And what keeps you interested in reading it?
As an author, it leaves me curious. As a reader, I'm also curious as to how others view and see things.
To go with my own experience, it varies. I read a lot regular books. Most of them are through the Kindle App. So I end up searching genres until I find a title or maybe a bookcover that looks interesting. Then I will look at the preview synopsis to see if there is something that catches my attention or not to read.
On sites like here, Literotica, or DA, they are usually short stories or some other form that doesn't have a synopsis or preview or has it poorly placed after the content. So finding stories revolves around looking at story titles, which can be lackluster or deceiving, and not really give anything away about the story.
Story categories are very helpful, but some stories crossover multiple categories, but for simplicity and reducing bloat, are confined to one. That isn't a knock as I think it it a wise choice by Teann. It still can leave some stories that fit what someone may look for or be interested left out if looking solely at just a specific category. At the same time I find stories that are in my interest at that time pretty quickly.
Tags and searches are useful and something I use quite a bit, but don't tell the full story as a tag can be a huge theme to the story or a small part that last a few words or sentence. In any case, I am more likely to find something I am interested in that isn't always obvious by the title or the author if I have read some of their previous work. There are quite a few authors just on this site with some diverse works and themes that branch across many different categories for their stories.
Word of mouth especially on the forums is a help in discovering authors or stories. The list of people's favorite stories or authors have helped me discover authors I'd miss from my other options of looking. For instance, I would have likely read Darkwolf's stories with them being mentioned multiple times over the years. There is a reason the name comes up more than most, but rarely told why. Everyone has their own opinions and mine are the stories are well told. The characters are great. The writing is quality that I fail at in my own especially the pacing, showing not telling, and sex scenes that are far better than I can do. I'm can't right a decent one, especially a more vanilla scene that could feel interesting and not overdone.
That mostly covers how I find and decide what to try out. What do I look for when I am reading?
That answer depends on what I am looking for at the time.
If I'm looking up something with a specific tag or search, I definitely want that in it. How much depends on the story itself.
For most books or stories, I will need one of three things. Though the more the better.
First, characters. Sell me by having characters I care about. In some of the short stories characters tend to be generic and have little no development in just one short story. Some longer ones or those with multiple stories do a better job with characters and their development. I will overlook a lot of issues for good characters.
Second, setting or when reading certain series of novels, world building. Where the story takes, the time period, or even special unique things that don't normally exist as of now like magic, space travel. I am more likely to be initially interested knowing there is a kinky story set in a Victorian or Medieval era or theme. Or say the setting takes place in a prison, Asylum, or a dungeon.
Third, I'm combining some of the other elements of writing such as plot, conflict, and theme. The message of the overall story and the struggle whether internal or external can be a great hook to keep my attention if other areas of lacking as I will read to see the outcome. Pacing and tone can help add or detract from a story as well.
If you give me at least two out of the three, I will almost certainly read it and enjoy it enough. Giving me at least one, will get me to likely read through it but how I feel will vary after.
What I look to read can change on any given day and my state of mind affecting choices. Same with the amount I read. Last week I read nine full length books. Other times it takes me weeks to finish one depending on my mood. It the same even reading short stories. I haven't read nearly as many recently for many reasons though I try to keep up with some of the ongoing series I have started.
Those are some of my thoughts and ramblings. I'm curious to see what others look for or how they determine what they try to read.