Should I publish to Literotica?

[RipTieman]

Hi all, I thought literotica might be the right place to post a dark fantasy smut of mine, but after looking at some of the things people are saying on the forums I'm not so sure anymore. Just seeing people saying stuff like they're leaving the site because it treats authors poorly, bad author/admin relations, stuff like that.

Can someone please explain to me in better detail the issues these people (or yourselves) are having with literotica as authors, anything that might lead someone like me think I'd better not publish here? Or, if what I've been hearing isn't true, I'd like to hear about that too.

Basically, I'm just looking for more info to help me make an informed decision whether publishing here is a good idea. Thanks in advance to anyone who replies

 

[WittyUserName]

Hi all, I thought literotica might be the right place to post a dark fantasy smut of mine, but after looking at some of the things people are saying on the forums I'm not so sure anymore. Just seeing people saying stuff like they're leaving the site because it treats authors poorly, bad author/admin relations, stuff like that.

Can someone please explain to me in better detail the issues these people (or yourselves) are having with literotica as authors, anything that might lead someone like me think I'd better not publish here? Or, if what I've been hearing isn't true, I'd like to hear about that too.

Basically, I'm just looking for more info to help me make an informed decision whether publishing here is a good idea. Thanks in advance to anyone who replies

There seems to be a lot of delays in publishing these days. Some have it worse than others. The biggest issue is probably the lack of communication in explaining WHY certain issues happen. Getting a response can be tough. I couldn't access the forums at all during my first few months of writing. They did fix the problem, but it was not easy to get a response. That was a while ago now, and people seem to be having more problems.

Is it worth it? Only you can decide that. I'd say go for it. Readers are still here. Just don't be surprised if it takes a while for your story to be approved.

 

[DonaldBelle]

I've recently returned from a very long break and I'm already thinking of leaving again. I've got two requests stuck in pending hell.

If you've got the smut finished and ready to go, imagine if half of it gets out and the other half is just stuck pending forever, especially if the wrong parts get released first. That would be horrendous. If you're writing chapters incrementally however, and feel that it's worth taking the risk despite the technical issues, then carry on.

You could also "go wide" with publishing elsewhere like AO3 or SOL.

 

[cw5523729]

Hi all, I thought literotica might be the right place to post a dark fantasy smut of mine, but after looking at some of the things people are saying on the forums I'm not so sure anymore. Just seeing people saying stuff like they're leaving the site because it treats authors poorly, bad author/admin relations, stuff like that.

Can someone please explain to me in better detail the issues these people (or yourselves) are having with literotica as authors, anything that might lead someone like me think I'd better not publish here? Or, if what I've been hearing isn't true, I'd like to hear about that too.

Basically, I'm just looking for more info to help me make an informed decision whether publishing here is a good idea. Thanks in advance to anyone who replies

Even though some users report issues with stuff getting posted, hundreds of stories are posted every single day.

It costs you nothing to publish on here and you are free to publish the same stuff anywhere else anyway so it isn't like you are giving them some sort of exclusivity rights to it.

 

[StillStunned]

I suspect the overwhelming majority of writers are publishing without any difficulties. But they never come here to say so: we only hear from the writers who encounter problems.

 

[Kelliezgirl]

Best case scenario, you publish your stories and they go up without a hitch.

Worst case they get stuck in the pending que.

For the 30 seconds it takes to paste your document into the submission window and hit enter, really what do you have to lose?

As @StillStunned said, most people aren't having any issues. It sucks for the people who see of course, but it does seem to be a small minority.

 

[cw5523729]

For the 30 seconds it takes to paste your document into the submission window and hit enter, really what do you have to lose?

So, you mean less time than this thread took to create to ask the question?

 

[Kelliezgirl]

So, you mean less time than this thread took to create to ask the question?

Well, maybe not the first one, but all the rest sure.

Creating an account to ask a question takes more time than posting a story.

 

[AG31]

Hi all, I thought literotica might be the right place to post a dark fantasy smut of mine, but after looking at some of the things people are saying on the forums I'm not so sure anymore. Just seeing people saying stuff like they're leaving the site because it treats authors poorly, bad author/admin relations, stuff like that.

Can someone please explain to me in better detail the issues these people (or yourselves) are having with literotica as authors, anything that might lead someone like me think I'd better not publish here? Or, if what I've been hearing isn't true, I'd like to hear about that too.

Basically, I'm just looking for more info to help me make an informed decision whether publishing here is a good idea. Thanks in advance to anyone who replies

From my perspective, it's a great place, but I don't pay attention to ratings. My niche is too small, few people even view my stories. If you care about votes, a complaint seems to be that "bombing" isn't watched and corrected as well as it used to be. "Bombing" is when someone gives a 1 vote to lower the average unfairly. Even then, not everyone thinks the problem warrants not publishing.

 

[cw5523729]

Well, maybe not the first one, but all the rest sure.

Creating an account to ask a question takes more time than posting a story.

What about the time needed to create a thread saying you are never, ever publishing here again? How does that compare?

Asking for a friend.

 

[Kelliezgirl]

What about the time needed to create a thread saying you are never, ever publishing here again? How does that compare?

Asking for a friend.

So, it's like that little kid who shoved some toys into his Paw Patrol backpack because he's totally going to run away. Then announces it loudly every few steps as he walks towards the door. But wait, it's meatloaf night, and he really likes meatloaf...and it smells really good...so he's going to have dinner....but he's totally running away after that.

 

[cw5523729]

So, it's like that little kid who shoved some toys into his Paw Patrol backpack because he's totally going to run away. Then announces it loudly every few steps as he walks towards the door. But wait, it's meatloaf night, and he really likes meatloaf...and it smells really good...so he's going to have dinner....but he's totally running away after that.

Well great, now I'm craving meatloaf for dinner but all I have waiting for me are Chinese left-overs. Thanks a lot.

 

[Kelliezgirl]

Well great, now I'm craving meatloaf for dinner but all I have waiting for me are Chinese left-overs. Thanks a lot.

Happy to help!

 

[TarnishedPenny]

Something seems to have happened this summer. Literotica is apparently run by just two people. Manu is the tech guru and Laurel the Everything Else. For some reason, response times seem much slower, more people are complaining about very long wait times and of stories being rejected because of AI content (the writers dispute this). The incidence of one-bombing has (according to some) increased, with what some feel is an insufficient level of support from the site to help.

These sort of complaints have always been there to some extent but they seem to be more common of late and the owners don’t seem as responsive as they once were, leaving some to speculate about some sort of problem(s).

The choice is yours. The site, whatever its problems (real or imagined) is still free. Stories are still being published. As well, if you post a story or two here and decide to leave, you retain the copyright, allowing you to publish elsewhere.

Good luck.

 

[EmilyMiller]

These sort of complaints have always been there to some extent but they seem to be more common of late and the owners don’t seem as responsive as they once were

I can’t speak about deep time at Literotica. But in the relatively few years I have been here, right now is significantly worse than I’ve ever experienced in terms of:

1. Unwarranted story rejection
2. Submissions disappearing into a black hole
3. Orc hordes rampaging through stories indiscriminately one bombing
4. More sophisticated trolls selectively one bombing with total impunity
5. Sweeps no longer being effective
6. Zero response to any attempt to contact the site about anything whatsoever

There are those who seem to actually enjoy this environment - the chaos agents who thrive on watching buildings burn while denying that it’s happening - but for the regular person on Lit, I’ve never seen it worse in my - admittedly brief - time here.

 

[iwatchus]

On the bright side, I do have the sense that the worst (of this wave at least) is over. I think September and early October was bad. There are still screw-ups aplenty, but at least Laurel does respond occasionally again. And I think the rate of new stories entering purgatory has reduced, even if others (including mine) are still lost if the earlier maelstrom.

 

[ShelbyDawn57]

Hi all, I thought literotica might be the right place to post a dark fantasy smut of mine, but after looking at some of the things people are saying on the forums I'm not so sure anymore. Just seeing people saying stuff like they're leaving the site because it treats authors poorly, bad author/admin relations, stuff like that.

Can someone please explain to me in better detail the issues these people (or yourselves) are having with literotica as authors, anything that might lead someone like me think I'd better not publish here? Or, if what I've been hearing isn't true, I'd like to hear about that too.

Basically, I'm just looking for more info to help me make an informed decision whether publishing here is a good idea. Thanks in advance to anyone who replies

It’s my opinion, but I feel they have built up personal expectations that aren’t currently being met. Again, my opinion, but this is still the best place to post your story. If you hang around awhile, you’ll get a feel for who’s who in the forums, and come to expect the behavior that you’re just seeing for the first time.

Welcome to the jungle, and please post a link up your story when it’s published.

 

[EmilyMiller]

I can’t speak about deep time at Literotica. But in the relatively few years I have been here, right now is significantly worse than I’ve ever experienced in terms of:

1. Unwarranted story rejection
2. Submissions disappearing into a black hole
3. Orc hordes rampaging through stories indiscriminately one bombing
4. More sophisticated trolls selectively one bombing with total impunity
5. Sweeps no longer being effective
6. Zero response to any attempt to contact the site about anything whatsoever

There are those who seem to actually enjoy this environment - the chaos agents who thrive on watching buildings burn while denying that it’s happening - but for the regular person on Lit, I’ve never seen it worse in my - admittedly brief - time here.

I am increasingly coming to the conclusion that it’s neither that the owners are busy dealing with a backlog due to technical issues, nor that a tsunami of AI submissions is overwhelming them. It really seems that no one competent is at the wheel.

 

[Z_TheWriter]

Hi all, I thought literotica might be the right place to post a dark fantasy smut of mine, but after looking at some of the things people are saying on the forums I'm not so sure anymore. Just seeing people saying stuff like they're leaving the site because it treats authors poorly, bad author/admin relations, stuff like that.

Can someone please explain to me in better detail the issues these people (or yourselves) are having with literotica as authors, anything that might lead someone like me think I'd better not publish here? Or, if what I've been hearing isn't true, I'd like to hear about that too.

Basically, I'm just looking for more info to help me make an informed decision whether publishing here is a good idea. Thanks in advance to anyone who replies

Fellow newbie here. I have felt similarly worried at the amount of posts like that, although I only saw them after submitting.

For what it's worth, as someone whose first story went up yesterday, it has been an entirely positive experience so far - aside from my bouts of imposter syndrome

 

[Kelliezgirl]

Fellow newbie here. I have felt similarly worried at the amount of posts like that, although I only saw them after submitting.

For what it's worth, as someone whose first story went up yesterday, it has been an entirely positive experience so far - aside from my bouts of imposter syndrome

Congratulations, hope your story does well. And the next one, and the next one... (the imposter syndrome is normal, the only cure is to write 2 or 3 hundred more stories.)

 

[Dark_Logan_]

To the OP

Publish here it is actually worth it… just don’t hold your breath on getting Published

You might get lucky… you might get publishing purgatory… you might have to delete and resubmit (after an unspecified period of time)… you might just give up caring after a while.

Just don’t expect any rhyme, reason or explanation.

Please note if you upload a second story at any point in the future do not expect the same experience as it’s a f***ing inexplicable lottery

 

[MillieDynamite]

My advice: put only one part at a time in the cue. Once part one is up, put up part two, and so forth down the line.

 

[IWroteThis]

I suspect the overwhelming majority of writers are publishing without any difficulties. But they never come here to say so: we only hear from the writers who encounter problems.

I suspect there are a lot more suffering in silence than you realize.

I read a lot of the threads about the Pending issue and realized I wasn't alone, so I didn't actually post anything about my own delays for over a month. Then, when I did, I got lambasted for mentioning that I'm autistic and talking about the studies showing that AI detection has more problems with stuff written by people on the spectrum. Between what happened to me and other abusive comments on the topic, I can understand why people who come here because of the Pending issue choose to remain silent once they determine it's not just them. Then you have the ones who either don't know about the forums or are not interested in them, and the ones who went the bug report route and moved on.

Also, I've had a few authors that I enjoy have multiple stories posted in a single day, despite them never posting stories close together before. I haven't seen them on the forums, but I would bet that they experienced the Pending delays. Sure, it's possible that they just suddenly changed their patterns and submitted multiple stories at once. It's simply not probable.

TL;DR -> It's pointless to speculate how widespread the issue is since we have no access to hard data.

 

[MillieDynamite]

@IWroteThis, I'm sorry that happened to you. I have no idea why they'd give you that kind of grief.

I suspect there are a lot more suffering in silence than you realize.

I read a lot of the threads about the Pending issue and realized I wasn't alone, so I didn't actually post anything about my own delays for over a month. Then, when I did, I got lambasted for mentioning that I'm autistic and talking about the studies showing that AI detection has more problems with stuff written by people on the spectrum. Between what happened to me and other abusive comments on the topic, I can understand why people who come here because of the Pending issue choose to remain silent once they determine it's not just them. Then you have the ones who either don't know about the forums or are not interested in them, and the ones who went the bug report route and moved on.

Also, I've had a few authors that I enjoy have multiple stories posted in a single day, despite them never posting stories close together before. I haven't seen them on the forums, but I would bet that they experienced the Pending delays. Sure, it's possible that they just suddenly changed their patterns and submitted multiple stories at once. It's simply not probable.

TL;DR -> It's pointless to speculate how widespread the issue is since we have no access to hard data.

 

[Britva415]

Laurel does respond occasionally again

I was unaware.

What are you referring to?