 What do the admins look for in a submission?
Basic components of a story: plot, grammar, spelling, presentation. We don't expect the next NY Times Bestseller, but we're not going to accept a story that chronically spells the characters' names wrong, is written in one large paragraph clump and describes absolutely nothing. Dialogue-heavy stories lacking sufficient narrative will also not be accepted.
For example: If your story looks like a script with one-line paragraphs, it replies too heavily on dialogue.
Make sure to use conventional story punctuation. For example, use italics or 'single quotation marks' for thoughts.
Also, please make sure you read all the submission guidelines, as this is the major reason most stories are put on error or declined. |
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How do I upload a story? What format does it have to be? Do I have to word wrap?
Please read the Submission Guidelines, as the uploading process is detailed on that page. Nothing but .txt and extremely basic html (as in, only bold, italics, and underline are accepted. All other tags will be stripped. |
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How do I change/edit my summary?
In story manager, click on the notepad icon. Edit the summary in the box and click “submit.” |
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How do I change/edit a title?
Once the story is accepted and/or published, you cannot change your title yourself. You will have to PM/email an admin with clear instructions. |
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I submitted a teaser for my story, but now I have a complete chapter. How do I to change it over from teaser to story?
You will have to PM/email an admin with clear instructions.
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What should I do before I upload a story?
Once you are logged in you will have menu options for submitting and managing your stories. Find the Submission Guidelines, read them carefully, and the go to Submit Story. Read and acknowledge the Disclaimer and check the necessary boxes. YOU ARE RESPONSIBLE FOR EVERYTHING WRITTEN IN EITHER THE SUBMISSION GUIDELINES AND THE DISCLAIMER.
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Can I upload any story?
No. There are certain guidelines on the type of stories you are allowed to upload. You can read the latest guidelines at Submission Guidelines. |
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Can I upload a story by another author?
Absolutely not. The story must be your own work. Please do not upload stories by other authors or on behalf of other authors. |
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What happens if I plagiarize, in part or in whole?
Once verified by the admins, immediate actions will be taken. The plagiarized story will be removed and account(s) will be terminated. There will also be a public post and a newsletter sent out informing all visitors of this violation. |
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Can I upload more than one story at a time?
Yes, up to three per week. All stories must be uploaded individually. Please make sure you read the submission guidelines, as it also covers this detail. |
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Will my story be published immediately?
No. Your story has to be reviewed by Admin, accepted and then published. On the Submission Guidelines page, there is a key that indicates the status of your story based on the icon in front of the story article.
You can check the progress of your story by selecting Story Manager. |
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How long does it take for a story to be accepted?
It depends solely on the evaluators' schedules--it can be as little as a couple of hours to as much as a week or two. Patience is a virtue...do NOT PM the submission admin inquiring about your submission's progress, unless absolutely necessary. |
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Which Admins do submissions?
Aria, crystal_rose, and ladysolo. |
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What happens if my story is put on error/rejected?
You will receive an email informing you of this decision. Generally, the evaluator will send you a private message as to the reason it was put on error/rejected. If it’s put on error, you will have two chances to fix it. If it’s resubmitted for the third time and no visible improvement is made, it will be rejected and ineligible to be submitted again. |
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What happens if my story is accepted?
Again, you will receive an email informing you of this decision. Once accepted, the dot next to the story will turn yellow (accepted but not yet published). |
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Once accepted, is my story published?
Not necessarily. It depends who is doing the evaluating. You should receive a second email informing you of publication—once the dot is green, it is available for all visitors to read and review. |
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Why can't I see who voted what on my stories?
Voting is anonymous. You can only see what scores people are voting. |
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Can I remove my story myself?
Yes. You can withdraw a story from the site at anytime by clicking the 'notepad icon' in your story manager next to the story's name you wish to withdraw, then select the 'yes' under the removal option. This story will then be marked as 'queued for removal' which prevents the story from being viewed. There may be a small delay in the removal process of the story, which is automatically deleted on a cleandown. |
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Can I republish a story I removed?
No. Once your story is removed on the cleandown it cannot be republished. |
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Can I still publish other stories?
Yes. As long as the story hasn't been published before and follows the guidelines for submissions. |
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Does my story have to be complete to upload?
No, as long as you have at least one complete chapter you can upload it. You can add further chapters by using the 'Story Manager'. |
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I uploaded a new chapter and now my story is barred from viewing.
Your story must follow the guidelines for the site. If your story is published and then you change or upload inappropriate content, your story may be barred or even removed. |
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Someone has submitted a bad review. Can I remove it?
No. You have to take the good with the bad: that’s the point of reviews. Any slanderous reviews or reviews with inappropriate content will be edited or removed (contact ladysolo). |
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I'm starting a story, and I want to submit it, but I don't know what the rating will be. What should I do?
As a general rule of thumb, after you get an idea about the plot of your story, figure the highest possible rating. Say, you want to include a scene of seduction in an Alias self-insertion fic between you and oh, Vartaan. You don't know how much you're going to describe, and it very well could be R or NC-17. For now, select the highest of the two ratings--in my example, NC-17 will be the rating. You can always lower it should the occasion arise, but raising it up may upset some of your readers. |
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My story is on error but I don't know how to get it reentered into the story queue to be re-evaluated. What do I do?
After you are sure your story is improved enough to be reconsidered (and all the points an admin made in the PM explaining why the story was put on error are addressed), go to your story manager and click on the notepad icon. There, find the option "resubmit" and select "yes". Your story will now be reentered into the queue and the evaluation process will begin again. |
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How long do I have to resubmit my story after it's been put into the error queue?
14 days and 14 days only. |
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What happens after the third time I've resubmitted my fic?
Whether you've resubmitted the fic from the error queue, or resubmitted it after it's been declined, if it shows no visible improvement, it will be rejected and you will no longer be able to submit that story to AI. |
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How do I save my Word Document as a text (.txt) file?
Go to 'save file as' and underneath where the file name is it says 'Save as type'. This is where you can chose the format you want your file to be saved as. Choose 'plain text'. Click ok. And when the file comes up, if you haven't done so already, hit enter after every paragraph. Then save it. |
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How come it won't let me load my html file?
Make sure you're using only basic html (as in only <b> <i> and <u>). If you only want to change the emphasis of a few words, it's easier to upload a .txt file and add the tags in the live editor. |
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I received a PM explaining why my story is on error and the story admin said I need an editor/beta reader. Where can I find one?
You can ask a grammar-inclined friend to look it over, make a post on the AI message boards or another message board. Ask for an editor or a beta reader and see if anyone is willing to help out. As a last resort, try to give it another round yourself. Just make sure the story receives the attention it needs, whether that be in grammar, punctuation, spelling, narration, etc. |
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Can you (the story admins) edit/beta read my story for me?
The story admins will not edit any story currently not already being edited by them. We simply do not have the time to take on more projects. Please do not ask. |
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What are the Copyright/Acknowledgements/Author's Notes chapters?
These are specific chapters that you can add to your story. It will keep the stories clean looking and easier to view for readers. The titles of the chapters should explain their function perfectly. Put your Author's Notes in the corresponding chapter, put the copyright notice in the Copyright chapter, etc. |
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How do I upload Copyright/Acknowledgements/Author's Notes chapters?
Whether through the initial upload process or through your story manager, it works exactly the same as uploading regular chapters. Here are the two ways:
1.) Select the type of chapter you wish to upload and browse your computer to upload it (making sure to select accepted file types) or 2.) Create a chapter and manipulate the chapter through the live editor. |
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How do these Copyright/Acknowledgements/Author's Notes chapters show up in the story?
Copyrights will show up as "C", Acknowledgements will show up as "A" and Author's Notes will show up as "AN" for the readers and as well in your story manager. These act exactly like regular story chapters. |
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Can I add more than one C/A/AN chapter?
No. If you try to create more than one, either by uploading a file from your computer or by using "Create Chapter", it will say "'Chapter Name' already exists on this story. You will need to delete the existing version to proceed."
You can either edit the chapter through the story manager or delete the chapter and re-upload a new one. |
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What does "'Chapter Name' already exists on this story. You will need to delete the existing version to proceed" mean?
It means you already have a chapter in your story with that chapter classification. For example, if you already have a Chapter 2 and try to create/upload another Chapter 2, it will appear with that message. |
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How do I get my chapter uploaded if it says "'Chapter Name already exists..."?
If you wish to replace the chapter with a new file, then you can either edit it through your story manager (as previously covered in the Story Manager FAQs) or delete the chapter and then try uploading it again. |
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Does AI accept poetry?
AI no longer accepts poetry. |
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Why doesn't AI accept poetry?
AI used to accept poetry but, due to the sharp decline in poetry submissions, it was decided to take the format out of the AI repertoire. AI is now focusing on maintaining itself as a story-centric site. |
