Rant: Identify yourselves!

[resonant]

Ooh, the LJ Santa left me six months of paid time! Thanks, whoever you are.

I seriously doubt that rants are what you wanted me to use this space for, but here's one:

Writers. Writers who post your fiction on your own web pages:

Why the hell would you put put up a story that doesn't have your name and your e-mail address on it?

I can't tell you how many times I've followed a link and found myself reading a terrific story by ... um, well, I'm not sure who it's by. Often there's not even a link back to the home page. Sometimes I can erase stuff out of the URL and climb back up to the top that way, but other times, it doesn't work.

Also, writers? Be aware that some of us will copy your story into a word processor document so that we can savor it again later. Which means that if your title, your byline, or your e-mail address is a graphic, or exists only in the html header and not in the story itself, it won't come through. And then lame people like me will read your story for the third time and go, "You know, I really should send some feedback to ... um ... whoever it was who wrote this story. If I could remember where I found it."

All I want for Christmas is a more orderly world. And some Hershey kisses.

Comments

[vickita.livejournal.com]

*sigh*

I pester/nag/hold forth upon this subject with my meteorologistas roughly once a month. We run a federal government website. There are certain basic requirements that we're supposed to meet. Furthermore, it's just good sense. Put your names on your papers, boys and girls. Give your users/visitors/readers a way to get in touch with you and tell you how wonderful you are.

*sigh*

[vickita.livejournal.com]

Oh, and you'll come to my place; I'll fix you up with some chocolate. No problem.

[marycrawford.livejournal.com]

Be aware that some of us will copy your story into a word processor document so that we can savor it again later. Which means that if your title, your byline, or your e-mail address is a graphic, or exists only in the html header and not in the story itself, it won't come through.

And of course if you only have a mailto tag ('Email Mary Crawford') and not the actual email address in the text, the addy won't show up either (unless the word processor is HTML-enabled). Duh.

/slaps forehead/

Thanks for the reminder.

[resonant8.livejournal.com]

Love the icon!

[venivincere]

Angsting over this very oversight the other day. Sorry I can't offer you Hershey kisses. But if you're in the mood for some Mediterranean olive kisses, please do show up instantly at my doorstep so I may seduce you properly.

[resonant8.livejournal.com]

I must be doing something right in my LJ, because everybody offers me food. I mean, really good food.

[venivincere]

You must be putting out "classically seducible" vibes. Here, lean back on this couch while I skin a fig for you. And it's funny you should respond to this now; I am sitting here eating Calamata olives this very moment. Care to join me?

[isiscolo.livejournal.com]

Hmm. I have my info on my stories page, but not on the pages of the individual stories. But I can see the logic. Time to go update the website...

[imkalena.livejournal.com]

Ack! I never even thought about the whole 'pasting into Word' concept before. I've been remiss about the email thing myself, because the Love Bunny doesn't always do it and I don't want to rag on him about it. But since I so adore fb, perhaps it's a good thing to ask for when I next offer a blowjob in return for an update. (See, then I get the goodies both ways.*g*)

[lobelia321.livejournal.com]

How often have I thought this!! I love thoughtful writers who put everything in prose, their email, the date the fic was written, even (*sigh*, but this is very rare) the url so that I don't have to paste it in specially when transferring to Word.

[marycrawford.livejournal.com]

But thank you for the suggestion!

I think I'll start including dates and URLs. Why the hell not, if someone finds it useful :-)

[lobelia321.livejournal.com]

I find it fabulously useful!!

[slyredfox.livejournal.com]

Never thought to add URLs before. Or dates. Hmm. Perhaps I'll start adding them. Thanks for the suggestion. :)

[resonant8.livejournal.com]

Huh. I never thought of the URLs. And I put the date on the main page but not on the story page itself.

Damn. Hoist on my own petard.

[lobelia321.livejournal.com]

P.S. Has your daughter made any more cones??

[resonant8.livejournal.com]

No, she's been spending all her art time making books for the rabbit in her classroom. She's convinced he can read them.

[herdmentality.livejournal.com]

Why the hell would you put put up a story that doesn't have your name and your e-mail address on it?

Gahh, I hate that. And, believe it or not, it doesn't stop with fanfiction--it extends into the academic world. I can't tell you how many times I've had professors handing back graded work and saying "One for John, one for Jane, one for Melissa . . . And here's one without a name on it!" (Not that I'm entirely innocent; I kept forgetting to put my name on my Russian homework, and it drove the professor nuts.)

[lobelia321.livejournal.com]

*giggles at your lj username*

[herdmentality.livejournal.com]

Can you tell I worship Nietzsche? :D

[kenovay.livejournal.com]

Oh, oh, oh, you do Russian? I'm currently utterly freaking out over my mock GCSE in January. I swear, the bloody grammar... How long have you been doing it?

[herdmentality.livejournal.com]

I've just finished my first semester, and I'll be coming back for more. The grammar wasn't too intimidating for me--but I have an uncanny nack for grammar in general, so YMMV. It's the vowels and soft signs that I get a bit hung up on.

[painless-j.livejournal.com]

Yes,you have a point. My frustration is expressed :/ I always save fics to my hard-drive and in almost half the cases I even can't figure out who the author was. That's ok if the fic was scheisse but what a dissapointment if you liked it and wanted to read more of the same author or say a kind word to her.

[nopejr.livejournal.com]

Why the hell would you put put up a story that doesn't have your name and your e-mail address on it?

Because I'm a lazy shit and just cut-and-pasted it from my LJ?

Hmm. That semmed a much better answer when it was in my head.

(That sound you hear is me going "oh, yeah, people might want to send me feedback" under my breath and trying not to look stupid.)

Clearly -- by which I mean, 'perhaps' -- fandom needs a standardized fic archive layout/header thingy*. [Fear my technical terminology!] But: what would you -- the non-specific you; one; we -- want in it? Title, Author, Review link (mailto link, full email, msgboard link, lj link, whatever) Page Reference (where the story was), Disclaimer, Copyright statement...? (By which point the headers might actually be longer than the fic.)

There are way too many parenthetical comments in this comment.

(I'll shut up now.)

[abbylee]

Clearly -- by which I mean, 'perhaps' -- fandom needs a standardized fic archive layout/header thingy*. [Fear my technical terminology!] But: what would you -- the non-specific you; one; we -- want in it? Title, Author, Review link (mailto link, full email, msgboard link, lj link, whatever) Page Reference (where the story was), Disclaimer, Copyright statement...? (By which point the headers might actually be longer than the fic.)

I swear when I first started reading, most authors did use headers. This was only two or three years ago, but the use of them have dropped significantly. I think they've depreciated because so many writers use their LJs now, and personal websites are becoming more and more popular/accessable.

Title:
Author:
Rating:
Distribution:
Disclaimer:

Were the main ones. Author usually contained a name and email address. Distribution often said something like "if you want it, take it" or "email me for permission", but I always thought it should also contain the authors prefered url too.

Common additions also include Pairing, Spoilers, and Date Completed.

[bethbethbeth.livejournal.com]

Do you know I actually went to my own website, just to check and make sure I wasn't a loser? *g*

Okay, so the email link doesn't give the actual email address (just my name), but my name is on every story, as is the title and the date of posting. Plus? Down at the bottom are links to my home page.

Do I get at least a B+ in "Making Res Happy 101?"

[resonant8.livejournal.com]

Do I get at least a B+ in "Making Res Happy 101?"

You get an A+ just for caring! And another A+ for stories.

Wandering in via bonibaru

[deslea.livejournal.com]

Word. Now and then I poke a newbie about this, though usually they're people who've stumbled in from multifandom (people who come in cold read the FAQs). Thank God for X Files' penchant for standardisation (like so (http://fiction.deslea.com/coldwhiteroom.php)).

reposting because I screwed up the subject line...

[musesfool.livejournal.com]

Writers. Writers who post your fiction on your own web pages:

Why the hell would you put put up a story that doesn't have your name and your e-mail address on it?

Huh.

My email address is, in fact, on every page under the "Contact" link but it always seems just a shade more egotistical than I'm ready to admit to, to have my name on every single page and every single story. I guess when I began, I didn't expect to be linked (or to have 200 stories) from outside, so *of course* someone visiting would have seen the front page which is All About Me ::goes to look at front page:: well, it *was* All About Me at some point. Now my name's not even on there. Huh.

I will have to rethink that, at least.

[kattahj.livejournal.com]

Hmm... *thinks* I see your point. But I kinda like my graphics... and it's not like anyone reads the stories off my website anyway. (No, I don't assume this based on feedback. I check the stats.) Though I probably should have the link to my e-mail addy say my e-mail addy in plain text as well.

One tip if you've copied a story to your hard disc and don't know who wrote it: run a sentence or two through search engines. It's a hassle, but if you're *really* frustrated about not being able to feedback it might be worth it.

[annaalamode.livejournal.com]

Can I just give this post a big head nod? I've decided to refuse to feel guilty about not feedbacking when I don't have any contact information.

[maryavatar.livejournal.com]

Heh, I wish I could say I always remember to put my name and addy on my stories, but gosh... I just checked, and I so don't. Anything that's gone to a mailing list has the info, but stuff I've just slapped up once my beta has finished with it tends to remain headerless.

I hereby resolve to mend my ways and add the header info to my templates.

[darthfox.livejournal.com]

i fixed it! i did! after you pointed out to me that my site failed in this respect, i went back and re-coded ... the HP stuff. i figured the rest could wait until i'd finished writing my actual papers and stuff. :-)

... which must mean you're not yelling at me.

[wanders off]

[mhari.livejournal.com]

*wanders in via musesfool and meeps*

Why the hell would you put put up a story that doesn't have your name and your e-mail address on it?

'Cos we're smug in the knowledge that we do have a link back to our main page on every single story, and assume our readers are smart enough to find it...?

Wrong answer, I know. *g*

Actually, I am in favor of headings for the ornery reason that I don't believe in "gateway" pages -- if you put all your warnings and spoilers and ratings and whatnot on one page, and then bitch because people don't READ THE WARNING PAGE GODDAMMIT -- well, call me an iconoclast, but I always thought the point of the WWW was that you can link to whatever is out there.... Whoops, how'd this soapbox get in here?

Which doesn't prevent my being lazy. Anyway, since a weird little plagiarism incident awhile back, I've taken to putting a copyright notice at the bottom of each of my stories, which feels less redundant and self-aggrandizing than a byline on every blessed drabble, and has the added if dubious benefit of scaring off the wussier would-be thieves.

I should really figure out a standard footer and put it on all of my stuff, though.