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.

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