After much thought and going over other archive sites and their multitudinous guidelines for posting, I would like Authors to be aware of the following guidelines for stories submitted for posting at the Eunuch Archive: Spelling and Grammar – Grammatical disasters will not be accepted. The story must be easily readable. Ask for help if you need it; it’s available. Paragraphs – Stories in one huge chunk of text will not be accepted. Oddly spaced material will not be accepted. Please see the link about formatting below and read it. http://www.eunuch.org/format.htm Punctuation – Not a biggie, but important. Quotes, etc., are important to readability. A sample dialogue will soon be posted for an example. Violence/Gore/Snuff – There’s a tag called WARNING when you post the story. Use it. If I get a rude surprise reading it, into the trash it goes. There’s also a box for a brief synopsis of the story. Use it. Untagged Snuff will immediately be trashed. Story Description Tags – Use them, that’s why they are there. Stories with NO tags at all will be trashed. I will edit erroneous tags. Sex/Gore/Off-topic Themes – EA hosts genital mutilation stories whether M/F/TG/etc. Sex stories with no such theme should be placed somewhere else like Nifty, etc. Someone has to lose something “down there” for it to qualify. Rampant murder/mutilation for the sake of shock will not be accepted, even if it does involve a genital mutilation. Plot Lines – Stories with no real plot that make no sense will be trashed. Dead characters don’t talk back. See #6. Multi-Part Stories – Two or three paragraphs don’t qualify as a “Part 1”. If it’s only 15k or so, add to it. See #7. Foreign Languages – These are fine, provided that I can get a translation. Your patience is expected and appreciated. Plagiarism – Don’t even try to use someone else’s story/characters without permission. If you want to revise an OLD story of your own, let me know. If you want to take off in someone else’s “world,” per say, get their permission and let me know. Last but Not Least – If your submission didn’t show up within two (2) days and I didn’t make a post about EA server errors, then it got rejected and no amount of whining is going to bring it back. Feel free to ask though, as sometimes things do just evaporate. Sometimes the EA4040 Vulture gets hungry!These guidelines are not an effort to make anyone intentionally angry. They’re to serve a purpose. I am spending far too much time cleaning things up now, and it’s got to change. Older members may recall the days of the “once a month” updates in stories, and if B. got sick, you were sh*t-outta-luck. We don’t want to go back to that, hence these tips. –Paolo.

Paolo wrote: Thu Aug 07, 2003 3:31 pm Plagiarism – Don’t even try to use someone else’s story/characters without permission. If you want to revise an OLD story of your own, let me know. If you want to take off in someone else’s “world,” per say, get their permission and let me know.

Perhaps this rule is not written exactly as intended. I hope so, because I've got a story that I would like to submit that conflicts with the letter of this rule.

I am currently hoping for permission from the original author, if the original author reads these forums, but it is an old story and I do not have much hope.

The conventional definition of plagiarism is like this: "the unauthorized use or close imitation of the language and thoughts of another author and the representation of them as one's own original work."

Notice especially how the above rule prevents more than just plagiarism. The story I have written, based upon the great old story "Double Cross", is not plagiarism because it is not represented as my own original work. However, it does use characters and a world created by another author and I have no reliable way of getting permission for its use.

May we please get a statement about the spirit of this rule. Is it not sufficient to cite where the ideas come from? Must it always be permission, or shouldn't giving credit be sufficient?

The story was already written before I even realized that this rule existed. I probably would have still written it, since the original story is probably my favorite story in the archive.

This is an old rule of mine, and I don't know if Plix has considered it or not.

It was my policy - that is - IF I caught it - not to accept stories based on other authors' works until I had their permission.

I did not accept a Simon story, because that is CvanD's "world".

I did not accept an Azyntion City story; it belongs to Nathan and he said no.

I did not accept a story based on one of my world's once.

Now, if the creator of said world, for example, I, were to say, "Yes, you can write a story set in the world of 'XY-n', and we both let Plix know, then that is fine. Personally, my answer is 'no'.

If someone already has a story written out, then a simple MS Word 'find and replace' for names will suffice to create an entirely new world of characters. If you are inspired, then by all means do so. Write it. Use the names "Simon" and "Roddy" in England if you must. Then replace all with "Pete" and "Repeat" in Australia or something ... change the country, town, etc., and BANG! You have a new work and no one needs to know.

But if all parties involved agree, then why not?

Given how poorly Harry Potter is done, I'm sure that's what Rowling did - cobbled together all sorts of stuff and just went with it - with a pack of editors, too...

"

Paolo wrote: Thu Aug 07, 2003 3:31 pm Sex/Gore/Off-topic Themes – EA hosts genital mutilation stories whether M/F/TG/etc. Sex stories with no such theme should be placed somewhere else like Nifty, etc. Someone has to lose something “down there” for it to qualify. Rampant murder/mutilation for the sake of shock will not be accepted, even if it does involve a genital mutilation.

" - Paolo

Does someone have to lose something down there?

I'm sure that I once read a guideline here that the threat rather than the actual happening would qualify a story.

The vast majority of my stories here involve a 'happening' somewhere but a rare one does involve only a serious but failed threat to aid surprise and variety, such as my 'Farmers' Boys'.

I'd therefore like to ask whether the guideline is changing or will the occasional serious threat rather than actual happening still be permitted?

PUEROS

If you look, you'll notice that this thread is originally from way back in 2003. These are not the current rules in force.

What makes me laugh though, is that Plix was given such a rough time when he introduced his guidelines for acceptance a few months back. There seemed to be quite the outcry against them, how they'd cause people to stop posting stories, etc etc etc.

Turns out Plix's guidelines are, if anything, more lenient than these from 2003. Although the similarities are quite striking. The same high points are covered by both (albeit in different ways).

pueros: While I cannot speak for Plix, I can point to the recent posting of "Four Girls and a Boy" in which there is only threat, and nothing is actually removed.

Paolo wrote: Fri Apr 13, 2007 7:53 pm If someone already has a story written out, then a simple MS Word 'find and replace' for names will suffice to create an entirely new world of characters.

But is that really better? My story is not plagiarism because I do not pretend that it is my original idea. What you're suggesting is actual plagiarism.

Isn't it funny that the rule called 'plagiarism' will in some cases allow stories to be accepted only if they disguise their sources? The rule is not designed to restrict plagiarism so much as it encourages plagiarism. That's ironic!

The thing is, CG, if you do that, then NO ONE knows you did it - unless you tell them. If it's still a good read, then what does it matter?

In the end, it's up to Plix now. Take it up with him.

And Plix, my door is always open if you need advice.

CK, your story is fine. I told you that last night as I published it. IE told you the same thing. So there is no need to worry

I would definitely prefer permission if at all possible because I think it is only fair to the original author. But if contacting the original author is out of the question, then giving proper credit will do. If you can contact the original author, then you should definitely do that first.

Pueros, there are absolutely no problems with your stories All I ask is for a theme of genital mutilation to somehow appear somewhere in the story. Threats, events, words, it all works for me.

For the record, anyone who wants to argue guidelines and acceptance criteria with Plix should keep in mind that "I" am standing right behind him.

Plix is now IN CHARGE of ALL story submissions, with the blessings of the Staff.

I would like to see Plix take the above guidelines that I used and modify them to HIS tastes, thus reposting them, and I will remove that initial post in favor of his tastes and rules.

Authors, keep in mind that you may not like the rules. I don't like Nifty's rules, either, and never post there. However, NO amount of complaining that I do with them is going to change that.

And no amount of complaining about guidelines here is going to change Plix's guidelines, either.

If you don't like HIS rules, and can't come to a reasonable understanding with him, then you have 2 options:

1. Don't post.

2. Continue to complain to him and get banned.

It's that simple.

Paolo wrote: Sat Apr 14, 2007 7:38 pm If you don't like HIS rules, and can't come to a reasonable understanding with him, then you have 2 options:

1. Don't post.

2. Continue to complain to him and get banned.

That sure sounds serious. What exactly is this about? Are we facing an epidemic of complaining that must be stopped before it overwhelms and ruins the forum?

What qualifies as complaining and why is it so bad?

I mean, are you saying that it is forbidden to discuss the rules in public? Is it forbidden to suggest that the rules might be less than ideal or to point out consequences of the rules which might not be immediately obvious? Is there any sort of discussion about the rules which does not qualify as complaining?

And once we've figured out where to draw the line about what is complaining and what is not, I still wonder why we care. I mean, speaking negatively of rules is not like abusing a person. They are just rules; I doubt their feelings can be hurt.

It's not as if we are in any danger of people breaking the rules. Whether a story is accepted or rejected is entirely up to those who make the rules. So what harm is there in a little public discussion of the rules? At worst it will be pointless but harmless, and it might even raise awareness of the rules.