Story Pending, more than a Week

[EmilyMiller]

Possibly.

Absolutely not. And the idea of randomly including errors will make no difference whatsoever.

 

[SkyBubble]

Many AI models have a tendency to use near-perfect grammar, punctuation, and syntax. They're trained on large data sets of very polished text. So they tend to see consistent correctness as a hallmark of AI writing.

Even very skilled human writers often include slight grammatical quirks, colloquialisms, and/or intentional deviations, such as sentence fragments, for style. Perfect grammar can seem too clean to detectors, especially if your writing also includes things like lower "perplexity" (predictable word patterns) or low "burstiness" (variation in sentence length.)

They don't just look at grammar; they also look at patterns like sentence structure, vocabulary diversity, and tone. But perfect grammar is one of the things that can raise a red flag. Especially in conjunction with those other factors.

Stylistic quirks, such as contractions, colloquialisms, and varying sentence lengths (and structures), as well as double spacing at random points or other subtle mistakes (i.e., minor typos, inconsistent punctuation, or colloquial misspellings) can help reduce the chance of getting flagged. Maybe not a lot, but a bit.

None of those things guarantees you won't get flagged. Even if you wrote the thing yourself. But they help reduce the chances of a flag by some non-zero amount.

 

[EmilyMiller]

Many AI models have a tendency to use near-perfect grammar, punctuation, and syntax. They're trained on large data sets of very polished text. So they tend to see consistent correctness as a hallmark of AI writing.

Have you actually read any AI generated text?

TBH, your post has a few hallmarks itself.

 

[SkyBubble]

It probably does. I'm sure a lot of stuff here has "hallmarks." I'm sure that not all the stories that were published have 0% AI scores. Sometimes, it will pick up the most mundane piece of narration and say it thinks that's AI.

And yes, I've read a decent amount of AI generated text. I've also talked to people about what causes false flags.

 

[Justplainjeff]

18 days of pending for me. What's the record?

A while back, I had a story published 49 days after my first submission. It was the 15th submission that finally worked.

 

[SkyBubble]

AI writing also tends to overuse the em dash.

 

[feel_the_beast]

I just wish there was at least some clear line of communication from their side. Being left in the dark is the worst part. You have no idea what’s happening, whether your story is about to be rejected, sitting ignored, or stuck in limbo. Nothing.

Yeah, this.
29 days this morning.

 

[feel_the_beast]

Many AI models have a tendency to use near-perfect grammar, punctuation, and syntax. They're trained on large data sets of very polished text. So they tend to see consistent correctness as a hallmark of AI writing.

I pride myself on my grasp of grammar. The idea that I would need to DELIBERATELY adulterate my stories with less-than-perfect English in order to get them published is frankly disgusting.
If the Lit reviewers think I might be using AI, then they should reject the story and challenge me to defend it, not sit on it a month with no explanation.

 

[feel_the_beast]

A while back, I had a story published 49 days after my first submission. It was the 15th submission that finally worked.

Jeff, are you saying you resubmitted the same story 14 times, 15 in all?? Were these edits in response to reviewers' comments? Or the identical unedited text resubmitted again and again?

 

[Justplainjeff]

Jeff, are you saying you resubmitted the same story 14 times, 15 in all?? Were these edits in response to reviewers' comments? Or the identical unedited text resubmitted again and again?

I resubmitted this story unchanged, after a few days just sitting unposted.

 

[64inches]

Just wanted to check in on the folks in this thread. I'm still pending for 30 days now. For those who already had similar stories, has the work been published in the meantime?

 

[CherieSin]

Nope, still the same. But another story got through in a day. It left me feeling very confused to say the least.

 

[DEFCOM5]

How should I deal with a story that is stuck in pending and part of a multi chapter story?
I cannot post the next chapters until the pending one is published.
Any advice?

 

[CherieSin]

How should I deal with a story that is stuck in pending and part of a multi chapter story?
I cannot post the next chapters until the pending one is published.
Any advice?

Well, i guess only by waiting and being patient. I'm in the same boat as you.

 

[DEFCOM5]

CherieSin,
Thank you for the advice. I will just wait and keep on writing the rest of the chapters.

 

[LopaSen]

Pending since September 2nd 2025

 

[feel_the_beast]

I put this comment on another thread on this topic, but thought I would post it here as well.
I pulled my 'lost in limbo' story, and resubmitted unedited, with a note to admins about the delay. Within eight hours or so, it now sits in the 'Pending' folder, but the tags say 'Published' and 'New' with tomorrow's date.
So this tactic appears to have worked...for me. I guess I would recommend you try it. But no promises. Your results may vary.
Good luck.

Update, 9-27-25. Story was published this morning.

 

[DEFCOM5]

feel_the_beast, thank you for the tip. I will wait a few more days for the moderators to get a chance to get to the story

 

[CherieSin]

I put this comment on another thread on this topic, but thought I would post it here as well.
I pulled my 'lost in limbo' story, and resubmitted unedited, with a note to admins about the delay. Within eight hours or so, it now sits in the 'Pending' folder, but the tags say 'Published' and 'New' with tomorrow's date.
So this tactic appears to have worked...for me. I guess I would recommend you try it. But no promises. Your results may vary.
Good luck.

Thanks for the heads up! I’ll try that with my standalone story first to test the waters and see what happens. I don’t want to pull my other one since it’s already been delayed for over a month.

 

[ObsceneVices]

I’ve submitted a new story, part of a series. But it’s not approved. I feel it is stuck for over 10 days now because ithe series cover needs approval. Has anyone else experienced this before? Should I remove it from series for now and just publish the chapter?

 

[JSWamp]

I have 2 stories pending for 10+ days now. I wrote those myself, but had to use online services to translate them into english, since english is not my native language. I am new here. Is there something I should know about?

 

[EmilyMiller]

Anyone experiencing delays, especially relating to events of comps, please add your details here.

 

[EmilyMiller]

My Halloween comp entry was just approved.

But… this was only after I had pulled it and resubmitted.

That’s now at least six people who have been successful by adopting this approach. It seems like the least bad bet if you are caught in purgatory.

 

[CherieSin]

My Halloween comp entry was just approved.

But… this was only after I had pulled it and resubmitted.

That’s now at least six people who have been successful by adopting this approach. It seems like the least bad bet if you are caught in purgatory.

Submitted 2 new stories recently, 1 as of yesterday. On top of that resubmitted one with a note for admins notifying them about 16 day delay. None of them were comp entries tho. So I don't know if I'm going to be in luck or not. Most likely back to purgatory for me.

I just wish I actually got some feedback, if these stories didn't pass the rules for whatever reason, I'd love to have them be sent back to me, instead of just waiting endlessly. But what makes me believe these stories actually did pass through, is that the one time my story got rejected, it was sent back in a day or so.

 

[EmilyMiller]

Submitted 2 new stories recently, 1 as of yesterday. On top of that resubmitted one with a note for admins notifying them about 16 day delay. None of them were comp entries tho. So I don't know if I'm going to be in luck or not. Most likely back to purgatory for me.

I just wish I actually got some feedback, if these stories didn't pass the rules for whatever reason, I'd love to have them be sent back to me, instead of just waiting endlessly. But what makes me believe these stories actually did pass through, is that the one time my story got rejected, it was sent back in a day or so.

Fingers crossed for you