Join the Community to Honor Portalarium and Book Publishing! The SotA Community First Series in R19

Discussion in 'The Library' started by Vyrin, Jun 10, 2015.

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  1. Vyrin

    Vyrin Avatar

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    Many of us are extremely excited for book publishing to go live. A recent tweet from Lord British himself indicates this might be possible in R19, subject of course to the normal disclaimers.

    Therefore it's time for a community-wide and community-run writing project: The SotA Community First Series! We hope this will be counted as the first player created series of the game, and that it will start with the whole "community first".

    The idea is simple. We want as many members of the community to offer one piece of writing each. This can be a story, poem, character back story, song, etc. Post your submission in The SotA Community First Series submission thread. Everyone can contribute! It only makes sense that you do not publish a piece of writing that will already be published by Portalarium (from one of the contests). However, feel free to submit something you've already written.

    This series will come at an important time when we can join our efforts to reflect the progress of the game and the strength of the community. It will hopefully honor Portalarium for the hard work of getting us to this point.

    Submissions can be made until midnight CST before the public release date of June 25. (This would be the night of June 24/morning of June 25). There is a chance book publishing will not be in R19. In that case, we will simply extend the deadline.

    Once the release goes live, every author remains the publisher of their own work. No one person or group "owns" the series. You are responsible for printing copies of your writing submission, or finding someone to do it. Then players will trade their books in game to try to collect them all. There will be book trading meetings and parties hopefully! It can become an R19 quest! That is the beauty of this effort, you will most likely want to encounter the other authors in game to collect all the volumes.

    At midnight on the 24th, I will randomly assign volume numbers to help keep track of our entries and what we've created. When you publish your work in R19, please add "SotA Community First Series, Volume #" to whatever title (or lack of title) you have for your work.

    Once there is a wipe, or finally when Episode 1 is released, each player can recreate their books, and make it a persistent part of the game world. In Episode 1 it will be a great retrospective of the active writing community at the time. Hopefully it will also be a great player-created collector's item!

    This thread will be for questions and discussing the series. Please submit your writing in the submission thread:

    https://www.shroudoftheavatar.com/f...mmunity-first-series-submission-thread.29891/

    Let's see what the community can do! Honor Portalarium! Encourage your friends!
     
    Last edited: Jun 18, 2015
  2. Vyrin

    Vyrin Avatar

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    FAQ

    Are people limited to one entry each?

    Yes, we would like all members of the community to have the chance to be represented equally.

    Must it be a previously unseen work?

    No. If you have posted it on the forum before, you can use it here. However, we would ask that books being published by Portalarium (contest winners, e.g.) are not used here.

    Is this a Round Table project?

    No. It is owned by the community. You can use the RT if you want to work on your stories in advance of submitting them.

    Is there a word limit?

    Stories will only be limited by the eventual length of what Port. allows, which we do not know yet. Play it safe, and don't include something that might be cut off! A suggestion: 2000 words.

    Who will publish my story?

    You will do so with your own press, or you can ask someone else to do it for you. We can't prevent others creating books with your text since it is on the SotA forum, but we would like to follow the honor system. This will also promote community interaction since others will most likely have to connect with you or your agents to get a copy of your book.

    How will I identify my story?

    We would like the title to begin with "SotA Community First Series Volume #". A volume number will be assigned to you randomly once the book publishing date arrives. You can add whatever title you like after that.

    Will there be opportunities to find others to trade books?

    Yes, we would like to organize book parties for authors to trade their works. Anyone can feel free to do so at any time.

    What happens if there is a wipe?

    Such might happen, and will surely happen before release. After a wipe, books can be republished, but most certainly will be once Episode 1 begins.

    What is the deadline?

    The deadline for submission of stories is midnight CST on June 24. The end of the day before R19 goes live. If book publishing gets delayed, we will push back the deadline.

    What if I can't make it into R19 but still want to participate?

    You can still submit a writing sample. Ask a friend to publish it for you in R19 so it's available. I would be happy to help do so, just send me a PM.
     
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  3. Gabriel Nightshadow

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    Hmm...sounds very interesting o_O I will try and come up a relatively short story after I complete the script for Shadows of PaxLair ;)
     
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  4. Themo Lock

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    I will enter the first piece i wrote with the intent to publish, seems fitting.
     
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  5. Vyrin

    Vyrin Avatar

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    Thanks for getting us started Themo! I'm hoping we eventually have dozens and dozens of people contribute - it would be great to get over 100!
     
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  6. Womby

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    I have entered the strangest poem I have ever written. :)
     
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  7. Themo Lock

    Themo Lock Avatar

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    love it :)
     
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  8. Gabriel Nightshadow

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    I love it too, although I think I may have accidentally killed some of your offspring last night in Deep Ravenswood :oops: I thought those spiders looked a bit odd :rolleyes:
     
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  9. Fionwyn Wyldemane

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    Count me in!
     
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  10. Kara Brae

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    The entries so far are all spectacular fun reading!! I'm afraid to contribute because...

    Roses are red
    Violets are blue
    I can't write
    As good as you :confused:

    I will try to come up with something nevertheless :cool:
     
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  11. Fionwyn Wyldemane

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    I love that poem. The last line gets me every time...LOL!!!
     
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  12. Ariella Shadowdancer

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    Same here, but I will try and come up with something too..
     
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  13. Vyrin

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    The goal is to try to get as many people to contribute as possible.... so please consider it. If you want help or review, just let me know. Always happy to review and edit so that your creativity shines!
     
  14. Duke Gréagóir

    Duke Gréagóir Legend of the Hearth

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    I posted something earlier in here today saying "I posted something. I hope you all like it" or something like that. That posting is now gone.

    Gremlins!
     
  15. Vyrin

    Vyrin Avatar

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    Well, the answer is yes! And thanks for contributing!
     
  16. Sophi

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    I'd like to say thank you to Vyrin and Writing Round Table. Vyrin and the other authors' feedback on my writing efforts has been and continues to be truly invaluable. My offerings are always better for their suggestions, and I've learned a lot from Vyrin in particular. Even with a tremendous amount on his plate he has always given a moment for the writers at WRT, and his comments are always constructive and never derogatory. My real hope for him is that he finds himself a couple of proofreaders as good as he is, because I've noticed a considerable increase in postings over there! LOL
    Thank you Vyrin!
    Thank you Writing Round Table!

    Can't wait for all the publishing houses in E1!!
    :D
     
  17. Raven Swiftbow

    Raven Swiftbow Bug Hunter

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    I do have a question that has never been adequately answered (to my knowledge) by the Devs.

    We know that the Fall took place a long time from the time The Blade of the Avatar book is set. But what is the relationship of The Blade of the Avatar to the world that we will be living in when the game goes live?

    i.e. - as you might have seen, I set my story about Raven at approximately the same time or perhaps after the time in which The Blade of the Avatar is written. I think a number of us are assuming that that The Blade of the Avatar is at least "somewhat" recent history.

    Does anyone know this for certain?
     
  18. Bowen Bloodgood

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    BotA takes place about "in the middle" between Year 0 after Shardfall and year 400. So figure BotA takes place around the range of 180-220 PC (Post Cataclysm). No specific date has ever been given.
     
  19. Raven Swiftbow

    Raven Swiftbow Bug Hunter

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    Okay. Thanks. Didn't they recently tell us what year we were in currently? Do you know what that date is? (Now I'll have to hunt through threads to find that one, lol)
     
  20. Bowen Bloodgood

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    According to the game.. the current year is 463.. but the game calendar runs at a 26 to 1 time ratio. I wouldn't use game speed as a basis for anything. If you need to reference a date my advice would be just use whatever feels right. No player is going to perceive time passing that quickly. Especially when NPCs don't age.
     
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