...?

I'm tagging a question mark to the end of that because I remain ever hopeful.

This coming Wednesday, I'll send the last story in my upload queue to the Archive for upload. I have a grand total of 5 stories out being GE'd, but it seems unlikely any of them will come back in by the following week.

So, in the next week or so, it looks as though we might finally be heading for the day I've been dreading since taking on this job. The first week in the Archive's long history when we have no stories to upload.

Now, I know we've been incredibly fortunate in keeping weekly uploads going till now. Especially in a fandom this small and for a show long since consigned to TV history. I know that this day has always been inevitable at some point.

But I'd still like to avoid it if possible.

Avenues of 'nagging' stories out of authors have dried up in the last couple of years. A source at the start of each year which previously would have netted us a clutch of a dozen or more stories now doesn't merit even a reply from the authors I email or PM. My latest nag here on the mbs netted us a total of two stories. I've tried PMing individual authors without result.

So, I guess it's up to you guys. Is it still important to you that you have stories uploaded to the Archive every week? Does it matter at all if we have to switch to once a month or something more irregular - the odd upload now and then when something comes into my mailbox?

I guess only time - and stories hitting my mailbox (or not) - will tell....

Watch this space.

LabRat

Hey, LabRat,

There are some of us still wanting to Archive, but we're in the middle of posting our stories on the MB. (Or not quite in the middle, yet )

I'm willing to break my story (epic) into chunks for you and you can Archive the first 1/3 (when I finish posting Chapter 3 this week). Or do you want to wait until we have completed posting our stories on the MB?

From what I notice on the boards, there are still some newbies showing up every week. Don't give up on us L&C fans yet. PLEASE! I just discovered L&C last fall and I can't be the only one of my kind out there.

So there I was, working on this fanfic wiki, and I notice, "Huh. I can't believe I never sent those in. I guess I'd better add that to the to-do list." Later that night, I forgot completely. Cut to today, and this post, which is like a sudden slap on the noggin.

Click, click, copy, paste, boom: One fic sent, and one more (Edit:) SENT.

Thanks, Virginia, but the Archive only deals in completed stories. We don't upload stories in segments as other forums, such as FF for instance, do. But I appreciate the thought.

Thanks for the submissions, Mary. Might keep the wolf from the door for another week, at least.

I'm just wondering if there's some other, more productive way to ensure continuing submissions. These nagging posts every few months are all very well, but as they increasingly don't generate much in the way of results, we need something that produces submissions on an ongoing, regular basis.

I really don't mind the nagging - but it seems pointless to do it if it only results in a couple of stories and then zero submissions again until the next nag. And when I have to spend hours sorting out the list of stories that never made it to the Archive at the start of the year, working out each author's email, sending out emails and PMs and getting mostly silence in return, that does get a tad discouraging, I'll confess. To the point where I'm wondering if it's even worth getting the list and putting that much of my free time in next year.

If there's another answer, I don't mind putting in the time, if it gets results. But, again, perhaps it's just the law of diminishing returns, something inevitable, and that's all there is to it. Like I say, we've been incredibly fortunate up until now for a show that's not got a huge fandom and isn't current.


LabRat

Well, based on my own experiences, the only solution I can think of is Ginko Biloba.

I've probably missed out on a lot of good stories because I only read a story when it gets to the archive.

Hi Lab Rat

Firstly, apologies because I know that I'm one of those authors who has received prompts from you and not replied. Actually, I replied the first time, and from then on, my answer was the same: 'I intend to archive my stories, but I'm too busy writing new stories right now,' so I stopped responding.

However, that doesn't mean your prompts/nags had no effect. Each time - at the very least - it reminded me that I should be preparing stories for the archive.

Re the time-consuming task of listing unarchived stories ... could you maintain a 'running' list? eg Every time a new story appears in the TOCs (and you do a lot of them) note the story and author in a file. Every time a story is archived, remove it from the list.

I think your 'nagging' should continue. Giving us updates about what is happening on the archive seems to spread the load so it becomes a FoLC (group) responsibility rather than just the responsibility of a few - or perhaps just one!

I'm sure many, many FoLCs appreciate your work (and that of the GEs) in maintaining the archive.

Corrina.

Such a running list is already being compiled by one of the Index Crew. In recent years, it's become the habit for me to ask her in January for a copy of her list of stories which were posted on the mb during that year but never made it to the Archive.

The list I get just has titles, so I have to spend some time tracking down the authors here on the mbs and getting a hold of their emails/PM. It also takes a bit of time going through the list and working out how many of the stories are by the same author - so that I don't end up sending 20 emails to the same author. It's one of those tasks which is easy to do, but just a little - gosh, I'm blanking on anything but the Scots here...futery. Very time consuming.

In the first few years of doing this it was a terrific source of submissions, usually producing enough of a batch of stories that would keep us going right into the middle of the year. But in the past year or so, it's hardly produced anything at all.

LabRat

Um, my bad. I've got two short ones and I PROMISE to upload them tonight - as soon as I've unpacked my other computer.

I'm one of those who needs those prompts. The reason they don't often produce immediate results is simple. I'm lazy.

While I'm quite aware that it is my responsibility to send in my stories to the archives... if someone were to go ahead and shuffle off any of my MB stories that aren't already there to the archives... I wouldn't complain.

Tank (who should also point out that besides being lazy, he is old and the mind tends to drift and he never remembers which stories were uploaded and which ones weren't)

I've just sent two short ones in as well...from 2009. Suppose I get distracted sometimes. I used the prompts you sent me to remember which stories I hadn't uploaded...if I hadn't had them, I'd have been in trouble.

Wow. I haven't woken up to a submissions inbox that full since January 2009. Thanks, everyone!

Tank, I'm more than happy to cut and paste the text of your stories direct from the mbs and assign them to a GE, with the usual editing arrangement. Thanks.

LabRat

I had no idea we had a dearth of stories for the archive! I know I have two in the process of being GE'd... I just looked through my hard drive and found a short one that I wrote a year ago, so I'll send that one along... but can I tell you how much I've grown as a writer since I started doing this about a year ago?(The fic on my drive is dated July 2010.) And that's in huge part due to the wonderfully supportive community here and great beta readers! Thanks, guys!

/gets out tranq gun and goes looking for wayward muse/
She still got a half finished vigi hostage. Beside the longer one... And those that haven't even been started...

Michael

PS: No muses have been harmed in the process of writing this post. And even if they had been, they wouldn't be in a position to complain, now.

Two sent, three more complete ones that I am re-editting.

Oh, and one more that I am still writing.

Dr. Klein:

Please please don't give up as editor! My story will be done in a couple of weeks! First it has to be posted and than sent to the archives. My short story is one of five that is in the process of being GE'd

I have another short story in the works. Thanks for the nag... we need them!!!

I don't know if you are aware that I have a long story in progress. Unfortunately, I'm dealing with several real life issues that I would love to ignore, but can't. I promise to work on it as often as I can, but it's going to be a while before it is done.

I do have a couple of shorter and much simpler ones started, and I'll try to get them done asap for the good of the Archive and the FOLC community.

Nan

</font><blockquote><font size="1" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">quote:</font><hr /><font size="2" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">Originally posted by ErinK:
<strong>

Michael

I've just thought of a way that you guys can keep tabs on the current level of submissions without me having to nag (although I still will if I have to )

If the number of stories being uploaded to the Archive each week drops to one per week, then that's a surefire sign that the upload queue is getting dangerously low.

So if you notice that you're only getting one story per upload, then that might just be the perfect time to dust off that story you've been thinking of submitting and sending it in.

LabRat

OK. That makes sense. I need to be more consistent about checking the archives. So glad to know a number of FOLCS responded with a plenty of submissions!

I have a couple of stories on the back burner, looks like they need to be moved to the front.

Keep nagging us, Labby! I know I need to get The Man Under the Suit uploaded. I also know it won't happen until HappyBaby is sleeping for longer at a stretch. So in a few months I'll read one of your little reminders and instead of thinking, 'Yeah, right, when I'm getting more sleep I'll get around to that' I'll actually think 'Oh, that's right, I should get that done now that I'm conscious on a regular basis.'

....Just checked the archive, and no upload yet. This is just my computer, right? A flaw in the internet???

I have it on good authority that there will be an upload today.


Edit: BTW: I have also rearranged my story dev list and am working on a short to try to help fill any gap. Unfortunately it's going more slowly than I expected. I still hope to have something new here and submitted to the archive within a few weeks. It won't be the most complex thing I've ever written, but I hope it will prove entertaining.

Bob

LabRat:

I just noticed that a bunch of the stories I've been reading will probably be coming to a close by the end of June or early July:

Trusting Me, Trusting You - 7 parts left (or is there more to the story after 'Highway'?)

Chocolate Lab - 4 parts left

Separte - 5 parts left

The European Adventures of Lois Lane - 2 parts left

So I'm sure you won't have to nag us again until the end of the Summer (northern hemisphere), because you'll be so busy processing the above. Right?

My own personal nag on other Works in Progress:

Double Jeopardy - ?? parts left - please post soon. (oh, wait, it's only been 5 days since you last posted... why does it seem so much longer?)

Smallville - ?? parts left - Please post again soon!!! (you left us hanging on Christmas Eve, Nan. Not nice.)

Again, I plead, if you're ever looking for anything to post to archives, I'm more than willing to submit the first 1/3 of Missing Lois. The EPIC is completed. 'THE END' has been typed. I've already posted to MB - 20 parts (22 by the end of Chapter 3). Then there are 14 parts of Chapter 4, 12 parts to Chapter 6, and approximatly (since I haven't divided them up yet) 12 parts for each of the rest of the chapters... so after Chapter 3, I still approximately 75 posts until the end is posted. Do you really want to wait and work on archiving an EPIC of approx. 97 parts all at once? I'm just volunteering to keep you busy.

I promise I'll work on Smallville. I never leave a story forever -- it's just that I have some real-life issues that I'm trying to get out of my way. Once they are no longer hanging over me, Smallville will continue. Maybe even before if I can squeeze in the time.

Nan

Thanks, Nan. Good to know. Just wanted you to know we missed you. Hope RL doesn't bog you down too much.

Oh, our fearless GEs don't tremble at the thought of editing a mere epic, Virginia , so don't worry on that score. Just send it along when it's completed and we'll do the rest.

LabRat

I notice that there have been 3 stories posted in each of the past 6 weeks!