Rejected from Royal Road for a "sexual cover," now posting on Scribble Hub

[Mikan_Citrus]

Hello! I am an author that goes by the name of Mikan Citrus. I have been writing for years now and recently decided that I am finally ready to publish my works online. I am new to Scribble Hub, and currently this is one of the only websites that I am posting my work on (the complete version of my debut novel is on Amazon, so perhaps you might be interested in that).

However, I have also attempted to post my work on the totalitarian regime of a website known as Royal Road—I was looking through the Scribble Hub forums and saw someone call it “literally 1984,” which got a laugh out of me. As the title of the thread states, I was rejected for the reason that my work has a “sexual cover,” even though that is not at all the case. What I found even more baffling was that there were other fictions on RR with “sexual” covers that have been approved and allowed to be posted for anyone to see.

Arisaka: Celestial Violet (Scribble Hub link to my novel)

I would provide specific examples of those “sexual” covers I discovered that were allowed on RR, but I’m not sure if I am allowed to post links to that website, especially if they are the works of other authors. What I am wondering is if I should continue to communicate with the mods at RR to make my case, as I would like to get my writing out to as many people as I possibly can, and perhaps even post about my situation at the forums over there? Please let me know what you think, helpful feedback would be appreciated.

Images:

Screenshot of my fiction submission to RR

The message I wrote in my support ticket

The moderator’s response (this made me laugh so much)

 

[Lysander_Works]

Woooow!

What else is there to say? The messages and logs speak for themself. I've seen far more exposure-content covers posted in places even on public FB groups with no issue. I don't blame you for moving over to Scribblehub.

Although, if it is still worth it to you, one thing you could try to do is hand draw a stick figure version of this cover, upload and use that for the submission process, and then once it's green-lit, go back and edit the book cover to be the one it deserves to be. That would be funny, cause I don't think altering your existing cover requires moderation approval. Not 100% sure on that but I wouldn't even ask the question over there in the first place. See what happens.

Our luck though they may state that the stick drawing is also too provocative.

 

[MatchaChocolate69]

Hello! I am an author that goes by the name of Mikan Citrus. I have been writing for years now and recently decided that I am finally ready to publish my works online. I am new to Scribble Hub, and currently this is one of the only websites that I am posting my work on (the complete version of my debut novel is on Amazon, so perhaps you might be interested in that).

However, I have also attempted to post my work on the totalitarian regime of a website known as Royal Road—I was looking through the Scribble Hub forums and saw someone call it “literally 1984,” which got a laugh out of me. As the title of the thread states, I was rejected for the reason that my work has a “sexual cover,” even though that is not at all the case. What I found even more baffling was that there were other fictions on RR with “sexual” covers that have been approved and allowed to be posted for anyone to see.

Arisaka: Celestial Violet (Scribble Hub link to my novel)

I would provide specific examples of those “sexual” covers I discovered that were allowed on RR, but I’m not sure if I am allowed to post links to that website, especially if they are the works of other authors. What I am wondering is if I should continue to communicate with the mods at RR to make my case, as I would like to get my writing out to as many people as I possibly can, and perhaps even post about my situation at the forums over there? Please let me know what you think, helpful feedback would be appreciated.

Images:

Screenshot of my fiction submission to RR

The message I wrote in my support ticket

The moderator’s response (this made me laugh so much)

I, too, have been banned from that dump.
There's a totalitarian censorship in place, Soviet-style.
Let them stew in their own juice of virgin cultivation and litRPGs.

 

[DannyTheDaikon]

I'm starting to be really happy that they didn't like the "scoundrel" in my synopsis. People here are much more fun

 

[Mikan_Citrus]

I, too, have been banned from that dump.
There's a totalitarian censorship in place, Soviet-style.
Let them stew in their own juice of virgin cultivation and litRPGs.

So basically you're saying that I shouldn't even bother trying to post my work in that dump, even if there might be at least a few people that would be interested in my writing over there?

Woooow!

What else is there to say? The messages and logs speak for themself. I've seen far more exposure-content covers posted in places even on public FB groups with no issue. I don't blame you for moving over to Scribblehub.

Although, if it is still worth it to you, one thing you could try to do is hand draw a stick figure version of this cover, upload and use that for the submission process, and then once it's green-lit, go back and edit the book cover to be the one it deserves to be. That would be funny, cause I don't think altering your existing cover requires moderation approval. Not 100% sure on that but I wouldn't even ask the question over there in the first place. See what happens.

Our luck though they may state that the stick drawing is also too provocative.

LMAO! That would be hilarious, although clearly other fictions with "sexual" and "provocative" covers have been allowed on RR so I am not sure why mine is being rejected in the first place anyway?

As for if it's worth it or not, I am still considering that since RR does get a lot of traffic, and I have seen that at least a decent amount of the readers over there are willing to pay for the work of authors, such as on Patreon, and some authors make a surprising amount of money from that! So currently I am still somewhat interested in posting my work over there, even if it's just to get some people interested in my writing, but I am still in the middle of making my decision of whether or not I should post in the forums in RR or not—let alone speak with the moderators.

 

[Generic.Archdemon]

So currently I am still somewhat interested in posting my work over there

If you want the dosh you gotta play the game.

 

[prognastat]

I already kind of thought they had a stick up their asses after every one of my novel were declined for a variety of reasons. However to say that cover is sexual is ridiculous. Sexy and sexual are not the same thing.

I didn't actually appeal on any of mine though and just lost interest in posting there. From their response to you it doesn't seem like appealing has much if any use though.

I've seen women in actual corporate workplaces with similar outfits combining a pencil skirt and dress shirt just not quite as sexy because they weren't as shapely as the character yet somehow that's too sexy for RR... At non-corporate jobs I've seen much more daring too.

 

[georgelee5786]

Typical RR L

 

[jrell]

I mean... You should have added half-naked Reich chicks to your novel to boost your chances, obviously.

 

[Glitched]

Hmmm my novel floats just fine on RR. Apparently I was lucky. Guess they were as stuck up as people made them out to be.

 

[Mikan_Citrus]

I already kind of thought they had a stick up their asses after every one of my novel were declined for a variety of reasons. However to say that cover is sexual is ridiculous. Sexy and sexual are not the same thing.

I didn't actually appeal on any of mine though and just lost interest in posting there. From their response to you it doesn't seem like appealing has much if any use though.

I've seen women in actual corporate workplaces with similar outfits combining a pencil skirt and dress shirt just not quite as sexy because they weren't as shapely as the character yet somehow that's too sexy for RR... At non-corporate jobs I've seen much more daring too.

So you didn't bother to continue talking to them about it? From the replies of everyone in this thread so far (which have been hilarious, I love it here on SH already!), it really does seem like it's not worth going through the effort of posting on RR with how much of a hassle it is. Seems like a shame though since I could potentially reach people on RR that would be interested in my work, even if it's just a few more readers at most, but I'm still currently undecided whether or not I should go through with continuing my appeal over there. I'm also considering posting on the forums in RR too, for whatever that is worth, if anything!

Hmmm my novel floats just fine on RR. Apparently I was lucky. Guess they were as stuck up as people made them out to be.

Interesting, I found your work on both sites and just looking at the stats it appears to be getting more traction on SH compared to RR. And yeah, the staff over at RR really are stuck up and pretentious, makes me doubt if it's even worth going through the effort of posting over there to get more people interested in my work.

 

[K5Rakitan]

Welcome to smuthub!

 

[Generic.Archdemon]

I like the fact the there appears to be an inconsistent standard for what is too lewd.

It's like a gacha.

"Oh no, you pulled a John (normal) moderator. Your cover is rejected."

"Pull 10 Johns and you are guaranteed an UR moderator."

*the double entendre is intentional*

 

[CarburetorThompson]

My novel got rejected on RR because I was using a copyrighted image. Despite it being a nearly 100 yo photograph in the public domain

 

[Mikan_Citrus]

My novel got rejected on RR because I was using a copyrighted image. Despite it being a nearly 100 yo photograph in the public domain

Wow, you could've used a 100 year old photograph of literal paint drying and they would still reject it for being a "copyrighted image," smh.

 

[melchi]

I mean if I saw that cover on Amazon I would think it was smut to be fair.

 

[Generic.Archdemon]

I mean if I saw that cover on Amazon I would think it was smut to be fair.

Lol, I only skimmed the synopsis when you said that. I fully assumed that it was smut.

 

[Kalliel]

Yeah, no, my Local Elf novel was initially declined because of that exact same reason. Sexual cover.

So what did I do? I swapped that cover for a lewder one, and somehow it went through. Still up till this day.

It's truly a gacha of all time.

 

[Generic.Archdemon]

@Mikan_Citrus

Just add a few swords to the cover. Then reroll.

 

[Mikan_Citrus]

Yeah, no, my Local Elf novel was initially declined because of that exact same reason. Sexual cover.

So what did I do? I swapped that cover for a lewder one, and somehow it went through. Still up till this day.

It's truly a gacha of all time.

Lmao what? That is hilariously inconsistent, now that might make me want to try it again.