How long does it take for a story to be approved?

[MillieDynamite]

Can you even delete it while it's in the queue? If you can, and you resubmit it with the same title, I think they'd put it back at the very end of the line.

An edit would push it back. Just withdrawing it completely and resubmitting is different.

 

[pink_silk_glove]

Can you even delete it while it's in the queue? If you can, and you resubmit it with the same title, I think they'd put it back at the very end of the line.

I honestly don't know what would happen. No one does. But there is strong logic to the notion that if you delete something in the queue and resubmit same file completely anew, the system would see it as a brand new submission and therefore it would have a better chance of being in the 'normal' queue (you know, all those THOUSANDS of stories submitted after yet getting approved before ours) rather than just sitting on the purgatory back burner for who the hell knows with no answer at all from Laurel. Thankfully, I've never had to try this out but if I ever do have a submission sitting there for two weeks I damn well will since Laurel isn't going to help me. I'd rather get of my ass and try to get it done myself.

 

[krystalg]

But there is strong logic to the notion that if you delete something in the queue and resubmit same file completely anew, the system would see it as a brand new submission

This tracks. I was a story moderator for a couple of years on another site, and the database that holds everything doesn't "see" stories as titles. To the system, you've submitted story #123456987 (or whatever), and the title is another data-field/ characteristic of your submission. Why? Think of how many stories might share the same name. So, if you delete your story from the queue and resubmit, your story (123456987) is now story entry 156876988 or whatever next concurrent entry number it's assigned.

 

[ShelbyDawn57]

I honestly don't know what would happen. No one does. But there is strong logic to the notion that if you delete something in the queue and resubmit same file completely anew, the system would see it as a brand new submission and therefore it would have a better chance of being in the 'normal' queue (you know, all those THOUSANDS of stories submitted after yet getting approved before ours) rather than just sitting on the purgatory back burner for who the hell knows with no answer at all from Laurel. Thankfully, I've never had to try this out but if I ever do have a submission sitting there for two weeks I damn well will since Laurel isn't going to help me. I'd rather get of my ass and try to get it done myself.

Actually we do. I knew I'd seen this somewhere...From the FAQ:

Stories, poems, audio and other works are approved by date submitted, oldest to newest. Whenever an author makes any change to a story, poem, or audio - even if the author only clicks on the submission and hits Submit for Publication again - that submission is moved to the end of the moderation queue. To speed up the review and publication of your work, please only make changes when necessary.

 

[pink_silk_glove]

Actually we do. I knew I'd seen this somewhere...From the FAQ:

Stories, poems, audio and other works are approved by date submitted, oldest to newest. Whenever an author makes any change to a story, poem, or audio - even if the author only clicks on the submission and hits Submit for Publication again - that submission is moved to the end of the moderation queue. To speed up the review and publication of your work, please only make changes when necessary.

Then why do edited stories take waaay longer to get approved than stuff that gets submitted after it has been edited, often long after it? The answer is ... we don't know.

 

[ShelbyDawn57]

Then why do edited stories take waaay longer to get approved than stuff that gets submitted after it has been edited, often long after it? The answer is ... we don't know.

Again from the FAQ:

All story edits require manual review by the site moderators, a process which can take up to a week. Once approved by moderators, edited stories may take up to 48 hours to appear correctly on the site as story pages are regenerated on a timed schedule.

---

Depending on the extent of the edits, I'm guessing that week can expand just like the few days we're accustomed to for new submissions. But you are right, we really don't know as there are lots of variable we are not aware of that can impact any part of either process.

 

[pink_silk_glove]

Again from the FAQ:

All story edits require manual review by the site moderators, a process which can take up to a week. Once approved by moderators, edited stories may take up to 48 hours to appear correctly on the site as story pages are regenerated on a timed schedule.

---

Depending on the extent of the edits, I'm guessing that week can expand just like the few days we're accustomed to for new submissions. But you are right, we really don't know as there are lots of variable we are not aware of that can impact any part of either process.

Then by deleting and resubmitting anew, you bypass the manual review and therefore would make the process faster since obviously the bulk of stories do not get manual review.

 

[PapaRomantic]

The date of submission had no credence in my case - at least to me - because the second story I submitted was listed as published within 24 hours.

I have heard others say that they've had luck with the withdrawal (just don't get pregnant) and resubmit method, and this will be a perfect case for that. Once the second story hits the list tonight at midnight my time, I'll take the first one back and resubmit it and see what will happen.

It seems sometimes stories get lost. I want to help it be found.

 

[ShelbyDawn57]

Then by deleting and resubmitting anew, you bypass the manual review and therefore would make the process faster since obviously the bulk of stories do not get manual review.

But you still go to the back of the queue making your wait longer which means the best option is to wait until it’s been longer than a week and send a polite DM to Laurel so she knows there’s an issue.

 

[ElectricBlue]

Then why do edited stories take waaay longer to get approved than stuff that gets submitted after it has been edited, often long after it? The answer is ... we don't know.

People are talking about two different things here.

An Edit is when you have a published story and you want to change something. That's the slowest of all, can be two or three weeks.

Anything people do while a story is in Pending pulls it back to Draft, and when you hit Submit your submission clock starts all over again.

The delays most of these threads are on about are in the submission queue, which varies between ten minutes and ten days or so. For newbies, typically a week or so, for established writers, two - four days seems typical.

 

[ShelbyDawn57]

DO NOT pull it back and republish.

It will go to the back of the queue. Just be patient. My current story was also published on 2/28 and is still pending. It just depends on, well, whatever it depends on. None of us know what Laurel is going through or how heavy her approval load is.

Just an adendum...
I sent a polite DM to Laurel last night before I went to bed. My story, submitted 2.28, is now scheduled for publication tomorrow.

It's simple, be a little patient, and as the FAQ say, if it hasn't published in about a week, contact support(read DM Laurel with a POLITE message asking her to take a look at it.)
The process works.

 

[PapaRomantic]

Still not published, so I sent a courteous message to Laurel, asking her to check on it for me.

We'll see what happens next. I'm not holding my breath.

 

[ShelbyDawn57]

Still not published, so I sent a courteous message to Laurel, asking her to check on it for me.

We'll see what happens next. I'm not holding my breath.

Good idea. It will take a day or so and the world record is around 24 minutes, so...

 

[lovecraft68]

I haven't published anything since last July so had nothing recent to go by.

I submitted a story on Saturday, and it went live this morning.

 

[WordsIntheWyld]

I'm finally learning to proofread before hitting publish, so I don’t have to keep yanking my story back like a bad Tinder match—because nothing says patience test like resetting the approval clock again. Hopefully, this means fewer 'whoops' moments and more time basking in the glory of a flawless first draft... or at least one that doesn’t autocorrect 'dominant' to 'donut' mid-scene.

 

[krystalg]

Still 2 weeks out without any updates on my story. I've sent a message to Laurel and am now awaiting a response.

 

[Scarla]

It took about two days for me to get my most recent one uploaded, but it's a part two and quite short (3k-ish words) so that might be why?

 

[Tanuki]

My latest story today took about 18 or 24 hrs to get approved and another 18 or so to get up on the site.

 

[ShelbyDawn57]

Still 2 weeks out without any updates on my story. I've sent a message to Laurel and am now awaiting a response.

You probably won't get a response, but keep an eye on your story for a release date change.

 

[krystalg]

Thank you, everyone.
As of now—just a few minutes ago—the story is still pending, but shows as published in the status. So, it must be going out with the next or another ensuing batch.

 

[StillStunned]

Thank you, everyone.
As of now—just a few minutes ago—the story is still pending, but shows as published in the status. So, it must be going out with the next or another ensuing batch.

It should show a date.

 

[ElectricBlue]

Thank you, everyone.
As of now—just a few minutes ago—the story is still pending, but shows as published in the status. So, it must be going out with the next or another ensuing batch.

Should be published on the next midnight server run. Odd that the status isn't New.

 

[ShelbyDawn57]

Should be published on the next midnight server run. Odd that the status isn't New.

Status will be Published. NEW is a conditional flag like HOT.

Here's a shot of my latest with both:

 

[PapaRomantic]

Patience pays off - my story that was submitted on Feb. 28 finally has a publish date tonight. I didn't get a response from Laurel so I don't know if the PM I sent her actually worked or of it was just the time for it.

It's somewhat of a milestone mark - it will be my 60th story published.

 

[WordsIntheWyld]

I submitted two stories on the same day within the same hour, and each one was to be published a day apart. The first story, which was much shorter, was to be scheduled a day later than the second.