Approval process

[northwoods123]

I recently submitted and had approved my first story on Literotica, "Adrienne's New Job". It took less than a week between submission and approval. It received some positive feedback so I've submitted two subsequent stories that are stuck Pending. Is it possible that I've done something wrong? Submitted them incorrectly? One is pending with a hyperlink back to the submission page and one is pending without any link back to my submission. Perhaps the stories violated some protocol (they don't violate the norms of the site, but who knows)? Any thoughts?

 

[PennLady]

If the stories had violated a rule, you'd have received a "rejected".

You haven't said how long ago you submitted the stories, and usually takes 2-3 days for a story to post.

Sometimes stories take longer to post because there's a slew of stories in the queue, or because a contest is going on and those stories take priority (the Summer Lovin' contest is on now).

If you click the "pending" link, I believe it sends your story to the back of the queue, so you'll be starting over if you do that.

 

[IvyMarquis]

Pretty much what was said above; stop touching stuff (it's been a while since I submitted so I don't totally remember what all sends you back to the end of the line, but don't do that to yourself). Pending is pending. If there was an issue you would have been flagged.

Have a glass of wine, or three, and enjoy the glowing praise on your first work : )

 

[sr71plt]

If it gets to five days of delay, I suggest you PM (private message) the editor, Laurel, directly. You haven't really provided enough information for anyone on the forum to be sure what the problem is and occasionally stories do get dropped in the cracks--it's happened to me twice in recent months.

 

[NOIRTRASH]

My stories almost always post 2 days after I submit, occasionally, 3.

 

[oggbashan]

The Summer Lovin' contest is in progress. That tends to delay approval of stories that aren't in the contest.

 

[Kantarii]

If the story is pending with no link,(in black letters) then it will post usually the following day. Also, a note most people don't mention: if you have a story pending and you keep editing it or posting new stories, it pushes the previous pending stories and the ones you are editing to the bottom of the pile waiting on approval. That's what I have noticed. I try to do all my editing before I post the story and not tinker with my submissions while the one and only story I have pending makes it through the approval process.

 

[HandsInTheDark]

My stories almost always post 2 days after I submit, occasionally, 3.

My first story took several *weeks*. It was 18 Lit pages, I submitted it around Christmas, and I submitted it as an .rtf file, which apparently meant someone had to go through by hand and translate the formatting (and they did it wrong, causing spaces to be lost around italic phrases.) I don't remember if I PM'd or hit the pending link.

I've since learned to post shorter pieces and it generally takes under a week now. The "PM Laurel after 5 days" is probably a good rule of thumb.

I started a thread here a few months ago where people could post how long their latest story took - a sort of ongoing Lit weather report on delays. But it didn't get used and sank out of sight.

It would be really nice if Lit could tell you where your submission is in their queue, with a computer generated estimate: "You story is number 8 in the approval queue. It is likely to be visible in 23 hours." But... yeah.

 

[TxRad]

My first story took several *weeks*. It was 18 Lit pages, I submitted it around Christmas, and I submitted it as an .rtf file, which apparently meant someone had to go through by hand and translate the formatting (and they did it wrong, causing spaces to be lost around italic phrases.) I don't remember if I PM'd or hit the pending link.

I've since learned to post shorter pieces and it generally takes under a week now. The "PM Laurel after 5 days" is probably a good rule of thumb.

I started a thread here a few months ago where people could post how long their latest story took - a sort of ongoing Lit weather report on delays. But it didn't get used and sank out of sight.

It would be really nice if Lit could tell you where your submission is in their queue, with a computer generated estimate: "You story is number 8 in the approval queue. It is likely to be visible in 23 hours." But... yeah.

Most of my stories, which are long, get posted in a couple of days. I don't think the length has much to do with it. I think how long an author has been here and how often they skirt or bend the rules has a lot to do with it.

Since laurel reads all the stories by hand, so to speak, there is no way to computer generate an estimate.

At one time, and it still might be there, in the stickies, Laurel kept a running estimate on average.

No one reads the stickies.

 

[NOIRTRASH]

My first story took several *weeks*. It was 18 Lit pages, I submitted it around Christmas, and I submitted it as an .rtf file, which apparently meant someone had to go through by hand and translate the formatting (and they did it wrong, causing spaces to be lost around italic phrases.) I don't remember if I PM'd or hit the pending link.

I've since learned to post shorter pieces and it generally takes under a week now. The "PM Laurel after 5 days" is probably a good rule of thumb.

I started a thread here a few months ago where people could post how long their latest story took - a sort of ongoing Lit weather report on delays. But it didn't get used and sank out of sight.

It would be really nice if Lit could tell you where your submission is in their queue, with a computer generated estimate: "You story is number 8 in the approval queue. It is likely to be visible in 23 hours." But... yeah.

I don't know but I suspect Laurel approves known writers with minimal scrutiny. I strive to color inside the lines, and I never dispute rejections. I agree with the WAIT FOR YOUR NUMBER TO BE CALLED...YOU ARE #359786 notice. I imagine Laurel spends most of her time kissing the asses of folks who hate me. I apologize.

 

[NOIRTRASH]

Most of my stories, which are long, get posted in a couple of days. I don't think the length has much to do with it. I think how long an author has been here and how often they skirt or bend the rules has a lot to do with it.

Since laurel reads all the stories by hand, so to speak, there is no way to computer generate an estimate.

At one time, and it still might be there, in the stickies, Laurel kept a running estimate on average.

No one reads the stickies.

I agree.

 

[TxRad]

I agree.

The sticky isn't there anymore.

 

[sr71plt]

I think how long an author has been here and how often they skirt or bend the rules has a lot to do with it.

One would like to think that, but I haven't found it so. I've had a few initially rejected because unfounded assumptions were made by the editor without actually validating the objection--and that was after approaching 900 stories posted here. I've never had to drop or redo a story based on the original "rejection."

I wish that, like standard editing, the language that was used was "query" rather than "reject," especially when the reason to reject isn't back up with an actual citation of the perceived problem.

 

[HandsInTheDark]

Since laurel reads all the stories by hand, so to speak, there is no way to computer generate an estimate.

Well... no. The software she's using could keep track of how many stories she does a day, how many pages are involved, what categories take longer, if she does certain categories before others, if authors with a lot of stories go quicker... all that stuff can be automatically determined and then estimated. Not even all that hard. But it's not no effort, and the only people who care are some smallish number of authors, so I don't see it happening.

People often underestimate computers as predictive tools. But when I was a kid, weather predictions sucked, often being wrong within 24 hours. Now I'm not surprised when they stay correct a week out. Things follow patterns and patterns can be learned. Even human ones.

 

[Jay321]

I have only had one story rejected, and that was because it was too short. I had an idea pop in my head that I sat down, and less than an hour I had a non-erotic flash fiction done. I liked the story, so I decided to share it here.

I had read the story requirements but had forgotten the length requirement. The last one I posted was 4 Lit pages, I think, up in 2 days or less. I know Laurel is busy. I'm posting a story that I will not get paid for on a free site. What right do I have to bitch? I'm glad the site is here and I can contribute.

 

[sr71plt]

Don't short change your work. You're providing free the product that this Web site is making its profit from.