Taking a long time to have a story published.

[ShelbyDawn57]

I'll go with managing expectations. I've been here a long time (eighteen years from the initial account), I post a lot of stories, and I get communications from Laurel when I need it (perhaps because I don't make many demands). So, I can manage expectations OK here. If I was just starting here and I was getting rejections on false AI calls or most everyone else was getting published in two days and I couldn't get published in a month and couldn't get the Web site to respond to my attempts at communications, managing expectations for me quite possibility would be to find another story site that responded better. As far as I'm concerned the OP has a legitimate gripe that "suck it up, baby" doesn't go far to satisfy.

The particular issue here isn't a "for everybody" this-is-the-time-it-takes response. It's that some of us get posted in two days and can get a response from Laurel and far too many report that don't get this level of response.

Yeah, 'suck it up baby' are your words not mine. And you said, "I'll go with managing expectations."
If it works for you and me, it should be good advice for a new author on the site, right?.

I think we're in agreement.

 

[KeithD]

Yeah, 'suck it up baby' are your words not mine. And you said, "I'll go with managing expectations."
I think we're in agreement.

I think I interpreted your response to this correctly. And, yes, it irritated me--for the reason I just gave. It's not equal-access response that's being given here. I think those who are getting the short end of that stick are justified both in complaining and in finding someplace that serves them better, if they can.

 

[ShelbyDawn57]

I think I interpreted your response to this correctly. And, yes, it irritated me--for the reason I just gave. It's not equal-access response that's being given here. I think those who are getting the short end of that stick are justified both in complaining and in finding someplace that serves them better, if they can.

Please see edit.

 

[lc69hunter]

I only submitted two days ago. Most of mine have taken a week to ten days. This may be quicker because it is in the 750 word contest

 

[travelenman]

Give it at least 3-5 days before you send a DM/PM to Laurel.

There are currently 2 different contests running right now, so normal stories do not have priority right now.

Laurel does all of this on her own, and shit falls through the cracks.

I know and understand that it can be frustrating at times, lord knows with my temper, I can't cast any stones. LOL.

I suggest while you wait on a reply, to focus on your next story or two. Get a nice, good jump on it.

Hope things work out for ya.

Many thanks for the reply, and completely understand this situation a lot better now. Taking your advice, I have two other stories in draft and working on another.

 

[lc69hunter]

I just got my story rejected. I understand why, but not sure how to fix it. I took a PM from a reader, and used that as my opening, and then my response to that reader. I was told that private correspondence cannot no be published without the approval of the one who wrote it.

I had hoped it would be a different take on a story line. Is there a chance that one of you fine writers could read it and tell me how I might change the approach? Maybe if just summarized the initial message and went from there, it could work? Actually it might be better because I had comments I couldn't fit in because of the 750 word limit.

 

[jhealy55]

Lot of good points being made here. None better than the fact that it's a free site with fairly high standards.

We've all waited longer than a week and even longer at some points. I've waited months for a revision to get posted. Because it gets set aside and the site gets to prioritize their work however they like. Again, cause they're working for free. I am really starting to love this ragtag band of misfits, but authors are not generally known for playing well with others and we've all seen some weapons-grade attitudes displayed here when some of them don't get their way.

For my part, I'm still amazed at the volume of stuff that gets published. AI may be part of the screening, but my sense it's that Laurel is protecting the site from much creepier stuff and making sure it doesn't get shut down. That takes careful reading. Nothing can scan for inference and the penalties for letting even one bad thing through are pretty high.

I'm sure some stuff gets fast-tracked, and some writers do too, but trust is earned and every single author here has had to start at the bottom at some point in that process. I'm not sure I'm all that far off the bottom.

So yes, @travelenman. Please stay patient. It all works out. Never as fast as we hope, but stick with it. All jokes about walk signals aside, I think you'll find it's worth it.

 

[Seadog777]

Many thanks for the reply, and completely understand this situation a lot better now. Taking your advice, I have two other stories in draft and working on another.

I completely understand your frustration.

My 1st encounter with Laurel was me cutting a fucking promo on her, because my 1st story kept getting rejected.

She kept her cool, and talked to me about the why and how to fix it.

Now, her and I are friends beyond this site.

Focus on your stories in draft, things will work itself out on here.

 

[AchtungNight]

Laurel is consistently inconsistent sometimes. You have to be patient and hope. Right now I’ve been waiting four days on a 750 word piece when a longer story only took a day.

 

[M_K_Babalon]

Thanks for all the responses, team. It looks like I'm just impatient.

Just use the Ronco technique.

 

[M_K_Babalon]

In the [fragile and feeble] defense of Lit; Lush has several mods that look in the submission cue, and anything I've submitted there takes just as long, if not longer to get published. The only way to expedite is to publish somewhere that has no moderation. My story Sextacy actually went live here two days before it did on Lush.

 

[SamBomb]

Does Laurel ever respond to DMs?

 

[M_K_Babalon]

Does Laurel ever respond to DMs?

She does. It's the only way to contact her because the contact us thing doesn't work. She may or may not respond, though. Which is no surprise, seeing how she rarely ever even talks in the boards anymore.

 

[ElectricBlue]

Does Laurel ever respond to DMs?

Yes, but it depends. If you're just trying to break a story loose, she probably won't reply, but the story will change from pending status. If it's not a chaser problem, yes, she'll reply.

 

[EmilyMiller]

Does Laurel ever respond to DMs?

Yes. sometimes in great depth. But not always. She has to prioritize her time.

Emily

 

[SamBomb]

Yes, but it depends. If you're just trying to break a story loose, she probably won't reply, but the story will change from pending status. If it's not a chaser problem, yes, she'll reply.

I think I asked a legit question about why my story is rejected twice, but I get only silence.

 

[MillieDynamite]

Usually there is a comment that hints at the issue or issues. What did the rejection notice say?

 

[ElectricBlue]

I think I asked a legit question about why my story is rejected twice, but I get only silence.

Have you been caught up in the AI rejection loop, or was the rejection for another reason? If the former, that's frustrating, because it seems there's no good answer yet. If for some other reason, the best way to get an outcome is to address the issue (there are a bunch of generic rejection notices, in the form of questions) and resubmit the story and/or argue your case. That gets the story in front of Laurel again, and is probably more effective than a PM.

 

[SamBomb]

Have you been caught up in the AI rejection loop, or was the rejection for another reason? If the former, that's frustrating, because it seems there's no good answer yet. If for some other reason, the best way to get an outcome is to address the issue (there are a bunch of generic rejection notices, in the form of questions) and resubmit the story and/or argue your case. That gets the story in front of Laurel again, and is probably more effective than a PM.

It's the generic AI rejections

 

[MillieDynamite]

She won't respond to you on that issue. At least, she hasn't responded to anyone who's been rejected for that reason so far.

It's the generic AI rejections

 

[ElectricBlue]

It's the generic AI rejections

Bummer. It would be good to get an updated policy, describing whatever is now being done on that.

 

[CatGirl69]

Can confirm: I submitted my first story a week and a half ago, and it's still in the Pending queue. Once I found out that there's literally only *one* person moderating this, I learned patience in a darn hurry. As far as I'm concerned, she's doing a fantastic job, and I'm very happy waiting in line to make sure everything stays kosher with the site and its content!

 

[M_K_Babalon]

Can confirm: I submitted my first story a week and a half ago, and it's still in the Pending queue. Once I found out that there's literally only *one* person moderating this, I learned patience in a darn hurry. As far as I'm concerned, she's doing a fantastic job, and I'm very happy waiting in line to make sure everything stays kosher with the site and its content!

Ronco technique!

 

[MillieDynamite]

As there is a challenge going on right now, those stories take precedence over others. But the first story will take longer, no matter what, than after you have some up.

Can confirm: I submitted my first story a week and a half ago, and it's still in the Pending queue. Once I found out that there's literally only *one* person moderating this, I learned patience in a darn hurry. As far as I'm concerned, she's doing a fantastic job, and I'm very happy waiting in line to make sure everything stays kosher with the site and its content!

 

[AchtungNight]

Actually I remember my first story being published relatively quickly way back when. These days it varies. One of my stories was published in a day. Another took over a week. This site sets its own pace and you have to be content with that. Just like many other things in life.