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Post by Nut on Apr 7, 2023 10:38:32 GMT -5
As someone who ran a 7 part series of short stories, I wonder about the impact that will have on people who want to write ongoing stories, but don't want to commit to the long series format (having to write the whole thing at once) Sure it was a semi foolish thing to do, writing the train tracks underneath of me as the train kept chugging along, but it was a good motivator to keep writing! I guess my plan for the next part of the story will be relegated to writing the whole thing at once, and then publishing. It's harder to motivate myself to do the WHOLE thing at once without getting the feedback. haha. I feel like it would still be possible to do this, there just wouldn't be a guarantee for the stories to be in immediately consecutive issues. I feel sure people have published stories that were sequels to older works, many issues after the original publication--there could just be a mention of and/or link to the preceding story at the top of each entry, so new readers could find the other parts. (But yes, it might make it harder for readers to keep up with and/or look out for the new parts.) I can understand and relate to the feedback giving you the motivation to continue writing the train tracks, and I think it's amazing you pulled that off for a full seven parts! XD If they have to be consecutive, all I can think of to help with the motivation is finding someone to read each part before publication. |
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Post by Huntress on Apr 12, 2023 10:37:37 GMT -5
Well, my comic shenanigans seem to be dividing something by zero.
True to my word, I pelted Stone with a weekly combo of neomail and editorial messages and now got a neomail back yesterday. Turns out that whatever went wrong - and it's kind of worrying that something like this even can go wrong -, it's not an easy fix. Like, they've been trying to figure out how it even happened and enlisted someone else to also try and fix it and for whatever reason it's not working.
As one way of approaching it, Stone asked me to resubmit that comic, which I did this morning, got an acceptance a scant few hours later (mad props to them for that) and it looks like they wound up adding the comic to issue 876 all over again, breaking the link to the original comic in the process and adding a new one to issue 876 to the very end of my entry list. Which, hey, if it works. Meaning I also have an extra trophy now.
At this point it feels kinda like the entire NT is one huge pile of precariously wobbly boxes held together with staples and gum. I would've thought that a template of pages to hold images and text wouldn't be that complicated, but evidently there's just enough backend scripting to give rise to this kind of spaghetti.
(and the eldrich spaghetti monster lurking in these boxes is the question of how many other times this might've happened to people. The vast majority of older NT issues probably haven't been looked at in a while.)
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Post by zennistrad on Apr 21, 2023 17:45:47 GMT -5
So, yesterday I got a Neomail from TNT saying my 6-part series submission was accepted, and it's now in today's issue. This was a surprise to me because I remember submitting it in March, only for it to be passed over.
I had assumed this meant it was rejected since entries are supposed to be cleared out with each new issue, but apparently mine just didn't go through until now for some reason?
I'm assuming Stone probably just didn't have the time to read my story in full until now. I'm not complaining — quite the opposite, getting into the NT has always been a childhood dream of mine, it's just a bit weird.
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Post by June Scarlet on May 6, 2023 17:23:37 GMT -5
I started on an article in the same vein as "A History of Humans in the Neopian Times," a sort of article that I don't expect to get published, just to raise awareness to the editor on an issue in the Times. It's called "Themed Issues in the Neopian Times," and it's about the fact that we, as content creators for the Times, are slowly being crushed under the weight of repeating annual themes now, now that they account for half of all issues, and only themed entries are allowed in a themed issue. docs.google.com/document/d/1urg4QATJ9f0QJOSmVSyrGKLYqg3LnmJH85XCJLwHkaY/edit?usp=sharingThe problem is, it's at 790 words, about 200 words shy of an article for the Times. I'm looking for help, feedback, inspiration, something to get this over the line so it can be submitted this weekend. Thank you! |
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Post by June Scarlet on May 7, 2023 12:53:13 GMT -5
Thank you anonymous commenter for your suggestions! I was able to get it up to 1031 words, whew!
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Post by Lex on May 7, 2023 13:54:44 GMT -5
Thank you anonymous commenter for your suggestions! I was able to get it up to 1031 words, whew! Gave it a read, and it offers a balanced perspective and reasonable suggestions that hopefully Stone will consider. Hoping it makes it in. |
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Post by Stephanie (swordlilly) on May 9, 2023 18:47:11 GMT -5
Fingers crossed that TNT will read and consider your suggestions! I liked your article a lot. It was clearly written, and the examples were easy to understand. |
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Post by Carolyn on May 12, 2023 4:31:45 GMT -5
Thanks for writing that, June. I hope they publish it, but if not, read through your commentary and take it into consideration. The forced themes are getting a bit difficult to work with, especially when it's done in a row. I'd be happy to read through when I'm not guiding!
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Post by June Scarlet on May 12, 2023 16:39:36 GMT -5
I still need to summarize my article into an editorial question I can submit, and hopefully they answer.
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Post by June Scarlet on Jun 3, 2023 15:28:13 GMT -5
Got this yesterday:
I don't think I will resubmit, I've other pieces I want to focus on next, so I guess that's the end of that.
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Post by Breakingchains on Jun 17, 2023 15:00:48 GMT -5
Hey guys I am way out of the loop on the times. Been wanting to start work on some new stuff and I think I need some clarification. Did they really start clearing backlogs every week? Does this mean that we now submit the week before our target issue instead of closer to a month, and does this also count for special issues? Last time I was actively writing anything the common wisdom was e.g. "If you want to get into the Christmas issue you'd better be ready to submit by the end of November to get ahead of the glut of submissions" but IDK what the protocol is now.
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Post by Twillie on Jun 17, 2023 16:41:46 GMT -5
As of right now, yes it's recommended that you submit in the two week window before an NT issue publishes, including special issues. We haven't hit one of the big holidays like Christmas or an anniversary issue under this rule change yet, so I'm not sure if those will be handled differently at all, but at least for now I'd say don't submit for an issue until it's next in line to be published.
It's unclear if the backlog is indeed being cleared after each issue, and if so exactly when this happens. In fact, I believe longer series have been kept in the system before and got acceptance letters after more than two weeks. But for other stories, if you submit something and don't hear back by the next NT publication, it may still be a good idea to resubmit.
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