List Intro Message

This is an online version of the document people receive upon signing up as new list members to BadFiction. It exists for three reasons:

1. A list member can never again say that they lost their list intro message.

2. People who are considering joining BadFiction can read this to find out what we're all about.

3. Since periodic changes to BadFiction make it necessary to occasionally update this document, its existence on our webpage means that we can inform list members its been updated, and follow that announcement with an URL, instead of a requote of the entire message.

And now, without further ado, the List Intro Message.

Welcome to BadFiction, a place for amateur writers to share stories and ideas, and a place for readers to look over our shoulders and criticize what we have written. The fact that you are now reading this message means that you have been added to the BadFiction mailing list.

Your BadFiction list moderators are Dan Brown and Goddess. You can reach us at any time by sending an e-mail to: BadFiction-owner@egroups.com

First, lets get all of the boring stuff out of the way. We advise you to save this seemingly pointless message, as it may some day prove useful. Hey, stranger things have happened, right? What follows is a list of e-mail addresses at eGroups which give you access to several list operations:
BadFiction-owner@egroups.com - Sends email to the list moderators.
BadFiction-subscribe@egroups.com - Subscribes to this list via e-mail.
BadFiction-unsubscribe@egroups.com - Unsubscribes from this list.
BadFiction-digest@egroups.com - Switches your subscription to digest format.
BadFiction-normal@egroups.com - Switches your subscription back to normal format.
BadFiction@egroups.com - This is where you send messages that you wish to be posted to the entire mailing list.

Second, why are we all here? Some of us are here to write, post, and exchange ideas about our stories. Other list members are here because they enjoy reading our attempts at entertainment, and may also enjoy giving us advice at how to improve our attempts next time. Finally, we are here to decide on the best submissions which have been made to BadFiction. These will then be displayed on our website.

BadFiction is a very participation oriented community. What this means is that if you are here merely to lurk and contribute nothing, we would prefer that you unsubscribe immediately. Now, this doesn't mean that you have to write fiction to be a member, and it doesn't even mean that you have to read and critique everything that's posted. What it does mean is that you have to contribute something! If you can't post a lot, then tell someone what you did or didn't like about their submission, or why you think it should or shouldn't be displayed on the BadFiction website. If you're just going to be busy dealing with life for a while, let all of us know. Please take us seriously, we're not fooling around about this.

Third, this is the section where most list moderators would set forth the rules, restrictions, and behavior to be practiced in their list community. After doing this, the consequences of not following these rules, restrictions, and behavior guidelines would be given. Well, forget it! We're not a rule-oriented community! We do, however, have a simple request. Please introduce yourself to us. You don't have to tell us your life story, but for your submissions to be recognized, and so we know you're not just lurking, please stand up and tell us you're here. Besides, the list would love to know who you are! Feel free to jump right in, or wait until your first submission, it's completely up to you.

Thus ends the only thing we have resembling a rule. We have no need or wish to become elementary school teachers. If you need rules, guidelines, and threats to keep your behavior acceptable, we will now request that you go elsewhere. If you need help leaving after behaving in an unacceptable manner, we'll help you depart. If we all concentrate on treating each other with respect, while maintaining our own self-respect, we'll do just fine.

Fourth, as mentioned, the BadFiction list has a website associated with it. This is a sort of interactive showcase, where one can see what we as a list, feel most represents our strengths as writers. Not only will we be deciding which submissions we feel truly belong there, but we may also discuss whether we think a work should stay there. Think of it as a place as changeable or as permanent as our work and ourselves.

When an author submits a piece to the BadFiction list, it is not only their privilege, but that of the list as a whole to say whether it should or shouldn't be displayed on our website, and why. More importantly however, BadFiction exists to provide authors with helpful critiques to improve their work. By this, we don't mean simply telling someone, "I loved it!" or "I hated it!" We're looking for intelligent critique and/or praise. Be courteous and respectful, strong opinions are fine, as long as appropriate consideration is shown.

The final authority to post a piece on the BadFiction site resides with the list moderators, but if most of our participating list members strongly agree that a piece should be shown on the website, it will probably be displayed there. As we said, we consider our site to be interactive and changeable.

To submit work to the BadFiction list, or post your critiques or comments, please use this address: BadFiction@egroups.com Your submissions will then be archived and sorted by the list moderators, and will be posted to the entire mailing list.

Fifth, eGroups, the listserv website which manages our community, archives all of our current and past discussions. If you want to get some idea of what we talk about on-list, try visiting the following link for a look at our archive. http://www.egroups.com/messages/BadFiction This URL displays are most recent digest, but its easy enough to see all the others. Just add "?archive=N" to the URL above, where N is the number of the digest you want to view. Using this method, you can read through everything we've ever said.

Sixth, there's something we, as list moderators, should warn you about. Authors love writing about the experiences they've had, and the people they know. If you join this list, one of us, after getting to know who you are, may choose to add you, or a character partially based around your personality and name, to one of our stories. Please DO NOT take offence. No mockery is intended of you, your life style, or opinions, and, of course, intentional mockery of another list member in a piece or on-list is unacceptable. This is the only fore-warning you may receive before finding out that you've become a star, so decide now if this possibility is unacceptable to you.

Did we say there were no rules? We were wrong, and that's something you'll probably never hear us say again! The primary rule here on BadFiction is "Have fun!"

The end.

List moderators:
Dan Brown and Goddess
Mailing List Webpage: http://home.earthlink.net/~adaptivetech/BadFiction