Need Clarification of One of the Guidelines

[SlickTony]

I just finished this story which is now in the editing/tweaking stage; I mentioned it before. It's the 11,000+ word one.

I just got through reading a story in new submissions that had technical problems. Seems to me that re Report Problems thing is new; I hadn't observed it before, but think it is a dandy idea. The fifth story in Slut Bill's series repeated itself 3 times--like perhaps he'd tried to upload it, it was taking too long so he thought the upload had failed so he proceeded to upload it again. Anyway, I reported on that, and then I noticed that one of the things that one can flag a story for is advertising or plugs.

Advertising what? Plugging what? This caused me to wonder about an aspect of my own story. I hope I'm not giving too much of it away when I say that the story is about a guy who sells construction supplies, and I mentioned several brand names because I am familiar with them; my husband used to sell all that stuff himself, and since it was practically the last job on the face of the earth where I didn't have to go through at least three layers of security before getting in to see him--no electronic buzzing, no security desk, no sign-in log, no visitor's badges, no waiting about until he could come out to receive me--I got to know my way around the warehouse and his office very thoroughly. Anyway, several product lines like Master Builders and Sonneborn are mentioned. I thought it added authenticity to the story and that it would look coy and stilted if I wrote around the names. To me it doesn't seem any different from mentioning Microsoft products or cars (Ford, Mitsubishi, etc.) but I don't want to be flagged or anything like that.

Please advise, while I go back and review the submisson guidelines.

 

[Singularity]

Incidental Realism

I don't see anything objectionable about what you described.

You are not making any shamelessly shilling statements about the ungody power and awesome balance and capability of Mr. Sonneborn's tools (unless of course he makes a personal appearance in the story with his own toolkit), or advertising a good deal on hot tools that have only been lightly used on a single construction site.

Everyday life has real products in it, and what you describe is no different than having the guy meet his blind date at a Starbucks instead of a generic coffeeshop.

Go ahead. If Laurel thinks you are plugging, your submission will get plugged, but I really doubt it.


Singularity

 

[SlickTony]

Thanks, Singularity; I looked over the guidelines and came to the same conclusion myself.

Actually, the products the story alludes to are sealants and grouts and stuff like that. Only one of them--which is not a sealant or grout but a cleaning product--actually gets used in the story.

 

[KillerMuffin]

Bob used his framing hammer (Craftsman, 33 ounce, $19.95 at a Sears near you) to pry up a nail (45 cents a pound at a Home Depot near you) he'd hammered in the wrong spot three times in a row. He probably shouldn't be watching Joe's ass in those delicious jeans (Levi 501s, $39.95 at a JC Penneys near you) quite so enthusiastically.




Fred put a peephole into the bathroom so he could watch his wife's best friend lounging around in the tub bare assed. She did that so often, she must want to be watched. Since he was a bit arthritic, he had to use the Black and Decker. He sincerely hoped no one noticed the noise.


Note the difference?

 

[dr_mabeuse]

I don't think mentioning a brandname will send your story to hell. I imagine the prohibition against ads is designed more to stop solicitations for pay sites and authors' books.

On the other hand, if you expect your readers to know the difference between Sonneborn or Master Builder or know what it means that your character uses one brand over another, you're probably wasting your time and flirting with the sin of jargon use.

---dr.M.