If I can ever get the stories out of my skull an onto a computer, I'll fire something off for this.
It seems odd to me that both this site and the Pathfinder Chronicles seem to have fairly strict submission guidelines. I suppose there's some value in that if you want to feel like you're really submitting fiction to some serious venue or something, but for posting fanfic on the internet?
Wouldn't it be a lot more convenient to have looser submission guidelines so you don't encourage people to just post stuff up on their own webpages, using the community use guidelines on their own, and posting an announcement on the message boards to drive traffic?
Well...I'm at work on a campaign setting of my own, if that counts.
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It seems odd to me that both this site and the Pathfinder Chronicles seem to have fairly strict submission guidelines. I suppose there's some value in that if you want to feel like you're really submitting fiction to some serious venue or something, but for posting fanfic on the internet?
Wouldn't it be a lot more convenient to have looser submission guidelines so you don't encourage people to just post stuff up on their own webpages, using the community use guidelines on their own, and posting an announcement on the message boards to drive traffic?
It mostly has to do with making submissions more anonymous and making it easier for the editor to read the work. I made two small changes to the guidelines I use. Mostly they go almost back to typewriter days and make sure that when I open the story, I can read it. It also helps for when I go to layout the story, I will need to make the same changes in every document.
At this point, its not likely that I'll reject a story solely based on submission guidelines (unless you submit in a wingding font), but as volume increases, I will probably have to rely more on the submission guidelines being met.
Tokoz
What's this sig do?
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Contributor
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Note: The comments below are my own. They are not made as a spokesperson of or in any official capacity for Pathfinder Chroniclers or the Absalom Archives project.
I suppose there's some value in that if you want to feel like you're really submitting fiction to some serious venue or something, but for posting fanfic on the internet?
I think this is the answer to your question, Hobo.
Pathfinder Chronicler began as, and continues to be, a place where those of us who love Pathfinder can share our fan fiction while also gaining the benefit of critique and editorial advice from other writers.
I haven't looked very far into the Absalom Archives project, but since it proposes to be an online magazine, there need to be set standards that submitters need to follow. This helps establish a baseline for submission quality and also helps maintain the editor's sanity.
Having done some editorial work for WilyWriters.com, I know how much easier it is to manage a stack of submissions when writers can follow the guidelines.
Fundamentally, it is more convenient for the submitter to not have to follow any kind of guidelines, but it's not more convenient for those who have to prepare the work for publication.
Writers who want to simply produce fanfic and post it on their own sites or blogs are certainly welcome to do that. They can then use whatever format they want.
Submitting to an organized group or web-based fanzine is a step closer to professional publication. (In fact, that's how many famous authors started out.) As such, there are going to be more restrictions on what and how you submit to those organizations.
Don't let the guidelines discourage you, Hobo. They really aren't that hard to follow and if you've got a story to share, then you should give it a try.
Heh. Sorry, guys. Didn't mean to sound critical. I was just thinking "out loud." As you say, the guidelines felt to me, on reading them, only a step away from publisher submission guidelines, which was no doubt the point. But it'll certainly drive down the submission count, I'd imagine.
I was going to submit an entry for the recent contest, but because a major family vacation that lasted for more than two weeks was smack dab in the middle of the submission period, so I never got around to it. But I still would like to find a home for it somewhere. But on looking at the submission process, I have to admit that I thought maybe I'd rather just throw it up on my own webpage after all. I don't know that a lot of fanfic authors are really looking for peer review or editing; just someplace to get some exposure.
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No need to apologize. I also hope that my comments don't sound judgemental or snooty.
I think you'll find that most writing groups or online publications are looking to help fellow writers. The fact that they all share interest in a genre or setting brings them together, but fundamentally, we all want to improve our writing. Some of us even have crazy dreams of writing professionally. ;)
If your main goal is simply to write a good story and have others read it, I think your best bet is to post the story on your own site and then put a post here that directs folks to your site.
Who knows? If people like your stories, you might generate enough buzz that other writers come to you asking to put stuff on your site, too. ;)
Cheers!
Also, don't forget that National Novel Writing Month is coming up.
Sounds like the perfect time to work on some Pathfinder fanfic!
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...I was going to submit an entry for the recent contest, but ... I never got around to it. ...I still would like to find a home for it somewhere. But on looking at the submission process, I have to admit that I thought maybe I'd rather just throw it up on my own webpage after all. I don't know that a lot of fanfic authors are really looking for peer review or editing; just someplace to get some exposure.
The point of Absalom Archives is to give people that love the game more to read and to give authors that like to write about it more exposure. I'm curious... what are you specifically finding difficult about the submission process?
Tokoz
Curiosity won't kill this cat
Sorry; I feel like this was an idle comment I made that's grown into more than I meant it to.
The whole notion of reformatting and then waiting for a review before it's added was, I guess, sufficient deterent to turn my mind to "I'll just post it on my own website, then." It's not that it's particularly difficult, it's just that neither is posting it on my own site.
It's one of those kinds of things where even a minor inconvenience is noticeable compared to the alternative.