Message-ID: <12799eli$9807071539@qz.little-neck.ny.us> X-Archived-At: From: Ghost Ex Machina Subject: {Kim} Things You Should Know (A help file for a.s.s and other groups) [NEW] Newsgroups: alt.sex.stories.moderated Followup-To: alt.sex.stories.d Path: qz!not-for-mail Organization: The Committee To Thwart Spam Approved: X-Moderator-Contact: Eli the Bearded X-Story-Submission: X-Original-Message-ID: <19980706114835.24435.qmail@nym.alias.net> Things You Should Know (A help file for alt.sex.stories and other groups) ------------------------------------------------------------------------- Version 1.2 New this issue -------------- Special author's note: I have posted this file once a month for the last three months. Due to my going on a long working vacation to a foreign land very soon this will the last time I post it. It seems a shame to lose what I think to be useful information, especially for newcomers. I therefore invite anyone who wants to take it over and make it their own to please do so. Rewrite it as you see fit, deleting all references to me if you wish, I don't mind . I will only be posting this to ASSM. It will be up to Eli to crosspost where he will. Thanks for reading. Kim July 1998 Contents -------- Introduction Newsgroups Available How and what to post Story Codes Reviews Other Resources ------------------------------------------------------------------- Introduction ------------ This is a "help you get started" post, for both readers and writers, and mentions several of the things you may have been puzzled about, but didn't know who to ask, or were just unaware of. I hope you find it of use. First, it should be understood that any group on usenet is not a central location. It is not a bulletin board as such. There is no central authority, and nobody to complain to, other than your own ISP (Internet Service Provider), who either does or doesn't carry a particular group. These newsgroups are held by your ISP, but are filled by being linked to thousands of other newservers around the world. They are constantly passing posts to each other to update themselves and keep the groups as up to date as possible. This is how posts propagate around the usenet system, jumping from server to server, ISP to ISP. The length of time a particular story stays on a group, before being removed, varies between ISPs, and is dependent on such things as their local disk space, how many posts they receive and their general "time held" policies. So please don't write to the ASSM moderator asking him not to remove your stories, or post to the newsgroups about it. Newsserver administrators probably don't read the groups, and certainly won't take instructions or requests from them. It is my intention to keep this post as brief and focused as possible. I have read the previous ASSFAQ guides and I feel them to be unnecessarily long as they tried to cover all possible aspects. I'm not doing that, as I want this to be read, not shied away from . What this is not, is any sort of explanation of how to write a story, or any tips on grammar and the like. Finally, remember this is a guide only, not gospel or chartered law. Just read it and make your own judgment on its content and intention. Thanks for your time. Kim May 1998 ------------------------------------------------------------------- Sex Story Newsgroups -------------------- There are few different types of newsgroup in the alt.sex.stories (ASS) hierarchy. The main story group is: alt.sex.stories -- (everything) with the more specialist groups: alt.sex.stories.bondage -- (BDSM) alt.sex.stories.cuckold -- (infidelity) alt.sex.stories.gay -- (same sex sex) alt.sex.stories.hetero -- (straight sex) alt.sex.stories.tg -- (transgendered) alt.sex.stories.incest -- (incest) Note: some of these groups may not be carried by your ISP. If you want them to you'll have to ask your ISP to add them to their lists. None of the above groups are moderated. In other words, anyone is free to post what they like to these groups and nobody can stop them. Because of this they come under constant attack of spammers (people, or organizations, that use newsgroups to promote commercial services with copious amounts of advertising.) To combat this invasion there is also a story group that is moderated, called: alt.sex.stories.moderated -- (everything, no spam) Moderation means a person, presently Eli the Bearded, has to approve the posting before it is allowed to appear. He generally doesn't censor on content of the stories, just makes sure that spam doesn't get through. Though, I do believe he will not allow material that will breach certain copyrights. You can either post to ASSM in the same way you post to any of the groups, or you can mail the story directly to Eli at: story-submit@qz.little-neck.ny.us There is also another moderated group called: alt.sex.stories.gay.moderated -- (same sex sex, no spam) The moderator is Mykkhal. Stories for ASSGM can also be submitted directly to: moderated.stories@bigfoot.com Another way to combat spam is to use newsreader software that has a filtering system that can be programmed to eliminate the worst offenders. It is beyond the scope of this post to attempt to explain such things, not least because I don't use them myself, I pay for a spam reduced newsfeed. There is also a discussion group called: alt.sex.stories.d -- (discussion about everything) ASSD is for the discussion of writing about sex, and in general terms is for readers and authors to talk about stories, and what you liked or didn't like about stories that have been posted to the other story groups etc. Though often the threads (related posts on one topic) will be of a more general nature, but usually relating to sex in some fashion. It is NOT a place to post stories. As this group is not moderated, a convention has been established to insert {ASSD} in the subject line, so that posts can be easily differentiated from the spam. Some people use the same convention for posting to the other groups, though it is less common; albeit a sensible idea. Another convention you might find useful to follow, is to put the author's name at the beginning of the subject line, such as {Kim}. There is also a group called: alt.stories.erotic -- (everything) So called, in an attempt to avoid spam, on the theory that spammers only target groups with the word sex in the title. Unfortunately this doesn't seem to be true, and this group gets its share of spam too. ------------------------------------------------------------------- How and what to post to ASS and the other groups ------------------------------------------------ It has been established that only plain ASCII text should be used to post to any of the groups. This means that the following are all unacceptable: zip files (compressed), native word processor files (such as Word, Word Perfect, etc), or any attachment file such as graphics files like GIF of JPEG, or HTML (web pages). Believe it or not, there is a group set up for such posts called: alt.binaries.stories.sex -- (everything) It does allow the posting of all of the above, so if you wish to post such things, then that is the only acceptable group to do it to. If you write a story in a word processor, but intend to post it to any of the non-binary groups, then it must be converted to plain text and pasted, or loaded, into your newsreader/emailing software before sending. Due to the varied reading software, it is also considered polite to add carriage returns at the end of each line. Failure to do this will result in one long line on many readers' screens. And lines should be kept to no more than about 75 characters in length. 72 is a reasonable length to aim for. Most word processors allow you to output a file in plain text with line feeds. It may be a good idea to choose a non-proportional font before you do this, to ensure a more uniform line length. If your story is very long (over 100k), it is a good idea to split it into sections, with an appropriate numbering system in the subject line to indicate the sequence, such as 1/3, 2/3, 3/3. Many authors will spilt at much smaller sizes (say 30k), due to limitations with their software or their ISP's requirements. If possible the parts should be posted in sequence too. This will mean they will likely arrive at the news servers in sequence and can then be downloaded by the reader in one file, if they have the software to do that. If you post a story to alt.sex.stories.moderated then Eli will also cross-post it to alt.sex.stories automatically. He also sets any followups to go to alt.sex.stories.d. If you intend to post a followup to thank an author, having hit the reply button to say "Hey, I liked that story, thanks" take the trouble to edit out the story before you post it. It is not necessary to post the entire story to ASSD, and would not be welcome there anyway. In fact a simple "I like it" would be better posted to the author directly, if that's possible. A post on why you thought the author did, or didn't, succeed would be very welcome in ASSD. One thing you should be aware of is that if you post with your own normal email address you will be leaving yourself open to junk mail. To combat this you can either alter you real address, obtain a mailbox such as found at Hotmail, or obtain for yourself an anonymous email account. Full explanations of any of these tactics is beyond the scope of this post. ------------------------------------------------------------------- Story Codes ----------- There are also established story codes that should be used in the subject line of a story. There is a separate FAQ (frequently asked question) file maintained and posted by Uther Pendragon on a regular basis to ASS and ASSD, both for readers and authors. The FAQ for writers can be obtained at: http://www.fortunecity.com/victorian/austen/104/faq_writ.htm And the FAQ for readers is at: http://www.fortunecity.com/victorian/austen/104/faq_read.htm The necessity of using codes has been debated a lot on ASSD, so it is up to you as a poster to decide if they are useful or not. Their main aim is to alert the reader to the content of the story, so that they may make an informed choice as to what to pay for, in terms of download time which may well be costing them money. ------------------------------------------------------------------- Reviews ------- Anyone is free to write a review of any story and post it to any group. However, the best place to post it is probably ASSD. Some authors do not wish their work to be reviewed, and so state that in the header or introduction of their stories. Failure to state that means they are fair game. Two people have managed to establish themselves as well-known reviewers, simply by being regular posters of reviews. They are Celeste and Lady Cyrrh. Neither of them should be considered in any official light. They are simply self-appointed reviewers and hold no more sway than anyone else. Should you wish to set yourself up as a reviewer then just do it. Becoming accepted as "worth reading" is only a matter of perseverance, nothing more. Many folks have tried, but only these two have so far succeeded. Celeste has been doing it for several years and has written over two thousand reviews. An amazing achievement by any standards. It was she who developed the "BlowJob Principle." This is the idea that if you wish for authors to keep writing the stories you like to read, then you might like to write and tell them so, with a few words of encouragement from time to time. It would probably also be nice for the authors to acknowledge the support with a reciprocal thank you note. Some authors will be very happy to enter into a chain of correspondence with a reader, others won't have the time or inclination. You'll just have to try it and see what develops. Celeste has also instigated a system of guest reviews, and they appear alongside her own reviews under the heading of "Celestial Reviews." Lady Cyrrh has been doing reviews for about a year. She does all her own, though I believe she has help with some of the reviews that are to be found on her own website at http://members.aol.com/ladycyrrh/ should you want to read her past reviews. She tends to review stories in the more esoteric genres, but both she and Celeste have been known to stray into each other's territories . She has also suggested that you may want to check out the following groups for the occasional story you might find there, in amongst the earnest conversation. soc.sexuality.spanking -- (spanking) soc.subculture.bondage-bdsm -- (BDSM) Many consider it an honor, and mark of success, if their stories rate an A+ from Lady Cyrrh, or a triple ten from Celeste. Many others think it a waste of time and effort, and will have nothing to do with them. Like most things in usenet, it's for you, the reader, to decide for yourself on such matters. If you feel an urge to voice your opinion on such things, then ASSD is the place to do so. Remember, there is no right or wrong, only individual opinion. Should you want to try your hand at writing a review you might like to read my self-opinionated guidelines on how to do that too. You can find them at: http://members.aol.com/ladycyrrh/Other/rules.html ------------------------------------------------------------------- Other Resources --------------- One of the most amazing pieces of scholarly endeavor is the work of Ole Joe. He has created nothing less than an encyclopedia of the sex story world, which he has called "Alt.sex.stories - A Subculture." It can be found at: http://www.fortunecity.com/victorian/austen/104/hello.htm Eli the Bearded keeps an archive of all the stories that pass through ASSM. It can found at: http://www.qz.to/erotica/ Stories to ASSM can be mailed to: story-submit@qz.little-neck.ny.us Mykkhal keeps an archive of all the stories that pass through ASSGM. It can be found at: http://www.assgm.com/ Stories to ASSGM can be mailed to: moderated.stories@bigfoot.com Most posts that go to any of the ASS* groups get archived at DejaNews. It can be found at: http://www.dejanews.com/ Don't forget to set the archive to "Adult." An FTP archive of some stories from ASS also exists. It can be found at: ftp://asstr.ml.org/ One of the old ASS FAQs (there have been more than one) can be found at: http://www.labyrinth.net.au/~mozart/assfaq.txt The Story Codes FAQ for writers can be obtained at: http://www.fortunecity.com/victorian/austen/104/faq_writ.htm And the Story Codes FAQ for readers is at: http://www.fortunecity.com/victorian/austen/104/faq_read.htm Celeste's review archive can be found at: ftp://asstr.ml.org/pub/Collections/Celestial_Reviews/ Lady Cyrrh's archive can be found at: http://members.aol.com/ladycyrrh/ Mailbox accounts can be found at http://www.hotmail.com A large collection of information about all things sexual is held at http://library.gaycafe.com/nifty/information/ To understand the abbreviations, acronyms, emoticons and the like, often used in stories and posts to the newsgroups try: http://www.netlingo.com/ and look for a file called "e-mail shorthand." ------------------------------------------------------------------- The End ------- I would like to thank Uther Pendragon, Eli the Bearded, BitBard, Greybeard, Maff, Steven S Davis, Apuleius of Madaura, Lady Sara, See-El, Lady Cyrrh, Watcher, MC Woodsmoke and Felix Lance Falkon for comments or help with the creation of this post, as well as all the regular contributors to ASSD who inspired me to do it. "Things You Should Know" has been written by Kim. You can contact her at: ghost@nym.alias.net (but not for much longer) -- +----------------' Story submission `-+-' Moderator contact `--------------+ | | | | Archive site +----------------------+--------------------+ Newsgroup FAQ | ----