Lit is on auto pilot?

[Rob_Royale]

It certainly feels this way and I'm pretty certain the 'trusted authors auto-post' list is a real thing. I submitted my latest since early September last night at 9pm MST and this morning it has gone from pending to published with a date of 11/18.

Based on the current posting difficulties for a lot of folks, I was not expecting this as I've an edit that's been pending since 9/20.

This leads me to surmise that Laurel has the site on cruise control for whatever reason and that her trusted authors list is part of that. I hope that whatever is going on in her life that has affected Literotica so drastically gets resolved soon.

My son and granddaughter were living with us for a while as he navigates a divorce and my parents need around the clock care now which has cut into my time in a big way. I have maybe four hours of PTO left on the books due to all this, so I can definitely sympathize with whatever Laurel might be going through. I'm truly lucky my employer is cool with my 'mom's in the hospital again' call-ins these past few months.

For everyone who is in pending hell, I'm very sorry.

 

[lovecraft68]

It certainly feels this way and I'm pretty certain the 'trusted authors auto-post' list is a real thing. I submitted my latest since early September last night at 9pm MST and this morning it has gone from pending to published with a date of 11/18.

Based on the current posting difficulties for a lot of folks, I was not expecting this as I've an edit that's been pending since 9/20.

This leads me to surmise that Laurel has the site on cruise control for whatever reason and that her trusted authors list is part of that. I hope that whatever is going on in her life that has affected Literotica so drastically gets resolved soon.

My son and granddaughter were living with us for a while as he navigates a divorce and my parents need around the clock care now which has cut into my time in a big way. I have maybe four hours of PTO left on the books due to all this, so I can definitely sympathize with whatever Laurel might be going through. I'm truly lucky my employer is cool with my 'mom's in the hospital again' call-ins these past few months.

For everyone who is in pending hell, I'm very sorry.

Does your state offer TCI (Temporary caretakers insurance)? If they do you need a note from your parents doctors that they need that type of care and you can get some compensation, its around 70%

I'm on that now to care for my wife after her surgery. In RI its a max of five weeks, not sure if that's standard for other places. Best thing is it let's you hold on to PTO longer so if she needs more time I still have my vaca I can use.

 

[iwatchus]

Most stories, even by new authors, are being accepted quickly. Some stories do get caught. They are the squeaky wheels, but not the norm.

There are still people stuck in pending (I finally got out this week after two months there)

I think anything that implies a manual review still takes way too much time.

I'm sorry about all your family troubles. I hope for the best for you and them.

 

[Rob_Royale]

Does your state offer TCI (Temporary caretakers insurance)? If they do you need a note from your parents doctors that they need that type of care and you can get some compensation, its around 70%

I'm on that now to care for my wife after her surgery. In RI its a max of five weeks, not sure if that's standard for other places. Best thing is it let's you hold on to PTO longer so if she needs more time I still have my vaca I can use.

I will look into this, thanks. Hoping for a good recovery for your wife.

 

[lovecraft68]

Most stories, even by new authors, are being accepted quickly. Some stories do get caught. They are the squeaky wheels, but not the norm.

There are still people stuck in pending (I finally got out this week after two months there)

I think anything that implies a manual review still takes way too much time.

I'm sorry about all your family troubles. I hope for the best for you and them.

Yeah, I think that proves the pending issue is a glitch, there are a lot of stories coming through every day.

But part of that glitch I believe is Laurel is not 'seeing them" so on her end it may seem like she's clearing everything.

At this point though this has been beaten to death on the forums and I'd think they'd have to be aware of it.

It just seems like its not worth batting around anymore, it hasn't changed anything, and some people seem like they're spending way too much energy on it.

 

[ChloeTzang]

It certainly feels this way and I'm pretty certain the 'trusted authors auto-post' list is a real thing. I submitted my latest since early September last night at 9pm MST and this morning it has gone from pending to published with a date of 11/18.

Based on the current posting difficulties for a lot of folks, I was not expecting this as I've an edit that's been pending since 9/20.

This leads me to surmise that Laurel has the site on cruise control for whatever reason and that her trusted authors list is part of that. I hope that whatever is going on in her life that has affected Literotica so drastically gets resolved soon.

It's not on cruise control - Laurel IS there - she repliedo me over that glitch with stories in the Winter Holidays comp at the start.

Back in April 2025, Manu posted that "Literotica's community has continued to grow into 2025! There have been several days in recent weeks where we've seen over 400 Stories submitted for publication. These are incredible numbers for our community and we're working hard behind the scenes to make sure that the increase in submissions doesn't lead to a longer wait time for Authors."

A LOT of stories are going thru way faster now, as yours did, in some cases in a few hours, so it looks like the wholeprocess of story approvals and moving from pending to publishing has been automated, and where it's sucessful, it's really working well to speed up the flow.

The kicker is, where a story is NOT processed, it's taking a lot longer. Laurel mentioned in her 72 hours post that "...if your story is in your Pending Stories folder and has been pending for fewer than 15 days, please do not click on or alter the submission in any way as that may further delay its publication***. We are working to get caught up as soon as possible."

I and others have PM's Laurel about this but for whatever reason, she's chosen not to respond with any advice on what's happening. Pure speculation, but some stories have, after long delays, moved from pending to published. Others have been rejected for AI use (which largely seems to be fictional based on comments from the authors)

I suspect what is happening is that the auto rejects have created a big backlog forLaurel to do her manul check and for whatever reason it's taking her a while to get thru - and we all know edits are processed after new ubmissions, and story deletions come after that....so edits may well take quite a while to work thru as all this settles down.

It'd be nice for Laurel or Manu to update us on what they're doing but it's not happening - and I have asked 3 or 4 times, but no dice.

 

[Rob_Royale]

It'd be nice for Laurel or Manu to update us on what they're doing but it's not happening - and I have asked 3 or 4 times, but no dice.

Good info, thanks for replying.

 

[TheLobster]

A LOT of stories are going thru way faster now, as yours did, in some cases in a few hours, so it looks like the wholeprocess of story approvals and moving from pending to publishing has been automated, and where it's sucessful, it's really working well to speed up the flow.

They might have flattened the curve of submission times, resulting in lower middle buckets, but if the various threads here are any indication, the long tail got worse.

It may be a classic example of a change that is an objective improvement on paper -- i.e., the turnover time from submission to publication is shorter on average -- but at the same it looks to the users like the service has actually degraded, because the aforementioned long tail has gotten so much longer and the negative reports outweigh the relatively minor impact of the shortened waiting time of an average story,

 

[TheWritingGroup]

@Rob_Royale, I'm sorry to read about your parents' (and thus your) problems.

In the USA, I believe (I am not a lawyer and this is not legal advice) that the FMLA includes parental care.

OK, I checked, you get 12 weeks per year to care for the employee’s spouse, child, or parent who has a serious health condition;

--Annie

 

[Rob_Royale]

@Rob_Royale, I'm sorry to read about your parents' (and thus your) problems.

In the USA, I believe (I am not a lawyer and this is not legal advice) that the FMLA includes parental care.

OK, I checked, you get 12 weeks per year to care for the employee’s spouse, child, or parent who has a serious health condition;

--Annie

FMLA is sadly, unpaid time. And what it does is protect your job during your absence. I am already signed up for it as a just-in-case measure. My job will allow me to go up to 40 hours in-the-hole on PTO as well, but I'm hoping not to need it. Together with my sister, and my folks, an assisted living center with memory care has been chosen and deposits are down on rooms. They should be housed by the 1st of December.

 

[EmilyMiller]

It certainly feels this way and I'm pretty certain the 'trusted authors auto-post' list is a real thing. I submitted my latest since early September last night at 9pm MST and this morning it has gone from pending to published with a date of 11/18.

Based on the current posting difficulties for a lot of folks, I was not expecting this as I've an edit that's been pending since 9/20.

This leads me to surmise that Laurel has the site on cruise control for whatever reason and that her trusted authors list is part of that. I hope that whatever is going on in her life that has affected Literotica so drastically gets resolved soon.

My son and granddaughter were living with us for a while as he navigates a divorce and my parents need around the clock care now which has cut into my time in a big way. I have maybe four hours of PTO left on the books due to all this, so I can definitely sympathize with whatever Laurel might be going through. I'm truly lucky my employer is cool with my 'mom's in the hospital again' call-ins these past few months.

For everyone who is in pending hell, I'm very sorry.

Commiserations on your family challenges

 

[EmilyMiller]

It'd be nice for Laurel or Manu to update us on what they're doing but it's not happening - and I have asked 3 or 4 times, but no dice.

Same - and have also asked if they need any help twice. Nothing.

 

[ChloeTzang]

Same - and have also asked if they need any help twice. Nothing.

Well, at this pount I think where we are is

(1) The site is not on cruise control - Laurel IS there - she replied to me over that glitch with stories in the Winter Holidays comp at the start as well as on the 2026 events - so key asks are being addressed

(2) Back in April 2025, Manu posted that "Literotica's community has continued to grow into 2025! There have been several days in recent weeks where we've seen over 400 Stories submitted for publication. These are incredible numbers for our community and we're working hard behind the scenes to make sure that the increase in submissions doesn't lead to a longer wait time for Authors."
- A LOT of stories are going thru way faster now, in some cases in a few hours, so it looks like the whole process of story approvals and moving from pending to publishing has been automated, and where it's sucessful, it's really working well to speed up the flow.
- this would be a fairly major change and I imagine would have taken up a lot of Laurel's time
- the end result tho is if you story goes thru, it goes thru much faster than in the past

(3) The kicker is, where a story is NOT processed, it's taking a lot longer. Laurel mentioned in her 72 hours post that "...if your story is in your Pending Stories folder and has been pending for fewer than 15 days, please do not click on or alter the submission in any way as that may further delay its publication***. We are working to get caught up as soon as possible."
- this would cover the stories stuck in pending as well as the AI Rejections
- again, I can only guess at the numbers of PM's Laurel has received over the issues here but I imagine her inboxis backlogged out the ying-yang and it's going to take a while to work through
- I imagine there are also a raft of bug reports to go thru - I know I submitted a few myself
- I also suspect what is happening is that the auto rejects have created a big backlog for Laurel to do her manual check and for whatever reason it's taking her a while to get thru - and we all know edits are processed after new submissions, and story deletions come after that....so edits and deletion requests may well take quite a while to work thru as all this settles down.

So what's likely happened is that the elapsed time for story submissions has speeded up,esp the ones that used to take up to a week, but at the "needs a serious look" end of the bell curve, the long tail got worse.

It may be a classic example of a change that is an objective improvement on paper -- i.e., the turnover time from submission to publication is shorter on average -- but at the same it looks to the users who areimpacted ny "pending"and rejections like the service has actually degraded, because the aforementioned long tail has gotten so much longer and the negative reports outweigh the relatively minor impact of the much-shortened waiting time of an average story.

My take on it is, I know if your story has been rejected or is in pending, it's a pain in the ass but
(1) try the delete and resubmit option - it seems to work for a few people, but if it doesn't, just wait while Laurel
works thru the backlog
(2) For AI Rejections, try resubmitting with a Note to Admin

And be patient - once all the glitches have been worked though, it will likely be a big improvement

 

[Five_Inch_Heels]

These conspiracy threads are getting nuttier by the day.

 

[SamanthaBehgs]

How many unique active authors do you think there are on lit right now? Not stories per day (seeing as the same author can post multiple stories/poems/audios/story games in the same day), but authors. Does anyone on the forum have an idea of this.

I also don't know - when did story games start? I wonder if this could be part of things? I'm looking at them and thinking about basic decision tree models from various other things I've worked on and they can be a MESS to troubleshoot. Are they new? I'm too new to know.

 

[Kelliezgirl]

It certainly feels this way and I'm pretty certain the 'trusted authors auto-post' list is a real thing. I submitted my latest since early September last night at 9pm MST and this morning it has gone from pending to published with a date of 11/18.

Based on the current posting difficulties for a lot of folks, I was not expecting this as I've an edit that's been pending since 9/20.

This leads me to surmise that Laurel has the site on cruise control for whatever reason and that her trusted authors list is part of that. I hope that whatever is going on in her life that has affected Literotica so drastically gets resolved soon.

My son and granddaughter were living with us for a while as he navigates a divorce and my parents need around the clock care now which has cut into my time in a big way. I have maybe four hours of PTO left on the books due to all this, so I can definitely sympathize with whatever Laurel might be going through. I'm truly lucky my employer is cool with my 'mom's in the hospital again' call-ins these past few months.

For everyone who is in pending hell, I'm very sorry.

Best wishes with all your real life issues. That's a difficult road to be on.
Makes you realize how unimportant the stuff here really is.

 

[YmaOHyd]

How many unique active authors do you think there are on lit right now? Not stories per day (seeing as the same author can post multiple stories/poems/audios/story games in the same day), but authors. Does anyone on the forum have an idea of this.

I don't think there's a good way to know. But there's, what, 200ish things approved each day, and I think I saw somewhere there's 400ish submissions (or maybe I invented that). The New Authors panel on the right has ten names, and the New Authors list under the Author's Hub also has ten names, and they're not all the same. So there's at least ~15 submissions from people who've never submitted before, just today.

Unless I've miscounted, there's 224 publications today, not counting poetry or things outside the Story category. Figuring what the breakdown is would be a pretty annoying manual process (unless someone could scrape the site and export to Excel, which I can't). But that since there's a delay, that doesn't necessarily connect to activity today, or how long people are on. I don't write in the writing tool; I do everything including formatting in Word, then paste in, so I barely interact with the content platform side even when I am actively working on publishing something.

Long way to say: I don't think anyone on the forum knows, unless I've missed something.

 

[lovecraft68]

Well, at this pount I think where we are is

(1) The site is not on cruise control - Laurel IS there - she replied to me over that glitch with stories in the Winter Holidays comp at the start as well as on the 2026 events - so key asks are being addressed

(2) Back in April 2025, Manu posted that "Literotica's community has continued to grow into 2025! There have been several days in recent weeks where we've seen over 400 Stories submitted for publication. These are incredible numbers for our community and we're working hard behind the scenes to make sure that the increase in submissions doesn't lead to a longer wait time for Authors."
- A LOT of stories are going thru way faster now, in some cases in a few hours, so it looks like the whole process of story approvals and moving from pending to publishing has been automated, and where it's sucessful, it's really working well to speed up the flow.
- this would be a fairly major change and I imagine would have taken up a lot of Laurel's time
- the end result tho is if you story goes thru, it goes thru much faster than in the past

(3) The kicker is, where a story is NOT processed, it's taking a lot longer. Laurel mentioned in her 72 hours post that "...if your story is in your Pending Stories folder and has been pending for fewer than 15 days, please do not click on or alter the submission in any way as that may further delay its publication***. We are working to get caught up as soon as possible."
- this would cover the stories stuck in pending as well as the AI Rejections
- again, I can only guess at the numbers of PM's Laurel has received over the issues here but I imagine her inboxis backlogged out the ying-yang and it's going to take a while to work through
- I imagine there are also a raft of bug reports to go thru - I know I submitted a few myself
- I also suspect what is happening is that the auto rejects have created a big backlog for Laurel to do her manual check and for whatever reason it's taking her a while to get thru - and we all know edits are processed after new submissions, and story deletions come after that....so edits and deletion requests may well take quite a while to work thru as all this settles down.

So what's likely happened is that the elapsed time for story submissions has speeded up,esp the ones that used to take up to a week, but at the "needs a serious look" end of the bell curve, the long tail got worse.

It may be a classic example of a change that is an objective improvement on paper -- i.e., the turnover time from submission to publication is shorter on average -- but at the same it looks to the users who areimpacted ny "pending"and rejections like the service has actually degraded, because the aforementioned long tail has gotten so much longer and the negative reports outweigh the relatively minor impact of the much-shortened waiting time of an average story.

My take on it is, I know if your story has been rejected or is in pending, it's a pain in the ass but
(1) try the delete and resubmit option - it seems to work for a few people, but if it doesn't, just wait while Laurel
works thru the backlog
(2) For AI Rejections, try resubmitting with a Note to Admin

And be patient - once all the glitches have been worked though, it will likely be a big improvement

Thanks Chloe, its nice to get an answer from someone who's actually been in contact with Laurel.

This reminds me of back when I started it was around 5 days to get a story published. At some point it got to seven and sometimes a little longer. People were complaining and like now, the site wasn't saying too much. Within a couple of months the turnaround time got down to two days and for the most part remained that way for years until recently. It, like other issues were eventually worked through in their time which is never rushed or affected by shaming and hysteria.

 

[Five_Inch_Heels]

Consider that many active authors only publish a couple of times a year. The 200-300 stories a day means nothing. I'd spitball a minimum of 10,000 'active' authors over two years.

 

[SamanthaBehgs]

My son and granddaughter were living with us for a while as he navigates a divorce and my parents need around the clock care now which has cut into my time in a big way. I have maybe four hours of PTO left on the books due to all this, so I can definitely sympathize with whatever Laurel might be going through. I'm truly lucky my employer is cool with my 'mom's in the hospital again' call-ins these past few months.

Somehow my original reply to this element did not go through, so I want to post it again. I hope that your mom has the most healing time going forward as it possible and that your son is able to find peace in a new life and with his daughter.

Much love and hugs heading your way.

 

[Rob_Royale]

Somehow my original reply to this element did not go through, so I want to post it again. I hope that your mom has the most healing time going forward as it possible and that your son is able to find peace in a new life and with his daughter.

Much love and hugs heading your way.

Thanks very much.

 

[Bramblethorn]

Saw an author complaining today that their submission had posted but with the wrong (somebody else's) text in it, so I guess there are still some hiccups.

 

[ChloeTzang]

Saw an author complaining today that their submission had posted but with the wrong (somebody else's) text in it, so I guess there are still some hiccups.

We had that glitch with a couple of stories at the start of the inter holidays competition - I PM'd Laurel about it and it was fixed by the next day

Did they post on the AH? If that's happened twice it's a defenite bug and worth reporting

 

[Bramblethorn]

We had that glitch with a couple of stories at the start of the inter holidays competition - I PM'd Laurel about it and it was fixed by the next day

Did they post on the AH? If that's happened twice it's a defenite bug and worth reporting

This is the one I mentioned, no idea whether it was crossposted to AH:

https://www.reddit.com/r/literotica/comments/1oymunx/well_they_uploaded_the_wrong_story

 

[RejectReality]

We had that glitch with a couple of stories at the start of the inter holidays competition - I PM'd Laurel about it and it was fixed by the next day

Did they post on the AH? If that's happened twice it's a defenite bug and worth reporting

It's happened more than twice. It was probably a decade ago that I first heard someone report it. Probably some sort of failure to load issue. Like when you finish watching a video on Youtube, go on to another, and the comments from the previous video are there instead of the one you're viewing. It's another rare glitch that's nearly impossible to track down because it's so rare.

The last one I remember from a while back, Laurel corrected the problem once alerted to it, made it new again in the system, and put it near the top of the new list.