Sunday, June 17, 2012

HASA How-to - June 2012

This week we take a look at how to enter a story in a Challenge

How do I...

..enter a story in a Challenge?

  1. Go to Open Challenges, and find one you would like to enter, for example one of the Challenges to choose from in the Nuzgûl of the Summer.
  2. Just below the description of the Challenge, look for the "Enter this Challenge!" box. If you don't see it, check to see if you are logged in.
  3. In the box you will see a drop-down menu with all of your stories that are eligible to be entered in the Challenge, plus a Challenge Placeholder.
  4. Select the story you want to enter or else the placeholder.
  5. Click "Enter".

You are now entered in a Challenge!

If you have entered a Challenge and have a Placeholder that you want to replace with a real story, this is what to do:

  1. Be sure you are logged in.
  2. Select "My Challenges" from the Challenges main navigation menu.
  3. On the My Challenges page, locate the challenge and the placeholder.
  4. Click "Edit Entry".
  5. The page will refresh and you will see a drop-down menu with all of your eligible stories.
  6. Select the story you want to have in the Challenge.
  7. Click "Edit".
  8. Your entry is updated.

A story may be entered in as many Challenges as are appropriate for it. It may only be entered once in a particular Challenge.

Have fun writing and reading!

Sunday, June 10, 2012

HASA Reviewed Stories June 2012 – and more!

Birthday Challenge Stories on the home page
Don't forget to request a birthday drabble if you have a birthday in June...

From now on the stories written for the Birthday Challenge will be featured on the home page the first week of the next month, so the June stories will be featured in the first week of July. All you have to do as a June birthday babe is to set up a story in the 2012 Birthday Challenge and add your birthdays gifts to it (if you're not entirely sure how it works, look for next week's How-to).

Also, for the next week general stories will be featured at the top of the home page, meaning that your recently updated works will be highlighted there!

Nuzgûl of the Summer
No Nuzgûl of the Month this time, but a slightly longer challenge with three nuzgûl to choose from:
This Challenge will run until September 1 in the regular Nuzgûl of the Month area. Come in and join the fun!

Reviews
Since the previous Bulletin, two stories passed through review while there are currently 12 stories waiting for reviewers. Make an author's day and review a story!

Member participation is crucial for reviews. The more people are involved in reviewing, the more different opinions are represented. Having more people involved also means that stories pass through review more quickly – which is good for everyone. If you are an active reviewer, why not go and check out a story?

Or, if you are a writer, take the plunge and submit a story for review; and when you do, please remember: Put one in, take one out.

By submitting a story for review, you are asking nine other members to read and evaluate it. So why not do for the other authors who have a story in review what you'd like other reviewers to do for you: check out one of the stories already in review and give it a read.

Becoming a reviewer
If you're not an active reviewer, but think you can spare a bit of time... – even if you just review one or two stories in a month, every review is welcome. If you are logged in, you can sign up here if you've been a member of HASA for thirty days or more.

Daunted by the idea of reviewing? Don't be, reviewing at its simplest comes down to asking yourself: "Would I recommend this story to someone?" Then, whether the answer is 'yes' or 'no', you can make a choice from the capsule reasons to clarify your decision. If you want to, you can add a few more words to convey what you (dis)liked about the story, but just the capsule reason is perfectly fine as well.

And remember: even if you think you're too critical or not critical enough: your review is only one of nine, and all points of view are welcome. Not every reviewer has to review every story and in the end it does all level out to a balanced judgement.

Reviewed story spotlight
These stories have passed through review since the previous bulletin. Congratulations to all authors; well done!

Larksong and Morningstar by Armariel
Rating: General
Genre: Humor
Era: 4th Age
Summary: A pregnant Goldberry gets a visit from her two younger sisters, who bring some disturbing news.

Cabed Naeramarth by SometimesKate
Rating: General
Genre: Drama
Era: 1st Age
Summary: A very, very short character sketch involving characters from the Silmarillion.


Make an author's day, review a story or post a comment.

Sunday, June 3, 2012

HASA news - Birthdays, Challenges, Stories

June birthdays, the Story Pledge Challenge and links to the stories written or updated in May.

June Birthdays

Is your birthday in June, and would you like a drabble about your favourite character or topic? You can request it here.

Not sure what the birthday cards are about? Have a look at stories written for previous requests.

The Story Pledge Challenge

The Story Pledge Challenge has come to an end. A heartfelt thank you to everybody who took part, either by pledging an amount or by writing a story. All in all, ten stories were written for the Challenge, raising $325, which HASA’s Secret Admirer will match, for a total of $650! (That’s over four months of hosting!)

You can read the stories that have been written for the Challenge here: Story Pledge Challenge stories

May Stories

All of us writers love feedback. It is the lembas and miruvor that sustains us as we write our story, and leaving a few words about a story you read is always a nice thing to do, whether the story is new or old.

Every fifteen minutes HASA highlights a story chosen at random from the Reviewed and General stories in the archive. Read the currently featured story on our front page.

Many talented writers are publishing every day. In May:

--- 5 Reviewed Stories were published or updated.

--- 37 General Stories were published or updated.

--- 2 Beta Stories were updated.

(Please note, you need to be logged in to view beta stories.)

Thank you for reading at HASA. Enjoy!