Fan Fiction
Submission Guidelines

As Martin had in the past, Outpost Daria Reborn will maintain an "open door" policy regarding fan fiction. There are guidelines to follow, of course, but for the most part, any Daria fanfic can be submitted and will likely be posted. If it is not, however, do not be discouraged and please don't take it personally; keep writing and keep submitting. Don't give up!

Note that I reserve the right to make exceptions to these rules, usually on a case-by-case basis. (Like Martin, I'm generally a flexible, open-minded kinda guy.) If I feel a story merits such an exception, I will usually allow it to be posted with a disclaimer. By that same token, I might reject a story for any reason, even if it meets all the guidelines listed here. Basically, it comes down to this simple truth: my website, my rules. However, unlike Martin, I will hear and consider appeals if a fic is rejected.


Those Pesky Guidelines
I Just Mentioned...

Keep It (Relatively) Clean

Generally, this refers to sexual themes: nothing that would rate higher than a PG-13 (or a mild R) will be allowed. I'm not a prude (contrary to popular opinion), but that said, I won't allow my fanfic section to become an extension of Penthouse Forum. In short, if you can read it on PaperPusher's (PPMB), it's likely to be accepted here.


Title, Description, and Category

Stories must have a title and a short description of the plot; a few sentences are fine, but no long, rambling paragraphs, please. If a story does not have a title, it will NOT be posted until it does! If a story does not have a description, it will be posted with "(no description available)" until you supply one!

It would also be immensely helpful if you could specify the category under which your story belongs. (They're listed on the previous page.) If you don't specify one, I'll have to determine it myself; if I can't, it'll go under the catch-all "Miscellaneous" category. So if you don't want me guessin', ya better tell me.


Your E-mail Address

You must explicitly tell me if you want your e-mail address included with the story. If you don't, I'll assume you do NOT want it listed. This is mainly for your protection, as many of you do not want your e-mail address exposed in this age of spam and viruses and trojans (oh, my!).


Please Check Spelling, Grammar, and Layout

Stories should be checked for proper spelling, punctuation and grammar. People will enjoy your story more if they do not have to struggle to read it. It also makes your story look more professional.

It's also a good idea to check how your story is laid out. If it's hard to read, it won't be read. (Example: in a story written in prose format, it's not a good idea to put the spoken lines of several characters into one long, unbroken paragraph. To see what I mean, pick up your favorite paperback and see how its writer does it.)


Be As Accurate As You Can

This is, in a sense, related to the previous request. Please be as accurate as possible regarding the details of the Daria universe. Outpost Daria Reborn isn't the only Daria site on the web that provides such details; there's The Daria Wiki, for example, and books such as The Daria Diaries and The Daria Database also provide a wealth of information about the Daria universe. As such, there's really no excuse for misspellings and inaccurate information.


Acceptable Story Formats

I will only accept stories that are in plain text (.txt) or HTML (.htm or .html) format. Files in Microsoft Word format (.doc) or any other word processor format are NOT acceptable! Also, plain text stories should have their sentences hard-wrapped at column 80 (done by inserting hard carriage returns at the right spots) so that they can be easily read in a browser window. This is not necessary for HTML stories, which are wrapped automatically by the browser.

Something new to add here. I will also take files in PDF format. If you do not have a way to convert to a PDF file, you can contact me and we can arrange to get your file converted.

In addition to stories in text or HTML format, I will accept URLs for links to stories on other websites. This is useful if you prefer to exercise control over its distribution, or if special HTML features (graphics, bold and italic lettering, different font sizes and styles, etc.) are used.

Note that there is an exception to the URL rule: I will not accept links to stories that are stored on websites dedicated to fan fiction (such as FanFiction.net) or other similar sites. I won't "steal their thunder" by poaching links, mainly because I know how I'd feel if someone did it to me. (I'm always willing to listen to appeals for exceptions to this rule, but I'd need to hear a really convincing argument.)


Submitting Your Story

Submissions must be made by e-mail to submissions@outpost-daria-reborn.info, and should be attached to the message as a file attachment. If that's not an option, you can include the story in the body of the message, but this tends to mangle the formatting (which is why attachments are preferable). I will not be responsible for any mangling of stories that are submitted in the body of an e-mail message. If you want to guarantee that your story is posted the way you want it to be seen, you'd best include it as an attachment.