Moderation of first story

[babergergy]

Hi

Can anyone tell me what it means when the story I submitted on "10/16/2024" (latest entry in "My Activity") is now showing as "3 hours ago" when I look in "My Stories"? Does that mean someone is moderating it?

TIA

 

[StillStunned]

Hi, and welcome to Lit!

For all the wonderful things about this hobby, waiting for a new story to be approved can be hugely frustrating. It's not unusual for authors to have to wait a week or more - particularly if it's their first story.

Another thing is that the Halloween contest is on at the moment, and contest entries take precedence over other stories in the publication process.

The note of "3 hours ago" seems to be something of the past year. Several people have reported it showing up, and as far as we can tell it seems to be linked to the site scanning for stories written with the help of AI. But at least something is happening with it!

At this point, all you can really do is wait. Perhaps if you've waited a week or so, you can try sending a polite DM to Laurel, the site owner. The "polite" bit is very important: just something along the lines of "Dear Laurel, my story has been stuck in Pending for a week, has it perhaps slipped through the cracks?" You won't hear back, but it's usually enough to get the process moving forward again.

So have patience, young grasshopper. Things at Lit move at their own pace, as frustrating as it is. In the meantime, keep writing, keep reading, and try not to waste too much time here in the Authors' Hangout.