Formatting problem?

[Kumquatqueen]

Hi,
I've been waiting for a week for the first chapter in my new story to go live, but it's just been rejected for formatting issues:
"Were there any serious errors in punctuation or formatting (i.e. submitted in all capital letters, capitalization errors, etc.)?
The paragraph formatting didn't come through properly. There may be hard returns in the middle of sentences. Sometimes this happens when you cut and paste from the word processor to the form. Please go through and format your text into the paragraphs you intended with two hard returns only between paragraphs so we can post this story. Thank you!"

I'm assuming the formatting in the RTF file I attached might have screwed up, but it looks all right to me. Would someone be willing to PM me their email address so I can send it to you and see if it's legible?

Many thanks.

 

[Emirus]

I started submitting in Word and then was told .rtf got through the system quicker. I didn’t find this to be the case so, to save myself the (minor) job of conversion, I went back to Word. I would say I never had a rejection for using either.

 

[Kumquatqueen]

I always copy-paste my stories into the story-field, and then you can check the format yourself, in the preview option.

If you didn't use any formats like Italics, Bold, etc., it doesn't take much effort.

I've got lots of italics, which don't copy paste so I'd have to go through putting them all in as HTML tags again. I wouldn't mind except it says RTF should be fine.

 

[TarnishedPenny]

It is what it is. I write in Word, add HTML tags and then proofread on the site. It’s a true PITA, but works.

 

[BelleCanzuto]

I write in word and attach the file in the story submission page, rather than copying. I've had stories with italics and bolding, and not had problems so far.

Did you get a taker on proofreading it?

 

[Emirus]

I write in word and attach the file in the story submission page, rather than copying. I've had stories with italics and bolding, and not had problems so far.

Did you get a taker on proofreading it?

As I said earlier I write using Word and attach file and, as you have said, have used italics etc without a problem. I write in Pages on my iPhone and downloading as Word isn’t a problem. I then do final edit etc on my laptop before submitting. It just isn’t feasible for me to do all my work on my laptop.

 

[Kumquatqueen]

I write in word and attach the file in the story submission page, rather than copying. I've had stories with italics and bolding, and not had problems so far.

Did you get a taker on proofreading it?

Someone's offered to look, thanks. I've only got LibreOffice, not Word, so figured its .docx format might go funny.

If it gets rejected again I'll do the old-fashioned HTML tags and copypaste into the wee box, and double check on my PC.

 

[Haulover]

I've got lots of italics, which don't copy paste so I'd have to go through putting them all in as HTML tags again. I wouldn't mind except it says RTF should be fine.

It is what it is. I write in Word, add HTML tags and then proofread on the site. It’s a true PITA, but works.

Why?

An estimated 40% of Lit stories are read on the Android app. The Android app does not show italics, or any of the HTML tags.

So if you're relying on your italics or your HTML tags for readability, 40% of your readers will be confused.

I would suggest writing in such a way that italics, bold, and any other HTML is not needed...

 

[Bramblethorn]

Why?

An estimated 40% of Lit stories are read on the Android app. The Android app does not show italics, or any of the HTML tags.

What is the source for that 40% estimate?

So if you're relying on your italics or your HTML tags for readability, 40% of your readers will be confused.

If somebody told me that 40% of my readers were using an app that couldn't display the letter 'z', my response would be "well, that sucks for them, I hope they can find a better app that has basic text functionality". But I wouldn't stop using the letter 'z' in my stories.

 

[Kumquatqueen]

Why?

An estimated 40% of Lit stories are read on the Android app. The Android app does not show italics, or any of the HTML tags.

So if you're relying on your italics or your HTML tags for readability, 40% of your readers will be confused.

I would suggest writing in such a way that italics, bold, and any other HTML is not needed...

There's an app?

The website displays on Android just fine, so I'm surprised that many people would have installed an app that I can't see advertised on the site (doesn't mean it's not there - there's lots I've taken ages to find).

If the app can't display basic formatting I'm even more surprised people use it - I've not only used Android to read stories but also to write them. It's only because this one became a multi-chaptered thing I started editing on my PC using italics not angle-brackets and i, but the guidance on submissions says rtf or doc files with italics is fine.

 

[Bramblethorn]

There's an app?

There is, but it's not available through the Google Play store, which is one of the things making me doubtful of that 40% figure:

https://literotica.com/android/

The above page includes a screenshot from the app, which would appear to be displaying italics and bold just fine:

Is somebody here able to verify whether it does or doesn't show these?

 

[Bramblethorn]

Can't figure out how to get the right format of my screenshot, but my 'V2.1' version of the app doesn't show Italics.

Am I wrong, or is the app no longer advertised on the start page?

I don't see it there. I wonder why the disparity between the screenshot and the app?

 

[Zeb_Carter]

There is, but it's not available through the Google Play store, which is one of the things making me doubtful of that 40% figure:

https://literotica.com/android/

The above page includes a screenshot from the app, which would appear to be displaying italics and bold just fine:

Is somebody here able to verify whether it does or doesn't show these?

Not really, but the Italic and Bold in your image is surprising. I almost never see formatting and in some cases the text is all ran together as if there was never a line feed entered. I have investigated this and found that older stores were posted with a manual line feed character instead of a paragraph character.

Now I have seen where the app has screwed up when there are multiple formatting tags in a quick secession and the text gets formatted haphazardly.

But usually, any formatting tags are stripped out by the app.

What version of the app are you using?

ETA: I now see where you got the screen shot and the current version doesn't look anything like the promotional screen shots. I think that is what they were shooting for and just couldn't make it work back when.

 

[Haulover]

There's an app?
...

Yes - go to this link:
https://literotica.com/android/

...
The website displays on Android just fine...

If the app can't display basic formatting I'm even more surprised people use it - I've not only used Android to read stories but also to write them. It's only because this one became a multi-chaptered thing I started editing on my PC using italics not angle-brackets and i, but the guidance on submissions says rtf or doc files with italics is fine.

The BIG difference is that I can download stories, then read them offline at my leisure. The app is very quick, and I can read when I have no Internet connection.

Also, I have password-protected the app, so in the (hopefully unlikely) event someone picks up my phone and browses my apps, they won't know what the app is or what I'm reading.

...One other, more annoying issue is that it doesn't always load the whole story. It's the 'risk' one takes for using the app...

Interesting - I've never experienced that. For me, the only restriction is that I can only download a dozen (or so?) stories at a time.

There is, but it's not available through the Google Play store, which is one of the things making me doubtful of that 40% figure:

From Manu, several years ago. The thread with that conversation might still be available somewhere.

In a more recent thread, Manu said that the app was in line for a significant update. I hope that's true.

...
https://literotica.com/android/

The above page includes a screenshot from the app, which would appear to be displaying italics and bold just fine:

Is somebody here able to verify whether it does or doesn't show these?

I checked by downloading this exact story. The italics do not show. I have a new, top-of-the-line cell phone, so I don't believe my phone is the problem.