How long does it typically take Laurel to respond to direct messages?

[joy_of_cooking]

My story got sent back for non-con sex, but I think I should be in the clear because the victim does enjoy it. This is quite explicit: the setup is some asshole finds a female genie and decides his third wish is going to be I'm going to fuck you and you're going to like it.

I sent Laurel a message quoting the relevant bits of the rejection message and my story a few days ago and haven't heard back yet. Wondering when people would follow up.

 

[alohadave]

Some people get a response, some don't. The time I PM'd her for an issue, the issue was resolved, but I never heard back from her about it.

Other people report having conversations with her.

 

[Bramblethorn]

It varies greatly. She's usually replied to my PMs, but it's been anything between a few hours and several weeks.

An alternative option, possibly faster, might be to resubmit and to say what you have to say in the Notes field of the story submission.

 

[ronde]

In my case it has been a day on two occasions. The first was after a reader informed me that one of my stories was published here in a different language, and the second was when for some reason only about a third of my story got published. A third time when I tried to explain that though my story was set in two adversarial countries, the main theme wasn't the politics. From what I understand about the comments prior to the start of the Politics board on the forum, I think Laurel is pretty inflexible about political themes for good reason. In that case, her answer was no answer.

 

[AchtungNight]

I have never actually gotten a response from Laurel. I usually chicken out and just decide my stories she doesn't like don't necessarily need to be on Lit. She's let me slide on things that skirt the rules at times. but she has also sent back my stories often enough that I don't want to piss her off since I value this website's content. I have sent her messages, but she hasn't responded. Sometimes I am able to fix my stories with a quick rewrite. Other times... I ultimately let her make the decision on what underage stuff she wants to put here and if she doesn't want to recognize that people hovering on the verge of eighteen have sexual thoughts, that's her right. Same for excessive religious satire, she did reject that from me once. These days, I keep my characters ultimately agnostic or give a nod to religion and leave it at that. It's her website, I want to abide by her guidelines. Excessive religious or political debates aren't my thing either. And I'm definitely not doing the hardcore stuff.

On the nonconsent rejection you describe, I think Laurel's issue is probably that the guy orders the genie to enjoy their sex. That is clear dubious consent. You may feel differently, but... I have been rejected for consensual mind control too. See if you can rewrite it where you leave the genie's reaction to the sex up to them, and the choice to have sex. Maybe you're a skilled enough writer to pull it off. If you like that story better... issue solved.

 

[ElectricBlue]

My story got sent back for non-con sex, but I think I should be in the clear because the victim does enjoy it. This is quite explicit: the setup is some asshole finds a female genie and decides his third wish is going to be I'm going to fuck you and you're going to like it.

I sent Laurel a message quoting the relevant bits of the rejection message and my story a few days ago and haven't heard back yet. Wondering when people would follow up.

If a story is rejected, don't bother with PMs.

Resubmit the story and state your case in the Notes to the Editor. You've got to get the story back in front of Laurel. PMs don't do that.

 

[GrushaVashnadze]

Wondering when people would follow up.

I have found that either she gets back pretty soon - or she doesn't reply at all. If the latter, then you can take it that the answer is "no".

 

[AwkwardlySet]

It depends on the type of issue, usually. My experiences with PMing Laurel vary a lot. Sometimes she responds within several hours. Sometimes she responds within several days. Sometimes she resolves the issue without responding and sometimes she doesn't respond at all nor does she do anything about your problem. One good approach in general is to be polite, detailed, and persistent.

In your particular case though, you should do what EB already said. Re-submit the story and in the notes to admin explain your case. It will likely take longer for your story to get published, but it should get published, assuming the story is within the rules.

 

[Devinter]

If the issue is story-related, and not really a question that needs to be answered, and that you could just as well have put into the Note to Admin field, you will likely not get a response at all. Sometimes the issue will still be resolved, just silently.

However, when I for example found a minor issue with the website itself last week, she got back to me in about 12 hours telling me it had been fixed, despite me not actually asking a question in the PM I sent. So I think it greatly varies on the topic. I bet she gets hundreds of "Why didn't my story go through?" every day.

 

[Voboy]

I've always gotten quick responses, but the only things I've ever bothered her about have involved money or, MANY moons ago, a specific fellow writer who had an issue with me and got my pieces pulled. All those interactions were cordial and friendly, but not particularly "warm." Fine by me.

Honestly, a lot of the things some AH posters mention as things they plan to "PM Laurel about" strike me as minor issues that I'd NEVER dream of bothering her with. I tend to think she has a low threshold for getting PM'd frivolously, and that the problem is that some folks define "frivolously" differently than she does.

 

[SimonDoom]

It varies. Sometimes quickly, sometimes delayed. Sometimes she will respond by doing something but I won't actually get a reply message. In general, I've been impressed with Laurel's responsiveness, whether it's prompt or not. If you want to maximize your chances of getting a prompt and helpful response, be courteous and positive, think about whether it's really something worth bothering her about, and give us as much information as you can to help her in giving you a response.

 

[KeithD]

My experience with responses from Laurel is that they usually come swiftly but only in taking action on what I'm querying. She rarely corresponds directly. My experience also in getting swift response is that I'm submitting a lot and not asking for much support. I think she knows that when I ask for something, there's a real issue there.

 

[SimonDoom]

My experience with responses from Laurel is that they usually come swiftly but only in taking action on what I'm querying. She rarely corresponds directly. My experience also in getting swift response is that I'm submitting a lot and not asking for much support. I think she knows that when I ask for something, there's a real issue there.

I think this is a good point. I think you can build up a certain amount of "cred" by contributing and being patient and not too demanding. Not to diminish people's genuine questions and concerns, but I've noticed that those who complain the most are often people who are relatively new who seem upset that Literotica isn't exactly the way they want it to be. Like all the nonsense and handwringing about voting and scores.

You can spare yourself some angst, and some unnecessary questions, by being patient, doing your homework, and observing how things operate here.

 

[KeithD]

For instance, I've submitted a story specifically targeted to post today. And I've followed the usual delay in posting for my stories. The story hasn't posted today. I haven't messaged about it. I've just "oh welled" about it and moved on. I mostly just live with what's going to happen here (or not).

 

[madelinemasoch]

Both times I messaged her it took her about a day. They were also both copy-pasted messages. I wasn't actually "talking to" anyone but her answering machine, essentially.

 

[AG31]

My story got sent back for non-con sex, but I think I should be in the clear because the victim does enjoy it. This is quite explicit: the setup is some asshole finds a female genie and decides his third wish is going to be I'm going to fuck you and you're going to like it.

I sent Laurel a message quoting the relevant bits of the rejection message and my story a few days ago and haven't heard back yet. Wondering when people would follow up.

I was happy to get a response to a request to delete a post within an hour or so. But it wasn't about a story.