R E C . A R T S . C O M I C S . C R E A T I V E
P R E S E N T S
F R E Q U E N T L Y A S K E D Q U E S T I O N S
Version 1.0
Last revised 10/26/97
FAQ Maintainer:
Mike Escutia
Updates and Changes:
- Added more questions.
- Improved and updated some of the answers.
- We are now at version 1.0. Rejoice!
This FAQ is being posted to the Usenet newsgroups
rec.arts.comics.creative,
alt.comics.lnh, and
rec.arts.comics.info.
A copy of it is also available via the Web at
http://www.eyrie.org/~ergh/RACC-Presents/rpfaq.html.
Contents:
What is RACC Presents?
What types of stories can be written for RACC Presents?
Can I use another writer's characters?
What imprints can have stories in RACC Presents?
Is there only one slot available for stories in the [MISC] imprint?
How long should story submissions be?
Are multi-part stories allowed?
When can I send my submission in?
How many stories will be in each issue?
Okay, I liked a particular story. How can I find out more about its
imprint?
What newsgroups will RACC Presents be posted to?
Is there a website and/or FTP site for RACC Presents?
How will I know when the newest issue of RACC Presents is being
posted?
How frequently will RACC Presents be posted?
So who's the editor in charge of all this?
Why?
------------------------------------------------------------
1. What is RACC Presents?
RACC Presents (henceforth known as RP) is an anthology that celebrates
the diversity and creativity found on rec.arts.comics.creative. Unlike
previous anthologies which have been for only single imprints, RP does
not discriminate against any imprints, as long as they are appropriate
to RACC.
2. What types of stories can be written for RACC Presents?
There are four different types of stories that you can write:
- A story featuring your own characters from a series that you're
currently writing that appears on RACC.
- A story set in an imprint (universe) that you've written in already,
even if you're using brand-new characters. This means you can't use RP
to start writing for an imprint you havn't written in before.
- A story that stands completely on its own, with no connection to any
of your previous work.
- A preview of an upcoming series or storyline.
The most important thing is that stories should be appropriate to RACC.
Fan-fiction involving copyrighted characters is not
allowed, and stories should be in good taste. See the RACC FAQ at
[Insert URL here] for more information on what types of stories are
appropriate to RACC.
3. Can I use another writer's characters?
Not without permission, and then only if you've already written stories
set in that universe. Also, it'd probably cause more confusion than
you'd like, as new readers will associate the characters with the wrong
writers. So we (the editorial we, that is) don't recommend doing it
unless you know what you're doing.
4. What imprints can have stories in RACC Presents?
Any of the imprints on RACC can be represented in RACC Presents. The
anthology does not discriminate against imprints based on genre or
seniority (or lack thereof). However, there can only be one story per
imprint per issue. Basically, this is to allow for the greatest variety
of stories within any given issue, while at the same time being fair to
all imprints.
If you're planning on contributing to an issue, you need to sign up in
advance to reserve a slot, as well as to have first claim on the imprint
you're writing in. To do so, just send email to the editor letting them
know that you wish to reserve a slot. Please be sure to mention what
imprint you'll be writing in! Once an imprint is "in use" for an issue,
any and all subsequent submissions for it for that issue will be rejected.
There is an available openings page that lists
how many slots have been taken and which imprints are in use. It is
recommended that you check this list before reserving a slot.
If all goes well, each issue will have at least one imprint, hopefully
more, that is making its RP debut. Whether or not this actually happens
is something that will have to be seen.
5. Is there only one slot available for stories in the [MISC]
imprint?
Nope. Series that normally fall under [MISC] are in their own individual
imprints, so don't think you're competing with other Misc. series for a
slot. (As a side note, I would -love- to do an all-Misc. issue once
RACC Presents is established.)
6. How long should story submissions be?
Ideally, stories should be 250 lines or shorter in length, though you
can go up to 300 lines if necessary. If you have to go over that length,
it might be better to post your story separately.
Please note that all stories appearing in RP will be reformatted to
remove blank lines between paragraphs, with an indentation of five spaces
being used to mark the beginning of a new paragraph. This is primarily
to avoid the confusion that sudden changes in formatting can result in,
but it also has the side effect of shortening the number of lines a story
takes up. In other words, your story may still fit within 250 lines,
even if it's longer when you finish writing it.
7. Are multi-part stories allowed?
Ideally, we'd like to have each issue of RP be as stand-alone as possible,
so that new readers aren't completely lost. However, we'd also like to
have one multi-part story running as a way of introducing readers to the
concept of serialized stories (an important thing on RACC). At this time,
we don't have any such story lined up, but we hope to rectify that soon.
8. When can I send my submission in?
To keep us from drowning in submissions, submissions for a future issue
will not be accepted until after the current issue has been posted. A
Call For Stories will be made on the website shortly after the current
issue has been posted to there. We ask that you not send us submissions
before then, as it gives us more work to do.
9. How many stories will be in each issue?
Right now, we're planning on having seven stories in the first issue,
with subsequent issues depending on how the first does. The idea is to
allow for as much variety as possible.
It should be noted that the last slot for each issue is reserved for the
editor, so that he or she can contribute a story of their own. The
editor has the option to pass for a particular issue, at which point the
slot will be freed up for others to use.
10. Okay, I liked a particular story. How can I find out more about its
imprint?
Each issue of RACC Presents will have a reference list that will give
more information about the imprints represented, including a website
(if known) and FTP address. If you want to find out more about a
particular story's imprint, the best thing to do would be to check out
its website, if there is one. You can also send email to the writer
of the story if you want.
11. What newsgroups will RACC Presents be posted to?
RP will only be posted to two newsgroups,
rec.arts.comics.creative and
alt.comics.lnh. It does not belong on
any other comics-related groups, and thus will not be posted to any.
12. Is there a website and/or FTP site for RACC Presents?
Yup. The website, maintained by Mike Escutia, can be found at:
http://www.eyrie.org/~ergh/RACC-Presents/
It includes an HTMLized copy of this FAQ, and will include all of the
issues of the series. The website will also have a page devoted to
the current "upcoming" issue that will list what imprints are going to
be represented in that issue and how many slots are still available.
This is mainly for contributors who want to check to see if they can
write something in any given imprint for that issue.
For those FTP users out there, RACC Presents is available at the Eyrie,
as part of the
rec.arts.comics.creative FTP
archives, at:
ftp://ftp.eyrie.org/pub/racc/racc-presents/
The files are gzipped, so you will need to use a file-uncompression
program that can handle gzipped files, such as gunzip. Alternatively,
you can simply leave the .gz extension off; this tells the Eyrie FTP
daemon to automatically unzip the file for you.
13. How will I know when the newest issue of RACC Presents is being
posted?
An announcement will be posted one advance to certain newsgroups. It
will give not only the date of the actual posting, but also the URLs for
both the website and the ftpsite. The posting dates will also be
announced on the website.
The announcement will be posted to the following newsgroups:
- rec.arts.comics.creative
- alt.comics.lnh
- rec.arts.comics.info
- alt.comics.fan-fiction
This is a tentative list, and is subject to change over the coming
months.
14. How frequently will RACC Presents be posted?
Right now, we're planning on posting monthly, with a possible change to
bi-monthly depending on how the first few issues go. It will never be
more frequently than monthly, though.
15. So who's the editor in charge of all this?
The current editor is
Mike Escutia
(ergh@eyrie.org), who also came up
with the idea of RACC Presents in the first place. Mike is a longtime
contributor to both RACC and its sister newsgroup, alt.comics.lnh,
having written his first story in late 1992. He is the author of several
series, including Pliable Lad (LNH), The Hero Patrol
(Superguy), Adventures in Heroing (Superguy), Tapestry
(Crossroads), and Memoirs of a Pliable Lad. He also has a few
projects in the works that he can't tell you about just yet. Most of
his writing can be found on his
writing pages.
In the future, there may be an associate editor for RP, but there hasn't
been any decision made about it yet.
16. Why?
Why not?
-fin-
Copyright (c) 1997 Mike Escutia, all rights reserved.
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