Rejected—How To Fix Something I Don't Think Needs Fixing

[labeltornoff]

Foremost, I am not complaining. I am confused, because the rejection doesn't seem to allow me make a case for what I submitted. Any advice is welcome. Thanks in advance.

The third part of my story Affairs at Huddlestone was sent back for reasons I don't understand. The reason is it contains snuff, vore, or humiliation/torture/death written for sexual arousal. My story contains none of those things. An assassin dies by cyanide pill. The heroine is stabbed but survives. A death is mentioned but is outside the main plot—no one is aroused by it. To my eye, there is no humiliation/torture/death written for sexual arousal.

I am supposed to have a volunteer editor read my work after I fix it. So ...

• I don't think it needs fixing.
• Will a volunteer editor approve my story if i don't 'fix' it? Will they read it and ceritify it's fit for publication?

 

[SimonDoom]

I would suggest sending a private message to the Site responding to the rejection and stating your reasons, in full, with specific references to the text of the story, why you think they are wrong. I did this on the one occasion where my story was initially rejected for an alleged content violation, and they changed their mind and let the story get published. From your description, it sounds like you have a solid case for rebutting their rejection of the story.

 

[labeltornoff]

I would suggest sending a private message to the Site responding to the rejection and stating your reasons, in full, with specific references to the text of the story, why you think they are wrong. I did this on the one occasion where my story was initially rejected for an alleged content violation, and they changed their mind and let the story get published. From your description, it sounds like you have a solid case for rebutting their rejection of the story.

Thanks. I will do that. The Site is Literotica. Do I send a message to Laurel or Manu?

 

[KeithD]

All but one of my rejections has been published as originally written when I've sent it back with a discussion in the Notes box asking the editor to point out the specific problem perceived--that I didn't think what was being questioned was there. I've kept it polite, because the initial scan appears to be done by a program, not Laurel, the submissions editor herself. All of the stories then got published as originally written. The one story I had to change was because I used a URL (albeit a fake one not in use) in the story without realizing those weren't permitted.

To the question whether a volunteer editor can clear the story into the file: No, they can't. Only Laurel can do this.

 

[windar]

I had the exact same thing happen to me recently regarding Chapter 15 of a 16 chapter story. The darn thing was that at least 4 or 5 preceding chapters contained similar content (arguably worse) and were posted without problem in 2 days or less. Rules that are unwritten, contained in some board post rather than in the instruction to writers and inconsistently enforced are problematic, particularly when one is almost at the end of a long story. This is why I am not going to post any more stories here.

I handled it by deleteing the 3 paragraphs that I surmised were at issue and inserting one that said something along the lines of "Lit doesn't want you to read this as I wrote it, so if you want the uncensored version you can find it here (an ebook site)" and I told them how they could do that. The chapter with my commentary was posted unaltered.

A few readers went to the other site and downloaded it and the comments on that chapter after it went up here were unhappy with what the Lit poobahs did.

I realize that you may not have the story on another site, but it sounds interesting and maybe you should consider doing that...There is more in the universe than just this place.

 

[KeithD]

I handled it by deleteing the 3 paragraphs that I surmised were at issue and inserting one that said something along the lines of "Lit doesn't want you to read this as I wrote it, so if you want the uncensored version you can find it here (an ebook site)" and I told them how they could do that. The chapter with my commentary was posted unaltered.

You're lucky that passed through, as citing a site outside Literotica is not permitted in Lit. stories.

As I noted, in most cases it can be handled by refiling with an explanatory note in the Notes box.

 

[windar]

You're lucky that passed through, as citing a site outside Literotica is not permitted in Lit. stories.

As I noted, in most cases it can be handled by refiling with an explanatory note in the Notes box.

Well now, you see that is not in the Submission Guidelines, which is where it should be clearly stated, as they are on every other site I have posted on. Nor is the grounds on which the OP got rejected.

https://www.literotica.com/subguide.shtml

When the "rules" aren't clear and are enforced by whim, that creates issues. Could I have gotten it passed with a Note? Possibly, but it wasn't worth it in for me to argue the point given that the story is available elsewhere.

Where a story from elsewhere is altered to suit Literotica guidelines, I think the reader should know that. Like when you watch an R-rated movie on broadcast TV or on an airplane, they tell you that it's been edited.

 

[oggbashan]

Thanks. I will do that. The Site is Literotica. Do I send a message to Laurel or Manu?

Laurel.

 

[KeithD]

Well now, you see that is not in the Submission Guidelines, which is where it should be clearly stated, as they are on every other site I have posted on. Nor is the grounds on which the OP got rejected.

https://www.literotica.com/subguide.shtml

When the "rules" aren't clear and are enforced by whim, that creates issues. Could I have gotten it passed with a Note? Possibly, but it wasn't worth it in for me to argue the point given that the story is available elsewhere.

Where a story from elsewhere is altered to suit Literotica guidelines, I think the reader should know that. Like when you watch an R-rated movie on broadcast TV or on an airplane, they tell you that it's been edited.

Apparently it's a very broad site interpretation of rule 9: 9. No HTML links or web addresses are allowed within stories. But it's also pretty much common sense that this Website wouldn't support activity that encourages the reader to go somewhere else.

The bottom line is that you can either work with the site as it is or rail about entitlement you don't have. The site hasn't shown much evidence of adjusting to the authors.

 

[NotWise]

Thanks. I will do that. The Site is Literotica. Do I send a message to Laurel or Manu?

Rather than PMing Laurel, I'd suggest you do what KeithD advised. Resubmit your story without changes and explain in the notes to the editor that it doesn't contain snuff--pretty much the same way you explained it to us.

 

[ElectricBlue]

Rather than PMing Laurel, I'd suggest you do what KeithD advised. Resubmit your story without changes and explain in the notes to the editor that it doesn't contain snuff--pretty much the same way you explained it to us.

Agree this approach - resubmitting a story with an explanatory note (stating that the poison plot point has zero connection with any sexual content) puts the story back in the queue and puts it in front of Laurel.

Sending a PM approaches the issue from the side. Approach it from the front with the story content front and centre.

The original rejection was most likely triggered by a word bot triggering on "poison" - you need to deal with the human eyes and explain the context.

 

[windar]

The bottom line is that you can either work with the site as it is or rail about entitlement you don't have. The site hasn't shown much evidence of adjusting to the authors.

I found a creative way around the rules and it worked very well.

But it's also pretty much common sense that this Website wouldn't support activity that encourages the reader to go somewhere else.

Except there is a whole thread where Lit authors can post covers and links to their stories on other sites...
https://forum.literotica.com/showthread.php?t=569279

You are among the most promininent users, so I'm not telling you anything you don't know.

 

[ElectricBlue]

I found a creative way around the rules and it worked very well.

I wouldn't go on too much about that, if I were you. Laurel browses the forums, and I suspect remembers comments like that. Why paint a target on your back?

 

[KeithD]

I found a creative way around the rules and it worked very well.

Except that there is--and I gave a story of my own as an example--an imposed site rule, specified or not, against sending a reader off to another site in any way inside a story. So, I was saying that, if the editor had zeroed in on you doing that in a story, it will have been seen as contrary to the rules, not a work around the rules, creative or not. Congrats on getting away with it is the best I can give you on having done it. I don't personally care whether or not it worked. I wouldn't, though, encourage anyone to try it.

 

[windar]

I wouldn't go on too much about that, if I were you. Laurel browses the forums, and I suspect remembers comments like that. Why paint a target on your back?

I have no interest in posting more stories here. The site treats authors poorly. The authors should unionize and demand that the pay be immediately doubled!

 

[Bramblethorn]

Well now, you see that is not in the Submission Guidelines, which is where it should be clearly stated, as they are on every other site I have posted on. Nor is the grounds on which the OP got rejected.

https://www.literotica.com/subguide.shtml

The rules aren't as well organised as they might be, but this one is documented. Back when Literotica was founded, it was generally expected that newbies would read FAQs before posting on a site, and if one reads the FAQs there's this bit:

https://www.literotica.com/faq/05235347.shtml#01043415

My story has been rejected. What now?

Don't panic! First, click on the "NOT ACCEPTED" words. This will take you to the submission form. Above it, the reason(s) the story was sent back to you will be written. (To decipher these reasons, see this forum post in the Editor's Forum.)

The forum post referenced: https://forum.literotica.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=175666

Were there URL links, site addresses, or other advertisements within the story?

Quite simply, you may not link off-site. You may not put email address in the body of the story--yours or anyone elses. Literotica has email forms in place for your audience to reach you.

Strip out all sites, newsgroups, and email addresses to fix the problem.

When the "rules" aren't clear and are enforced by whim, that creates issues. Could I have gotten it passed with a Note? Possibly, but it wasn't worth it in for me to argue the point given that the story is available elsewhere.

Where a story from elsewhere is altered to suit Literotica guidelines, I think the reader should know that. Like when you watch an R-rated movie on broadcast TV or on an airplane, they tell you that it's been edited.

This is sometimes done for movies, not always. Films like Brazil and Highlander have very significant differences between different edits - often but not always boiling down to "they took out things the studios didn't think US audiences would get" - and those edits are not necessarily flagged.

It's not the norm for written fiction, AFAIK. Book content quite often changes between editions - for instance, Tolkien made some major retcons to The Hobbit while writing Lord of the Rings, and the US editions of Harry Potter made hundreds of changes to US English, even changing the title of the first book. In Forsyth's "The Dogs of War", the protagonist dies of lung cancer in some editions and skin cancer in others. I don't recall ever seeing one of those books acknowledge the edits; they just happen silently.

If you want to do it, and the site rules allow it, by all means do it. But it's far from a universal expectation.

 

[TarnishedPenny]

I would suggest sending a private message to the Site responding to the rejection and stating your reasons, in full, with specific references to the text of the story, why you think they are wrong. I did this on the one occasion where my story was initially rejected for an alleged content violation, and they changed their mind and let the story get published. From your description, it sounds like you have a solid case for rebutting their rejection of the story.

This. This happened to me, too. It looks like there's an initial computer screening. Logic and evidence presented to a human (Laurel) can overturn the initial rejection.

 

[nonverbalcommunication]

The site hasn't shown much evidence of adjusting to the authors.

No, it hasn't. I get that it is a business, and I will always appreciate that this site provided me with the first opportunity to share my stories with others. Being a bit of a feedback whore the positive reception that I received really encouraged me to write more. At a time I was (too) obsessively checking my stats four or five times a week, sometimes daily.

At one time I had 32 posted stories here, over 300,000 words, my lowest score was a 4.47, but new-rule-makers and bizzare-rule-intrepreters came along. Everything I wrote was within the letter of the posted rules at the time I wrote them, and I have never, ever written any non-con. But my specific word choices as uttered by my characters were a particular sticking point... Stories and chapters of stories were deleted.

I grumbled and Keith, bless his heart, said (maybe even in the same exact words):

The bottom line is that you can either work with the site as it is or rail about entitlement you don't have.

So, I just recently enjoyed a really nice dinner and evening out with my SO paid for by a royalty check-- It's not like I can quit by day job by a long-shot-- and I get regular updates on sales. My words sell for about half a cent per hundred all bunched up in various sized bundles-- with punctuation, and the promise to convey an erotic image. Best of all, the editors actually read what they publish, and only those who buy the e-book get to review and comment on the e-book.

 

[windar]

So, I just recently enjoyed a really nice dinner and evening out with my SO paid for by a royalty check-- It's not like I can quit by day job by a long-shot-- and I get regular updates on sales. My words sell for about half a cent per hundred all bunched up in various sized bundles-- with punctuation, and the promise to convey an erotic image. Best of all, the editors actually read what they publish, and only those who buy the e-book get to review and comment on the e-book.

And, I have to admit that it was a real ego boost for me to find that people would pay to read the filth that I write. Votes/likes on free sites are nice, comments, especially ones that the commenter put some thought into, are even better. But in the end, when the reader puts their money where their mouth is, that says something, especially when they buy one story and come back for more.

 

[Bazzle]

Interesting, I have a fetish story lined up "Death in Smoking Paradise" effectively a take on the tv show Death in Paradise.

Based on the above, it probably wouldn't make the cut....

Interesting!

B

 

[windar]

Interesting, I have a fetish story lined up "Death in Smoking Paradise" effectively a take on the tv show Death in Paradise.

Based on the above, it probably wouldn't make the cut....

Interesting!

B

I love that show! Why wouldn't it make the cut?

 

[HeyAll]

Was there blood or gore? If so, those can be trimmed out and the story remains the same.

 

[Bazzle]

No, I've got no gore, just a dead pretty girl.

I've got to see if the introduction to the island gets published first!

B