Rules, rules, rules :)

[PennLady]

First let me make it clear that I am not complaining here. I'm just observing, and amused.

I started posting some of my stories at LushStories.com, after chatting with someone about it. Generally it's fine -- positive comments and things like that. I haven't quite figured the site all out but I just haven't taken the time.

I find the 10k-word limit a little awkward, but that's okay. I decided to submit "The Collection," my Halloween story. At 11k words, I had to break it up. Part 1 was accepted, part 2 was not. So I deleted Part 1.

I guess I just didn't think I'd ever write something that didn't fit a site's guidelines. I mean, generally I write romantic erotica, and all of my heroes/heroines are way over eighteen. I don't write violent sex or incest, which is something I've seen barred over at sites like EroticStories.com. So here's a bloodless, Twilight-zone story that got rejected, much to my surprise.

To their credit, they sent me a message specifying why the story was rejected, and someone definitely read it. This wasn't a general "it may have been x or y" message, and I did appreciate that. I also found it funny that Part 1 was okay but 2 was not; I mean, once they knew the end and the bit that broke their rules, surely it meant that that had happened in Part 1.

Anyway, 'tis just one person's experience, and the site in general seems nice. I've just been too busy to check everything and see how it all works. Anyone else have an experience with LushStories?

 

[DG Hear]

I submit to Lit, Erotic Stories and Sol. None of them have limits to length of stories. They do however have difference acceptances. Such as age, beastality, non-consent and incest.

I just go along with the rules. Never have a lot of problems that way. If they are interested in posting my stories, (free) that's good enough for me.
DG

 

[PennLady]

I submit to Lit, Erotic Stories and Sol. None of them have limits to length of stories. They do however have difference acceptances. Such as age, beastality, non-consent and incest.

I just go along with the rules. Never have a lot of problems that way. If they are interested in posting my stories, (free) that's good enough for me.
DG

Oh, I don't mind the rules. And I pretty much never push the envelope on what's acceptable. I don't like main characters that are 18yo or so, so I don't write them; I definitely don't do bestiality, incest, non-con, etc. So it wasn't any aspect of the sex that got my story rejected, it was other stuff. And it was my bad for not checking more closely, but since no one else had rejected it, and I'm never "outside the line" as it were, it didn't occur to me that they would.

 

[estragon]

Oh, I don't mind the rules. And I pretty much never push the envelope on what's acceptable. I don't like main characters that are 18yo or so, so I don't write them; I definitely don't do bestiality, incest, non-con, etc. So it wasn't any aspect of the sex that got my story rejected, it was other stuff. And it was my bad for not checking more closely, but since no one else had rejected it, and I'm never "outside the line" as it were, it didn't occur to me that they would.

SA Penn Lady, it was their loss, not yours. I've said publicly more than once that "The Collection" is an excellent story, and should have gotten a much higher score than is presently posted. It is worthy of the late great Rod Serling at his best, and as a great fan of the old "Twilight Zone", I don't hand out that praise lightly.

As for EroticStories, you might want to PM Ilmonamour. She was just entered in a contest over there. Her story was very good indeed, and I'm surprised it didn't make the cut.

 

[PennLady]

As for EroticStories, you might want to PM Ilmonamour. She was just entered in a contest over there. Her story was very good indeed, and I'm surprised it didn't make the cut.

I didn't realize ES ran contests at all. I guess I should check in there more often. Thanks, I'll check it out and/or PM Ilmonamour.

 

[SevenSquared]

There's a 10k work limit? My first story was 13k words and it wasn't rejected and I've seen many much longer.

 

[Boxlicker101]

There's a 10k work limit? My first story was 13k words and it wasn't rejected and I've seen many much longer.

No, 49, there is no maximum word limit here. Apparently there is on the site Penn Lady posted to, for some reason or other. I have personally posted many stories with more than 10,000 words.

 

[Darkniciad]

Yeah, there's no limit here. I've posted chapters of 20k words *laugh* I've seen stories of up to 21 Lit pages ( My 20k is about 7 )

 

[SevenSquared]

Ah yes, sorry. By the time I got to the end of the post I forgot the beginning where she said it was at another site

 

[PennLady]

Oh, yes, most of my stories here are over 10k. My chapters are often less, but it's rare for me to post a stand-alone that's much less than 10k.

They threw me another curve ball at LushStories -- there is also a character limit. Ack.

I've found yet another story site, velvet9.com, and there appear to be no limits there either on content or story length.

 

[JAMESBJOHNSON]

SOPHIE'S CHOICE begins with a junior editor whining about how he lost his job after rejecting a blockbuster best seller. Every editor has a similar tale. Their head was up their ass or they had raisin balls or they were hungover or whatever.

Barbara W. Tuchman's 1st book was rejected 30 times. George V. Higgins spent 17 years getting his 1st book published, and it was an immediate bestseller.

On the otherhand Frederick Forsyth never wrote a novel in his life, typed one up, sold it immediately, and it was a bestseller. He had no idea books were rejected.

 

[GinaTina]

I skimmed the rules over at Lush whatever and then passed it up. Too many restrictions.

I don't do well with limitations.

I've only posted my writings here and at SOL.

 

[PennLady]

I skimmed the rules over at Lush whatever and then passed it up. Too many restrictions.

I don't do well with limitations.

I've only posted my writings here and at SOL.

The content restrictions generally don't pose a problem for me on any site, as I don't usually write what's restricted, which tends to be things like incest or violence. I may still have submitted even if I'd seen this guideline on Lush, as it was a supernatural story, and not bloody and had no sexual violence, so I would have thought it would make it.

It's the word- and character-length limits that are killing me.

 

[PennLady]

Rejected again at Lush, this time for "Facing the Past." Rejected on grounds of violence. I may stop posting there. It's a bit of work to get the stories down to their limits, and I'm floored that I've written enough "violence" to get rejected on that basis. I was emailing with one of the mods, and he was very nice. I had to ask, though, how a story with one non-sexual physical confrontation could be rejected when they have incest (illegal activity), BDSM, Spanking, Reluctance, etc. Ah well, their site, their rules. Might be too much trouble to post there, though.

 

[D_Lynn]

Rejected again at Lush, this time for "Facing the Past." Rejected on grounds of violence. I may stop posting there. It's a bit of work to get the stories down to their limits, and I'm floored that I've written enough "violence" to get rejected on that basis. I was emailing with one of the mods, and he was very nice. I had to ask, though, how a story with one non-sexual physical confrontation could be rejected when they have incest (illegal activity), BDSM, Spanking, Reluctance, etc. Ah well, their site, their rules. Might be too much trouble to post there, though.

WOW! That's just crazy!

Wonder how fast I'd get rejected if I posted one of my Non-Consent/Reluctance stories out there?

Thanks for the information. It's helpful to know these things because reformatting to particular guidelines takes a long time. Sorry you had to go through all that work only to get rejected on the last segment of your story.

-Dakota

 

[mikey2much]

Every writer that accepts those restrictions, validates them

Censorship is only restrictions imposed for different reasons, basically there is no difference. I think your writing should be totally unhampered by rules. If you are writing stories that your readers are enjoying, then where is the harm. These are all sex sites aren't they?

I have damaged two of my stories here at lit over the underage policy. Both times I felt that I was not using the underage sex to make anybody get excited but rather to explain why a character would behave in a certain way. I was never picturing the sex acts or going into detail about it.

I bitched and moaned and groaned for a while and than made the changes, leaving gaping holes in both stories. I still think that I should go back and rewrite them but I don't know how to do it. How would you write Romeo and Juliette to make it legal here?

Now when I write a story that Lit rejects I don't try to change it I just post it somewhere else.

Some sites let you write what you want to, letting the readers decide if it is good or not. Other sites set rigid rules and you have to make your stories fit that mold or be rejected. The surprising thing to me is that the totally free sites draw fewer readers than the restricted sites.

 

[PennLady]

WOW! That's just crazy!

Wonder how fast I'd get rejected if I posted one of my Non-Consent/Reluctance stories out there?

Thanks for the information. It's helpful to know these things because reformatting to particular guidelines takes a long time. Sorry you had to go through all that work only to get rejected on the last segment of your story.

-Dakota

Dakota, I wouldn't even bother submitting a non-con story there, especially if the emphasis is on non-con. They do have a Reluctance category, but I didn't check it out. If you wanted to consider posting there, I'd say check the guidelines carefully and maybe skim the categories you're interested in. I mean, I just had two stories rejected on the basis of "violence." One involved no physical violence, just a supernatural camera. Another (Facing the Past) involved a woman who had come from an abusive family, and there was a scene of her brother accosting her and throwing her up against a locker before someone came to help. There was no sexual violence at all.

I actually asked one of the mods about FtP before sending it, figuring I'd try to save everyone some time. He read it, said it was okay by him but he'd run it by a couple of others, then it was rejected. What can you do?

One mod was very nice and sent me a message to suggest putting it on their sister site, StoriesSpace, and I might. Only problem is, that site is for non-erotic stories, so I'm not sure if the sex in mine would cause a problem there.

Censorship is only restrictions imposed for different reasons, basically there is no difference. I think your writing should be totally unhampered by rules. If you are writing stories that your readers are enjoying, then where is the harm. These are all sex sites aren't they?

Censorship is when the government tells you what you can and can't say/write think. A privately-owned and -run site like Lit or Lush or whatever, is free to have whatever rules they want. If you don't like them, don't post. My writing isn't "hampered" by their rules. I have my stories up on several sites, so losing this one is not a big deal.

I have damaged two of my stories here at lit over the underage policy. Both times I felt that I was not using the underage sex to make anybody get excited but rather to explain why a character would behave in a certain way. I was never picturing the sex acts or going into detail about it.

I bitched and moaned and groaned for a while and than made the changes, leaving gaping holes in both stories. I still think that I should go back and rewrite them but I don't know how to do it. How would you write Romeo and Juliette to make it legal here?

Did Romeo and Juliet actually have sex? Perhaps you can't make it legal here on Lit, but that doesn't mean anyone is censoring you. You have the right to say whatever you want, or write it, but no one in particular is obliged to provide you a forum for it. If you want to post to a site, then it's up to you to adhere to the rules.

Some sites let you write what you want to, letting the readers decide if it is good or not. Other sites set rigid rules and you have to make your stories fit that mold or be rejected. The surprising thing to me is that the totally free sites draw fewer readers than the restricted sites.

Well, perhaps some people don't want to sift through what they don't want. I debated for a while about posting at SOL, for example, b/c I'd seen some pretty gross stuff there -- by my way of thinking -- but decided to go for it and it's been fine. However, I won't go to ASSTR, as I've heard enough about it to think I don't want to be involved there.

So I post where I can, and although I'm surprised Lush rejected those stories, I'll just move along.

 

[sr71plt]

The age business sometimes does cut off some story possibilities for me. I write a lot of historical settings, and for some historical themes and in some time periods, 18 is a ridiculous edge--making the story unbelievable from the get go. So far I've just regretted I couldn't write up the idea and moved on. (Or considered writing it for the mainstream just without the graphic sex--because, strangely, you can write some themes for the mainstream that you can't for erotica/porn.)

 

[Boxlicker101]

I had one story which included a 16 year old girl being pushed into marriage to a deacon of their church, who was in his fifties. The deflowering was probably the least sexy scene I have ever written. Anyhow, even though it was marital sex, with the couple legally married, I could not post the story. I had to change her age to 18, which took a lot out of the story.

It has always seemed strange that in some states, including CA, a person can marry at the age of 16, with parental consent, but sex with him or her is illegal until he or she is 18, and the parents could probably be arrested if they do anything to expedite the sexual activity.

I don't know if marital sex is excluded from the statutory rape laws.

 

[mikey2much]

They can make decisions of life and death at sixteen

Across america you can get a drivers licence at sixteen. When you are driving you are making decisions that have a life or death impact on the people around you. How can this person we trust that much not be able to control her own ass?

If you can be trusted to follow traffic laws than I think you should be able to take command of your own body. BTW I got my first DL in Wyoming when I was fourteen.

 

[PennLady]

I don't know if marital sex is excluded from the statutory rape laws.

That's a very good question and given the disparity in ages of consent and "legal age," it should be spelled out somewhere.

Across america you can get a drivers licence at sixteen. When you are driving you are making decisions that have a life or death impact on the people around you. How can this person we trust that much not be able to control her own ass?

If you can be trusted to follow traffic laws than I think you should be able to take command of your own body. BTW I got my first DL in Wyoming when I was fourteen.

Okay, but, um... so what? None of this has anything to do with fictional stories posted on websites. The sites have their rules and you deal with them, or you post elsewhere.