Advice for a new guy?

[Bamagan]

Thank you, I guess I'll try again. I've already submitted the next two chapters, the character very clearly isn't dead, and I even pointed that out to them in notes to the moderator. And they've had three weeks to go over all of them. Do I need to append the chapter itself to assure the reader the MC isn't dead when they can just click to the next chapter and learn he's not?

I would not necessarily assume that they're reading your chapters back to back, as there are lots of submissions, so they might well be reading one of yours then moving on to something else to prioritize approving stuff from as many authors as they can rather than doing all 5 chapters of one author at once. So they might forget the details they skimmed in one chapter by the time they get to the next one.
They might also not be able to conveniently locate your subsequent chapters, or even know they exist, while they're working on reviewing an earlier one, or they may be kicking the later ones to the back of the queue while the third one is in limbo to keep them from posting out of sequence.
Probably no need to append the next chapter, as it's most likely Laurel who is doing the reviewing, just include a reminder that the character in question is the one you talked to her about who does not in fact die but is reborn or whatever in the next chapter.

 

[RSThomas42]

Okay, thank you very much. It's just a little frustrating because this is exactly what I did last time and it still got refused for snuff. I made it VERY clear in the notes when I made the re-submission that he wasn't actually dead. But I shall try again, and I very much appreciate your help.

 

[Bamagan]

Okay, thank you very much. It's just a little frustrating because this is exactly what I did last time and it still got refused for snuff. I made it VERY clear in the notes when I made the re-submission that he wasn't actually dead. But I shall try again, and I very much appreciate your help.

IIRC, you mentioned the vampiress had vaginal fangs or something like that, so the methodology of the transformation in this case seems more explicitly sexualized than is perhaps typical. I'd hazard a guess that if you'd ripped his throat out with her mouth, you'd be fine, but dying or appearing to die during an apparent sex act skirts too close to snuff/vore. Not every instance of this kind of thing gets caught, obviously, but that speaks as much about what the community will refrain from reporting as what the mods fail to catch.

 

[RSThomas42]

Thank you for your responses. The closing of the chapter is a violent scene involving sex (and vagina dentata, but even that is meant to be more horrifying than sexy), and the character appears to die (get asphyxiated - specifically). It was the "And everything went black" cliffhanger ending to the chapter before he wakes up all transformed on the next page.

 

[MediocreAuthor]

Thank you for your responses. The closing of the chapter is a violent scene involving sex (and vagina dentata, but even that is meant to be more horrifying than sexy), and the character appears to die (get asphyxiated - specifically). It was the "And everything went black" cliffhanger ending to the chapter before he wakes up all transformed on the next page.

Do be aware of the fact that the editors have to read your story and work backwards... they have to eliminate the possibility of the work being considered snuff before they can allow it in as erotic horror or whatever.

For example:

Imagine that I write a snuff scene, but in the next chapter I revealed that it was only a nightmare. Maybe... MAYBE I could get that approved if I revealed that it's a nightmare within the same chapter (there's still a decent chance at rejection).

But if a person could read that standalone installment and enjoy it as snuff... It will get rejected, regardless of how harmless the dream is in the following chapters or whatever.

 

[Bamagan]

But if a person could read that standalone installment and enjoy it as snuff... It will get rejected, regardless of how harmless the dream is in the following chapters or whatever.

M pretty much nailed it. The site has to give some consideration to the possibility that the chapter in question is found and read by a site visitor without the context of the larger tale. You might want to consider if you need the cliffhanger there, or if you can put a little more space between the apparent death and what could be construed as sexual situations.

 

[RSThomas42]

Thank you. I certainly HOPE nobody could read this chapter and enjoy it as snuff. Anyone looking for masturbation material is going to be disappointed. If you imagine the kind of dark sexuality in the Hellraiser movies, that's more what I'm trying to achieve. I guess I can remove the fake death and make it clear he's only passing out, but it kind of poops the whole vampire transformation thing. Has nobody read a vampire novel before, those guys die and come back all day?

 

[MediocreAuthor]

Has nobody read a vampire novel before, those guys die and come back all day?

Very true, but they also die and stay dead sometimes, so coming back isn't a given, right?

 

[RSThomas42]

Even if they don't come back, that still doesn't make it snuff though.

 

[MediocreAuthor]

Even if they don't come back, that still doesn't make it snuff though.

I concur.

If you're interested in an example of death in an erotic story which was allowed, you can check out Eltrich Pact (the killing is near the end).

I worked hard to ensure that the story would not be misconstrued as snuff, and it made it through to publication with no problem.

 

[RSThomas42]

That's a great story, I left you a rating. Maybe it's like how Rambo and Conan can indulge in bodily dismemberment, but Jason Voorhees can't? Honestly, this chapter is not even intended to be erotic. My biggest fear upon submitting it was that people would laugh at me for not putting enough sex in it.

 

[RSThomas42]

Thanks again for your help and advice, everyone, I really do appreciate it. I finally got the story beaten into acceptable shape (changed the last line and added a big "TO BE CONTINUED". ) If anyone wants to see what all the fuss has been about, here it is. Three more chapters are already pending. Hope you're having a great day!
https://www.literotica.com/s/the-renfield-syndrome-ch-03

 

[ElectricBlue]

I give you my word that I'm not some POS edgelord trying to push the system. It's not extreme horror, it's just horror and nothing you wouldn't see in an R-rated scary movie, and in my short time here I've seen SOOOOOOOO much worse. I'm wondering if there's an appeal process, or maybe I should just excise all the blood and gore and put a note in there explaining what happens so at least I can get the rest of my novel accepted and people can read a censored version.

You're dealing with the appeal process. There's one site editor (the owner) and the rejections come from her desk.

Cut it back and try again. It's pretty clear to me from this thread that you know exactly where your content is excessive, so wind it back and get your story published.

 

[RSThomas42]

Taken care of, but thank you for responding.

 

[RoperTrace]

Well, you have to expect any rejection that is resubmitted to take weeks, not days, to be approved. It goes to the back of the line, where there are other resubbed stories waiting in front of it. It would be helpful to let them know the order in the series as well in the notes filed.

I've only ever had one rejection, fixed it, resubmitted and approved in a couple of days. Maybe because I was a long-time writer on here, and was given special treatment? I've looked at a few rejections for other writers to help, and they want to debate the Lit rules like a Philadelphia lawyer. That's not gonna fly. Some new writers, IME, want to skirt around the under eighteen rule on some technicality, instead of just biting-the-bullet and following the rules.

 

[RoperTrace]

Thank you, I guess I'll try again. I've already submitted the next two chapters, the character very clearly isn't dead, and I even pointed that out to them in notes to the moderator. And they've had three weeks to go over all of them. Do I need to append the chapter itself to assure the reader the MC isn't dead when they can just click to the next chapter and learn he's not?

Would it work if you just implied the character 'might' have died, instead of making them actually dead? I skated pretty close to that cliff on one of mine, and got hate mail from a few people.

 

[RSThomas42]

I actually finally got it whipped into acceptable shape. Before I talked to Laurel, I was confused about what the problem was, as the guy who actually died wasn't the "snuff" problem, but the guy who didn't die was. I changed the very last line and added TO BE CONTINUED, and it's published now.