Submissions

[princeShaka]

Any idea how long they take to review a story?

 

[RelentlessOnanism]

There's no hard and fast rule. I've had stories that were approved within twelve hours; I’ve had stories that took nearly two weeks to be given the green light. It tends to be quicker if you're an established writer, but there's a lot of mystery surrounding the process.

 

[DanDraper]

If you uploaded a file for submission, for some reason it could take a several days. If you copy and paste it, the average time is about two or three days. I have had a couple of storied published much quicker than that, but a few times it still took a long longer for some reason.
The few times it took over a few days I just resubmitted the story again. and they published it a few days later. My theory about this situation is they overlooked the story and it has to be submitted again to get it noticed.

 

[princeShaka]

Thanks!

 

[princeShaka]

I uploaded it 8 days ago. Thanks.

 

[ShelbyDawn57]

If it takes more than two weeks, click on the little envelope in the upper right corner and send a message to 'Laurel' letting her know. Sometimes they do get stuck.

 

[12oclocktales]

If it takes more than two weeks, click on the little envelope in the upper right corner and send a message to 'Laurel' letting her know. Sometimes they do get stuck.

I can attest to this first hand and today. I’ve had a story in pending for 2 weeks, dropped Laurel a note late this morning, and by early afternoon saw it was to be published tomorrow. It looks like it just got lost in the shuffle.

 

[princeShaka]

If it takes more than two weeks, click on the little envelope in the upper right corner and send a message to 'Laurel' letting her know. Sometimes they do get stuck.

I don't see the envelop. Where are you viewing that you see it? Thanks.

 

[ShelbyDawn57]

 

[princeShaka]

Thanks!

 

[alohadave]

A Moderator has held my Illustrated story now for 8 weeks even though it was approved and edited by two of Literotica's editors before it was submitted. I sent 'Laurel' a message to find out what was going on as suggested in this thread. Another week has passed and there is still no response. Does 'Laurel' really exist?

FYI, editors here are volunteers and have no official status. The site facilitates connecting authors and editors, but that's as far as it goes for being official.

 

[MetaBob]

Any idea how long they take to review a story?

It has always taken me 1-3 days, but that depends on what time of day the story is submitted. My stories have typically been published about 8:00 AM GMT.

I submitted a new text-only piece 36 hours ago and it was approved a few hours ago with publication scheduled for tomorrow, which would mean that the story will have been published about 2 days and 8 hours after I submitted it.

 

[iwatchus]

New personal record for fastest publication -- I submitted mid-morning today and it is already scheduled to be published on Thursday.

 

[StillStunned]

I could debate your claim. In fact, the Liteortica Moderator who evaluated a previous submission of mine (that got published) specifically recommended that I get my next story checked out by at least one Literotica volunteer editor before its submission.

There's nothing to debate. If your story was sent back with the recommendation to find a volunteer editor to have a look at it, that means Laurel felt your writing was shaky and you could use some help. Having your story edited isn't some kind of magical guarantee that it's good enough. In fact, the editors themselves are just what their title says: volunteers, willing to help authors out. There are no quality requirements for them, so whichever editor looked at your story might be more helpful than actually proficient.

I did that even though I have more than 200 publications. Of those, my first illustrated Literotica story (under a different pen name) already has received 527k views. In support of that claim, 'Lisa's Cinema Adventure' was the most viewed 750-word story in 2024 with 146k views.

The R-rated pictures in the illustrated story in question were supplied by my collaborator who is a renowned photographer residing on the West Coast. He's also published numerous stories on his own at Literotica. He also gave his input on the story's text and approved it before its submission.

And all of that really counts for nothing. Sorry. Laurel decides for herself what she's willing to publish on her website, according to her own preferences and standards.

Finally, it's interesting that you didn't comment on the key issue, namely why would a Literotica Moderator hold any submitted story in its Pending folder for 8 weeks?

Likewise, why can't my collaborators and I get a response from Literotica's leadership on this matter? As recommended in this thread by another, I sent a message to 'Laurel' seven days ago. Once again, I got no response.

Again, what's interesting? We're all just a bunch of writers here submitting our stories and offering advice based on what we've seen during our time here. There's no secret cabal, nobody's excluding you, nobody's trying to trick you.

It must be incredibly frustrating to have to wait so long. I've been waiting for 9 hours for a story to be approved, and I'm frustrated, never mind 9 weeks. But again, there's nothing anyone here can do to help except share advice based on our own experiences.

If you have a recommendation as to how I can proceed, I'll take it.

Some people suggest withdrawing your story from the Pending folder and resubmitting it. After 9 weeks, and no response from Laurel, I suppose that's as good as any advice I can give.

Except to be polite, regardless of how frustrated you are. Like I mentioned above, it's Laurel's decision what gets published and what doesn't. She's under no obligation to publish your story, and annoying her is just an unnecessary risk.

Good luck!

 

[Husky_Embrace]

I could debate your claim. In fact, the Liteortica Moderator who evaluated a previous submission of mine (that got published) specifically recommended that I get my next story checked out by at least one Literotica volunteer editor before its submission. I did that even though I have more than 200 publications. Of those, my first illustrated Literotica story (under a different pen name) already has received 527k views. In support of that claim, 'Lisa's Cinema Adventure' was the most viewed 750-word story in 2024 with 146k views.

The R-rated pictures in the illustrated story in question were supplied by my collaborator who is a renowned photographer residing on the West Coast. He's also published numerous stories on his own at Literotica. He also gave his input on the story's text and approved it before its submission.

Finally, it's interesting that you didn't comment on the key issue, namely why would a Literotica Moderator hold any submitted story in its Pending folder for 8 weeks?

Likewise, why can't my collaborators and I get a response from Literotica's leadership on this matter? As recommended in this thread by another, I sent a message to 'Laurel' seven days ago. Once again, I got no response.

If you have a recommendation as to how I can proceed, I'll take it.

The site does warn that you're at the mercy of the moderator reviewing it. It could go through 50 editors, all claiming it is perfectly within bounds, but the moderator can strike it down based on their own personal views.

Though I expect that only to be the case if they fell a verdict. My expectation is that they have a ticket center. As the moderators can have strong preferences, they do not need to do "important" or "longest in queue" first. They can check the category, title and description, maybe even open the submission, then leaving it for someone else if it isn't their jam. Maybe they started reading it before they realised it was an incest story fir example.

This can cause the difference in ticket times. One story request I submitted a story earlier than another (establish) writer. I tried to do a short story like her, so it was similar. Hers took a few hours, mine was encroachment 3 weeks.

I can imagine some stories also get discussion. You mentioned a professional photographer that aided you. There might be uncertainty if there's any copyright infringement, or if the photographs cross some (subjective) line.

All I can give you is food for thought. I have only recently discovered this site and haven't contributed much yet, so I'm by no means an expert. My only relevant experience is with ticket systems they might use.

To add anything of substance: You could edit the story and give a message to the editor. Maybe you can find some possible problems with your story and alleviate them there. A link to the photographer that aided you, so they can check the legitimacy for example. Maybe that is already clear, and you find something else that is ambiguous for a moderator.

 

[alohadave]

Finally, it's interesting that you didn't comment on the key issue,

Because I have nothing to say about that. I offered you a piece of advice about a specific aspect of your post.

Obviously you found it unhelpful.

Good luck with your submissions.

 

[pokapokachuu]

I have a question too. I've submitted works that were pending since 4/30 and this includes new chapters and edited version of some previous chapters. In 5/02, I've submitted poems. These submitted poems were immediately published after some hours while the stories that have been pending since 4/30 and those succeeding dates are still on their pending status. I've DM'ed Laurel a short 'what's my status' message, and up until now I've got none actions so far.

But, how does it work?

 

[iwatchus]

I have a question too. I've submitted works that were pending since 4/30 and this includes new chapters and edited version of some previous chapters. In 5/02, I've submitted poems. These submitted poems were immediately published after some hours while the stories that have been pending since 4/30 and those succeeding dates are still on their pending status. I've DM'ed Laurel a short 'what's my status' message, and up until now I've got none actions so far.

But, how does it work?

I don't know about your new works, but edits definitely sit at the back of queue until she has time to catch up. I have had three new works approved while an edit is still in the queue. From what I have seen, and I only started publishing recently, that is typical.

 

[ElectricBlue]

I have a question too. I've submitted works that were pending since 4/30 and this includes new chapters and edited version of some previous chapters. In 5/02,

Edits are the lowest priority for the site, can typically take 2 - 3 weeks. The onus really is on authors to submit the best possible copy they can, checked and rechecked for errors.

I've submitted poems. These submitted poems were immediately published after some hours while the stories that have been pending since 4/30 and those succeeding dates are still on their pending status.

I've heard that poems typically go through quickly, probably because they're typically shorter, easier to review.

Illustrated stories get processed in batches, anecdotally no more frequently than once a month. I've been here ten years, and they've always been slow.

I've DM'ed Laurel a short 'what's my status' message, and up until now I've got none actions so far.

You won't get a response. Your story will either progress to New, or it will come back with a rejection notice.

But, how does it work?

With much patience.

To the best of our knowledge there is one site editor, Laurel, not a team of moderators as some people think. Your story goes into a queue, more like a conveyor belt. There's probably a word bot that scans stories for key words, basic grammar, which might trigger a first rejection, or bounce it up for human eyes to check. There might also be a delay because the site tries to keep a steady flow into each category, but the different categories have vastly different amounts of content.

More recently, the suspected use of AI has been added to the set of rejection notices. Before then, rejections were typically for content breaches or poor punctuation.

 

[Voboy]

I've heard that poems typically go through quickly, probably because they're typically shorter, easier to review.

I've had poems sit for six weeks. For me, poems are by far the longest-pending things I submit, and I ain't writing Childe Harold. My suspicion has always been that poems are usually done in batches, hence the wait.

 

[WittyUserName]

Any idea how long they take to review a story?

It varies wildly. I once had a story get a posting date within five minutes. Other times I've waited a few weeks. Just be patient. As others have said, one person does most of the work on approving new stories. That is a LOT for one person. I imagine her eyes hurt at the end of the day!

 

[pokapokachuu]

I have a question too. I've submitted works that were pending since 4/30 and this includes new chapters and edited version of some previous chapters. In 5/02, I've submitted poems. These submitted poems were immediately published after some hours while the stories that have been pending since 4/30 and those succeeding dates are still on their pending status. I've DM'ed Laurel a short 'what's my status' message, and up until now I've got none actions so far.

But, how does it work?

Update: my pending works are faring well now. It took some time. Thank you for all the replies!

 

[princeShaka]

If it takes more than two weeks, click on the little envelope in the upper right corner and send a message to 'Laurel' letting her know. Sometimes they do get stuck.

Tried that but still pending.

 

[princeShaka]

My story just keep sitting and know its well edited so very frustrating.

 

[FrancesScott]

@princeShaka - you probably will not appreciate me saying any of this. But I’m trying to help.

1. From some of your turns of phrase, I’m guessing that English may not be your first language. I’m sorry if I have that wrong.
2. In which case, did you use any translation software for the story? Apologies if not again.
3. I tried reading some of it on the other site. It seemed to have a few missing words here and there (we all make mistakes of course) and again some of the phraseology was a bit off to my eyes.
4. But also, there seemed to be repetitive phrases (e.g. going on about her blazer and pencil skirt and repeating that it clinged to her). I wasn’t sure why that would be the case.
5. You also go on repeatedly about her being a 34 year old basque beauty with blonde hair - people don’t normally repeat that sort of detail in exactly the same way multiple times
6. The genre is really not my thing, and I found your prose hard to read - maybe not hard, but not pleasurable (sorry, obviously I’m just one person and it’s just my opinion).
7. I found it kind of jarring how you kept saying Professor Nekane Lauretta, it didn’t feel natural.
8. This is just one example of phraseology that didn’t sit right with me: “who demanded her presence at the season's first game as the team sought to repeat as state champions for an unprecedented 4th time” - again it suggested translation software to me.

So, I’m not accusing you of anything thing. But your writing has many repeated elements, errors, and doesn’t feel natural. I suspect this may be your problem.