Wrongly rejected story

dourdan

Virgin
Joined
Aug 6, 2018
Posts
6
Rain Down Temple Ch. 03
got rejected for the following reason
"Was there an underage (under 18 years old) sexual relationship in my story?"

NO THERE WAS NOT!

here is the only part that could have been misread-


“You’re screwing that Sara Foster girl, admit it!” Suzanna threw her coffee in his face.

“I assure you, Sara is my student. We have a professional relationship. And she’s only seventeen years old!” Diego’s hands were trembling. The coffee had not been boiling hot, but the shock of her action was enough to throw him off guard.

HIS WIFE was making AN ACCUSATION! The story is 'GAY MALE', HE WAS CHEATING WITH A MALE DOCTOR!

I'm sorry for the yelling but this kinda pissed me off. I feel like whoever rejected my chapter did not even read it!

What kind of recourse do I have?
 
unable to send a message to explain my case

when resubmitting, I was unable to send a message to explain my case.:mad: so I deleted the dialogue in that scene and hopefully, that will help.
 
You're pissing in the wind here. There's one submissions editor, Laurel, who owns the Web site, and she doesn't read on the board often. So, you're reacting in the wrong place.

She processes through about 100 stories a day every day of the year, so, yes, she doesn't read them in detail. She scans them. It's quite possible your story is OK. The way to get it into the file, though, is to send it back with the respectful note in the notes box that there is no, in fact, underage in the story (although what you posted here doesn't exactly prove there isn't--you don't follow through on sex with a seventeen-year-old not having happened in what you write here. He doesn't directly deny it. And it's unclear why you have to have this element in a GM story at all).

It's her site, by the way, She doesn't owe you a placement of your story on the site, hence it being a good idea not to explode at her.
 
already resent

as I said in my 2nd message there was NO OPTION AVAILABLE to plead my case.

Whenever I tried to resubmit without editing the actual story, the site would not allow it.
So I just removed the lines of dialogue.

BTW- the 17-year-old is a good friend of his daughter and she is trying to help him escape his abusive marriage by guiding him to the hot male doctor (who is her boyfriend's cousin.)
 
If this
And she’s only seventeen years old!”
is the only possible offending sentence, change "seventeen" to "eighteen" and resubmit with a polite note in the Notes to Editor box on the submissions page - which is where you put any explanations/clarifications - pointing out what you've done.

I'd say Laurel has seen "seventeen," stopped right there, and sent you the standard under-age rejection note - which you will observe is couched as a question. Address the question, yes or no, and if yes, fix it.

Then go outside and look up at the sky, look at a tree, something, anything, because mate, you need to relax. You're gonna bust something, carrying on like that ;).
 
I'd say Laurel has seen "seventeen," stopped right there, and sent you the standard under-age rejection note - which you will observe is couched as a question. Address the question, yes or no, and if yes, fix it.

Then go outside and look up at the sky, look at a tree, something, anything, because mate, you need to relax. You're gonna bust something, carrying on like that ;).

Like I said, I resubmitted already. But I thank you for your logical view of the situation.
The idea that maybe she did not read the rest of the story: it would put into context as to why my intended meaning did not shine through.

these characters are a spin-off of my self-published book and I have been under a lot of stress with trying to "describe" and "sell" the concept of my story.

So after waiting on edge for chapter 3 of my little side project to be approved, to see it rejected for a reason that went against the whole point of the character (in the novel the teen girl is constantly teased about her friendship with the man, but her kindness and compassion are what end up saving his life) it was like fate/God telling me "You failed at your side story- No one is going to understand your book."

and I have not had a day off from my retail job in 8 days.. so maybe that is also the problem....
 
It reads as though someone is screwing a foster child and a foster child in this country is under 18. You should word it something like... You're screwing Sara Foster! Aren't you?
 
as I said in my 2nd message there was NO OPTION AVAILABLE to plead my case.

Whenever I tried to resubmit without editing the actual story, the site would not allow it.
So I just removed the lines of dialogue.

BTW- the 17-year-old is a good friend of his daughter and she is trying to help him escape his abusive marriage by guiding him to the hot male doctor (who is her boyfriend's cousin.)

If you look at the times, you will note that I was composing my message when your second one posted. Beyond that, I don't get the impression that you read and absorbed my post. The basic problem is that you shouldn't have brought a seventeen-year-old into the story at all on this Web site. It raises flags and did so in this instance.
 
thanks for the suggestion.

It reads as though someone is screwing a foster child and a foster child in this country is under 18. You should word it something like... You're screwing Sara Foster! Aren't you?

I never thought of that, thanks for the suggestion.
 
I will know for next time.

The basic problem is that you shouldn't have brought a seventeen-year-old into the story at all on this Web site. It raises flags and did so in this instance.

Well, you will forgive me since this is ch 3 and my character is introduced as a High School student in an earlier chapter.

Yes, Highschool students can be 18. But I was 17 when I was a senior so that is just the number my brain came up with.

I will know for next time.
 
Like I said, I resubmitted already. But I thank you for your logical view of the situation.
The idea that maybe she did not read the rest of the story: it would put into context as to why my intended meaning did not shine through.
As KeithD notes, she speed scans around 100 stories daily (and may even use a scan-bot with key words, no-one knows) and most likely does not read for any clarifying context. "Seventeen" = immediate bounce.

Note also, the reject notes are generic; you will not get any comments/questions specific to your story. From what we can figure out, there are standard rejection notes for under-age, rape, bestiality, snuff, gratuitous violence, politics, celebrities (rules apply, don't know what they are offhand), plagiarism, grammar and spelling. Others will chime in if I've missed some.
 
Back
Top