How do I handle rejection by the Literotica team? *sob*

[Nathan_Brazil]

Op

Has anyone suggested that maybe you post your story elsewhere?

There are other, less picky, sites.

 

[AZMotherLover]

It's a shame your fetish isn't respected here. You should look elswhere to post your work.

 

[AshenGirl]

I completely forgot to answer here: I did eventually have my story accepted! I altered several scenes (perhaps too much?), but hopefully the plot still makes sense. (It's the The Carrington Witch story linked to in my signature.)

To all who supported me: thanks and hugs!

All's well that ends well, I guess.

 

[ElectricBlue]

I suspect it was your sacrifice scene at the end of section 7 that was the cause of the original rejection, not the forced orgasms and such. If that scene was more extreme in the first draft, it would have triggered Laurel's 'never combine sex and death' rule (even if the story was clearly about a witch). The rest of the story was relatively mild, I would have thought (certainly when compared to some of the depravity and violence you get elsewhere on Lit.)

But a knife in the heart is always a knife in the heart.

I don't know what you rewrote, but if you toned that action down, it worked - you got it through on a second read. I can't see how what is now written detracts in any way from your story.

And in future, perhaps be prepared to let some of your words go? Every one is precious, I know that, but you can always write more! Keep writing, that's for sure.

 

[ishtat]

I'm afraid a rewrite would totally wreck it. But thanks.

It almost certainly would not wreck it if done skillfully.

You might even improve the story if you shifted it from actual violence and degradation to fear and terror of it. Implied violence and fear of potential harm, is generally more effective in writing than a description of the actual events. A blow by blow description is the approach of a scriptwriter perhaps, rather than a fiction writer - the former to be seen, the latter to be imagined.

But if it's actual violence/degradation which gets you off fine - and you knew Laurel's guidelines. And to your credit you aren't bitching about them

 

[curl4ever]

I completely forgot to answer here: I did eventually have my story accepted! I altered several scenes (perhaps too much?), but hopefully the plot still makes sense. (It's the The Carrington Witch story linked to in my signature.)

To all who supported me: thanks and hugs!

All's well that ends well, I guess.

Great news!
Glad you persisted.


- curl

 

[NOIRTRASH]

LAUREL is no glutton for violence. I get rejected for two basic problems: too much violence and coloring outside the lines with innovations. She likes vanilla composition without bloodbaths. I don't quarrel or argue with her about her policies.

 

[lovecraft68]

LAUREL is no glutton for violence. I get rejected for two basic problems: too much violence and coloring outside the lines with innovations. She likes vanilla composition without bloodbaths. I don't quarrel or argue with her about her policies.

Laurel has no qualm with violence (as long as its not sexual) I have a couple where I lost count of how many bodies hit the floor and they went through fine.

 

[NOIRTRASH]

Laurel has no qualm with violence (as long as its not sexual) I have a couple where I lost count of how many bodies hit the floor and they went through fine.

Not me. I hadda pare a few bodies.

 

[HandsInTheDark]

Not me. I hadda pare a few bodies.

I had a story in which a woman goes totally psycho (in fairness, she was pushed into it), forces orgasms on guys and then kills them. In a climatic scene she undergoes a mental collapse, attacks an affectionate couple and arranges to have a woman raped (it's a mind control story and she's controlling the male), and then kills the male bloodily while the raped girl is forced to watch.

It's bloody and grotesque. You'd think if any story would have gotten bounced, this one would have. But it sailed straight through with, as far as I know, never a question. (This convinces me that sometimes Laurel does carefully read stories.)

It worked because despite the blood bath and the rape, there's 1) nothing even slightly erotic about the sex or deaths themselves and 2) the psycho's actions were utterly intrinsic to the plot. The story is ultimately (in about the saddest way possible) HEA and the psycho finds much-needed and deserved redemption and salvation in the end.

Bottom line, what I think sets Laurel off is the *glorification* of deadly violence as a sexual kink for its own sake. You can murder, even cruelly and in sexual situations, if you make it unerotic (trivial to do) and there's justice in the end. LC would be writing revenge stories so I can see why there would be some grace dealt; JBJ goes for noir and I can see why it could get a tougher eye. In noir, life is cheap.

 

[lovecraft68]

I had a story in which a woman goes totally psycho (in fairness, she was pushed into it), forces orgasms on guys and then kills them. In a climatic scene she undergoes a mental collapse, attacks an affectionate couple and arranges to have a woman raped (it's a mind control story and she's controlling the male), and then kills the male bloodily while the raped girl is forced to watch.

It's bloody and grotesque. You'd think if any story would have gotten bounced, this one would have. But it sailed straight through with, as far as I know, never a question. (This convinces me that sometimes Laurel does carefully read stories.)

It worked because despite the blood bath and the rape, there's 1) nothing even slightly erotic about the sex or deaths themselves and 2) the psycho's actions were utterly intrinsic to the plot. The story is ultimately (in about the saddest way possible) HEA and the psycho finds much-needed and deserved redemption and salvation in the end.

Bottom line, what I think sets Laurel off is the *glorification* of deadly violence as a sexual kink for its own sake. You can murder, even cruelly and in sexual situations, if you make it unerotic (trivial to do) and there's justice in the end. LC would be writing revenge stories so I can see why there would be some grace dealt; JBJ goes for noir and I can see why it could get a tougher eye. In noir, life is cheap.

Not that I'm questioning your story, but the flip side is that laurel reads and screens very little and that had she read yours-and others-closely-it may not have made it here.

Over the years I have seen a lot of 'shaming threads' someone finds an under age or flat out rape story and reports it and nothing happens then they start a thread, link it, others look at it, see how bad it is and become outraged on the thread and the story then vanishes from lit.

Laurel does not have time to closely read much and when she does I think she focuses on newer authors she's not sure about. Once you get to where you've been here a bit I think she gives benefit of the doubt that we follow the rules.

Brutal over erotic will usually pass, but its such a fine line one never knows and again I tend to think a lot of stuff is flown through here with barely a glance.

 

[NOIRTRASH]

Not that I'm questioning your story, but the flip side is that laurel reads and screens very little and that had she read yours-and others-closely-it may not have made it here.

Over the years I have seen a lot of 'shaming threads' someone finds an under age or flat out rape story and reports it and nothing happens then they start a thread, link it, others look at it, see how bad it is and become outraged on the thread and the story then vanishes from lit.

Laurel does not have time to closely read much and when she does I think she focuses on newer authors she's not sure about. Once you get to where you've been here a bit I think she gives benefit of the doubt that we follow the rules.

Brutal over erotic will usually pass, but its such a fine line one never knows and again I tend to think a lot of stuff is flown through here with barely a glance.

Sure. She's busy and the cat jumps all kinds of ways. Resisting her policies aint my style, I wanna color inside the lines. When I color inside the lines I'm no troll, like me or don't. I don't quarrel or look for loop-holes or go outta my way to make trouble (it doesnt save me), I just wanna know where lines are.

 

[Wifetheif]

rejection

I have 159 stories on literotica I still get the occasional rejection. My last one was a copyright issue of the Wonder Woman character. I rewrote te story so that you know it is her but without any copyright issues. Bad grammar, bad formatting and a consistent misspelling got me rejected. Grammarly from google helps enormously

 

[Ewobbit]

I figure what it comes down to OP is the question of why you write.

I forget who it was but some big name author once said "Don't try to write unless you can't do anything else." It may have been Rita Mae Brown, but I'm not at all certain about that. Or even if that quote is a quote or a paraphrase.

But, when I write, I write because I can't help but tell the story. Sometimes the story sucks. Sometimes my telling of it sucks. Sometimes it all comes together and people tell me they like it.

Frankly, I've learned to take the likes with just as big a helping of salt as the dislikes. It may be that they just found my tale of a little tail on a day when it hit them just right and if they'd found it a week later, they wouldn't have cared for it.

Since I first joined Literotica, I've written a couple thousand stories. Some that I thought were worth a crap, I've submitted. Some that I've submitted that Laurel thought was worth a crap, she's even accepted and posted.

I do, however, remember my first. I wrote it specifically for a contest here on Literotica (Halloween if you need specifics). I went through FOUR editors and made the changes they recommended. And it was rejected.

I was disgusted. I mean, What the fuck? Over.

I didn't submit again for a year. Then, a month before the contest, I rewrote the damn thing from a different perspective. I didn't bother any editors but did my own proof-reading. I mean, if four didn't help last time, what was the fucking point? Right?

It was accepted. It didn't place, but it got quite a few votes and some comments.

I wrote another one and it was accepted. And voted on. And commented on.

I wrote another one. It was accepted. And voted on. And commented on.

And then I got to thinking. You know what? It's just fucking dumb to spend hours and even days to get a story written that will then take maybe ten minutes or thirty at the outside for someone to read over and then hinge my entire sense of well being on whether they like it enough to post it on their site, like it enough to vote, like it enough to take their hand out of their pants for TWO FUCKING MINUTES to write a comment.

And that's when I really started to enjoy the process of writing. If it wasn't accepted, so be it. I've got another. If it got low votes or bad comments, so be it. I've got another I'm already working on. Why? Because I want to tell the story. And I want to tell it my fucking way. That's why.

If you've got a story to tell, tell it. If Laurel doesn't want to hang it in her house, it's her house, she doesn't have to. If readers don't bother to vote or give it a 1, try to learn something if possible. If they vote it a five, don't take it to heart. It's a free site, they weren't looking for Chaucer. If they leave dumbshit comments that are just this side of illegible, and don't give you anything you can actually improve, ignore them. If they give you a "This is fucking awesome!" that doesn't tell you how to improve, ignore them too.

Write because you damn well want to and want to get better at writing. Or find something else that you can enjoy. 'Cause it's a damn hard job to do for free just for the hope of getting "published" sans pay except for some ephemeral votes and kudos.

Peace and joy upon your path whichever you choose.

 

[MSTarot]

October before last I got a story rejected for being "snuff"

The story was from the point of view of a pumpkin who had just been carved into a jack-o-lantern.

So rejected: vegetable snuff porn.

 

[TxRad]

Close to 220 stories and none were rejected by Laurel. Now, the readers on the other hand....

 

[MarkoAaron]

My story was rejected today. It was also my first story. After 3 days of pending, my excitement was bubbling! I felt a great amount of disappointment when I saw rejected.

I gave up on the story, entirely. Being rejected, made me feel the story was worthless and I as well.

I write for my own pleasure. If I can't get a story of mine shared, then oh well.
I respect Literotica for posting quality work, I'm still an amateur, but I'm not giving up yet.

I have another story in the works. Just hoping for the best.

 

[NotWise]

I have another story in the works. Just hoping for the best.

Don't just hope for the best.

You didn't say why Laurel said "No." You can either alter your story-telling to match Literotica standards or you can tell it some place else.

If you want to be a better writer then you might want to find a way to make it work here.

 

[MarkoAaron]

Don't just hope for the best.

You didn't say why Laurel said "No." You can either alter your story-telling to match Literotica standards or you can tell it some place else.

If you want to be a better writer then you might want to find a way to make it work here.

Punctuation in the quotes, and it asked if I spelled everything correctly.

My punctuation was probably my downfall, I proofread and made sure there were no grammatical errors. But there must have been something that wasn't correct. The story wasn't anything bad, no non-con, snuff or violence.

I felt no anger when it was rejected. Just felt bad that my first attempt, failed.

 

[NotWise]

Punctuation in the quotes, and it asked if I spelled everything correctly.

Given that result, maybe you should use an editor for your next attempt.

 

[MarkoAaron]

Given that result, maybe you should use an editor for your next attempt.

Agreed. I just joined the site a day or two before New Years and the story was already done.

I'm gonna check the editor's section when I finish or nearly finish my story.

 

[AshenGirl]

Punctuation in the quotes, and it asked if I spelled everything correctly.

My punctuation was probably my downfall, I proofread and made sure there were no grammatical errors.

I got something similar on my first story: Literotica apparently has a standard for punctuation, where all punctuation needs to go inside quotation marks.

So, I put my text in an editor where all ", and ". where automatically replaced by ," and ." Took a few seconds. And then my story got through.

 

[NoJo]

I got rejected because the girls in the story were not 18, they were 16. So me and both kids got on the bus to Scotland and got married.

As a Brit posting here, I'm amused by the almost arbitrary submission guidelines, which are dictated, of course, not by Laurel, but by the Founding Fathers. Thank god they allowed bare arms.

 

[MarkoAaron]

I got something similar on my first story: Literotica apparently has a standard for punctuation, where all punctuation needs to go inside quotation marks.

So, I put my text in an editor where all ", and ". where automatically replaced by ," and ." Took a few seconds. And then my story got through.

I hope I can find a editor who would be nice enough to help me.