A huge thanks fuzzy for this. My first story was also rejected by Her Regal Highness Sprite, I happened to go back to it last month to see how my writing has changed. The difference is night and day. If she had not rejected it I would not have put in the effort I did in perfecting my writing.
Nice thread.
It's easy to bash the mods. And writers are always too close to their own work, so having a mod suggest changes can understandably make a writer defensive. I like to think of it this way: they are making me look better, by taking the time to correct my mistakes.
I have a story currently in the hopper that has been delayed for 24 hours and counting, because it skirts dangerously close to breaking the TOS. I knew that when I submitted. But Lush has contacted me, and let me know their reservations, politely and professionally. I am happy with whatever they decide. It's their site.
I had a previous story that I was worried would break the TOS in terms of non-consent, and I contacted a mod and was told how to navigate the issue so it would avoid breaking the rules. The changes suggested also made it a better story.
My point is they are trying to help YOU, the writer, and also trying to help the site as a whole, by raising the quality of the stories. A rising tide lifts all boats.
When I first started, I could never get my stories published. My poems were rejected constantly.
Many mods, Liz, DanielleX, Sweet-as-Candy, Sprite, Stephanie, Molly, RavenStar, Buzz helped me to better understand things. I always wrote poems with two lines. Liz told me I should try quadrants. I listened to everything they said. Stephanie told me I should write about things that happened to me. He said it would be easier to tell when poems or stories were personal and thought out.
Most importantly, I bought a gold badge and my very first story was published. I was so happy it was finally published.
Most of my poems in the beginning sounded forced and childish. I just kept trying and finally got the hang of it.
I'm grateful for all the moderators, and Nicola for having this lovely site.
Hugs and Kisses,
Mysteria
xo
I can't even imagine some of the gak the moderators see.
What I do know is that Editors Picks and Recommended Reads have a lot of moderators' work in it. They know how to fucking write.
Clearly they work with the other writers to help make them better. They edit work if you're a member. They do all of this for free.
That's pretty goddam awesome.
Most Lush moderators will accept tips (read: bribes).
As a newbie here, I am still finding my feet, and still working out what is acceptable and what is not in a Lush story. Clearly some issues are going to depend upon the subjective judgment of the moderators - which may vary. That may annoy me at times - but I figure that if I join a club I need to try to follow the house rules and not get too annoyed if someone tells me to button my shirt and put on my jacket before entering the premises.
My first story was at first rejected by the lovely Curvy, and further edited by the charming Chris M. One area they had trouble with didn't surprise me: I guess I was rather cheekily hoping they wouldn't notice - but damn, they did. The other area of contention took me completely by surprise, and rather annoyed me at the time. Either way, changing my story to fit their demands wasn't too onerous. If I had really objected, I could have gone elsewhere - but I reckon that Lush is the best of literary smut sites, and I am honoured to be here.
Since then, Curvy and Chris and all the other moderators I have come into contact with have been utterly lovely: supportive, encouraging, and doing their best to be fair within the rules of the site. If they sometimes cramp my style a bit, it is probably a price worth paying for being part of a community of some of the best writers there are in this genre. That said moderators have awarded me four RRs so far suggests to me that overall they have my best interests at heart, and are there to support me.
So, thanks, guys!
Grusha
It's comforting to learn I'm not the only one to have had their first story rejected by Lush. It took me three submissions before it was accepted. Some pathetic pedantry concerning the niceties of punctuating dialogue correctly.
Coincidentally, I came across this quote from Patricia Highsmith recently. Writing about having a manuscript rejected by a publish:
"These little setbacks, amounting sometimes to thousands of dollars' worth of time wasted, writers must learn to take like a spartan."
On the same page of this quote anthology, I also read this.
a publisher's reader commentating on the manuscript of J.G. Ballards novel Crash:
"This author is beyond psychiatric help . . . do not publish"
I wonder how many Lush verifiers have thought the same about a dodgy submission.
Indentured Grammar Fascist
This thread made me smile. (especially the promise of sex toys for tips)
“Remember: when people tell you something's wrong or doesn't work, they are almost always right. When they tell you exactly what's wrong or how to fix it, they are almost always wrong.”
― Neil Gaiman
Like many authors here, I have had a number of stories rejected by the moderators for a number of reasons, a few of them more than once. I have also posted a number of stories on another site that has no moderation. I would like to think there is a huge difference in my writing because of the moderators. When I go back and look at some of more original postings on that site, I realized that . . . well not to be coy about it . . . they were crap. Every time I would re-read one of them I found myself wanted to re-write, re-organize, and even just toss them!
The moderators here have given me feedback that made me enjoy my writing more because while I know some people don't always like my stories (yes, I have received more than one '1' rating), I am proud of my stories and more than satisfied because of the work they put into them. I don't always agree with them on some small details, but as a whole, their feedback and changes have improved my stories and reviewing any changes they have made is helping me be a better writer. I not only have no complaints, but I have also grown to appreciate all of the moderators who have put up with me and my occasional whining — okay, maybe more than occasional :-)
One last note, since discovering Lush, I have not been back at that other site and even suspended my account. While it was fun, I prefer the environment here because of the moderators and the framework that allows writers to connect in more positive ways. I love the people I have met here and hope we have a long association!
Write On!
Meddle Not In The Affairs of Dragons, for we are Crunchy and Good with Ketchup!
I'm a bit sad to say that my first story here was not rejected (since that seems to have happened to the best writers). But it should have been - I feel bad about wasting a mod's time fixing up my dialogue punctuation and silly typoes.
I spent at least a minute thinking, 'How dare you touch my masterpiece. I know how to right gooder than any won.' Then I remembered that I'm a complete amateur and checked a couple of books on my shelf. I quickly realized that, actually, my punctuation was wrong, sent a thank you email, and I didn't make the same mistakes again (I made different ones, that other mods have taken the time to fix up).
The end result was something easier to read and less likely to drop the reader out of their suspension of disbelief while they think, 'What the fuck is that even supposed to mean?' But it's still definitely all my thoughts - any errors, boring bits, two-dimensional characters, stupid plots, depravity or bad jokes remaining are all my fault...
This thread is very sweet of you. Thank you, Fuzzy.
It wasn't my first story that was rejected, it was my second one. Not once, but twice. The lovely mod that sent it back the second time took a moment to break it down. My response was, what in the heck is she talking about? I don't do that. Well, guess what? I totally did that. Stupid tenses!
She took time and care to help me grow and for that I am thankful. I've always tried to pass that care and time on to others because it matters.
I'm fairly new here and, in a dark omen for my future as a Lush contributor, have yet to have a story rejected. What I have had is help and encouragement for every story I've submitted. After years of starting and not finishing projects (erotic or otherwise), I'm finally completing work and getting feedback. The gold membership was definitely money well spent, and i've only had it a month.
Before reading this thread I'd assumed the mods were getting paid, simply because of the speed and quality of service provided. I not only take my hat off to them, I put on a second, larger hat, so I can take that one off too.
Once there was a man with a little too much time on his hands...
Continuing the definite pattern, my first story here was rejected as well. She was so nice in pointing out a seemingly endless list of why it wasn't publishable... I've slowly improved over the years thanks to the help, advice and support of various mods.. Poor Curvy seemed to end up with so many of my stories she suggested grammerly to help my limited acquaintance with punctuation.
As a self taught writer I'm so grateful for the help and support the mods have given.. Even in the debacle of the horror competition entry when I was desparetly clinging on to a scene with a girl dying during sex, the mods worked with me explaining why it was against the TOS and helped me redraft and redraft.
Mods, you are the greatest ?
I'm just thankful that first story was never published
My latest story - a short in the Gay Male category The Tutorial
One thing not mentioned here so far is mods checking for the story appearing elsewhere on the internet under a different name, which helps prevent people stealing work and posting it as their own. Because I have three different pen names that I use elsewhere to compartmentalize my stories, I've been asked about this more often than the average member. Fortunately, I have my own website where I can point to the connection between all my names, so it's a quick and easy process to prove they're all mine when I choose to bring a Les or Dark story over here under my RR name.
Even if it's only a small percentage of the mods taking the time to do a plagiarism search, they're doing erotica authors everywhere a great service by blocking people who are trying to capitalize on other people's work. Eventually, someone who is stealing from other authors is going to run afoul of a moderator doing such a search, and probably find themselves perma-banned for it.
While I understand it may not feel that way when you personally receive a rejection, there's also a lot more consistency with regards to content moderation on Lush than elsewhere, where you typically have only 1 or 2 people skimming a ton of submissions by themselves. A lot of things can slip through the cracks with such a rushed approval process, and knee-jerk rejections that mistake something acceptable for banned content are just as likely. The same holds true for grammar. While not every moderator may have a creative writing degree or be a professional editor, they're screening out a lot of painfully bad, almost illiterate dross that ends up getting approved elsewhere because the one person who is approving new content for the site can't take the time to truly read every story. On the flip side, one typo in just the wrong place could get an otherwise perfectly fine story rejected for grammar elsewhere due to the same speed-skimming process.
Having multiple moderators also helps eliminate category bias. When you only have one or two people approving stories, they're going to have things they find boring or even distasteful that are still within content rules. Such a story isn't going to get the same level of fair evaluation as something they enjoy. With a much larger moderation team, a mod can skip that story that gives them the creeps or puts them to sleep, knowing that someone else who is more comfortable with the content will be along soon enough to give it a fair evaluation.