For some reason, this doesn't seem to be in the FAQ--and it should be
(Gary, take notes)--so I just wanted to say a few words about flooding.

So, you've written a fanfic, it's in several parts, and you just found the
courage to post it to the FFML. Eager to have your masterpiece read, you
hurriedly post all 49 parts to the FFML, in separate posts. They'll be
amazed! They'll be astounded! They'll be enthused! They'll...

Toss the whole fucker into the delete bin.

Yes, friends, it's true. A lot of people do *not* appreciate flood posting
of fanfics. Posting multiple consecutive parts of a fanfic, in separate
posts, all at once, is more likely to annoy than to endear. Floodposting
tends to spam up inboxes, devour bandwidth, cause already-lengthy mail
download times to be longer, and in some cases, may exceed mail quotas,
which causes bounces, which are a general nuisance in any event.

But you really, really want people to read your fic! What should you do?

Here are a couple of simple solutions:

1. Try posting the whole thing in one message, unless it's over 200kb. Some
mail systems limit your outgoing mail size, so this may not be an option.
If this is the case, then...

2. Break up your flood and post it over time. Say you have a 10 part
fanfic. Go ahead and post the first two parts. Wait 12 to 18 hours. Post
the next two parts. Wait 12 to 18 hours. Post the next two. And so forth,
and so on, until the whole thing's posted. This not only gives potential
readers time to read and comment on each part as it comes across, it
increases the number of potential readers (no flood deletes, and reviews of
earlier parts might entice others to read it who might not have otherwise).

Besides, what's the point of posting it all at once? I would imagine the
majority of the FFML subscribers simply do not have the time to read
several parts of a fanfic all at once. They're more likely to stay with it
if you give it to them in smaller doses, rather than in one inbox-flooding
enema.

Okay, rant mode off. Back to your regularly scheduled spam...

---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Shareena: "Ugh, what's with this test? 'If you could
pick one Pokemon, what would it be, and why?' Puh-lease.
...what did you put, Duncan?"
Duncan's yo-yo: 'C-A-T-E-R-P-I-E'
Shareena: "Okay...and why?"
Duncan's yo-yo: 'S-T-R-I-N-G-S-H-O-T'
Shareena: "...figures."

The Eternal Lost Lurker
SeeD Rank 8
(Time ta dance, time ta dance! Dance, sucka!)
WWJD: What Would Jigglypuff Do?
lurkerdrome@megami.net
http://lurkerdrome.megami.net

The way to a man's heart is through his shorts.