The now fully official Author’s Hangout Halloween 2025 competition support thread

[Voboy]

Submitted.

It did some weird thing whilst downloading, so who knows what will come out...

Everything must have worked. It's now pending for 02 October.

"The Challenge." It actually started out as my Crime and Punishment piece, so it's cop-ish. It turns out that it references/links to SEVEN other stories in my universe, which is a lot. It involves an annual sexual competition between a coven of witches and a pack of werewolves, and the detective who unwittingly gets involved.

 

[EmilyMiller]

Everything must have worked. It's now pending for 02 October.

"The Challenge." It actually started out as my Crime and Punishment piece, so it's cop-ish. It turns out that it references/links to SEVEN other stories in my universe, which is a lot. It involves an annual sexual competition between a coven of witches and a pack of werewolves, and the detective who unwittingly gets involved.

Yay!

I’m still waiting. But glad you got yours through

 

[EmilyMiller]

I posted this on another thread. It’s relevant to the comp:

—

Can I just say that it appears that the majority of stories are going through OK. But it does seem that a significant minority are getting stuck. And that those getting stuck includes established authors (like me in my own small way).

The point in stressing that the delays include established authors is not that our privilege is being infringed, or that we are special in some way. It’s that we know how to write stories that don’t get sent back as AI, badly spelled, dialog issues, content breaches, etc.

From what I have seen in three years here, previous long waits have often been something to do with the story itself (as the site says in its sticky post). What we are seeing here is long waits for stories that meet all the rules and from authors who have successfully published many times.

That’s a qualitatively different issue to normal and indicates a wider problem.

 

[MelissaBaby]

I posted this on another thread. It’s relevant to the comp:

—

Can I just say that it appears that the majority of stories are going through OK. But it does seem that a significant minority are getting stuck. And that those getting stuck includes established authors (like me in my own small way).

The point in stressing that the delays include established authors is not that our privilege is being infringed, or that we are special in some way. It’s that we know how to write stories that don’t get sent back as AI, badly spelled, dialog issues, content breaches, etc.

From what I have seen in three years here, previous long waits have often been something to do with the story itself (as the site says in its sticky post). What we are seeing here is long waits for stories that meet all the rules and from authors who have successfully published many times.

That’s a qualitatively different issue to normal and indicates a wider problem.

Yes, the thing is, I think established authors do have privilege. ChloeTzang has 82 published works at Lit, I have 75. She has been here since 2015, I joined in 2017. We are both multiple contest winners. I think it would be naive to think that our submissions get as thorough a vetting as those of newer authors.

If the problem was with the stories themselves, I don't think Chloe and I would be stuck in Pending. The problem is certainly in the system itself, not the review process.

 

[EmilyMiller]

Yes, the thing is, I think established authors do have privilege. ChloeTzang has 82 published works at Lit, I have 75. She has been here since 2015, I joined in 2017. We are both multiple contest wins. I think it would be naive to think that our submissions get as thorough a vetting as those of newer authors.

If the problem was with the stories themselves, I don't think Chloe and I would be stuck in Pending. The problem is certainly in the system itself, not the review process.

Precisely.

 

[EmilyMiller]

If you have a Halloween story stuck in limbo, please post its name and submission date 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.

 

[Voboy]

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.

It shouldn't be necessary to do that.

But if it works? Do it.

A dumb idea that works is no longer a dumb idea, lol.

 

[EmilyMiller]

A dumb idea that works is no longer a dumb idea, lol.

Precisely my thinking.

 

[BryanRichardson]

I’ve got two stories pending, but I submitted them each less than an hour ago.

 

[EmilyMiller]

I’ve got two stories pending, but I submitted them each less than an hour ago.

No need to panic yet then

 

[Jorunn]

My Summer Lovin’ story lay unfinished, so…

I added a darker forest, and lines like, “My, what big breasts you have.” And it became a Dark Fairy Tales entry. It lay in Pending for over a week as the entry deadline passed, so…

I added an old Norse feast set in mid-October, and made the forest leaves change color. I deleted the earlier story and resubmitted, and it became a Halloween story. Pending, hopeful, but still worried, so…

Time to start some edits for winter. That chilly fern-ringed pool might become a hot tub. The forest trees are bare. And the outdoor sex scene moves into a sauna. Only two months to get it ready

 

[EmilyMiller]

My Summer Lovin’ story lay unfinished, so…

I added a darker forest, and lines like, “My, what big breasts you have.” And it became a Dark Fairy Tales entry. It lay in Pending for over a week as the entry deadline passed, so…

I added an old Norse feast set in mid-October, and made the forest leaves change color. I deleted the earlier story and resubmitted, and it became a Halloween story. Pending, hopeful, but still worried, so…

Time to start some edits for winter. That chilly fern-ringed pool might become a hot tub. The forest trees are bare. And the outdoor sex scene moves into a sauna. Only two months to get it ready

That’s so relatable

 

[EmilyMiller]

The good news is:

1. Most stories are still getting published
2. If yours falls into the current black hole in submission management, resubmitting (with or without deletion) seems to work for many people

So let’s try to get some more spooky / sexy Halloween stories up .

 

[ChloeTzang]

Everything must have worked. It's now pending for 02 October.

"The Challenge." It actually started out as my Crime and Punishment piece, so it's cop-ish. It turns out that it references/links to SEVEN other stories in my universe, which is a lot. It involves an annual sexual competition between a coven of witches and a pack of werewolves, and the detective who unwittingly gets involved.

LOL. My story's going in tonight - revamped Crime and Punishment piece LOL

 

[ChloeTzang]

Plenty of scope with Disney Princesses too.....

 

[Jorunn]

Some approval / published movement in Dark Fairy Tales. That anthology posts on 30 September (in a time zone near you). Still hope for a 2 October Halloween kick off!

 

[EmilyMiller]

LOL. My story's going in tonight - revamped Crime and Punishment piece LOL

You turned it into a Halloween story?

 

[ChloeTzang]

You turned it into a Halloween story?

Sure did. It was already most of the way there. I just had to make a few minor Halloween tweaks. Just doing the final edits now.

 

[DeMont]

September is here and that means it's Fall here in the northern hemisphere.

That can mean only one thing - it's time to start cranking out that Halloween story that you've been dying to tell! Let's kick off Autumn 2025 in the northern climes with a new support thread -

Halloween (Oct 31)

View attachment 2564679

Themes: scary stuff, costumes, Halloween traditions (trick-or-treating, etc.), etc.

You can begin submitting on (or before):October 2

The last day to submit is October 23

Winners Will Be Announced: October 30

The author must copy and paste the phrase "HALLOWEEN 2025" to the "Notes to Admin" field of the submission (without the quotation marks).

And please add the tag "HALLOWEEN 2025" (without the quotation marks)

Read Laurel's notice of the start of the contest sticky at the top of the Authors' Hangout (when it magically appears), before submitting and follow the instructions in that thread. I will keep an eye out for that information and update this page as soon as I see it (or as soon as someone points it out to me).

This thread is to SUPPORT and ENCOURAGE authors to enter stories in the 2025 Halloween Contest. For you new writers, this thread is a great place to meet your fellow authors and share ideas, tips, and tricks of the trade.

As Ogg always told us, there is an advantage to entering stories in one of Literotica's themed contests. Apart from the possibility of winning, your story gets far more exposure and attention than it would normally do.

Some of that attention might be unwelcome, some abusive, but this thread is a good place to vent after getting that kind of attention. Some of that attention could be appreciative and helpful and this thread is a great place to come and share those accolades.

It's that time! Bring out your masks, candies, and creepy accessories, and prepare to put a spell on your readership.

[plagiarized with prejudice from @Rustyoznail’s announcement from 2024]

@EmilyMiller,
OMG...! Time to bring out my Edgar Allan Poe side...! I knew it was going to happen... Even my H.P. Lovecraft might get in on the action. Ahhhh... the clock is ticking, clear the desks, cancel EVERYTHING else, I'm on a deadline (get it dead-line... LOLOLOLOLOLOL)

Can the masks, candies and creepies - I wanna chainsaw...!
Deeply respectful mwahahahahahahaha,
D.

 

[EmilyMiller]

@EmilyMiller,
OMG...! Time to bring out my Edgar Allan Poe side...! I knew it was going to happen... Even my H.P. Lovecraft might get in on the action. Ahhhh... the clock is ticking, clear the desks, cancel EVERYTHING else, I'm on a deadline (get it dead-line... LOLOLOLOLOLOL)

Can the masks, candies and creepies - I wanna chainsaw...!
Deeply respectful mwahahahahahahaha,
D.

Good luck with the writing

 

[Duleigh]

I start to work on my story on Wednesday (maybe Friday) The whole world wants to know:

Will he complete it in time?

Will his readers see his obvious pleading for high scores?

Will his life-long disdain for Halloween be hidden or will it be the theme of the story?

I can't wait to find out

 

[EmilyMiller]

I start to work on my story on Wednesday (maybe Friday) The whole world wants to know:

Will he complete it in time?

Will his readers see his obvious pleading for high scores?

Will his life-long disdain for Halloween be hidden or will it be the theme of the story?

I can't wait to find out

Good luck

 

[BryanRichardson]

No need to panic yet then

Yeah, but now it has been most of two whole days.

 

[MillieDynamite]

Panic is what happens when Reason, Logic, and Planning fail to connect.

I start to work on my story on Wednesday (maybe Friday) The whole world wants to know:

Will he complete it in time?

Will his readers see his obvious pleading for high scores?

Will his life-long disdain for Halloween be hidden or will it be the theme of the story?

I can't wait to find out