonymous
    Comments
    First. The story title and description has to attract me, if it doesn't I don't read it, so therefore no vote.
    Second. The first few paragraphs have to hold my interest to keep me reading. As soon as I feel the story is too far fetched you have lost me, sorry.
    Third. The story has to be "appealing" to me. If I think it is good I will usually vote a 4 or 5.

All fair points and which I agree with.

    by Anonymous
    You forgot about multiple readings by the same people
    Not sure about others, but I, for one, have a few favorite authors, and I have probably read their stories 5 or more times each. I am not going to vote on the story every time I read it. I would suggest that the same may be true of any story read 10,000 or more times.

You're right - - as I mentioned above, I did forget to take multiple readings into account even though there are some tales on Literotica that I, too, have read several times.

    by VeryDirtyMind
    Amusing to read about readers "punishing writers" with votes
    I shouldn't break this to the world but since some of these Rex Reed wannabees think they are "punishing writers" by voting a story a "1" if they don't like the writer or think the story is below their standards, let me inform you that the votes are routinely scanned by a program at literotica and most "1" votes are removed (because they are usually just vindictive) along with duplicate votes. Writers here know that the vote scores and totals change (downward) especially during contests. I don't think many of us care about the voting scores, or at least not the ones I've chatted with. It's the comments that drive us and ones that are thoughtful and well written (good OR bad) are the ones we write for and appreciate.
    Nothing wrong with people making valid comments - even negative ones - but it would be nice if the tone was kept somewhat civil. If you are trying to be constructive, calling the author names and telling them to crawl in a hole and die is not serving that purpose.
    Another thing - if you are making a negative comment regarding poor spelling, punctuation or grammar, try not to make more of those same errors in your one paragraph rant than the author did over three pages. Nothing funnier than somebody complaining like this... "You're story is full of grammer mistakes. Your the worst writter on this sight."
    Many readers complaining about stories being in the wrong category should know that while authors do indicate what category their work should go into, literotica is the final judge of that. If you write enough here you will have a story go into a different category than you intended, and while you might not agree, their decision is final.
    Finally, this is a free site for AMATEUR writers to post their work, and while it is reasonable to expect decent quality stories it is not fair to expect Henry Miller writing either. If you are eating mediocre Filet Mignon at a restaurant that gets $60 for it, your complaint is more valid than if you bought the meat at the market and paid with food stamps. You get what you pay for.

Thank you for that - - your paragraph about valid comments is exactly what I've been saying about getting constructive comments on stories. In retrospect, it might have been better to skew the essay towards number of comments received rather than votes - - though the percentages would have been much, much lower than even the 0.5% quoted!

    by Anonymous
    This is good...
    ...but can you refine this so that it can appear on a Literotica FAQ? just so it underscores why it's important to vote, how when and why to vote, and what prospective wanna-be authors can look forward to.
    Thanks....

Hadn't considered that - - I might look into doing something about comments rather than voting, as mentioned above.

    by Anonymous
    Voting
    Hadn't thought about the vote I had but your essay made me think. I will vote whenever l read a story from now on.

Excellent - - again, if you or anyone else reads a story to the end, just click one of the stars and/or leave a comment.

    by blackwatereagle
    Before reading a story
    I like to look at the writer's profile to try to understand his/her perspective of life and who they are. Where they come from. What their likes and dislike maybe be but most important if they are writing about two lovely ladies making mad passionate love by tribbing, it would be nice to know if it's a lady writer or a guy trying to write from a different perspective.
    So I do vote but if I can't figure out the author's sexual identity I may give it a little lower grade. I also give two talons ( " ") up if it's really good.
    the Eagle

Thanks - - I had to look up "tribbing" but get what you mean.

    by Anonymous
    voting
    I myself find stories i really enjoy, and often read them multiple times(one set in particular possibly a few dozen times) , however i will only vote on a given title once. there may be others like me who also do such a thing which could count for a good chunk of the discrepancies. This is also the first time I've ever made a comment in the over a decade I've been using this site.

Thank you - - as mentioned above, I hadn't thought about multiple reads compared with single votes but I've no way of knowing if one person reads a story 100 times or just once.

And thanks for breaking your commenting cherry on my little essay!

Third time's the charm

Hopefully this will work.

Any luck with this?

Let's see.

Another test

Still trying to get the quotes looking the way I want them.

How about this?

I wonder if that's worked.

Test

This is a test to see how the quotes button works on this blog.

Please excuse this as it's going to be deleted.

The above should have been a quote.

Today's Inspiration

Chapter 4 of Alex... submitted

Just sent chapter 4 of Alex in Pornoland into Lit so that should be up in a few days.

Three Horny Moms 7 up

You can find the latest chapter of Three Horny Moms here at Literotica:

http://www.literotica.com/s/three-horny-moms-07

I'm thinking I might wrap this series up with chapter 8 which I'll be starting soon - - I've just started what might be the first in a new series though it's more similar to my Kara Lofts tales than the others.

Today's Inspiration

Voter Apathy

I wrote this little essay and submitted it to Literotica after noticing just how few people bother to vote on my stories over there. I'd be interested in hearing what you think of it.

† † † † †

I write porn stories - - I wouldn’t deign to call them erotica - - mostly featuring women with large breasts having incestuous relationships with their well hung sons though there are a couple of other themes I enjoy playing with as well. I do this for my own satisfaction, really - - I certainly don’t make any money from it.

I write porn because I enjoy it.

I also enjoy reading it and, on Literotica in particular, when I’ve taken the time to read something - - whether I enjoy it or not - - I vote on it. Depending on how well it was written, the subject matter and what sort of reaction it elicits from me, the story will get a rating of 1 to 5. Sometimes I’ll leave a comment if something really stood out for me, but regardless of that, I always, always vote if I’ve read the story.

And that’s what I’d like to talk about - - voting.

While I didn’t major in math, I certainly enjoyed it and to this day I like looking at statistics. With that in mind, I always check the stats on my own stories at the start of each month. The numbers of views per story quoted below are rounded to the nearest thousand and all figures are correct as at Jan 1st 2014.

Let’s look at two of my top tales - - the first is The Trophy Wives Club chapter 1, the very first story I submitted to Literotica. Because it’s been on the site for well over a year now, it has the greatest number of views out of my stories, 133,000. It’s also doing respectably in the ratings, reaching 4.55.

The other one is chapter 6 of The Trophy Wives Club which I picked because it has the highest rating of my stories at 4.69 - - in terms of views it has 47,000 which isn’t bad considering it’s been up for about four months or so.

Now let’s look at two of my bottom tales - - Kara Lofts and the Talismans has the least number of views (3,000) but that’s due in part to it only being on the site for two weeks when I collected these stats so I’m confident that’ll increase. On the ratings side of things, it’s at 4.61.

The other is the first chapter of Charlene's Not So Non-Nude Angels which I’ve selected because it has the lowest rating of any of my stories, 4.15. It only has 13,000 views as well, despite being on the site for over a year.

We now have four stories - - the two with the highest and lowest number of views, and the two with the highest and lowest ratings. In terms of views, there’s a difference of 130,000. For ratings it’s 0.54.

The percentage of people who voted for these stories - - not voted in any particular way but just bothered to select at least one of the stars at the bottom of the story - - was as follows:

Trophy Wives 1 - - 0.7%
Trophy Wives 6 - - 0.7%
Kara Lofts and the Talismans - - 0.6%
Charlene's Not So Non-Nude Angels 1 - - 0.5%

There’s a 0.1 percentage point difference between the stories with the highest and lowest numbers of views, and a 0.2 percentage point difference between the stories with the highest and lowest ratings.

Basically, no difference at all.

Of the thousands of views my stories receive - - and I suspect those of other authors, too - - less than 1% of readers are bothering to take the time to click a star at the bottom of it, even if they hate it.

I don’t vote on stories I read if they’re not what I’m looking for - - if I read a story in the Incest/Taboo category which contains something I wasn’t expecting or wasn’t made clear in the short summary or the intro - - for example two guys getting it on - - I stop reading there and then and don’t bother voting. I’m not going to mark down a story because it’s not something I like. If I did that, I’d spend all day in the BDSM, Gay Male, Non-consent/Reluctance or Transsexuals & Crossdressers categories giving everything a one star vote.

I’ll give a story a low vote if it sounds like something I might enjoy - - big boobs and incest, mostly, like I said - - but is poorly written.

I try and make it clear in the summary and intros what my stories contain so there’s the possibility that - - in the case of the 133,000 people who’ve viewed Trophy Wives chapter 1 - - that someone clicked on it, read the intro and then simply backed away without reading or voting. I have no problem with that.

I find it hard to believe that 99.3% of that 133,000 fall into that category. That would imply over 132,000 people clicked on a story called The Trophy Wives Club in the Erotic Couplings section - - it’s in there because there’s no incest in that chapter - - which has a description of “Rich MILFs in a private club get a big surprise”, read the intro which states “These stories will feature mature mothers with big, fake breasts enjoying the over-sized endowments of their sons” and then realised it wasn’t for them.

While possible, it seems highly improbable.

These numbers make it clear - - people are reading my stories (and, again, I suspect those of other authors) and the vast majority of them are simply not bothering to vote.

Voter apathy rules, it seems.

How much effort does it take to rate a story? How difficult is it to move your mouse over a star and click it? You don’t need to leave your house - - hell, you don’t even need to leave your seat. All I’d like you to do is click one of those stars giving me an indication of whether I’m writing something that people enjoy or not.

If you want to leave a comment, that’s great, too but remember - - constructive criticism is better than something like “Absolute fucking garbage” which is what someone left on one of my stories. To paraphrase an old saying, those who can, do, those who can’t comment anonymously on the internet.

Voting allows you in less than a second to give me - - and other authors - - an idea of whether or not you like something. How many authors have faded away because they don’t receive feedback? I don’t know, of course, but it seems likely that if next to no-one acknowledges what you’re doing, you won’t continue doing it.

Voting is simple to do and is worth doing. It doesn’t have to be a five star vote for every single story, but just take the time to click one of those stars if you finish reading it.

I write my stories because I enjoy them - - I’d just like to know if others do, too.

Three Horny Moms chapter 7 submitted

Chapter 7's submitted to Lit so should be up in a few days.

Have another picture to celebrate:

Today's Inspiration

Trophy Wives Club 11 is up

You can find the next installment of my story Trophy Wives Club here:

http://www.literotica.com/s/the-trophy-wives-club-11

Give me some feedback, people!

Today's Inspiration

Today's inspiration

The lovely Jane Darling.

Happy New Year

This summary is not available. Please click here to view the post.