Edited Story

[CrissySnow]

I wanted to delete my story and just repost it but there's an edit option instead. I can't find my question here on Lit or the forum but when you have an edited story does it show up as new? Or does it replace the old text and nothing else? I wanted to have it show up as new because the story is updated and has been edited. There aren't any new chapters but it has been extended quite a few pages and the grammar has been tweaked to better suit the story. Please let me know any useful info helps!

 

[MSTarot]

I just did this with two of mine. Edit will simply replace the existing story. It does not show up on the new board.

 

[Darkniciad]

If you want it to show up as a new story again, you'll need to delete the original and then submit the updated version.

I would advise leaving a note at the top for readers saying it's an expanded and revised version of the original story. You can get rather harsh commentary from readers when you repost a story.

Some with imperfect memories may even accuse you of plagiarizing your own story.

Here's the editing method for Lit, which covers deleting and a plethora of other questions.

• Take note of the url of your story/chapter. That's the address appearing in the address bar of your browser when you view the first page of your story. You really only need the last part after the /s/ that represents your title.
• Start a new submission.
• Use the same title as the original ( or as much as will fit ) plus something such as *EDIT*
• Fill in the same category, then fill description and keywords with placeholders, as they don't matter. ( Unless one of these things are what you're editing )
• If editing the story text, paste/upload the new text in the "story text" section. You need to upload the whole story, not just the edited sections. If editing anything else, copy the "notes" section detailed below in order to fill this section.
• In the "notes" section, say what you are editing. If story text, then put that. If title, then put the requested NEW title here. You can fill in edited descriptions/keywords/category above, but you'll still want to list any such changes here. It's a good idea to list the url that I mentioned in step 1. This is unique to every story/chapter, and can help eliminate the potential for human error. As mentioned above, if you are editing something other than the story text, copy what you put in the notes section to the "story text" as well. This is simply because there must be something in that section for you to submit.
• Click "Review", then "Submit"

Edits are subject to the same wait time as a new story. Laurel has said that edit requests have low priority, but I have also seen edits go up in bulk in far less time than a story usually requires to post, though. So, it could be shorter, or it could be longer than the normal wait for a story to post.

Edits will not appear on the public side immediately. Wait at least 24 hours after the "edited" submission vanishes from your private author list before worrying that your changes haven't been applied. Changes may not all appear at the same time, either. Page 1 may change, while page 2 will remain the same until an hour or so later. Be patient as the system catches up.

If you edit the story in this manner ( as opposed to deleting and re-submitting ) you'll retain your votes, views, comments, etc. The only thing that will be changed is what you say that you want changed. It will not appear on the New List again.

If you wish to delete a story, use much the same method, except put something such as *DELETE* in the title, and say that you want to delete the story in question in the "notes" section.

If you wish to delete all of your stories, an entire series, etc., then use the normal delete process, but explain in the "notes" section that you want to do a mass delete, and what type.

Convoluted, but it does work. It gets a little easier as you get used to it.