The New Author Policy

[Tdyans at work]

The said:

Phew. Thanks Tdyans, I was about to revert to my old habit of hiding under my desk. I'm happy with my whippersnapperness.

Personally, my prediction is the days of having a short story and comic in, etc, are over. Which isn't that big of a deal. We'll live.

You're welcome, dearie. Here, I made you a sweater.

I hope that's it, because though it will be an adjustment, I agree that we can learn to live with that just fine. Of course, I suppose we need to learn to live with *whatever* comes of this, but I'd prefer the result that can produce the least amount of future bickering.

[Tdyans at work]

Yes I'm still talking. Don't look at me like that.

Sockmonk said:

The new author policy in the NT...I have mixed views on it.

I think it's great, but I also think it's horrible. It's great because it gives me and my friends a better chance to get in the NT, but it's also horrible because great authors, such as Stoneman3x, are being shoved away by these new authors. I hardly ever see my favorite authors now, and I now see names I've never seen in the NT. The NT should have it so there are old authors and new ones in each issue, so it will be enjoyable for everyone.

Whatever my personal feelings and fears about this, I have to point out that there *were* both new and old authors in this issue. And though RC wasn't in there-- the reason for which Felicia explained-- Stone did have an article. It's going to be more of a challenge for those of us who've been published before, yes. I don't mind a challenge, though I wish it existed for different reasons in this case. And yes, we're probably not going to be able to have more than one pieces in an issue any more. But I don't think anybody's going to be "shoved away" because of this, unless they allow themselves to be (which I do worry about). And as Pat said, we could end up discovering some great new talents, and though I think we would have met them without this policy anyway, let's not hold it against them. (And it's a given that we shouldn't hold it against Felicia. I know she'll continue to do her best to be fair.)

[william]

I think that Feli said that RC wasn't included because Stone submitted it too late.

[Sock]

Guest-Tdyans said:

Yes I'm still talking. Don't look at me like that.


Whatever my personal feelings and fears about this, I have to point out that there *were* both new and old authors in this issue. And though RC wasn't in there-- the reason for which Felicia explained-- Stone did have an article. It's going to be more of a challenge for those of us who've been published before, yes. I don't mind a challenge, though I wish it existed for different reasons in this case. And yes, we're probably not going to be able to have more than one pieces in an issue any more. But I don't think anybody's going to be "shoved away" because of this, unless they allow themselves to be (which I do worry about). And as Pat said, we could end up discovering some great new talents, and though I think we would have met them without this policy anyway, let's not hold it against them. (And it's a given that we shouldn't hold it against Felicia. I know she'll continue to do her best to be fair.)

Yes, I know. I am not holding anything against Feli. She totally rocks. But, yes, there were old authors in there. But, RC was the best comic out there. And yes, I agree with you and understand what you mean.

[tennmagpie]

Guest-Tdyans said:

And yes, we're probably not going to be able to have more than one pieces in an issue any more.

For the most part, I agree with that idea. The exception in my mind is (are?) series, especially long ones. And maybe not just series-series. Comic serieses, as well.

[Tdyans at work]

Tenn's said:

For the most part, I agree with that idea. The exception in my mind is (are?) series, especially long ones. And maybe not just series-series. Comic serieses, as well.

I'm pretty indifferent to it for the most part-- like Kiddo said, whatever we think of it, we'll live. Good point on the exception, though. I hadn't thought of that, but I agree.

[Schefflera]

I'm... well, obviously a newbie, but I was going to say, having somewhat mixed feelings. The first and possibly most selfish is the gloomy feeling that now if I ever get in, many people here will attribute it solely to the new policy allowing me to shove some beloved favorite author out of a spot.

With that whine out of the way , I'll also confess to being one of those who has assumed that regulars have an advantage. It only makes sense: if you've demonstrated already (and repeatedly) that you're good, if you have established a fanbase of people who miss your work when they don't see it, then of course you have an advantage -- not just that you're good, but that you've proven yourself to be consistently good and to draw readers. Consistency counts. Not a darned thing wrong with that.

Knowing this rationally, I will note, did not make it any less frustrating to see two or three items by the same person in one issue while unable to get so much as a notice of what was wrong with my story. Of course, I feel quite a bit better about that now that I know the first and most critical problem was that the form ate it. Bit hard to get a response of any description to something nobody ever sees.

I don't think a preference should in any way be given to shoddy work over good stories. I don't think that's at all necessary in order to incorporate new authors, though -- but perhaps I'm biased since I generally like my own stories. (I wouldn't be trying to inflict them on other people else.)

Changing directions slightly -- this is very tentative since I have no idea when the idea for the new policy developed nor what exactly led to it.

Does anyone think it's possible that if the old form was eating a lot of submissions, a higher proportion of submissions from new authors would have disappeared simply because fewer of us would have known about this forum, that we could ask questions or use email submissions as a backup method? I knew vaguely that the forum existed, but until quite recently, that was about it.

With a smaller pool of submissions from new authors, it follows that there would have been a smaller pool of good submissions from new authors, especially given the claim that 90% of everything is, ah, junk, and possibly the effect of reducing sample size. Meanwhile, the pool of submissions from regulars (who are assumed not to be subject to the above claim since the writers of unpublishable junk would hardly become regulars) would have remained the same. Under such circumstances, it would be very easy for regulars' work to become more dominant; in fact, depending perhaps on what the proportions really were of both new to regular author submissions and of what got eaten, it would seem next to impossible to avoid that without consciously giving preference to new authors. In extreme cases it might not even be possible then.

The idea of going back and analyzing whether there appeared to be a shift toward established regulars as opposed to new authors at about the time the old form was introduced is... well, daunting. But I could easily imagine just enough of a change in proportions being introduced, with nobody at fault, that someone might have looked at recent months and said, "Looks like regular authors are taking up more of the slots than usual lately. Maybe we should mention giving the new kids more attention."

...In short, I'm considering the possibility that the new policy might actually be intended to return to a status quo that the story-chomping initial version of the form upset. Except I can't tell whether it actually upset it or not without spending a lot more time researching than I have right now, so I'm throwing it out as a speculation instead of testing a hypothesis.

[Kengplant]

I think that there is only one truly fair way of doing it. Don't look at the names until you have chosen the works you want. Ok, so stone's and tomi's etc. Might stand out just a little bit as a recognized style. But it should be a forget about the names until it comes to making sure no one is in to many times in one issue. Maybe have a limit of 2 things per user per issue, (if it's a series that has been running for a short while it dosen't count twards the two, if it's a series just starting that issue it does) and they must be in diffrent catagories. (unless collab)(eg. 1 article and one comic. One Story and one starting series, 1 story and one article, etc. NOT 2 articles, NOT 2 stories, NOT 2 comics, and deffinately NOT 2 starting serieses)

Stories are chosen by quality and how well they follow the rules (wich by the way should be posted somewhere on neopets. the NTWF shouldn't be the only place or two with access to them)

[Deleted]

Interesting. I prefer to think of it as a coin with a flip side though... :/
Personally I'm one of the new authors around here, but sometimes I guess... I feel guilty about being picked. *thinks* Getting too personal here..

Anyway, the new system is beneficial to all the new people. They get a nice trophy and a lot of fanmail. Some people may give up and there will be space for yet another bunch of new people (sorry for being so muddy) who try. And then there are the regulars. Of course, some people's work only get in now and then and then there are people who appear in every issue. But you know, people do have a life outside this and some time all of us will probably move on. Not to mention that there are people who move on already.

Well, as for myself, I got picked after the legendary issue 150 (breakthrough of the White Weewoos.) And I've been in the Times repeadetly. I'm happy to see one of my works published. But then, I just feel guilty if the editor pushed some good author out in order to give me a chance. I mean, my stuff isn't all that great. (Yeah, compared to Char, Kiddo, Kat and other people.) So this is kind of 'favor the newbie' thing. I think that if the editor accepts my stuff because I write it decently plus there should be some new people, and not because it was good quality on it, then I'd rather not be published at all than take someone's spot - and that someone is more deserving than me.

Sorry, I can't write anymore now, I've got a lesson in 20 minutes and it takes a long time to walk there plus I've got to change. (It's PE.) That's my say.

[Tahu]

I have mixed feelings. Although I know it benifits me, being a new author, but I wouldn't like to know that there was something better that got pushed out, just because the author had been published a lot. I think the best submissions should be accepted, no matter who wrote them.

[Mossy]

Where to start ... well, I reckon that having all new authors in the NT isn't such a good idea. I know it'll mean giving newer writers and drawers a chance, but they had a chance with the old policy. The before issues had the right amount of oldies and newbies - you got old favourites like Really Confused, The Pet Patrol Revolution, Frolics and more, with the newer entries as well. Lots of people were happy with the old system - I sure didn't complain when I saw that someone had an article and a comic in! I thought "Good for them! They deserve it!" rather that "It's not fair!". The NT should be about quality, rather than quantity (of new writers). Laying off someone a week just because of their trophy count isn't fair! One of my goals on Neopets was to get into the NT alongisde people I looked up too. I thought my wierd, hand-drawn comics didn't have a chance against those fancy computer drawn ones when I noticed Really Confused and that made me think that I could get into the NT too! Isn't that kind of the point of having regulars? To set an example for newer writers? The old NT was a perfect balance. And if you ask me, I don't think it should've changed.

And ... what was my point? Oh no, I've talked myself into a corner again ... and I should probably put this into paragraphs ...

[Jessica Coconut]

Mossy said:

Where to start ... well, I reckon that having all new authors in the NT isn't such a good idea. I know it'll mean giving newer writers and drawers a chance, but they had a chance with the old policy. The before issues had the right amount of oldies and newbies - you got old favourites like Really Confused, The Pet Patrol Revolution, Frolics and more, with the newer entries as well. Lots of people were happy with the old system - I sure didn't complain when I saw that someone had an article and a comic in! I thought "Good for them! They deserve it!" rather that "It's not fair!". The NT should be about quality, rather than quantity (of new writers). Laying off someone a week just because of their trophy count isn't fair! One of my goals on Neopets was to get into the NT alongisde people I looked up too. I thought my wierd, hand-drawn comics didn't have a chance against those fancy computer drawn ones when I noticed Really Confused and that made me think that I could get into the NT too! Isn't that kind of the point of having regulars? To set an example for newer writers? The old NT was a perfect balance. And if you ask me, I don't think it should've changed.

And ... what was my point? Oh no, I've talked myself into a corner again ... and I should probably put this into paragraphs ...

Getting published twice in an issue usually isn't a problem for me, but I remember waiting for weeks (usually about 4-6 weeks) for a sign of my story/article.

Yeah, it did get in, but it's a little irritating when you have to wait for weeks/months, while you see the same people getting in this week, and the next, and the one after that, with no problem of being held over.