contributing to Sheshat's Online Library!
(Frequently Asked Questions)
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Question: How do I submit artwork to the Library? Answer: Submitted artwork must be of good quality and appropriate for general audiences (adult themes are not yet accepted, sorry!). If the work is currently on your own page, please provide the URL so I can link to it -- I know that this increases the traffic on the Net, but it also allows me to save a huge amount of space on Geocities in the long run. If you do not have a website displaying your work, please send your artwork as an attachment in email. Please be sure that artwork is saved in .gif or .jpg format; bitmaps take forever to load and .art isn't compatible with some web-browsers. Question: Do I have to be above a certain age to be allowed to submit artwork or fanfic? Answer: In my view, there is no such thing as "Too Young" or "Too Old"!! As the late Marion Zimmer Bradley could have told you from her years of editing her Sword & Sorceress anthology and MZB FANTASY Magazine, there are 14 and 15 year olds (and sometimes a bit younger) who do fantastic work -- just as there are beginners at 65 who do fantastic work. The authors currently listed in the Fiction section span the age range, and I know wonderful talents (writing and artwork) who are in their early teens and/or 60s. Don't let your age or level of experience determine whether or not you submit work to this site! Remember: everyone starts somewhere! Question: What kind of fanfiction do you accept? Are there any guidelines or restrictions? Answer: The Library accepts fanfiction of any kind and of any rating, whether it is based on a show, a movie, or even classic literature. (I plan to eventually open a section for Poetry contributions as well.) The only 'restriction' is that the piece be well written, spelling and grammar checked as best as possible, and that it be either complete or extremely near completion. If you don't already have a "beta-reader," get someone (friend, coworker, family, teacher) to read your work and give you feedback. It's the best way to find out what works, what needs work, and what can be added later on. Trust me on this. ;-) Question: Okay, so what does "very near completion" mean, and why do you have this rule? Answer: The Library is meant as a forum for writers to exhibit their work, but it is geared towards the audience reading that work. Let me put it this way -- how many times have you found a great story, only to realize it's been posted as "Parts One through Five of a 15-part Story" for the past few months now? Immensely frustrating, isn't it? I am more than happy to wait for the completion of an unfinished submitted story, but I know from personal experience that sometimes the fact that you know exactly what's going to happen doesn't mean it will. Characters and your imagination itself have a schedule all their own, and it is quite easy to find that you've lost your copy and are searching wildly for the right track in the middle of Fanfic Grand Central. If you do send me a not-yet-finished story, even if it is 3/4 of the way through (I can't tell you how many times I've stalled at that point -- but my friends/betas can ;-)), what I will do is post it in dribbles: Parts One and Two, then a few weeks later Parts Three and Four, etc. depending on how much you have done and how much is left. Better safe than sorry. Question: I want to submit fanfic, but the series I've written for isn't archived here. Does that mean I can't send you the story? Answer: Not at all! Send away! Archived fandoms are those that have a minimum of three stories, so if you contribute that many you'll open an archive all by yourself. If you don't have that many, don't worry -- all non-archived-fandom stories will go in the new Miscellaneous Fiction archive. Question: When I submit a story, what format should it be in? Should I send an attachment of the document, or copy-and-paste/type it into the body of the email? Answer: As a general rule, please try to send an attachment vs. putting the story/poem/whatever into the body of the email. My computer has MSWord 98, which enables me to read documents saved as .doc, .wri, .txt and .wps as well as plain ole .htm. Feel free to send your written work in any of those formats, and let me know if you have any requests for a background or title image. **If you choose to save your work as HTML, please try to see how the stories on the site are formatted -- a text editor like NotePad (PC) or SimpleText (Mac) will let you format HTML files -- and save yours accordingly. This will save me massive amounts of time! If you are not familiar with HTML or your writing-program doesn't have an option to save it as such, don't feel pressured to format your work -- I've formatted about 95% of the stories in the Fiction section and all the rest of this site. Question: My story is currently on my own or a different website. Do you want a link to it there, or will you post it on the Library itself? Answer: In the interest of saving space on my increasingly crowded Geocities space, please send the URL/link. Submission guidelines still apply, but I greatly appreciate not having to format or upload the work. If the story is on your own website, please try to re-format the page it's on to include a link back to the Library -- that way readers can browse your site as well, if they wish, and not have to search for the Library again when they're done. :-) Question: I submitted a story . . . . now what? Is it automatically posted? Answer: As I stated earlier, the only real requirement for stories is that they be well-written -- and, also again, this is for the good of the readers. For this reason, I reserve the right to review and turn down anything that is submitted. Please don't think this is an arbitrary process of elimination, or that I see myself as some kind of expert. Hell, I'm still learning and constantly revising my craft too; we all are! However, this is my site and, as I'm sure you understand, I like control over what's on it. Question: The fanfic I submitted was turned down -- what does that mean!?! Answer: All it means is that your story may not be right for this particular Library, at this particular time. But if I say "no thanks," don't just give up and go away. As I said, we are all learning and no one gets it right the first time -- and I am the first to admit that sometimes it's not even a matter of right or wrong: I may simply feel that your work isn't quite right for this website. But keep looking and you'll find the place where it does belong. Occasionally, I will try to send an email with editorial suggestions made in the most constructive way possible (I don't believe in negative criticism) or it may be returned with a suggestion of more work and personal experience before it is submitted again. Remember, there is always room for improvement. |
Submissions can be sent to me at [email protected]; please label them as submissions and give me a description of what it is I'll be looking at. Oh yes, one last thing! If you don't hear back from me in a few days or even a week, don't get worried -- it's probably just that imp known as Real Life messing with me. Every submission will get a response when it is received, even if it's just a "Thanks! You'll be hearing from me!" note. :)
Thanks again! I look forward to hearing from you!
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