The Official Authors' Hangout Summer Lovin' 2023 Contest Support Thread

[EmilyMiller]

Considering I penned it as a way to get unstuck on my current longer work in progress, I’m pretty pleased with how mine turned out. Going to write more with the same FMC and the same kink.

Em

 

[Cacatua_Galerita]

@Duleigh - any chance of asking Laurel / Manu to manually add a tag of “Summer Lovin’ 2023” to all relevant stories, so that this works?

https://tags.literotica.com/summer lovin 2023/?sort_by=rating

Em

It looks like Em's suggestion has been implemented. I now see 62 tagged stories in the search results.

 

[EmilyMiller]

It looks like Em's suggestion has been implemented. I now see 62 tagged stories in the search results.

Really? Looks the same to me???

Em

 

[Cacatua_Galerita]

Oops, my mistake. I did a standard search, not a tag search:

https://search.literotica.com/?query=summer lovin 2023&sort=vote

There should be 118+ stories in the full results, not 60 (+2 announcements).

 

[Cacatua_Galerita]

OK. This should show at least the "Top 10":

https://search.literotica.com/?quer...Revenge of the Bikini Cheerleaders"&sort=vote

 

[Duleigh]

LAST DAY!
Today is the last day to get your entries in!​

 

[yowser]

Lot of last minute entries. 125 so far.

The destiny of deadlines.

 

[Rustyoznail]

Mine looks to be galooping along midfield. Quite a few likes, and some nice comments, so I'm happy.

 

[EmilyMiller]

Oops, my mistake. I did a standard search, not a tag search:

https://search.literotica.com/?query=summer lovin 2023&sort=vote

There should be 118+ stories in the full results, not 60 (+2 announcements).

Thanks. That works.

Em

 

[Duleigh]

Thanks. That works.

Em

That's way out of date for some reason, my score is higher and the new tag is gone

 

[Fatdog25]

Oops, my mistake. I did a standard search, not a tag search:

https://search.literotica.com/?query=summer lovin 2023&sort=vote

There should be 118+ stories in the full results, not 60 (+2 announcements).

When I performed this search, it showed several stories published before 8/18.

According to this, mine is ranked 18th for the stories published for Summer Lovin' 2023.

I can live with that.

 

[Cacatua_Galerita]

When I performed this search, it showed several stories published before 8/18.

According to this, mine is ranked 18th for the stories published for Summer Lovin' 2023.

I can live with that.

This is an improved search string. Results are limited to last 3 months and includes some high-scorers who don't mention "Summer Lovin" in their text:

https://search.literotica.com/?quer...Cheerleaders"&period=3 month&sort=vote&page=1

 

[Fatdog25]

This is an improved search string. Results are limited to last 3 months and includes some high-scorers who don't mention "Summer Lovin" in their text:

https://search.literotica.com/?query="summer lovin 2023" OR "summer lovin story contest 2023" OR "2023 Summer Lovin" OR "Beach House Weekend with My Sisters" OR "Dartmoor Summer with Aunt Ruth" OR "Playa Dust in the Bedouin" OR "Revenge of the Bikini Cheerleaders"&period=3 month&sort=vote&page=1

Thanks. I had no idea how to figure that out.

Lost one spot, still happy with the result.

 

[Duleigh]

The best way to figure this out is to wait until next friday

 

[Voboy]

The best way to figure this out is to wait until next friday

This.

You learn quickly that the tendency to obsessively watch every twitch of your story in the "contest standings" is useless, because the last five minutes (or so) of each contest goes WILD. Unpredictably so. The only thing that can be said with any certainty is that stories over about 4.75 as the end approaches are probably "in the running," as it were. Trying to get overly granular about any single story is a fool's errand given the way the sweeps go.

 

[Fatdog25]

This.

You learn quickly that the tendency to obsessively watch every twitch of your story in the "contest standings" is useless, because the last five minutes (or so) of each contest goes WILD. Unpredictably so. The only thing that can be said with any certainty is that stories over about 4.75 as the end approaches are probably "in the running," as it were. Trying to get overly granular about any single story is a fool's errand given the way the sweeps go.

My interest here is simply to gauge where I stand as a new writer. Before things go crazy at the end, I wanted to see how many people are clicking on it relative to other, well established I/T writers who have considerably more followers. I'm getting out there.

My 4.62 story isn't going to win anything except a few followers who like that kind of story. I'll take that. My overall placing is just an ego thing. I don't expect it to actually end up inside the top 20. It wasn't that good.

 

[EmilyMiller]

My 4.62 story isn't going to win anything except a few followers who like that kind of story. I'll take that. My overall placing is just an ego thing. I don't expect it to actually end up inside the top 20. It wasn't that good.

I’ve had stories go from less than 4.5 to more than 4.7 in sweeps. So who knows?

Em

 

[Duleigh]

My interest here is simply to gauge where I stand as a new writer. Before things go crazy at the end, I wanted to see how many people are clicking on it relative to other, well established I/T writers who have considerably more followers. I'm getting out there.

My 4.62 story isn't going to win anything except a few followers who like that kind of story. I'll take that. My overall placing is just an ego thing. I don't expect it to actually end up inside the top 20. It wasn't that good.

My Air Force Specialty Code (job code) was 462 so I like your story already

I’ve had stories go from less than 4.5 to more than 4.7 in sweeps. So who knows?

Same here, in march my score shot up high enough to take 2nd Place, then I was bombed back into submission

 

[EmilyMiller]

My Air Force Specialty Code (job code) was 462 so I like your story already


Same here, in march my score shot up high enough to take 2nd Place, then I was bombed back into submission

It’s a zoo!

My first comp, so no real expectations.

Em

 

[Duleigh]

It’s a zoo!

My first comp, so no real expectations.

Em

Just take it easy... deeeep cleansing breaths
They get better. I personally like the deadlines, I seem to write better with a deadline

 

[EmilyMiller]

Just take it easy... deeeep cleansing breaths
They get better. I personally like the deadlines, I seem to write better with a deadline

I know what you mean. Can’t seem to finish my latest. Maybe I’m worried I’ll miss it when it’s gone.

Em

 

[Duleigh]

I know what you mean. Can’t seem to finish my latest. Maybe I’m worried I’ll miss it when it’s gone.

Em

Every now and then I'll have a story that I just fall in love with, I never tire of reading and re-reading it and I'm sad when I post it, like it's a precious item that I just lost. Those stories seem to do the best.

 

[EmilyMiller]

Every now and then I'll have a story that I just fall in love with, I never tire of reading and re-reading it and I'm sad when I post it, like it's a precious item that I just lost. Those stories seem to do the best.

I think I’m having problems letting go. Up to 27k of an estimated 30k words, and have a detailed (like 1k words) outline of the last two chapters. Just finding reasons not to finish it.

Em

 

[SouthernCrossfire]

Good luck, Emily. Sometimes it's hard to finish stories, especially when you put a lot of time and effort into them. My 2023 Summer Lovin' story is my longest on this site, but it started off as my Summer Lovin' tale for 2021. Then it was my 2022 tale, and finally turned into my 2023 version. However, since the story was set in 1824 from the start, I was determined to avoid running it into 2024 to look like it was supposed to be a bicentennial-type tale!

(Update: It just received its first 2. With as few votes as it has, it's impossible not to keep track.)

 

[Voboy]

My interest here is simply to gauge where I stand as a new writer. Before things go crazy at the end, I wanted to see how many people are clicking on it relative to other, well established I/T writers who have considerably more followers. I'm getting out there.

My 4.62 story isn't going to win anything except a few followers who like that kind of story. I'll take that. My overall placing is just an ego thing. I don't expect it to actually end up inside the top 20. It wasn't that good.

That's a healthy attitude. There are a lot of folks who enter the contests and get wild'n'crazy about tracking every ebb and flow of their stats. That's great; if that's what floats your boat, there's nothing wrong with it. But if you're looking for order among the chaos, contest entries often don't exhibit any.

In my experience, things settle down in the immediate aftermath of the end of the contest. The last sweep plus about 12 hours will tell you where your story really is. Unless you win, at which point the bombing has just begun!