The Official Authors Hangout Winter Holiday 2023 Contest Support Thread

[FeralSmile]

My story just got published. I Saw Stepmom Kissing Santa Claus is an I/T story about love, lust, and elves on shelves.

 

[StillStunned]

My second entry 'A Christmas Miracle' just went up in Humor & Satire.

Found it, read it, enjoyed it, rated it and commented on it.

 

[Smuttyandfun]

Found it, read it, enjoyed it, rated it and commented on it.

Thanks. I just thought I'd try Humor for a change of pace.

 

[Kumquatqueen]

Ooh, my lowest rating ever, even below my 750s!
(5 5s, 2 1s, making 3.86, so not really meaningful)

 

[Smuttyandfun]

Found it, read it, enjoyed it, rated it and commented on it.

I read yours as well, rated it and left a comment. I thought it was a fun story.

The comments don't seem to be showing up too quickly right now, though. I'm guessing the Lit fairies are asleep, and they'll get to it tomorrow.

 

[StillStunned]

Thanks!
Comments are weird here. It's taken hours for my comments to appear, even on my own stories.

 

[StillStunned]

I seem to have got my first 1-star. Boy, does that drag down the score!

 

[Rustyoznail]

Yep. The general thought is it takes 5 x 5* to make up for a 1*.

 

[Duleigh]

Yep. The general thought is it takes 5 x 5* to make up for a 1*.

I had 25 5s on a story and a 1 took it to the 4.84 range, that's quite a drop for a single vote

 

[StillStunned]

It's slowly recovering from a couple of 1s (someone dropped one on Fairytale of New York at the same time), but it's taken quite a few votes.

When all the other ratings are 4s and 5s, it just makes those 1s stand out as petty and vindictive. Presumably the reader who complained about earlier stories that "Sal" could only be a mobster felt called out when I had her say exactly that. "I'm Sally. Only my brother calls me Sal. Makes me sound like a fat gangster."

 

[Duleigh]

It's slowly recovering from a couple of 1s (someone dropped one on Fairytale of New York at the same time), but it's taken quite a few votes.

When all the other ratings are 4s and 5s, it just makes those 1s stand out as petty and vindictive. Presumably the reader who complained about earlier stories that "Sal" could only be a mobster felt called out when I had her say exactly that. "I'm Sally. Only my brother calls me Sal. Makes me sound like a fat gangster."

The best thing I can tell you is that there will be a 'clean up' of scores before the winners are determined
DM me

 

[Trionyx]

Yep. The general thought is it takes 5 x 5* to make up for a 1*.

It all depends upon how many votes are already cast. If you have 500 votes, a 1 won’t affect things nearly as much as if you have 20 votes. It also depends on your average vote score before you get the 1 vote. If your average score is 4.75, a 1 vote will lower the average more than if your average score is 2.75.

The converse is true as well when the sweeps occur. Removing the 1 votes boosts the average more than removing the 5 votes lowers them, the closer the score was to 5 going in.

Just for fun, play around with this. Assume 20 votes and 500 votes and average scores of 3, 4 and 4.8 at each level.

Score of 3 at 20 votes will end up at 2.9 after a 1-bomb whereas a score of 4.8 at 20 votes will end up at 4.62, a larger drop. A score of 4.8 at 500 votes only drop to 4.79 after a single 1-bomb.

Take home lesson? If your average score after 500 votes is 1, a 1-bomb won’t affect things at all.

 

[SamBomb]

I think my entry got hurt by putting it in satire/humour, because I thought Santa's daughter story fit there. I really should had put it in the lesbian section or something

https://literotica.com/s/noelles-naughty-list

 

[MelissaBaby]

I think my entry got hurt by putting it in satire/humour, because I thought Santa's daughter story fit there. I really should had put it in the lesbian section or something

https://literotica.com/s/noelles-naughty-list

The voters in H&S are pretty tough. I have won the Readers Choice award there two years in a row. My stories were rated 4.72 and 4.65. Those scores wouldn’t put you anywhere near an award in most categories.

 

[SamBomb]

The voters in H&S are pretty tough. I have won the Readers Choice award there two years in a row. My stories were rated 4.72 and 4.65. Those scores wouldn’t put you anywhere near an award in most categories.

Thanks. I've noticed, its my worst scoring story ever and first one in that category.

 

[StillStunned]

Watch out, watch out, there's a gatekeeper about!
Anonymous came out of the shadows to leave the following kind words on Fairytale of New York:

I don't appreciate these short stories flooding the categories as it is, let alone pumping three of them out in just over an hour for the contest. You're better than this.

That presumably explains the 1 that was dropped this morning.

The thing is, though, am I actually better than this? Because I don't really think so.

 

[Duleigh]

Watch out, watch out, there's a gatekeeper about!
Anonymous came out of the shadows to leave the following kind words on Fairytale of New York:

That presumably explains the 1 that was dropped this morning.

The thing is, though, am I actually better than this? Because I don't really think so.

You are the moderator of the comments on your stories, if they don't meet your standards you can remove them. That guy, Anonymous, he learned that if he can't come up with a nom de plum, he needs to be polite to me and my readers if he wants his comments viewed.

 

[Trionyx]

Coming down to the wire. Should expect a sweep today and again right before the announcement. Good luck, everyone.

 

[StillStunned]

Coming down to the wire. Should expect a sweep today and again right before the announcement. Good luck, everyone.

I only need three dozen 1s to be swept to be a contender!

 

[Bazzle]

Gutted my xmas themed story "arrived" in my head a little too late this year. Its out of the contest, posting tomorrow!

 

[Duleigh]

Argh. My "Fan Club" was flying last night, their scatter bombing covered almost every story I published, not just the holiday contest stories. I reported them to the Haig and and going to ask @Laurel to review the Geneva Convention when it comes to shooting down the #1 story in the category indiscriminately.

 

[StillStunned]

That's a lot of 1s falling out of that plane!
I've been getting a couple. Fairytale of New York got one just this afternoon, and Too Early Not to Fuck has been consistently at 4.49 for the past three days, despite 260 new votes.

 

[Trionyx]

Argh. My "Fan Club" was flying last night, their scatter bombing covered almost every story I published, not just the holiday contest stories.

You’ve submitted some very nice stories. Good luck.

 

[Duleigh]

That's a lot of 1s falling out of that plane!

The B-52 is my baby. We have a special relationship

 

[Kumquatqueen]

I only need three dozen 1s to be swept to be a contender!

I only need 10 more votes! There's about an hour left, right?

At least two 1s were swept yesterday evening, making a respectable score (ie over 4).