Publishing delay

[RootlinRab]

Posted two stories. One on June 6th, 2024. the other on June 8th. They are still sitting there after a week. Just how long does it take? The site says between 2 to 4 days, not this time around. Will someone please get onto this. Thank You.

 

[ragal2]

I have a similar issue.
A story of mine has sat in the pending area since June 5. It seems to occur more frequently lately.
Interestingly, some of my stories are accepted less than 24 hours after I submit them, vs. others that take forever.
I write all my stories the same way, and it is frustrating not knowing what the issue is so I/we can learn from our mistakes.

 

[RootlinRab]

I have a similar issue.
A story of mine has sat in the pending area since June 5. It seems to occur more frequently lately.
Interestingly, some of my stories are accepted less than 24 hours after I submit them, vs. others that take forever.
I write all my stories the same way, and it is frustrating not knowing what the issue is so I/we can learn from our mistakes.

I don't think we are making mistakes. I think they are probably inundated with stories and are finding it hard to keep up. Maybe some sort of "bot" reading software process would help. Like you, some of my stories are published within two or three days, occasionally quicker, but it's very frustrating when we're waiting this long.

 

[Britva415]

There are a lot of anecdotal reports that lately it is taking longer than it used to.

There reportedly already is a lot of automation.

There is thought to be a new category of "bot assistance," particularly in the form of detection of AI-generated text. This might be what's adding to the review times, lately. It's also possible that there's just an absolute flood of AI spam overwhelming the review queue lately.

Neither Laurel (the site's owner and the only story-publishing reviewer) nor Manu (the site's technical master) have said, nor are they likely to say, exactly what the tools are which are being used, but hundreds of stories per day have been being published for years and years. There was a point when the tools and the system were adequate. Lately, at least some approvals have been taking quite a bit longer.

It's also possible that it's due to personal matters on Laurel's part, keeping her from putting as much time into approvals as she was formerly able to. We just don't know.

At any rate, lately, approval delays of up to 2 weeks seem to be common enough that someone asks about it here in Tech Support or in the Authors' Hangout every week.

 

[Lechedeamor1312]

Posted two stories. One on June 6th, 2024. the other on June 8th. They are still sitting there after a week. Just how long does it take? The site says between 2 to 4 days, not this time around. Will someone please get onto this. Thank You.

Others have mentioned that during monthly contests there is priority for stories that are in the competition.

I have a similar issue like you I have submissions from June 2nd and the 6th waiting in pending.

I've messaged Laurel. Idk if I did it right but no reply. My guess is continue to be patient maybe after the contest submissions reviews should run a bit more smoothly?

I do see some authors I follow have published stories frequently so maybe newer authors kinda get put on the back burner.

I also agree the review process needs to be streamlined by more reviewers. But old site that has served so many and continues to publish so much. I'm really grateful for it just hope it continues to improve.

 

[ragal2]

To Lechedeamor1312:
I appreciate you trying to elaborate on the issue, but unless it is streamlined with CLEAR guidelines, it will continue to be frustrating.
If this was a single story, the problem would be a minor one, but when it happens to a chapter in the middle of the series, it's terrible.
Again, some of my stories were accepted very fast, so I wish to know what stopped the others, since I didn't do anything different.
And just to be clear, I am not a new author. More than 220 of my stories/chapters were published!

 

[RootlinRab]

Others have mentioned that during monthly contests there is priority for stories that are in the competition.

I have a similar issue like you I have submissions from June 2nd and the 6th waiting in pending.

I've messaged Laurel. Idk if I did it right but no reply. My guess is continue to be patient maybe after the contest submissions reviews should run a bit more smoothly?

I do see some authors I follow have published stories frequently so maybe newer authors kinda get put on the back burner.

I also agree the review process needs to be streamlined by more reviewers. But old site that has served so many and continues to publish so much. I'm really grateful for it just hope it continues to improve.

With 135 stories published, I don't think I can be described as a new author, but I guess we'll just have to be patient.

 

[Britva415]

It's not just happening to new authors.

 

[ragal2]

Unless we get a direct answer from @Laurel, I guess we'll have to wait and hope...

 

[m40stories]

I'm just checking mine that I posted on the 10th or 11th and the date changed to the 12th... and watching threads like this.

 

[ragal2]

You are right. I saw it, too.
It could be that a special software/app checks the story first, and if it doesn't find anything suspicious, it gets a publishing date.
If it decides that not everything is kosher, it gets a newer date and stays in the pending area until somebody (@Laurel?) decides what to do with it, which may take up to several weeks.

 

[Britva415]

It could be that a special software/app checks the story first, and if it doesn't find anything suspicious, it gets a publishing date.

When it "gets" a publishing date, its status changes too, not just the date. If the status is still Pending, the story does not have a publishing date.

 

[DemonDanielle404]

Why y'all so impatient? There's, like, thousands of stories they have to go over every day to make sure y'all ain't sneaking chomo shit or snuff shit in it? Just how many people do they have on the staff doing that? Two weeks seems like reasonable to me.

 

[ragal2]

To DemonDanielle404. I think you are missing the point here.​

What we are asking is simple: We want to know what to expect.
Examples: Delays would be expected if there are not enough reviewers, during maintenance or technical issues, and during contexts. All these are legitimate and acceptable. But we'd rather know in real-time when they occur so we plan accordingly.
As I mentioned before, if a one-chapter story is delayed, that's not a big deal. However, when it happens after chapter 2 or 3 in a 5-part story, it frustrates the readers because it's like reading a suspense book and missing the interesting/ending part. By the time the missing part/s are published, most readers moved on.
Last but not least, in general, the reviewers/administration did a good job and published most of my stories early. But I think that even in the best of companies there is a place to consider improvements.