How to contribute/ fiction V/FT

[Worldtree]

1. Just wanted to update the "how to contribute" pages (not sure if anyone new even reads this anymore?)

Fiction submissions
https://www.orionsarm.com/page/552

mostly I can just changed "Voices:Future Tense" to "Orions arm" or 'fiction submissions' throughout this- but also added a few sentences

2. Secondly, i'm thinking it would be helpful to add the publishing date + author of OA fiction at the top/beginning of the stories (so it's a little easier for anyone to know if they -might- have outdated canon or something, and make sure they all have a link back to stories by author + voices future tense (added at the end).
I know a lot of the stories say they were added into the content management system in 2008 but i'm guessing that some might have been written earlier, like the stories by Anders Sandberg. I can just say 'added in 2008'

I can add that information to the stories using the CMS if folks are ok with that
_____________

Voices:Future Tense, the Orion's Arm e-zine has it's own set of submission guidelines. These guidelines are intended for use specifically for materials that you would like to appear in the e-zine and are intended to streamline the process of adding content to that publication.

Orion's Arm is interested in your voice!

We are looking for long-form fiction, snapshots/ vignettes, nonfictional articles, and art submissions for Orion's Arm. Guidelines are as set forth below:

FICTION:

The Orion's Arm Universe Project seeks literate, strongly plotted science fiction stories between 1,000 and 10,000+ words, set at any time within the span of the Orion’s Arm universe. Successful submissions will have original ideas, strong characterization, fidelity to the OA canon (as set forth at http://www.orionsarm.com), and appeal to the sense of wonder. Stories should be clear and understandable. Longer submissions can be considered for serialization and authors are welcome to publish them as standalone novels through a publishing service as well, with proper attribution. 
Due to time or other constraints, many contributors may instead prefer to write vignettes or single scenes which can published as short OA fiction, or be added to Encyclopedia articles as snapshots or "historical primary source quotes" to expand the ground level view of the OA universe. 

As befits our participation in the Orion’s Arm project, The Orion's Arm Universe Project encourages non-traditional forms of storytelling. Virtually any format, including (but not limited to) comics/manga, animations, hypertext, poetry, or music will be considered. Please bear in mind that technical dazzle is fun… but story is essential.

GENERAL POLICIES:

All submissions, regardless of genre, are subject to the following editorial policies:

Format: Submissions will be accepted via the OA Forum, specifically through the Creative Writing or Voices: Future Tense sub-forum, or email; they should be sent to OAoperations@gmail.com with “Fiction Submissions” in the header, and with the article itself as an attachment in DOC or RTF format. In the event that we publish another book, submissions should include title, author’s full name, address, contact information, and word count at the top of the story. Avoid the use of unusual fonts. Please include a brief bio and credits, if any, in the body of your email. Queries are welcome. Most writers find it helpful to brainstorm and test out ideas in the forums or on Discord before submitting any story drafts. 

Though we welcome discussion of any rough drafts in the forum, comic, manga, and animation submissions should be complete and web-ready upon final submission. Where applicable, such submissions should NOT rely upon browser-specific tags or plugins; Fiction in OAUP V/FT is meant to be read on a variety of browsers, including current versions of Chrome and Internet Explorer, older versions of those browsers, Mozilla, Opera, Safari and others.

Audio files must have contact information (see the instructions above) in the body of the email. Submit files in standard MP3 format.

Our goal is to respond within five to eight weeks after receiving a submission. Depending on numerous variables, however, it may take longer. Please give us ample time before inquiring about a submission’s status. All submissions, whether fiction or nonfiction, are subject to spelling and grammar editing as well as to review for content. The Orion's Arm Universe Project retains the right to act as any other publication and decline submissions for either artistic or technical reasons.

Fiction Reviews: (So few people do this anymore do we even need this section?)
We're always looking for reviews of fictional works and media science fiction which might be of interest to the OA audience, as well as articles on the sciences and technologies which underpin the Orion’s Arm project. These articles will ideally be from 500-1000 words.

Features should provide both context and breadth of information. You are writing for a wide range of readers. Subjects should be of interest to the OA community — transhumanist, extrapolationist, “hard science fiction” readers, who are interested in how we might get from here to 10,000 AT, or anywhere in between.

Reviews can be outspoken and vigorous. However, OAUP V:FT will not publish libellous or offensive statements, and insists that its contributors behave as professionals. We are neither a shill for the entertainment industry, nor are we a home for petty personality sniping. Be fair; be honest; be professional.

Reviews are just that. Synopsizing a work is not a review, and we probably won’t accept such submissions.

Reviews should contain the following information:
– Genre(s) (e.g., science fiction, fantasy, horror, superhero, etc.)
– Format (book, CD-ROM, VHS, DVD, film, etc.)
– Creator(s)
– Rating (MPAA, ESRB, etc., where applicable)
– Date of Release/Publication
– Date of Review
– ISBN numbers, where applicable

Copyright and renumeration: 
Articles published by Orions Arm Universe Project are published by permission of the authors. For original submissions, we require exclusive electronic rights, meaning the same article cannot be published elsewhere online or in electronic form. (still relevant?) The only exception will be if the Board of Directors of the Orion’s Arm Universe Project considers a story to be of such merit that they invite the author to have it featured on the main Orion’s Arm website, on the Creative Writing pages; V/FT articles will always be allowed to be published in such a case. Articles which have appeared in other venues will be considered for OAUP, or can be adapted to fit OA canon V/FT, in accordance with the rights of the author and all prior publishers. Any article published as OA fiction V/FT will be removed upon request of the owner, at which time electronic rights revert to the owner.

All articles based on the Orion’s Arm canon are published in accordance with the Terms and Conditions of the OA project. In the event that negotiations for commercial rights to an author’s work occur after publication, the Board of Directors of the Orion’s Arm Universe Project is the point of contact for permission to use Orion’s Arm material for commercial purposes.

Save as set forth above, all other rights are retained by the author.

Link to stories by Author https://www.orionsarm.com/xcms.php?r=oa-...=by-author
Link to voices future tense issues https://www.orionsarm.com/page/516
Link to writing help https://www.orionsarm.com/xcms.php?r=oa-links
<eventually> maybe a Link to writer's FAQ about questions like "achailects dominate OA and angelnets stop 99% of modern problems how do i write about anything??"

Back to How to Contribute

[Drashner1]

1. Just wanted to update the "how to contribute" pages (not sure if anyone new even reads this anymore?)

Fiction submissions
https://www.orionsarm.com/page/552

mostly I can just changed "Voices:Future Tense" to "Orions arm" or 'fiction submissions' throughout this- but also added a few sentences

2. Secondly, i'm thinking it would be helpful to add the publishing date + author of OA fiction at the top/beginning of the stories (so it's a little easier for anyone to know if they -might- have outdated canon or something, and make sure they all have a link back to stories by author + voices future tense (added at the end).
I know a lot of the stories say they were added into the content management system in 2008 but i'm guessing that some might have been written earlier, like the stories by Anders Sandberg. I caart n just say 'added in 2008'

This is fine, I think. We would want to be consistent with this across all the stories however. Are you comfortable going back into all the current stories and adding pub date and author to the top of each of them or would you like some help?

As befits our participation in the Orion’s Arm project, The Orion's Arm Universe Project encourages non-traditional forms of storytelling. Virtually any format, including (but not limited to) comics/manga, animations, hypertext, poetry, or music will be considered. Please bear in mind that technical dazzle is fun… but story is essential.

Suggest getting rid of 'As befits are ...' And just start this sentence with 'The Orion's Arm Universe Project encourages...'

GENERAL POLICIES:

All submissions, regardless of genre, are subject to the following editorial policies:

Format: Submissions will be accepted via the OA Forum, specifically through the Creative Writing or Voices: Future Tense sub-forum, or email; they should be sent to OAoperations@gmail.com with “Fiction Submissions” in the header, and with the article itself as an attachment in DOC or RTF format. In the event that we publish another book, submissions should include title, author’s full name, address, contact information, and word count at the top of the story. Avoid the use of unusual fonts. Please include a brief bio and credits, if any, in the body of your email. Queries are welcome. Most writers find it helpful to brainstorm and test out ideas in the forums or on Discord before submitting any story drafts. 

Suggest tweaking the first sentence as follows:

'...sub-forum or via email. Email submissions should be sent to OAoperations@gmail.com...'

Though we welcome discussion of any rough drafts in the forum, comic, manga, and animation submissions should be complete and web-ready upon final submission. Where applicable, such submissions should NOT rely upon browser-specific tags or plugins; Fiction in OAUP V/FT is meant to be read on a variety of browsers, including current versions of Chrome and Internet Explorer, older versions of those browsers, Mozilla, Opera, Safari and others.

This bit is a little confusing. As written it sounds as if we don't care if written content is not complete and web ready upon final submission. And that we don't welcome discussion of rough versions of comics, manga, and animation but only want to see the final, web ready versions.

Fiction Reviews: (So few people do this anymore do we even need this section?)
We're always looking for reviews of fictional works and media science fiction which might be of interest to the OA audience, as well as articles on the sciences and technologies which underpin the Orion’s Arm project. These articles will ideally be from 500-1000 words.

Let's get rid of it.

Copyright and renumeration: 
Articles published by Orions Arm Universe Project are published by permission of the authors. For original submissions, we require exclusive electronic rights, meaning the same article cannot be published elsewhere online or in electronic form. (still relevant?) The only exception will be if the Board of Directors of the Orion’s Arm Universe Project considers a story to be of such merit that they invite the author to have it featured on the main Orion’s Arm website, on the Creative Writing pages; V/FT articles will always be allowed to be published in such a case. Articles which have appeared in other venues will be considered for OAUP, or can be adapted to fit OA canon V/FT, in accordance with the rights of the author and all prior publishers. Any article published as OA fiction V/FT will be removed upon request of the owner, at which time electronic rights revert to the owner.

I think this part might need some massaging in the sense that we haven't given thought to this sort of thing in a long time and should perhaps revisit it on general principles.

Personally, I'm not sure why we need exclusive electronic rights. Plenty of short stories and novellas get published in multiple places and these days the main thing we care about is attribution.

The whole thing about the Board approving stories appearing on the main site and V:FT articles isn't relevant anymore, particularly in the age of snapshots. I'd say we can dump all that overboard. The bit about articles that have appeared in other venues I'm not sure about. That seems more related to the EG than fiction and we may have something about that kind of thing in the main How to Contribute pages. We can certainly check.

The bit about removing any article should be removed -at least for 'articles' - our policy for the EG is that we will consider requests for removal but are not in any way required to do so. This is laid out in the main Copyright and Submission pages.

My 2c worth,

Todd

[Worldtree]

_____________


Orion's Arm is interested in your voice!

We are looking for long-form fiction, snapshots/ vignettes, nonfictional articles, and art submissions for Orion's Arm. Guidelines are as set forth below:

FICTION:

The Orion's Arm Universe Project seeks literate, strongly plotted science fiction stories between 1,000 and 10,000+ words, set at any time within the span of the Orion’s Arm universe. Successful submissions will have original ideas, strong characterization, fidelity to the OA canon (as set forth at http://www.orionsarm.com), and appeal to the sense of wonder. Stories should be clear and understandable. Longer submissions can be considered for serialization and authors are welcome to publish them as standalone novels through a publishing service as well, with proper attribution. 
Due to time or other constraints, many contributors may instead prefer to write vignettes or single scenes which can published as short OA fiction, or be added to Encyclopedia articles as snapshots or "historical primary source quotes" to expand the ground level view of the OA universe. 

The Orion's Arm Universe Project encourages non-traditional forms of storytelling. Virtually any format, including (but not limited to) comics/manga, animations, hypertext, poetry, or music will be considered. Please bear in mind that technical dazzle is fun… but story is essential.

GENERAL POLICIES:

All submissions, regardless of genre, are subject to the following editorial policies:

Format: Submissions will be accepted via the OA Forum, specifically through the Creative Writing sub-forum or via email. Email submissions should be sent to OAoperations@gmail.com; with “Fiction Submissions” in the header, and with the article itself as an attachment in DOC or RTF format. In the event that we publish another book, submissions should include title, author’s full name, address, contact information, and word count at the top of the story. Avoid the use of unusual fonts. Please include a brief bio and credits, if any, in the body of your email. Queries are welcome. Most writers find it helpful to brainstorm and test out ideas in the forums or on Discord before submitting any story drafts. 

 Comic, manga, and animation submissions should be complete and web-ready upon final submission though we encourage discussion of any rough drafts of plot or sketches in the forum beforehand. Where applicable, such final submissions should NOT rely upon browser-specific tags or plugins; Fiction in OAUP is meant to be read on a variety of browsers, including current versions of Chrome and Internet Explorer, older versions of those browsers, Mozilla, Opera, Safari and others.

Audio files must have contact information (see the instructions above) in the body of the email. Submit files in standard MP3 format.

Our goal is to respond within five to eight weeks after receiving a submission. Depending on numerous variables, however, it may take longer. Please give us ample time before inquiring about a submission’s status. All submissions, whether fiction or nonfiction, are subject to spelling and grammar editing as well as to review for content. The Orion's Arm Universe Project retains the right to act as any other publication and decline submissions for either artistic or technical reasons.

Copyright and renumeration: (i'll definitely wait for more feedback about this part) 
Articles published by Orions Arm Universe Project are published by permission of the authors. Fiction which has appeared in other venues can be considered for OAUP, if it can be adapted to fit OA canon, in accordance with the rights of the author and all prior publishers. Any fiction published in OA can be removed upon request of the owner, at which time electronic rights revert to the owner.

All articles based on the Orion’s Arm canon are published in accordance with the Terms and Conditions of the OA project. In the event that negotiations for commercial rights to an author’s work occur after publication, the Board of Directors of the Orion’s Arm Universe Project is the point of contact for permission to use Orion’s Arm material for commercial purposes.

Save as set forth above, all other rights are retained by the author.

Link to stories by Author https://www.orionsarm.com/xcms.php?r=oa-...=by-author
Link to voices future tense issues https://www.orionsarm.com/page/516
Link to writing help https://www.orionsarm.com/xcms.php?r=oa-links
<eventually> maybe a Link to writer's FAQ about questions like "achailects dominate OA and angelnets stop 99% of modern problems how do i write about anything??"

Back to How to Contribute

o
This is fine, I think. We would want to be consistent with this across all the stories however. Are you comfortable going back into all the current stories and adding pub date and author to the top of each of them or would you like some help?

_____________

I think i'll be ok adding the dates and author info- unless it's something other than what's in the publishing information in the CMS

[Worldtree]

I'm about halfway done updating the fiction section with adding publishing dates + authors to the stories themselves (mostly to keep track of how out of date the canon might be)

This Story by Adam Getchell was missing from the stories by Author page
https://web.archive.org/web/201306270725...rstanding/

having trouble adding it -- keeps adding 'st_' automatically then saying '↑ Page names may only contain letters, numbers or _'

also a story called 'cloudless every day you fall' which is in the CMS but not on the site... but that one's barely canon so it's fine.

[Drashner1]

Do you want me to try loading it? Don't know that I'll have any better luck, but can give it a whirl. The 'st' bit is standard for the CMS to indicate a story. But not sure why it would be having trouble with the title.

Todd

[Worldtree]

Sure go for it

[Drashner1]

Sure go for it

Here you go - LINK

It's now in the Stories part of the Pages section of the CMS (Title = st_ag_certain_misunderstanding). It didn't give me any trouble loading it - although it needs some polishing - stuff that didn't carry over in the copy/paste like italics and such. Not sure why it was acting wonky for you.

I can clean it up this week if you want. Getting late here so going to hit the hay shortly.

Thanks!

Todd

[Worldtree]

Odd. yeah not sure why that minor _st glitch happens.

I formatted the story and added it to the stories by author under adam getchell.

Pretty sure I got all the publishing info into the stories, at least going by the oldest publishing date in the CMS or the dates/ issues I could find via the internet archive for Voices Future Tense.

[Worldtree]

Unrecovered short fiction: 'Midwinter' by Stephan Inniss (2012?) ? (couldn't access through the internet archive) if that matters.

[Drashner1]

Unrecovered short fiction: 'Midwinter' by Stephan Inniss (2012?)  ? (couldn't access through the internet archive) if that matters.

Midwinter is an original work created for the second OA fiction contest and book - After Tranquility. It was never intended to go up on the website, although we could set it up the same way as some of the stories we moved from the website to the book back in the day (Example - Bunny Love Has No Limits)

Thoughts?

Todd