SWG Tumblr Satellite: Draft Submission Guidelines

[dawn_felagund]

Below the cut are draft submission guidelines for the SWG's tumblr satellite. These are based on the feedback and discussion on the posts about our Tumblr satellite so far. Some of the language is adapted from existing SWG guidelines. Thanks again to everyone who has provided input and feedback!

In general, the prevailing attitude was that "less is more" at this point. We can certainly add additional items that we will accept on the tumblr at a later date, if we wish to do so. It is always easier--and preferable!--to expand rather than to take away, in my experience.

The question of "asks" still remains open. However, as this is shaping up to be a rather complex issue with many possible solutions proposed, so I'd like to get our tumblr set up, and we can discuss asks and add this at a later date, if we wish to do so.

All feedback is welcome, from broad concerns over policies to nitpicks over wording--and of course typo fixes! :) Thanks again, everyone.

Draft Tumblr Submission Guidelines

The Silmarillion Writers' Guild was founded in 2005 as a home for Tolkien fans who wanted to share fiction, nonfiction, and poetry based on The Silmarillion. The SWG's tumblr exists to help Silmarillion writers share fandom-related news and find a wider audience for their Silmarillion-based writing. Above all else, we want SWG to be a place that is welcoming and friendly to all of its members and guests.

Member Etiquette

You can find the full SWG Site Etiquette here. The items below are those of particular relevance to our tumblr.

1. Abusive or derogatory behavior will not be tolerated at any time or in any part of SWG. We do not welcome or allow any content in our group that is designed to be hurtful or insulting.


2. SWG is a group that focuses on The Silmarillion and other works related to it. While most of us also like The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit, SWG does not accept content that focus solely on these books. Many are the groups that do, so please keep material shared here Silmarillion-related. If you are in doubt about whether your post is appropriate for our group, please contact a moderator.


3. SWG is a drama-free group. While some groups relish personal conflict and drama, we do not. If you cannot get along with other group members, ignore them. If you cannot ignore them, rethink your membership in SWG. SWG is also not a place to "wank" over people, sites, or stories that you dislike. Please keep this to your personal blog or within groups that like that sort of thing.


4. "SSPs" of stories should include ratings according to the system used on our group, as well as relevant warnings. Teen- and Adult-rated stories must include warnings. SWG welcomes members of all ages and backgrounds and believes that members should be free to choose the content to which they are exposed. Failure to properly rate an SSP will result in the post being rejected. When in doubt, please be conservative in choosing your ratings and warnings. (View our rating and warning policy for more information.)


5. While SWG is intended as a place for authors to get constructive feedback on their work, and works-in-progress are welcomed, authors should nonetheless observe minimal standards of professionalism when presenting their work. Work shared on our site should be proofread by the author, run through a spell-checker, and organized in manuscript format. (That is, stories should be separated clearly into sentences and paragraphs.) While everyone makes the occasional error and we do not require perfection, we do expect that these minimal standards be met.

Submissions: What We Accept

The SWG tumblr accepts the following content on our blog. Please view the specific requirements for each type of content before submitting your post. Posts that do not meet our guidelines will be rejected.

• links to your fiction and poetry that you want to promote ("SSPs") (Read guidelines for SSPs.)


• announcements of interest to Silmarillion fans and writers (Read guidelines for announcements.)


• links to articles of interest to Silmarillion fans and writers (Read guidelines for articles.)

Guidelines for SSPs

"SSP" is a fandom term that stands for Shameless Self-Promotion. SSPs are links to your stories and poems that you would like to share with a wider audience than your usual circle of friends and followers. An SSP is intended to call attention to a piece that the author thinks is at a point where it publishable quality. Please note than an SSP is not a fic rec. We only accept links from the author of the story. Multiple Tolkien fic rec tumblrs are already in existence. SSPs must meet the following guidelines:

• The story or poem must have a strong basis in The Silmarillion. Crossovers and AUs are fine. We also define "Silmfic" quite liberally here at the SWG. Please see our Silmfic FAQ for more information.


• The link should point to a site off of Tumblr. While stories can certainly be deleted on archive and other host sites, Tumblr is notoriously bad for link rot. If you need a place to host a Silmarillion-based story or poem, please consider posting it to the SWG archive.


• The following must be included as part of your post: the title of the story, a brief summary, the story's rating (General, Teens, or Adult--see the full Ratings Guidelines for more details), and a list of any relevant warnings (the Ratings Guidelines have more information on warnings too).

The SWG places no restrictions on rating, content, genre, or interpretation of the texts. We welcome AUs, crossovers, and stories that overlap with Tolkien's other books. We ask only that links shared on our tumblr be Silmarillion-related, proofread and polished, and properly labeled so that readers can make an informed decision about whether they want to click to read your story.

Guidelines for Announcements

The SWG has always been happy to help other groups and projects of interest to Silmarillion fans promote themselves and their events. We welcome announcements on our tumblr as well for groups, archives, challenges, events, projects, ficswaps, and anything else you can think of that might interest our members!

• Announcements for events that involve multiple fandoms or the general Tolkien fandom are fine as long as they allow participation from Silmarillion fans. For example, a multi-fandom rare pairings challenge would be welcome to post an announcement here. A challenge aimed at writing rare pairings based on current TV series would not be relevant to our members. Announcements do not have to be related to writing or fan fiction. Many of our members participate in fandom as more than just writers.


• Please be specific in your announcement. What are you looking for? (Visitors to your new archive? Participants in a challenge? Artwork for a Big Bang?) Are there any relevant dates? Expectations for participants? Finally, include a link where members can find out more information.


• Banners are fine, but please make sure that you have permission or rights to use any images. (Our image FAQ has more information on what we mean by that.)

Guidelines for Links to Articles

Links to articles that would be of interest to Silmarillion fans are welcome on our tumblr.

• The article must be of interest to Silmarillion fans. General Tolkien articles are fine, as are articles about fandom in general, but we ask that news or articles related to the movies not be shared here, as there are many, many groups that specialize in squeeing over, discussing, and analyzing the films.


• The link should point to a site off of Tumblr. Again, Tumblr is notoriously bad for link rot. The SWG archive accepts essays, if you'd like to link to something that you wrote; please make sure that you read the full SWG guidelines first, as we have specific requirements for citing sources in nonfiction pieces.


• Please include a brief summary of the article in addition to your link.

If you have any questions, please feel free to contact us through Tumblr or at moderator@silmarillionwritersguild.org.

Comments

[scarlet1061.livejournal.com]

I hate to sound negative, but given the impression I got from who is the userbase of Tumblr, I wonder if any of them will bother to read such a long paper?

I am not familiar with Tumblr at all, but will it be possible or do we even want to moderate a first input by people?

Just a thought that came to me, while reading the post.

[ladyelleth.livejournal.com]

Whether or not they bother to read it (I'm fairly sure most people interested in the SWG tumblr will - they made it through the Silmarillion, so I don't think this is going to daunt them too much), tumblr submissions are moderated, so if someone isn't playing by the rules, the mods can refuse to publish their submission.

[dawn_felagund]

What Elleth said. :) All posts will be moderated. Those that don't adhere to the guidelines will not be approved.

People usually don't read guidelines, which is how we've had Narnia fanfic posted on the SWG archive, and we mod-types got an email the other week from someone who thought we were an organization that enforces laws against plagiarism online (!). But we have to lay out our expectations or else people won't know what they can and cannot submit. Those who can't be bothered to take a few minutes to read what is expected of them will probably not post correctly, and the posts will be rejected.

[dawn_felagund]

Exactly. People neglect to read guidelines all the time. (It always amazes me that someone is willing to spare the time to comment or email us with a question on a project when taking half that time to read the guidelines would have answered that very question.) But they do so at their peril; posts that don't meet our expectations won't be approved.

[silver-trails.livejournal.com]

I have a request. I know I cannot control if other people posts links to my work in Tumblr, or in any other place, but I don't want any link to my stories posted by the SWG. Not even links to my bio(s). I know you plan to post the newsletter there. Can you please simply erase the links to my work? I will understand if you decide not to use my Makar and Measse bio because of this - you would not be able to announce it - but I post in SWG because I can erase my things freely when posted there. I don't want other people to reblog links to my stories or bios.

[dawn_felagund]

As I said in an earlier comment, we do not crosspost the newsletter. It will certainly not be crossposted to Tumblr.

When a new newsletter is released, we will post a link to the newsletter (posted on our website) on our tumblr.

[silver-trails.livejournal.com]

I see. So our Tumblr won't have the newsletter, but a link to it?

[dawn_felagund]

Yes. We do not crosspost the newsletter.

[silver-trails.livejournal.com]

All right. I see that I didn't understand it when I read it. Then everything's okay. Thank you for explaining it to me.

[oloriel.livejournal.com]

Just a tiny stylistic nitpick: For point 5 on the Etiquette list, you twice used the "While A, B" construction, which reads sort of awkward. My suggestion is rewording the final sentence: "Everyone makes the occasional error and we do not require perfection, but we do expect that these minimal standards be met."

[dawn_felagund]

That's an easy fix--thank you! :)