how does it work ?

[erialfor]

The FAQ doesn't really answer my question, and the chat seems to be full of no-keyboards, so I was hoping you guys can help me.
If I want to publish a story, do I first send my story to an editor, and then when (s)he's done (s)he sends it back to me. Like via private message ? How do you know the editor is not going to publish it as their own (somewhere else)?
I am sure I need an editor !

 

[Edey]

If you are an English native speaker I would not wait for an editor, as it can be lengthy process, believe me...
It's not obligatory to have every story edited first, before publishing.

 

[erialfor]

Off-putting :/

Thanks for your honest reply.

 

[Edey]

Off-putting :/

Thanks for your honest reply.

No problem. I didn't want to take away your hopes, though... There is always a chance...
Maybe if your story has some interesting kink it would get attention of some editor?

 

[Todger65]

you can try submitting it for publishing but if you are not sure whether it is ready or not, be prepared to get a reject.

Normally most editors will as for the story to be sent by email, either as a document, or some will accept it copied and pasted into an email. Some may use the private mail system but it’s a personal choice.

Best option if you wish an editor is to post a request in this forum, stating word count, the category you will submit it under, and a very short synopsis of the story. Bear in mind not everyone will edit every subject.

Best of luck whatever you choose.

 

[erialfor]

It's rather lengthy so its not going to be easy to find one, I imagine. I'll have to translate, if I do that and no editor comes along it's going to be bad for me. First things first though..Alright, thanks for the help.

 

[MarieWriter]

What do you mean by translate? If you are translating something to English then yes there will be a lot of clean up work... And, Sorry, not to be contentious with eraj, but if you are a beginning writer, an editor will most likely be very beneficial. He is right however on locating an editor, that might be an issue, But at least trying and/or giving your story a solid edit could be the difference between posted or rejected, and if posted, higher ratings vs. lower ratings.

 

[Edey]

Sorry, not to be contentious with eraj, but if you are a beginning writer, an editor will most likely be very beneficial. He is right however on locating an editor, that might be an issue, But at least trying and/or giving your story a solid edit could be the difference between posted or rejected, and if posted, higher ratings vs. lower ratings.

Well, I totally agree, any editor is very welcomed, but I separate what is welcomed and needed from... what is a reality...

My reality look like this:
I searched for an editor already for the entire month and failed to find even one for my new story.
I'm already at people who were last active in January.

Yes, I have a story from the Gay Male category and that alone decreases my chances. Yes, I am not a native English speaker, so another hit. By definition – people run away – expecting a big workload.
But it's just sad and disappointing to be rejected over and over, you know what I mean?
Being gay (or rather preferring to write about gay stuff) and being non-native speaker lowered my chances here to almost 0.

I even sent messages (in desperation) to some people who have different preferred categories, but they only responded:
"Oh, I'm so sorry, dear, but I'm heterosexual, so... i do not read gay stuff..."

Forgive my bitter tone, I understand – that these people do it for free and for fun. They don't want stuff that is not within their kinks and they have the right.
But my only sadness is that writing in different categories and not being European, would grant my much grater chances of finding editor. So, I don't want to discourage @erialfor from looking for editor - but just informing, that it can be difficult. Better not to have too high hopes It will not be that painful when the disappointment finally happen.

 

[MarieWriter]

eraj, I am NOT saying your experience is not real, I am saying that an editor for a non-English speaking writer, and or a new writer is a big deal, and while i understand that they are hard to come by, that doesn't change the reality that they are needed or at the least very helpful for newer writers or writers who translate into a second language. Do you HAVE to use one, no, of course not, but then the rejections for posting have a tendency to be the other reality.

 

[Edey]

eraj, I am NOT saying your experience is not real, I am saying that an editor for a non-English speaking writer, and or a new writer is a big deal, and while i understand that they are hard to come by, that doesn't change the reality that they are needed or at the least very helpful for newer writers or writers who translate into a second language. Do you HAVE to use one, no, of course not, but then the rejections for posting have a tendency to be the other reality.

But I agree with everything you said...
That would be wonderful – to find an editor, especially being non-native speakers.
That would be wonderful – to find an editor, especially being first time authors.
That would be wonderful – to find an editor, especially writing in less popular category.
But it's just NOT very likely to happen that often.
You may get lucky after sending 40 messages. I sometimes got lucky.
What I tried to do is just warn @erialfor not to expect too much.
I'm not saying that an editor is generally not needed.

I hope I clarified it now.

 

[MarieWriter]

we are not opposed to each other on this ..

 

[dmallord]

The FAQ doesn't really answer my question, and the chat seems to be full of no-keyboards, so I was hoping you guys can help me.
If I want to publish a story, do I first send my story to an editor, and then when (s)he's done (s)he sends it back to me. Like via private message ? How do you know the editor is not going to publish it as their own (somewhere else)?
I am sure I need an editor !

I read the replies posted to your inquiry about procedures. Your responses show a good command of English. If your stories are as well translated, then you should submit them. The worst that can happen is you get a rejection that lets you know you should contact an editor. After your story gets that level of review you can resubmit for posting again. Rejections are not a one and done thing on Lit. You can work and rework it until it achieves a successful structural level by Laurel. She is the ultimate approval source. First time writers can expect their stories to take about five days or so to post or be returned for editing. Once established the posting times can vary from two to four days, most of the time, not always true when contests are underway.

First, i'd suggest comparing your translation to a story in your selected genre. If the structures sound similar than post the story and see what happens. I've read a comment from a guru level writer that suggests putting a comment at the beginning of your story letting readers know that you are not a native English speaker and that they might note that in your story as they read it. It gives the readers a heads up as to why the language translation might be off just a bit. The Lit guru notes that note might make readers more forgiving of the language nuances that are off, just a bit. [I've read some other writers works that clearly showed English was a second language and they were still posted successfully. Lit seems to inspect capitalization, punctuation, quotations, and spelling but not so much the nuances of language structures.]

Secondly, if you see your story needs some help look for an editor, again. There are various types of editors on Lit. Some are just structural others are content. I know one editor who might help with your structure. Take a look at kenjisato's profile; he may have time to help. Send a PM to kenjisato and ask him. Tell him your background, your theme, your story length, and see if he can help you out. He is an excellent grammarian, patient, and has a quick turn around time (three/four days usually). English is my native language, but he makes me blush over my grammar faults. His editing has helped improve my writing in more that fifteen stories now. He is good.

Thirdly, with regard to stealing your work, there are no guarantees someone will not steal it. It doesn't have to be a editor by the way that does that. There are people who come here, rip stories off and post them as their own elsewhere. Some are on paid sites. The FORUM has articles about that, your can search for the threads to see how frequently that is done. I have some on a Russian website! Other people have found their works on Amazon under another's name. Post here as though your work is going out to charity - for free - under an anonymous writer's name! ;-)

Mechanics: Most editors receive documents via an email account as an attachment. You need to ask the editor what document forms they accept: MS Word, etc

Welcome to Lit. Have at it!

dmallord

 

[erialfor]

Yes, Marie, I have to translate them to the English language.

I hope you will find an editor for your stories, eraj. With 11 posted stories this year it doesn't seem to be that bad, though? How did translating the stories go? Is it better perhaps to start writing in English and not your native language, so you don't have to translate anymore? It might go too slow then? Also there are 26711 stories in the gay male genre, it seems to be quite popular. The stories I want to post is father-daughter. Incest is the most popular with 58487 stories. That's a lot of stories!


Letting the readers know I'm not a native speaker before they start reading it, is a good idea. I've seen it mentioned beforehand on Lit stories, and in my opinion their stories were really great.
The idea of submitting my story is one I like. Even if it gets rejected, I will know it needs improvement. Nothing ventured, nothing gained is how I see it. Thanks for the advice about that editor. First I will have to see if I can translate it , I quote you here ''Lit seems to inspect capitalization, punctuation, quotations, and spelling'' - yes, and they are different in English. But after reading some stories here, I think I understand them better now.
If there's one thing I learned, it's the excessive use of commas !! We don't do that in my language. But then again I have been searching on the internet and found this website:
https://www.grammarly.com/blog/comma/
And it seems, that maybe, they use them too often. I don't mean this is a cocky way, I only wish to say that that is what confused me the most. Like in the sentence : ''In writing, though, there’s usually no reason to add this pause.'' You'd think that if you read it (out loud) you would read it like this ''In writing though, there's usually no reason to add this pause''. Anyway not here to start a discussion on that, it's just funny to me, in a good way.

Your stories are on a Russian website? I already had a feeling I recognized them! (just kidding!).

I feel very welcome here, Thank You All!

 

[Martles]

How long should I expect to wait for an editor to decide or give feedback on a story I’ve submitted?

First time I have submitted on here.

Mart

 

[ElectricBlue]

How long should I expect to wait for an editor to decide or give feedback on a story I’ve submitted?

First time I have submitted on here.

Mart

You should have agreed that with a volunteer editor up front.

It will depend on the length of the story, and what you wanted the editor to do.

But wait, are you talking about submitting a story to the site? If so, for a newbie, expect to wait about a week.

 

[Martles]

OK, thanks, its been published now anyway.