What format to use

[Booblover56]

A few years ago I tried to submit stories but always had issues with the program I was using and had issues with not wanting to deal with the editors bs on here, no offense but I got treated very poorly by most of them

Since then I got mircosoft word, lost my old email account and forgot my old user name so I made a new account

Went to submit a new story and still got a message about using the wrong format

So what format is the right one? I'm kinda shock word would not be one of the popular ones

Am I still going to have issues with not wanting to deal with editors on here?


BTW when I was here last everytime I post if the forums all I got was crap about how I write my posts so I will get this out of the way now. This post does not reflect my story writing sytle one bit, there is no spell check or grammer check on here and I only proof read this once

 

[yukonnights]

I'm probably not the best one to answer this since I haven't posted any new stories for some time. However, since I plan to post some in the near future I have been checking the new Lit interface. (You can do that by selecting that link on the front page of Lit before you sign in...the link will direct you to the new Log-in and User Interface. I noticed there that the preferred format is Plain Text. Said something about Word doc. but best for you to go there and see for yourself....seems like the system won't automatically review other formats resulting in delays, etc.

Anyway, I'm sure someone will come along who has a more direct answer, but hope this helps.

 

[nikyc]

I prefer simple copy paste plain text. Add the necessary HTML tags and you can be sure the correct format goes through. You can even preview by opening the file in a browser. I think MS Word has an export to html function. Just make sure to go through and clean it up. Stick to basic tags like <b> <i> etc. Oh and <br /> of course.

Actually, I think there's a sticky somewhere about this.

I submitted a 130k story this way and the biggest problem I had was the amount of lag my browser went through when copying. 130k is probably a bit on the long side though.

 

[Booblover56]

Yeah i looked at that info page and i'm using the programs it says to use

Last time they kept getting rejected with a vague thing about grammer which i find strange
considering all the stories published on here with horrible grammer and spelling mistakes

I guess i'll just have to see if my latest get rejected or not

 

[Zeb_Carter]

If you're going to submit a word document attachment, then it should be a .doc.

To make things easier, you might want to copy and paste the text from the word doc into the submission text box. That's how I do it. Of course you will have to set up word not to do several things.

Select all the text in the document. In the format section, select paragraph...

Set it up as shown. Then put an extra return between each paragraph. Now copy and paste all the text into the submission form.

 

[Zeb_Carter]

Yeah i looked at that info page and i'm using the programs it says to use

Last time they kept getting rejected with a vague thing about grammer which i find strange
considering all the stories published on here with horrible grammer and spelling mistakes

I guess i'll just have to see if my latest get rejected or not

If you type your story like your posts, it might have been rejected due to poor punctuation. Try placing periods at the end of a sentence. And comma's were appropriate. And it's grammar. And I'm, not i'm. Is this the kind of bullshit you ran into with the editors? It's always bullshit when someone tries to help you improve your writing.

 

[ElectricBlue]

I write in Word and save the file as .txt

Put two Returns at the end of each paragraph and that will take care of your para spacing. Load that file and you should get a preview window, check your text one last time and Submit.

Make sure you spell check (eg: grammar, not grammer...), correct punctuation helps (eg: use full stops - you don't have a single full stop in your message...), don't have multiple characters talking in the same paragraph. Minimise use of italics and bold helps keep files clean - you have to use html code for that, so why bother.

Your comments seem to be confusing volunteer editors (who might help you with writing) with the site editor (Laurel) who scrutinises stories for compliance with site rules. Using an editor is optional, following the site rules is mandatory.

As you are a first-time story poster, you can expect your first stories to take a while longer to get through. Once you submit regularly, 2-3 days is typical (depends on volume of stories being submitted).

 

[Nezhul]

I write in word, save as .docx (new word format), send to editors as such and submit as such too. Never had a problem.

One thing to note is that your entire text should have a uniform formatting. So if you start with Times new Roman, 12 kegel - then EVERYTHING in your document should be such. No exceptions. No slightly larger headlines, no parts of text that are aligned in the middle of the page - no nothing.
The most you can do is make some phrases bold, underlined or italic. Period.

One other thing to remember is that word actually has access to a large variety of formats, when it comes to saving. So the fact that you are using word editor doesn't meant you save your work as a word document.

And one last thing. Why don't you ask the person who told you that you use the wrong format - what exactly do they mean by that? Or are you too angry at them already to ask?

 

[49greg]

I write in Libre Office, the copy and paste into the correct space in the submission form. I always check over what pasted in to the form and sometimes make changes as needed - usually typos that I hadn't caught previously.

 

[TxRad]

I write in Word and save the file as .txt

Put two Returns at the end of each paragraph and that will take care of your para spacing. Load that file and you should get a preview window, check your text one last time and Submit.

Make sure you spell check (eg: grammar, not grammer...), correct punctuation helps (eg: use full stops - you don't have a single full stop in your message...), don't have multiple characters talking in the same paragraph. Minimise use of italics and bold helps keep files clean - you have to use html code for that, so why bother.

Your comments seem to be confusing volunteer editors (who might help you with writing) with the site editor (Laurel) who scrutinises stories for compliance with site rules. Using an editor is optional, following the site rules is mandatory.

As you are a first-time story poster, you can expect your first stories to take a while longer to get through. Once you submit regularly, 2-3 days is typical (depends on volume of stories being submitted).

If you save the file .txt with tabs, you don't have to put in the extra returns.

Save the file in Word as a .doc file. Some people have reported problems with .docx.

 

[glynndah]

I write in Libre Office, the copy and paste into the correct space in the submission form. I always check over what pasted in to the form and sometimes make changes as needed - usually typos that I hadn't caught previously.

I do this. Well, except for the typos part. I prefer to leave them in as little "Easter Eggs" for discerning readers.

 

[hylas_]

I write on Open Office (for Mac), and save as doc. I put two return keys after each paragraph (instead of using the "spacing after paragraph" function). Never had any problems.

Not sure what you mean with your talk about bs editors... no, you don't have to work with any volunteer editors, and no, they don't have any influence on whether your story will be accepted or not.

 

[49greg]

I do this. Well, except for the typos part. I prefer to leave them in as little "Easter Eggs" for discerning readers.

I like that - good way to think of it. Well done.

 

[glynndah]

I like that - good way to think of it. Well done.

 

[OliviaM]

I do this. Well, except for the typos part. I prefer to leave them in as little "Easter Eggs" for discerning readers.

I want to embroider this, frame it, and hang it on the wall.

 

[glynndah]

I want to embroider this, frame it, and hang it on the wall.

Please do. Allow me to fix my statement first, though:


I dO this. Well, expect for the typos part. I prefer to leave them in as little "Easter Egggs" for discerning reamers.

 

[Bramblethorn]

Please do. Allow me to fix my statement first, though:


I dO this. Well, expect for the typos part. I prefer to leave them in as little "Easter Egggs" for discerning reamers.

I like the disclaimer you sometimes get on handmade goods: "Any irregularities in this item are not flaws but evidence of its handmade individuality."

 

[glynndah]

I like the disclaimer you sometimes get on handmade goods: "Any irregularities in this item are not flaws but evidence of its handmade individuality."

Oooh! I like that.