What category should my story go into?

[taytay4eva]

In practice, that's not really how they break down. It's kinda... can your characters order a pizza? If they can order a pizza, it's fine to put in NonHuman. There are plenty of NonHuman stories with elaborate worldbuilding and secret societies out the wazoo. I mean, hell, the entire toplist is the personal property of a writer telling stories about a guy who inherits a place in a cosmic competition where he collects hot monster girls, despite opposition from a secret society of warlocks, a secret society of counter-warlock knights and mages, and the other entities in the competition, who include an evil ghost and a freaky genetic experimenter. It's a NonHuman story because Mr. Mike can and does order pizza.

Sci-fi/fantasy stories don't necessarily have to fail the pizza test, but usually they do. They're in worlds that are very much not ours. Isekai stories are popular there, as are space operas and ragtag-band-of-sexy-space-misfits stories.

I adore "The Pizza Test" concept

 

[Bamagan]

The categories aren't all conceptually equal.

For example, you could say that SciFi/Fantasy, Erotic Horror, and Romance are primarily about the setting of a story, in terms of mood and theme especially. They are compatible with just about every other category and usually aren't mutually exclusive. They might function better as just tags, at least here on Literotica, since the categories themselves don't necessarily convey what kind(s) of sex (if any) you're getting ready to read. It'd be nice to also have recognized categories/tabs for Historical and Contemporary works (although the latter can usually be assumed if none of the others apply).

Some categories are primarily about the principal characters you can expect to be canoodling: Lesbian, Gay Male, Trans, and Nonhuman. While some of them are more-or-less mutually exclusive with each other, they can easily be combined with most of the other categories.

Some categories are about particular types of sex acts that (supposedly) deviate from the 'regular' sex that menfolk use to impregnate the womenfolk. Anal, BDSM, and Group are examples of some that don't veer too far from what's legal and possible (at least in so-called free countries). Incest and R/NC generally stray into the implausible or unethical or illegal, while MC often includes the impossible. Fetish is a grab-bag that ranges from foot-licking and panty-sniffing to 'waste management' and into things like size changes (giants or minis) and unbirthing.

Categories like Mature, Interracial, and Loving Wives basically tell you what kind of characters you'll probably see and how their sexy times are (at least somewhat) fetishized, so they're among the most specialized in that sense, and kind of combine the elements called out in the preceding paragraphs. Age gaps, mixed ethnicities, and various forms of infidelity are all examples of taboos (at least for large segments of Western cultures) that tend to generate strong feelings in some people and lend themselves to fetishizing.

 

[IWroteThis]

Yes and -- part of the reason a two-party-consent swinging story goes into Group Sex is that it doesn't belong in Loving Wives anymore. It used to, 25 years ago. But the focus of the category, if you were going to sum it up on a postcard, is female marital infidelity kink. That expresses itself as cucking, it expresses itself in elaborate revenge fantasies, and it expresses itself through reconciliation fantasies, all of which are mutually exclusive but share the same root and have pretty similar numbers of supporters. That's part of why it's so contentious.

I agree and disagree with you.

If it's a straightforward, willing cuckold/humiliation story, that's Fetish. If it's a 'his wife is a beard and he has her make him suck dick' story, that's more Gay Male, although it may be better in Fetish if there's still a strong focus on her sexual encounters. It's really only Loving Wives if it's an unwilling cuckold situation that causes strife in the marriage, no matter which partner is unwilling or which outcome (RAAC, Recon, DTB, BTB) it ends up being.

Once again, that's my opinion, so take it or leave wrong. Your choice…

 

[TheWritingGroup]

I really wish that switching categories for a story was easier. Like, if you realize later that a story shouldn't go in a certain category or would do better in another one, it shouldn't be hard to change it.

It's very easy to change categories. Takes about a minute.

It's just slow.

--Annie

 

[taytay4eva]

It's very easy to change categories. Takes about a minute.

It's just slow.

--Annie

Yeah, but I can't do it myself, I have to submit it as a story edit. Right now I have two story edits that have been pending for over two weeks, so you'll need to forgive me for being impatient.

 

[caleb35]

Anal - The butt, and nothing but. Self-explanatory.


Audio - Erotic audio stories, sexy sounds & more. Self-explanatory.


BDSM - Bondage, D/s, and other power games. Self-explanatory.


Chain Stories - Story collaborations between Literotica authors. Self-explanatory.


Crossdressing - Tales of gender exploration, drag, and the joy of dressing up. Exactly what it says on the tin. Erotic stories about trans folks has its OWN category.


Erotic Couplings - Wild one-on-one consensual sex. If you can't think of where else to put a story, put it here.


Erotic Horror - Bizarre, shocking, scary, and sometimes sexy. This is probably where your monster-fucking goes.


Exhibitionist & Voyeur - Watching, and being watched. Self-explanatory.


Fan Fiction & Celebrities - Parodies & erotic fan fiction about famous people. Self-explanatory.


Fetish - Feet, panties, food, and other kinky things. Self-explanatory.


First Time - Memories & stories of people's first times. Self-explanatory.


Gay Male - Men loving men. Self-explanatory.


Group Sex - Orgies, swingers, and others. Self-explanatory.


How To - Advice and suggestions from our readers/authors. I genuinely didn't know that this was a category until I started making this post, since I usually go to the Forums for this kind of help and advice.


Humor & Satire - A humorous take on all things sex. Self-explanatory.


Illustrated - Erotica with accompanying original visual artwork. Self-explanatory.


Interracial Love - It's all black & white, and white & Asian, and... Self-explanatory, but this category DOES feel a little race-fetishy.


Lesbian Sex - Women who love other women. Self-explanatory.


Letters & Transcripts - Fictional erotic correspondence. Self-explanatory. An erotic take on Dracula could go here as well, though, since it was written as a series of letters and stuff. Fun fact!


Loving Wives - Married extra-marital fun: swinging, sharing & more. I'm genuinely not sure about this one. Is it about swinging? Is it about cheaters? Is it about heartbreak? Do they need to be married, or could they just be partners? Could it be about a person who's TEMPTED to cheat but doesn't? This is the category that inspired me to make this post, since I have no idea what this category is supposed to mean.


Mature - May / December lust & love affairs. Self-explanatory, although I don't know how big the age-gap needs to be to be considered an age-gap.
Mind Control - Erotic hypnosis and mind control. Self-explanatory.


Non-English - Erotic stories in other languages. Self-explanatory.


Non-Erotic - Fiction without a sexual focus. Self-explanatory.
NonHuman - Aliens, ghosts, androids, and more. I still don't know the difference between this one and sci-fi/fantasy.


Novels and Novellas - Erotic fiction with a broader scope. This ISN'T where you post multiple chapters, this is where you post a single long story.


Reluctance/NonConsent - Fantasies of control. This is where your CNC and Rape stories should probably go.


Reviews & Essays - Your take on art, films, & all things sexual. Self-explanatory.


Romance - Drama, love, risk, and happily-ever-afters. It doesn't NEED to have sex to go here, it just has to be a romance. ALSO: While every romance will have a moment in the middle where the characters realize that they are a EMOTIONALLY / PHYSICALLY compatible as well as a moment at the end where they realize they are SPIRITUALLY / RELATIONALLY compatible, those two moments DON'T need to be about sex. They are about how the characters CONNECT. ALSO ALSO ALSO never forget that a romance MUST have a Happily Ever After or A Happy For Now ending or it ISN'T A ROMANCE.


Sci-Fi & Fantasy - Erotic tales set in futuristic or fantastic worlds. Self-explanatory.


Taboo/Incest - Keeping it in the family. Self-explanatory.
Toys & Masturbation - Battery-operated vegetables, etc. Self-explanatory.


Transgender - Trans love, lust, sex & self discovery. Self-explanatory.

+++++

And there you have it! I tend to try to post in the category that I think matches the essential heart of the story best. If I ever wrote an erotic story about a superhero, I'd probably put it in the Sci-Fi / Fantasy category rather than the Erotic Coupling category, since the Superhero thing is more important than the Erotic Coupling part. Likewise, I'm trying to get a story about Anal sex moved into the Anal sex category from the Erotic Coupling category (because I'd not realized that Anal was thing unto itself), even though one of the characters is LITERALL a Christmas Elf, because the focus of the story is about Anal. One story I wrote was a pure romance, so I posted in the romance category, even though it was a non-erotic story, because the Romance was the most important part of it.

But that's just me. If anyone else wanted to chime in and clarify, please feel free!

This is all well and good... if your story only ever falls into a single category usually though a story could potentially go into two or even three categories depending on what the content is. Hence why there are discussions of which categories are more "important" or "trump" others, or which ones you're likely to get higher views, scores, and/or favorites.

 

[taytay4eva]

This is all well and good... if your story only ever falls into a single category usually though a story could potentially go into two or even three categories depending on what the content is. Hence why there are discussions of which categories are more "important" or "trump" others, or which ones you're likely to get higher views, scores, and/or favorites.

I just copy-pasted categories from the main page. This discussion is meant to garner feedback on which categories are best for which stories.

 

[IWroteThis]

Taboo/Incest - Keeping it in the family. Self-explanatory.

I missed this one in my original comment, but it's sadly not as self-explanatory as you might think, as there are really three different takes on the taboo side of the category.

The most prevalent, based on comments on stories that don't adhere to it, is the one I subscribe to. To this group, it means familiar relationships that aren't actually blood and/or might not be legally defined as incest. This fits with the rather brief category description.

The next biggest group is those who think that it refers to power dynamic relationships. This includes situations like student/teacher, athlete/coach, and babysitter/employer, to name a few.

Finally, there is a small group that seems to think it's a catch-all for anything not widely accepted by society.

 

[YmaOHyd]

I missed this one in my original comment, but it's sadly not as self-explanatory as you might think, as there are really three different takes on the taboo side of the category.

The most prevalent, based on comments on stories that don't adhere to it, is the one I subscribe to. To this group, it means familiar relationships that aren't actually blood and/or might not be legally defined as incest. This fits with the rather brief category description.

The next biggest group is those who think that it refers to power dynamic relationships. This includes situations like student/teacher, athlete/coach, and babysitter/employer, to name a few.

Finally, there is a small group that seems to think it's a catch-all for anything not widely accepted by society.

I'm surprised by that, because I don't think I've ever seen a story in that category that isn't familial sex, and teacher/student and babysitter/employer are pretty common in other categories.

 

[ElectricBlue]

I'm surprised by that, because I don't think I've ever seen a story in that category that isn't familial sex, and teacher/student and babysitter/employer are pretty common in other categories.

I think that's because the Incest cohort consider the category "theirs", and writers who write other taboos find their stories travel better in other categories. That's certainly the approach I'd take, if I wanted to write taboo stories in the old school definition of taboo.

 

[IWroteThis]

I'm surprised by that, because I don't think I've ever seen a story in that category that isn't familial sex, and teacher/student and babysitter/employer are pretty common in other categories.

The vast majority of stories posted are family based, but I see others fairly often. I didn't mean to imply it was a large portion, just larger than the third.

I don't actually read a ton of stories on this site, but I go through the entire new stories list every day to pick out what I might enjoy. I look for a couple of specific incest themes that are not that common, so I tend to click on the oddball stuff in the category, on the off chance it might be it. It rarely is, and it's where I tend to find the most non-family submissions.

I do agree that the power dynamic stories tend to be in mature more than taboo/incest, as it usually involves an age gap as well. I just mentioned them as examples of things I have seen occasionally.

 

[GrushaVashnadze]

Is there an obvious place to put futa stories? I've had trouble with that in the past.

 

[ElectricBlue]

Is there an obvious place to put futa stories? I've had trouble with that in the past.

Judging by a quick search on "futa", seems Transgender is probably best, these days.

 

[RocketGrunt]

In practice, that's not really how they break down. It's kinda... can your characters order a pizza? If they can order a pizza, it's fine to put in NonHuman. There are plenty of NonHuman stories with elaborate worldbuilding and secret societies out the wazoo. I mean, hell, the entire toplist is the personal property of a writer telling stories about a guy who inherits a place in a cosmic competition where he collects hot monster girls, despite opposition from a secret society of warlocks, a secret society of counter-warlock knights and mages, and the other entities in the competition, who include an evil ghost and a freaky genetic experimenter. It's a NonHuman story because Mr. Mike can and does order pizza.

Sci-fi/fantasy stories don't necessarily have to fail the pizza test, but usually they do. They're in worlds that are very much not ours. Isekai stories are popular there, as are space operas and ragtag-band-of-sexy-space-misfits stories.

Every low fantasy or near future science fiction allows the protagonist to order pizza. Cyberpunk stories are Sci-fi/fantasy, like obviously. Most superhero stories are sci-fi/fantasy as well. Even quite transformational alternate universes usually have orderable pizza. The pizza test is simply obviously wrong.

The Non-Human Toplist situation is made of several things:
* The Toplists are completely broken, with the sole driving factor being the "average" rating and the hugbox nature of the ratings being that the only number that is a thumb's up is also the maximum rating, so the average is drawn completely from the portion of negative reviews.
* The Non-Human section is poorly attended and not much fought over. The category got one entry today. It got one entry yesterday.
* Troll Veto is so powerful that the current number one on the Non-Human toplist (4.91 rating with 1273 votes) could be driven out of the Top Fifty with twenty votes (after twenty 1 star ratings it would sit at a low 4.85).
* Very long series are usually only read by people who are still invested. The fact that the earliest chapter in the top 10 is chapter Sixty and the top seven are all in the triple digits is simply hater attrition. The series has a lot of fans, obviously, but also there's very little reason for a non-fan to still be reading or rating after say, chapter fifty or so. Eventually you're going to figure out that a series is not for you and you're going to stop showing up to hit the 4-star or 2-star ratings.
* Home For Horny Monsters is a long running series that started with little to no world building and has gradually accumulated backstory like a wooden ship accumulates barnacles. I would argue that Non-Human was the appropriate place but if it started with all the setting baggage it has now it should have been in Sci-Fi Fantasy
* The series has dedicated fans, very dedicated. The latest chapter has 1273 ratings, but it only has 14 thousand views. I had chapter 8 of one of my series go up that same week, it has three hundred less views, and a THOUSAND less votes. The percentage of people smashing the like and subscribe buttons on chapter 133 is literally four times what I'm seeing on chapter 8.


TL;DR: Home For Horny Monsters was probably in the right section in 2017 and it probably isn't now. But also it has thousands of dedicate fans who expect to find it where it's always been, so it would be disruptive to move it. The real estate it's sitting on isn't very valuable because the category doesn't otherwise see a lot of use, so letting one author just be the queen of that category is basically fine.

 

[TheLobster]

Is there an obvious place to put futa stories? I've had trouble with that in the past.

Transgender, unless the futa-ing has enough of a fantastical or quasi-scientific backstory that SF&F seems more appropriate.

 

[BobbyBrandt]

Anal - The butt, and nothing but. Self-explanatory.


Audio - Erotic audio stories, sexy sounds & more. Self-explanatory.


BDSM - Bondage, D/s, and other power games. Self-explanatory.


Chain Stories - Story collaborations between Literotica authors. Self-explanatory.


Crossdressing - Tales of gender exploration, drag, and the joy of dressing up. Exactly what it says on the tin. Erotic stories about trans folks has its OWN category.


Erotic Couplings - Wild one-on-one consensual sex. If you can't think of where else to put a story, put it here.


Erotic Horror - Bizarre, shocking, scary, and sometimes sexy. This is probably where your monster-fucking goes.


Exhibitionist & Voyeur - Watching, and being watched. Self-explanatory.


Fan Fiction & Celebrities - Parodies & erotic fan fiction about famous people. Self-explanatory.


Fetish - Feet, panties, food, and other kinky things. Self-explanatory.


First Time - Memories & stories of people's first times. Self-explanatory.


Gay Male - Men loving men. Self-explanatory.


Group Sex - Orgies, swingers, and others. Self-explanatory.


How To - Advice and suggestions from our readers/authors. I genuinely didn't know that this was a category until I started making this post, since I usually go to the Forums for this kind of help and advice.


Humor & Satire - A humorous take on all things sex. Self-explanatory.


Illustrated - Erotica with accompanying original visual artwork. Self-explanatory.


Interracial Love - It's all black & white, and white & Asian, and... Self-explanatory, but this category DOES feel a little race-fetishy.


Lesbian Sex - Women who love other women. Self-explanatory.


Letters & Transcripts - Fictional erotic correspondence. Self-explanatory. An erotic take on Dracula could go here as well, though, since it was written as a series of letters and stuff. Fun fact!


Loving Wives - Married extra-marital fun: swinging, sharing & more. I'm genuinely not sure about this one. Is it about swinging? Is it about cheaters? Is it about heartbreak? Do they need to be married, or could they just be partners? Could it be about a person who's TEMPTED to cheat but doesn't? This is the category that inspired me to make this post, since I have no idea what this category is supposed to mean.


Mature - May / December lust & love affairs. Self-explanatory, although I don't know how big the age-gap needs to be to be considered an age-gap.
Mind Control - Erotic hypnosis and mind control. Self-explanatory.


Non-English - Erotic stories in other languages. Self-explanatory.


Non-Erotic - Fiction without a sexual focus. Self-explanatory.
NonHuman - Aliens, ghosts, androids, and more. I still don't know the difference between this one and sci-fi/fantasy.


Novels and Novellas - Erotic fiction with a broader scope. This ISN'T where you post multiple chapters, this is where you post a single long story.


Reluctance/NonConsent - Fantasies of control. This is where your CNC and Rape stories should probably go.


Reviews & Essays - Your take on art, films, & all things sexual. Self-explanatory.


Romance - Drama, love, risk, and happily-ever-afters. It doesn't NEED to have sex to go here, it just has to be a romance. ALSO: While every romance will have a moment in the middle where the characters realize that they are a EMOTIONALLY / PHYSICALLY compatible as well as a moment at the end where they realize they are SPIRITUALLY / RELATIONALLY compatible, those two moments DON'T need to be about sex. They are about how the characters CONNECT. ALSO ALSO ALSO never forget that a romance MUST have a Happily Ever After or A Happy For Now ending or it ISN'T A ROMANCE.


Sci-Fi & Fantasy - Erotic tales set in futuristic or fantastic worlds. Self-explanatory.


Taboo/Incest - Keeping it in the family. Self-explanatory.
Toys & Masturbation - Battery-operated vegetables, etc. Self-explanatory.


Transgender - Trans love, lust, sex & self discovery. Self-explanatory.

+++++

And there you have it! I tend to try to post in the category that I think matches the essential heart of the story best. If I ever wrote an erotic story about a superhero, I'd probably put it in the Sci-Fi / Fantasy category rather than the Erotic Coupling category, since the Superhero thing is more important than the Erotic Coupling part. Likewise, I'm trying to get a story about Anal sex moved into the Anal sex category from the Erotic Coupling category (because I'd not realized that Anal was thing unto itself), even though one of the characters is LITERALL a Christmas Elf, because the focus of the story is about Anal. One story I wrote was a pure romance, so I posted in the romance category, even though it was a non-erotic story, because the Romance was the most important part of it.

But that's just me. If anyone else wanted to chime in and clarify, please feel free!

My perspective is derived from my experiences in mainstream publishing and not the prevailing belief here that "If the site allows it, do it".

First of all, I only publish completed works. This practice alone makes selecting the correct category for the whole story much clearer for me.

Secondly, I write a synopsis for every story, even if it won't be used to query an agent or publisher. I can't imagine writing a synopsis that goes something like, "It's about anal sex between ..., and also about ..., then there is a scene where ... happens." If you can't decide what your whole story is about, how will the readers?

Just because Literotica allows placement into multiple categories doesn't make doing so the proper thing to do. I have several stories that contain scenes suitable for categories other than where they are published, but that is what tags are designed to address. A story about a father and daughter with scenes involving anal sex is doing fine in Taboo/Incest.

I have used the example of a bookstore previously. Your story gets one spot on the shelves. Be patient and choose wisely.

 

[CalBishForNow]

Re: Loving Wives, Group Sex, and some other categories...

The main problem with the category is that it's basically a combination of all the other categories, just with a wedding ring involved. Then they backed off and allowed engagement rings too. Now, it includes any bf/gf and casual hookup that lasted longer than a one-night stand, and I'm not 100% sure on the exclusion of ONS as a qualifying relationship. So, we've ended up with a dumping ground that doesn't have a clear purpose.

If you think about it logically, what should set it off from the other categories is where the marriage(/engagement/relationship) itself is a key element in the story. For example, a swinger story where both spouses are on-board should go in Group Sex. A swingers story where only one spouse wants it and, whether it happens or not, it creates marital drama between them belongs in Loving Wives.

To summarize, rather than run through a zillion other examples, the existence of the Loving Wives category really only makes sense if it's the marital drama category. Otherwise, there's a more specific category that's a better choice. Also, there really isn't another category dedicated to marital drama stemming from erotic events.

I agree with your conclusion, but not several details.

Re: other relationships, I'm pretty sure stories about engaged couples have done well in LW, and even long-term couples who were monogamous except maybe until the events of the stories. But a relationship where neither party thought they were exclusive wouldn't belong there. If there's an expectation of monogamy early in the story, it can go in LW.

The problem with LW is the readership includes people with sharply different feelings about the basic theme of "an expectation of monogamy." Some like seeing that torn down in a passionate, erotic way, some like seeing it torn down with three sentences devoted to the sex and 30 devoted to the divorce proceedings, some like seeing it upheld. It would be like if half the readership of the Exhibitionism/Voyeurism category was only there for watching and downvoted stories about being watched, and half was the reverse. Or if BDSM was sharply divided between people who needed physical restraints and tools and people who preferred verbal/psychological power games.

And re: the Group Sex category, isn't there an expectation of actual group sex happening? MMF, MFF, MFMF, MMMMMF, etc. I feel like a hotwife who's with just one man at a time wouldn't do well there, or swingers who aren't physically present for each others' partners. I can't be too rigorous about this right now but I've checked about a dozen of the New stories there and every one has a sex scene with multiple people involved.

 

[taytay4eva]

Just because Literotica allows placement into multiple categories doesn't make doing so the proper thing to do.

It doesn't allow that, though? You can only put it into one category?

I have several stories that contain scenes suitable for categories other than where they are published, but that is what tags are designed to address. A story about a father and daughter with scenes involving anal sex is doing fine in Taboo/Incest.

Agreed, the tags are there to refine a search. "I'm looking for an incest story with anal" would have the category be "incest" while the tag would be "anal", since the incest would be more fundamental to the story than the anal. Or, rather, an incest reader would be fine to see anal there, but an anal reader might get upset if you posted an incest story there.

 

[YmaOHyd]

It doesn't allow that, though? You can only put it into one category?

In a series you can put different chapters into different categories.

 

[BobbyBrandt]

It doesn't allow that, though? You can only put it into one category?

Agreed, the tags are there to refine a search. "I'm looking for an incest story with anal" would have the category be "incest" while the tag would be "anal", since the incest would be more fundamental to the story than the anal. Or, rather, an incest reader would be fine to see anal there, but an anal reader might get upset if you posted an incest story there.

If your story is in chapters or parts, pieces of it can be placed in different categories. The same with episodes of series.

These are the instances that I am referring to.

For a single, stand-alone story, whether submitted as a whole or in pieces, there shouldn't be any confusion over the right category when it is complete. If there is, create a synopsis to clarify it for yourself. How would you describe the story's genre to an agent or publisher?

 

[taytay4eva]

If your story is in chapters or parts, pieces of it can be placed in different categories. The same with episodes of series.

These are the instances that I am referring to.

For a single, stand-alone story, whether submitted as a whole or in pieces, there shouldn't be any confusion over the right category when it is complete. If there is, create a synopsis to clarify it for yourself. How would you describe the story's genre to an agent or publisher?

Ah! I thought you meant a single upload, not a series. That makes more sense.