Nonpareil is getting back in the saddle after bouts of inactivity among its admins (myself included sometimes). We are looking for a few new admins as we restructure and become a more prestigious library. Nonpareil is a group that likes to promote quality work and recognize creative storytelling.

We are looking for admins who can read at least one story a week; longer stories may need a little more time. We recognize that life happens (exams, job schedules, family matters), and that comes first, but we'd like admins to be more active than not.

We are looking for admins to read and approve or reject stories and a columnist (to blog about ponies, writing, or other fandom related items).

If you are interested in becoming an admin please PM me or RaylanKrios for more details.

~Twi-Fi

Edit: I should have mentioned this in the original post, but I didn't think it necessary... until I did.

We will be screening those wishing to be an admin for the group. Nothing crazy, but we'd like to see what you can do. We aren't going to let just anyone add stories to our group after all. This will be explained further, should you be interested.

4639833 I thnk at this point, it is only fair that I bow out. I'll continue watching the threads, but I am not a part of the main function of this group.

I'm tempted to offer assistance, but I don't have a clue if I can meet the activity requirements at the moment (detox etc.). If that clue appears, I'll merrily offer. It's nice to see this sort of group, and it deserves more effort.

4639833 Sorry for my help with the inactivity. Work is crazy... also I've actually been actively writing so that's great. Column...ist...ing might be fun though. I don't think I have the schedule to keep up with something like that though. However I would be happy to be a guest columnist if the need should arise.

Now I must sleep for the workings tomorrow, I'll see you at the next chapter.

4640304 I know I only asked for one, because getting just one person to write blogs is hard, but I'm not opposed to having more, or a guest columnist.

4640427 Victory is Mine! Actually I figure there are plenty of things I can write about that will be fun to read or discuss. Heck if I went really crazy I could go full on "Welcome to Nightvale" with my columns.

I'd like to mention a few of my thoughts on this matter.

For starters, you need to think over what your "brand name" is. What product are you offering, to whom are you offering it, and why?

We can pick a few of those details out from your post. You're looking to create a place that "good" stories are collected. You're going to need to explain that one better, because it is a controversial subject.

Are you going to go the doomed route of attempting to present your collection as "objectively good" and wind up, at best, offering a pile of stories that you can't find anything wrong with technically? Going this route invites a practice of sifting through mountains of shit, to find mediocre stuff.

Are you going to embrace the subjective nature of this task, and offer a pile of stories that happen to meet your opinion of what is good? Why should anyone care about what you personally think is good? If there are going to be several people doing this, is there going to be some group consensus on what counts as good, and if so why should anyone care what this group thinks of as good? How is anyone going to know that, simply because your stamp is on it, they're going to enjoy what they're reading? What can we know of your standards, or the group's standards, that would build that confidence and rapport?

In the hypothetical situation that I am on board as an admin, why do I want my name associated with stories Twi-Fi has approved? What if I also read such a story and think it is bad? Some user of the group might mistakenly think I advocate a story I dislike, or that you advocate a story you dislike because I approved it? I'm sure I have good taste, and I'm sure you have good taste, but those tastes are likely different. Why should I, or any other possible applicant, want to associate with this name brand, instead of just going solo, and adding their own stamp to things they like?

What are your proposed methods of producing things to read and approve? Are you going to go the doomed route of users submitting things? I can tell you from experience that users will not limit themselves to things that are good. They can and will simply flood the system with everything they can, simply on the hope that your group will validate their shitfic.

Are you going to turn away all user recommendations or not? If not, by what standard will you decide who's recommendation to accept and who's to turn away? How will you assure users that you're not playing favorites or inviting other drama?

Are you instead going to simply browse through the site yourself, and if you find something this week to add, add it? (and in this case, "yourself" refers to you and your accepted admin applicants as a whole group).

And what are you expecting to provide for your customers/users? A folder that slowly grows fuller and fuller, containing "these stories have our stamp?" Reviews? Editing advice in the form of rejection letters pointing out flaws? Who are your customers? Readers, authors, or some combination? Is your goal to improve the reading experience of some people by pointing them to things they might not find on their own, or give extra exposure to authors who deserve it but don't currently have it? Are you going to focus on stories that are under-appreciated or simply enjoyable regardless of existing popularity?

Do you have particular genres, ratings, themes, characters, or styles that the group is going to avoid? Lets ask about mature stories in specific. Are those going to be banned or are you going to accept the flood of those that will need to be sifted through and assessed? Are they going to be rated based on what they are trying to be or on some other, higher literary merit that non-mature stories strive for? What about topics like foalcon, rape, or HiE? Theoretically, someone could write such a story and it be high quality, but still be off-putting for people to read.

There are a lot of other groups that try to do this sort of thing. From the old Twilight's Library, to Equestria Daily itself to some degree, to the Royal Guard, Seattle's Angels, various review groups, and many more generic groups like "high quality ____." What makes your attempt at this same service stand out from all those others? Why are you going to succeed where many fail?

Needless to say, this post doesn't inspire a lot of confidence. In fact, if any admins have volunteered so far, I'm a bit leery of how useful the end-product and brand name is going to be if none of that has been explained or laid out yet. I don't doubt you can find eager, naive volunteers, but making a successful attempt at providing this service has failed under better organization.

4641591 You checked out the podcast? Isn't it the most insane thing ever?

4641742 Nonpareil Fiction is a group that has a set of rules and standards answering many of those questions. Of course with new admins, those are subject to change.

We aren't EqD, so we won't nitpick grammar... too much. While grammar is important we will overlook a few mistakes if they aren't distracting. Or if they do become distracting, like repeated misuse of quotation marks or whatnot, but the story is really good, we'd say, "your story is really good, just fix these things and resubmit." We also look at the story itself for major plot holes, out of character characters, and what the story was about and why.

We take mature stories as long as they exist to be more than just porn or snuff. As such, mature stories with the sex tag and or gore tag are held to a slightly higher standard. Simply because if it's overdone, it takes away from the story.

What are we offering? We are offering to read and provide some level of feedback to a story, and to recognize stories that are good. We hope to encourage writers to improve by reminding them of what they did right despite a rejection letter. Example: "Your plot has holes and the story's pacing is erratic; one chapter spans a day and the next chapter spans two hours, while the third jumps all over the place. That being said, your characterization is really good and you avoid over explaining things and telling." Of course there's be more to it than that, but just to give an idea that we aren't harsh. We want to help you.

What makes a good story is solely up to the admin reading it. Sure there's always a genera that an admin will like more than the others, but personal preferences won't hold a story back because "I don't like HiE". With multiple admins, one can ask for a second opinion if one isn't sure.

What is our goal? As I said, we are showcasing stories that we feel are good (nonpareil) while offering reviews. We read and review everything submitted to us. We offer advice too. We set the standards that are slightly vague because everyone has a different idea of what good really is. We don't want to restrict admins' abilities to review or restrict writers to only writing a certain type of story for us.

why do I want my name associated with stories Twi-Fi has approved?

Not what I approve. What Nonpareil Fiction approves. Because we are a library that sets a standard. Getting on EqD or in Twilight's Library (when it was around) was a mark of good writing not an easy achievement (say what you want about those groups). In that regard we aren't much different, less strict I'd say. I do hope we are less intimidating though.

Why are you going to succeed where many fail?

That is an unfair and loaded question. There are many factors involved in that. TL was successful for a while though it hung on by a thread. What made us successful in the past (when all of the admins were active) was our great communication. We all talked to each other a lot. We were all equal too, meaning there wasn't anyone who had final say. We worked things out and agreed upon them as a team. Will we succeed? Well only time will tell, but I hope it's our adaptability that keeps us going.

Needless to say, this post doesn't inspire a lot of confidence. In fact, if any admins have volunteered so far, I'm a bit leery of how useful the end-product and brand name is going to be if none of that has been explained or laid out yet. I don't doubt you can find eager, naive volunteers, but making a successful attempt at providing this service has failed under better organization.

It doesn't inspire confidence in you. This last paragraph is where I have the problem. Your post is punching holes in this group left and right and for what? Some of them are legitimate questions, others suggest you haven't read our guidelines. The problem I have with this is you suggest this group is doomed to fail, but you don't offer any suggestions that would improve it either. So, what is your intent for asking these questions? Do you want to be an admin is this group? I know you write excellent reviews (having received one from you myself) and I know you have great insight. Or are you just trying to suggest that I don't know what I'm doing?

You're looking at this all wrong. We don't want naive volunteers. We want people who like to read, want experience being a pre-reader and a reviewer. Sure the group might have some holes in it (we've had a few in the past and dealt with it), but we are growing, and as we grow things will change. For all intents and purposes we are starting over. Nonpareil had already failed, you see, but not due to lack of organization. We were pretty good, all of us admins were on the same page. We failed because lack of activity, and some other things.

Are we going to do better this time? I hope so. The most I can do, though, is lead by example and do better than I have.

4641856 It is hilarious. I'm only about six episodes in and I am hooked on the insanity of Nightvale. But certainly not the dog park that we don't acknowledge or speak of.

4641591 all hail glow cloud

4639833
Could be worth considering. To be honest, I would need to take some time to decide if I'm willing to give in the commitment before I officially apply. I do enjoy this group though. I've always been treated fairly with both stories I submitted, and wouldn't like to see this group die. You guys are the only group requiring story approval who ever got back to me.

A few questions I have first.

1. Can admins be selective about what stories/genres they read? There are certain genres (mainly shipping, crossovers, and human in equestria) that I avoid like the plague. Therefore, I would not be able to judge them fairly. I also wouldn't feel comfortable reviewing something written by a close friend, as I might unfairly favor them.

2. Are you ok with someone having a very fluid schedule? The type of work that I do is contractual by nature, so I can go from having tons of free time to working crazy hours.

3. How does self-promotion work? Would I still be allowed to submit my own work and have it be reviewed by another admin?

4642530 Or the tall hooded figures that are not there.
4642682 Don't you just love that Apache tracker with his huge headdress?
4642814 Thank you for your kind words.

Now, about your questions:

1. As it is right now, we can't afford to be selective with so few admins. However, this is something we are looking into for when we have more among us. As for work from a close friend, simply say you can't review it because of those reasons and some else will pick it.

2. You work schedule sounds like mine. Either I've got loads of free time or I'm at work to crazy hours. We are asking one story a week and there is no day that it has to be done on. So yes, a fluid schedule is something we can support.

3. Self-promotion in the form of submitting is fine. Don't clutter our forums with "Oh em gee guyz new story," You get the idea. If you submit your own story another admin will review it just the same as any of the others. This also ties into anything you've edited or pre-read.

4643094
Thanks for the reply. I'll take some time to think about it, as I don't wanna make a commitment I won't keep, and get back to you.

4642682 Woo glow cloud!

4643094 Meaning they could not possibly have anything to do with the dog park that we do not acknowledge or think too long about.

4641951

Nonpareil Fiction is a group that has a set of rules and standards answering many of those questions.

(link to rules in above quote)

others suggest you haven't read our guidelines.

Indeed, I did not. Or rather, I may have at some point in the past and forgotten them. Because I've been a member for:

48 weeks. In that time, I don't recall too much activity from this group, and I don't recall having paid it much attention. Like many, I imagine, this thread popped up in my dashboard, and drew my attention because it was an unfamiliar icon. After reading your OP, the information that could be found in the rules was not presented in your post, nor linked to, nor mentioned as a source for additional understanding of "who/what the group is. That is a criticism of the quality of the post in terms of being an advertisement to recruit help. That pretty much forms the basis of my response to you. Criticism of the quality of advertisement you've crafted, so that perhaps you could edit it and make it substantially stronger.

Of course with new admins, those are subject to change.

I assumed that, and indeed that would make it appropriate to explicitly list what the current version of the group is, and what your propose might be different, open to becoming different, and marked as dear and close to the soul of the group and part of it's identity.

That would overall be a large improvement to your ad. Let people, who may be members of the group without a clue what the group is, get the chance to meet "you." Again if needed.

The vast majority of my questions were to hammer that point home. Present who/what you are, so potential recruits know what they are signing on to, and be as open and transparent about it as possible so they can make an informed decision about what they're offering to help with.

Not what I approve. What Nonpareil Fiction approves.

At the moment, the two terms are interchangeable. If you do recruit a few people, then your name in that question serves as a placeholder or example. Read it as: "Why do I want to attach my name to a stamp of approval when I did not read that story myself, and instead someone else (part of the group) did. What if the story, were I to read it myself, were a story that I found to be bad? By being part of the group, the situation could arise, possibly often, where person A reads and approves a story, and person B finds the story to be bad. Now person B's name is being attached to a stamp of approval for a story person B considers bad. This is an almost inevitable occurrence, because the opinions of what are good or bad are subjective.

Other things, like mature stories, foalcon, and HiE are highly controversial. They have their fans. Indeed, the HiE group is one of the largest and most active on the site. Yet almost everyone other than fans of the genre consider even the "best" of those stories to be pretty weak usually. For things like foalcon, some of the stories again could be written very well, but many people would not be willing to attach their name to such a story being considered good.

Someone like myself, Titanium Dragon, and many others review stories without the use of a group. What does your group plan to do about disagreements like these, and why should someone spend the effort to throw their lot in with the group, when they could just simply go solo and have full creative control over what their name, namebrand, and product details are?

You did answer this, to me with the following:

We want people who like to read, want experience being a pre-reader and a reviewer.

Emphasis mine.
This is something you can offer to potential recruits that might appeal to them, and attract them from the solo route. This should be in your recruitment ad.

That is an unfair and loaded question.

Actually, it is among the more important questions I asked, totally fair, and not at all loaded.

There are many factors involved in that.

And this is why. Yes, there were many factors. You need to demonstrate that you are aware of your competitors, what they did wrong and make your recruits and users confident that you will do better. You need to know what your competition does well, and make your recruits confident you plan to emulate their success or surpass them. The key is to demonstrate you are aware of all this, and have it factored into your plans. You don't necessarily need to know all the factors, but at least know a lot of the likely important ones.
Important among those, and only slightly touched upon, is the previous failure of this group and what you plan to do to revive it. What will keep the group from simply repeating it's past death this time? That should be more explicitly presented in your ad.

It doesn't inspire confidence in you. This last paragraph is where I have the problem.

Point? Everything I say is my own words, my own opinion. Why should this last paragraph suddenly create a problem?

Do understand that I am indeed just one person. I am not sure why or where you got the impression otherwise. However, I am one person who gives feedback, and you have admitted to knowing that I am a person who has "great insight." Maybe my views on this ad of yours are completely out of touch with reality. Maybe my opinions differ and I am less than 1% representation of the population of people reading your ad. I'd like to think my opinions are at least in the ballpark of "normal" and that I just am willing to spend time articulating them for you.

The problem I have with this is you suggest this group is doomed to fail, but you don't offer any suggestions that would improve it either.

Just because I can type a lot of words and articulate what I am thinking does not mean you can simply condense all of what I have said into "Your group is doomed." Indeed, if I did think that, I wouldn't have wasted my time saying anything at all. If I find something worthless, I am more than willing to ignore it completely, or post some short and obtuse phrase, or a meme image.

Pointing out the deficiencies of a thing implies those deficiencies should be addressed and improved. It's not my place to tell you how to run your group. I'm just pointing out observations that you can take or leave in your own efforts and planning, in order to succeed. Hopefully you find them useful. It is not reasonable to demand answers to the problems. Cryosite is not your panacea. I don't need to be a mechanic to see a wrecked car is broken. I don't need to be a doctor to tell you someone's arm is broken. If you expect random people like myself to solve your problems, that isn't confidence inspiring. in me.

Are we going to do better this time? I hope so. The most I can do, though, is lead by example and do better than I have.

Good luck.