[Mod Post] Rejected Fics - Steps to Getting Your Fic Accepted
Based on something that happened the past couple of days I felt that a mod post needed to be issued based on the steps taken if your fic is rejected. So please, to make our jobs easier, read this, as it will explain what to do next.
1. Every time we reject a fic, we always leave a rejection note (a reason why your fic is rejected), which is e-mailed back to you along with the LiveJournal notice that your entry has been rejected. If you do not see this, please contact one of the moderators by e-mail or by AIM. Our contact info is now being added to the userinfo. We will try to respond to you as quickly as possible.
2. The four most popular reasons why your fic has been rejected is as follows:
a) You forgot an lj-cut or your lj-cut ends before the story has begun. If this is the message you get, please resubmit your story but double check before you submit it that your lj-cut tag is between the header (title, author, summary, etc.) and the body of your story, and that you do not close the tag until the very end of the story. It's better not to use rich text because it will add the close tag. LiveJournal has the HTML code for an lj-cut in the FAQ.
b) You forgot to put the title in the subject line. This is the simplest to fix. Simply resubmit it but make sure the title is in the subject line.
c) Your HTML is all messy. This probably has resulted in forgetting to close a tag or getting a tag wrong. This can be easily avoided if you preview the fic before hitting submit. Always preview your story. It won't catch a forgotten lj-cut tag, but you can at least make sure that you didn't mess up your other HTML.
d) You have too many spelling/grammatical errors (usually 5 or more) and need to invest in a beta. This one's the more time consuming, but it's a fact of life that nobody's perfect. Don't be dismayed if we tell you that you need one. Betas are awesome sources and if you get a good one, your fic will be ten times better. There's a list of betas in the memories, which is linked in the userinfo. Even if your fics do get through, you can still benefit from them. There are some really awesome people out there that look for more than spelling errors. They are here to help, so use them.
3. If your fic has been rejected, chances are you did something wrong. Do not simply resubmit your fic over and over again expecting it to get accepted. You will only make the mods cranky and confused.
4. Similarly, do not harass the mods if your fic has been rejected. It is our job to keep the queue and the community running smoothly. We cannot accept every fic, unfortunately, and we need to keep the rules upheld. Keep the ranting to your own journals. Remember that we are people, too.
I don't think I forgot anything, but if you have any questions, please direct them to myself,
legendof12world, or vanilla_alia.
And be assured, this does not apply to one person in particular. This has been a semi-ongoing problem and we needed to clear some things up so that it doesn't happen again. We're trying to make your lives easier by going through the queue quickly and efficiently. Please do the same with us by following our instructions upon your fic being rejected.
Have a good weekend. Happy Fic-cing :)
-Chrissy ♥
1. Every time we reject a fic, we always leave a rejection note (a reason why your fic is rejected), which is e-mailed back to you along with the LiveJournal notice that your entry has been rejected. If you do not see this, please contact one of the moderators by e-mail or by AIM. Our contact info is now being added to the userinfo. We will try to respond to you as quickly as possible.
2. The four most popular reasons why your fic has been rejected is as follows:
a) You forgot an lj-cut or your lj-cut ends before the story has begun. If this is the message you get, please resubmit your story but double check before you submit it that your lj-cut tag is between the header (title, author, summary, etc.) and the body of your story, and that you do not close the tag until the very end of the story. It's better not to use rich text because it will add the close tag. LiveJournal has the HTML code for an lj-cut in the FAQ.
b) You forgot to put the title in the subject line. This is the simplest to fix. Simply resubmit it but make sure the title is in the subject line.
c) Your HTML is all messy. This probably has resulted in forgetting to close a tag or getting a tag wrong. This can be easily avoided if you preview the fic before hitting submit. Always preview your story. It won't catch a forgotten lj-cut tag, but you can at least make sure that you didn't mess up your other HTML.
d) You have too many spelling/grammatical errors (usually 5 or more) and need to invest in a beta. This one's the more time consuming, but it's a fact of life that nobody's perfect. Don't be dismayed if we tell you that you need one. Betas are awesome sources and if you get a good one, your fic will be ten times better. There's a list of betas in the memories, which is linked in the userinfo. Even if your fics do get through, you can still benefit from them. There are some really awesome people out there that look for more than spelling errors. They are here to help, so use them.
3. If your fic has been rejected, chances are you did something wrong. Do not simply resubmit your fic over and over again expecting it to get accepted. You will only make the mods cranky and confused.
4. Similarly, do not harass the mods if your fic has been rejected. It is our job to keep the queue and the community running smoothly. We cannot accept every fic, unfortunately, and we need to keep the rules upheld. Keep the ranting to your own journals. Remember that we are people, too.
I don't think I forgot anything, but if you have any questions, please direct them to myself,
legendof12world, or vanilla_alia.And be assured, this does not apply to one person in particular. This has been a semi-ongoing problem and we needed to clear some things up so that it doesn't happen again. We're trying to make your lives easier by going through the queue quickly and efficiently. Please do the same with us by following our instructions upon your fic being rejected.
Have a good weekend. Happy Fic-cing :)
-Chrissy ♥