Story Rejected due to "odd characters"

the_ontarian · Mar 24, 2023

Hey all,

I'm trying to submit another story, but it's being rejected with the following explanation:

The text is coming through on our end with odd characters sprinkled throughout the text. If this is being encoded/written in software that is made for a language other than English, please let us know what software and language you are using, and we will try to figure out what is going wrong. Thank you!

I'm using Pages for Mac, which is the same software I've used for other submissions so I don't see that as being the issue. I do have some HTML tags (i.e. and ) throughout, but I've used those without issue before as well. Further, when I initially submitted the story, I previewed it (using the Preview & Publish button on the submit page) and it looked just fine. I'm not sure who/where to ask about this - any thoughts?

djrip · Mar 24, 2023

Try pasting into a plain text doc, maybe you'll see the weird characters. Or if not you should be able to cut from there and paste into lit with no weird stuff.

Seadog777 · Mar 24, 2023

Are you using emojis???

Try using Microsoft Word or Plain Text Doc.

NotWise · Mar 24, 2023

the_ontarian said:
Hey all,

I'm trying to submit another story, but it's being rejected with the following explanation:

I'm using Pages for Mac, which is the same software I've used for other submissions so I don't see that as being the issue. I do have some HTML tags (i.e. and ) throughout, but I've used those without issue before as well. Further, when I initially submitted the story, I previewed it (using the Preview & Publish button on the submit page) and it looked just fine. I'm not sure who/where to ask about this - any thoughts?

Send a direct message to Laurel with the information you just gave us.

EmilyMiller · Mar 24, 2023

the_ontarian said:
Story Rejected due to "odd characters"

I know this is far from helpful, but I immediately assumed your MMC and / or FMC (or other MMC, or goat - delete as applicable) were odd

.

Em

the_ontarian · Mar 24, 2023

EmilyMiller said:
I know this is far from helpful, but I immediately assumed your MMC and / or FMC (or other MMC, or goat - delete as applicable) were odd .

Em

the_ontarian · Mar 24, 2023

djrip said:
Try pasting into a plain text doc, maybe you'll see the weird characters. Or if not you should be able to cut from there and paste into lit with no weird stuff.

I'll try that, thanks.

tenyari · Mar 24, 2023

I thought the whole point of an erotica site was to make sure my characters were a bit odd.

/ducks.

MelissaBaby · Mar 24, 2023

the_ontarian said:
Hey all,

I'm trying to submit another story, but it's being rejected with the following explanation:

I'm using Pages for Mac, which is the same software I've used for other submissions so I don't see that as being the issue. I do have some HTML tags (i.e. and ) throughout, but I've used those without issue before as well. Further, when I initially submitted the story, I previewed it (using the Preview & Publish button on the submit page) and it looked just fine. I'm not sure who/where to ask about this - any thoughts?

I use Pages and I had that problem once. I resubmitted by direct copy and paste rather than uploading and had no further problems.

gunhilltrain · Mar 24, 2023

tenyari said:
I thought the whole point of an erotica site was to make sure my characters were a bit odd.

/ducks.

That's what I thought too! Anyway, if you save it as plain text and set the encoding to "UTF-8," that may help. It's in the dialogue box on the upper right. I'm not very techie, so I can't guarantee that it will fix your particular issue. Does Apple software have the same capability?

Djmac1031 · Mar 25, 2023

Seadog777 said:
Are you using emojis???

I've actually used emojis several times now in a story, never caused an issue getting them published.

I use them sparingly of course; mainly when characters are having a text conversation.

ElectricBlue · Mar 25, 2023

djrip said:
Try pasting into a plain text doc, maybe you'll see the weird characters. Or if not you should be able to cut from there and paste into lit with no weird stuff.

Yes, save as .txt or .rtf to strip out any weird formatting from a more complex doc format, then copy paste into the Lit submission box. That double cleanse should strip out any hidden formatting.

HeyAll · Mar 25, 2023

Might be already answered, but are you submtiting with a Word Doc or copy/pasting?

Copy/pasting is the safest bet because you can preview it before final submission.

the_ontarian · Mar 25, 2023

MelissaBaby said:
I use Pages and I had that problem once. I resubmitted by direct copy and paste rather than uploading and had no further problems.

I always do copy-and-paste, including on this occasion so I'm not sure where the issue lies. I'm going to copy from Pages into a plain .txt document and paste into the submission form from there and see if that helps. Wish me luck!

gunhilltrain · Mar 25, 2023

the_ontarian said:
I always do copy-and-paste, including on this occasion so I'm not sure where the issue lies. I'm going to copy from Pages into a plain .txt document and paste into the submission form from there and see if that helps. Wish me luck!

Sorry I can't help you with Apple software, but I haven't used it for word processing in many years. The twenty-year old machine still works, but it's basically just sitting there. There used to be a weird feature in Apple word processing that let you convert a document into a MS Word doucument, and for a brief while I used that for Lit publishing. It was a bit cumbersome however, so I went to a Dell desktop - which is also quite old but not that ancient. Of course, there was no process to convert documents in the opposite direction.

Seadog777 · Mar 25, 2023

Djmac1031 said:
I've actually used emojis several times now in a story, never caused an issue getting them published.

I use them sparingly of course; mainly when characters are having a text conversation.

I had a story kicked back because of emojis, so I just stopped using them.
Not really a big deal when it comes to writing.
Just know that's what happened to me, so it was a fair to assume that could've been the issue in this case.
Hopefully this person can get it all straightened out and published.

Andrew2023 · Mar 26, 2023

EmilyMiller said:
I know this is far from helpful, but I immediately assumed your MMC and / or FMC (or other MMC, or goat - delete as applicable) were odd .

Em

Yes, I also made that assumption ...

Then I thought it ... odd ... that none of my submissions were ever rejected for the same reason.

Britva415 · Mar 26, 2023

blackrandl1958 said:
They only show up after your text is converted to HTML, so you can't see them in the preview.

The preview is HTML, it's just not the same HTML as the final published story.

ruddygore · Mar 28, 2023

EmilyMiller said:
I know this is far from helpful, but I immediately assumed your MMC and / or FMC (or other MMC, or goat - delete as applicable) were odd .

Em

That's what I thought too. Like a vegetarian werewolf or six foot tall dwarf.

EmilyMiller · Mar 28, 2023

ruddygore said:
That's what I thought too. Like a vegetarian werewolf or six foot tall dwarf.

Or both. Wait! I have an idea for a story

Em

AchtungNight · Jun 9, 2023

You weren’t the only one who assumed that, Em. As a longtime writer of odd characters I am relieved.

Pureotica · Jun 9, 2023

EmilyMiller said:
I know this is far from helpful, but I immediately assumed your MMC and / or FMC (or other MMC, or goat - delete as applicable) were odd .

Em

I thought the same thing. I'd have to toss out my entire w-i-p folder. Odd characters are kind of the baseline.

lustychimera · Jun 10, 2023

Put it into Gdocs, export as a basic Rich Text, and copy/paste that into the submissions window. Seems like the surest way.

Also, I'm mildly disappointed because I thought this was going to be a way more interesting topic.

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