Publishing and issues from a newcomer's perspective

[StarryHorizon]

I love Literotica, I've been reading the stories here for the past 10 years or more.

But publishing stories here as an author? That's been really tough. I hope that this post might have some kind of positive effect with at least some of the issues I ran into.

My first story was immediately rejected because a non-consent story must involve pleasure or a thrill for the victim. That's a rule I didn't see anywhere before or after getting the story rejected. When I asked where the rule is written down, the story was published instead. That was very confusing.

My second story was published smoothly, but then I tried to submit a re-edit and it was stuck pending for a week. I tried to contact the moderators via PM here and via email but got no answer and nothing changed. After 2-3 weeks still nothing changed. In addition I've looked around and learned that nobody knows how long it takes for a re-edit to be approved, but that some people have been waiting for months. Some recommended to re-submit it if more than a few weeks passed. Which I've done and I am still waiting for it to be published more than a week after that. Some transparency would be great since I have literally no idea what's going on, or if the submission is bugged, pending, or has fallen behind the fridge.

And then in the midst of that, my first story was withdrawn an entire month after it's already been published, because the victim doesn't receive pleasure or a thrill and also because of an underage character. Which is odd since the story literally makes mention of the protagonist's 18th birthday early on, it's a major plot point that she's legal, and makes it impossible that any character is underage.

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I can understand that Literotica is using automated systems instead of carefully reading every story, so some mistakes like that can happen. But then why does it take weeks or months for stories/edits to be published?

It is very painful to think that I might have to wait for weeks or months for a story or an edit to be published, only to have it rejected and followed by more months of waiting.

Also, where are these weird special rules written down such as non-consent stories requiring pleasure and thrills for the victim? It would be easier for Literotica and for authors if those rules were easily accessible for everyone.

I still think that Literotica is amazing, but as an author it's unbelievably difficult not to get frustrated. Hidden rules, published stories getting withdrawn for invalid reasons and then being stuck pending for weeks, re-edits pending for weeks, and zero information about the process or transparency about how long the wait is. I know it can't be easy to manage a website of this size, but I think everyone would agree that this isn't an optimal situation.

 

[Jada59]

If you have problems again, contact Laurel. I've never had such problems,

 

[StarryHorizon]

I tried contacting Laurel here in the forums for one of the problems, but didn't get a response. That's when I tried sending an email a week later.

I ended up writing this post because currently the problems are piling up faster than they're solved even though I'm trying my very best. I've read the FAQ, I've browsed this forum, and I'm working together with multiple volunteer editors. I can't think of anything else I could do, and yet I still have those problems just piling up.

 

[Jada59]

I tried contacting Laurel here in the forums for one of the problems, but didn't get a response. That's when I tried sending an email a week later.

I ended up writing this post because currently the problems are piling up faster than they're solved even though I'm trying my very best. I've read the FAQ, I've browsed this forum, and I'm working together with multiple volunteer editors. I can't think of anything else I could do, and yet I still have those problems just piling up.

Very sorry.

 

[cw5523729]

I'm going to second pretty much everything he said. I am in the volunteer editor program and someone recently asked for help because his story got rejected because it involved a character from Batman. The issue was not the copyrighted character, ironically, but the fact that the story involved non-consensual anal sex with a fictional character. Apparently, CONSENSUAL anal sex with a copyrighted character is totally cool. Who the hell is making up these rules and are people winning valuable prizes based on how many stories that can reject?

 

[RejectReality]

http://forum.literotica.com/showthread.php?t=175666

This thread delves into some of the finer points of the content rules and other rejection notices. The rule against celebs/fanfic stories having non-con content is there, as is the now more strictly enforced rule about the "victim" enjoying non-con experiences.

There's only one person approving and rejecting stories. Laurel is approving a huge amount of stories every single day, so she's only skimming. Content violations can get missed. Things can get mistaken for content violations when they aren't.

A rejection isn't final. You can edit the story and bring it into compliance. You can resubmit as-is if you believe a rejection was in error. The only penalty for a rejection is that the story won't be published. You're not going to be banned or blackballed as you might be on some other sites.

 

[cw5523729]

I'm sure this is addressed elsewhere, so I'll apologize in advance. But what is the justification for all the rules/restrictions? I assume people are worried about legal repercussions, but I can cite a half dozen best sellers by Stephen King that are unpublishable by Literotica standards and yet he manages to be the best selling author of all time without getting sued or going to jail.

 

[cw5523729]

And, stupid question, has Laurel not considered distributing the work by designating other moderators? I publish on another cite that manually approves submissions and manages to do so in most cases in less than an hour. I've never had one pending for more than 6 hours.

 

[RejectReality]

It's just what Laurel wants to publish, and what she doesn't. Some of the recent things have been driven by reader complaints, such as the additional scrutiny of non-con. I'm sure there's an element of thinking about what the law might eventually decide to regulate as well.

Keep in mind, this is not mainstream publishing. This is porn. For the most part, the stories concentrate on detailed sex, and you don't see that in mainstream publishing. When you combine sex with extreme violence, really young characters, etc. it takes on a whole different vibe, and it quickly becomes a creepy one.

Every site has content rules. Laurel's are stricter than those of some sites, and less restrictive than others.

 

[RejectReality]

Only Laurel can answer that, but you have to have a great deal of trust in someone to give them an element of control over the main product of your website. There simply may not be anyone she has that much trust in who has the time or is willing to moderate stories.

And, stupid question, has Laurel not considered distributing the work by designating other moderators? I publish on another cite that manually approves submissions and manages to do so in most cases in less than an hour. I've never had one pending for more than 6 hours.

 

[cw5523729]

In Eyes of the Dragon, a much older King weds a virginal underaged bride and has to take "magic drink" to get it up for her. And thats in a story written for Stephen Kings preteen daughter, or so I've read. In The Stand, a preteen girl is being held captive by armed men who are repeatedly raping, including a description of use of barbed wire that is well beyond what almost anyone else would write on here.

But, the fact that it reflects Laurel's personal opinions coupled with complaints that amount to censorship both explains a lot and depresses me.

 

[RejectReality]

This is Laurel's house. Everyone has their limits about what they'll put up with in their house. When it comes to stories, Laurel doesn't even ground you, scream at you, or kick you out of the house when you break the rules, as most people would. The story isn't published, and that's that. No harm, no foul.

 

[StarryHorizon]

I agree that it might be a good idea to change the system a little if only a single person, without the help of machines, is taking care of the story submissions.

I can't even imagine how terribly much work it must be. It's gotta be an insane amount of work. But it's really problematic when it can take weeks for a story or an edit to get reviewed, and to then have it declined because a moderator didn't read the text correctly and rejected it. Or because someone else didn't read the story correctly, reported it, and it gets rejected after already being published.

Some of my stories probably spent more time pending than actually being published.

The only penalty for a rejection is that the story won't be published

That's the thing though, most authors just wanna publish a story. It's not enjoyable to try and publish stories when I spend over a month checking my author board 2-3 daily because I'm hoping the story has been published, but hasn't.

At least add transparency or a queue system or something, so the authors roughly know if it takes a week, month, or half a year -- or if it's bugged. Some authors supposedly had stories pending for years somehow.