Divide categories evenly between mods (or have all mods moderate all categories)

May I just point out that no fiction can jump the queue by being placed in the wrong category. If a moderator reads a fiction that belongs in MWPP but has been placed in General just to skip the queue, we will delete it. We have categories for a reason and I am sincerely worried if you think this is not happening.

Different categories have different speeds because they are more specialist and require more specialist strengths from the moderators involved. It physically takes longer to check a romance fiction over it's general counterpart because different techniques are used in the writing and these techniques need refining slightly more.

I completely understand how frustrating it is to have a fiction in the queue for a very long time, but if you got 29 chapters of one fiction through the queue and only a dozen chapters of the other I'm afraid I'm going to have to congratulate the moderators on managing to moderate this amount rather than scold them on being slow.

It can take months for a single chapter to go through the queue, not only because of the moderators but because of author edits (which send the chapter further back) and rejections and resubmissions.

If we have limited moderators on specific categories, your fiction has a greater chance of being read as a whole by one moderator allowing that moderator to offer you good advice on how the plot of your fiction is developing as well as basic character and writing skills.

Having everyone mod every category would slow us down rather than speed us up. Mistakes would happen where two or more moderators handle the same chapter at the same time, sometimes mixing validation and rejection on the same fic because of differing opinions and moderating skills. Some mods would moderate less thinking that the others would pick up the slack and you would not get the standard of writing care that MNFF prides itself on.

If you want faster queue times, I suggest posting on a site without a queue.

We are doing our best in a very difficult situation and your support would be appreciated.

I'm very sorry if you felt a response in "Ask a Moderator" was unhelpful, perhaps you could try the Navy or contact a specific category moderator if your question is about a fiction. These have always been our guidelines, we have always had these standards and we will not be changing them any time soon.

As a former mod, I can attest to what Rosie has posted above. There is no way that having each mod moderate each category can help the situation - it will only make it worse.

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Having everyone mod every category would slow us down rather than speed us up. Mistakes would happen where two or more moderators handle the same chapter at the same time, sometimes mixing validation and rejection on the same fic because of differing opinions and moderating skills.

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This is probably one of the biggest reasons why this method that is being requested can not work. There are currently about ten moderators on MNFF. If each of these moderators were given permission to mod any category of their choice, confusion and irritation would ensue. More than one mod may be modding a story at once. While the other may accept it, another would reject. The author would receive both a validation and a rejection letter. Now you've got another issue and you've left the author in the middle, not knowing where their story stand. This will only cause more problems. I know there have been times when I was in the queue and talking to another mod and we were looking at the same story at the same time because they had passed the 7-10 day mark. There's no way that all of the mods can go in a chatroom at the same time while moderating to make sure that more than one person doesn't look at one story. You have to remember that these mods do have a RL apart from the website and are volunteers. They don't have to do this. They are doing it for you guys and they are indeed trying their hardest. Not to mention that some of the mods live halfway across the country...

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Different categories have different speeds because they are more specialist and require more specialist strengths from the moderators involved. It physically takes longer to check a romance fiction over it's general counterpart because different techniques are used in the writing and these techniques need refining slightly more.

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Also agreed! This also ties in with mods deleting a chapter because of what they think is OCC and another mod accepting it. The mods of these categories know the stories being submitted. They are familiar with it. If another mod simply jumped in in the middle of a WIP, they may view things differently because they were moderating it since it's start.

The queue is not a race - getting up a story is not a race. Quality over quantity. If you are submitting to the queue because you want to get the most stories up in the least amount of time, there are many other fanfiction sites that do not have high quality stories as MNFF does and also no queue. I would recommend one of those.

And also about bypassing the queue, I can attest that that can not happen. I have deleted stories in the queue simply because they were in the wrong category.

What you also have to remember is that the number of stories in the queue can range. There can be less than 100 in one day and in the next about 200. And now it is up to ten mods to get these done, tend to their school work and activities, children (for some), and other things occurring.

Patience is the key.

May I add a dose of flippancy to the discussion?

I'm not a mod. I have never applied to be a mod, and would be reluctant to apply in the future (though potentially I might if the need/free time was right). It's an extremely difficult and largely thankless position, and even when I discuss things cynically I always have the greatest of respect for the mods.

That said, if I was a mod, I might be persuaded to cover genres I was interested in. That doesn't mean it's going to be easy or, necessarily, much fun. As a reader, if I don't like a fiction, or it covers ground I'm seen walked before (and that's inevitable), then I stop reading. If you're examining something for the queue, you don't have that luxury. Sure, I might not enjoy reading 60% of the Dark/Angsty fics that come from the queue, but at least there's 40% enjoyment - unless I'm tired or have things I'd rather be doing.

Now, force me to mod one of the romance pairings. (Personal lack of preference there)

That 40% enjoyment just dropped down to about 1%. How long am I going to last on that? I'd probably be tempted to leave if it was a paid position. But it's not a paid position. It's a hobby. A hobby that grants 1% enjoyment and 99% irritation and frustration? How long is anyone going to stick with that. I'd give it a few days before I dropped out completely, and I'd be well within my rights to do so.

Given our already short list of mods (who are overworked and, for all the compliments like this, underappreciated), implementing something like this would be suicide. Sure, in an ideal world all queues would move equally. Unfortunately, that just isn't going to happen. It's doubtless a pain as a reader or writer, but it's the way things here are going to work. If a particular queue is moving too slowly for you, then, as Roxy said, perhaps that fiction would be better placed on a site without a queue. You know, the ones we don't go on because the quality of writing within is largely awful.

Of course, there is one slight issue that might compromise my integrity here.

All I write is general. :rolleyes:

At the end of the day, waiting a few extra days for your story to get through the queue isn't going to kill you, is it?

Plus, the idea of one giant queue goign at a constant speed might be nice, but wouldn't that mean that there's just more fics ahead of you? So the queue would be even longer?

~Evie

Inverarity while your request sounds reasonable enough I must agree that I think the current set up works best. Your readers WILL wait for updates, I promise. I am one of those authors that will update a story 2-3 times a year (if Im lucky) and those readers that have favorited my story always come read it.

The best solution to your current problem is to always put a note with your submitted chapter to have the same mod read every chapter. So lets say Roxy mods yur current chapter and it goes through, as soon as you receive that email go upoad the next chapter with a bolded message that sayes "PLEASE LET ROXY MOD THIS". She will beome familliar with your story and it won't take her nearly as long when she sees the chapters come through. (I don't know which cat Roxy mods I just used her as an example)

And while it may seem that EVERYONE and their dog submits to general and gets through, it's not true. Most people don't know where to submit their story and that is why general is so big. It is frustrating to have to wait, we have all been there, but your readers will still be there, watching and waiting for your next update. ;)