How do you find new stories to read?

[Writer61]

The thread about titles (here) got me wondering about how others find new stories to read.

At first I picked stories from the 'Top rated' lists but now I mostly use the 'New' section of the categories that appeal to me. I bookmark stories that look interesting in a list named 'Read later'.

How do you do it?

 

[AlinaX]

I work my way through the New sections of the Categories I like.

 

[shelleycat1]

If people on this forum say interesting things I look at their stories. But mainly the new stories in the categories I like. It makes me think that the title and description are very important.

 

[joy_of_cooking]

For everyone saying they check out the new lists, how do you tell what's going to be good? I find sturgeon 's law applies.

For myself,

1. Tags. I have a couple of tags that I'll periodically search, limited by last 30 days, sorted by rating. Sometimes if I'm in an adventurous mood I'll branch out from there using the related tags suggestions.
2. Related stories, at the bottom of any stories whose subject (not necessarily execution) I liked
3. Favorites of authors I like or of users who liked my stories. That was honestly how I got into writing. I ran out of stuff to read and figured maybe I'd hang out some bait for like minded perverts.
4. Recently started checking out public story lists. Very excited about that feature, as it adds a degree of curation that hasn't been available before.
5. For a while I used external searches, either smut md (specialized lit search, if you can believe that) or just Google with a site: filter. They were kind of hit or miss, though. I haven't done much of that recently.

 

[AlinaX]

Sometimes I do tag searches or look at people’s favourites. Tag searches usually lead to stories I’ve already read. Favourites can be productive, although more often they lead to niche obsessions.

 

[THBGato]

I started with top lists, then favourite authors of other authors. Havibg mostly exhausted these, I now look at new lists and also keep a eye on the comments too.

I bookmark a lot to my "read later" list.

 

[StillStunned]

I sit down and start typing. Some time later, I have a new story to read.

(Which is my way of saying I don't read nearly as much as I used to, or as much as I would like to.)

 

[Erozetta]

Tags, favorites list of authors I like, and suggestions from friends that catch my interest.

 

[SimonDoom]

I follow many authors, so their stories show up in my activity feed. Sometimes I'll get a cue from something an author has posted in the forum about a story they've written. Sometimes I'll search for something, and I also sometimes notice stories that show up on similar story lists.

 

[AG31]

For everyone saying they check out the new lists, how do you tell what's going to be good? I find sturgeon 's law applies.

For myself,

1. Tags. I have a couple of tags that I'll periodically search, limited by last 30 days, sorted by rating. Sometimes if I'm in an adventurous mood I'll branch out from there using the related tags suggestions.
2. Related stories, at the bottom of any stories whose subject (not necessarily execution) I liked
3. Favorites of authors I like or of users who liked my stories. That was honestly how I got into writing. I ran out of stuff to read and figured maybe I'd hang out some bait for like minded perverts.
4. Recently started checking out public story lists. Very excited about that feature, as it adds a degree of curation that hasn't been available before.
5. For a while I used external searches, either smut md (specialized lit search, if you can believe that) or just Google with a site: filter. They were kind of hit or miss, though. I haven't done much of that recently.

Good list. Gives me new ideas. Thanks.

 

[AG31]

The thread about titles (here) got me wondering about how others find new stories to read.

At first I picked stories from the 'Top rated' lists but now I mostly use the 'New' section of the categories that appeal to me. I bookmark stories that look interesting in a list named 'Read later'.

How do you do it?

For a while I looked over the New list each day in the categories I like. But that yielded almost nothing. Then I started working my way through the favorites of authors who had favorited me. That was also disappointing. I'll probably resume it sometime in the future, just to work my way through the list. I think I've found most of the stories I read through conversations here in AH and alerts for authors I've favorited.

I really like the idea of public favorites lists, and will contribute my own soon, but I have such narrow tastes that I'm not expecting any help there.

 

[yowser]

I agree that finding 'good stuff' is not so easy here. I employ many of the strategies others have noted, and in descending order I find the best items by:

My favorited authors
Their lists or favorites
Exploring the corpus of AH folks who make intelligent posts (must be something going on there, yes?)

The rest, which is highly variable for me, involves tag searching and skimming new stories either in my category de jure, or in general (although I am astonished at how many show up here on the new lists, every day, on and on), and every once in awhile a snappy title will grab me. At this stage, I won't read a multi-part series unless I already know and like the author, and the huge majority of what I initially click on will not keep me interested for more than a few paragraphs, so beginnings are important.

For my 'don't even bother' non-reads (for which negatives some might find helpful for their own marketing strategies) there are these qualities:

*Trite title that tells me nothing or demonstrates a serious lack of imagination (double whammy if the title is (for example) 'Tommy and Me' and then the short description is 'Tommy and Me' which happens far more than one would expect.) A gross typo or grammatical mistake in a title shooes me away too.

*First person POV where I have no idea who this person is after a few paragraphs (please give me Some Clue - male? office worker? street urchin?)

*Second person POV (either true or First Person disguised as 2nd) with some exceptions.

Lot of wading required for enjoyment (almost sounds like real life.)

 

[UsuallyPresent]

Beyond the prior suggestions by @joy_of_cooking & @SimonDoom , searching on typically 2 words - "young MILF" or "bondage massage" - tends to work fairly well for me. Too many or too few terms tends to lead weird places. For example, searching only for "skinny" tends to be filled with skinny-dipping stories, with few about thin folks.

Beyond this, I tend to refresh the 'random' section of a preferred category when bored & poking through stuff without a specific goal in mind.

 

[TheLobster]

Since my tastes are pretty broad, it's rare that I know what I'm looking for.

So, what I often do is to go to search.literotica.com and refresh the page a few times until the "Popular Searches" section pops up with something interesting or unusual. I don't know how those queries are selected but the sample is varied enough to usually surface something worth clicking within a few presses of the Refresh button.

 

[THBGato]

For everyone saying they check out the new lists, how do you tell what's going to be good?

So I only look at the new list for Lesbian, and at the side you can see recent comments. There's about 10 or so regular commenters who roughly share my tastes in stories. So, if I see they have commented positively, then I know I'll probably like the story.

 

[AG31]

*Trite title that tells me nothing or demonstrates a serious lack of imagination (double whammy if the title is (for example)

I have one story with the tritest of trite titles, "Submission." Here, and in Smashwords and Apple it has received far and away the most reads of my 6 to 11 publications (stories are combined on 2 platforms). I only recently realized this. It was quite a surprise. If I were in it for the money I'd have to re-think all my other titles.

 

[Writer61]

For everyone saying they check out the new lists, how do you tell what's going to be good?

I basically only consider stories with an H rating and then pick ones with a title and short description that appeals.

 

[UsuallyPresent]

joy_of_cooking said:

For everyone saying they check out the new lists, how do you tell what's going to be good?

I basically only consider stories with an H rating and then pick ones with a title and short description that appeals.

Similar, except I also look for author names I recognize as quality in their genre/category/whatever-you-call-it. In general if I'm not hooked in a screen page or two, or if I have too much cognitive dissonance from the approach chosen, I just 'back' to the list and look for the next candidate.

 

[yowser]

I basically only consider stories with an H rating and then pick ones with a title and short description that appeals.

I'll hazard you're missing out on some truly good stories, scoring being an often unreliable index of merit here.

On my all-time favorite list (and I am a ferociously fussy reader) the mighty 'H' appears on only about 60% of the 128 total. I have found an impressive number of the best (most imaginative, creative, well written) tales in the 4-4.5 range. Once you get below 4 stars, the quality often does taper off, but the Red H is deceptive.

 

[Rob_Royale]

When someone follows me, I check to see who else they have followed. I find it a decent method to find other authors who perhaps share interests with me.

 

[KyleR215]

I start at New Stories

I start at the oldest of stories (date) and then work my way forward.

I read each title and see if the title and short description grabs my attention grabs me.

If it does, I read it