The Official Authors Hangout Winter Holiday 2023 Contest Support Thread

[Duleigh]

I've been fully engaged in three four stories and a small cast of plot bunnies.
I hope that everyone is having fun with their winter holiday entries

 

[Fatdog25]

Mine is almost ready to go, will likely be submitted tomorrow for publication on November 10.

 

[Devinter]

I'm struggling with this one. I've started two different stories and they each have their flaws; the one I'm leaning towards finishing and uploading is quite depressing so far, and deals with some darker themes such as attempted suicide and horrible medical conditions. But it is certainly a love story, and it might have a happy ending. Probably. Maybe. Can't fully make up my mind.

 

[Duleigh]

The Official Announcement Is Up!!!
We're official! We go live in 3 Days!
Click here for the official rules
and
Good Luck!​

 

[Publius68]

Mine is in and will hopefully will be in the November 10th Holiday Explosion.

 

[Duleigh]

The Pilot's Conjugal Christmas has been submitted, hopefully in time to make the premier page.

 

[Fatdog25]

A Christmas to Remember has just been submitted, hopefully coming out on November 10th.

 

[alohadave]

Santa Gets Gifts is approved, ready for the 10th.

 

[BelleCanzuto]

Just submitted "Last Holiday"
Not sure what the reception will be. Unlike the Halloween story, this one basically wrote itself.

I have an idea for another, but haven't really gotten past the title, tag line and character names...

 

[Duleigh]

I'm doing final edits on Happy Hogswatch!

 

[BelleCanzuto]

so, literally five minutes into research for my new story idea, I found out that the cool phrase i was going to use as the title didn't mean what I thought it meant.
And that means the character names are the stupid pun I meant them to be.
The tag line still works though. Just gotta, y'know, change the only other things I thought I'd figured out...

Oh well. That's tomorrow's job.

 

[Duleigh]

so, literally five minutes into research for my new story idea, I found out that the cool phrase i was going to use as the title didn't mean what I thought it meant.
And that means the character names are the stupid pun I meant them to be.
The tag line still works though. Just gotta, y'know, change the only other things I thought I'd figured out...

Oh well. That's tomorrow's job.

Don't get too carried away, word play isn't our audiences forte. My Very Dear Cô Dâu and Serendipitous Liaison have less than 3k views and they've been out there for years. I'm worried that "The Pilots Conjugal Christmas" is a bit too much wordplay.

 

[Jorunn]

I'm doing final edits on Happy Hogswatch!

What is a Hog Swatch? Or is it a Hog's Watch?

 

[Duleigh]

What is a Hog Swatch? Or is it a Hog's Watch?

It's a fan fiction of Terry Pratchet's discworld and their version of Christmas is called Hogswatch. It's a lot of fun to play with. A Flat world on the back of four elephants riding on a giant turtle through space. I love writing these stories but Terry was a devout atheist so I'm pretty sure it was a play on Hogs Wash (a term meaning bullshit)

For pronunciation go with Hog's Watch.

 

[Devinter]

My story is more or less finished, but I want to go through it one last time and correct any errors as well as upgrade it a little bit. Just going to let it sit for a day or two. I'm also not certain of what the title should be yet - nor what category it would best fit into. I am leaning towards First Time. Does anyone have experience with that category? Do readers there respond well to a story that isn't entirely focused on the first sexual encounter, but rather on a whole relationship forming and blossoming into something special, including loss of virginity? With dark and difficult moments sprinkled in-between? I'd go with Romance, but the sexual scenes are far too plentiful and graphic for the readers there I believe.

 

[AchtungNight]

Thinking about a Veterans Day war zone themed Group Sex story for this contest. A spy whose unit is rescued from a tank ambush by an A-10 Warthog combat jet hooks up with the pilots to reward them and mourn her lost lover. The “She’d want to see me enjoying hot sex” kind of mourning. You can check out my story “Debrief” (https://literotica.com/s/debrief) if you want a prequel. The FMC is Jodie Lee Nichols, hot Aussie female infiltrator slash commando. Still developing the two lucky pilot blokes.

I know Veterans Day and “winter of overcoming discontent” aren’t the usual themes for this sort of contest, but would they qualify? Please let me know your thoughts. If not, I can try the Monthly Contest instead.

I would want cash winnings donated to charity instead of me, hope that’s ok.

 

[alohadave]

I am leaning towards First Time. Does anyone have experience with that category?

I just posted a story in that category last week and was surprised at the amount of views it got. Not as high as I/T, but higher than EC.

 

[BBlaketbv]

The main part of my story is done. Now it's time to do some editing (sigh).
So far I'm very happy with how well this one is coming along.

 

[Duleigh]

One More Day Before the Gates Open!
But if you're still working don't give up hope,
There's 27 Writing Days Left!

​

 

[StillStunned]

I suppose I ought to edit my story and see about submitting it one of these days.

 

[Duleigh]

I suppose I ought to edit my story and see about submitting it one of these days.

I use a combination of ProWritingAid and Word's read aloud function.
I don't know how many times something has looked perfectly fine on the page but sounded stupid when read out loud

 

[StillStunned]

I use a combination of ProWritingAid and Word's read aloud function.
I don't know how many time something has looked perfectly fine on the page but sounded stupid when read out loud

No need to tell me about Read Aloud: I'm the greatest advocate of it, professionally and here on Lit.

 

[TheDok]

Just a question but how is the voting for contests kept fair? Whilst I read that deliberate one bombing of stories by trolls is removed from some stories on occasion, does this happen regularly during the contest period? Once a story has a low rating it is less likely to be read even if malicious low scores are later removed.

 

[Duleigh]

Just a question but how is the voting for contests kept fair? Whilst I read that deliberate one bombing of stories by trolls is removed from some stories on occasion, does this happen regularly during the contest period? Once a story has a low rating it is less likely to be read even if malicious low scores are later removed.

Yes, there is bombing that goes on during the contest, but let not your heart be troubled. Just before the winners are announced Laurel, in her wisdom, will go through each story and sweep away any vote that is out of her parameters. It's not unusual to see a 4.62 story shoot up to 4.85 once the illicit votes are removed. Your story scores will bounce around, you have the option to 1) not worry about it and hope for the best or 2) keep track of it every night.

Either way, the moment you press Publish, it's out of your hands, but Laurel strives to make it fair with her algorithms

 

[TheDok]

Yes, there is bombing that goes on during the contest, but let not your heart be troubled. Just before the winners are announced Laurel, in her wisdom, will go through each story and sweep away any vote that is out of her parameters. It's not unusual to see a 4.62 story shoot up to 4.85 once the illicit votes are removed. Your story scores will bounce around, you have the option to 1) not worry about it and hope for the best or 2) keep track of it every night.

Either way, the moment you press Publish, it's out of your hands, but Laurel strives to make it fair with her algorithms

I'm retired with plenty of time on my hands (and the weather here in the UK is crap), obsessive, and competitive plus this is my first contest. I'll probably check four times an hour for the first twelve hours and hourly after that LOL