I'm RBDash47, a brony who loves fanfics. I started the Pony Fiction Archive in the spring of 2011, to give anyone a stable place to upload their ponyfic, and started the Vault in the fall of 2011, to feature excellent or influential fics and their authors.
How do you select stories to feature?
In an extremely scientific process, I read a lot of fics, and if I find one that's really good, like, whoa, man, that's a great story, I'll try to track the author down and ask them if they'd like to be included.
In a slightly more serious tone, I'm looking for stories that are publishing-level quality, with unique and well-conceived storylines, characterizations, and/or worldbuilding. I also like to include stories that have influenced the fandom, spawing fan stories or art.
No one else has any influence or say in which stories or authors are invited to the Vault; it's just me here.
Why isn't [this story I really like] in the Vault?
There are any number of reasons a story might not be in the Vault:
- I've never heard of it.
- I've heard of it, but haven't had a chance to read it yet.
- I've heard, read it and think it's great, but haven't been able to contact the author yet.
- I've heard of it, read it, contacted the author and haven't heard back from them yet.
- I've heard of it, read it, spoke with the author, but it hasn't been posted yet.
- I've heard of it, read it, but don't feel it's of high enough quality to include in the Vault.
Wow. Who are you to decide which stories are 'good enough'?
Honestly, I'm just some guy who likes fanfic. I don't think that my opinion matters any more than anyone else's. I just want to make sure the very best of our fandom's work is around more or less forever, in multiple easy-to-access formats. I was also curious about authors' inspirations for these excellent stories, and thought I'd share their thoughts with the community at large.
If it's any consolation, I hate the idea of rejecting an author, saying "you're not good enough" - it's why I started the Pony Fiction Archive in the first place. But if we're truly honest with ourselves, we have to admit that not all stories are equal. From a more practical standpoint, I can barely manage two fics per week; it takes hours of work to track down good contact info for authors and formatting the various ebooks available here.
Besides, my opinions (so far) appear to align with the community's at large. And if a story is extremely popular and well-liked, even if I don't personally care for it, it will get the same treatment here as my favorite story of all time would.
How can I recommend a story that I think belongs in the Vault?
Contact me, please! There are thousands of fics out there, and I am but one brony. I am certain I have missed deserving stories, and the thought saddens me.
Please note that I do not accept self-submissions (i.e. authors submitting their own work) or incomplete stories, though if you find an incomplete story you think is amazing, let me know so I can track it; once it's complete, I'll check it out.
yay coment
ReplyDeleteQuick question since it's not addressed here: Does the Vault only accept COMPLETE stories or IN PROGRESS ones as well.
ReplyDeleteGood question! The Vault is only for completed stories. The only exception to date has been the original Conversion Bureau story, because of its cultural significance and abandonment (i.e. it will never update).
DeleteOn that note, what if the fanfic is really long and still being updated, but you really liked it? Would you still feature them here even if it wasn't finished? Just curious.
DeleteI have a hard time imagining a situation where it would happen. If the story is good and the author's still working on it, I would wait until it was complete. If the story's good but abandoned, it's unlikely the author is still around for an interview. But really... it's hard to say that an incomplete story is even a story. It's part of one... but how good can it be if it's not done?
DeleteThose are some very good points. Like I said, I was just wondering. I've read some really good fics from the fandom and, while some weren't completed yet, thought I may recommend them.
DeleteIs there one fiction site you pick from more frequently than another (FimFiction rather than Pony Fiction Archive, for example), or do you try to give equal consideration?
ReplyDeleteI give "equal consideration" insofar as I don't care where a fic is hosted. Doesn't even have to be on any of the major fanfic sites (currently have a couple in consideration that exist only in GDocs, as far as I can tell), though where possible I'll help the authors get their stories crossposted to all available sites for redundancy. I hope that helps?
Delete'nother question for ya, mate--is there a minimum wordcount you have for submitted fics? (e.g., 1,000 words, 3,000, etc.?)
ReplyDeleteHi again! I don't have a minimum wordcount; I understand the power of a good shortfic. Unfortunately FIMFic and EqD both have such minimums, which can make it hard to crowdsource good ones. :(
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