I cant post anything.

[QuotedBody7]

I keep trying to post stories but they arent getting through. I can submit just fine, type in the story tags, description and submit it all without issue, but it never goes any further than that. It will show up as pending, and will stay pending for a few days, then the site will seemingly repost it on its own and then it'll sit there until I remove it. When I say repost, I mean that the submission will go from, for example, "submitted (02/06/2024)" to "submitted 5 minutes ago". It happened with my first story, and continues with the next ones I'm trying to submit. I submitted my first story on February six (02/06/2024) then it got automatically resubmitted on its own a few days later without any input from me. I thought that maybe that meant that an admin was looking at it and would aprove it at some point, but that never happened. It sat there for eleven days before I figured something went wrong and I took it down. I resubmitted it on February seventeen (02/17/2024) and it got approved and published on the nineteenth (02/19/2024) so I thought that was the end of the wierdness.

I've been trying to submit my second one, and the first time it was submitted, it was the eleventh (02/11/2024) and its been in and out of pending ever since. It got automatically resubmitted again, sat in there for only six days this time, and at this time I was also dealing with the first story as well, so I also resubmitted it on the seventeenth, alongside the first one. Obviously the first one from before went through but the second one got resubmitted again automatically and nothing happened. I took it down and resubmitted it again recently (03/04/2024) and it just now got automatically resubmitted without any input from me again, and I know itll just sit there now.

I really don't know what's wrong, since other people don't seem to have this issue. I've learned recenetly that Laurel, the site owner I believe, can view submissions even if they are deleted, so my best guess is that maybe I have angered them with the resubmissions, though it happened with my first story that sat there for almost two weeks, so I dont think thats it. I'm not even sure if my story is even making it far enough for Laurel to see it, I just don't know whats happening. I have also checked my "sent back" folder, and nothing. I've checked my email everyday incase something comes through, like a rejection email or a sent back email but I've gotten nothing so far. I've triple checked the TOS and Guidelines and my story doesnt break any rules.

Tomorrow will be a month since these troubles started and I'm not sure what to do about it. It's just so disheartening to already run into so much resistance when I've barely even started. I know my post is a mess of dates and times but truly any help is very much appreciated. Thank you for reading.

 

[NotWise]

You may be resetting it yourself. If you open the submitted story and make any kind of change (to it or to any other part of your submission, I think), then your story is reset as if it were submitted new again. Once you've submitted a story, it's a good idea to leave it completely alone.

 

[QuotedBody7]

You may be resetting it yourself. If you open the submitted story and make any kind of change (to it or to any other part of your submission, I think), then your story is reset as if it were submitted new again. Once you've submitted a story, it's a good idea to leave it completely alone.

I knew about that part and I'd make sure to never touch it, not even to double check the tags. Sometimes after a few days I'd would open the submissions tab to see whats been going on and it just does it by itself. I've been wondering if checking the tab could possibly be doing it, since I always seem to catch it no later than 15 minutes after it resets, but it once happened at around 3 in the morning and I noticed it when I woke up and checked the status.

I'm really not sure. I've seen a few other posts, not exactly with my issue, though the general consensus seems to be to contact Laurel and ask for assistance that way. I'm just not sure as to how to go about that.

 

[NotWise]

You can message Laurel directly, starting with the envelope icon at the top right of this page. She may or may not respond. A sometimes better way is to put a note to the editor in your submission, but with your stories already in and out of pending, I don't know how that would work.

 

[emily4massage]

i've never tried posting any

 

[QuotedBody7]

You can message Laurel directly, starting with the envelope icon at the top right of this page. She may or may not respond. A sometimes better way is to put a note to the editor in your submission, but with your stories already in and out of pending, I don't know how that would work.

Ya I've tried the note explaining everything with my last submission but it didn't change anything. I'm not sure my story is reaching anybody before it gets resubmitted. If I may ask, I've seen someone say I should send a link to my story in the message, with one person saying to send a link from the draft. How should I go about this? I'm assuming that Laurel can access my account since she'll know my username, but should I send a link to my account? Maybe a link to my pending folder or should I send the story to my drafts and send that link? Thank you very much for your help I really do appreciate it.

 

[NotWise]

Ya I've tried the note explaining everything with my last submission but it didn't change anything. I'm not sure my story is reaching anybody before it gets resubmitted. If I may ask, I've seen someone say I should send a link to my story in the message, with one person saying to send a link from the draft. How should I go about this? I'm assuming that Laurel can access my account since she'll know my username, but should I send a link to my account? Maybe a link to my pending folder or should I send the story to my drafts and send that link? Thank you very much for your help I really do appreciate it.

You could send a link to your story if your story were already published. You don't have that option.

 

[Slick69er]

Ya I've tried the note explaining everything with my last submission but it didn't change anything. I'm not sure my story is reaching anybody before it gets resubmitted. If I may ask, I've seen someone say I should send a link to my story in the message, with one person saying to send a link from the draft. How should I go about this? I'm assuming that Laurel can access my account since she'll know my username, but should I send a link to my account? Maybe a link to my pending folder or should I send the story to my drafts and send that link? Thank you very much for your help I really do appreciate it.

I am having this same issue. The story goes to pending and has been there for a week. Did you ever find a root cause for this issue or how to resolve it?

 

[QuotedBody7]

I am having this same issue. The story goes to pending and has been there for a week. Did you ever find a root cause for this issue or how to resolve it?

I messaged Laurel pretty early in the morning and gave her a short rundown of what happened, explaining most of what I mentioned here. She didn't respond but my story was approved by the end of the day. I haven't posted anything since then, so I'm not sure if it's 100% resolved yet, but I'm hoping that the next time I do I won't have to deal with the same issue. Basically just message Laurel, be nice and explain whats happening. If there's something wrong with the story she'll send it back and if it's OK then it'll be approved pretty quickly.

 

[Helgamite]

I messaged Laurel pretty early in the morning and gave her a short rundown of what happened, explaining most of what I mentioned here. She didn't respond but my story was approved by the end of the day. I haven't posted anything since then, so I'm not sure if it's 100% resolved yet, but I'm hoping that the next time I do I won't have to deal with the same issue. Basically just message Laurel, be nice and explain whats happening. If there's something wrong with the story she'll send it back and if it's OK then it'll be approved pretty quickly.

Laurel dont usually respond. she is very busy. but if it got posted that quickly, she probably got your messege. wait a bit and try to submit a new story. even a 750 word one and see what happens.

 

[ElectricBlue]

I messaged Laurel pretty early in the morning and gave her a short rundown of what happened, explaining most of what I mentioned here. She didn't respond but my story was approved by the end of the day. I haven't posted anything since then, so I'm not sure if it's 100% resolved yet, but I'm hoping that the next time I do I won't have to deal with the same issue. Basically just message Laurel, be nice and explain whats happening. If there's something wrong with the story she'll send it back and if it's OK then it'll be approved pretty quickly.

What does this mean?

If the story is "approved", I assume you mean its been published? In which case, yes, this submission is resolved. So far as the rest of it, submission glitches do happen.

 

[lovecraft68]

I'm getting the feeling this is a glitch. That stories are being sucked into some blackhole where Laurel doesn't see them in the file.

Be nice if Manu would show up here once in a while to address things.

 

[UncleFester623]

I'm having the same problem. I have two stories that have been stuck in "pending" since 3/7.

 

[QuotedBody7]

What does this mean?

If the story is "approved", I assume you mean its been published? In which case, yes, this submission is resolved. So far as the rest of it, submission glitches do happen.

I'm not sure if it's 100% percent resolved because this issue has happened to every story I've published so far and I dont know if itll happen to the next one. If this happens with the next submission and I wait a month and it's still in limbo, then something else is still happening and its not fully resolved yet. That's what I meant.

 

[ElectricBlue]

I'm not sure if it's 100% percent resolved because this issue has happened to every story I've published so far and I dont know if itll happen to the next one. If this happens with the next submission and I wait a month and it's still in limbo, then something else is still happening and its not fully resolved yet. That's what I meant.

Most likely because you're new. Your stories will be getting closer scrutiny to check for content compliance and, right now, to assess for any AI input.
Once you get a few more under your belt, and Laurel can see you're not running up against the content boundaries, your approval times should improve.

Whatever you do, when you've submitted a story, don't go checking its status every day. You might have accidentally pulled it back into Draft, in which case you start again.

 

[With_David_Bowie]

Feel free to send me a link to your stuff. I cant see it.

 

[With_David_Bowie]

It does seem that you keep on resetting the posting out of paranoia.

I know its hard to not keep on following up, but it makes you put it to the back of the queue every time.

 

[With_David_Bowie]

Most likely because you're new. Your stories will be getting closer scrutiny to check for content compliance and, right now, to assess for any AI input.
Once you get a few more under your belt, and Laurel can see you're not running up against the content boundaries, your approval times should improve.

Whatever you do, when you've submitted a story, don't go checking its status every day. You might have accidentally pulled it back into Draft, in which case you start again.

Also, and this may seem obvious in retrospect. It is read and checked, give it a few days. If you want instant response, go somewhere than doesnt actually care about quality

 

[ACCarruthers]

I'm having the same problem. I have two stories that have been stuck in "pending" since 3/7.

Me too. I've now submitted two stories, still in 'pending'. I'm a new author here which may exacerbate the problem.

 

[shelleycat1]

Same here. First two parts went through in only two days. I think that set my expectations too high. The third part has been pending 8 days. I’m giving it 10 before I do anything else.