New author/rejected story question

Is it common for a submitted work to be returned because the verifier feels it is in the wrong category, not long enough, and basically (subjectively to the verifier) doesn’t “feel right?”

I submitted a short piece in the love poem category featuring meeting someone on Lush, falling for them over chat, having role play cybersex, and how it changed my life. It was rejected because it didn’t fit the “criteria” of a love poem. It was suggested (demanded, really) that it be expanded and resubmitted under a different category. 

It was also required that the reference to fantasy role play removed. (Readers are always commenting that they want details, so I included it. Otherwise it wouldn’t have been there. Aren’t you supposed to please the readers?)

Where is the list of criteria for what constitutes a love poem? Where is it explicitly stated that fantasy role play is excluded? I can think of a host of stories I have read that violated “unwritten rules” that both of my submissions were dinged for containing as far as topic and age of non-sexual characters.

Is it purely up to the whims of whoever reads the story before it is published? Are there published rules anywhere, other than no sexual characters under age 16?

Well I'm no expert but here's a little advice.

There's 2 different styles of poetry out here, erotic and love poetry.

Erotic poems are purely sexual,  lots of details about physical contact, expressions of desire and well body fluids. It's the more hard core version of poetry.

Love poetry is more about the emotional aspect. The nervous tension of meeting someone early in a relationship, the heady days of a mature relationship or the wistful pain of a relationship that ended.

While erotic poetry celebrates and delights in descriptions of the physical act of love making, love poetry should suggest or hint but not blatantly describe it.

So with that in mind look over your verse.

If its Love make the physical descriptions more vague, and bump up the emotional angle a lot.

If its erotic emotions are nice but bring lots of  bump and grind. I want to smell the sweat,  hear the bed springs protest and soft whispers of affection in each others arms at the end.

For more practical guidance look for Fluttered or Fuzzy1954. Both of them write a lot of poetry in both styles so you can see how an expert does it.

When I write poetry I find it helps to think about a moment. Anything that isn't part of that moment is either chopped or really pared down. Then only put in what conveys the physical or emotional intent of that moment.

Hope that helps.

Well, it has hardly any explicitness at all. It is a one-day passionate lust-filled experience that opened my eyes to what was possible online. Your response serves to reinforce that it is entirely subjective and my writing style probably doesn’t belong here. 

Well writing by its nature is subjective,  one person's classic is another's tedious tome. There are rules and guidelines the verifiers use to mark your work. If it doesn't fit within the parameters of a category it's going to be sent back for alterations.

The first thing you submit is always the hardest because you don't know the guidelines. Read the response from the verifier,  if you get stuck to contact them. I've found them to be consistently helpful and more than willing to show you their line of thinking. Some things are absolutes and others are personal opinion.

I've found if I can explain my intention with something they always come back with suggestions on how to get the key element I needed in without breaking any guidelines.

It's unfortunate that you're submitting material during a huge site migration so they might be a little less available than they would otherwise be.

Don't take your first rejection to heart ,  every one of us has had at least one rejection usually our first attempt but it doesn't have to be.  Go slow, read through the verifiers notes and rework the text.

In time what they ask for becomes part of how you write and the number of corrections becomes a whole lot smaller.

Do keep at it though,  it's always a good thing to have new faces and new ideas being published.

Usually the mod tells you whats wrong. I also suggest you dont mix genres. If you are writing it should be in the genre for example.

If you're still having trouble send me the piece and I can edit it a little for you. Getting the first one accepted is the hardest part after that it gets a lot easier.

Quote by NatashaTsarinaErotic

Usually the mod tells you whats wrong. I also suggest you dont mix genres. If you are writing it should be in the genre for example.

between blood relatives doesn't interest me at all. But other sites have numerous stories about sexual relations between relatives. (Mother-son couplings seem particularly popular.) Just wondering what the category means.

We don't accept stories that claim to be true in that category.

Quote by LakeShoreLimited

Quote by NatashaTsarinaErotic

Usually the mod tells you whats wrong. I also suggest you dont mix genres. If you are writing it should be in the genre for example.

It's interesting that on this site it's called " Fantasy." Isn't it already a fantasy because it's a story? Or do they mean that a character within the story is having a fantasy about it? (A fantasy within a fantasy?)

between blood relatives doesn't interest me at all. But other sites have numerous stories about sexual relations between relatives. (Mother-son couplings seem particularly popular.) Just wondering what the category means.

Quote by Jen

We don't accept stories that claim to be true in that category.

Quote by Lurker411

Quote by LakeShoreLimited

Quote by NatashaTsarinaErotic

Usually the mod tells you whats wrong. I also suggest you dont mix genres. If you are writing it should be in the genre for example.

It's interesting that on this site it's called " Fantasy." Isn't it already a fantasy because it's a story? Or do they mean that a character within the story is having a fantasy about it? (A fantasy within a fantasy?)

between blood relatives doesn't interest me at all. But other sites have numerous stories about sexual relations between relatives. (Mother-son couplings seem particularly popular.) Just wondering what the category means.

It’s just the site clinging to a false narrative for legalistic reasons, like pretending that no teen has any knowledge of sex until they turn 16. It is clearly and knowingly a false narrative because there are entire series in the fantasy category that ARE presented as true life stories.

I'll tell you this..... This site is the most unappreciated, unthankful, censorious, uber-critical sites around. I've written many stories that have been accepted everywhere else but here. And I know they're good because of the feedback I've gotten. The reasons I've been given are those for a reputable piece for The Wall Street Journal or New York Times. I missed a comma? I mixed my past tense and present tense in one paragraph? I don't have enough paragraphs....Ask the pervert jerking off if he missed that comma. Or if this next sentence should have been a new paragraph?

I understand our gripes are a bit different Lurker, and my reply is to let you know that... what doesn't make it here, will be welcomed elsewhere. Actually, everywhere. I know because both the WSJ and the Times have published my gangbang stories many times. <------joke. Good Luck

Quote by TheOne666

I'll tell you this..... This site is the most unappreciated, unthankful, censorious, uber-critical sites around. I've written many stories that have been accepted everywhere else but here. And I know they're good because of the feedback I've gotten. The reasons I've been given are those for a reputable piece for The Wall Street Journal or New York Times. I missed a comma? I mixed my past tense and present tense in one paragraph? I don't have enough paragraphs....Ask the pervert jerking off if he missed that comma. Or if this next sentence should have been a new paragraph?

I understand our gripes are a bit different Lurker, and my reply is to let you know that... what doesn't make it here, will be welcomed elsewhere. Actually, everywhere. I know because both the WSJ and the Times have published my gangbang stories many times. <------joke. Good Luck

I've only had online experience with three sites, all of them specializing in erotic stories. Lush is the only one that attempts to read and proof the whole submission; they have the staff (volunteers?) to do it. I guess I don't mind too much. There was one case here where they sent a story back and told me to get Grammarly, which wasn't such bad advice. (Grammarly does require some judgment calls; it's a program, not A.I. - at least not yet!) Lush did reject one story for content reasons. I didn't feel like rewriting it, so I posted it elsewhere.

Literotica gives it a cursory look - I think they have a single person trying to do it all. Yet sometimes they will send back a story for some reason anyway.

StoriesOnLine is pretty relaxed (that's where I put the story Lush rejected) and they seem to do nothing to review submissions. Usually it's posted within an hour or two. I suppose if one consistently flaunts their few rules - like by publishing stories with eight-year-old characters - they will eventually catch up with you, but that is mostly a guess.