Do Manu and Laurel read them all?

[LargoKitt]

My stories usually take about 3-4 business days until they are posted or rejected. This site must get hundreds per day. And then there are the pictures that may take a lot longer. Surely Manu and Laurel can't see and vet all that content? Is there a crew of paid or volunteer readers/viewers? Or are there A.I. bots that scan stories and pix for no nos and report to the boss? Having to read a few dozen smutty stories a day could really put one off erotica.

 

[onehitwanda]

Just by sheer volume it's highly unlikely. What's more likely is that there are several automated systems that process new works, hard-rejecting some and flagging others up for the human touch. It's been this way for all the years I've been active here, and the system pre-dates LLMs and all the modern nonsense.

 

[lovecraft68]

My understanding is Manu is not involved with story aspect of the site at all, he's the tech side of things.

Many things here are left to interpretation because the site never explains anything they do, but the two theories is 1-Laurel does very minimal skims on most stories, pays a little more attention to something from a new author, but conversely doesn't even look at stories by longtime authors that have never had any violation issues. Some also think there's a program of sorts which looks for certain keywords that could point to breaking a rule, which could explain some bizarre rejections over the years, one of which is the infamous rejection for underage because the character had a 15 year old...bottle of scotch.

Whatever the method, when I first started here 5-7 days was the norm and over time it got down to two days and stayed that way for a long time, and its still that for many people, but seems for others its back to a longer wait time.

 

[Five_Inch_Heels]

May be time of day when I submit, but I've have a few be approved and post the next day.

 

[ElectricBlue]

Just by sheer volume it's highly unlikely. What's more likely is that there are several automated systems that process new works, hard-rejecting some and flagging others up for the human touch. It's been this way for all the years I've been active here, and the system pre-dates LLMs and all the modern nonsense.

I agree, this.

I've been here just over ten years, and over that time the rejection evidence (that is, threads started) suggests a basic word bot has been used, triggering on obvious key words and word combinations. Over time, grammar checks have been added, judging by the increasing number of "My story has been rejected for grammar and punctuation" type threads, and more recently, the whole AI go-around.

I think the first round of rejections is most likely automated, probably not seen by human eyes at all. A resubmission might be seen by the site editor - no-one knows for sure if it is only Laurel - but I've never had a sense that there's a team of reviewers. At best, I think she might do a very quick scan and make a fast decision, go or reject.

 

[iwatchus]

I do not have the history of most of the responders, but over the last months I have watched the steady drumbeat of threads of rejection or slow notification.

I agree that there has to be an automated system doing a first check. And that she reads, at least scan reads, each first submission. The automated system kicks things out for human review; if it didn't, the rejections would come much faster. My guess is that the keyword scan shows paragraphs (or something similar) to her for final judgement. That she occasionally misreads a paragraph about scotch should be expected. I suspect the AI checker is the same, an automated scan to flag suspicious entries with a reread by her as the final judge. I suspect ones that get stuck are cases where she set something aside trying to make a judgment and forgot about it, which is why a PM will unfreeze it.

I have never exchanged messages with Laurel and only know what has been said here. But I have come to assume that this is her baby, the rules are hers and she does not trust anyone else with their interpretation. I have founded multiple companies and know lots of other founders. That feeling of ownership is the norm. And should be even stronger with a site like this.

 

[ElectricBlue]

I do not have the history of most of the responders, but over the last months I have watched the steady drumbeat of threads of rejection or slow notification.

The drumbeat has barely changed in time I've been here. I have no clue what the increase in story submissions has been over that time, but I suspect it's a lot, and with the AI junk I'm sure would be swamping the site this last year or two, a lot more.

My rule of thumb has always been 2 - 4 days, sometimes longer, sometimes faster - my longest, eleven days, my fastest, twelve hours. That's for stories ranging between 750 words and a 104,000 word novel.

These threads are not new. These days the primary reason is the suspected use of AI. Five years ago, it was mostly underage and non-con rejections, followed by grammar and punctuation.

I have never exchanged messages with Laurel and only know what has been said here. But I have come to assume that this is her baby, the rules are hers and she does not trust anyone else with their interpretation. I have founded multiple companies and know lots of other founders. That feeling of ownership is the norm. And should be even stronger with a site like this.

Pretty much, yes.

 

[rockybal]

The drumbeat has barely changed in time I've been here. I have no clue what the increase in story submissions has been over that time, but I suspect it's a lot, and with the AI junk I'm sure would be swamping the site this last year or two, a lot more.

My rule of thumb has always been 2 - 4 days, sometimes longer, sometimes faster - my longest, eleven days, my fastest, twelve hours. That's for stories ranging between 750 words and a 104,000 word novel.

These threads are not new. These days the primary reason is the suspected use of AI. Five years ago, it was mostly underage and non-con rejections, followed by grammar and punctuation.

Pretty much, yes.

How long does/did an edit take, i'v waited 10 days now and it's starting to grind me.

 

[TheLobster]

How long does/did an edit take, i'v waited 10 days now and it's starting to grind me.

Edits easily take 3+ weeks to land. They are low priority.

 

[rockybal]

[No personal attacks or trolling - including creating accounts for this specific purpose. Heated discussions are fine, even welcome. However, personally attacking / kink-shaming a fellow author or reader is not allowed within the Author's Hangout. Threads which devolve into the exchanging of insults will be closed and repeat offenders will be given a timeout, per the AH rules.]

 

[PennyThompson]

@AwkwardMD don't say it, your liver begs you!!

 

[SimonDoom]

@AwkwardMD don't say it, your liver begs you!!

This is thoughtful of you. I volunteer to d@@@@ in AwkwardMDs place.

 

[ronde]

I do not have the history of most of the responders, but over the last months I have watched the steady drumbeat of threads of rejection or slow notification.

I agree that there has to be an automated system doing a first check. And that she reads, at least scan reads, each first submission. The automated system kicks things out for human review; if it didn't, the rejections would come much faster. My guess is that the keyword scan shows paragraphs (or something similar) to her for final judgement. That she occasionally misreads a paragraph about scotch should be expected. I suspect the AI checker is the same, an automated scan to flag suspicious entries with a reread by her as the final judge. I suspect ones that get stuck are cases where she set something aside trying to make a judgment and forgot about it, which is why a PM will unfreeze it.

I have never exchanged messages with Laurel and only know what has been said here. But I have come to assume that this is her baby, the rules are hers and she does not trust anyone else with their interpretation. I have founded multiple companies and know lots of other founders. That feeling of ownership is the norm. And should be even stronger with a site like this.

In my experience, the time to publish hasn't changed much since 2001. All but one of my stories has been published within 3 days unless I've screwed up something. The corrections to that screwup still take only 1-2 days. I've had one story that was still unpublished after a week. That was during a contest. I sent Laurel a PM asking her to please look at my story when she had time. It was published the next day. I've not seen a big difference relative to the length of the story.

I have had several exchanges with Laurel over the years and have read on this forum about the exchanges others have experienced. Those have proven three things to me.

Any rejections I've experienced have happened within a day. That would indicate to me that Laurel is using some type of software to weed out the obvious problems such as the ability to put the story into the Literotica page format or some violation of the site rules. It's actually pretty good software. I misplaced a quotation mark in a couple stories and they were rejected because there was no clear definition of the end of the dialogue. Having moderated a similar site, I can state this is really important. I rejected numerous stories that consisted of a thousand words with no punctuation and no paragraph breaks.

Messages containing complaints about how Laurel runs Literotica will never receive a response of any type. I don't think she has the time nor the inclination to stroke egos.

Messages containing a polite, maturely stated request will not always result in an answering correspondence, but will result in an action taken to resolve the issue.

So, to those who think their story is being held back for some unstated reason, play nice and accept the fact that your story isn't the most important thing in the world to anybody except for you. Also accept the fact that until you've proven yourself to be an author who respects the rules, your stories might get a little more scrutiny than those of some other authors.

 

[Voboy]

[No personal attacks or trolling - including creating accounts for this specific purpose. Heated discussions are fine, even welcome. However, personally attacking / kink-shaming a fellow author or reader is not allowed within the Author's Hangout. Threads which devolve into the exchanging of insults will be closed and repeat offenders will be given a timeout, per the AH rules.]

Okay. You're more than welcome not to stay around here, then.

The one time I had to talk to Laurel about a disputed story of mine was... maybe seven years ago? She was responsive, gracious, and professional. I seriously doubt she reads all the stories; she didn't seem to have a clue what I was talking about when I reached her, but took my input and made a decision quickly.

 

[ShelbyDawn57]

Messages containing complaints about how Laurel runs Literotica will never receive a response of any type. I don't think she has the time nor the inclination to stroke egos.

But she will respond if you're polite and she has a moment. I received this from her when I reached out for an issue with my profile header image not too long ago.

 

[AwkwardMD]

This is thoughtful of you. I volunteer to d@@@@ in AwkwardMDs place.

 

[TheRedLantern]

My understanding is Manu is not involved with story aspect of the site at all, he's the tech side of things.

Tip of the hat to Manu, then. The site runs smoothly and quickly despite having to deliver a lot of content at a pretty substantial scale. Also the Control Panel gives a lot of power to authors in a set of utilities that's very, very usable as a publishing tool.

Just storing all the text for the stories, never mind the forums, conversations, and comments ... I hope he tells us how he did it one day.

 

[MelissaBaby]

But she will respond if you're polite and she has a moment. I received this from her when I reached out for an issue with my profile header image not too long ago.

View attachment 2550394

That's been my experience as well. I have probably contacted her a dozen times over the years and she has always been polite and responsive. I thought maybe I was just teachers pet.

 

[FifthEstate]

I received this response a few years ago from the Kitty Mama, it solidified my belief in who they are and what they’re about:

 

[Comshaw]

My stories usually take about 3-4 business days until they are posted or rejected. This site must get hundreds per day. And then there are the pictures that may take a lot longer. Surely Manu and Laurel can't see and vet all that content? Is there a crew of paid or volunteer readers/viewers? Or are there A.I. bots that scan stories and pix for no nos and report to the boss? Having to read a few dozen smutty stories a day could really put one off erotica.

The thing is many here have purported to know how the vetting process for stories works. There have been numerous postulating, pontificating, theorizing thread done on this subject. Yet none actually knows for sure because none of us has ever gotten a peek behind the curtain. And yet everybody has a guess as to how it's done.

Mine? I think Laura has a crew to do the initial vetting. Paid, unpaid? I have no idea about that, but from my meager observations, even with AI program support, one person can not handle the daily influx of stories they process on this site. The only way I can see it getting done is a person (probably one for each category) checking the stories and accepting or rejecting them. If it's rejected and the author asks for a review, I believe it then goes to Laura for a final say.

Do I have any proof for any of that? Only the same tiny crumbs the rest of ya'll do. It's just my WAG on how it works.

Comshaw

 

[PennyThompson]

The thing is many here have purported to know how the vetting process for stories works. There have been numerous postulating, pontificating, theorizing thread done on this subject. Yet none actually knows for sure because none of us has ever gotten a peek behind the curtain. And yet everybody has a guess as to how it's done.

Mine? I think Laura has a crew to do the initial vetting. Paid, unpaid? I have no idea about that, but from my meager observations, even with AI program support, one person can not handle the daily influx of stories they process on this site. The only way I can see it getting done is a person (probably one for each category) checking the stories and accepting or rejecting them. If it's rejected and the author asks for a review, I believe it then goes to Laura for a final say.

Do I have any proof for any of that? Only the same tiny crumbs the rest of ya'll do. It's just my WAG on how it works.

Comshaw

It does feel like some story categories seem to process and publish stories faster than other categories, which would be a point in your theory's favor...

On the other hand, what are the odds that a dozen or so Secret Story Vetters would be able to operate in the Lit shadows for 20-some years without any of them bragging about it?

 

[Comshaw]

It does feel like some story categories seem to process and publish stories faster than other categories, which would be a point in your theory's favor...

On the other hand, what are the odds that a dozen or so Secret Story Vetters would be able to operate in the Lit shadows for 20-some years without any of them bragging about it?

Yeah, you might be right. There should have been at least one puff-chested story vetting strutter amounst 'em.

Comshaw

 

[StillStunned]

On the other hand, what are the odds that a dozen or so Secret Story Vetters would be able to operate in the Lit shadows for 20-some years without any of them bragging about it?

They could recruit them from their local old people's home. Give the wrinklies something exciting to do with their time, and zero likelihood of them posting about it online.

 

[lovecraft68]

Yeah, you might be right. There should have been at least one puff-chested story vetting strutter amounst 'em.

Comshaw

Never heard a rumor of multiple vetters, although it could explain the inconsistency in rejections. But one person giving a bare skim and not reading enough for context could be as well.

The biggest rumors I've heard, one I'm 99% positive is true meaning its an awful thing, is one of the worst trolls in AH history was actually part of the site.

A long time member here works for the site, but nothing nefarious, just seems more and more a badly kept secret.

Bonus rumor for who the AH mod is and ironically the person who I think is, is never one that's mentioned.

 

[Erozetta]

It does feel like some story categories seem to process and publish stories faster than other categories, which would be a point in your theory's favor...

On the other hand, what are the odds that a dozen or so Secret Story Vetters would be able to operate in the Lit shadows for 20-some years without any of them bragging about it?

I'd do it. Quietly sitting in the shadows and getting shit done without acknowledgement is basically my regular job.