What's with authors not accepting comments or feedback?

[susurrus]

What do you think?

I agree. Leave the comment, because even though the reader didn't get what was happening, the length and detail indicates he actually did read it and it made him think. It made him think enough that he felt it necessary to compose a response, not a simple "comment."

 

[susurrus]

Yeah, I know. I'm putting up a lot of posts right now. I was going to start a thread that asked about idiots who didn't pay attention to warnings that they may find story content objectionable, but discovered this one before I got it going. This thread covers what I was going to do pretty well. It's a subject that's frustrated me for some time, and I find that it's one that a lot of us authors have definite feelings for...

 

[RedDeeDee]

I'm just a reader, not a writer, but it seems like every time I hit the portal feedback, half the reviews are a running battle between two individuals. I'd be afraid to have my stories become an unintentional battleground between those two.

 

[susurrus]

Sometimes I get the impression that some of the people who post scathing and sometimes inappropriate feedback in the publics do so just to try to start an argument. They're the same kinds of people who that same thing on the Lit boards, to try and get a rise out of somebody, to hijack a thread to their own foolish agenda.

Best thing to do with that kind of person (and they're usually pretty easily identified) is to ignore them as best you can, since their primary purpose is to draw attention to themselves. Some of them hide behind some narrow minded agenda, attempting to prove to the world how their view is the only valid one, but many of them (most, in fact) just stay in the shadows, and take personal glee in tanking otherwise perfectly good stories.

To a certain extent, to post stories on a free site like this, you have to pretty much not care what anybody else thinks, whether you have feedback turned on or not.

It's what I tell authors who ask about scores and stuff like that. Write for yourself, because it's impossible to satisfy everyone. Some days, it seems like you can't satisfy anyone, and there are always people who have made it their life's goal to be dissatisfied with everything, and go out of their way to make sure everyone else is as miserable as they are.

There are people who aren't happy unless they're bitching about something, and there are some damn happy people out there...

 

[lovecraft68]

Yeah, I know. I'm putting up a lot of posts right now. I was going to start a thread that asked about idiots who didn't pay attention to warnings that they may find story content objectionable, but discovered this one before I got it going. This thread covers what I was going to do pretty well. It's a subject that's frustrated me for some time, and I find that it's one that a lot of us authors have definite feelings for...

Those are the ones that bomb based on whatever content the author calls out just because its in there even though they were warned and didn't have to read it.

 

[Pennyshub]

I just posted my first story last week. The negative comments really didn't bother me. I would welcome the feedback from my readers and more voting would also be a plus.

 

[lovecraft68]

I just posted my first story last week. The negative comments really didn't bother me. I would welcome the feedback from my readers and more voting would also be a plus.

Congrats on the first story! The more you write the more feedback you'll get and the more positive you'll see as you build a fan base.

 

[susurrus]

Those are the ones that bomb based on whatever content the author calls out just because its in there even though they were warned and didn't have to read it.

Yeah, I agree, the warnings are a double edged sword. Sometimes, the warning does indeed make it easier for the trolls, though there are certainly times where I think they read such stories just to get their dander up...

 

[lovecraft68]

Yeah, I agree, the warnings are a double edged sword. Sometimes, the warning does indeed make it easier for the trolls, though there are certainly times where I think they read such stories just to get their dander up...

Agreed on the warnings, but the way I see it is I'm not worrying about the trolls, they will tag me anyway, but if I can stop a regular reader from seeing something they don't want to, that's my goal.

And yes, I think some of these trolls, especially in loving wives are masochists who deliberately read something that will piss them off.

Either that or they really enjoy it then get mad that they do. 'Guilt bombers' I think there are a lot of those in Incest and Non con.

 

[Imstillfun]

I've started deleting comments

I used to find them funny. Now they just bore me. I will keep the nice ones and the intelligent criticism. But the ones that just insult or call names, why give them a platform.

As an author I get lots of feedback. Proper vote, I get emails, people favorite my story, or favorite me as an author. I don't really need the comments.

I've considered not allowing voting as I've found out that people 1* stories using small scripts to vote and change ip addresses. You can tell when the voting falls out of the norm for most stories. Votes go up and then a sudden drop.

Luckily Literotica has algorithms to spot these and will inspect any story you suspect.

With favoriting. And email, I know I have enough fans.

 

[Hypoxia]

I've suggested before that we examine our motives for posting LIT stories, that we may be driven by desires for: acceptance; experience; self-gratification; orneriness; whatever. I use to desire brownie points: many faves, high votes, Red-H's. Some nasty vote-scrubbing cured me of that. Now I collect comments, reactions showing that I have grabbed and IMPACTED readers. I provoked them to respond. I've done my job. I'm happy if I get one fave or comment on my backlist every couple of days. I'll be happier when my muse returns and I provoke even more reactions.

Some excellent and provocative LIT authors disable votes and comments. That is their right. I may be disappointed that I can't respond but I'll read the good stuff anyway. Ain't no big thang...

 

[BreakTheBar]

I had an interesting experience with commenting on someone's story just today and it reminded me of this thread.

The story was probably middle of the road when it came to language/grammar/etc. but the structure could have used some work. The real problem however was the tone - it was in first person and followed a man feeling/being victimized by his wife in a swinger situation. There wasn't any growth or movement, just two Lit pages of victim self-hating.

At the end of the story the author requested votes and comments, and on their profile page they stated they were frustrated they weren't getting more. So I wrote what I thought was a pleasant comment with some suggestions to amp up the story - refocusing the scene, knowing your audience, showing not telling, that sort of thing. I also offered more help if the author wanted it by private email.

Not two hours later the comment is gone. Poof, into the mist. It makes me wonder why I even bother?

 

[IvyMarquis]

I had an interesting experience with commenting on someone's story just today and it reminded me of this thread.

The story was probably middle of the road when it came to language/grammar/etc. but the structure could have used some work. The real problem however was the tone - it was in first person and followed a man feeling/being victimized by his wife in a swinger situation. There wasn't any growth or movement, just two Lit pages of victim self-hating.

At the end of the story the author requested votes and comments, and on their profile page they stated they were frustrated they weren't getting more. So I wrote what I thought was a pleasant comment with some suggestions to amp up the story - refocusing the scene, knowing your audience, showing not telling, that sort of thing. I also offered more help if the author wanted it by private email.

Not two hours later the comment is gone. Poof, into the mist. It makes me wonder why I even bother?

The problem there (there's not really a problem on your end) is that some authors don't desire any sort of criticism, no matter how constructive as it may be. Your comment might have been pleasant enough, but if you make suggestions and the author doesn't want to hear it then it doesn't matter how well intended you were.

However, that's the author's problem, not yours. I've got zero problems with someone making suggestions to my stories so a comment like that (well intended constructive critisism) wouldn't bother me in the least. To me, it shows that you care. You want the story to do well and see a potential thing for the author to explore to improve their writing. Some have thicker skins than others.

One of my favorite authors invariably has a chapter or two in each of the three series' she's posted that infuriate the readers, myself included (I mean to the point that if it was anyone else, I would stop reading the story and not read anything else by them ever again. But it's her, and she knows what she's doing and does her best to assuage us of our intense fury, so I stick it out.). She's constantly a class act with the constructive and not-so-constructive criticism and replies to every comment, including the ones that don't sing her praises. She's not bothered by it in the slightest (but does listen to our concerns).

Again, not all authors are going to be like that. Some just want praise and nothing else. Sounds like that's the type of author your guy was. While you certainly don't have to offer legitimate feedback to any other authors, I wouldn't let one sourpuss foul your view on the subject.

 

[38Fslut]

I would at least have one of the options open, the idea of this site is to share stories mostly and get feedback and encouragement, however, it is also down to personal preference and that is ok too. Maybe they're too afraid of what they will receive about their stories?

 

[susurrus]

I would at least have one of the options open, the idea of this site is to share stories mostly and get feedback and encouragement, however, it is also down to personal preference and that is ok too. Maybe they're too afraid of what they will receive about their stories?

Sometimes, the case is that they don't want the feedback, but more times than that, it's that they've gotten feedback, and for whatever reason, they decide the feedback - such as it may be - isn't worth getting.

As has been said in several places in this thread, the anonymous feedback (in particular) opened the door for people who merely want to spout their vitriol, whether they've read a story or not. Such comments are not constructive, nor are they necessary, and while it's possible for an author to edit the feedback on their stories, often that just encourages the trolls to attack them even more. Ultimately, some of those authors then opt for no feedback at all.

 

[susurrus]

I had an interesting experience with commenting on someone's story just today and it reminded me of this thread.

The story was probably middle of the road when it came to language/grammar/etc. but the structure could have used some work. The real problem however was the tone - it was in first person and followed a man feeling/being victimized by his wife in a swinger situation. There wasn't any growth or movement, just two Lit pages of victim self-hating.

At the end of the story the author requested votes and comments, and on their profile page they stated they were frustrated they weren't getting more. So I wrote what I thought was a pleasant comment with some suggestions to amp up the story - refocusing the scene, knowing your audience, showing not telling, that sort of thing. I also offered more help if the author wanted it by private email.

Not two hours later the comment is gone. Poof, into the mist. It makes me wonder why I even bother?

Does it make you wonder why this particular author wrote the way he (I assume) did in the story? Doesn't the character in the story sound a lot like the character in the author profile?

 

[susurrus]

I've suggested before that we examine our motives for posting LIT stories, that we may be driven by desires for: acceptance; experience; self-gratification; orneriness; whatever. I use to desire brownie points: many faves, high votes, Red-H's. Some nasty vote-scrubbing cured me of that. Now I collect comments, reactions showing that I have grabbed and IMPACTED readers. I provoked them to respond. I've done my job. I'm happy if I get one fave or comment on my backlist every couple of days. I'll be happier when my muse returns and I provoke even more reactions.

Some excellent and provocative LIT authors disable votes and comments. That is their right. I may be disappointed that I can't respond but I'll read the good stuff anyway. Ain't no big thang...

I've said this in various forums, particularly to new writers: You can't worry about votes, you can't worry about feedback. You can't satisfy everyone (some days, it seems you can't satisfy anybody). It's futile to try. First and foremost, write the kind of story YOU want to read. It has to be a self-fulfilling endeavor first, then, if you find that there are other people who like what you created, that's just the sprinkles on the ice cream.

 

[Bramblethorn]

At the end of the story the author requested votes and comments, and on their profile page they stated they were frustrated they weren't getting more. So I wrote what I thought was a pleasant comment with some suggestions to amp up the story - refocusing the scene, knowing your audience, showing not telling, that sort of thing. I also offered more help if the author wanted it by private email.

Not two hours later the comment is gone. Poof, into the mist. It makes me wonder why I even bother?

If you included a contact email address, then your comment may have been deleted by Lit admin for that reason; posting links in comments is verboten and I would assume that also applies to email addresses. If you do want to give an author your email address, the way to do that is through the private feedback option on the author profile.

So the author might be innocent this time.

 

[dididothat]

Feedback and votes, a true double edged sword. Who among us writers doesn't just love little red H on our stories?

A lot of people have made good comments on this topic, may I suggest another? Maybe the author has decided for whatever reason they don't want to use Lit any more (heaven forbid! But it happens.) and therefore decided not to accept any more comments or votes.

As for the trolls, personally I would like to see an end to the 'Anonymous' feedback, perhaps give people the option to hide there user name from the general public but not the author? Having been slammed several times, including one ass who said I should be sued, and one tosspot who said I probably weighed 500lb, what a fool, I'm 498lb, I will admit I take these things quite badly. It hurts but you do have to get over it and I think in the long term its good to develop a tougher skin.

My personal thing is to write (after all lets use our best weapons) a well thought out polite and erudite response, asking them for more help. Being, of course, extra pedantic with grammar and spelling. This does seem to work quite well, I do leave the negative comments there, just because I like it when people slam the troll back.

Just my 2 cents worth

Stacey (dididothat)

PS anyone want to edit a new couple of stories of mine???

 

[lovecraft68]

Feedback and votes, a true double edged sword. Who among us writers doesn't just love little red H on our stories?

A lot of people have made good comments on this topic, may I suggest another? Maybe the author has decided for whatever reason they don't want to use Lit any more (heaven forbid! But it happens.) and therefore decided not to accept any more comments or votes.

As for the trolls, personally I would like to see an end to the 'Anonymous' feedback, perhaps give people the option to hide there user name from the general public but not the author? Having been slammed several times, including one ass who said I should be sued, and one tosspot who said I probably weighed 500lb, what a fool, I'm 498lb, I will admit I take these things quite badly. It hurts but you do have to get over it and I think in the long term its good to develop a tougher skin.

My personal thing is to write (after all lets use our best weapons) a well thought out polite and erudite response, asking them for more help. Being, of course, extra pedantic with grammar and spelling. This does seem to work quite well, I do leave the negative comments there, just because I like it when people slam the troll back.

Just my 2 cents worth

Stacey (dididothat)

PS anyone want to edit a new couple of stories of mine???

You can look for an editor on this thread

http://forum.literotica.com/showthread.php?t=1306172

Or start a thread in the editor forum. I recently heard from someone who was a volunteer editor here that the VE system is so screwed up its worthless at this point.

I think trolls serve a purpose to some extent. They can help develop that thick skin because the choice is find a way to laugh it off, shake it off, whatever or you end up not writing anymore because of what some loser living in mom's basement said about you.

They also can be motivational if you have that , oh, yeah? Fuck you attitude they can inspire you to write more of the stuff that pissed them off

I'd love the site to ditch anon completely as 95% of all truly nasty comments are from anon. The issue is there is tons of good anon feedback and for whatever reason many of these people don't want to use a name here even if its a fake one, which I don't understand, but that's how it is. If they ban anon a lot of readers will keep reading, but not comment.

Then again if lit made it mandatory to have a name to even view the site, as in you can't get in without logging in. Then their choice would be make up a phony name that is as anon as being anon or not read all the great stories here for free.

Some might leave, but I can't see it being a huge number who would walk away from all the stories here because they are afraid their boss will say to them "Hey, aren't you Billyjeanfatcock on Lit?

 

[kcRollins]

Feedback and votes, a true double edged sword. Who among us writers doesn't just love little red H on our stories?

A lot of people have made good comments on this topic, may I suggest another? Maybe the author has decided for whatever reason they don't want to use Lit any more (heaven forbid! But it happens.) and therefore decided not to accept any more comments or votes.

As for the trolls, personally I would like to see an end to the 'Anonymous' feedback, perhaps give people the option to hide there user name from the general public but not the author? Having been slammed several times, including one ass who said I should be sued, and one tosspot who said I probably weighed 500lb, what a fool, I'm 498lb, I will admit I take these things quite badly. It hurts but you do have to get over it and I think in the long term its good to develop a tougher skin.

My personal thing is to write (after all lets use our best weapons) a well thought out polite and erudite response, asking them for more help. Being, of course, extra pedantic with grammar and spelling. This does seem to work quite well, I do leave the negative comments there, just because I like it when people slam the troll back.

Just my 2 cents worth

Stacey (dididothat)

PS anyone want to edit a new couple of stories of mine???

Trolls just need attention so I, too, leave the negative comments there. The only time I remove a negative comment is when someone makes a good comment and the troll attacks him/her. And like someone else said, I think there are those who get off on being mean.

And lol @ "I like it when people slam the troll back." Ditto

 

[Nathan_Brazil]

Debate

I can see both sides of this issue, as I have several pen names here and have gone out of my way to avoid seeing them cross pollinate....

That said, I'd NEVER disable the comments. Anyone who has been nice enough to read my gibberish deserves the opportunity to tell me off...

Plus, I have found that my readers tend to step up and defend me from the less enlightened readers...

 

[dididothat]

Perhaps we could start a thread and post negative feedback from trolls so we can all have a good laugh at the stupidity of some people?

 

[sr71plt]

It's been done--ad nauseam. The topic that will never be satiated.

 

[Nathan_Brazil]

Trolls

I've always suspected that some of the authors ARE the worst trolls.