Question on Story Fixing

[KayceeCharles]

I previously published "A Random Hotel Meet"

It was a fragment, a scene, if you will.

Then I had the idea of converting it into a full-fledged 3 part short story with proper beginning and ending.

So I did that, VASTLY expanded the story, changed the categorization, and resubmited it as "A Random Hotel Meet Pt 01"

I've also submitted "Pt 02" while I am trying to finish "Pt 03".

I just checked my status panel. My submission for Pt 01 was GONE, despite putting in EDITED to let the submission reviewer know that this was supposed to replace the existing one.

Who do I need to talk to to make sure this time it's done correctly? I just resubmitted Pt 01.

 

[RejectReality]

You need to wait at least 24 hours after the "edited" submission vanishes from your list before worrying. The changes usually will begin showing up on the public side of the site before you hit that bar, even though Laurel has said in the past it can take up to 48 hours for all the changes to take effect.

 

[KayceeCharles]

Okay, one more question...

Can I rename a story?

 

[RejectReality]

Yes. You do more or less the same thing as you do to edit the story text, except you use the "notes" section to state the old title and what you want to change it to. Then, copy-paste this into the "story text" section, since there has to be something there to submit the form.

The same would apply if you wanted to change the category, update the description line, or update the keywords.

 

[RejectReality]

Since I can't edit in this section of the forum, and I never manage to get everything right the first time, here's the rest

When you change anything via an edit, the same wait applies. Your changes are actually made as soon as the "edited" submission vanishes. They're in the database at that moment, but the public side of the site is cached, and it takes a while for the cache to refresh to the new version.

If for any reason you need to change both the story text and one of the other elements, you can still use the notes section to deal with those elements while using the story text section for your updated text.

And here's my standard "How to edit on Lit" copy-pasta, to assist anyone who's never done it before and found this thread while trying to figure it out.

****************

• Take note of the url of your story/chapter. That's the address appearing in the address bar of your browser when you view the first page of your story. You really only need the last part after the /s/ that represents your title.
• Start a new submission.
• Use the same title as the original ( or as much as will fit ) plus something such as *EDIT*
• Fill in the same category, then fill description and keywords with placeholders, as they don't matter. ( Unless one of these things are what you're editing )
• If editing the story text, paste/upload the new text in the "story text" section. You need to upload the whole story, not just the edited sections. If editing anything else, copy the "notes" section detailed below in order to fill this section.
• In the "notes" section, say what you are editing. If story text, then put that. If title, then put the requested NEW title here. You can fill in edited descriptions/keywords/category above, but you'll still want to list any such changes here. It's a good idea to list the url that I mentioned in step 1. This is unique to every story/chapter, and can help eliminate the potential for human error. As mentioned above, if you are editing something other than the story text, copy what you put in the notes section to the "story text" as well. This is simply because there must be something in that section for you to submit.
• Click "Review", then "Submit"

Edits are subject to the same wait time as a new story. Laurel has said that edit requests have low priority, but I have also seen edits go up in bulk in far less time than a story usually requires to post, though. So, it could be shorter, or it could be longer than the normal wait for a story to post.

Edits will not appear on the public side immediately. Wait at least 24 hours after the "edited" submission vanishes from your private author list before worrying that your changes haven't been applied. Changes may not all appear at the same time, either. Page 1 may change, while page 2 will remain the same until an hour or so later. Be patient as the system catches up.

If you edit the story in this manner ( as opposed to deleting and re-submitting ) you'll retain your votes, views, comments, etc. The only thing that will be changed is what you say that you want changed. It will not appear on the New List again.

If you wish to delete a story, use much the same method, except put something such as *DELETE* in the title, and say that you want to delete the story in question in the "notes" section.

If you wish to delete all of your stories, an entire series, etc., then use the normal delete process, but explain in the "notes" section that you want to do a mass delete, and what type.

Convoluted, but it does work. It gets a little easier as you get used to it.

 

[KayceeCharles]

Thank you. Seems the edited version was just posted. So I'm good for now.

Now here's to hoping Part 02 gets posted soon!

Thanks again.

 

[RejectReality]

No problem The editing process isn't exactly intuitive, and the wait for an edit to populate through the cache has added an additional level of confusion in the last couple of years.

As the site updates roll out, one of the things on the plate is supposed to be a streamlined editing process and an updated FAQ to reflect it.