The Official Authors' Hangout Halloween 2022 Contest Support Thread

[Lifestyle66]

In the past 24 hours, there have been 4 or 5 votes. I'm still short of the necessary mark to even qualify for the contest. It seems unchanged from the 4.67 it had climbed to after the one bomb, so guessing a few 4s and a few 5s.

Dark tails are not my usual go-to, which may be why others are not rating it. But it seems like a good ending.

This may be like my "Lifestyle Ch. 11 - Demons Past", which has yet to get more than 8 ratings after 4 months! It's probably a little disturbing for some but contains things people can't really hate. So, they just don't vote.

But I've plus yours up with a 5!

 

[MillieDynamite]

Dark tails are not my usual go-to, which may be why others are not rating it. But it seems like a good ending.

This may be like my "Lifestyle Ch. 11 - Demons Past", which has yet to get more than 8 ratings after 4 months! It's probably a little disturbing for some but contains things people can't really hate. So, they just don't vote.

But I've plus yours up with a 5!

Thanks, Lifestyle66. I appreciate your vote. I love reading and writing dark tales, but I have drifted away from them here (well, somewhat) and lightened up many of my stories. Even so, a bad ending, now and then, is a bit true to life. After all, no one gets out of life alive.

 

[Emotional]

Inam probably the worst score watcher in the world. Literally 10x a day, and publish day hundreds of times.

 

[theWollstonecraftWoman]

A new author here. My story for the Halloween contest is the first one I wrote and published. However, it wasn't the first one that went live. I have two up now and have lurked in here for a few weeks before I posted anything. I learned to avoid the loving wives' territory. My usual story will be interracial, though the vampire tale for the contest isn't. Or is it? Are vampires a race? Anyway, just dipping my toe in and waiting for my second cuckold story to live tomorrow.

 

[DarkRaven13]

A new author here. My story for the Halloween contest is the first one I wrote and published. However, it wasn't the first one that went live. I have two up now and have lurked in here for a few weeks before I posted anything. I learned to avoid the loving wives' territory. My usual story will be interracial, though the vampire tale for the contest isn't. Or is it? Are vampires a race? Anyway, just dipping my toe in and waiting for my second cuckold story to live tomorrow.

I loved the line, "... just dripping my toe in ..." Very appropriate for the Halloween thread! Welcome aboard

 

[theWollstonecraftWoman]

I loved the line, "... just dripping my toe in ..." Very appropriate for the Halloween thread! Welcome aboard

Thank you, that is very kind of you.

 

[Lifestyle66]

Thanks, Lifestyle66. I appreciate your vote. I love reading and writing dark tales, but I have drifted away from them here (well, somewhat) and lightened up many of my stories. Even so, a bad ending, now and then, is a bit true to life. After all, no one gets out of life alive.

But yours was more of a good-quasi-bad ending.

 

[Bazzle]

I'm thinking that the lack of sex is killing mine..but hey ho.

 

[Lifestyle66]

My laptop died about 3 weeks ago and I had to choose between fixing the screen on a 4 year old laptop or buying new. The new ones have the same performance at half the price, so I opted for that. I watched some online videos and bought an SSD enclosure and a mini Torx screwdriver set, opened up the old laptop and pulled out the SSD card (like a disk drive but all memory). It was a little scary, but I got things right, and once I plugged the enclosure into my new laptop USB, I had all my files! The only thing I had to do was pay homage to the ghost of Bill Gates and buy a new copy of Office.

It's best to save those scary tasks for Halloween. LOL

I'm a techie (systems engineer, with MSCE), and I taught my wife to keep her files on a USB stick (they are extremely small now, too). I take her memory stick about every week or two to make a second copy which I keep on my home file server. (What? Doesn't everyone have one of those?)

But once you've taken the challenge and successfully removed that SSD, you now see how easy it would be to replace it if that SSD ever crashed (or the battery, too). You would lose your files, so only keep the programs there, while keeping the files on removable USBs and make copies.

 

[HBuff]

That's very sweet of you. Winning isn't the point for me. Competing is fun, but watching the scores just upset me. Not because I think I might win but because you become hooked on score-watching, which takes the fun out of the whole thing for me. it also takes away from my writing time.

Words and numbers aren't meant to go that well together.
My first story here (from last May) has a sub-4 rating, but 10 readers put them in their favorites, so they really enjoyed it. The cinematographic style of this story, which I depicted as a 1939 black & white movie in a succession of scenes, is something risky that may have put off many readers. It is in Non-Consent section, but it has gang-rape scenes that may have put off many readers as well, while it fits the fantasies of some others.

 

[Lifestyle66]

Words and numbers aren't meant to go that well together.
My first story here (from last May) has a sub-4 rating, but 10 readers put them in their favorites, so they really enjoyed it. The cinematographic style of this story, which I depicted as a 1939 black & white movie in a succession of scenes, is something risky that requires a great deal of talent to pull off; I may not have such talent and many readers were probably put off by this. Some few readers really loved it, since this isn't a style of story you'll find anywhere.

Score reflects how a story is doing according to the tastes of the majority. Many readers get put off by things that are pretty minor, or they find things that unsettle them in their habits or that challenge their world view.
...

You're on the right track, but not spelling it out.

If you post your story for everyone in the world to read and rate, some portion of them will love it, and just as assuredly some portion will hate it. We're all different, and you can't please everyone with one flavor.

If you want EVERYONE in the audience to love your story, find the right audience of only those who share your love of that type of story. And you won't find such a focused loving audience in the general categories here on LitE or in the contests. You might only get close in the fetish categories, and even there, they have their trolls looking to spread hate.

Thus, we must contend with 1-bombs. I'm current at a rate of one 1-bomb per 12 raters on my latest story. To improve that ratio, I need more good followers deliberately looking for and rating my stories. And that takes time and more stories. (And maybe even better writing skills.)

 

[Rustyoznail]

It's finally done. "From Norway, with lust."

I finished the story then realised I didn't have a title or catch line. I hope it doesn't put people off.

 

[Northstar4695]

It's finally done. "From Norway, with lust."

I finished the story then realised I didn't have a title or catch line. I hope it doesn't put people off.

Titles and taglines I always struggle with. So important, yet so few characters to work with.

 

[DarkRaven13]

It's finally done. "From Norway, with lust."

That sounds very James Bond like!

I would ask if I could be one of the Rusty girls....but this is Lit and that would just be inviting comments that get me SHAKEN ... but not STIRRED up. And likely a few on BONDage ones as well ...

(Apparently I am in a punny mood this morning.)

 

[Duleigh]

I finished the story then realised I didn't have a title or catch line. I hope it doesn't put people off.

I've written stories where all I had was a title and a catch line. I typed them out then turned to my muse and said, "It's your turn now."

 

[Rustyoznail]

That sounds very James Bond like!

I would ask if I could be one of the Rusty girls....but this is Lit and that would just be inviting comments that get me SHAKEN ... but not STIRRED up. And likely a few on BONDage ones as well ...

(Apparently I am in a punny mood this morning.)

Oh, I don't think you'd want to be the main girl in my story. Maybe the side character who goes to a Halloween party dressed as Elastagirl. Mmm... Yeah, Elastagirl in red Lycra.

 

[MillieDynamite]

Words and numbers aren't meant to go that well together.
My first story here (from last May) has a sub-4 rating, but 10 readers put them in their favorites, so they really enjoyed it. The cinematographic style of this story, which I depicted as a 1939 black & white movie in a succession of scenes, is something risky that may have put off many readers. It is in Non-Consent section, but it has gang-rape scenes that may have put off many readers as well, while it fits the fantasies of some others.

I love hearts, and this gives me a good idea that those who like my writing are getting something out of the stories. Votes are a fickle thing, especially for a writer who likes to use twists and turns, which I try not to use here often. If I had my way, I'd have more surprises in the stores without warnings in the tags or a warning in the first paragraph. That is something you can't do here and not get hammered in the comments.

 

[TxRad]

That was interesting. No change in votes but the score dropped .02. How the hell does that work?

 

[MillieDynamite]

That was interesting. No change in votes but the score dropped .02. How the hell does that work?

Excellent question. The answer is... um, well! I don't have a fucking clue, sorry, I got nothing, zilch, nada, not one idea.

I sincerely hope I have been helpful. If not helpful, possibly entertaining. If not entertaining, well fuck you all to hell!

 

[TxRad]

Your answer runs right along the line with mine.

Entertainment is where you find it.

 

[Emotional]

That was interesting. No change in votes but the score dropped .02. How the hell does that work?

Someone changes their vote from a 5 to a 1?

 

[MillieDynamite]

Someone changes their vote from a 5 to a 1?

That's one cruel SOB!

 

[TxRad]

Here is something else interesting. It has been 24 hrs since I have recieved a favorite, a vote, or a comment on any of my stories. Before that, I was getting at least a dozen a day.

Is it just me?

 

[KeithD]

Here is something else interesting. It has been 24 hrs since I have recieved a favorite, a vote, or a comment on any of my stories. Before that, I was getting at least a dozen a day.

Is it just me?

Not me.

 

[Emotional]

Tons of stories are getting posted every day it seems, so perhaps the readers have much more to chose from?