1. How do I create a profile?
   
2. What are the rules for story submission?
   
3. Am I allowed to submit images?
   
4. How do I write a summary?
   
5. How do I submit a story?
   
6. Why do I get an HTTP 500/501 POST METHOD NOT IMPLEMENTED error when I try to submit my story?
   
7. How do I submit a multi-chapter story?
   
8. How many stories/chapters may I submit at one time?
   
9. To which category should I submit my story?
   
10. What are the warnings for stories? How do I add more than one warning?
    
11. What are the ratings for stories?
    
12. How long does it take to review my submissions?
    
13. Who reads my submissions?
    
14. Why was my story rejected?
    
15. How do readers review my stories?
    
16. How do I add a favorite story and/or author?
    
17. What are mods?
    
18. What is plagiarism/copyright infringement?
    
19. I don't understand some of the abbreviations--what do they mean?
    
20. Why was my fiction/profile deleted?
    
21. Why do I get a POST METHOD NOT IMPLEMENTED error when I try to edit my profile?
    
22. I noticed that I am listed as having author only 1 story although I have written ___ stories on MNFF. What's going on?
    
23. My submission was deleted, but I received no notification! What should I do?
    
24. What are the beta forums?
    
25. How do I contact a moderator?
    

Last updated: 28 July 2008

1. How do I create a profile?
   Click "Log In" on the left. In the new window, look for the word Register under the submit button. Put in as much information as you like--your penname and the e-mail address are the only required fields. Remember, information that you enter here will be made public. It is only necessary to hit the submit button once.
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2. What are the rules for story submission?
   
   • You must be at least thirteen years of age.
     
   • You must be submitting an original work. Do not plagiarize.
     
   • You must have proofread your submission - fictions with disproportionate spelling or grammatical errors to the length of the fiction will be rejected.
     
   • Chapters should be a minimum of 800 words long; prologues may be 500 words long, but they must be clearly marked as such. The majority of accepted fictions will be over 1000 words in length.
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3. Am I allowed to submit images?
   Unfortunately, you are not allowed to include images anywhere on the site. This includes summaries, stories, author notes, and author profiles.
   
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4. How do I write a summary?
   A summary should be reflective of the contents of your fiction. Therefore, write a very brief description of your fiction. An example for Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire might be, "In his fourth year at Hogwarts, Harry must face certain death numerous times as he competes in the newly revived Triwizard Tournament." Do not write incorrect summaries that do not apply to the submission ("Harry marries Hermione and changes his name to Howard Plumley"). The summary is also not an appropriate place to address your readers with unrelated messages or pleas for reviews. Please put messages of this nature in your user profile, as these remarks will be removed when the fiction is validated.
   
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5. How do I submit a story?
   Once you have created a profile and logged in, click the Your Account link. Then click "Add New Story." Please remember that you may only submit one chapter of a story at a time--wait for an approval or rejection letter before submitting the next chapter.
   
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6. How do I submit a multi-chapter story?
   Currently, we are only accepting one chapter at a time. Please wait until you receive approval or rejection before submitting subsequent chpaters. After your first chapter receives approval, log in and click Your Account. Click "Add New Chapter" and select the story in the drop-down box.
   
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7. Why do I get an HTTP 500/501 POST METHOD NOT IMPLEMENTED error when I try to submit my story?
   The HTTP 500/501 error is caused most often by an error in your HTML. Double-check your HTML for any unclosed brackets or other errors. Sometimes the error is caused by a long hyphen. Try removing all hyphens and submit again. Rarely, an error is caused by a word or phrase. Try copying and pasting your chapter a little at a time to pinpoint the exact word or phrase that causes the error.
   
   Authors have noticed that the longer their chapter is, the more likely it is you will encounter this error. If none of the solutions above help, try submitting your chapter in two parts.
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8. How many stories/chapters may I submit at one time?
   You may only submit one chapter of a story at a time--future chapters will only be deleted if the moderators have not yet approved your first chapter. You may submit a second story to MuggleNet Fan Fiction if it is in a different category for a maximum of two chapters in queue at any one time, but we suggest that you wait to see if your first is accepted or rejected. Chances are, if your first submission has multiple problems, your second may as well.
   
   If you are co-authoring a story with another user, please note that the primary user (the user who is going to submit the story) cannot have more than one submission in the queue at the time. Otherwise, your co-authored story will be deleted as well as the primary user's other submissions.
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9. To which category should I submit my story?
   Select your category carefully -- this is the best way to attract readers for your story. Choose the category that your fiction most resembles -- if your fiction is a mystery, but includes Draco and Ginny as a couple, classify it as a mystery. You may choose to include in the summary details that make readers aware of other categories your story addresses. By the same token, if the mystery/Draco/Ginny piece is primarily a love story with the mystery as a minor plot point, classify it as a romance. DO NOT classify your story incorrectly with the intent of drawing in readership under false pretenses. We will either correct the category or send the fiction back to you to correct. DO NOT submit to multiple categories.

   Do NOT submit in the Romance category itself or the General category AND a sub-category (i.e., Mystery). For those struggling with category selection here's a quick run-through:Highlight the romance category in the category selection drop down menu. Once you have done that, the drop-down menu will change and reveal all the sub-categories for that specific category. You then need to click on the drop-down menu again and select the appropriate sub-category. Only when the sub-category is highlighted in the catgeory selection box do you hit select. There should now be a category in the larger box below the drop down menu. If there is more than one category showing then you have done it incorrectly, and you need to clear the form and start again.

   
   
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10. What are the warnings for stories? How do I add more than one for each story?
    Warnings are special disclaimers to help notify readers of potentially disturbing stories. For more on the warnings and ratings system, please visit this page.
    
    To add more than one warning per story, you'll need to hold the CTRL key while you select your warnings.
    
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11. What are the ratings for stories?
    For more on content ratings and warnings, please go here. A note on posting reviews--do not flame or you will be deleted. Flaming is responding (via e-mail or a review) in a way that is clearly meant to be inflammatory and offensive (in other words, to make you mad). Profanity and direct insults of ANY nature are not acceptable. If you receive a flame in an e-mail or a review, please contact a moderator so that we may take the appropriate measures.
    
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12. How long does it take to review my submissions?
    This is dependent upon several factors: the number of fictions in the queue, the number of moderators reading at the time you submit, and the length of your fiction. Once a moderator begins viewing your fiction, it is usually a matter of minutes for a determination to be made. The time required for turnaround can be reduced if authors follow the guideline of submitting only one chapter of a story at a time. Currently, the average time a story is in queue is seven days. Please only contact a moderator with a polite email when you are certain your story has been in the queue for more than 10 days. Thank you for your patience.
    
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13. Who reads my submissions?
    Your submissions are currently moderated by the following people: NikkiSue (Nikki), Phoenix5225 (Kim), mudbloodproud (Terri), mugglemathdork (Ritta), luinrina (Bine), coolh5000 (Hannah), TheBlackSister (Alice), Karaley Dargen (Kara),Viv (Viv), ToBeOrNotToBeAGryffindor (Jess). If you have worked with a specific moderator and would like her to review your next chapter or story, please put a NOTE at the top of the body of the story, NOT the Author note box, to let the other moderators know. If you need to e-mail one of us, that's fine. However, we do ask that you do not send blanket e-mails to all moderators. If you have a legitimate question or concern, e-mail away. We can't read general e-mails ("Hey, how are you?") as we are VERY BUSY reading your submissions.
    
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14. Why was my story rejected?
    There are any of number of reasons your story may not have been accepted by the staff. Some frequent reasons include:
    • Your fiction lacked a plotline or adequate setting/detail. Get help with writing plot and setting/detail.
      
    • Your fiction had a disproportionate number of spelling/grammatical errors. Get help with grammar & punctuation
      
    • Your fiction did not give credit to outside sources (this is considered plagiarism or copyright infringement).
      
    • Your fiction was deemed NC-17. See rating descriptions.
      
    • Your fiction was not properly researched/contained canon errors. Unless your fiction is written to be AU (alternate universe), please take the time to find out how character names are spelled and the such like. Don't understand those terms? See our Dictionary of Terms.
      
    • Your fiction did not meet the level of quality set for fictions at MuggleNet. Please read the suggestions given by the moderator in the e-mail you received. You may also want to read the various essays available in the writer's tips section.
      
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15. How do readers review my stories?
    Once your story has been posted, readers will be able to click a "reviews" link and type a short review of your story. If you see that a review is inappropriate, please contact a member of the staff.
    
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16. How do I add a favorite story and/or author?
    There are "Add Story to Favorites" and "Add Author to Favorites" options at the bottom of each story listing as well as at the bottom of each chapter in a drop-down box.
    
    Once you select the appropriate option, you will be led to a page where you may put in a comment or two about why you like the particular story/author. This will allow people who look at your favorites to also see the reason why the story/author is on your list. You do not have to write a comment to favorite a story/author; you may simply press "Submit" with the comment box empty if you wish.
    
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17. What are mods?
    "Mods" is an abbreviation for moderators. The moderators currently include NikkiSue (Nikki), Phoenix5225 (Kim), mudbloodproud (Terri), mugglemathdork (Ritta), luinrina (Bine), coolh5000 (Hannah), TheBlackSister (Alice), Karaley Dargen (Kara),Viv (Viv), ToBeOrNotToBeAGryffindor (Jess).
    
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18. What is plagiarism/copyright infringement?
    You cannot copy material directly from JKR (or any other author or film, for that matter). This includes titles! She has lawyers, the WB has lawyers, Scholastic and Bloomsbury have lawyers--and you probably don't. If you really want to refer back to something in JKR's books, you MUST quote her and put a footnote at the bottom of the chapter. For example: "Quote quote quote"* *Page 113, Goblet of Fire. That being said, JKR owns the characters as well. Why is fan fiction okay? Well, your fictions are based on her characters - and you're not trying to make any money. Using her titles, though, is clearly copying.
    
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19. I don't understand some of the terms - what do they mean?
    We have collected a Dictionary of Terms to help you understand abbreviations and other terms moderators or users may mention.
    
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20. Why was my fiction/profile deleted?
    If you are caught posting someone else's work as your own, your profile (and the submission) will be deleted. If you break any of our rules more than once, your profile will be deleted. Whenever your profile is deleted, you will receive notification via email. If you did not receive an email with the specific reasons why your account was deleted, please send an email to one of the moderators.
    
    Rejected fictions are always deleted - please save your work on your hard drive or on disk. Moderators do not save a copy of your fiction. If your fiction disappears without notice, and you believe it to be an error, please contact a moderator (preferably the one who approved your fiction). He or she may be able to provide you with an answer. Remember to always attach your penname and story title to help the moderator remember your story. Also, please wait if your fiction does not appear immediately after receiving a "yes" letter. Check back in a day or two before e- mailing us.
    
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21. Why do I get a POST METHOD NOT IMPLEMENTED error when I try to edit my profile?
    At the moment, our system does not support images in user bios. We are trying our best to have this feature reinstated. If you need to change anything on your profile page, including your password, you will need to remove all images from your bio. We apologize for this inconvenience.
    
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22. I noticed that I am listed as having author only 1 story although I have written ___ stories on MNFF. What's going on?
    The co-author feature is new on MNFF. There are still a few kinks to iron out. We are currently working on a solution.
    
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23. My submission was deleted, but I received no notification! What should I do?
    First, check to see if you had broken a rule. Reread the submissions rules. The most commonly broken rules that get a story rejected without a notification letter are multiple submissions and multiple chapters. If you submitted in more than one category (for example, Romance and James/Lily), your story will be deleted without notice. If you submitted more than one chapter of the same story, all your chapters will be deleted without notice. If you submitted more than two chapters in two different categories, all your chapters will be deleted.
    
    Also, some email providers automatically mark emails from Mugglenet as spam. Check your spam folder and your spam settings. Sometimes, email providers will withhold Mugglenet emails entirely. If this happens, you are advised to get another email account with reliable email providers such as Yahoo, Gmail, or Mugglenet.
    
    If you're sure you didn't break any of the rules and you have switched to a dependable email provider, please post in the "I Didn't Get a Rejection Letter" thread. All moderators check that thread, and the one who had rejected your story will either contact you with the reason behind your rejection or will ask you to please resubmit.
    
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24. What are the beta forums?
    Sometimes a moderator will suggest that you find a beta to help improve your story. A beta reader is a proof-reader who not only corrects any of your writing mistakes but also gives you an opinion of your story from a reader's point of view. The Mugglenet Fan Fiction Beta Forums offer betaing services, challenges, peer help and advice, and much more. For more information please see this page.
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25. How do I contact a moderator?
    To contact a moderator, use the information provided on his or her profile page. You can view a list of moderators here.
    
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