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

[OffNSFW]

... But you definitely didn't leave it in "draft" mode after the correction, right? Worth double-checking. It's an easy mistake to make.

Yeah, it was submitted. I think that's just been a common thing lately--stories being resubmitted with revisions, then waiting at the back of the queue.

Anyway, it's got a release date of tomorrow!

 

[Duleigh]

Finally! The Last Road Trip goes live 08/26

 

[Northstar4695]

I just typed the last lines of a complete draft. I've been rewriting earlier sections even as I was working on finishing the end, so its pretty close now. Lots of proofreading and editing to do this week. I'm going to shoot to have it on the boards by next weekend. I usually like to get it into a contest early, but I'm just happy to be getting it in at all! Publishing drought is about to be over.

 

[mrs_mackenzie]

My entry, The Wrong Bikini, is up this morning in exhibitionist/voyeur. As ever, all feedback welcome!

 

[Duleigh]

My #2, The Last Road Trip is up

 

[SouthernCrossfire]

The fragmented duplicate of my Summer Lovin' story is still up. I'll send another request for it to be taken down later today if it's still there.

Many thanks to the Anonymous author who sent the PM about my Summer Lovin' story entry. Receiving really constructive criticism like this isn't a regular occurrence, so your time and your points are greatly appreciated.

Response to a couple of comments with SPOILERS:

In regards to one specific point, I often use the "boy meets girl, boy loses girl, boy wins girl back in the end" in Romance stories (As Big as the Moon being a recent example) but this can be overused so I tried to go with subtler conflicts in this story (Angie, the meeting issue, Jim's indulgence), with Jim never completely losing her but leaving a bit of doubt that he ever completely had her until the end, but that may not have been as effective as I hoped based on your comment.

At the urging of another author following another fairly recent story, I almost skipped the epilogue entirely after the reader knows that they really are together, but leaving it open ended would have been even more abrupt and resulted in more comments (usually a good thing, right?) requesting a follow-up of their adventures (which I don't want to do, though I still received a couple of those even with the epilogue). It was a judgment call that may please some readers and disappoint others.

Again, thanks for the great feedback.

SC

 

[OffNSFW]

At last, everyone is cordially invited to read "Storyteller: A Summertime Novella." It's the saga of a middle-aged married couple whose sex life has withered on the vine, only to be jump-started by a shocking discovery and a reversal of roles.

Principal characters include Jim, a man with a small penis but a big heart, Della, a tiny woman of large authority, and their friends Steven, Christina, Stephanie, Oscar, Hayley, and Ty. Who will end up with whom? Why is it titled "Storyteller?" Is there a succession of dildos of progressively intimidating size? Read to find out!

 

[Agent0069]

In math, if you take something negative, and then multiply it by something negative, you get back something positive. In my story I used this principle by taking an unhealthy relation, and then combining it with an unnatural obsession. Did it make my story better? worse? about the same? Should this story ever have been written? Guess it's for readers to decide now!

Set in the only setting I found appropriate for Summer Lovin' contest (seriously, what's with the people who go to warm places when it's already warm outside?) - please welcome "Sister Got Cold Feet", by yours truly.

As always, feedback from authors is especially valued. As a novice I feel like I struggle with dialogs.

Here I wanted to write banter between characters like they are actual human beings - not some porn props. But at the same time I could slash the story length by quarter if I retained only a few lines per "chapter" and conveyed the rest via indirect speech.

Still, characters presented a few interesting points, and I felt like censoring them just because I don't like what they say would be a sign of weakness on my end. At least we all managed to avoid falling into recursion, so there's something.

 

[Jorunn]

My first foray into I/T went up today. I have tended to avoid that category as a reader or writer, but had an idea for a story so I read a few, both high and low rated, along with both good and bad comments. The base of nearly all stories on Lit are two (or more) adults having sex. So why are I/T stories so popular? I found they add tension from reluctance, from doing something society (and laws) forbid, and they introduce the fear of getting caught. I had just finished a story about a Viking era woman who had been set up into a future arranged marriage with someone she did not love. Instead she loved another. Other than reluctance, it had similar forbidden and not get caught vibes.

As I plotted my potential I/T story, I assembled the elements I hope will make it a good I/T story. And I decided to place my story in America, namely Texas, learning and inserting Western idioms and similes. It was fun to write, and I hope readers will enjoy.

 

[forgotmyantidepressants]

My first foray into I/T went up today. I have tended to avoid that category as a reader or writer, but had an idea for a story so I read a few, both high and low rated, along with both good and bad comments. The base of nearly all stories on Lit are two (or more) adults having sex. So why are I/T stories so popular? I found they add tension from reluctance, from doing something society (and laws) forbid, and they introduce the fear of getting caught. I had just finished a story about a Viking era woman who had been set up into a future arranged marriage with someone she did not love. Instead she loved another. Other than reluctance, it had similar forbidden and not get caught vibes.

As I plotted my potential I/T story, I assembled the elements I hope will make it a good I/T story. And I decided to place my story in America, namely Texas, learning and inserting Western idioms and similes. It was fun to write, and I hope readers will enjoy.

A writer friend of mine once told me I/T is like the Romance genre's weird cousin (I wish I could say I came up with that pun, but he did lol) in that it's more about the building tension and giving into love/desire than sex.

 

[MyBareTorso]

My second Summer Lovin' tale is now up...my first ever entry in the hotly debated category of...Loving Wives!

https://www.literotica.com/s/oz-beach-boy-and-hot-beach-couple

As so many have said, if you want views and a response, this is the category for you! My score is very low at 3.24, but I've had (for me) lots of views, lots of faves, and lots of new followers. No comments yet! Also, I remain very happy with the story...which is kind of the main thing.

Once again, a few AH name-drops in this one...have a scroll and see if you're in there!

 

[Agent0069]

No comments yet!

Soaking of, my comments usually hang in “pending” for days (which is even discouraging a bit), while the first comment under my story today appeared within an hour. Moderator was in, or are there some “more trusted” users, that can post without waiting for approval?

 

[TheLobster]

Soaking of, my comments usually hang in “pending” for days (which is even discouraging a bit), while the first comment under my story today appeared within an hour. Moderator was in, or are there some “more trusted” users, that can post without waiting for approval?

The latter. @THBGato, for example, swears that her comments appear pretty much instantly, but she does comment a lot.

 

[SouthernCrossfire]

The latter. @THBGato, for example, swears that her comments appear pretty much instantly, but she does comment a lot.

Yes, users with a good record of comments who are signed often post instantly (including one on your "Teaching Miss Stacy" this morning), but those with a lesser record or who aren't signed in are moderated and may take a while, particularly if posted on the weekend.

 

[Wineandcheese]

Once again, a few AH name-drops in this one...have a scroll and see if you're in there!

Happy to see they are enjoying both wine AND cheese!!

 

[Rustyoznail]

Just realised I didn't put a link to my story. https://literotica.com/s/the-champion-goes-harder

It's gone into mature, and is doing about what I expected. A lot of 4 and 5 votes. On reflection though, the plot probably isn't what most readers in that category would expect.

If you get a chance, have a read and let me know your thoughts.

Ta.

 

[MyBareTorso]

Happy to see they are enjoying both wine AND cheese!!

Always best when enjoyed together!!

 

[ChasBozwell30]

Got a lot of nice comments for my story "Mouse Gets to Roar" just wanted to say how much I appreciate them. It's so nice to hear that people like what you've spent so much time and care on!

 

[Steadfast421]

My entry is published.

https://www.literotica.com/s/my-summer-love-1

 

[OffNSFW]

At last, everyone is cordially invited to read "Storyteller: A Summertime Novella." It's the saga of a middle-aged married couple whose sex life has withered on the vine, only to be jump-started by a shocking discovery and a reversal of roles.

Principal characters include Jim, a man with a small penis but a big heart, Della, a tiny woman of large authority, and their friends Steven, Christina, Stephanie, Oscar, Hayley, and Ty. Who will end up with whom? Why is it titled "Storyteller?" Is there a succession of dildos of progressively intimidating size? Read to find out!

In my opinion, this is one of the best things I've done on here yet. It comes as a surprise to me that, after a few days, it hasn't quite cracked the four star ceiling, which is well short of how my more recent stories typically do. Maybe I'm getting spoiled.

Then I remembered that the story tags for this one contain the magic word: cuckold.

Oops.

 

[SouthernCrossfire]

One of my favorite parts of contests (and challenges) is how a work can attract new fans and gain attention for old stories as a result. I've gained over twenty followers in the past few days (putting me over 1,100!) and seen some new favorites and, particularly, new comments and PMs on older works.

It's not an ever-elusive blue W but those are all wins in my book.

 

[SouthernCrossfire]

Sorry for the double post but I just received a note from Laurel that the plagiarized fragmented of my story has been removed and the user (note, not author!) has been banned. Thanks to all who let me know about it and to Laurel for taking care of it!

 

[Wineandcheese]

One of my favorite parts of contests (and challenges) is how a work can attract new fans and gain attention for old stories as a result. I've gained over twenty followers in the past few days (putting me over 1,100!) and seen some new favorites and, particularly, new comments and PMs on older works.

It's not an ever-elusive blue W but those are all wins in my book.

Congrats on hitting 1,100! Since my contest story went up, I’ve gained almost 70 followers, closing in on 200. All my other stories have gained readers as well. I agree about the blue W. I wouldn’t turn it down, but the added exposure from being part of the contest is amazing.

 

[yowser]

Sorry for the double post but I just received a note from Laurel that the plagiarized fragmented of my story has been removed and the user (note, not author!) has been banned. Thanks to all who let me know about it and to Laurel for taking care of it!

What a bizarre occurrence. I keep thinking I've seen everything here and yet there are always surprises (at what folks will do.) Glad it's sorted out.

The contest entries are heavy in quite a range of categories, with over half a dozen in EC, Group sex, Lesbian, Loving Wives, Romance, IT and EV. More to come with over a week to go ...

 

[SouthernCrossfire]

What a bizarre occurrence. I keep thinking I've seen everything here and yet there are always surprises (at what folks will do.) Glad it's sorted out.

Thanks, and you're exactly right, it was bizarre. I'm not sure how anyone could think they could get away with something like that, but equally bizarre is as disjointed as the fragment was, it still got a like, a comment about it being well written, and four followers from the now-banned user's first story. Maybe I should have cross referenced them and sent them an invite! Haha!