FAQ - Standard Subject Lines, version 1.0


Changes:

None.  This is the initial publication of the FAQ (not
counting a discussion draft circulated appoximately two
weeks ago).

All comments should go to the discussion group,
alt.sex.stories.d, or to the e-mail address at the end
of the FAQ.


Introduction:

This FAQ addresses the question "Is there a standard
format for the subject lines of stories posted to the
alt.sex.stories newsgroup?"  The answer, of course, is
yes, and the remainder of this message concerns the
hows and whys.

Why should you care?  Assuming your purpose in posting
to the newsgroup is to bring your work to the attention
of the widest possible audience, your first and best
opportunity is the subject line.  Your writing effort
will have been wasted if nobody downloads your story.

This is a real problem, because ASS is deluged with
junk and spam.  In self-defense, therefore, many
readers scan the list of new posts for proper-looking
subjects and ignore everything else.  More
sophisticated readers create filters that automatically
ignore messages that fail certain tests.  Since most of
the better and more experienced writers observe the
conventions -- generally, if not in every particular --
little is lost by doing so.

Providing a standard subject line doesn't restrict your
creativity within the text.  It is a way of being part
of the solution instead of part of the problem.  By
observing the standards, you'll gain readers.  In a
broader sense, you also demonstrate your willingness to
be part of the group and share in its (very liberal)
norms.  Acceptance in this creative, daring and oddball
community has its own rewards, as you will discover if
you make the minimal effort needed to fit in.
Monitoring the ASSD discussion group, where much of the
interplay between writers and readers takes place, is
highly recommended.

This FAQ has been prepared as a text file and will
display best if viewed in a monospaced font such as
Courier.


SUMMARY OF STANDARD FORMATS

New Stories:

A properly constructed subject line for a new story
consists of the following
elements in the specified order:  {Newsgroup} Title
Sequence {Author} (Codes).  Newsgroup and Author are in
curly brackets; codes are in parentheses; spaces
separate each element.

For example:

{ASS} Canyon Ladies 03 {J Mitchell} (MF cons)


Reposted Stories:

By author:   {ASS} RP Canyon Ladies 03 {J Mitchell} (MF
cons)
By archive:  {ASS} RP Canyon Ladies 03 {J Mitchell} (MF
cons) LynxArchive

A reposted story is one that has been previously posted
to the newsgroup in essentially the same form.  It is
considered a serious violation of group standards to
repost a story without marking it as such.  There is no
specific standard for the frequency of reposting, but
too frequent reposts may prompt criticism and lead some
readers to filter out anything from you.  Most consider
it a form of spam.

Many reposts come from archivists, and it is natural
that they would want to mark the stories they resubmit.
The archive name may be added to the subject line
following content codes.  Abbreviations are encouraged.

Stories posted without either RP or REV are assumed to
be new.  The use of NEW is discouraged.

Reposters, especially those who are not the author of
the story, are requested to use the original title and
author's name in the subject line.  Rewording or
paraphrasing the title is both confusing and irritating
to readers.  Changing or eliminating the author's name
is dishonest.  Expect criticism, at the least, if you
do either of these things.


Revised Stories:

{ASS} REV Canyon Ladies 03 {J Mitchell} (MF cons)

Revised stories are those where the author has reworked
the material, including significant improvements in
spelling or grammar.


ELEMENTS OF THE SUBJECT LINE

Newsgroup:

Beginning the subject line with {ASS} confirms that the
message is intended for the newsgroup in which it
appears.  This is an anti-spam measure intended to
defeat cross-posting to multiple newsgroups.  Many
group readers only download posts preceded by the
newsgroup designator.  The practice arose fairly
recently because of the increasing number of off-topic
posts sent to ASS.

Note:  When the alt.sex.stories.moderated (ASSM)
newsgroup resumes, posts to that newsgroup still should
be preceded by {ASS}, as all qualifying posts will be
forwarded automatically to ASS.  Posts to
alt.sex.stories.d (for discussion) should use {ASSD}.
The established convention is that only stories should
be posted to ASS.  All other posts should be directed
to ASSD.


Status:

The default and assumed status of all story posts is
NEW, which is therefore omitted for new stories.
Reposted or revised stories should be marked with RP or
REV, respectively.  It is worth repeating that omitting
RP on a repost is considered a serious violation of
group standards.  Reposting too frequently is less
serious but also offends a significant number of group
participants.  When possible, those who request reposts
of recently posted stories should be directed to
DejaNews.


Title:

All stories should have a title, which should follow
immediately after the newsgroup designator, except for
reposts and revisions.  One of the primary goals of
this FAQ is to get the title (and sequence number, if
any) as far to the left as possible in order to ensure
maximum visibility with a variety of newsreaders.  This
is especially valuable when trying to locate a missing
story segment.

Because it falls between the newsgroup designator and
the author, both of which use curly brackets, no
quotation marks are needed to mark the title.  Initial
'A,' 'An,' and 'The' should be omitted from the subject
line title to conserve space and aid alphabetizing.

Some stories have rather long titles.  It is
acceptable, even encouraged, to use a condensed form of
the title in these cases, especially when the story is
published in multiple parts.  Long titles can make it
impossible to see the seqment number in some
newsreaders.

Whether the actual or condensed title is used, it is
important to be consistent in multiple posts.  Even
minor differences can cause two segments of the same
story to sort into different locations in a long list.
Among other problems this can cause is a steady stream
of repost requests.


Sequence:

Putting any segment number implies that there are
others.  Thus, stories contained in a single post
should NOT be numbered 1 or 1/1.  The use of 1/? is
also discouraged, as it adds no useful information.

There is perhaps less consensus on how to number
multiple posts than any other aspect of this FAQ.
Authors have evolved styles suited to their specific
needs and are often reluctant to abandon them.  While
this may be understandable, it results in a chaotic
variety of numbering systems that often confuse readers
about how many parts a story contains and whether it is
complete or not.

The general rule and recommended approach is to number
each part with a whole number representing the order of
the segments without regard to chapters or other
divisions of the story.  Do not specify 'Part' or
'Chapter' before the sequence number.  In other words,
the six segments of 'My Long Story' should be posted as
'My Long Story 1' through 'My Long Story 6/6.'  It may
be that the story has six chapters or is actually
divided into two chapters, one posted in two segments
and the other in four.  The goal of sequence numbering
is not to represent the internal structure of the story
but to help the reader identify and reassemble the
parts.

It is important to mark the end of the story, and the
preferred method is to use the 'n/n' format.  In the
above example, the last segment would be 'My Long Story
6/6.'  If the number of segments is known from the
beginning, it is acceptable but not necessary to number
all segments this way.  E.g. 'My Long Story 1/6,' etc.

If there will or even may be more than nine segments to
a story, pad single digit sequence numbers with a
leading zero, as in 'My Long Story 01.'  This permits
the segments to sort alphabetically and be assembled in
proper order.  Otherwise, the 10th through 19th
segments will fall between segments 1 and 2.  If the
story may have more than 99 segments, two leading zeros
are needed.

Some authors will be uncomfortable with this standard
because they tend to write long chapters that must be
broken into two or more segments for posting.  While
the above method remains the preferred approach, it is
acceptable to number such posts as 'My Long Story 23
1/3,' 'My Long Story 23 2/3' and so on.  The final
segment of the entire story might then be 'My Long
Story 44/44 2/2.'


Author:

Place the author's name or preferred pseudonym in curly
brackets after the title (and sequence number, if any).
If the author is unknown or wishes to remain anonymous,
empty curly brackets should be provided in this
position.  Some authors prefer to use the form 'by J
Mitchell.'  This is acceptable but not recommended.
Use of curly brackets greatly simplifies automatic
indexing of stories by author's name.


Codes:

Refer to Uther Pendragon's 'Story Codes FAQ for
Authors' for detailed information on what should be
included.  The FAQ is posted to ASS and ASSD
periodically and is available via DejaNews or at
http://www.nyx.net/~anon584c/code/scfa.txt.  Codes
guide readers both in selecting topics of interest and
avoiding topics they find objectionable.  Uther
separates codes with spaces, and this is the preferred
standard when all codes come from his list.
Complexities arise when authors create non-standard
codes.  In some cases, it may be clearer to separate
codes with a comma and space.  When in doubt, stick to
the FAQ.

Note that some readers will not download a story
without content codes.


Requesting a Review (optional):

If you want to bring your story to the attention of
Celeste or one of the other reviewers, modify the
standard format as follows:

{ASS} Canyon Ladies <*> {J Mitchell} (MF cons)

Since reviewers are not interested in incomplete
stories, the review flag can take the position of the
sequence number.  If you must post the story in
multiple parts but all parts are being posted at the
same time, place the review flag after the sequence
number of the last part, as follows:

{ASS} Canyon Ladies 6/6 <*> {J Mitchell} (MF cons)

If you have completed a multi-part story posted over a
period of time and would like to have it considered for
review, the best procedure is to mail it directly to
one of the following:

Celestial Reviews:  Celeste801@aol.com
Rogue Reviews:      leevine@pair.com
Annex Reviews:      LadyCyrrh@aol.com

This information is included for newer readers who may
see the review flag and wonder about its purpose.
Writers should be aware that, while they may request a
review, the reviewers decide which stories to consider
and when.


Archive (optional):

Reposters who wish to identify themselves in the
subject line may add an archive or other ID after the
content code.  Abbreviations and acronyms are
encouraged, especially if used consistently.  For
example, Kristen's Collection, a major reposter, might
be abbreviated as either Kristen or KC.  Acronyms in
capital letters are brief, yet readily identifiable.


[x/n] Segment Numbering (optional):

Some posters like to provide numbering in this format -
- [1/4], [2/4], etc. -- at the end of the subject line.
Some newsreader software can use this to reassemble a
multi-part post automatically.  Use of this format is
encouraged in addition to the sequence number when the
number of segments is known and when all segments are
being posted at the same time.  It is not as likely to
be useful if the segments are posted over a period of
time, and useless to specify [1/?], since newsreaders
can't reassemble segments marked that way.

(I have been told but have not yet been able to verify
that some posting software automatically breaks a
longer message into parts and appends [x/n] numbering.
DejaNews breaks and displays posts in this manner in
its own archive, but does it do this when posting to
newsgroups?)


REVISION PROCESS

This FAQ will be reposted to ASS and ASSD newsgroups
periodically.  All participants in either are invited
to submit comments, questions, criticisms and
suggestions to:

     nitesweats@aol.com

Public comments should be posted to ASSD under the
subject "RE Standard Subject Lines."

Thanks to the many folks who participated in developing
this FAQ, both those whose ideas I borrowed and those
whose preferences were outweighed by other
considerations.  Obviously, it's not possible to please
everyone, but I hope the standards proposed here will
serve the needs of most newsgroup authors, readers and
reposters.

Respectfully submitted,
Titmouse
08/29/99