Woohooooooooooooo. I put a load of work into this one, so I'm absolutely thrilled the panel liked it enough for the EP. I suspected it might not fit the comp theme as well as others, so not placing in the top ten wasn't a surprise. But this is. A very, very welcome one. I'm ecstatic.
Thank you so much to all the panel members who took time to read and cast a vote. It's deeply appreciated.
Quote by paddlingincognito
How much time/effort do you put into your cover art?
A lot. If I can find a sexy pic that sparks an idea or matches the storyline, I'll justs tick a title on it. Sometimes they need editing in Affinity to add fades or layers. Other time I use freebie generators, but the results are usually disappointing so it's a last resort.
Most of the time I spend an hour or two on cover art. Sometimes, like in my latest comp story, that equates to longer than it took to write!
I had zero inspiration for the Advent comp. Like, absolutely nothing. Then an idea popped in my head yesterday.
I did a cover first, because the events would be strongly tied to it. Sat down in front of an empty document and the story poured out in under an hour. I added the final sentence, and the word counter read 1467. Woot.
Still got a few rounds of editing to go, but I'm hopeful.
I've asked the developers to put this on the wishlist. As mentioned, a CSV or similar one-row-per-story export isn't difficult, it's just whether there are other things that take precedence when we get some more dev allocation.
A couple more. Not sure how long these will be online for.
Since my latest First Time escapade seems to be attracting some good feedback, especially about the dialogue and humour sprinkled throughout, I am embarking on a follow-up in the same vein. No timescales on that though, as I'm stupendously busy.
I'm also working with the incredibly talented KimmiBeGood on a possible Gay Male adaptation of a fabulous story she wrote.
A student discovers that the innocent looking ones are sometimes anything but
First Time
Quote by Katherine
I edit the fuck out of it before I submit, to the point where I usually don't love it anymore.
This is me too. I end up questioning if it's even erotic any more because I'm so tired of reading it and changing a word order here or there, or removing this, or rewording that. Typos still get through somehow, so I tend to give them a once-over after hitting Publish so I can fix anything pronto before a mod gets to it.
When I'm close to 'finished" and my objectivity has taken a beating, I invariably go through this period of self-doubt where I hate the story so much that I don't press Publish.
I usually then leave it a few days, come back to it and edit the fuck out of it again until that nagging doubt is stomped out. Then submit.
I do tend to reread my stories occasionally. If I'm doing continuations, it's imperative to get my head back into the voice and tone of the characters, and to refresh the ol' memory. But mostly, for newer works, it's to check I'm not recycling ideas by mistake.
A fantastic achievement for a prolific and consistently high quality writer. Congratulations on this immense milestone, good sir.
Visit your profile page and tap the Edit Profile button, just beneath your username / location.
Yes, it may take a little while for newer stories to bubble up and replace what's there, so please keep an eye on it and if it still feels wonky, then raise an issue. Thank you.
I'm reliably informed that the trending calculation has been tweaked. See how it fares now, please.
As long as consent is maintained and it's not gratuitous drug (ab)usage you should be fine.
Quote by MicaMeesha
I effectively have to pay to get my stories published?
No. You can elect to pay if you are impatient or would like to take advantage of the other perks that membership affords (more messages, greater storage, access to member forums and chatrooms, etc).
We are reading, processing, discussing and offering advice to authors of the deluge of stories - several hundred a week - as fast as we can.
P.S. your story is also around 10,000 words and, from a casual skim read, could easily be half that with some judicial editing, without losing any of the plot points, and providing greater story momentum. A moderator has to set aside well over half an hour to read it, as will potential readers. Consult What story length do you prefer to read for some insight into the reader preferences here, as it may shape your future submissions.
