On many other groups, you just submit the fanfics directly into whatever folder you want it in. However, I've elected to use a somewhat different system for submission on this group.

Essentially, if you want to add a fanfic to the group, add it to the incoming folder. All other folders require you to have either administrator or collaborator status to add fics to them, which at the moment is Ananse, myself, and ChaoticHarmony.

Whenever someone with access gets around to it, fics in the Incoming folder will be read, and then deleted from that folder. If we feel it should be included in Twilight's Library, we'll add it to whatever categories we feel appropriate. I was sending PM's with why they weren't accepted, but it's getting hard to tell who submitted it now occasionally, so I'll add it to a thread on the message board.

Reasons why it wouldn't be accepted: (I may occasionally make exceptions. Don't count on it...)

Grammar and Spelling. This is the biggest one, honestly. A few grammatical mistakes here and there are fine. I don't go by Equestria Daily standards. But give me huge walls of text, lots of run on sentences, capitalization mistakes, words missing that make it awkward to read, etc, and I'm likely to stop reading. I'm usually willing to give specifics on what bothered me and how it could be fixed on this one, because there could be a good story hiding somewhere in that wall of text...

The trick there, of course, is you can get away with grammatical slipups a lot easier after the first page or so of a chapter, because by that point I'm hooked and reading faster.

Gratuitous Gore: I don't mind a bit of gore when it fits the plot. I don't, however, enjoy gore for the sake of gore, and fics based around gore. So, no, Cupcakes, Sweet Apple Massacre, and the like will not be added. Things like Dark Descent:A Beginning and Silent Ponyville will, though.

Clop: Clop will only be added to the Clop Fics folder, and will only be added if it has a good plot, good characterization, is well written, is funny, or makes me go Daaaw. Generally speaking, fics involving clop between an adult and an underage pony will not be accepted. Nor will fics that are primarily about rape, for example. (Though a lot depends on how it is handled in the fanfic. Life is Beautiful, for example, got in.)

Second person fics: Sorry, I don't generally like fics starring 'you', and typically won't add them.

Human fics: I add these on occasion, but I'm not really that fond of them. They tend towards Mary Sues, or retelling of the canon with an extra character. If I really liked it, I'll add it, though. Such as The Piano Man. My Little Dashie, and variations on it certainly aren't getting in, though.

And the all encompassing "fics I didn't like": It's possible you've got a pass on all other categories, but your fic just really was something I didn't like for some reason. This does happen. Maybe you created an OC that I find really annoying and based the whole fic around him, for example. If this happens, sorry about that...

By the same token, my really liking a story, or having it give an overwhelming sense of DAWWWW!!! may occasionally cause me to override some of the rules here for individual fanfics.

One important thing: if I reject a fic, don't take it personally. To be honest, I don't really like rejecting fics, either, but I want to keep the standards up to keep this group useful as a collection of fanfiction. And if my issue with your fic was something that can be fixed, and you revise it, feel free to submit it again afterwards.

Oh, also, I should mention that I do not downvote fanfics I'm rejecting. As far as I'm concerned, if you asked me to read it, I'm not going to downvote it simply because I didn't like it...

Two other things that have been added: If a fanfic is really long, it'll be judged on the first few chapters or the first 10k. Reading the entire fanfic is getting a lot less feasible, so while I'd rather read the whole thing, it isn't nearly as feasible any more.

And sequels/related fanfics. If a fanfic requires reading another fanfic to understand it, and that fanfic is not in Twilight's Library, it'll be rejected. So if you are submitting a sequel, check to see if the original is in here first, and submit that. This is also pretty much to mitigate how much reading we have to do to approve fanfics.

Any comments on this post are welcome, though I'd prefer not to discuss individual rejected fics here...

*Nods*

I like this system myself. This kind of has the potential to be like a middle ground between FiMFiction and EqD.

If you could do like a website, that'd be badflank.

372569

Thanks.

And, yeah, know what you mean about having a middle ground. I don't want to be as picky as Equestria Daily, but I'd prefer not to archive things with the grammar of, say, Angel Cake, or with the plot of Pattycakes, for example. Not that I have anything against cake, mind.

I do wish I'd had this all worked out when I originally started the group, since it began with a massive import of my and Ananse's favorites. I didn't include everything I've favorited, but I'm sure some things I've have liked didn't make it in (in fact, occasionally "new" fanfiction I've added are things I read a long time ago, but never added.), and I'm sure there are still things in my favorites that should be added.

I'll admit a full website instead of a group is tempting, since I get frustrated at the lack of subcategories, and having to fake tags with multiple folders. And the notification system. (Actually, while I like fimfiction, there are a bunch of things I think could be handled better, to be honest.)

However, while I do know enough html, css, and javascript to cobble together a website, I don't really have enough time to make or run it, really. I have a tendency to take on too many projects, really.

Ah well, right now I'm still somewhat obsessing over the fanfic I posted a few days ago, since it's the first thing I've written in a long time. OTOH, I somehow find having received a comment on it of "D'AWW!" highly encouraging...

Incidentally, with 5 long fanfics in the Incoming queue, and Torchlight II installed on my computer, it may take a while for me to get through the current Incoming queue. I'll get to them eventually, though.

>fics involving clop between an adult and an underage pony will not be accepted
Why not?

>Sorry, I don't generally like fics starring 'you'
Neither do I, but that does not mean that they can not be good. Have you read any of Crowley's stories?

519500

Well, largest thing to keep in mind is that originally this group originated as a place that Ananse and I were sharing fanfics we liked, and since I read a lot more fanfiction then him, it turned into "fanfiction I like".

When I created the Incoming folder, and started accepting fanfics there, I knew I still wanted it to be, at the very least, fanfiction I liked and am interested in reading. So when I wrote up the rules above, a lot of them reflect what I'd be interested in reading and recommending.

Generally speaking, an adult taking advantage of a child for sexual purposes in a fanfic is not something I really want to read or recommend. The main exceptions would be if it was handling the topic in a mature and realistic manner, rather then, well, something to clop to.

For example, while this fanfic doesn't have a sex tag, To Tell The Truth is rated mature, and may end up with a sex tag one day, as it is about Applejack coming to terms with having been sexually abused by her Uncle Orange when she stayed with them.

Apple Pie could be an exception to an extent, too, given how disturbing (and probably accurate for that scenario) it is.

I don't, however, really want to read about how Rainbow Dash and Scootaloo randomly decide that they love each other and want to have sex despite her being 8 or so. Or, say, Trixie invites Snips and Snails into her wagon for a threesome. (Ok, never seen the latter. I'm sure it exists, somewhere.)

To be honest, I have higher standards for clop I add then other fanfics, anyways, which is why there are so few in there. I want it to have plot, feels, or mass silliness, generally speaking. If I'm going to read clop, I'd like it to be good clop. Like I Love To See You Smile, or Romance Reports, or Stuck.

(In fact, I wonder why I don't have the side fics with all the clop scenes for Green and University Days in there? I'll add them in. Great stuff...)
Edit: Added, along with a few other clop fics that slipped through the cracks.

I'm sure second-person fanfics can be good, there have just been so many bad ones that I tend not to read them. If one was submitted that I enjoyed, I'd add it. I just haven't had that happen yet. And, no, I haven't read Crowley's fics. I'll take a look one of these days.

And do keep in mind that the rules above are general guidelines. Just figure I have to really, really like the fanfic for me to go against them. And not in a horrified, can't look away way. Which has happened on several fanfics that I've read that haven't made it here...

520018 Okay then

…

>I haven't read Crowley's fics
BLASPHEMY

520881

I added his fics to my read later list. It's just at 147 right now...

521009 Okay

521009 i don't know that pain. mostlikely cause i dont have friends and therefore spend the majority of my time reading or gaming, but i still dont know that pain.

789452

What pain? Only 147 in my read later section? Those were the days. I've got 343 in there right now.

And don't worry, I don't have a life either. I do have a full time job, and two fanfics I'm writing, as well as being an admin on two groups. And playing Skyrim, Torchlight II and other games, of course...

The "Miss Harshwhinny Is Best Pony" forum has a claim on some of my time, too.

I am not an Admin, so I have absolutely no right to make a ruling on this. However as a contributor who looks over these stories and moves them into the 'Recommend' or 'Problematic' bin (Hurray, I am a secretary!) I do have a request.

If you wish to submit a Chaptered story, please for the love of God wait until you have something worth submitting. One shots stand on their own. They are, in essence, a completed story. When I look over a story that is one chapter of what will be a much larger fic, how am I supposed to judge that?

To be honest? I've had to reject many potentially good stories because they were submitted before there was enough there for me to make a judgment call on. How do I know if that story will mesh well, if that OC will not be a Sue, if the characters will stay true to themselves?

So please, if not for me, for your own stories sake, wait until you have a few chapters of a story completed before submitting it. Save us both some time.

Thanks!

-Lumino

1880941

Lumino Johnson is right!

1880941>>1880970

Hmm okay that is a fair point but a certain amount of content is not a requirement for submission and not a reason for a fic to be rejected. If the fic is a good fic but only has a single chapter at the time it can still get in so long as it meets all the group requirements. Let's say hypothetically I read a really good fic but I kind of wish there was more content available (this happens a lot) I'm not going to rejected it because of that. I have read some really awesome stories that at the point only had one chapter and only around 3000 words or less. Don't move fics to the problematic incoming fics folder if this is just the only reason. If you are uncertain ask one of us to take a look at it. If the story is really bad because of it's lack of content that's fine, but if it's a really good story that's just getting started then that is no grounds for rejection.

1881339 Any story I have worked on can be found, along with the reason for my judgment, in the topic I made for such.

-Lumino

1881339
Wouldn't it have been better to send that in a PM?

1881274
I don't think anyone's talking about setting a minimum limit, but I think it's reasonable to say that if you submit a story that (so far) doesn't really have a story, you shouldn't be surprised if we don't jump all over it right away. While it's true that great stories can grow from humble beginnings, such stories are usually ones that at least show movement in a particular direction in the first posted chapter. If all we can look at is a prologue -- if all we get is foundation but no building on it -- I don't think it's unreasonable to kick it back and tell people to resubmit later.

1881626>>1881659

Sorry for snapping I just wanted to make sure everything was rejected fairly

1881740

No big deal. I can understand how it could have been taken out of context.

-Lumino

1881746

Completely off topic but I'm going to talk to arcum about bumping you up to admin. You're going far and beyond the expectations for a contrib.

1881760
I agree.

1881760

Finally the power to match my ego! Mwahahahah!

<.<;

1881768

If I had the power to promote I'd do it right now but not my place. I'm sure I'll get a response in the morning about it.

1881764

I love how almost every sticky thread is turning into a gossip thread. Something tells me we need a dedicated gossip thread.

1881781
Quite possibly. Or we can just look at it as the sign of active minds.

Or (more serious suggestion here), much as was done with the posts about the approval seal, consolidate some of the sticky thread content and cut the old threads loose into the ether...

1881787

Hmm consolidation isn't a bad idea. Ask arcum and see what he thinks

1881858
Message sent. I figure we could get the material from "Incoming Fanfic Standards", "Categories For This group", "Thread Rules", and "The Group Approval Seal" all in one "need to know" thread if we really wanted to. Each of the old threads would be a separate post in the new master thread so it doesn't look too overwhelming...

1881908>>1881858>>1881768

You guys do realise that I actually read the forums, and we can talk about things here, too, rather then just sending pm's, right?

Lumino, you are now an admin. Just sort anything you are accepting to the appropriate folders, and post rejections to the rejection thread.

I'm planning more thread consolidation, but that might be a little much. Categories and standards in one thread might work, though.

There actually is a admin chat thread I unstickied, and I recall there being a random chat thread around somewhere as well. We really do need to do some cleaning up of the forum...

--arcum42

1881931

We could probably clear out all the old stuff at the very least

1881931

You guys do realise that I actually read the forums, and we can talk about things here, too, rather then just sending pm's, right?

Don't direct prayers get higher priority than conversations overheard with omniscience?

1881768

To add to the new admin thing you also are now in charge of helping monitor threads. I suggest go to this thread and familiarize yourself with the rules so you know what to look for.

1881931

Also did you give my thread posting idea any though. I know it was very convoluted and could probably be edited to something that would actually work.

1881937>>1881938

Incidentally, I could always create a closed admittance "Twilight's Library Admin" group, if you want somewhere separate to talk about group plans.

I've been thinking of creating a "Twily's Book Fort" group for a while, too, but I never figured out what I'd use it for. ^_^

--arcum42

1881962

Hmm...maybe...I'm not sure honestly what you could do with that group idea. Sounds like it could be fun though. It could always be a Twilight stories only group. Maybe just limit it to dawws filled stories or something.

1881962

a closed admittance "Twilight's Library Admin" group

Strikes me as a little elitist in tone.

1881977>>1881994

Well, just mainly didn't want to have to be monitoring all the threads closely or have a whole bunch of off-topic stuff in there. Just an idea, anyways. I'd do it as an admin only sub-forum if that was possible. I'm not sure if we need it, but it'd give us a little more elbow-room to discuss things. Of course, there's always the Skype chat, too.

And Twily's Book Fort could also have RP going on, but yeah, I was having trouble figuring out what I'd use it for.

--arcum42

1882003

Roll playing would be fun. And I want to propose monthly skype meetings to discuss TL business. Just an idea

I have a feeling that this is a dangerous question, but I am asking anyway.

Are admins supposed to add their own stories? I, personally, felt that it is a poor decision. After all, we may think our story is great, but it is the view of others that will get to the deeper issues with the story.

In the business world it would be like writing your own Evaluation or approving your own raise. We are not the ones who should be judging our own stories. I just wasn't sure if there was an official stance on this.

-Lumino

1897776

Policy has varied on this in the past. At this point, I'd generally prefer it if admins put their own fanfics in the contributor's recommended fanfic folder rather than the incoming folder, unless they aren't actually sure, and want a more detailed check on it.

There are certain admins that I know any new fanfics they submit will be approved, too.

You can also add other people's fanfics to the group that aren't in the incoming folder that you know are a good read and meet the standards, incidentally.

Oh, and I'll admit, one exception to this has always been my own fanfics. As founder of the group, I've always just sorted them directly in. To be fair, I didn't have other admins besides my brother the first time I wrote a fanfic. I tend to figure that I wrote the standards, so I should know if my fanfics fit or not.

--arcum42

1900353

I am I one of those certain admins

I couldn't help it I'm in a trolling sort of mood. Actually I think you did approve one of my fics...maybe...I never actually found out who approved Guardian Angel

1897776
I've had one of my fics sitting in Incoming Folder limbo for nearly 11 weeks now.
I didn't think it was appropriate to approve my own stuff, and it seems like no one else has wanted to read it.

1902599

I was indeed the one who approved Guardian Angel. It's a pretty fair bet that if you see a fanfic starring Scootaloo in Twilight's Library that I approved it, actually.

As far as "I am I one of those certain admins", I don't know. Are you likely to add fics like "Mayhem and Shinning Armor's Magical Drunken Adventure" in?

--arcum42

1902751

Considering I'm not even sure why I wrote that fic...or a lot of others I'd say no

1902751

Basically the first six or so fics I wrote just to mess around. I only got seriously with To Love a Mare. I've always wanted to go back and re-write Big Sister Rainbow Dash I just kind of haven't had time.

1902726

I will personally look for it tomorrow. I am banned from reviewing more stories tonight.

Arcum grounded me.

1902751

Really though I was just messing around I'd rather have someone approve my fics for me. Seems fair and I don't see why any of us (other than yourself since you made the group) should get any special treatment.

1902785
I appreciate that.

1902791

That has been the general attitude, really. I'd probably give passes to Garbo, Seven, and Miss Dark Angel, looking at current admins, and several of my contributors I made contributors largely because I'd be willing to blanket approve anything they wrote. But in general, it works better if everyone just submits them.

Oh, and three out of five of my own fanfics have been favorited by members of my admin team, so I'm not that worried about them. Taking Time was my oldest one, so I'm not that surprised none has read it. Making Friends is a little odd though. Oh well...

1902726
I've been meaning to read it, but hadn't gotten around to it. Oh well, if Luminary'll grab it...

--arcum42

Forget everything I said before. I approved it myself.