Complaints about stories being pending for ages

[AwkwardlySet]

Whatever is going on with Lit, it's clearly not a temporary hiccup. And due to Lit's owners' usual vow of silence, frustration and even panic are beginning to pile up.

This would probably be a great moment for them to show their appreciation for authors and their efforts. A short and simple announcement and reassurance would likely do. But alas, the vow of silence forbids it.

 

[EmilyMiller]

Whatever is going on with Lit, it's clearly not a temporary hiccup. And due to Lit's owners' usual vow of silence, frustration and even panic are beginning to pile up.

This would probably be a great moment for them to show their appreciation for authors and their efforts. A short and simple announcement and reassurance would likely do. But alas, the vow of silence forbids it.

I agree a statement would be appropriate at this point.

 

[Britva415]

No, they didn't

I don't know what you're saying. They didn't "what"?

They basically said, "If your story hasn't been published in a timely manner, it's probably your own fault."

That's basically true, that's about how I'd categorize it too.

However: That's not all they said, they also described several points of error where someone could have gone wrong, and the reason they did that was so that one might go help oneself correct it if they made one of them.

Additionally, what I was responding to was the statement "it's bizarre that they're ignoring all these long-wait-time discussions." Maybe they aren't saying much, maybe they aren't saying enough, but they aren't ignoring them.

What were you responding to? They didn't "what?"

 

[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.

 

[feel_the_beast]

Additionally, what I was responding to was the statement "it's bizarre that they're ignoring all these long-wait-time discussions." Maybe they aren't saying much, maybe they aren't saying enough, but they aren't ignoring them.

I'm the one who said this, and what I meant was they have not, so far as I'm aware, publicly acknowledged there is an issue, beyond saying 'it's your own fault'; submissions that are deficient in some way. If they are working behind the scenes to fix this obvious problem, how are you aware of it, beyond just blindly trusting them to 'do the right thing'?

 

[SmilingLez]

What I find interesting is that stories/poems that were submitted later than mine are posted while mine remain pending. This leads me to believe that there is a glitch somewhere in the system vs a people problem

 

[EmilyMiller]

What I find interesting is that stories/poems that were submitted later than mine are posted while mine remain pending. This leads me to believe that there is a glitch somewhere in the system.

Yes. Many stories are getting posted as per normal. Let’s make up a figure and say 1% aren’t. The issue is that if you get stuck in that 1% you never seem to get out of it. And being in that 1% is essentially random and nothing to do with story content or authorial reputation. This is something new as lengthy delays used to mostly relate to issues with the story.

Very established authors like @silkstockingslover @ChloeTzang and @MelissaBaby have been impacted, and they all know how to get stuff published here.

 

[MelissaBaby]

I don't know what you're saying. They didn't "what"?


That's basically true, that's about how I'd categorize it too.

However: That's not all they said, they also described several points of error where someone could have gone wrong, and the reason they did that was so that one might go help oneself correct it if they made one of them.

Additionally, what I was responding to was the statement "it's bizarre that they're ignoring all these long-wait-time discussions." Maybe they aren't saying much, maybe they aren't saying enough, but they aren't ignoring them.

What were you responding to? They didn't "what?"

They did not tell us what the problem is or what's being done about it. They told us what we could do on our end to make sure we hadn't erred in the submission process. That's helpful, but most of us did not make an error. I'd like to hear from them what we ought to be doing. Should I resubmit, or wait for it to be fixed? Should I ask for my story to be added to the Crime and Punishment list or has that ship sailed? Should I bother busting my butt to get my Halloween story done, when I have concerns that the site will not be able to administer it properly?

I am not one to bellyache about site management. I have always been on good terms with them, and when I've had questions, I've PMed Laurel and gotten a prompt, satisfactory reply. But my confidence in the site has ben shaken. That is not about the slow postings, per se, but the fact that the C&P Challenge was, in my view, tainted, and my concern that upcoming contests will be as well; and about the lack of any communications about the issues, either on the forums or in PMs.

 

[EmilyMiller]

They did not tell us what the problem is or what's being done about it. They told us what we could do on our end to make sure we hadn't erred in the submission process. That's helpful, but most of us did not make an error. I'd like to hear from them what we ought to be doing. Should I resubmit, or wait for it to be fixed? Should I ask for my story to be added to the Crime and Punishment list or has that ship sailed? Should I bother busting my butt to get my Halloween story done, when I have concerns that the site will not be able to administer it properly?

I am not one to bellyache about site management. I have always been on good terms with them, and when I've had questions, I've PMed Laurel and gotten a prompt, satisfactory reply. But my confidence in the site has ben shaken. That is not about the slow postings, per se, but the fact that the C&P Challenge was, in my view, tainted, and my concern that upcoming contests will be as well; and about the lack of any communications about the issues, either on the forums or in PMs.

 

[Britva415]

I'm the one who said this, and what I meant was they have not, so far as I'm aware, publicly acknowledged there is an issue, beyond saying 'it's your own fault'; submissions that are deficient in some way. If they are working behind the scenes to fix this obvious problem, how are you aware of it, beyond just blindly trusting them to 'do the right thing'?

Yes, you sure are.

Thanks for clarifying, because that's a different statement from the one I reacted to.

 

[SmilingLez]

That is not about the slow postings, per se, but the fact that the C&P Challenge was, in my view, tainted, and my concern that upcoming contests will be as well; and about the lack of any communications about the issues, either on the forums or in PMs.

"tainted", can you elaborate?

 

[feel_the_beast]

Yes, you sure are.

Thanks for clarifying, because that's a different statement from the one I reacted to.

I said, in the original post:
"And it's beyond bizarre that they seem to be ignoring the discussion here. I haven't seen any comment anywhere indicating anyone has been told they're 'looking into it'."

You said:
"Additionally, what I was responding to was the statement "it's bizarre that they're ignoring all these long-wait-time discussions." Maybe they aren't saying much, maybe they aren't saying enough, but they aren't ignoring them."

Though it's not verbatim, it's not really a misquote, either.

I asked how you were aware that they 'aren't ignoring them'. I ask again: How are you aware that they ARE, in some fashion, paying attention to our concerns over this, and not just muddling through, dealing with each lost story when someone does something to bring it to their attention, and unable to devote time and resources to fix it systemically?

 

[AwkwardlySet]

There's a saying we have here, which translates into: The sated never believe the hungry.

But there's famine now.

 

[MelissaBaby]

"tainted", can you elaborate?

“Tainted” in that people wrote stories specifically for the challenge that have not been posted. Even if our stories are eventually added to the Challenge list, it will be after the bulk of the readership has moved on. If the point of entering the challenge was to attract new readers, the opportunity was wasted. If the point was to be a part of a community project, sorry, we got left on the bench.

Sure, it’s just a author created challenge, but as I mentioned earlier, if this happens during the Halloween contest, with actual monetary awards on the line, it’s going to be a nightmare.

 

[SmilingLez]

“Tainted” in that people wrote stories specifically for the challenge that have not been posted. Even if our stories are eventually added to the Challenge list, it will be after the bulk of the readership has moved on. If the point of entering the challenge was to attract new readers, the opportunity was wasted. If the point was to be a part of a community project, sorry, we got left on the bench.

Sure, it’s just a author created challenge, but as I mentioned earlier, if this happens during the Halloween contest, with actual monetary awards on the line, it’s going to be a nightmare.

Thank you. If the "Challenge List" goes through the same approval process as our stories/poems, perhaps 'the powers that be' will realize there is a real glitch

 

[Britva415]

I asked how you were aware that they 'aren't ignoring them'. I ask again: How are you aware that they ARE, in some fashion, paying attention to our concerns over this, and not just muddling through, dealing with each lost story when someone does something to bring it to their attention, and unable to devote time and resources to fix it systemically?

First of all, congratulations on finally getting that story published.

Beyond that: I already linked you to the statement which I used to defend my saying "they aren't ignoring these discussions."

At this point, since we already went back and forth about it, you and I both know what I was reacting to when I did so. It wasn't any of what I quoted above, except for the "paying attention to (at least some of) our concerns" part. So I really don't understand why you're asking me for this.

I never said I'm aware of most of what you just said I'm aware of. You're asking me to defend shit I didn't say. I'm not going to.

 

[iwatchus]

To everyone who is complaining about "Now that it's happening to you, you care"

There is a sliver of truth in that.

BUT, a regular response from multiple people (I don't think I ever said this, but I could have) was that it if it's a random glitch, it should be happening to everyone equally likely. And very few experienced writers were seeing it. Too many of the reports turned out to be "Yeah, I did edit it every other day for the whole two months" or "After three weeks, I got an AI rejection, and yeah grammarly rewrote half of it for me."

There was a steady drip of what seemed to be "real" holes, but those have seemingly always existed and were apparently usually fixed by DM'ing Laurel. There was a rational and reasonably functional system that exhibited these behaviors (although possibly completely fictional).

Something else is suddenly happening. I have only been on the forum (or writing here) for a short amount of time, but author's challenge entries left in the queue wa presumed to never happen prior to this. It is happening across the board, seemingly randomly. I think something is wrong.

We do not have anywhere enough information to diagnose the problem, even if we understood the "working" system. Despite that, there are some observations that can be made. 1) This is not from an increasing volume. The rate of stories being published had been roughly flat for several years; we are below the Covid peak numbers. This is unlikely to be a system becoming overloaded, which is always the first thing to look for. 2) The site has gone unusually silent on bluesky at the same time. This is not a simple point technological failure. Now it could be that whoever was responsible for the social media presence is too busy fighting the real fire, but it reduces the chance of the problem being technological.

My real fear is this is a personal issue. The best case here is that one or both of Laurel and Manu are ill, but will recover. I worry about the others. A lot.

I know feware disdainful of the pair of them. I have known many people who created a site that more or less succeeded. Even more who created small companies. I have never met either of them or had more than even a minimal message exchange with either (Laurel only for me). But nothing I have seen from the outside is inconsistent with them being comfortably within that community. I place the burden of proof on anyone else to demonstrate that they are somehow fundamentally different from aevery other founder.

Almost every founder who succeeded has ways they were very appropriate for the success. And other aspects of them that are achilles heels for the company. It's pretty clear to everyone that their communication skills to the communities is their achilles heel (maybe one of).

There are two communities of interest here, the readers and the authors. The readers don't really care how the sausage is made. They just want to be able to have their sausage and do what they want with it. Although they are the bread and butter of the site, they need minimal communication. To be honest, they don;t want communication. Just give them another story to read and they are happy.

We do care about how the sausage is made. We are intimate with the process. (I better get back on subject before I start making too make comments about being intimate with the sausage.)

Now that a crisis is here (whatever that crisis is and maybe we are all overreacting), they do not have the experience to do it what needs to be done. There is a reason we have to practice fire drills.

One of my real fears is what happens if they just decide to walk away. Leave the gears running as long as it will on its own. What would that look like? Is that different from what we are seeing. (I am not saying I think this is the case, just worrying what is happening.)

 

[SamanthaBehgs]

One of my real fears is what happens if they just decide to walk away. Leave the gears running as long as it will on its own. What would that look like? Is that different from what we are seeing. (I am not saying I think this is the case, just worrying what is happening.)

I've been thinking the same thing and wondering - where does anyone go to volunteer to help with whatever needs helping? I'm a new writer, I doubt I'd be trusted to help with the review process, right? But we each have our skills and two people trying to manage an entire enterprise on their own sounds tough - keeping up to date responses when there are so many forums sounds like it could get overwhelming on top of it all.

 

[Britva415]

I've been thinking the same thing and wondering - where does anyone go to volunteer to help with whatever needs helping? I'm a new writer, I doubt I'd be trusted to help with the review process, right? But we each have our skills and two people trying to manage an entire enterprise on their own sounds tough - keeping up to date responses when there are so many forums sounds like it could get overwhelming on top of it all.

They either aren't seeking volunteers, or, they're hand picking them without any kind of application or sign-up process.

Here's the thing about volunteers: It's practically a full time job coordinating and training them. It might not be that the Literotica operators have any philosophical objection to using volunteers, it might just be that they (feel like they) can't make the time to onboard any, no matter how many they could recruit.

 

[EmilyMiller]

To everyone who is complaining about "Now that it's happening to you, you care"

When you have been here longer, you will realize that some people will take every opportunity, no matter how tenuous, to make some alt-reality point about something they think which no one else does.

 

[Duleigh]

I have multiple stories in EDITED mode pending... two weeks now. I have a third story that I started right after the two edits were submitted. It will probably be complete before the edits are posted. Will it get published before or after the edits get published? Better yet - will the novel that I'm going to make out of the three stories get published and sold before @Laurel and @Manu clear up their growing backlog?

 

[ChloeTzang]

What I find interesting is that stories/poems that were submitted later than mine are posted while mine remain pending. This leads me to believe that there is a glitch somewhere in the system vs a people problem

Yes - mine was submitted last Sunday and is still pending. I PM'd Laurel, and usually I get a response but this time, nothing, and my story and, it looks like, other peoples, have not been put thru which makes me wonder the same things (a) is it a glitch, or (b) is Laurel not well. That's my biggest worry to be honest, and I do hope she's okay.

As for moi, I've been editing away and will be resubmittig shortly, which puts it at the back of the queue, so c'est la vie. I'll wait and see.

 

[SmilingLez]

Yes - mine was submitted last Sunday and is still pending. I PM'd Laurel, and usually I get a response but this time, nothing, and my story and, it looks like, other peoples, have not been put thru which makes me wonder the same things (a) is it a glitch, or (b) is Laurel not well. That's my biggest worry to be honest, and I do hope she's okay.

As for moi, I've been editing away and will be resubmittig shortly, which puts it at the back of the queue, so c'est la vie. I'll wait and see.

I agree with you, I hope there is nothing wrong with Laurel. Since the main site was down earlier in the week perhaps that's why there's a glitch now

 

[MelissaBaby]

Yes - mine was submitted last Sunday and is still pending. I PM'd Laurel, and usually I get a response but this time, nothing, and my story and, it looks like, other peoples, have not been put thru which makes me wonder the same things (a) is it a glitch, or (b) is Laurel not well. That's my biggest worry to be honest, and I do hope she's okay.

As for moi, I've been editing away and will be resubmittig shortly, which puts it at the back of the queue, so c'est la vie. I'll wait and see.

I have always gotten a prompt response when I've PMed Laurel. I did so on Thursday, but have not heard back.

I've gone ahead and resubmitted my story.

 

[Duleigh]

I've seen this slowdown mentioned in the forum on other story sites. Lit is always looked at as the flagship of the erotica fleet so this is making people nervous