As the title suggests, will you all be making a rejection thread such as the one in Twilight's Library? It would help authors possibly remember if they have been rejected for their story and allow a public place for people to see how someone failed to make sure they dodge the same pitfalls.

Is there even a success notification thread? I can't find one.

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3874454 As an admin now I feel like I can answer this question. No. As far as I am concerned there is not going to be an accepted/rejected thread, precisely because we are not Twilight's Library. Nor are we explicitly a help forum for authors, both of those things are great and authors who want help/feedback should seek them out. Right now we are a collection of good fics, as judged by some nebulous standards, so if you are looking for a good read you should check the folders. I think we are planning to do more group stuff soon, contest maybe some lecture type posts, (right fellow admins?) but for now I don't think anyone has an intrest in creating the kind of system necessary to handle author feedback for every story.

3874664 If I'm not mistaken, when Twilight's library first opened, arcum42 himself handled all of the rejections personally until he got more people to do it.

The Royal Guard sends PMs to authors about why their story was rejected

Hell, even Equestria Daily will give you a reason if you ask nicely enough.

Are you suggesting that authors will somehow magically improve if you won't even state what was wrong with their fic in the first place?

3877135 These are my thoughts as well. "some nebulous standards" is not very conducive to upholding quality standards, nor to encouraging group activity and growth.

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I concur. If this group fails to offer reasoning for rejection, and the rejections are frequent, then I imagine it would gain a reputation of having unreasonable standards and thus be avoided. An omnibus or set of rules isn't necessary – and is in fact one of the things I don't like about the known institutions – as, no matter what the admins will tell you, acceptance/rejection is completely subjective. That actually makes the need for rejection notices all the more apparent, for how can anyone get in if they can't see what it is their particular prereader is picky about?

Not that I think it's good practice to cater to a pre-readers preconceptions of 'good literature.' Quite the opposite, in fact.

I don't think a thread is the answer. I prefer TRG's method of PMing their reasons. More personal (in a rather formal way), and doesn't require an author to slog through hundreds of comments, reviews and rejection notices looking for their story.

But I agree with Syeekoh's point: an army of admins and prereaders isn't required to provide feedback. Sure, having to provide feedback for every rejection takes time and will slow down the acceptance rate, but if you ever want this group to really grow in appraisal and membership you will give the impression of a group that cares about the members' attempts to grow as authors.

That being said, I believe it was never in Nonpareil Fiction's group description to act as an author's help service. As I recall, they only ever intended it to be a collection of stories the group claims are 'good' by their own 'nebulous' standards. Knowing this, there's really no obligation at all for them to offer rejection letters. If they want to risk being a small-time group with an elitist approach, that's their prerogative. Not giving into the whims of the masses is actually one of the things that caught my attention in the first place, so I can't say I completely disapprove.

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3877135 you are all correct in that without feedback authors won't know why their work was rejected and thus won't really get better.

And you are all also correct that not giving feedback inhibits grouth and participation in the group.

I'll bring it up with the admins, however as noted, having to provide feedback will slow down the rate we can work through the inbox. Giving good feedback takes time and effort and like I said we are not an author help resource.

My other concern is that when you reject something, you will inevitably get some authors who push back, which creates more headache from again providing a service we never meant to.

I don't think we are trying to be one of the big groups ala TL, so I can't really promise to change the policy but I might try experimenting with some short PM's to rejected authors to see what kind of response that generates.

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My other concern is that when you reject something, you will inevitably get some authors who push back, which creates more headache from again providing a service we never meant to

Well, most of the rejections will be like, "this is clop" or "this doesn't meet our standards for x reason".

And if you present it with enough authority, people will accept it.

And of course you'll get author push back. That's where you lay down the line and reiterate your reasons.

Collecting quality fiction is hard work.

3877383 in fact, I'd say author push back is preferred, because it shows people really want to get into your group for quality fiction.

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3874310 Admins are working on revamping the rules a bit and providing some feedback via a still to be determined mechanism

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Actually, I think RaylanKrios was referring to pushback from authors like this:

"You're rejecting me over that? How ridiculous. I'm not reducing my standards to your level just to get into your group. The story's doing great on its own."

Speaking from experience.

3878522 That's always going to happen. People have different standards all-over, even among the higher rankings of the fandom. One of my fics has been featured by Twilight's Library and may be on EqD soon, but it got a mixed-to-negative review from a ponychan reviewer. Was there substance to their review? Absolutely, it just wasn't for them I think.

Different points of view are always a good thing. It's good to hear from a lot of different people on your work so you can look at it from their viewpoints, maybe see things you didn't before, and learn to improve. It's to the author's maturity to handle critiques and criticisms in a mature manner.

3878522 Yeah there was that.

I was also referring to: Fuck you my story is awesome and you suck because you don't like it. You wouldn't know a good story if it bit you on the ass and its clear that your group is just another TL wannabe that would rather cater to mediocrity then appreciate my genius.

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There's no structure to rejection notifications yet, nor is there one for acceptance notifications, but we're working on that, as well as some other issues. Currently, it's up to the reviewer. Personally, I leave a comment on an accepted story and will PM the author of a rejected story with my reasons and a clarification that yes, they can reapply. I just haven't rejected anything yet. I get through very few stories in the inbox.

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No, we're not Twilight's Library. However, a Rejection Thread or folder isn't just an attempt at being TL. It's a good way of informing authors that they didn't quite make it and also provides examples of sub-par stories to other prospective applicants. It's an idea I've discussed with Twi in the past.

3877135
I don't think that's what he meant, but I agree that there does need to be a way to help people improve. Otherwise it's unfair to expect new stories in the Inbox.

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We have some standards for accepted stories, but I won't tell you it's not subjective. Our group does encourage subjectivity to some degree, as that allows a wider range of stories get fairly reviewed than if we had one arbitrary system. Sure, standards are important, but not enough so that we only let in the perfect story.
We'd have no stories in here if that were the case. Not everything can be a masterpiece. Still, feel free to PM me about any particular issues you have with this. I'd like to hear them. Just don't bring them to the other admins.

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Agreed. There's nothing set in stone regarding rejection/acceptance notifications, but we're working on it. I know that sounds shit and that it's what everyone says when challenged on their policies, but it's actually true this time. We're discussing the main issues brought up by you guys, people in the group and on the site.

So, that's all I can say for now, guys. Just hang in there while we sort this one out. We're still deciding what standards are necessary and what can be left arbitrary, as well as discussing rejection/acceptance notifications. It'll take a while 'cause half of the staff are in the US and the other, smaller half are in Europe.

Time differences, amirite?

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3877210 Hey all, so a rejection thread will not be opening. But authors will be informed of the status of their stories via a pm with a short review about why they did or didn't make it in. We feel this will allow authors to get feedback without taxing the admins too greatly. It will also prevent public fighting.

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Ye.

I do that.