Keep getting rejected for AI despite following all known instructions.

[Portly_Penguin]

I know this isn't going to get any sort of reply, but I have exhausted all other possibilities to get this message seen and acknowledged by the owners of this site so that the problem is addressed properly. This is unlikely, but I'm here anyway so no one else has to go through the pain I've gone through with this site.

I received my first AI rejection for Part 2 of my current story on October 29th, 2023. Since then, I have had a grand total of 13 AI rejections across 5 parts of my story.

Below is a sort of break-down as to how the AI rejections have faired across each story part:

• Part 1 - No AI Rejection. Part 1 was pulled for AI after being published for 2 months before being reinstated.
• Part 2 - 1 AI Rejection, the story was posted after a resubmission with a note attached. This part has been pulled twice since it was published initially but was reposted along with Part 1 after the second time it was pulled from the site.
• Part 3 - 4 AI Rejections across a month, published on the fifth attempt with some small changes
• Part 4 - No AI Rejection
• Part 5 - 6 AI Rejections.

Despite following every instruction given - ie. messaging Laurel, not using any grammar checkers, attaching notes - I have just received yet another rejection. There is nothing more I can do to get my story published aside from a complete rewrite and destroying my writing style for the sake of a computer that is being relied upon more than the author's word. In my opinion, trust between the author and the site owner should be more important than the opinion of a system that also relies on AI technology to do its job.

There is no consistency upon rejections, as you can see from the list above, which begs the question as to how accurately the AI system Lit uses is working. The system is targeting newer authors. Especially those who are trying to get a foot-hold on the site to show off the work they are spending so much time building.

My notes aren't being checked upon each resubmission, my messages to the site owners are going ignored despite how polite I am trying to word them, and several users are now stuck on a merry-go-round of rejection. It's an increasingly demoralising and demotivating situation to be with no guarantee that the work we are putting our heart and soul into will ever be posted. There is something fundamentally wrong with how this site is operating, and treating its writers, regarding AI.

I understand AI is a huge threat to the site, but when innocent people are being targeted despite following every rule and instruction, you are destroying any trust. The lack of transparency and responses we have received regarding this issue only adds to the feeling of being ignored and pushed aside in favour of those who have been posting here for a long period of time. All this is going to do is push newer Lit writers, such as myself, away from the site which I am certain is something the site's creators do not want.

This needs to be looked into more closely before the situation gets worse. There is only so much people can take before they start looking for other places to publish their work because Lit is refusing to have an open dialogue with them.

The system is flawed.

If you have experienced any AI rejection, or been stuck on this merry-go-round, I encourage you to post your experience here. Please do not reply unless you yourself have gone through this. I don't want this thread to be bogged down and the real message hidden.

Thanks for reading.

Penguin

 

[STrent]

Thank you Penguin for putting your head above the parapet.

I have also had multiple AI rejections (22 so far across around 10 stories) but have also had what seems like an unreasonable pair of dialogue rejections too.

I have made multiple edits at each stage of the process, employing later on several AI detectors to try and find problem sentences (most seemed absolutely fine).

I used to use grammarly at the end of each writing session for chapters and have not done so in my latest round of submissions, to see if that makes a difference.

I have also reached out to Laurel specifically 7 times over the last month with no reply.

It has been utterly demoralising to receive the same basic copy/paste note on AI or Dialogue without any examples given.

I echo Penguin, I don’t think any notes I send back are being read either.

It’s a sorry state of affairs and I think after the sheer number of rejections I’m surprised I’m still trying. I don’t think that will continue much past this week without something going right.

The bit I am most angry about is reviewing some of the stories that have been published of late and noting that there’s some truly dire ones out there, grammatically, and in terms of writing, that have been published - but none of mine have been.

 

[DrPope]

The real issue is a total lack of transparency and communication (canned responses repeating the same rubbish don't help) from the site admins.

If you are having major issues with a influx of AI and a massive number of false positives say so publicly and work with your community to find a solution. This silence is just disrespectful to both hard working authors and the readership.

 

[TheDeepThinker]

I've been stuck in a similar cycle as well. I submitted a story that was rejected (twice) in rapid succession. When I put it into GPTZero, it said there was a 0% (!!!) chance it was written by an AI. I made a few edits, put a note about the GPTZero score in the notes, and resubmitted last week. All I can do is check every day and pray.

If Laurel is listening, please know that this is extremely demoralizing. One year ago, I was an eager and enthusiastic author happy to contribute erotic stories to this website. Today, it's hard to force myself to write knowing there's a high chance of it being rejected, and I have to go through a whole series of loops and agonizing waits to see if I finally got lucky. Laurel and Manu have time to post about other things, but they have yet to even acknowledge this is an issue. If there are problems with the AI detection, that's one thing (I'm a software engineer as well), but you need to be upfront about it. In the business world, customers are much more forgiving if you tell them about problems instead of leaving them to figure it out for themselves.

I really, really hope this isn't permanent.

 

[storyteller92]

I have been working on my story for some time now. I have been using Scribbr to check it. Some parts are as high as '31%' written by AI, but also as low as 2% chance of being written by AI. I have made 4 different drafts before submitting the last two that were sent back. I don't understand. Out of myself, my proofreader, and my editor, the most AI we use is the F7 button on Google Docs/Microsoft Word. I really don't understand what else I could do to other than scrap and rewrite from scratch, but my process takes so long, that one story can take my 3 months of just ME writing before I bring other spoons into my soup. I would love to know how I can fix this.

 

[MrCurrie]

I had my 38th story rejected for AI. My editor suggested the normal steps everyone else was taking and resubmitted with a note that my editor reviewed it and vowed it was not AI. After the second rejection, my editor wrote to Laurel, offering to send her the before and after versions, showing how much work he did on it. Her response was to ask him what AI software he was using to correct stories. He uses none and has edited more than a thousand stories for many authors on the site. He offered to help me re-write, without knowing what triggered the rejection.

I elected not to burden him with the extra work, as he's quite busy. I decided to move my stories to another site and have had no regrets since then. It was an easy decision for me as I have no intention of selling and am not as concerned with views, scores, or # of followers as some have stated. It appears that one or more of those motives is driving you guys to go to great lengths to publish here and I wish you luck in your endeavors.

 

[RedFireBrand]

Ive been rejected again also. Been trying to post a story since January. With 68 posted writings on the site you would think I wouldnt need to start using AI all of a sudden. I dont think my style has changed since my last approved story in December. I started with my usual of writing, Grammarly, and then my editor. Like the other 68 times I have posted something on here. That got rejected. I said it was a false positive and resubmitted. Got rejected again, redid it without any advanced features in Grammarly after turning AI off entirely despite not using it, got rejected. Submitted with only basic spell check and my editor, still got rejected. Tried to PM Laurel but I hear nothing from here and none of my notes in the submission seems to get read. Not sure what else to do.

 

[STrent]

Ive been rejected again also. Been trying to post a story since January. With 68 posted writings on the site you would think I wouldnt need to start using AI all of a sudden. I dont think my style has changed since my last approved story in December. I started with my usual of writing, Grammarly, and then my editor. Like the other 68 times I have posted something on here. That got rejected. I said it was a false positive and resubmitted. Got rejected again, redid it without any advanced features in Grammarly after turning AI off entirely despite not using it, got rejected. Submitted with only basic spell check and my editor, still got rejected. Tried to PM Laurel but I hear nothing from here and none of my notes in the submission seems to get read. Not sure what else to do.

Literally my experience.

There is something wrong here with the review process.

 

[DrPope]

Her response was to ask him what AI software he was using to correct stories.

Oh dear ... it seems that Lauren has become completely tone deaf to her own members ....

Just because you are getting hundreds of AI submissions daily doesn't mean that long term authors are using AI.

AI detection DOES NOT WORK that much is obvious

The embarrassing thing about this is that Lauren is obviously so terrified of AI yet is trusting notoriously bad and inaccurate AI tools to detect it against the word of long time members.

Where is the trust of a member with 68 published stories?

Where is the public posts detailing the situation?

I see the utter demise of literotica unless this farcical situation is immediately addressed ...and don't give me this Lauren is busy and nice rubbish .... the past is the past and this clusterfuck is happening now so stop hiding away and post a PUBLIC notice about what is going on.

 

[ElectricBlue]

I see the utter demise of literotica unless this farcical situation is immediately addressed ...and don't give me this Lauren is busy and nice rubbish .... the past is the past and this clusterfuck is happening now so stop hiding away and post a PUBLIC notice about what is going on.

Her name is Laurel, not Lauren.

 

[STrent]

Her name is Laurel, not Lauren.

I mean you're right, but that’s not addressing the core of this issue.

 

[ElectricBlue]

I mean you're right, but that’s not addressing the core of this issue.

Maybe it will help, who knows, getting the site owner's name right. Little things, right?

Someone counted up the stories being published each day at the moment, around 150, I think. To put this brutally in perspective, those stories are getting published, so I don't think the site's on its deathbed just yet.

If AI screening is being used - and I have no idea if it is, nor which tool it might be - that's still 150 stories getting through every day. I wonder what those writers are doing differently, style wise. It's not much solace, but those stories might have some clues. How do they write, compared to you?

 

[DrPope]

I wonder what those writers are doing differently, style wise.

They have incorrect .....gramma, speelin and puchuation ....

 

[Portly_Penguin]

Just a quick reminder:

Please do not reply unless you yourself have gone through this. I don't want this thread to be bogged down and the real message hidden.

This thread is not to create speculation as to what may or may not be causing the rejections; there are plenty of other threads for that. This is simply a place to collect stories from people who are suffering through the same thing so they can all be kept in one, coherent thread.

Thank you.

 

[Portly_Penguin]

I've updated my original post, but I'm posting this on its own too.

As of today, I received the 5th rejection for my story part and the 13th AI Rejection overall for this series. I don't know what else I can do here. I have edited, I have left a note, I have messaged Laurel, aside from throwing the towel in there is nothing more I can do here.

I just don't know anymore.

 

[STrent]

So I have noted an interesting thing with my works.

My 10 original works, all edited in grammarly, by now heavily edited, and rejected a total of 23 times between them - still pending, no updates, most are now waiting around a week.

The last two chapters, neither edited in grammarly, both written free hand and self edited, both published within 24 hours.

So there is clearly something Grammarly does when I edit these works that sets them apart.

I have no other explanation other than Grammarly does something to the text that is highlighting these works.

 

[Mylar_Red]

Similar problem here. In the middle of a series. Chapter 5 rejected for AI. Rejected 4 times, rewrote it three times, used the AI detectors during the rewrite, still getting rejected.
The generic feedback is useless, and it is the same as others have received.
No response from Laurel when I PM her.

 

[OverconfidentSarcasm]

I have no other explanation other than Grammarly does something to the text that is highlighting these works.

Well, it shouldn't. I wouldn't see how.

That is unless you allow it to rewrite your sentences. And Laurel already clarified that this is exactly what they don't want: Bland and business-like sentences formulated by AI tools (which are mostly geared towards bland and business-like sentences).

 

[STrent]

Well, it shouldn't. I wouldn't see how.

That is unless you allow it to rewrite your sentences. And Laurel already clarified that this is exactly what they don't want: Bland and business-like sentences formulated by AI tools (which are mostly geared towards bland and business-like sentences).

Then I got nothing then. No idea. It’s random, or nothing.

 

[STrent]

Dear Writer,

Thank you for your submission to Literotica. We appreciate the time and effort you've taken to write a story and submit it to our site . However, we've found that we cannot post your submission in its current form. The checklist below may help you in re-examining your manuscript.​

• We appreciate the effort you put into your work. We've checked this work several times and it is still coming back as being composed largely of AI-generated prose. Using a grammar check program sparingly (as a spellcheck, to fix punctuation, review grammar, and/or occasionally as a thesaurus) should be fine. But if you are allowing a grammar check program to “rewrite” your words, that may cross the line into AI generated text/stories. Please see this FAQ for more information: https://literotica.com/faq/publishing/publishing-ai

Please feel free to re-submit the story after a Volunteer Editor has examined it, or after you've made revisions. You can find a list of Volunteer Editors here.

Please consult our Writer's Resources section and make sure you read our submission guidelines.
If you have any questions on these, please let us know.

Thanks for your time, and look forward to reading you again!

Laurel & Manu
Literotica.Com​

After a week of triumph (two stories published) AI rejection no.24 hits the floor.

The rejection for this particular story hurts because it’s a true story, I wrote it - I thought - well - and there’s been no AI used outside of using grammarly originally to check everything.

So I am no closer to an answer on this, and the frustration continues.

I am definitely going to do something different in future though. I am going to just write it in word, make no use of any grammar checkers, and make sure my dialogue style is in line with the website guidelines.

So much work unpublished that the only difference is the use of grammarly. Madness.

EDIT:

Just as I was in the process of editing the last one, I got another sent back for AI. 25 rejections now.

The system is inconsistent and wearying.

I have put the two rejected into “draft” again.

All very frustrating.

EDIT 2:

Nope, not two sent back. Now FOUR.

Utter madness.

EDIT 3:

In a 20 minute period (surely not long enough to check nearly 45,000 words?) I have had five chapters all rejected for AI, and the same email sent to all of them.

 

[STrent]

So I have finally published one of the buggers who kept getting caught out for AI - it’s so heavily edited from its original version, though, that to me as the author, it’s not entirely recognisable as the work I started with.

Nevertheless, there seems to be some merit in using a form of ai detector to remove some potentially “ai” (?) sentences or words before submission.

Greece

 

[DrPope]

I think the point is these ridiculous Ai witch hunts are causing authors to actually write UNNATURALLY where the whole idea was to cause people to write naturally.

For me the whole issue is simply the lack of communication and the total lack of transparency ....I have a new 34 part 220k word series nearly finished for E&V and I will not rewrite a single word or sentence to pass some phantom undisclosed Ai detector my work is my work as intended and as written and submitted. If any part gets rejected then it all goes to SOL, Lush or Kindle (again).

While I have no doubt there are thousands (yes thousands) or Ai written submissions I do feel that the false detection number is way too high and no other factors (such as is this an author with lots of submissions going back years or a new author?) are taken into account.

The fact remains is it seems only stories with plenty of "fake" mistakes and not written naturally are getting through and still not a word except canned responses it is frankly quite offensive to authors

 

[storyteller92]

I think the point is these ridiculous Ai witch hunts are causing authors to actually write UNNATURALLY where the whole idea was to cause people to write naturally.

For me the whole issue is simply the lack of communication and the total lack of transparency ....I have a new 34 part 220k word series nearly finished for E&V and I will not rewrite a single word or sentence to pass some phantom undisclosed Ai detector my work is my work as intended and as written and submitted. If any part gets rejected then it all goes to SOL, Lush or Kindle (again).

While I have no doubt there are thousands (yes thousands) or Ai written submissions I do feel that the false detection number is way too high and no other factors (such as is this an author with lots of submissions going back years or a new author?) are taken into account.

The fact remains is it seems only stories with plenty of "fake" mistakes and not written naturally are getting through and still not a word except canned responses it is frankly quite offensive to authors

I am in the same boat. I am working a longer, overarching narratively driven story. I have a proofreader and an editor. However, my writing style has stayed the same all the way through. It can be disheartening to be accused of using AI when I am trying to grow as a writer while also really stepping into adult writing to get feedback. There needs to be a more transparent look at how we are being analyzed while also having grace from writers who have not changed from submitting in the last few years.

 

[STrent]

I am in the same boat. I am working a longer, overarching narratively driven story. I have a proofreader and an editor. However, my writing style has stayed the same all the way through. It can be disheartening to be accused of using AI when I am trying to grow as a writer while also really stepping into adult writing to get feedback. There needs to be a more transparent look at how we are being analyzed while also having grace from writers who have not changed from submitting in the last few years.

I am almost convinced now that the length of the piece, coupled with the descriptions, and the lack of issues in grammar and punctuation, where an author has gone to the nth degree to get it right and perfect, is why we’re getting caught out by the AI system. I have had some chapters accepted for publishing in the last two days that were not perfect by that measure, but all the others that had gone through grammarly were.

I am now feeling a bit more hopeful about getting some of these older stories published and am looking at them at the minute.

 

[storyteller92]

I am almost convinced now that the length of the piece, coupled with the descriptions, and the lack of issues in grammar and punctuation, where an author has gone to the nth degree to get it right and perfect, is why we’re getting caught out by the AI system. I have had some chapters accepted for publishing in the last two days that were not perfect by that measure, but all the others that had gone through grammarly were.

I am now feeling a bit more hopeful about getting some of these older stories published and am looking at them at the minute.

See? But I kind of hate that. I have to write like shit to get my stories published? That's garbage! But I guess if we have some kind of solution.