The Official Authors' Hangout Summer Lovin' 2024 Contest Support Thread

[TarnishedPenny]

That’s why they’re called ‘drafts’. No shame in that.

 

[TarnishedPenny]

A lot of authors focus on numbers. I'm sure people will chime in with all of that. But a rating of 4.5 or higher is a "hot" story and a goal for many authors. There are other metrics, but it's too much for me. Things like the ratio between favorites and views and comments verses this and that. Some authors even download their stats and put them into spreadsheets to track all of this. Like I said, it's way beyond my computer expertise!

But are you having fun, @nicksouth , and do readers seem to enjoy your stories? Then your stories are doing well!!

This for the win!

 

[MelissaBaby]

Always love to read your stories. Some of my very favorites on the site. Can’t wait!

Thanks! I have the whole day set aside to write tomorrow, so I hope you won't be waiting long.

 

[MelissaBaby]

Is it by happenstance a Gold Dollar Girls story?

Not this time, but "The Gold Dollar Girls: Road Trip" will be coming soon.

 

[nicksouth]

My second story just went to “hot”. I was definitely not expecting that when I submitted. This is addictive !

 

[TarnishedPenny]

@nicksouth I’m having problems sending you a DM, so emailed instead.

 

[nicksouth]

@nicksouth I’m having problems sending you a DM, so emailed instead.

Awesome. Not sure why DM is not working. I’ll check later as I don’t have email access right here. Thank you !

 

[TarnishedPenny]

Sometimes new authors need to check that DM is enabled. I can wait in any case.

tp

 

[Duleigh]

Out of curiosity, what do people consider doing well-I know it depends highly on the category but since this is my first time (that's what she said!) I don't really have a benchmark to tell if a story is doing well or not

you need at least a 4.86 be in the running, so I like to see at least that high.

 

[nicksouth]

you need at least a 4.86 be in the running, so I like to see at least that high.

That’s a high bar. I’ll be cheering from the sidelines !

 

[nicksouth]

Sometimes new authors need to check that DM is enabled. I can wait in any case.

tp

Weird. I don't see an email and I cannot message you either. Maybe I am still too new ?

 

[Kumquatqueen]

I just drafted a final scene in my story, scrolled down, and realised I'd written the same scene already.

And better.

Sigh. I think it's coming together, but it's always an issue writing about established characters - will the readers get enough info to see them in the same way as you do? A fair bit of work to go, and I can't access my desktop so it's all got to be done on my phone.

 

[nicksouth]

I just drafted a final scene in my story, scrolled down, and realised I'd written the same scene already.

And better.

Sigh. I think it's coming together, but it's always an issue writing about established characters - will the readers get enough info to see them in the same way as you do? A fair bit of work to go, and I can't access my desktop so it's all got to be done on my phone.

Oh man. I could not imagine writing on a phone. Editing - maybe but not drafting. Good luck !

 

[TarnishedPenny]

Email sent. Sincere congratulations on having been hooked.

 

[Duleigh]

That’s a high bar. I’ll be cheering from the sidelines !

I didn't say I'll make it, I'm just saying where I'm aiming

 

[Morevinila]

Still working on mine. The story's reached its hottest part and I need to complete the climax scene, then maybe a short conclusion. Hoping to finish on time to submit it, but I may need an editor since English is not my native language.

 

[Wineandcheese]

Mine ain't doing too badly. I like it, so I'm glad others do too. That's what I'm after in these contests, for the most part.

I'm also getting a higher amount of attention to my back catalog than I often get. Bonus!

I’m seeing a lot of interest in my other stories as well, more so than with the Nude Day contest. Of course, my back catalog consists of only five stories, so it’s not terribly deep. But I’ve been pleasantly surprised at the response.

 

[MyBareTorso]

Mine's up....

https://www.literotica.com/s/oz-beach-boy-goes-nude-diving

I've so far hit every Contest and Author Organized Challenge this year, so feelin' pretty happy with myself. Summer Lovin' and Nude Day are fun ones for a beach loving, CFNM nut like me, so I really enjoyed writing mine. PLENTY of Authors Hangout name drops...have a peek and see if you're in there!!

 

[Wineandcheese]

… PLENTY of Authors Hangout name drops...have a peek and see if you're in there!!

Well, you got my first name in there. They were drinking wine, but they didn’t have any cheese!

 

[Kumquatqueen]

Oh man. I could not imagine writing on a phone. Editing - maybe but not drafting. Good luck !

I can draft no problem, typing as fast on here as I can on a full keyboard. My predictive text has been trained well!

But unlike some who produce beautiful sentences first go and don't edit much, I need to go over every sentence and paragraph to improve it, mostly shortening and removing all the tentative 'a bit' and most of 'and' and the -ing verbs. Which again is fine on the phone. It's moving paragraphs about or finding that clunky sentence which is hard. I now make a reference copy in Google Docs so I have a Find tool, and then that helps edit the WriterPad version.

But I'm doing this for fun and to get more readers looking at my stories, not to produce perfect literature, so as long as the story is OK I'll stick it up sometime next week. Besides, I have a Crime story just about finished, and I've done most of the April Fool I never got done for this year. And then there's the ending of Bad Brat Girl which about three people are waiting for, and other stories to tell...

 

[Omenainen]

Well, mine had all of one day on category new hub and now it’s not even on 7 days or 30 days lists, so I guess my shooting star was spectacularly short this time… hope being on the contest list will bring in at least some more readers and voters.

 

[FreyaGersemi]

PLENTY of Authors Hangout name drops...have a peek and see if you're in there!!

I am honored! Thank you. I better start taking singing lessons.

 

[Duleigh]

Two days and still stuck in pending. I think Laurel is mad at me (again)

My longest wait was 10 days. In that 10 day wait I wrote a 30,000 word story and almost had it polished enough for publication.

 

[SouthernCrossfire]

Two days and still stuck in pending. I think Laurel is mad at me (again)

I suspect that it's volume and number of new titles in each category in association with the contest rather than any intentional delay. Mine (for Romance) is approaching two days in pending, too; there were at least ten new stories in that category this morning.

 

[SimonDoom]

Two days and still stuck in pending. I think Laurel is mad at me (again)

My longest wait was 10 days. In that 10 day wait I wrote a 30,000 word story and almost had it polished enough for publication.

There you go! Laurel knows how to pull your creativity levers.