- Make sure the Title of the story, the author's name AND EMAIL are on
the first 2 lines of the story. Look at one of the other stories to
see how you can do this. Even though the pages will show your story's
title, as well as your name, email and web page address (when
appropriate), placing this information at the top of the story will
allow the search engine to find it.
- IF YOUR STORY HAS ADULT CONTENT, please make sure the appropriate
warnings for extreme violence, profanity, or sexual sitiations are part
of your description, as well as choosing the appropriate rating (just
like the movies).
There have been a few complaints lately. I know, warnings do more to
attract than to deter. A warning would cover both the author and the
Web Site from legal action, however. Also, make sure this information
is in your story as well as within our database. This will again keep
the search engine happy.
- Make sure it's a text file (not a word processor document). Beware of
word processors. They often save text files with strange characters
on the ends of lines (and sometimes even somewhere IN the text). If
possible, just use a text editor like emacs, vi, Windows Notepad, or
Mac SimpleText. Files in HTML format are perfectly acceptable, and
even preferable. View your story in your browser as a local file
before submitting it. This will test the word-wrapping, and special
characters (at least most of them).
- Word wrap it to 80 columns (not necessary if it's in HTML format).
If it is in text format, be sure to insert a carriage return and the
end of *every* line. Notepad can do this automatically, or just
press enter when you come to the end of the line. Don't let a word
processor do it, though.
If you editor gives you a choice for line break style (PC, Mac, UNIX),
choose UNIX. As you can tell from many of the stories, most editors
do wierd things. Take a small piece of your story and bring it up in
Notepad or SimpleText. Look for word-wrapping and strange characters.
Pay special attention to quotation marks and such. If you see strange
characters where some punctuation is supposed to be, fix them, or they
will appear that way when your story is posted.
- Please make sure that you add a short description of your story to the
database entry. More people will be apt to read your story if they
know what it is about.
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