Because Rae complains, and people I beta for ask a lot about it...
I'm gonna do a quick fool-proof how-to about getting accepted into S!atD in three easy parts. (These are the three big ones, of course there are more little rules, but follow these three and you're likely to get accepted.)
1. Grammar/Spelling/Typos.
This shouldn't be a problem if you have a decent beta. If your post gets rejected for this, Get. A. New. Beta. Simple as that, guys. If your beta doesn't understand the basic rules of grammar required to get accepted, get a new one. (Nobody's asking for perfect syntax. They're just asking for no spelling errors or misused quotations.) Worse comes to worst, ask me. I'd be happy to beta for you.
2. Formatting.
It's really not that hard... You need an extra blank line between paragraphs. Just like this post right here. This is because LJ doesn't really allow for tabbing, like most professional fiction and books have. It's easier to read this way, looks cleaner and well, those are the rules. Though I know some people write on a program that adds another line in the document automatically... this is not going to work. Basically, it's got to show up in this snazzy html box like you want it to turn out. This isn't Microsoft Word. My advice is to type on your word processing program as if it was html. You'll never get confused this way. (Always double-check when you put it in the submission post.)
3. Headers.
This is one of those kinds of mistakes you used to make in 3rd grade math and go "oh duh!" when you got the answer back on your test. But, kindly enough, S!atD has even given us a form to fill out with all the appropriate bolding and etc. Basically, it needs to look like this (taken directly from their info/rules page):
Title: This Is The Tile Of My Fic
Author: melody_so_sweet
Rating: G
Pairing: Ryan/Brendon
POV: 3rd
Summary: This fic is fake so it has no summary.
Disclaimer: The characters used in this story are based on real people. I did not create them myself.
Beta: melody_so_sweet
Author Notes: This is optional for your header. You can include it or not, you can also put it at the end of your fic.
Yes, you need to have a listed LJ beta. This is (probably) because some people have taken advantage of the fact that they didn't have to have an LJ account in the past, and just skipped the betaing and claimed it was their friend in real life. Very often these fics have shitty grammar. This is why the new rule was made. And also, they need to be in the LJ user link format. It's just a bit more html, it's just a courtesy to the beta to have a link to their page for doing that for you.
Yes, the "title" "author" "rating" etc needs to be bolded. Some may think this is silly that this is a rule, but it is a rule, please follow it. It makes it clearer to read, cleaner and smoother. It's a minor thing, but you might get rejected for it. Don't get rejected for something so silly. XD
Here's the code:
Title:
Author:
Rating:
Pairing:
POV:
Summary:
Disclaimer:
Beta:
Author's Notes:
Now, I know this is a lot of html for some people, but luckily it's all layed out right there for you. Also, if you don't know how to make a cut-text or link, I'll throw those in here for your convenience. (Personally, I keep a file on my computer of all the html codes I'll ever need for fics. Which is like, four. But mem this if you'd like to check back to it or something, I don't know. Get creative.)
URL: NAME OF URL
Cut-Text: YOUR FIC GOES HERE.
Here is the link for S!atD rules: Rules. Read them.
I hope this helps somebody out there. :] Let me know if you need help with html/betaing/getting accepted!
1. Grammar/Spelling/Typos.
This shouldn't be a problem if you have a decent beta. If your post gets rejected for this, Get. A. New. Beta. Simple as that, guys. If your beta doesn't understand the basic rules of grammar required to get accepted, get a new one. (Nobody's asking for perfect syntax. They're just asking for no spelling errors or misused quotations.) Worse comes to worst, ask me. I'd be happy to beta for you.
2. Formatting.
It's really not that hard... You need an extra blank line between paragraphs. Just like this post right here. This is because LJ doesn't really allow for tabbing, like most professional fiction and books have. It's easier to read this way, looks cleaner and well, those are the rules. Though I know some people write on a program that adds another line in the document automatically... this is not going to work. Basically, it's got to show up in this snazzy html box like you want it to turn out. This isn't Microsoft Word. My advice is to type on your word processing program as if it was html. You'll never get confused this way. (Always double-check when you put it in the submission post.)
3. Headers.
This is one of those kinds of mistakes you used to make in 3rd grade math and go "oh duh!" when you got the answer back on your test. But, kindly enough, S!atD has even given us a form to fill out with all the appropriate bolding and etc. Basically, it needs to look like this (taken directly from their info/rules page):
Title: This Is The Tile Of My Fic
Author: melody_so_sweet
Rating: G
Pairing: Ryan/Brendon
POV: 3rd
Summary: This fic is fake so it has no summary.
Disclaimer: The characters used in this story are based on real people. I did not create them myself.
Beta: melody_so_sweet
Author Notes: This is optional for your header. You can include it or not, you can also put it at the end of your fic.
Yes, you need to have a listed LJ beta. This is (probably) because some people have taken advantage of the fact that they didn't have to have an LJ account in the past, and just skipped the betaing and claimed it was their friend in real life. Very often these fics have shitty grammar. This is why the new rule was made. And also, they need to be in the LJ user link format. It's just a bit more html, it's just a courtesy to the beta to have a link to their page for doing that for you.
Yes, the "title" "author" "rating" etc needs to be bolded. Some may think this is silly that this is a rule, but it is a rule, please follow it. It makes it clearer to read, cleaner and smoother. It's a minor thing, but you might get rejected for it. Don't get rejected for something so silly. XD
Here's the code:
Title:
Author:
Rating:
Pairing:
POV:
Summary:
Disclaimer:
Beta:
Author's Notes:
Now, I know this is a lot of html for some people, but luckily it's all layed out right there for you. Also, if you don't know how to make a cut-text or link, I'll throw those in here for your convenience. (Personally, I keep a file on my computer of all the html codes I'll ever need for fics. Which is like, four. But mem this if you'd like to check back to it or something, I don't know. Get creative.)
URL: NAME OF URL
Cut-Text: YOUR FIC GOES HERE.
Here is the link for S!atD rules: Rules. Read them.
I hope this helps somebody out there. :] Let me know if you need help with html/betaing/getting accepted!