Please do not contact us about "low" votes on your stories / poems

Quote by JamesLlewellyn


Not what I was saying, Meagan Anne. I was saying it might reduce some of the apparent rancor if the already very valuable thread describing how the judging is done were made more visible, with a link, for example, on the page where the competition is announced.

I absolutely agree that judging is hard, and the judges are not given enough credit – or the benefit of the doubt. I'm not trying to create a problem but to help ameliorate one.

Quote by VioletVixen
Dials phone

Hello, Lush customer service? Yes, Violet speaking.

I wanted to confirm the subjectivity of the judging process. Yes, yes, I understand you can’t ever be 100% objective. No, no, but you’ve got the subject of the subjectivity wrong.

Yes, I’ll hold for a Representative.

elevator music

Hello? Oh, thank god. At least you’ll take me seriously. Listen, my stories are subjectively the best and I believe that objectively. Sure, there was some bad grammar and some awkward word choices the first time around, but did you see the comments? Obvious winner.

...Now were was I? Right. I demand a recount and a retry. My tentacles are more than just fantasy, and if you don’t give me (the bestest author ever of all of time) the prize monies, I’ll send them after you. Some have fang like appendages attached to their prehensile suctiony goodness. Then I’ll send them to Lush HQ with cocktails, Molotov ones, and they’ll proceed to—

...oh, they hung up on me.

Quote by Jen


... I think people need to try and have a slightly more critical eye where their own work is concerned.

Perhaps the voting system needs more subjectivity. What if instead of voting a number of stars, you select specifically what you feel the writer did good or bad. You wouldn't have to select everything that applies, just what stood out.

Example being, Negatives: Spelling, grammar, Not enough showing; Positives: Strong plot

In this example, we could say the story has earned a 3 star vote for example. Story is good, but spelling and grammar mistakes and writing style need improvement. If a moderator is checking votes and disagrees about lets say, grammar errors, they can remove that one, which then alters vote from a 3 star, to a 4 star.

I think the current system is quite subjective in that people vote based on how they felt.

Mods are volunteers. I doubt anyone has time to judge the validity of votes story by story. And it would put them in a perilous position if they agreed with the story being a solid 3. That would do more harm than good for the author, IMO.

As for spelling and grammar, stories are held to a minimum standard with that, so the worst of that should not be published.

People can give a 5 because they liked it, it's their friend's story, they loved it, etc. Usually when people leave less than that, they don't leave a comment lol. Even then, the reasons why someone could vote lower:

-was not their cup of tea content-wise (not related to the quality of the story)

-they disagreed with the character's decisions (not related to the quality of the story)

-they're biased against something in the story regardless of the quality of the story

-the plot was mangled

-the anatomy was mangled and broke the suspension of disbelief

-they don't like the author for personal or petty reasons

-the sex was also mangled

-there was too much excess that served no purpose to the story or the sex that made it repetitive drivel

Everyone has the right to their opinion.

I don't know if votes can ever be purely objective as people will be thinking of the above points whether they mean to or not, and even though some are about the writing, a lot may always be about how the reader feels. There will always be someone who doesn't like your work. All you can do is look at those whose writing you respect and try to see how you can improve yours with tools that stood out to you in other stories.

Quote by VioletVixen

I think the current system is quite subjective in that people vote based on how they felt.

Mods are volunteers. I doubt anyone has time to judge the validity of votes story by story. And it would put them in a perilous position if they agreed with the story being a solid 3. That would do more harm than good for the author, IMO.

As for spelling and grammar, stories are held to a minimum standard with that, so the worst of that should not be published.

People can give a 5 because they liked it, it's their friend's story, they loved it, etc. Usually when people leave less than that, they don't leave a comment lol. Even then, the reasons why someone could vote lower:

-was not their cup of tea content-wise (not related to the quality of the story)

-they disagreed with the character's decisions (not related to the quality of the story)

-they're biased against something in the story regardless of the quality of the story

-the plot was mangled

-the anatomy was mangled and broke the suspension of disbelief

-they don't like the author for personal or petty reasons

-the sex was also mangled

-there was too much excess that served no purpose to the story or the sex that made it repetitive drivel

Everyone has the right to their opinion.

I don't know if votes can ever be purely objective as people will be thinking of the above points whether they mean to or not, and even though some are about the writing, a lot may always be about how the reader feels. There will always be someone who doesn't like your work. All you can do is look at those whose writing you respect and try to see how you can improve yours with tools that stood out to you in other stories.

This is my personal favorite:

"You write well, my dear, but women are simply incapable of writing excellent erotica."

He's gone now, but I have nearly a score of fours to his credit.

I like how I do it. I let you know my score. I rate the story not the author.

Lowballing will forever happen but many of you are great writers.

Continue to write, put a smile on our face and an orgasm or two.

Quote by LongDraw

Perhaps the voting system needs more subjectivity. What if instead of voting a number of stars, you select specifically what you feel the writer did good or bad. You wouldn't have to select everything that applies, just what stood out.

Example being, Negatives: Spelling, grammar, Not enough showing; Positives: Strong plot

In this example, we could say the story has earned a 3 star vote for example. Story is good, but spelling and grammar mistakes and writing style need improvement. If a moderator is checking votes and disagrees about lets say, grammar errors, they can remove that one, which then alters vote from a 3 star, to a 4 star.

I'm not sure if you are familiar with social media, but this site is an example of it. It's not The New Yorker.

Trying to rate a story with a single digit in a meaningful way is a hiding to nowhere. As Violet pointed out, the criteria for what is a "good" story varies wildly from person to person. Some people throw a 1 on an amazing and flawlessly written piece (from a technical standpoint) because the character does something they hate.

It's like Amazon ratings. How many times do they tell people that it's the product people should be rating? And how many times do people still give a product a 1-star rating because it wasn't delivered on time?

Splitting the rating up into categories for style, grammar, plot, yahde yahde is much more likely to yield better results if used well, but who can be arsed to critique every story to that level? Judging by the ratio of views to votes/comments, the majority of people want to wank and run.

Quote by WannabeWordsmith

Trying to rate a story with a single digit in a meaningful way is a hiding to nowhere. As Violet pointed out, the criteria for what is a "good" story varies wildly from person to person. Some people throw a 1 on an amazing and flawlessly written piece (from a technical standpoint) because the character does something they hate.

It's like Amazon ratings. How many times do they tell people that it's the product people should be rating? And how many times do people still give a product a 1-star rating because it wasn't delivered on time?

Splitting the rating up into categories for style, grammar, plot, yahde yahde is much more likely to yield better results if used well, but who can be arsed to critique every story to that level? Judging by the ratio of views to votes/comments, the majority of people want to wank and run.

I've seen one star reviews on Amazon because the novel contained swearing. Hell, there's a video with the cast of The Boys reading one star reviews for season one because of the violence.

Hate scores used to make me cry, but now they just keeps me up at night.

Quote by kistinspencil

Hate scores used to make me cry, but now they just keeps me up at night.

My Sweets, you have nothing to worry about. Your literature is tasty as a Wally’s Porterhouse Steak.

It's like people who can't tell the difference between kobe and wagyu beef. There's a difference.

Not every cucumber can become a juicy pickle.

I think I'm hungry.

Quote by kistinspencil

This is my personal favorite:

"You write well, my dear, but women are simply incapable of writing excellent erotica."

He's gone now, but I have nearly a score of fours to his credit.

That would be hilarious if he hadn't used it as an attack line and to mask his own bias - and hadn't taken cheap shots by using low scores. How condescending can one person be?!

I think I'm mostly an okay writer of erotica, and some others seem to agree, but there are a LOT of women authors on here that put me to shame, both with their writing skill and their touch with the erotic scenes.

Sorry you got that treatment - and he may be gone, but he's not missed.

Quote by IMPÜRETHOUGHTS
Not every cucumber can become a juicy pickle.

Truth

Quote by WannabeWordsmith

Splitting the rating up into categories for style, grammar, plot, yahde yahde is much more likely to yield better results if used well, but who can be arsed to critique every story to that level? Judging by the ratio of views to votes/comments, the majority of people want to wank and run.

Ahh, finally, the penny drops.

Quote by writingvixen
I love the new feature which makes someone have to post a comment in order to vote. I haven't changed my profile to that but it is an option. I have already written someone and asked them privately to refrain from commenting or voting on my work, I deleted him and blocked him and have been living a happy life ever since.

Thank you all for all of the hard work that you put into this site.

I LOVE LUSH!!!!

Why did they change it ? Seems ludicrous

Quote by CallmeJayne

Ahh, finally, the penny drops.

The serious and honest voter is primarily what will remain. Do you want 10,000 mid-wank votes because they came too fast, or do you want 100 genuine votes that actually reflect the quality of the story and the literary talent of the author?

Quote by LongDraw

The serious and honest voter is primarily what will remain. Do you want 10,000 mid-wank votes because they came too fast, or do you want 100 genuine votes that actually reflect the quality of the story and the literary talent of the author?

Frankly, I'd settle for getting 50 votes of any kind. 100 would require divine intervention. I get pretty good non-banal reviews on the whole, but that means very little here, I'm afraid. Overall, there's just a whole lot of wankin' going on and the majority of those readers choose by the cum count and could give a rat's ass about quality.

Quote by LongDraw

The serious and honest voter is primarily what will remain. Do you want 10,000 mid-wank votes because they came too fast, or do you want 100 genuine votes that actually reflect the quality of the story and the literary talent of the author?

Lush is an adult entertainment social media site with stories supplied by users. It's not the New Yorker. Mind you, even there most people prefer the cartoons to the poetry.

To Kis,

My Sweets, you have nothing to worry about. Your literature is tasty as a Wally’s Porterhouse Steak.

It's like people who can't tell the difference between kobe and wagyu beef. There's a difference.

Not every cucumber can become a juicy pickle.

I think I'm hungry.

I miss giving out 1 scores.

After a certain point, I see only the readers count go up without any more votes. This doesn't mean that readers hate the story. I think it means that the readers are nearly all guests who can't vote since you need to join up to do so. Maybe some of them will become members if they love the story, who knows?

Quote by HistBuff

After a certain point, I see only the readers count go up without any more votes. This doesn't mean that readers hate the story. I think it means that the readers are all guests who can't vote since you need to join up to do so. Maybe some of them will become members if they love the story, who knows?

At times, I read something and seeing as the writers story wasn't to my liking, I don't like it nor favorite it as those are the options to vote on a story.

Quote by HistBuff

After a certain point, I see only the readers count go up without any more votes. This doesn't mean that readers hate the story. I think it means that the readers are all guests who can't vote since you need to join up to do so. Maybe some of them will become members if they love the story, who knows?

That's what I think is happening. People on Lush who like my work tend to read, score, and comment early on. After that, a lot of the readership are guests or drivebys. However, I found that with the old system, too. My older stories on my previous account got scored and commented so rarely after the first month or so that even getting a one was a "whoa, someone noticed it" moment.😊

Quote by Seeker4

That's what I think is happening. People on Lush who like my work tend to read, score, and comment early on. After that, a lot of the readership are guests or drivebys. However, I found that with the old system, too. My older stories on my previous account got scored and commented so rarely after the first month or so that even getting a one was a "whoa, someone noticed it" moment.😊

I occasionally find that somebody new joins the site, discovers and enjoys one of my stories and then wades through my back catalogue. I sometimes still get a like on stories that are more than two years old.

edit- more than THREE years old, I have enjoyed myself so much that I have lost track of time!