How do you not freak out over votes?

[AlinaX]

I have a story with a zero rating. The one vote on it got pulled somehow.

It was one of the Valerie Solanas stories. I reread them, and I still like them. But, yes, the subject matter - there doesn't seem to be a market for tales about 1960s celebrity-shooting, radical feminist, lesbian prostitutes.

It's not really erotic, is it. It's more like an art film that deliberately sucks all the emotion from the scene despite its extreme themes.

 

[jaF0]

Wait ... What? Poster thinks a 4.07 is LOW?



Really?



Nawhh ... really?



Yershittin'

 

[gunhilltrain]

It's not really erotic, is it. It's more like an art film that deliberately sucks all the emotion from the scene despite its extreme themes.

That was the whole point of it. Prostitution is not erotic; it's a way to make money. The Johns who think otherwise are deluding themselves, like the first guy with the foot fetish. The stories are sexual, but deliberately not erotic.

I'm pretty sure that many, if not most, prostitutes have to suck the emotions out of themselves to survive it. Solanas seemed to be like that based on the little she wrote about it. ("You've got to go through a lot of sex to get to anti-sex.") When she does have emotions, they range from resentment to anger to a desire for violent revenge.

I've heard some people claim that it's not that bad, or that there are important exceptions. Maybe, but perhaps they are deluding themselves too.

 

[soflabbwlvr]

If you do the math, you'll find that when your story has less than 50 votes one 4 vote can drop it. To maintain a 4.79 score you will need 4 votes of & call r every 4 vote. Anything less, and your score will drop. The best advice is not to obsess over the scores. They will find a level and settle in, and thers is nothing you can do about it but write more stories. The more you write, the better you will score.

 

[Enchantment_of_Nyx]

I have a story with a zero rating. The one vote on it got pulled somehow.

It was one of the Valerie Solanas stories. I reread them, and I still like them. But, yes, the subject matter - there doesn't seem to be a market for tales about 1960s celebrity-shooting, radical feminist, lesbian prostitutes.

As I wrote below, katt2007 should definitely get back into the game.

I checked it out, and liked it. You really captured the mood. I wonder if the story just dropped at a bad time. Maybe during a story contest or something? If it was bad, it would get a low rating, not no rating. I can see how some readers my ding you on the lack of erotic content, since the spanking wasn't intended to be erotic, but it's well-written.

 

[JuanSeiszFitzHall]

I have a view on voting changes that apparently disagrees with that of many folks on this forum. A story that starts really well in voting may have been read chiefly by people who like exactly what’s in the story. (This means that the category, title, and description were chosen well by the author.) The high rating may then get the attention of people who don’t quite have the same interest in that kind of content, but are willing to give the story a chance based on the rating. These readers may not vote as favorably as the initial wave of readers did. It’s a sort of regression to the mean. A decline like this may not show up at once, if the author has many followers, but it can still happen. There might be some troll skullduggery, but to some extent a widely-read story may simply not appeal to all of the wide readership.

 

[gunhilltrain]

I checked it out, and liked it. You really captured the mood. I wonder if the story just dropped at a bad time. Maybe during a story contest or something? If it was bad, it would get a low rating, not no rating. I can see how some readers my ding you on the lack of erotic content, since the spanking wasn't intended to be erotic, but it's well-written.

Thank you. The parts I also liked about that morning include her later musings about becoming a dominatrix, and her being trapped on an out-of-service subway train to Brooklyn.

Chapter 4 has the real-life dinner with publisher Maurice Girodias (it's in the movie too, but it's completely different) and a shakedown by a smooth-talking pimp. That is fictional, but there is a suggestion that it set her on the path to shooting Warhol.

It's not the timing; it's more likely that she was such a polarizing figure. From what I know of her, she was a very difficult person to deal with and she probably was mentally ill. Her attempted murder of Warhol and two other men in his office was motivated by delusional grievances, not on anything they had actually done to her.

 

[gunhilltrain]

I checked it out, and liked it. You really captured the mood. I wonder if the story just dropped at a bad time. Maybe during a story contest or something? If it was bad, it would get a low rating, not no rating. I can see how some readers my ding you on the lack of erotic content, since the spanking wasn't intended to be erotic, but it's well-written.

If you gave me that five score, then thank you. Did you ever see the 1996 movie about her? It has some interesting parts. Lili Taylor does a credible job, but she falls out of character sometimes and lets her own charm show through. I suspect Solanas was never charming.

 

[Enchantment_of_Nyx]

If you gave me that five score, then thank you. Did you ever see the 1996 movie about her? It has some interesting parts. Lili Taylor does a credible job, but she falls out of character sometimes and lets her own charm show through. I suspect Solanas was never charming.

It was an honest rating. No, I didn't see it. I don't even even remember it coming out. I'm not much of a movie person, and thinking back on 1996, I think I barely even slept, much less saw movies. I dove down the wikipedia rabbit hole after reading your story. I intend to read the other chapters, but my reading list is a bit congested at the moment! Solanas seems like a very interesting person, but I agree that she does not seem likely to have been all that charming. You never know, though. Some people who are very hard-nosed in one setting can be amiable in another.

 

[LWulf]

This story is my first fiction writing since high school, and I thought I was doing pretty well - most of my stories have been ranking in the high 4s. I thought my most recent piece was my best, and when I checked on Friday it was at 4.79 with 30 votes.

But now it's down to 4.63! What the hell man?

I know, I know 4.63 is still a good score. But it dropped .16 points over the weekend.

So how seriously should I take votes? Do they matter? Do I suck? Please take a look and let me know what you think. Thanks!

https://www.literotica.com/s/the-vampire-and-the-goth-ch-08

Your story reads well. However, your story spans more than one Lit page, and most people here are looking for the sex to start on page 1. Those want to "get it in, get it on, and get it over with." While you might be an overachiever who sees yourself with 5's, you have to accept that you simply "can't please all of the people all of the time."

As Soflabbwlvr said "The best advice is not to obsess over the scores" which is sound advice. All you'll do is give yourself an anxiety disorder otherwise.

edit: to answer the thread title question. I simply don't give a statistic that much power over me. By enabling a thing to have so much sway over you is to become a victim of machination. You either become slave to a ticking clock, or deny it power over you. It's literally that simple.

Statistics are a tool, in this case, based on public opinion. Use the tool to assess which direction you want to change your writing style, IF you want public opinion to sway your style. Otherwise, ignore it.

Answer me this; WHY does it mean something to you?
Answer that question, and you'll know why it freaks you out so much.

 

[gunhilltrain]

It was an honest rating. No, I didn't see it. I don't even even remember it coming out. I'm not much of a movie person, and thinking back on 1996, I think I barely even slept, much less saw movies. I dove down the wikipedia rabbit hole after reading your story. I intend to read the other chapters, but my reading list is a bit congested at the moment! Solanas seems like a very interesting person, but I agree that she does not seem likely to have been all that charming. You never know, though. Some people who are very hard-nosed in one setting can be amiable in another.

I saw it on cable around 2004. I think the box office it did was, well, minimal. It was called I Shot Andy Warhol. Jared Harris does a great job playing Warhol.

Solanas may have been "interesting," but she tried to murder three people for no reasons beyond her own delusions. In my book, that just about cancels her out as a viable social critic.

I've actually read The Scum Manifesto. It's quite short. There are a few interesting points in it, but some of it doesn't make any sense.

 

[davion2308]

Too small a sample size

I think you're looking at too small a sample size. You can't take the scores seriously until you hit 80 or even triple digits. Things will start smoothing out then.

I post a story and obsessively go back and check the scores every hour. I realize that's not productive or helpful and the updates don't always hit right away. But you are allowed to freak out dipping .16 over a weekend. It's your right.

The story will smoooooooth out and voting will be accurate for how the masses feel.

 

[MelissaBaby]

If you gave me that five score, then thank you. Did you ever see the 1996 movie about her? It has some interesting parts. Lili Taylor does a credible job, but she falls out of character sometimes and lets her own charm show through. I suspect Solanas was never charming.

I did not know anything about her, and watched the movie because Yo La Tengo played the Velvet Underground. LOL

I thought the movie did a good job of taking a truly fucked up character and making her understandable, if not sympathetic.

 

[MelissaBaby]

I think you're looking at too small a sample size. You can't take the scores seriously until you hit 80 or even triple digits. Things will start smoothing out then.

I post a story and obsessively go back and check the scores every hour. I realize that's not productive or helpful and the updates don't always hit right away. But you are allowed to freak out dipping .16 over a weekend. It's your right.

The story will smoooooooth out and voting will be accurate for how the masses feel.

That is category dependent. There are some categories in which you are lucky if you get 100 votes. But the general principle applies.

 

[ElectricBlue]

That is category dependent. There are some categories in which you are lucky if you get 100 votes. But the general principle applies.

I reckon 20 or 30 votes is the minimum reliable number, or 20 - 30 days, whichever comes first. I've got some stories which have had the same vote count/score for years - those at the bottom of my list. The ones with the highest scores are constantly shifting up and down the top quartile of my story list. Scores determine the reading order of your back catalogue, I've found: the higher the score, the more often it gets read (or at least opened), and it's more likely the score will creep up.

 

[Enchantment_of_Nyx]

I think you can get a comparative feel for how many votes you're likely to get in one category versus another by looking at the top lists. If someone more willing to do the math than I am took the average of the votes received by the top 10 or 20 stories in the category, it would be possible to use a number of votes accepted as stable in a particular category, and use the ratio of average votes to stable vote number to extrapolate it to categories that are less familiar.

If one were so inclined. It's kind of a lot of math (ick!) or spreadsheets (ick!) for information that can't be used to influence anything. However, if someone who despises math less that I do were to figure it out, I'd love to know!

 

[SimonDoom]

I think you can get a comparative feel for how many votes you're likely to get in one category versus another by looking at the top lists. If someone more willing to do the math than I am took the average of the votes received by the top 10 or 20 stories in the category, it would be possible to use a number of votes accepted as stable in a particular category, and use the ratio of average votes to stable vote number to extrapolate it to categories that are less familiar.

If one were so inclined. It's kind of a lot of math (ick!) or spreadsheets (ick!) for information that can't be used to influence anything. However, if someone who despises math less that I do were to figure it out, I'd love to know!

It would take a while to do this, because the category-based toplists are ranked by score, not by vote. Vote numbers, however, are given in parentheses for each story, so I suppose one could take the top 100 stories in each category for the last 12 months and calculate the mean number of votes per story for each category. That should give one a pretty good idea of the relative popularity of each category in terms of votes. To get a more accurate sense one would also have to calculate the mean views, because I believe view:vote ratios vary somewhat from category to category. Loving Wives, for example, probably has a low view:vote ratio because it's full of highly motivated negative voters who many not finish the story but give it a 1 anyway when they get a whiff of "cuck shit."

 

[NotWise]

It would take a while to do this, because the category-based toplists are ranked by score, not by vote. Vote numbers, however, are given in parentheses for each story, so I suppose one could take the top 100 stories in each category for the last 12 months and calculate the mean number of votes per story for each category. That should give one a pretty good idea of the relative popularity of each category in terms of votes. To get a more accurate sense one would also have to calculate the mean views, because I believe view:vote ratios vary somewhat from category to category. Loving Wives, for example, probably has a low view:vote ratio because it's full of highly motivated negative voters who many not finish the story but give it a 1 anyway when they get a whiff of "cuck shit."

For a category that gets fewer than 250 votes/month (I think that's the limit to the length of the list), the 30-day toplist will show all of the stories and their votes from the last 30 days. That's probably a better sample than the other toplists.

The number of views or votes isn't entirely determined by the category. Stories get a lot of views from the New list, and in categories without a lot of readers, that may be the origin of most of your views -- at least early on.

I've looked at the ratio of votes:1000 views on my stories. The median is almost exactly one. Despite the role of the New list, the category is probably the largest factor determining the ratio. Virtually all of my stories in EC are below the median, and almost all of my stories in I/T are above the median. My Romance stories are above, and my Mature stories are below.

 

[Enchantment_of_Nyx]

...The number of views or votes isn't entirely determined by the category. Stories get a lot of views from the New list, and in categories without a lot of readers, that may be the origin of most of your views -- at least early on...

I imagine the stories in some categories suffer disproportionately from their time on the new list for all new stories. The list for all new stories is a lot more obvious and easier to find that the new lists by category. The more niche the category is, I expect the more the score is damaged by it's time there.

I'm not suggesting there shouldn't be an all-inclusive new list. I'm just speculating about the reasons why some categories score lower than others, when theoretically, they ought to be about the same.

 

[Emirus]

Get back to writing

Review scores on this site are an awful idea. I wrote my first (and only) story a few years ago, intending it to be the first chapter of a longer corruption tale. But the low reader score completely discouraged me and I lost all motivation and self-confidence. I haven't written anything since.

As has been said earlier, by jaFO, in response to Katt2007 thinking 4.07 is so low a score it’s not worth continuing writing I’m in complete agreement. Without doubt everyone wants to see that magic red sign next to their story but it doesn’t always occur and it’s impossible for it to occur for every story. A story on 4.07 (mathematicians please correct me) means you’ve received more 5’s than other votes. As has been said before anything above 4 is a good score.

I’ve read the story and not only is it better than a lot of first stories I’ve read it’s better than many red stories I’ve come across.

https://www.literotica.com/s/test-of-faith

So the message for Katt2007 is get back to writing.

 

[SimonDoom]

For a category that gets fewer than 250 votes/month (I think that's the limit to the length of the list), the 30-day toplist will show all of the stories and their votes from the last 30 days. That's probably a better sample than the other toplists.

The number of views or votes isn't entirely determined by the category. Stories get a lot of views from the New list, and in categories without a lot of readers, that may be the origin of most of your views -- at least early on.

I've looked at the ratio of votes:1000 views on my stories. The median is almost exactly one. Despite the role of the New list, the category is probably the largest factor determining the ratio. Virtually all of my stories in EC are below the median, and almost all of my stories in I/T are above the median. My Romance stories are above, and my Mature stories are below.

I was thinking about 12 month toplists, and picking just the top 100 stories, because I think it would be a large enough sample size, and using numbers from a 12 month period will give you a better long term picture for the story. I've seen numbers change for my stories after the first month, but not appreciably after the first year.

 

[KeithD]

As has been said earlier, by jaFO, in response to Katt2007 thinking 4.07 is so low a score it’s not worth continuing writing I’m in complete agreement. Without doubt everyone wants to see that magic red sign next to their story but it doesn’t always occur and it’s impossible for it to occur for every story. A story on 4.07 (mathematicians please correct me) means you’ve received more 5’s than other votes. As has been said before anything above 4 is a good score.

I’ve read the story and not only is it better than a lot of first stories I’ve read it’s better than many red stories I’ve come across.

https://www.literotica.com/s/test-of-faith

So the message for Katt2007 is get back to writing.

I'm not a mathematician, but, no, a score of 4.07 would have to have at least one five, but it's just slightly over 4.00, so it would be mostly not more than fours. I think "mostly fives" would have to be over 4.5 in score.

 

[ElectricBlue]

I've looked at the ratio of votes:1000 views on my stories. The median is almost exactly one. Despite the role of the New list, the category is probably the largest factor determining the ratio. Virtually all of my stories in EC are below the median, and almost all of my stories in I/T are above the median. My Romance stories are above, and my Mature stories are below.

I'm curious on that ratio, NotWise. You say your ratio of votes per view is 1:1000? Mine is pretty consistently 1:100, with more responsive categories - which for me are Mature and Sci/Fi & Fantasy - around 1:80; less responsive categories (Group and BDSM) down as low as 1:150. My rule of thumb for comments is one per thousand views. I've written across thirteen or fourteen categories over the years, and 1:100 is my consistent average. I'm surprised that your ratio is so different. As i say, curious.

 

[SimonDoom]

I'm curious on that ratio, NotWise. You say your ratio of votes per view is 1:1000? Mine is pretty consistently 1:100, with more responsive categories - which for me are Mature and Sci/Fi & Fantasy - around 1:80; less responsive categories (Group and BDSM) down as low as 1:150. My rule of thumb for comments is one per thousand views. I've written across thirteen or fourteen categories over the years, and 1:100 is my consistent average. I'm surprised that your ratio is so different. As i say, curious.

That didn't sound right to me, either. Although the vote:view ratio for my stories varies, across all 32 stories it's about .01, which is a ratio of 10:1000 views, or 1 out of 100. I suspect he's off by a factor of 10 and his number is the same as ours, more or less.

I've noticed that over time the view:vote ratio increases, which I suspect is due to people re-reading, but not voting on, stories they've read and voted on before. That's one of the reasons I think it's much more useful to look at 12 month figures than 1 month figures, which are far more subject to change over the long term.

 

[NotWise]

That didn't sound right to me, either. Although the vote:view ratio for my stories varies, across all 32 stories it's about .01, which is a ratio of 10:1000 views, or 1 out of 100. I suspect he's off by a factor of 10 and his number is the same as ours, more or less.

I've noticed that over time the view:vote ratio increases, which I suspect is due to people re-reading, but not voting on, stories they've read and voted on before. That's one of the reasons I think it's much more useful to look at 12 month figures than 1 month figures, which are far more subject to change over the long term.

I misspoke. It was favorites:1000 views that came out around 1. My median ratio of votes:1000 views is 8.8, and it ranges from 2 to 31. The distribution of that ratio isn't as clearly related to category as favorites:1000 views. All but one of my EC stories is below the median, but all of my SciFi and Romance stories are over the median. The I/T stories are widely distributed.

There is very little relationship between the score and votes:1000 views.