Lengthy delay in releases

[Britva415]

as my IT colleagues tell me, it makes sense to inform people what is going on

This goes two ways, and it's 100% why I believe we should file a bug report every single time this happens and every single time someone talks about it in the forum.

 

[pink_silk_glove]

How would this have helped?

It might help and it might not help. The alternative, to say nothing, will 100% not help. Choice is ours.

The old argument of, "nothing will change so don't bother," is always apathetic and foolish and often also pedantic.

 

[onehitwanda]

It might help and it might not help. The alternative, to say nothing, will 100% not help. Choice is ours.

The old argument of, "nothing will change so don't bother," is always apathetic and foolish and often also pedantic.

As I recall, nobody said nothing. Nobody made light of it. But we are ultimately inmates in the asylum, not those with the keys to the gates.

 

[Britva415]

As I recall, nobody said nothing. Nobody made light of it

Yeah. That was sort of an empty statement - no names named, no examples linked, no real substance to the claim. And that's entirely besides the dubiousness of the conclusion: "Site operators are complacent because AH [allegedly] makes light of this."

 

[RejectReality]

Been saying forever that if it sits longer than a week, open it, preview it, resubmit it to reset its position in the queue. You're most likely caught in the queue bug where Laurel can't see the submission in her control panel.

If it languishes a second time, you're probably going to eventually get rejected. ( And probably for AI. ) The number of reports of stories that get rejected for AI after sitting for weeks hints that those are getting shuffled to the bottom of the pile. Virtually everyone else sees their story go up in the normal course of things ( 2-3 days ) after a resubmit.

 

[SimonDoom]

By my count, 157 new stories were published as of today. So, stories still are being reviewed, vetted, and published. I believe this number is somewhat higher than the average of a few years ago. I suspect that the site is nearing its capacity to review stories on an ongoing basis quickly, given its staffing, and that probably accounts for the delay.

 

[AwkwardlySet]

Three or four months ago, the average for a weekend day was easily 250+, with several occasions of the number of published stories going over 400. Even Manu bragged about it.

157 is very low for a day of the weekend, and that's clearly not because there aren't enough submissions, since so many stories have been pending for weeks. I'm not quite sure why so many among veteran AH-ers feel the need to reassure themselves with these obviously false conclusions.

There's a reason for this small crisis, regardless of whether it's a technical reason or a human-made one. And as frustrating as it is for the authors, it's not that big of a deal, and it will likely be resolved sooner or later. The only thing that's overdue is some small announcement from the site about the issue, that's all.

 

[EmilyMiller]

Three or four months ago, the average for a weekend day was easily 250+, with several occasions of the number of published stories going over 400. Even Manu bragged about it.

157 is very low for a day of the weekend, and that's clearly not because there aren't enough submissions, since so many stories have been pending for weeks. I'm not quite sure why so many among veteran AH-ers feel the need to reassure themselves with these obviously false conclusions.

There's a reason for this small crisis, regardless of whether it's a technical reason or a human-made one. And as frustrating as it is for the authors, it's not that big of a deal, and it will likely be resolved sooner or later. The only thing that's overdue is some small announcement from the site about the issue, that's all.

157 is very low.

 

[EmilyMiller]

Three or four months ago, the average for a weekend day was easily 250+, with several occasions of the number of published stories going over 400. Even Manu bragged about it.

157 is very low for a day of the weekend, and that's clearly not because there aren't enough submissions, since so many stories have been pending for weeks. I'm not quite sure why so many among veteran AH-ers feel the need to reassure themselves with these obviously false conclusions.

There's a reason for this small crisis, regardless of whether it's a technical reason or a human-made one. And as frustrating as it is for the authors, it's not that big of a deal, and it will likely be resolved sooner or later. The only thing that's overdue is some small announcement from the site about the issue, that's all.

And comments carry more weight when authors have actually published in 2025.

 

[AwkwardlySet]

And comments carry more weight when authors have actually published in 2025.

Not sure what you wanted to say with this.

 

[EmilyMiller]

Not sure what you wanted to say with this.

I keep seeing people comment about how things are when they haven’t been in the trenches in months. It’s not helpful, they don’t know what things are like now.

And I wasn’t directing it at you, for the avoidance of doubt.

 

[AwkwardlySet]

I keep seeing people comment about how things are when they haven’t been in the trenches in months. It’s not helpful, they don’t know what things are like now.

And I wasn’t directing it at you, for the avoidance of doubt.

Well, okay, but I also haven't published anything in 2025, yet I browse the stories almost daily, and I keep track of things. I was also the first to point out the daily number of published stories going over 400, months ago.
For pending times, of course, I defer to the AH-ers who regularly publish and are able to tell much better when something is amiss in that sense.

 

[SimonDoom]

Three or four months ago, the average for a weekend day was easily 250+, with several occasions of the number of published stories going over 400. Even Manu bragged about it.

157 is very low for a day of the weekend, and that's clearly not because there aren't enough submissions, since so many stories have been pending for weeks. I'm not quite sure why so many among veteran AH-ers feel the need to reassure themselves with these obviously false conclusions.

There's a reason for this small crisis, regardless of whether it's a technical reason or a human-made one. And as frustrating as it is for the authors, it's not that big of a deal, and it will likely be resolved sooner or later. The only thing that's overdue is some small announcement from the site about the issue, that's all.

I don't know the source of the problem, and neither does anyone else. There are a whole bunch of active threads on the subject right now, and not a single one of them sheds any light on what's really going on, and we won't know unless Manu and Laurel tell us, which they probably won't. In the meantime, stories ARE getting published. So the best recourse for writers is to keep writing, be patient, don't panic, and wait until your story eventually gets published. I can understand how people are impatient--I have been impatient about publishing at times in the past--but fretting and posting aren't going to do ANYTHING about it.

 

[Actingup]

Well, okay, but I also haven't published anything in 2025, yet I browse the stories almost daily, and I keep track of things. I was also the first to point out the daily number of published stories going over 400, months ago.
For pending times, of course, I defer to the AH-ers who regularly publish and are able to tell much better when something is amiss in that sense.

Apologies for the dodgy formatting, but below is a quick estimate of the number of stories published daily from the search results, averaged over the past year, the past 6 months, the past 3 months, the past month, and the past week. There's a dip there, but it's not the crisis that I was expecting to see. Perhaps the bulk of the machine is still running okay - it might not be noticeable from the reader side at all that some authors are frustrated.

181 (1 year average)
186 (6 month average)
190 (3 month average)
176 (1 month average)
162 (1 week average)

 

[silkstockingslover]

Interesting to read other comments. I have never had a problem with long delays with my stories other than the illustrated section.

I hope things are okay with them. I also had never been ignored when emailing Laurel in the past.

 

[OverconfidentSarcasm]

Indeed - but, as my IT colleagues tell me, it makes sense to inform people what is going on. It makes more sense in the middle of a crisis.

One of my roles as a Business Product Owner is to be a channel of comms if there is a major system issue. We have drills to prepare for such an eventuality.

Okay, but... honest question: What is going on?

As far as I can tell, it's not that fewer stories than "normally" get published. Yes, two or three months ago, the number of daily published stories was at around 200, but, as I pointed out back then, 80% of those stories were merely ONE page long.. if even that! Hundreds of stories each day still find their way onto the site, right?
So, if that's the case, what people here are actually complaining about is suddenly losing privilege and being treated like any other author on the site?

 

[EmilyMiller]

Okay, but... honest question: What is going on?

As far as I can tell, it's not that fewer stories than "normally" get published. Yes, two or three months ago, the number of daily published stories was at around 200, but, as I pointed out back then, 80% of those stories were merely ONE page long! Hundreds of stories each day still find their way onto the site, right?
So, if that's the case, what people here are actually complaining about is suddenly losing privilege and being treated like any other author on the site?

I’m tired of answering this in your face question. The answer is included in many of the threads. And it just comes across as being kinda embittered TBH. Believe what you want. I really don’t care.

 

[EmilyMiller]

Okay, but... honest question: What is going on?

As far as I can tell, it's not that fewer stories than "normally" get published. Yes, two or three months ago, the number of daily published stories was at around 200, but, as I pointed out back then, 80% of those stories were merely ONE page long.. if even that! Hundreds of stories each day still find their way onto the site, right?
So, if that's the case, what people here are actually complaining about is suddenly losing privilege and being treated like any other author on the site?

If you genuinely need an explanation:

Post in thread 'Complaints about stories being pending for ages'
https://forum.literotica.com/thread...being-pending-for-ages.1641149/post-101604996

 

[OverconfidentSarcasm]

If you genuinely need an explanation:

Post in thread 'Complaints about stories being pending for ages'
https://forum.literotica.com/thread...being-pending-for-ages.1641149/post-101604996

Well, I was never an "established author" on this site. My first submission took two weeks to publish, my second submission was approved within hours of me submitting it, and my third submission took close to a month (!) to be approved (without ever having anything sent back).

So, as far as I can tell, it's all pretty normal.

The only concerning thing I can see in the complaints is authors who used to be able to communicate with the site management now getting cut off/no longer receiving replies. That, in my opinion, is the bigger issue here, and probably indicating a serious problem.
Because those complaints have now been around for longer than a vacation would reasonably last (unless they went on a 6-month world cruise or something).

 

[SkyBubble]

it makes sense to inform people what is going on.

How long would it take to create an automated notice?

 

[SkyBubble]

Lit probably has a staff of two, maybe three, and perhaps some ad-hoc contractors.

With the large number of submissions and more stories getting stuck in pending, they may need more staff. But can they afford it? I've wondered how this site sustains itself.

 

[Cly_Anders]

This is why I post to several websites. Lit is the last place I post anything. Inkitt is instant. You hit that submit button, your story is online. SOL has a wait time, but I've had my submissions posted within minutes because SOL has actual volunteers to make the load easier for Lazaaz. I also post to a small site called WRIST and that's all instant posting, too. I used to post to wolfpub which is also instant, but Mr Storm does not have italics on his site and won't change his code to allow it and since italics are actually really important to my stories, I've stopped posting there. Lit is the only site I've encountered in all my time posting online that runs their site like this. Maybe there are others, but I've never been on them.

 

[SkyBubble]

This is why I post to several websites. Lit is the last place I post anything. Inkitt is instant. You hit that submit button, your story is online. SOL has a wait time, but I've had my submissions posted within minutes because SOL has actual volunteers to make the load easier for Lazaaz. I also post to a small site called WRIST and that's all instant posting, too. I used to post to wolfpub which is also instant, but Mr Storm does not have italics on his site and won't change his code to allow it and since italics are actually really important to my stories, I've stopped posting there. Lit is the only site I've encountered in all my time posting online that runs their site like this. Maybe there are others, but I've never been on them.

Virtually every site seems faster than this one: AO3, Lush, Tales After Dark, SOL, XNXX, etc. Maybe it's because they're not as big, but I notice that whatever other problems Lush may have, they have several people who approve (or reject) stories.

 

[SkyBubble]

I used to post to wolfpub which is also instant, but Mr Storm does not have italics on his site and won't change his code to allow it and since italics are actually really important to my stories, I've stopped posting there.

Thank you for mentioning these sites. I have a good bit of italics in my most current pending story too.

 

[Jorunn]

A possible scenario. Manu is still on board in some capacity. No outsider could come in and fix the login/story issue we had last week. Laurel seems to be missing or limited since there are no PM responses, no BlueSky, etc

So how are we seeing stories approved? Perhaps Manu, or bots, or I think maybe a substitute screener (who doesn’t know established writers). Maybe a combo. If your story has anything that meets the Lit story screening criteria, this secondary approval holds it for Laurel. Why does resubmitting work? Perhaps the originals are in the Laurel queue and are not looked at for some reason. Newer stories go to the alternate queue now and some get approval.