What's your most underrated story?

[BobbyBrandt]

With an overall average of 4.61, I can't complain.

I do recognize that my two lowest rated stories got dinged by readers here due to them each having a "gotcha" element at the end of the story.

 

[SimonDoom]

Probably my Loving Wives story, BTB, Incorporated, which has a rating of 3.72. I think it's a fun little story, and plenty of readers do, too, but I obviously drew the ire of the BTB/anti-cuck crowd. That story has received some of the most savage criticism of any story I've ever written, but also some nice compliments.

 

[Dnthmn_19]

I've always been a little disappointed that my series "My Name Is Chantal" hasn't been better received. I feel they are my best because they are erotic without being vulgar or overly descriptive. I think the dialogue and stories are sensitive and believable and I've written them with restraint - yet, they are rated lower and have been read less than I feel they deserve.

I think the reason is that the opening line of Part Two is so gross it turned people off the series.

 

[Soixenta]

I do not see how I could have any issue with the scores of my stories. Perhaps Dead Together could have more appreciation than its 4.52, but I see how readers were dissatisfied with the ending when I published it. While I was writing, I decided that it would be the intro for an Urban Fantasy story, so I was quite happy to leave it unresolved. I should have said so at the time, and that is probably reflected in the score.

 

[Djmac1031]

April Fools Daddy.

https://www.literotica.com/s/april-fools-daddy

For several reasons: First and probably the biggest reason, while it's in the Incest category, - SPOILERS - Dad and daughter do not actually fuck. That's certainly gonna annoy some readers who were looking for exactly that.

Second, it's pretty short. Which again many readers will take points off for. But as an April Fools story, there was only so long I could stretch the premise out before revealing the twist.

Third was the twist ending itself; while many readers in the comments section appreciated it, I'm assuming readers who low voted the story did not.

 

[Rob_Royale]

I'm taking lowest rated to mean lowest number of votes. It's been up since July, but only 70 votes. Compare that to the stories above and below it (both of which feature Clara). It just goes to show that you can't take readers with you across categories. I wonder what would have happened if I'd put the story in Romance or even EC?

If I had to take a swag at a reason, I'd have to say it was a lack of a provocative title. Not the category.

 

[THBGato]

If I had to take a swag at a reason, I'd have to say it was a lack of a provocative title. Not the category.

You could be right. I suck at titles or I try to be too clever-clever with them. But I have stories with even worse titles and short descriptions with more votes than that. Hell, even one of my reviews has more votes than that.

No, I think it's just that I built my following by writing Lesbian Romances. So my followers see this is in transgender and assume they won't be interested.

 

[anthrodisiac]

I'd have to go with one of my earlier stories, Rectification. It's a male/male foot fetish story involving an anthropomorphic bird of prey. I had a lot of fun exploring this particular fetish variant in detail, not to mention touching on the adversarial relationship between the characters.

Bird!!!

 

[redgarters]

For me it's my latest, The Last Song She Wrote. The rating is 4.6 now, nothing to complain about, and I knew it would take some hits being posted in the V-Day comp and not confined to my usual LS readership. So, in a way I'm not surprised.

But I'm rather sure that if I'd not posted it in a comp it would have performed similarly to my other LS romances, around and upwards of 4.8. The engagement is through the roof, closing in on 380 votes and over 60 comments - all of them positive.

To be fair, there's a few issues that peoole reading comp stories might not like. Some people hate country music, others get triggered by discussions of suicide, some might even be surprised there's lesbians in a thoroughly tagged lesbian story or want more sex than romance and emotions.

But accepting that, to answer OP's question, I'm really proud of that story and the rating doesn't reflect my feelings about how good it is.

 

[FrancesScott]

What's the story you've published that has the broadest gap between your opinion and the public rating?

My first story here, Ice Cream, was an attempt to channel the literary style of The Great Gatsby. Readers didn’t understand my intentions (despite me adopting close variants of Gatsby character names) and lambasted me for using arcane and overly-florid prose (in the style of Fitzgerald). The fact that I had to write an essay explaining what I had been trying to do is probably testament to me misjudging the audience badly. However, I remain fond of it as a story and I think some of my wordplay has merit.

I hope my current effort to write like Conan Doyle doesn’t suffer a similar fate.

 

[EmilyMiller]

For me it's my latest, The Last Song She Wrote. The rating is 4.6 now, nothing to complain about, and I knew it would take some hits being posted in the V-Day comp and not confined to my usual LS readership. So, in a way I'm not surprised.

But I'm rather sure that if I'd not posted it in a comp it would have performed similarly to my other LS romances, around and upwards of 4.8. The engagement is through the roof, closing in on 380 votes and over 60 comments - all of them positive.

To be fair, there's a few issues that peoole reading comp stories might not like. Some people hate country music, others get triggered by discussions of suicide, some might even be surprised there's lesbians in a thoroughly tagged lesbian story or want more sex than romance and emotions.

But accepting that, to answer OP's question, I'm really proud of that story and the rating doesn't reflect my feelings about how good it is.

IMO it’s a 4.9x story. It would merit winning any competition. I do worry about this place being seemingly unable to recognize great writing when it sees it. It’s almost as if excellence is punished.

 

[THBGato]

For me it's my latest, The Last Song She Wrote. The rating is 4.6 now, nothing to complain about, and I knew it would take some hits being posted in the V-Day comp and not confined to my usual LS readership. So, in a way I'm not surprised.

But I'm rather sure that if I'd not posted it in a comp it would have performed similarly to my other LS romances, around and upwards of 4.8. The engagement is through the roof, closing in on 380 votes and over 60 comments - all of them positive.

Didn't this go to number 1 in the LS category? If so, I suspect you fell afowl of the trolling hitting the toplist there. I've had two stories recently get into the top 3 in LS and then be bombed right down. So it may not be totally to do with the competition.

It is a wonderful story.

 

[BeechLeaf]

You guys are nuts. You really expect the average brow-ridged reader to appreciate the awesomeness of a redgarters or a FrancesScott? Of course some mud and acorns will be flung at it. Don't think about appeasing them, just continue what you do best, please.

 

[THBGato]

IMO it’s a 4.9x story.

Since Nov 2024 that's been an impossible score for a story with over 100 votes. The top list troll (probably a bot) won't allow it.

 

[EmilyMiller]

Since Nov 2024 that's been an impossible score for a story with over 100 votes. The top list troll (probably a bot) won't allow it.

Sad, isn’t it ?

 

[FrancesScott]

I've had two stories recently get into the top 3 in LS and then be bombed right down.

I had that too in LS when breaking into the all time Top Ten. Though they gave up when the rating was 4.80. Continuing to push down to 4.60 sounds like there is something else going on. But rating manipulation appears to be a problem.

 

[FrancesScott]

just continue what you do best, please.

That’s very encouraging. Thank you.

 

[EmilyMiller]

I had an LS story hit 4.88 or 4.89 (can’t recall exactly) and immediately get knocked down to - IIRC - 4.77. I had no clue what was going on at the time. Now I understand. It eventually recovered to 4.84, which leaves it safely off of the all time LS story list.

 

[Actingup]

Firstly, just a reminder that it is possible with effort to get percentile score distributions in each category, so you don't have to use absolute ratings to answer this question - it's not automatically going to be a Loving Wives story. With that in mind, I think the story of mine that most fits the thread is 'Change Management' in Erotic Horror. I personally think it's a clever, evil little story, and that the reason it's currently non-hot is that some readers either didn't get that it was about cannibalism in the workplace (and related metaphorical extensions), or thought that cannibalism wasn't Erotic Horror even when undertaken by your sexy boss. It could, of course, just be a rubbish story.

I was also hopeful that some of the readers would appreciate that I went back to the Italian text of The Prince to retranslate some Macchiavelli for the ending of the story (below). Hopefully I got it right.

---------------

"That's great!" Ginevra kept smiling as Susie backed out, and started browsing through Lilith's shelves, chuckling as she found a battered edition of The Prince. It wasn't quite as old and worn as Ginevra's own copy, which was written in the original Italian.

"Gli uomini si debbono o vezzeggiare o spegnere," she said quietly to the empty office. "Men must either be fondled or extinguished. It's always better to go back to the original text. But you did well, Lilith."

 

[BeechLeaf]

Ooh, spooky, I'm listening to Handel's Ariodante, where the heroine is a Ginevra. Your Italian contains two obscure verbs where I don't think most of us are equipped to quibble with your translations. But it is always better to make your own translations.

 

[redgarters]

IMO it’s a 4.9x story. It would merit winning any competition. I do worry about this place being seemingly unable to recognize great writing when it sees it. It’s almost as if excellence is punished.

Thank you Ever thankful for your belief in my writing.

Didn't this go to number 1 in the LS category? If so, I suspect you fell afowl of the trolling hitting the toplist there. I've had two stories recently get into the top 3 in LS and then be bombed right down. So it may not be totally to do with the competition.

It is a wonderful story.

Thanks T It did enter the LS top list with 4.94 at 100 votes. All downhill after that

 

[InvisibleHarvey]

I'm excited to rifle through all of the hidden treasures on this list when I have a bit of time!

 

[lovecraft68]

I'm abstractly fascinated by the inside baseball on the scoring system on this site. I don't know if the information is really useful for me, but it does provide context.

I feel like the design of the site encourages readers to interact with stories in a certain way. That works for certain kinds of authors and readers, and the rest of us are stuck with it in a "you get what you measure" kind of way.

I'm excited to rifle through all of the hidden treasures on this list when I have a bit of time!

Little advice for you. If what you really care about is your work then don't go down the rabbit hole that too many people here keep sinking further down. Worry about writing your stories and focus on that, don't become another obsessed stat hound that can't stop bitching about how the system works and makes it more important than the actual stories.

Take that for whatever you think it is or isn't worth.

 

[Actingup]

My biggest gripe is with visibility. If there are one hundred people on this site who would connect with my work, I want all one hundred to have the chance.

Of course - we all do. Treat it as a chaotic battlefield rather than a meritocracy, and savour the wins that you do get. The person who found your story and was at the very sports game that you wrote about. The one who was having suicidal thoughts until they read your story. They won’t always find you amongst the smoke and ruins, but some will.

 

[Actingup]

I'm very confused right now. What is this in response to?

“My biggest gripe is with visibility. If there are one hundred people on this site who would connect with my work, I want all one hundred to have the chance.”