Story Rejection Excuses

[Charmeuse]

"Though we do publish stories that are not erotic in nature, we feel that some stories, such as yours, should not be published alongside erotica - especially since this is, as you've said, a lead-in to an erotic story and as such the context gives it an erotic overtone."


So basically my story got rejected for having an erotic overtone on a story site that post sex stories.... Unbelievable!

 

[HectorBidon]

Not sure what that is all about. But if your story really is a lead in to a longer story, you could try submitting it as Chapter 1 of the longer story in a different category. Not all chapters have to be explicitly erotic.

 

[AwkwardMD]

Are your characters under 18 but will be over 18 later?

 

[Lindsay_O]

Unbelievable!

The owners can do what they want with their site.

 

[ElectricBlue]

Are your characters under 18 but will be over 18 later?

My thoughts exactly. There's a subtlety here that's not being shared - what's the subject matter and theme, that will, when eroticised, ping the story?

 

[SimonDoom]

"Though we do publish stories that are not erotic in nature, we feel that some stories, such as yours, should not be published alongside erotica - especially since this is, as you've said, a lead-in to an erotic story and as such the context gives it an erotic overtone."


So basically my story got rejected for having an erotic overtone on a story site that post sex stories.... Unbelievable!

Are you asking for advice? Because this doesn't give anyone enough information to advise you. As others suggest, it appears to me there is more to this than you are revealing.

 

[Jmanchu]

So, if I write a story then it should have erotic parts right away? Can too much build up and having a lot of focus nonsexual parts of the plot get a story rejected? I'm in the middle of writing a few stories(and focusing on one right now because I want to actually finish a story) and a lot of them, including the one I'm working on right now, don't have any full on erotic parts for the first few chapters. The most erotic it gets for a lot of them until later on are undressing scenes and scenes dealing with strong sexual tension/attraction between two main characters.

Could my story be rejected? I'm curious now(pardon my newby question but I'm looking into the FAQs and I can't find anything about that).

 

[ChloeTzang]

Well, there's a category on Literotica for non- erotic stories so it's not that. I suspect you have transgressed one of the few hard and fast rules of this site. Under 18 characters is usually the culprit. Give us all a quick synopsis of your characters and the story and you can be counselled. Without that, who knows. But non erotic by itself wouldn't get your story rejected.

 

[NotWise]

Could my story be rejected? I'm curious now(pardon my newby question but I'm looking into the FAQs and I can't find anything about that).

Generally, no. Lit has a category for non-erotic stories and poetry, and many categories contain stories with limited erotic content. It's fairly common for chapters in longer stories to have no erotic content.

It seems like the OP doesn't give all the information we need to comment, but a lack of erotic content is normally not a reason for rejection. If it were, then I'd have a lot of stories that bounced, and I don't.

 

[Jmanchu]

Good to know. I was worried for a second there that I might have been wasting my time writing my story. Thanks for the answer and putting my concerns at ease, friend.

 

[lovecraft68]

Take your work to a site that has real rules and follows them consistently. My money is something in your story annoyed the owner and that is all it takes.

 

[loquere]

Were you posting this in the non-erotic category?

"Though we do publish stories that are not erotic in nature, we feel that some stories, such as yours, should not be published alongside erotica - especially since this is, as you've said, a lead-in to an erotic story and as such the context gives it an erotic overtone."


So basically my story got rejected for having an erotic overtone on a story site that post sex stories.... Unbelievable!

 

[Requiax]

Without context from the OP, my money’s on this being a scene-setter that they posted as a stand-alone story rather than ‘My Erotic Masterpiece: Ch 1’. I suspect with no firm indicator that the story was going to continue and become erotic (except for perhaps something in the Notes) it got rejected.

Especially if it was posted in an erotic category and/or featured the protagonists as children (with them becoming adults in the “main” story).

But again, without context, who knows?

 

[ThatsTheGuy]

"Though we do publish stories that are not erotic in nature, we feel that some stories, such as yours, should not be published alongside erotica - especially since this is, as you've said, a lead-in to an erotic story and as such the context gives it an erotic overtone."


So basically my story got rejected for having an erotic overtone on a story site that post sex stories.... Unbelievable!

None of us really know what your story is about. It is the owner's site and they can do whatever they wish. All you can do as a writer is follow the guidelines and cross your fingers.

A lot of authors here provide links to a lead-in. Some address that in the foreword or bio. Maybe you could stress the difference in the title? Example: "Baseball" as non-erotic then "Baseball XXX" as the erotica.

Rejection is a hard thing. I believe most authors encounter it repeatedly before they break though or go around the barriers.

Don't let it dissuade you.

 

[Carnal_Apple]

"Though we do publish stories that are not erotic in nature, we feel that some stories, such as yours, should not be published alongside erotica - especially since this is, as you've said, a lead-in to an erotic story and as such the context gives it an erotic overtone."

They say that you have picked the wrong category. I'll assume an erotic category that it simply doesn't belong.

Their use of the word "context" feels odd, but this is still the meaning of what they have written, to you, with words.

Try a non-erotic category (if such a thing exists). Then tell me how it goes. I'll be in the same boat in the future.

 

[ChloeTzang]

They say that you have picked the wrong category. I'll assume an erotic category that it simply doesn't belong.

Their use of the word "context" feels odd, but this is still the meaning of what they have written, to you, with words.

Try a non-erotic category (if such a thing exists). Then tell me how it goes. I'll be in the same boat in the future.

There's a category for non erotic stories. Usually Laurel will just put in the correct category if she thinks it's been mis-categorized by the author. So I doubt it's that and seeing as the OP hasn't given us any context for the story yet, it's hard to say.

 

[JerseyGirlDownUnder]

There's a category for non erotic stories. Usually Laurel will just put in the correct category if she thinks it's been mis-categorized by the author. So I doubt it's that and seeing as the OP hasn't given us any context for the story yet, it's hard to say.

I don't know. In my second attempt at submitting here I had a short (~600 words) piece of writing rejected from non-erotic as it did not have enough of a story-line, and also rejected from non-erotic poetry. I can't remember the reason for the poetry rejection. I scratched my head in bewilderment as to what I was doing wrong....and wrote smut for the next successful submission

 

[colddiesel]

I just wondered why the op named him or herself after some suit lining material. Seemed odd, p'raps the first choice was rejected.

 

[Emirus]

Usually Laurel will just put in the correct category if she thinks it's been mis-categorized by the author.

“Usually” must be the important word.

I was castigated on here, quite rightly, for my first story having a lot of grammatical and punctuation errors. But I was also ripped for it being in the wrong category. I couldn’t make my mind up whether to choose Ts or NonCon and I chose wrongly.

So in my particular case it either slipped through the net or Laurel didn’t consider it was in the wrong category. But that’s not a surprise considering the number of stories that must be submitted every day.


Please note my comment is about the use of the word “usually” not a complaint and certainly not a criticism of ChloeRzang.



ps: I could rewrite it correcting the punctuation etc and put it in NonCon but that would cheating. https://www.literotica.com/s/cherry-20

 

[ElectricBlue]

I don't know. In my second attempt at submitting here I had a short (~600 words) piece of writing rejected from non-erotic as it did not have enough of a story-line, and also rejected from non-erotic poetry (and quite honestly it was a love poem). I can't remember the reason for the poetry rejection. I scratched my head in bewilderment as to what I was doing wrong....and wrote smut for the next successful submission

Ah, that will have been bumped because stories must be at least 750 words - and possibly prose rather than poetry?

Poetry can be less than 750 words, but some poetic construct is necessary (rhyming parameters, free-form verse, sonnet, etc...) but not plain text.

 

[ElectricBlue]

I could rewrite it correcting the punctuation etc and put it in NonCon but that would cheating. https://www.literotica.com/s/cherry-20

You can ask Laurel to change category, without losing Views, Score, Comments.

Send a PM to Laurel, or, just resubmit the story with EDIT added to the title (even if there are none), and add a note in the Notes to Editor saying you want to change the category. If you're going to do that, you can clean up the punctuation at the same time - if so, tell Laurel that, too.

 

[ThatsTheGuy]

The force must be strong on this one. A few of the best in this thread are giving out free advice they so rarely share. The OP should so thankful. As for me - I cherish their minds and what's in their hearts.

I sincerely hope this one does not disappoint.

I had a moment *wipes eyes dry*.

Now if everyone will excuse me, I have stupid things to do and trouble to get into.

 

[ElectricBlue]

This rejection language:

we feel that some stories, such as yours, should not be published alongside erotica

suggests to me some very unpalatable content is being predicted - as RubenR suggests, bestiality, under-age, snuff, rape, something like that.

Noting it was the OP's first post, I suspect we'll never know... listens carefully, no, can't hear the OP.

 

[gunhilltrain]

The essay category

This thread brings up a question I've had. What would the site do with an essay - non-fiction - that is basically or wholly non-erotic?

There are separate categories for essays and non-erotic. I suppose I could submit something as an experiment and see what happens.

P.S.: The essays I've considered are personal reminiscences, not, say, discussions of the Crimean War or the politics of the Nixon administration. Thus they will touch upon emotional issues that could loosely be connected to eroticism.

I am writing an essay about the first time I saw a porn movie, which I'm sure will be accepted regarding the content. The other topics I'm considering will not so obviously fit within the guidelines.

 

[SimonDoom]

The force must be strong on this one. A few of the best in this thread are giving out free advice they so rarely share. The OP should so thankful. As for me - I cherish their minds and what's in their hearts.

I sincerely hope this one does not disappoint.

I had a moment *wipes eyes dry*.

Now if everyone will excuse me, I have stupid things to do and trouble to get into.

Wait a minute . . . are you being sarcastic?