An anti-complaint about the time taken to post a story

[EmilyMiller]

AH often has threads bemoaning how long it takes to get stories published after submission. I just had a 22k word story (not long by some standards, but long enough) turned round in around 36 hours. I think that’s pretty darned good and it’s not a one-off, most of my stuff gets published within 48 hours.

Now maybe I’m not pushing against age or violence barriers. Maybe I get credit for having been a good girl in these areas of late. Maybe I’ve got a track record of mostly harmless sex romps.

It does seem to me that most threads complaining about publishing delays feature stories that are doing at least one of the following;

1. Flying close to the wind with some prohibited subject matter
2. A first or second submission, which tends to draw additional scrutiny
3. Containing a, probably innocent, trigger word or phrase (his skin was as smooth as a baby’s bottom)
4. Nit spulled vry will
5. Just overlooked for some reason (like the tsunami of submissions poor @Laurel has to deal with each day)

Do others have as smooth an experience as I do, or am I just teacher’s pet who writes anodyne inoffensive stuff?

Em

 

[NoTalentHack]

I've had things take a while longer than I expected (as much as four days in one case), but mostly that's the experience I have as well: things get posted in a day or two, and if they don't, it's because I have a tendency to click "submit" and then look at it again later and edit. The delays are mostly on me.

 

[TheRedChamber]

I write anodyne inoffensive stuff as well and it just sails through.

That said I'd be cautious about assuming anything about people whose stories get held up.

 

[EmilyMiller]

That said I'd be cautious about assuming anything about people whose stories get held up.

Not so much an assumption, more what they say when questioned .

Em

 

[MrPixel]

...anodyne...

Anybody who uses a word like "anodyne" in casual conversation probably has a free pass.

 

[EmilyMiller]

Anybody who uses a word like "anodyne" in casual conversation probably has a free pass.

I swallowed a thesaurus when I was a youngling. It was in the papers.

Em

 

[MrPixel]

The joke in our house is "Honey? I need another word for 'thesaurus'."

 

[EmilyMiller]

The joke in our house is "Honey? I need another word for 'thesaurus'."

Onomasticon?

Which is much less sexy than it sounds.

Em

 

[Emilymcplugger]

I swallowed a thesaurus when I was a youngling. It was in the papers.

Em

That isn’t true. I’d have seen it in the tabloids, broadsheets, newspapers, rags, scandal-sheets, press…

 

[Zenith77]

7-10 day average here. I cun spel okey. Very few references to baby rattles, horses and dead things.

I just kinda accept it as the norm, now.

 

[EmilyMiller]

7-10 day average here. I cun spel okey. Very few references to baby rattles, horses and dead things.

I just kinda accept it as the norm, now.

Really? How strange.

Em

 

[Zenith77]

Really? How strange.

Em

I assumed it was genre. I write a lot of CNC stuff. Probably needs more checking. Though that said my recent stuff was lesbian. 19 stories total, so I'm not a complete noob, though TBF there was a 7-year gap between the oldest stuff and my more recent things. 14 stories since Jan, when I returned, so I wouldn't imagine frequency was the problem. Like I say, I just kinda assume it'll be a week+ now.

My next one will no doubt get turned around in 24 hours

 

[EmilyMiller]

My next one will no doubt get turned around in 24 hours

I hope so!

Em

 

[PastMaster]

Things seem to be settling down - My stories dont sail through as fast as your's Em but i have history
I'm hoping now that my series is out of the danger zone and they see that there isnt anything really contentious in it any more (the 17 year old is now 18) things will speed up.

 

[SimonDoom]

Familiarity breeds dispatch. You've published prolifically over a short period of time, so my guess is they know you by now and say, "Oh, it's her again", and they give you a quick run through and approval.

When I started, I published less frequently than you do, and for a while, it would usually take 4-5 days to get approved. Now it's usually 2-3. I've had a few stories that push a bit against content boundaries. Sometimes it takes a bit longer.

 

[djrip]

Tends to be 2 days for me.

 

[EmilyMiller]

Familiarity breeds dispatch. You've published prolifically over a short period of time, so my guess is they know you by now and say, "Oh, it's her again", and they give you a quick run through and approval.

When I started, I published less frequently than you do, and for a while, it would usually take 4-5 days to get approved. Now it's usually 2-3. I've had a few stories that push a bit against content boundaries. Sometimes it takes a bit longer.

Quantity has its own quality, right?

Em

 

[RoperTrace]

Anybody who uses a word like "anodyne" in casual conversation probably has a free pass.

Huh, I thought that was one of those bike-like things that you pedal against air resistance paddles.

 

[ElectricBlue]

Two or three days for me, usually, even my longer ones.

 

[EmilyMiller]

Huh, I thought that was one of those bike-like things that you pedal against air resistance paddles.

No. That’s an adenosine.

Em

 

[RoperTrace]

No. That’s an adenosine.

Em

Now stop it!

 

[BobbyBrandt]

My submissions generally take between five and seven days to post, depending the day of the week. (Avoid Thursdays or Fridays because Laurel frequently takes weekends off for story releases) I have had stories post in 24 hours, but if i remember correctly, that was a contest entry.

I attribute this to my average stand-alone story (not submitted in parts} being approximately 33K words with most being closer to 75-100K. When I did break the stories up into parts, the first chapter would take five to seven days and the subsequent chapters would post day after day from that point.

Some of my stories do contain content such as underage characters or violence, but to Laurel's credit, she has never rejected any of them. This is what leads me believe that she often takes the time to consider the context, even when not requested to do so.

 

[EmilyMiller]

Now stop it!

Said in a Graham Chapman (RIP) voice?

Em

 

[Paul_Chance]

I just posted my first one in several years. Based on what I've read here, I expected it to take a while, but it was two days - including a bounce back because I accidentally selected the wrong category. (I was tired and picked chain stories for some mysterious reason.) A quick category fix and Bob's Your Uncle there it was.

 

[ronde]

AH often has threads bemoaning how long it takes to get stories published after submission. I just had a 22k word story (not long by some standards, but long enough) turned round in around 36 hours. I think that’s pretty darned good and it’s not a one-off, most of my stuff gets published within 48 hours.

Now maybe I’m not pushing against age or violence barriers. Maybe I get credit for having been a good girl in these areas of late. Maybe I’ve got a track record of mostly harmless sex romps.

It does seem to me that most threads complaining about publishing delays feature stories that are doing at least one of the following;

1. Flying close to the wind with some prohibited subject matter
2. A first or second submission, which tends to draw additional scrutiny
3. Containing a, probably innocent, trigger word or phrase (his skin was as smooth as a baby’s bottom)
4. Nit spulled vry will
5. Just overlooked for some reason (like the tsunami of submissions poor @Laurel has to deal with each day)

Do others have as smooth an experience as I do, or am I just teacher’s pet who writes anodyne inoffensive stuff?

Em

I don't track time in hours, but my stories are usually published 2 days after I submit them.

I totally agree with your reasons why it might take longer.

Unless Laurel is a speed reader beyond belief, I doubt she reads every submission from title to the end.

Just like when you evaluate the people you know, it doesn't take very long to figure out who's going to push the envelope and who won't. Envelope pushers probably do get more scrutiny, just like you question some of the things people you know tell you.

I can say from experience, the user names of those authors who regularly submit and who typically obey the rules are not that hard to remember, nor are the names of the sometimes offenders. Given the number of submissions every day, I would imagine known authors who usually play by the rules probably get the story scanned rather than actually read. The tone of a story is usually set in the first couple paragraphs. Other stories probably also get scanned, but scanned a lot more thoroughly, especially is the author is new.

Spelling and punctuation errors stand out like a sore thumb, so they're also easy to find by scanning.

Since I had to look up "anodyne", I won't comment about the teacher's pet thing.