Ok, now I'm pissed

[Randi Grail]

Pissed, in the American sense of the word.

I submitted my first story to the site more than a week ago, waited, waited and waited, and now this:

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.

* Did I check to make sure everything was spelled correctly?

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

Well of course I bloody checked it for spelling! I churned it through Word, and then went over it three times for whatever Word missed. I can with full confidence say that my story has better spelling and grammar than 2/3 of the stories I've read here.

Does this mean that I'll have to put it in the back of the queue and churn it through approval limbo all over again?

I'm beginning to wonder if it's even worth it...

*pout*

 

[Classical_Wizard]

Did you have someone else read it and check for grammer/spelling, etc? Some times as a author we miss things that others catch, and word doesnt catch everything.

 

[Rumple Foreskin]

If you have any questions on these, please let us know.

Randi,

I'd do what they suggest. Send Laurel a PM and ask, "how come?"

I'm no editor, but I've posted 18 stories with one pending and haven't been rejected, YET. None of them made me as nervous or anxious as the first one. So if you'd like to PM me your story, I'd be happy to take a look.

Rumple Foreskin

 

[Randi Grail]

Did you have someone else read it and check for grammer/spelling, etc? Some times as a author we miss things that others catch, and word doesnt catch everything.

Oh yes. A friend of mine, an english teacher, read it. He found two misplaced pronouns and a handful of possessive ' that were uncalled for. Maybe there are still some mistakes left in, but if they reject it because of them, they have gone far, far more rigorus with checking that lately than they were earlier. No wonder the submission queue is so long...


Thanks Rumple, I'll do that. Ask Laurel, I mean.

 

[tarablackwood22]

Randi,

That sounds really unusual....like they hit a wrong button!

It wouldn't hurt to PM Laurel, but I've seen your work and I'd bet there's NOTHING wrong with it!

 

[Colleen Thomas]

Like Rumple,

Before I gave it up I would ask what was wrong. I wish Muffie was still around, she was really good when this happened to someone. Also like rumple, if you would like someone else to take a look at it for you, I would be happy too.

*HUGS*

-Colly

 

[gothgodess]

Don't get too upset it took me four atempts to get my first story on ( how sad am I) the last time I was rejected I just resubmitted without any alterations and it got through. maybee the amount of submissions going through just gets too much sometimes.

 

[dr_mabeuse]

The time it takes for stories to be posted is simply too long these days. The waiting was hard enough when the wait was 3 days, but now it's somewhere between one and two weeks, and that's long enought to take much of the joy out of publishing.

You write a story in a blaze of excitement, edit it, polish it, make sure its hair is slicked back and its shoes are shined and then you send it out into the world and sit and wait to see what will happen. And wait. And wait.

Finally you pretty much lose interest. You start to resent the story for putting you through such agony. By the time it finally posts it's like the hell with it already. Maybe some comments come in, but by then you've moved on to something else and you don't even care much about it anymore.

I didn't realize what a problem this was until it occurred to me that I was seeking other venues for my stuff. I'm not blaming Laurel, and I have no concrete suggestions to improve things, but I think this problem has real implications for Literotica and the quality of what's published here.

---dr.M.

 

[Liar]

The time it takes for stories to be posted is simply too long these days. The waiting was hard enough when the wait was 3 days, but now it's somewhere between one and two weeks, and that's long enought to take much of the joy out of publishing.

---dr.M.

I'm sure this has been discussed before, but wouldn't a bunch of volunteer story screeners be a solution? There is a plethora of editors who lend their services to authors every day, why not engaged some of them to check out the new stories?

Could it be that Laurel has publisher responsibilities for the site, and don't trust anyone else with what basically is her ass if something bad slips through?

#L

 

[English Lady]

You, as almost always, Dear Dr are right. My last story took so long to get on that I gave up on it. It was put on whilst I was away and all the fun of tracking it through those first days was lost to me. I was a bit annoyed really.

Again I am sure Laurel is doing her best and I can see submissions are getting more and more but this really does seem excessive.

Anyway Randi..i had a similar problem once..I had missed out a few full stops ...I corrected and it went through within a few days...that was back when it only took 3-5 days for a submission to get on anyway.

 

[cantdog]

There are glitches, too. One of my stories never showed up at all in my submissions page. I figured the thing had vanished, and behold, it published very soon indeed, only four days.

A surprise.

And gothgodess tells us she resubmitted without any changes and her story went up, having once been rejected.


I can't even feature the enormous load of work to keep this place running.

I'd be willing to help, if it would be possible, altho I haven't the sure critical eye of dr_m or gauche.

cantdog

 

[Colleen Thomas]

The time it takes for stories to be posted is simply too long these days. The waiting was hard enough when the wait was 3 days, but now it's somewhere between one and two weeks, and that's long enought to take much of the joy out of publishing.

You write a story in a blaze of excitement, edit it, polish it, make sure its hair is slicked back and its shoes are shined and then you send it out into the world and sit and wait to see what will happen. And wait. And wait.

Finally you pretty much lose interest. You start to resent the story for putting you through such agony. By the time it finally posts it's like the hell with it already. Maybe some comments come in, but by then you've moved on to something else and you don't even care much about it anymore.

I didn't realize what a problem this was until it occurred to me that I was seeking other venues for my stuff. I'm not blaming Laurel, and I have no concrete suggestions to improve things, but I think this problem has real implications for Literotica and the quality of what's published here.

---dr.M.

I guess I am just different, but I am very post & forget. I have so many ideas even when the wait was fiveish days I was on to something else long before a story got accepted. I generally don't know one of mine is up until I get a feedback on it.

I don't know what the hold up is, or the answer, but perhaps some of us should ask Laurel if we can help in any way?

-Colly

 

[Guest]

Randi -

Did you email your story or post it on-line? (The on-line submission works much better.)

Also, I managed to submit my first story on-line with an incorrect format. When they explained I fixed and resubmitted and it posted fairly quickly after that. (Except I had to change the title, because it wouldn't let me resubmit with the same title, and I didn't know how to make that happen yet, blah blah blah.)

Maybe your story was not in the correct format, and perhaps they hit the wrong "reject reason" button. Could be?

I would certainly PM Laurel and ask.

 

[Virtual_Burlesque]

Just a though, but did you read the Submission Guidelines?

Perhaps you got bumped for a simple mistake, like submitting it to the wrong category, submitting your MS in the wrong format, made one of the characters too young, or some other glitch.

I just realized that I started my first story (for this site) without ever stopping to read what they will -- and won't -- accept.

Now, I am undecided whether to stop to read the guideline and perhaps lose interest in completing my story, or continue, and perhaps write a story that this site won't publish.

The only fortune cookie message that I still remember said: "If everything else fails, read the instructions.”

I never remember in time.

 

[dr_mabeuse]

I guess I am just different, but I am very post & forget. I have so many ideas even when the wait was fiveish days I was on to something else long before a story got accepted. I generally don't know one of mine is up until I get a feedback on it.

I don't know what the hold up is, or the answer, but perhaps some of us should ask Laurel if we can help in any way?

-Colly

I already volunteered to help screen stories. Someone had posted a thread on that very topic, but nothing came of it. It seems to me, though, that if Laurel is okay with letting Lit members moderate boards, she wouldn't be averse to letting some people help with the screening. On the other hand, she'd probably still have to screen the screeners.

The problem is very irritating to me, because I was experimenting a lot. I'd change styles or subjects and then post a story and wait to see what the reaction was. Since the Big Slowdown, I've just naturally gone back to very simple, straight-ahead porn, and I find that I just don;t care as much about what I post. I've had to adopt that post-&-forget attitude whether I wanted to or not, and I don't like it.

I belong to a BDSM story site where stories post the next day, where feedback is highly encouraged and facilitated, and where voting is on a 1-10 scale and broken down by histograms so you can see if you've been one-bombed. Unfortunately, the people there aren't as cool or interesting as they are here, the rteaders like their stuff more extreme than what I write, and the boards are pretty moribund and uninteresting. But still I have to say that I look forward to posting stories there, where I know I'll get respinses while the ink is still fresh, more than I do here, where I feel like I'm dropping stories into the void., maybe never to be seen again.

---dr.M.

 

[Colleen Thomas]

I already volunteered to help screen stories. Someone had posted a thread on that very topic, but nothing came of it. It seems to me, though, that if Laurel is okay with letting Lit members moderate boards, she wouldn't be averse to letting some people help with the screening. On the other hand, she'd probably still have to screen the screeners.

The problem is very irritating to me, because I was experimenting a lot. I'd change styles or subjects and then post a story and wait to see what the reaction was. Since the Big Slowdown, I've just naturally gone back to very simple, straight-ahead porn, and I find that I just don;t care as much about what I post. I've had to adopt that post-&-forget attitude whether I wanted to or not, and I don't like it.

I belong to a BDSM story site where stories post the next day, where feedback is highly encouraged and facilitated, and where voting is on a 1-10 scale and broken down by histograms so you can see if you've been one-bombed. Unfortunately, the people there aren't as cool or interesting as they are here, the rteaders like their stuff more extreme than what I write, and the boards are pretty moribund and uninteresting. But still I have to say that I look forward to posting stories there, where I know I'll get respinses while the ink is still fresh, more than I do here, where I feel like I'm dropping stories into the void., maybe never to be seen again.

---dr.M.

I used to post to several sites, but lately have posted only here. I enjoy the people and the community here. I personally hadn't noticed any slow down. That's most likely because I am so detached on all the drugs, time kinda has lost meaning or blurs.

Do you know if anyone has PMed Laurel and asked about the slow down? What is causing it? I noticed I have moved down almost two full pages on the authors list, and since I am only the third letter in the alphabet are there that many new writers submitting works?

-Colly

 

[overthebow]

I guess I shouldn't get uptight. I submitted four stories and they are all still pending. I don't get this editor thing, like is this like having an agent here?

 

[cloudy]

I guess I shouldn't get uptight. I submitted four stories and they are all still pending. I don't get this editor thing, like is this like having an agent here?

No, an editor is someone who voluntarily reads your story for errors - grammer, punctuation, point of view changes, etc.

There's an editor forum where you can contact one of the volunteer editors.

 

[Guest]

I guess I shouldn't get uptight. I submitted four stories and they are all still pending. I don't get this editor thing, like is this like having an agent here?

No - not at all. There is a group of people who offer their assistance as editors for writers. (See link)

Volunteer Editors

I personally haven't used their services but I know others have with positive results.

 

[Guest]

Cloudy!

You're too quick again, baby!

 

[cloudy]

Cloudy!

You're too quick again, baby!

Not too damn quick, I hope.

 

[Guest]

Not too damn quick, I hope.

Mmmmm.

I have no complaints!

 

[cloudy]

Mmmmm.

I have no complaints!

 

[Rumple Foreskin]

Cloudy!

You're too quick again, baby!

Sweetsubsarahh,

Cloudy's a fast woman; bless her heart and other prime body parts.

Rumple Foreskin

 

[DirtyJJ]

Randi,
I can see why you would be pissed - I think PMing Laurel is a good idea. I have seen some really crappy stories that get through so if you were careful with checking yours, there must be some other explanation.

And, I don't know what the answer is to speed up the submission process.... I have always been amazed when I think about the fact that one person is responsible for reading and approving all of the stories that come through... how does she have time for anything else? I can't imagine. So the fact that she gets through all the submitted stories is impressive.

But, if it's taking that much longer these days then it's going to be frustrating, espeically for writers who write a lot of stories. They should either hire or find volunteers that they trust to help approve stories, or.... have some sort of "express" approval for authors who have written a certain number of stories before. Maybe those could be quickly screened for objectionable content and then approved.

DJJ