Musings on e[lust]
You can’t please everyone all the time.
A platitude that is true and one that bears repeating.
When I started e[lust] it was equally meant to be a replacement for the extinct Sugasm, but also an evolved sister of it. Sugasm had many participants that I didn’t agree with – non-writers, commercial sites, etc. So when setting up my guidelines, I tried to move away from that.
Perhaps by naming it “elust” I shot myself in the foot? While the project has indeed taken off well, and I have many happy sexy bloggers participating….I also know of a number of bloggers that shy away from joining because they feel it sends the wrong message. They feel it doesn’t belong on their blog, because their blog isn’t about “smut”. Their blog is the thinking sex blog. Or the personal diary sex blog.
I’m not sure how to get through to bloggers like this that I don’t want primarily erotic writing. I want an equal mix. Educational, informative, thought-provoking, cathartic personal posts, and yes of course – smut. Mildly evocative of arousal or hard-core sex on paper. I want it all. *laughs* Is that too much to ask?? In my grand scheme, e[lust] is equally about exposure/traffic as it is exposure/broadening your horizons. I want humorous sex posts because if you can’t laugh during sex then you’re not with the right partner. I want to spread the word about how anti-depressants affect your libido and all the encompassing experiences and opinions.
I just today put out the second edition, so I know there’s room to grow and change and expand. The question is–how? I don’t want this to be a secret club. I want it to be a gateway.
Lofty goals?
As an aside, any html gurus out there care to mentor me on the formatting and re-posting of the code from blog to blog and why the FUCK I’m having issues with it?
“As an aside, any html gurus out there care to mentor me on the formatting and re-posting of the code from blog to blog and why the FUCK I’m having issues with it?”
What are the issues?
And oftentimes, you can’t even please most of the people some of the time!
Personally, I think you’re doing a great job with e[lust]. My advice? Keep doing what you’re doing and the audience will come. I don’t think that any of my writing will ever be selected as one of the top 3 posts for a given edition (I’m realistic about my erotic-writing skills), that doesn’t mean I’ll stop participating when I feel like I have something to contribute.
~ I gotta be honest with you, I don’t see why one of your Swing Shift posts has no shot of Top 3 of Editor’s Choice – Like I said this is only the second edition and I see a lot of evolution still to come because I don’t want the Top 3’s to always be erotica. I don’t think you should discount the possibility ;)
For what its worth I think you’ve done a great job. I’ve enjoyed reading many of the stories and articles from the first two editions and am already looking forward to the third.
New writers and diversity in stories and types will come with time so hang in there. It looks like many of the people participating are doing a great job of promoting it for you which says a lot about how much your efforts are appreciated.
Keep up the great work.
Lilly, you’re doing a fantastic job. Stick with your vision and your parameters and let the rest settle out. You do have a lot of fans and supporters and we’re gonna stick with you.
I second what Kyle said.
I wish I had the organizational skills to participate in e(Lust), but I can’t keep track of what I’m supposed to do and sometimes I just don’t write enough to keep up with the weekly requirements (although I’ve written my share of funny sex stories).
Also, I do think you may have created a certain expectation of participants with a name like e(Lust), and I can understand why non-“adult” bloggers would be reluctant to participate and link to some of the more intense adult blogs. I don’t know how to remedy that, though.