First-Time Submission - Is one week enough time for "Pending"?

[ApolloWritesSmut]

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[AlinaX]

Maybe hang on a couple of days yet.

 

[Brutal_One]

You will get a response one way or another. The hope of course is it gets published. Unless you fall afoul of the no no’s which are a few and you have decent paragraph spacing, it should get the acceptance.

For reference as an existing published writer my latest new story was only about 2 days. So once you are ‘established’ the approval time to publish will reduce accordingly.

Brutal One.

 

[TarnishedPenny]

I'd agree with AlinaX. Wait a couple, then PM Laurel.

 

[ElectricBlue]

Yes, patience, grasshopper.

There's an anthology just been loaded, which could have taken priority. It'll get there.

 

[ApolloWritesSmut]

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[EarlyMorningLight]

Weird. I’m also a first timer and mine went through in 3 days.

 

[RowanWrites]

Yeah, my experience has been about 3 days right now, also new. I might PM Laurel as others have noted. Waiting a few more days doesn't hurt, in that it shows you gave them plenty of time, but it sounds like something fell through the cracks. One thing I have noticed is if the content is super edgy *and* it's part 1 of a series, they might wait to see where it goes in part 2 before giving it the nod. I *think* that's what happened with my first chapter, anyway. Anyway... another data point for you.

 

[JuanSeiszFitzHall]

Hey, all! Long-time lurker and (hopefully) soon-to-be contributor to this site.

From what I've been able to gather, I understand it's one person fielding multiple submissions per day and first-time users usually get scrutinized more closely than frequent contributors, but is one week the point where I should perhaps reach out to someone to see what's going on?

My work was submitted via a .docx, a lil' over 3000 words, and had special formatting (bolds and italics) so I know that adds to the time it takes.

Not trying to be impatient, just wondering where the threshold is when I should try and see if something went wrong or what.

Thanks in advance!

I recall when I started three years ago, Lit specified that earlier MS Word (doc) was preferred. So I've always saved from docx to doc before submitting. I don't know if doc is still preferred. Nonetheless, you should keep waiting, because trying to change something in a story already submitted, I have seen stated here many times, will send the story to the back of the queue, and the process will start over from scratch.

 

[Mindandbody]

I’m in a similar quandary. I submitted the first part of my story on the 10th May and still nothing, not even a view on the pending story. I’ve sent a message to support via the link but nothing heard from that either. It is a long story 25,000 words is that a problem? I didn’t see a word limit but would this need additional time? Should I break it down into shorter chunks?

Any suggestions?

M&B

 

[TarnishedPenny]

The length should not be an issue. 17 days is a long time. I would suggest you PM the owner, Laurel, and ask.

 

[Mal_Bey]

When one says "PM Laurel", precisely what is meant? Last week, I hit my "week plus" on a pair of stories I have in my pending queue. I sent a request to her through the "start conversation" feature here on the forum, and I have not heard back.

 

[TarnishedPenny]

When one says "PM Laurel", precisely what is meant? Last week, I hit my "week plus" on a pair of stories I have in my pending queue. I sent a request to her through the "start conversation" feature here on the forum, and I have not heard back.

That’s it. I’d try it again and, if nothing happens, try asking in the Tech forum.

The site changed much of the system some months ago. The Private Message system used to work fine; I cannot speak to it since then.

 

[Mal_Bey]

Thanks for the help! I'll give it a spin and see what happens. I wasn't sure if there was a workflow I didn't see, or something that Laurel preferred.

 

[ElectricBlue]

Thanks for the help! I'll give it a spin and see what happens. I wasn't sure if there was a workflow I didn't see, or something that Laurel preferred.

She generally will not respond to your message, but your story suddenly might move to publication. Or you will get a rejection notice, one or the other.

 

[Seadog777]

People who are publishing for the first time, tend to take longer to get their story up.

It took almost 7 days for my first story to be put up.

Once Laurel gets used to seeing your name and your writing style, your stories will be put up much faster.

Anymore, my stories go from "pending" to "new" within 24 hours.

Remember this.....ALWAYS DOUBLE SPACE!!! She is an absolute stickler about that. LOL.

 

[Rustyoznail]

Remember this.....ALWAYS DOUBLE SPACE!!! She is an absolute stickler about that. LOL.

Well, I don't know about that, but a wall of text will get bounced. As it should...

 

[Mal_Bey]

She generally will not respond to your message, but your story suddenly might move to publication. Or you will get a rejection notice, one or the other.

That is all I need. I wasn't expecting anything more, like a invite to party at the Literotica Mansion... B-)

People who are publishing for the first time, tend to take longer to get their story up.

It took almost 7 days for my first story to be put up.

Once Laurel gets used to seeing your name and your writing style, your stories will be put up much faster.

Anymore, my stories go from "pending" to "new" within 24 hours.

Even though this is my third story, I'm afraid I will always get the "new guy" treatment, just because I don't write that fast. It has been 18 months since my last submittal, and five years beyond that for my first one. The only reason I have two in the queue is my previous story did well enough (4.75) that it inspired me to follow the characters further in a longer work. I applied for a name change to that story so that it could be closer associated with the new work. But that request is hitting three weeks, and the new work is almost two. I just need to shake it out of wherever it is stuck.

Mal_Bey

 

[ElectricBlue]

I applied for a name change to that story so that it could be closer associated with the new work. But that request is hitting three weeks, and the new work is almost two. I just need to shake it out of wherever it is stuck.

Mal_Bey

When you say that, how did you do it?

The best way would have been to submit the next parts "First Story Title Ch.2" And "First Story Title Ch.3" - the site automatically joins the stories together. Although if the first part is five years old, I can't imagine anyone checking out the original - that's a very long gap.

 

[Mal_Bey]

When you say that, how did you do it?

I will refer you to this other thread.

https://forum.literotica.com/threads/merging-published-stories.1566316/

My first story from 5 years ago is unrelated. I wrote my second story as a one-off 18 months ago, "Gifts Honestly Given" in EC. Though I thought I was done with those characters, they wouldn't leave me alone. I came up with a good way to bring the characters back together, and started my current tale, The Gifted Student, Ch. 1. Since it is going to be multipart, and not category consistent, I submitted under Novels/Novellas. When I learned I could change the name/category of "Gifts Honestly Given" as above, I wanted to associate it with the new stories. Since new stuff is all from when the main protagonist heads off to college, and the older story isn't really set up that way, I renamed "Gifts Honestly Given" as "The Gifted Student, Ch. 0 - A Prelude," and moved it into N/N as well. Chapter 0 and Chapter 1 are written to stand alone, so if you don't read the prelude, no big deal.

EDIT: Blue, Sorry, I just realized it was you who gave me the advice in the other thread. <looks embarrassed>.