Partial works or series?

Joined
Apr 16, 2014
Posts
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My first work Journal of Desire chapter 1 of Temperance Hill series has just been rejected for the following reason:

"While we welcome authors to publish shorter fiction on Literotica while promoting ebooks or other offsite projects on their profile page, out of respect for reader's feelings, we would rather not publish partial works as "teasers".

Yet another author Harddaysknight has published Lady in Red as a 33 part series. He published
Chap 1 on 3/11/13
Chap 2 on 3/15/13
Chap 3 on 3/20/13
Chap 4 on 3/23/13
etc etc etc

How were these published as separate chapters days apart without being reject as "partial works"?
 
Did you happen to mention that the rest of the story would be available at some other website for purchase in the story or in an authors note?

That is a no-no here.
 
I believe I described it as Journal of Desire part 1 (or chapter 1) of Temperance Hill series.
I did not say it is available for sale or on another site.

As I wrote above, another author posted a 33 part series, posting each chapter several days apart. Don't how it avoided the "partial" ban while he was doing it.
 
I was planning to continue with chap 2, chap 3, etc.
But don't know how to do it if each chapter is considered "partial" material
 
I was planning to continue with chap 2, chap 3, etc.
But don't know how to do it if each chapter is considered "partial" material

Some authors submit all there chapters at once, but ask in the authors note that individual chapters be delayed in being posted by a couple days each. An entire series is therefore presented to readers incrementally.
 
You need to discuss this directly with Laurel, the editor, by PM (Private Message system at top right of this page), because you aren't including enough information on your submission for the forum to figure out what the problem here. Submitting stories in chaptered series is common practice here, and your story wouldn't be rejected for that. The rejection claims you are posting teasers here to direct readers to buy elsewhere. You don't provide enough information to indicate why the editor concluded that. So, you really need to take it up directly with the editor.

I'm sure this has nothing to do with whether you can post a work in chapters or the time of either the submission or posting of those stories and getting a lot of responses on that here will just be wheels spinning by everyone.
 
How do I query Laurel the editor?

I don't see anything at the top right corner of this page

You should have, under your name, 'Private Messages' - if you have them turned on. If not - go to top LEFT - User CP and turn them on.

You should be able to compose a Private Message to Laurel, querying the rejection.
 
I can sympathize to a degree.

I have had the same novel rejected three times for various reasons, from the site not currently accepting Rich Text Format to the same "partial work" nonsense when the story is broken into individual chapters for submission, to some erroneous mumbo-jumbo about promoting works on other sites when no other sites are mentioned anywhere in the story. Submitting stories, especially multiple chapters at the same sitting is cumbersome, but to have to repeat the process every time it gets rejected - hoping that the changes you made resolve whatever vague issue caused the rejection - is beyond acceptable. I could probably submit the entire story as a single file and skate right through, but that is not the format that feedback from previous submissions has indicated the readers prefer.

I can appreciate others having the patience to deal with the arbitrary, confusing, and subjective policies of Literotica, but I would rather dedicate my time to producing quality work than trying to figure out how to please some mysterious editorial deity who refuses to respond to requests for clarification on her decisions. I will simply choose other sites with clear, concise and consistent guidelines to share my work in the future.

Beyond writing, I do have the ability to read. Put any reasons for rejections into comprehensible prose, and I will have no issue with complying. Considering a complete literary work as partial, or a "teaser" due to submission by chapters is anything but comprehensible.
 
Did you know one person reads all the stories submitted to Literotica?

-So don't pass blame yet.
 
Considering a complete literary work as partial, or a "teaser" due to submission by chapters is anything but comprehensible.

Just a guess, but perhaps the problem is coming from having the following in your author bio:

I am a part-time writer of fiction novels. All of my submissions on Literotica have been previously published and are available for download in a variety of formats. Simply enter the story title into your search engine of choice and select the site you want to download from.

I can see how Laurel might look at those words and question the possibility of a single chapter being submitted as a "teaser" to encourage going off site to buy the whole thing. A little communication with her via PM would probably clear it all up.
 
Partial work or series

Just a guess, but perhaps the problem is coming from having the following in your author bio:



I can see how Laurel might look at those words and question the possibility of a single chapter being submitted as a "teaser" to encourage going off site to buy the whole thing. A little communication with her via PM would probably clear it all up.

I could see my profile affecting editorial decisions if it had existed prior to my submission, but that is not the case. Feedback from readers related to preferences in reading complete stories in a single submission versus those who prefer chapter-by-chapter submissions is the only reason the options are mentioned. There is no "promotion" or teasing implied or presented.
 
I feel like it's possible that the title...adding The Temperance Hill Series...may make it sound as if this is a work from elsewhere. I don;t think I've ever seen something like that on here. Why not try to submit it as "Journal of Desire CH 01" and see what happens?
 
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