HASA news - Challenges

In this week’s news: birthdays, current and prospective Challenges, and the Nuzgûl of the Month.

Birthday Challenges

Birthday in December? Make your request here.

There is another few days to go in the November Birthday Challenge, so there’s still time to write or request a drabble.

Not sure what the birthday cards are about? Have a look at the stories already written this year.

Current and closing Challenges

There are no closing challenges this month.

Prospective Challenges, Oliphaunts and Nuzgûl

Challenges are born from Prospective Challenges, and the Prospective Challenges Forum is where you’ll find out what other people would like to spring on unsuspecting authors... If you have any ideas you want to share, head over to the Challenges Forum; or be inspired by what is already there and pick up an older idea instead.

Older ideas can also be found in the Oliphaunt Pen and the Nuzgûl Hutch… Why not take on an Oliphaunt or let a Nuzgûl bite you?

Nuzgûl of the Month

Just as Challenges come from Prospective Challenges, Prospective Challenges come from Nuzgûl, and Nuzgûl need attention to grow from tiny ideas into big stories. Step into the Nuzgûl hutch. The bunnies don’t bite (much). And who knows what ideas you may come out with?

The Nuzgûl of the Month!

The November Nuzgûl, To Rise Again, can be found here, and will run until Wednesday night, November 30, which is also when the December Nuzgûl will be published.

Come on over to the Nuzgûl of the Month Workshop and join in the fun. If you’ve written a story for any of the previous months, don’t forget to add it to the Playlist!

HASA Reviewed Stories November 2011

Since the previous Bulletin, no stories passed through review while there are currently 11 stories waiting for reviewers. Make an author's day and review a story!

As I type this, there are 11 stories waiting for your review (remember to log in before you follow the link).

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 worry, 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.

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

HASA How-tos November 2011

This month we look at Resources – what are they, and how can you best use them?

What is Resources?

This is an area to provide resources to writers, but it has plenty of tidbits that may interest the curious non-author as well; you can find information to help you write your stories, contribute information you know, or simply learn more about the Tolkien universe.

The heart of Resources is the Research Library. There are detailed write ups on people, places, things and the events that tie them all together. All of this is painstakingly researched and cross-referenced.

There is also a URL library linking to sites of interest to the JRRT fandom. There are research articles and critical essays written by our members, and a discussion forum on wide ranging topics.

What is the Reference Library?

The Reference Library is designed to gather the facts about various subjects in one easily searchable area. It currently consists of Character Biographies, Events, Places, and Things. Each entry is referenced to a quote in Tolkien, so the member may refer to the original source. Members who are authors can link their stories to any of the Research Library entries.

The Reference Library is one of the best, most engaging parts of HASA. Just start clicking on its links, and then following those links to other entries, and following an interesting reference to another page, and then another, and then... before you know it, hours have gone by.

What are the Character Biographies?

All the listed characters have simple fact sheets, containing very basic information such as date of birth and death when known, close relatives, and physical description.

For some characters the fact sheets are a starting point, in contrast to some of the minor characters where the fact sheets contain everything that is known.

A number of fact sheets are associated with essays that are more detailed, and which may contain speculation supported by references.

Essays on characters are very welcome, some subjects of interest to many members would be: relationships between characters, discussion of controversies about characters, and speculation on gaps in information.

There are also separate Research Articles which contain chapters on Minor Canon Characters which are not listed in the Character biography section.

What are the Timeline Events?

You can look them up alphabetically, by event type, by era and by date range. They are presented in chronological order, and are cross-referenced to other research library entries.

If you want to know exactly who did what, when, where and how, timeline events can probably provide the answer.

What are Places?

Places contains information on locations mentioned by Tolkien, whether in the text or on the maps he drew. Our goal is detailed information on the complete list of places, with accompanying references.

Currently there are over 650 entries in Places.

What are Things?

The Things section contains detailed information on various objects, from the physical such as ships or weapons, to songs, to constructs such as the White Council. It is the most heterogenous part of the Research Library.

What is the URL Library?

The URL Library is a collection of web page links, organized by general categories, covering both Tolkien's works and other topics of general interest to HASA members. Members are encouraged to submit interesting links.

What are the Research Articles and Critical Essays?

These are non-fiction works about a particular subject useful to fanfic writers or reviewers, or to those who simply want to know more. Current articles and essays range from personality traits of horses to in-depth character studies to geopolitics. Any subject involving Tolkien's writing, fanfic, or life in Middle-earth or the West is fair game.

Who writes the Research Articles and Critical Essays?

HASA members write them.

Many authors have done research in preparation for a story and then contribute their knowledge in the form of an article or Reference Library entry. There are several articles posted and HASA is always eager to expand the section. If you write a reaserch article or a critical essay, please link it into Resources by going to the Articles & Essays pages.

What kind of searches can I do?

A-Z Index - This part of the site provides alphabetical lists of all the Research Library entries. Each kind of research item (People, Places, Things, Events) also has alphabetical listings.

Full text search - This takes a little more practice. This search can do complex Boolean free text search of the contents of all the research library entries.

Each library entry type has a search available to sort, slice and dice on its main categories for quick filtering of entries.

What is the Resources Forum?

This is the gathering place for the Resources geeks and anyone who wants to pick their brains.

You can discuss just about anything to do with Tolkien's works, what life might have been like in Middle-earth, or the intricacies of writing about it. Geography, character speculation, daily life, grammar, economics... You think it up, someone will probably want to discuss it.

Many discussions start as research questions. This is the place to ask questions, and bring your expertise to answer others. This is also a place to discuss the nuts and bolts of writing, beta reading, and associated issues.

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If there is any topic you’d like to see in the how-to, please let us know!

Donations for site hosting fall quarter needed

HASA depends on donations to meet hosting costs. While this means that we come 'begging' about once a month, the good news is that a little can make a great difference! At the time this writing, our account is at -$483, after the November bill. This means we have all of September and October to fund, as well as the November bill just received, as well as 22% of August. We shouldn’t be this far behind for so long.

We currently have six Monthly subscribers who together donate $40 every month to HASA. We also have two Annual subscribers who together donate $30 per year. Together, these regular cover 28%, just over 1/4, of HASA's annual bill. We've also had donations and member donations this year ranging from $3 to $100. Thank you to everyone who has donated.

HASA is in its tenth year of providing ad-free, fee-free JRRT fanfiction that is owned and operated by the fandom, not corporate interests. There are no tests to take to join, all genres, characters, ratings and story lengths are welcome, and we get hundreds of readers a day. Your contact information is not for sale to marketers. If you are one of our regular visitors, please consider setting up a subscription. $5 = one day of hosting. Economic times are tough. If you can't spare money, then please give something just as valuable - your time. There are stories that need reviews, a story comment can really make an author's day, we have forums for discussing any topic and, of course, you can post your own works for the enjoyment of everyone.

Thanks for enjoying HASA!

Julie

HASA news - Birthdays, Challenges, Stories

November birthdays, Challenges and links to the stories written or updated in October.

November Birthday Challenge

Is your birthday in November, 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.

Current and closing Challenges

There are no closing challenges this month.

Prospective Challenges

Challenges are born from Prospective Challenges, and the Prospective Challenges Forum is where you’ll find out what other people would like to spring on unsuspecting authors... If you have any ideas you want to share, why not head over to the Challenges Forum (including the Oliphaunt Forum); or be inspired by what is already there and pick up an older idea instead?

Nuzgûl of the Month

Just as Challenges come from Prospective Challenges, Prospective Challenges come from Nuzgûl, and Nuzgûl need attention to grow from tiny ideas into big stories. Step into the Nuzgûl hutch. The bunnies don’t bite (much). And who knows what ideas you may come out with?

The Nuzgûl of the Month!

The November Nuzgûl, To Rise Again, can be found here, and will run until the end of the month.

Come on over to the Nuzgûl of the Month Workshop and join in the fun. If you’ve written a story for any of the previous months, don’t forget to add it to the Playlist!

October 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 October:

--- 5 Reviewed Stories were published or updated.

--- 21 General Stories were published or updated.

--- no Beta Stories were updated.

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

Thank you for reading at HASA. Enjoy!

In this week’s news: birthdays, current and prospective Challenges, and the Nuzgûl of the Month.

Birthday Challenges

Birthday in November? Make your request here.

There is another day and a bit to go in the October Birthday Challenge, so there’s still time to write or request a drabble.

Not sure what the birthday cards are about? Have a look at the stories already written this year.

Current and closing Challenges

There are no closing challenges this month.

Prospective Challenges, Oliphaunts and Nuzgûl

Challenges are born from Prospective Challenges, and the Prospective Challenges Forum is where you’ll find out what other people would like to spring on unsuspecting authors... If you have any ideas you want to share, head over to the Challenges Forum; or be inspired by what is already there and pick up an older idea instead.

Older ideas can also be found in the Oliphaunt Pen and the Nuzgûl Hutch… Why not take on an Oliphaunt or let a Nuzgûl bite you?

Nuzgûl of the Month

Just as Challenges come from Prospective Challenges, Prospective Challenges come from Nuzgûl, and Nuzgûl need attention to grow from tiny ideas into big stories. Step into the Nuzgûl hutch. The bunnies don’t bite (much). And who knows what ideas you may come out with?

The Nuzgûl of the Month!

The October Nuzgûl, Namesakes, can be found here, and will run until Monday night, October 31.

The November Nuzgûl, To Rise Again, can be found here, and will run until the end of the month.

Come on over to the Nuzgûl of the Month Workshop and join in the fun. If you’ve written a story for any of the previous months, don’t forget to add it to the Playlist!

Thank you for reading at HASA. Have fun!

HASA Reviewed Stories October 2011

Since the previous Bulletin, 3 stories have been reviewed and there are currently also 10 stories in review. Make an author's day and review a story!

As I type this, there are 10 stories waiting for your review (remember to log in before you follow the link).

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, 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 worry, 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!

Echoes by Virtuella
Rating: General
Genre: General
Era: 3rd Age - Post-Ring War
Summary: An acrostic on a well-known name

A Proper Man for Summer by Linda Hoyland
Rating: General
Chapters: 1
Genre: General
Era: 3rd Age - Post-Ring War
Summary: Ivorwen loved her grandson dearly, but he was little more than a baby when he was taken to the safety of Rivendell. Now the time has come for him to return to his people, she is full of apprehension.

Fever by Adonnen Estenniel
Rating: General
Chapters: 1
Genre: General
Era: 1st Age
Summary: After his rescue from the mountain, Maedhros struggles to regain his footing, and finds himself delirious and uncertain of what is true and what is not. Between his own flashbacks and Fingon's twisted memories of the Grinding Ice, he finds himself treading a thin line between oblivion and redemption ...

HASA How-tos October 2011

How do I...

... review a story?

This month we look at reviews – what are they, and how can you review a story?

Member participation is crucial for reviews. The more people are involved in reviewing, the more different opinions are represented. Just as importantly, having more people involved 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, 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.

Daunted by the idea of reviewing? Don't worry; at its simplest reviewing 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.

What are reviews?

A story at HASA can be put up for review by its author. This means that the story will then be read by nine anonymous reviewers, who are also HASA members.

Each reviewer individually submit an opinion on whether the story is an outstanding work of Tolkien fanfiction. If the story is approved by five or more reviewers, it is marked "Reviewed" and is flagged with a blue star. It also is featured for a week to two weeks on the home page of HASA.

In previous times, a story was not allowed into the public archive at all unless it passed through review. As time went by the decision was made to open the site for general posting by HASA members (hence the "General" status of most stories), but to keep the reviews as a challenge to excellence.

Why do we have reviews?

To challenge fanfic authors to do their best and reward them when they achieve that goal.

Who can review?

Anyone who has been a member of HASA for 30 days is eligible to be, and strongly encouraged to become, a reviewer. When you have been a member for 30 days, a link will appear on the HASA home page, on your My Profile page, and the main Review page. Simply click the button and your reviewer status is activated.

The waiting period exists to be sure members understand how serious this is. You are being asked to pass judgment on another person's work. Decisions should not be frivolous - either in accepting or declining a story. A waiting period is imposed to prevent someone from joining the list merely to vote a friend or a particular story into the archive, or to decline a particular story.

The system also is complex because it is intended to be double-blind - you do not know the author of the story you are reading, and the author and other reviewers do not know who is reviewing the story. This is to encourage people to submit stories, and to make people comfortable that they are free to vote as they please in the reviews. Only the Review Admin and the Site Manager are ever allowed to see this data put together in one place.

How do I review a story?

Before you can review, you must be an active reviewer. Check your status by going to the main Reviews page. If you are not yet a reviewer, follow the on-line instructions to activate your status. All members are encouraged to be reviewers.

1. Once you are active, look at the stories under review. (It may happen that there are no stories in review at the moment; then simply try again in a few days.)
2. Click on a story link to see a story overview. If the summary appeals to you, read at least some of the story to see if you have an opinion on it, or if it is a type of story you like.
3. When you find a story that interests you, press the 'Checkout story for review' button. You are now a reviewer for the story.
4. Read the story and come to a decision - Do you think this is an excellent story? Would you recommend this story to a friend?
5. You cannot review any other stories until you have completed the review for this one.
6. When you have made your decision, go back to your review page and pick from the drop down list. Pick 'Approve' or 'Decline' to mark your decision.
7. Pick a capsule reason that best illustrates your decision for approving or rejecting the story. It does not have to be the only reason for your decision. Simply pick the capsule that fits your reasoning best. If your decision was wrong, you can still change it at this point.
8. You may give additional comments. Please be aware that if you leave a comment, your review is NOT anonymous.
9. Once you have finished, press the 'Decision' button and you can then review another story.
10. Authors may contact reviewers and ask for clarifications of the review decisions. However, no reviewer is under any obligation to reply to an author. That is strictly optional.

What are the review criteria?

Every reviewer is encouraged to read the story before checking it out for review. This way you can review stories where your decision is clear, and avoid the types of stories you personally just don't like. Should you check out a story and then discover that you cannot or don't want to complete the review, a reviewer can return a story to the reviewing pool without accepting or declining. When you are in the 'Reviews' section simply click on the title of the story and you will see the "Return Story" button located to the right of the "Select a decision" button. Click it and you will be automatically removed as a reviewer of the story.

After you have read the story, you will have to select a 'capsule comment' that gives a standardized, primary reason to either approve or decline a story. There are no gradations for the decision, only 'approve' or 'decline'. However, a declined story can always be revised and resubmitted. It is even possible to tell an author to "please consider revising the story".

The reviews process is not a beta-reading or an editing process. However, constructive, considered and considerate criticism, and comments that contain explanations and suggestions for improvement are important for the second aim of our reviews process: to inspire the authors to keep writing and to improve their writing skills. Therefore it is not only important what you say in a critique, but also how you say it. Even if you don't think that this particular story belongs in the public archive, it is not the aim of our reviews process to discourage the author.

Remember that it is not a competition. There is no limit on adding new high-quality stories. Try to be consistent in your evaluation, so that you have the same standards in mind for each story you review.

Most of all it is important to accept a story because of what it does right, and not simply because there is nothing wrong or because it doesn't violate criteria.

Mostly, though, exercise your judgment. If the story grabs you and keeps your attention, you've got something good on your hands. If you find yourself skipping lines and paragraphs just to get to the end, it's probably not a keeper.

What happens after I make a decision?

• Your decision is recorded by the system
• You can check out another story for review
• The story waits until it gains 9 decisions and then is processed by the review admins

If there is any topic you'd like to see in the how-to, please let us know!

Donations for site hosting needed

HASA depends on donations to meet hosting costs. While this means that we come 'begging' about once a month, the good news is that a little can make a great difference! At the time this writing, our account is at -$268, which means we have most of August and all of September to fund, and the October bill will come due soon.

We currently have six Monthly subscribers who together donate $40 every month to HASA. We also have two Annual subscribers who together donate $30 per year. Together, these regular cover 28%, just over 1/4, of HASA's annual bill. We've also had donations and member donations this year ranging from $3 to $100. Thank you to everyone who has donated.

HASA is in its tenth year of providing ad-free, fee-free JRRT fanfiction that is owned and operated by the fandom, not corporate interests. There are no tests to take to join, all genres, characters, ratings and story lengths are welcome, and we get hundreds of readers a day. Your contact information is not for sale to marketers.

If you are one of our regular visitors, please consider setting up a subscription. $5 = one day of hosting. Economic times are tough. If you can't spare money, then please give something just as valuable - your time. There are stories that need reviews, a story comment can really make an author's day, we have forums for discussing any topic and, of course, you can post your own works for the enjoyment of everyone.

Thanks for enjoying HASA!

Julie

HASA news - Reviews, Birthdays, Challenges, Stories

A call for reviewers, October birthdays, Challenges and links to the stories written or updated in September.

Reviews

There are currently 7 stories waiting to be reviewed (remember to log in before you follow the link).

Member participation is crucial for reviews. The more people are involved in reviewing, the more different opinions are represented. Just as importantly, having more people involved 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?

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 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 it all levels out to a balanced judgement.

October Birthday Challenge

Is your birthday in October, 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.

Current and closing Challenges

There are no closing challenges this month.

Prospective Challenges

Challenges are born from Prospective Challenges, and the Prospective Challenges Forum is where you'll find out what other people would like to spring on unsuspecting authors... If you have any ideas you want to share, why not head over to the Challenges Forum (including the Oliphaunt Forum); or be inspired by what is already there and pick up an older idea instead?

Nuzgûl of the Month

Just as Challenges come from Prospective Challenges, Prospective Challenges come from Nuzgûl, and Nuzgûl need attention to grow from tiny ideas into big stories. Step into the Nuzgûl hutch. The bunnies don't bite (much). And who knows what ideas you may come out with?

The Nuzgûl of the Month!

The October Nuzgûl, Namesakes, can be found here, and will run until the end of the month.

Come on over to the Nuzgûl of the Month Workshop and join in the fun. If you've written a story for any of the previous months, don't forget to add it to the Playlist!

September 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 September:

--- No Reviewed Stories were published or updated.

--- 30 General Stories were published or updated.

--- 1 Beta Story was updated.

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

Thank you for reading at HASA. Enjoy!

HASA How-tos September 2011

How do I...

... use favorites, recommendations and comments?

In last month's How-to we looked at the various kinds of stories and how to find a specific story. This month looks at how to work with favorites, how to recommend a story and how to comment.

Favorites and bookmarks

Once you have found a story (see last month's How-to), there are several ways to bookmark it. As a HASA member you can save a story to Favorites. If you do this, you can always find it again when you're logged in.

Members - Save to Favorites

This stores the story in your own Library on HASA. The story is then always available anywhere in the site from the story favorites drop-down menu at the right hand end of the site header. To save to favorites:

1. Go to the Stories section of HASA
2. Click on either the overview or any chapter of the story you want to add
3. In the Reader Toolbox that appears at the top and the foot of these pages, click the button that says "Add Story"
4. The page refreshes and the story is added to your list.
5. If you are on the Overview, the first chapter is bookmarked. If you are on a specific chapter, that chapter is bookmarked.
6. When reading a long story, you can update your bookmark and set it to a new chapter by clicking on the "Set Bookmark" button in the Toolbox.

Members and Public - AddThis Button

On every story list and in every Reader Toolbox, there is a bright orange button with a plus sign on it. This is the AddThis service's button. To use the button:

1. Hover your mouse over the button
2. A pop-up window appears, with different commands and social networking sites
3. You can send the page to the printer, bookmark the page, send the URL to an email address or link it to one of the services, such as Facebook, Twitter, StumbleUpon, etc.
4. Click on the desired button
5. If you use IE or Firefox, there are browser plug-ins that work directly with the AddThis button.

You can also just bookmark a story in your regular browser Favorites list.

If you have a lot of favorites, they display in the reverse order of when you added them. If you have a lot of stories, you may want to set them in a specific order to help keep track which one you are currently reading.

1. Mouse over the "Stories" button in the top navigation bar.
2. In the drop-down menu, select "My Library". (Note, if the menu does not drop down for you, click on the main Stories button. On the Stories home page, click on "Manage My Library" from the My Library menu.)
3. On the home page of My Library, you will see the list of all your bookmarked favorites.
4. Use the ordinal number form in the left hand column of the stories table to set a new order.
5. Click "Reorder List" to update.

How to recommend a story

If you enjoyed a story, you can let others know why you liked it.

1. Go to the story overview page or a chapter page and click on "Recommend" in the Reader Toolbox.
2. When you see the recommendation form, choose one or more reasons from the list in the box (hold down the CTRL key to select more than one), then click "Add" below the box.
3. The reasons you chose will be displayed below the story summary. You name as a recommender will appear and people can click your name to see what other stories you have recommended.

Other ways to recommend a story are:

• Write a comment. Authors love comments!
• Create a playlist and explain in detailed introduction just what is so awesome about this story.
• Post in the author's forum. If the author has a forum, sign up and add a new thread to say what you like about the story. Get a discussion going!

How to post a comment

Authors love comments and they are so easy to do! You must be logged in to post comments. HASA does not permit anonymous commenting.

• From the story overview page, look in the sidebar navigation for a box that says "Talk to [author's name]". You'll see the comment form in that box. Comments made from the over view page are always tagged as "General Overview" comments.
• From each story chapter, look in the sidebar navigation for a box that says "Talk to [author's name]". You'll see the comment form in that box. Comments made from a chapter page are always tagged as belonging to that chapter.
• From the Comments page, the comments box appears at the top of the comments for that story. On the comments page, the comment will be tagged with whatever chapter's comments you are viewing.
• If a story does not yet have comments, the first comment must be made from the story, not the Comments page.


• If a chapter does not yet have comments, the first comment must be made from the chapter, not the Comments page.

Have fun reading and exploring!

If there is any topic you'd like to see in the how-to, please let us know!

HASA news - reviewed stories

Since the previous Bulletin, 3 stories have been reviewed and there are currently also 6 stories in review. Make an author's day and review a story!

As I type this, there are 6 stories waiting for your review (remember to log in before you follow the link).

Member participation is crucial for reviews. The more people are involved in reviewing, the more different opinions are represented. Just as importantly, having more people involved 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, 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 worry, 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!

Empty Handed by Larner

Rating: General
Genre:  Humor
Era: 3rd Age - The Stewards
Summary: Although she claimed to have come for reasons of charity, Lobelia Sackville-Baggins had hopes of something for herself when she went into Bilbo's study--until that faunt spoiled it all!

Needle-Point by Wheelrider

Rating: General
Genre:  Romance
Era: 3rd Age - Post-Ring War
Summary: It's a long ride back to Edoras.

Battle upon the Quays by Imhiriel

Rating: General
Genre:  Action
Era: 3rd Age - The Stewards
Summary: The last thoughts of the Captain of the Havens of Umbar. Drabble. MEFAwards 2008: Nominee – Races: Men: General Drabbles

Donations needed for August & September

HASA depends on donations to meet hosting costs. While this means that we come 'begging' about once a month, the good news is that a little can make a great difference! At the time this writing, our account is at -$173, which means we have 15% of July and all of August to fund, and the September bill will come due soon.

We currently have six Monthly subscribers who together donate $40 every month to HASA. We also have two Annual subscribers who together donate $30 per year. Together, these regular cover 28%, just over 1/4, of HASA's annual bill. We've also had donations and member donations this year ranging from $3 to $100. Thank you to everyone who has donated.

HASA is in its tenth year of providing ad-free, fee-free JRRT fanfiction that is owned and operated by the fandom, not corporate interests. There are no tests to take to join, all genres, characters, ratings and story lengths are welcome, and we get hundreds of readers a day. Your contact information is not for sale to marketers.

If you are one of our regular visitors, please consider setting up a subscription. $5 = one day of hosting. Economic times are tough. If you can't spare money, then please give something just as valuable - your time. There are stories that need reviews, a story comment can really make an author's day, we have forums for discussing any topic and, of course, you can post your own works for the enjoyment of everyone.

Thanks for enjoying HASA!

Julie

HASA news - Birthdays, Challenges, Stories

September birthdays, Challenges and links to the stories written or updated in August.

September Birthday Challenge

Is your birthday in September, 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.

Current and closing Challenges

There are no closing challenges this month.

Prospective Challenges

Challenges are born from Prospective Challenges, and the Prospective Challenges Forum is where you'll find out what other people would like to spring on unsuspecting authors... If you have any ideas you want to share, why not head over to the Challenges Forum (including the Oliphaunt Forum); or be inspired by what is already there and pick up an older idea instead?

Nuzgûl of the Month

Just as Challenges come from Prospective Challenges, Prospective Challenges come from Nuzgûl, and Nuzgûl need attention to grow from tiny ideas into big stories. Step into the Nuzgûl hutch. The bunnies don't bite (much). And who knows what ideas you may come out with?

The Nuzgûl of the Month!

The September Nuzgûl, Pub Crawl, can be found here, and will run until the end of the month.

Come on over to the Nuzgûl of the Month Workshop and join in the fun. If you've written a story for any of the previous months, don't forget to add it to the Playlist!

August 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 August:

--- 7 Reviewed Stories were published or updated.

--- 26 General Stories were published or updated.

--- 4 Beta Stories were updated.

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

Thank you for reading at HASA. Enjoy!

~Nath ~

HASA news - Challenges

In this week’s news: birthdays, current and prospective Challenges, and the Nuzgûl of the Month.

Birthday Challenges

There are a few more days to go in the August Birthday Challenge, so there's still time to write or request a drabble.

Not sure what the birthday cards are about? Have a look at the stories already written this year.

Current and closing Challenges

There are no closing challenges this month.

Prospective Challenges, Oliphaunts and Nuzgûl

Challenges are born from Prospective Challenges, and the Prospective Challenges Forum is where you'll find out what other people would like to spring on unsuspecting authors... If you have any ideas you want to share, head over to the Challenges Forum; or be inspired by what is already there and pick up an older idea instead.

Older ideas can also be found in the Oliphaunt Pen and the Nuzgûl Hutch... Why not take on an Oliphaunt or let a Nuzgûl bite you?

Nuzgûl of the Month

Just as Challenges come from Prospective Challenges, Prospective Challenges come from Nuzgûl, and Nuzgûl need attention to grow from tiny ideas into big stories. Step into the Nuzgûl hutch. The bunnies don't bite (much). And who knows what ideas you may come out with?

The Nuzgûl of the Month!

This summer's Nuzgûl (three of them!) can be found here, and will run until the end of this month.

Come on over to the Nuzgûl of the Month Workshop and join in the fun. If you've written a story for any of the previous months, don't forget to add it to the Playlist!

Thank you for reading at HASA. Have fun!

HASA how-tos - August 2011

This month's HASA How-to takes a closer look at stories at HASA.

How do I...

... find something to read?

In this How-to you will learn a bit more about the various kinds of stories at HASA and how to find a story if you’re looking for something specific (a character, a time period, a location etc.).

How to find all stories

There are three kinds of stories at HASA: General and Reviewed status stories are available to all site visitors, and you have to be logged in to read Beta status stories.

Reviewed: These are the stories that have been evaluated by the reviewers' pool and have been judged as excellent stories by the majority of the reviewers.

General: This is a catch-all category. If a story is not Beta and it is not Reviewed, but the author wants it available for others to read, it will be in General.

Beta: These are works in progress by HASA members that the author doesn't yet want the general public to read. Remember: you can only see these when you are logged in, although Beta stories that are entered in Challenges or linked in Playlists can also be read by the general public.

How to find a specific story

There are a number of ways to locate stories on HASA:

Story Sort Bar: The most popular way is to use the story sort bar at the top of every HASA page. Create a custom search by selecting an author, era, genre, character and/or status. The stories are sorted by most recently updated.

Recommended: You can look up stories that have been recommended by HASA members over the years. This is useful if you are looking for a particular kind of story, for instance a gap-filler that deals with family dynamics, or a story that combines humor and economics as a topic.

Keyword Search: Most story pages have a Keyword search form in the side navigation column. This form searches the titles and summaries of stories, but not the story text. Here are some tips for an effective keyword search:

• Each line may contain one or more search words.
• Do not use commas - use spaces to separate terms.
• Separate lines are used as an OR search.
• Words in the same line are used as an AND search.
• Partial words will also be searched; for example, "owyn" will find both "Eowyn" and "Éowyn."
• If you are unsure about spelling, use only part of the word.

How to save a search

Often, you want to read a set of stories that have similar characteristics, such as all having a particular character, all by the same author, all poetry or romances, etc. You also want to know when there is something new or updated with that kind of story. If you bookmark a single story or author, or create a playlist, you can track existing stories, but you may not know when they have been updated. You won't know about new stories. What do you do?

You create a saved search.

1. Set up a sort filter using the drop down menus in the story sort bar.
2. Click Go.
3. On the search result page, you will see a form "Save Search to Your Library".
4. Type a unique name into text box.
5. Click "Save".
6. The page refreshes and your search is added to the Saved Searches list.

To get to your saved search:

1. Click on the "Stories" button in the top navigation menu.
2. When you get to the Stories home page, look in the navigation sidebar for "My Library".
3. In My Library, click on ;the link that says "Saved Searches".
4. Your searches appear in alphabetical order in the sidebar menu, ordered alphabetically and stamped with a date when it was created.
5. Click a search name to rerun the search.

Have fun reading and exploring!

If there is any topic you’d like to see in the how-to, please let us know!

HASA Reviewed Stories August 2011

Since the previous Bulletin, 6 stories have been reviewed and there are currently also 9 stories in review. Make an author's day and review a story!

As I type this, there are 9 stories waiting to be reviewed (remember to log in before you follow the link).

Member participation is crucial for reviews. The more people are involved in reviewing, the more different opinions are represented. Just as importantly, having more people involved 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, 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 worry, 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!

Treed by The Lauderdale

Rating: Adult
Genre: General
Era: 4th Age
Summary: Her father searches for her in vain. Her mother mourns her death. Now one young Elf's only hope of survival lies with the monster who took her, and in her own desperate will to live.

Woman of the Secret Shadow by Armariel
Rating: General
Genre: General
Era: 1st Age
Summary: The tale of Thuringwethil, messenger and consort of Sauron...and the mother of all vampires.

Lost & Found by Tanis
Rating: General
Genre: General
Era: 3rd Age - Ring War
Summary: Legolas doesn't know he's lost, but neither Aragorn nor Gimli can find him.

Three Sides to the Same Story by Starlight
Author:
Rating: General
Genre: Poetry
Era: 1st Age
Summary: Gwindor/Finduilas/Turin, one of the saddest stories in the Silmarillion canon.

The Good Earth by Linda Hoyland
Author:
Rating: General
Genre: General
Era: Multi-Age
Summary: A series of drabbles written for "xx" challenge featuring the natural world.

Eowyn's Wedding by Armariel
Rating: General
Genre: Poetry
Era: 3rd Age - Post-Ring War
Summary: What the title says.:)

HASA news - Donations

HASA depends on donations to meet hosting costs. While this means that we come ‘begging’ about once a month, the good news is that a little can make a great difference!

We currently have six Monthly subscribers who together donate $40 every month to HASA. We also have two Annual subscribers who together donate $30 per year. Together, these regular donations provide $510 towards hosting every year, and cover 28%, just over 1/4, of HASA's annual bill.

Think of that! It takes just 8 people donating a few dollars every month or every year to cover more than a quarter of the site costs.

HASA is starting its tenth year of providing ad-free, fee-free JRRT fanfiction that is owned and operated by the fandom, not corporate interests. There are no tests to take to join, all genres, characters, ratings and story lengths are welcome, and we get hundreds of readers a day. Your contact information is not for sale to marketeers.

Currently, our account is at - $283. If you are one of our regular visitors, please consider setting up a subscription. $5 = one day of hosting. Economic times are tough. If you can't spare money, then please give something just as valuable - your time. There are stories that need reviews, a story comment can really make an author's day, we have forums for discussing any topic and, of course, you can post your own works for the enjoyment of everyone.

Thanks for enjoying HASA!

Nath

HASA news - Birthdays, Challenges, stories

August birthdays, Challenges and links to the stories written or updated in July.

August Birthday Challenge

Is your birthday in August, 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.

Current and closing Challenges

There are no closing challenges this month.

Prospective Challenges

Challenges are born from Prospective Challenges, and the Prospective Challenges Forum is where you’ll find out what other people would like to spring on unsuspecting authors... If you have any ideas you want to share, why not head over to the Challenges Forum (including the new Oliphaunt Forum); or be inspired by what is already there and pick up an older idea instead?

Nuzgûl of the Month

Just as Challenges come from Prospective Challenges, Prospective Challenges come from Nuzgûl, and Nuzgûl need attention to grow from tiny ideas into big stories. Step into the Nuzgûl hutch. The bunnies don’t bite (much). And who knows what ideas you may come out with?

The Nuzgûl of the Month!

This summer’s Nuzgûl (three of them!) can be found here: here, and will run until the end of August.

Come on over to the Nuzgûl of the Month Workshop and join in the fun. If you’ve written a story for any of the previous months, don’t forget to add it to the Playlist!

July 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 July:

--- 9 Reviewed Stories were published or updated.

--- 64 General Stories were published or updated.

--- 5 Beta Stories were updated.

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

Thank you for reading at HASA. Enjoy!

HASA news - Challenges

In this week’s news: birthdays, current and prospective Challenges, and the Nuzgûl of the Month.

Birthday Challenges

There are a few more days to go in the July Birthday Challenge, so there’s still time to write or request a drabble.

Not sure what the birthday cards are about? Have a look at the stories already written this year.

Current and closing Challenges

There are no closing challenges this month.

Prospective Challenges, Oliphaunts and Nuzgûl

Challenges are born from Prospective Challenges, and the Prospective Challenges Forum is where you’ll find out what other people would like to spring on unsuspecting authors... If you have any ideas you want to share, head over to the Challenges Forum; or be inspired by what is already there and pick up an older idea instead.

Older ideas can also be found in the Oliphaunt Pen and the Nuzgûl Hutch… Why not take on an Oliphaunt or let a Nuzgûl bite you?

Nuzgûl of the Month

Just as Challenges come from Prospective Challenges, Prospective Challenges come from Nuzgûl, and Nuzgûl need attention to grow from tiny ideas into big stories. Step into the Nuzgûl hutch. The bunnies don’t bite (much). And who knows what ideas you may come out with?

The Nuzgûl of the Month!

This summer’s Nuzgûl (three of them!) can be found here, and will run until the end of August.

Come on over to the Nuzgûl of the Month Workshop and join in the fun. If you’ve written a story for any of the previous months, don’t forget to add it to the Playlist!

Thank you for reading at HASA. Have fun!