Below are the submission criteria for sending your work to RPGamer. Following these criteria will greatly increase your chances of having your work read by Amber and the editorial team. If you do not follow these rules for format and submission, your file will most likely be returned to you with a pointer to these tips.

Requirements

Tips

Submitting Work

When you're ready to submit your work to us, please list both the title of your story and the game that it's based on in the subject line of your message. This makes it easier for us to identify your particular story in our inboxes, distinguishing it from all the other messages that have titles like "my story". A good example would be: "[Xenogears] Shadows Falling" or "Shadows Falling (Xenogears)".

In the body of the message, be sure to include your name and your email address, as well as a brief description of your story and any additional information you want us to be aware of when we read your story.

You don't need to do anything special with the file name, as we will most likely change it before it is added to the page.

An example submission screenshot is provided to the right.

Acceptable Formats

Your story MUST BE SENT AS AN ATTACHMENT to your email. We cannot stress this enough. Stories that are sent in the text of the email will be returned to you with a request for you to send it as an attachment.

Due to a change in technical arrangements, the current file types that will be accepted for review are:

• HTML (.html) -- for files that require formatting (italics, etc)
  
• Text (.txt) -- for files that do not require formatting
  
• URLs -- if you absolutely cannot attach a file
  
  

Page Format

You should choose one of two paragraphing styles; either a single space between paragraphs plus a tab (five spaces) at the beginning of each paragraph, or a double space between paragraphs and no tab at the beginning. Whichever style you choose, be consistent throughout the document.

At the beginning of the document, please add your name, email address, and the story's title, as shown below:

Title of Story
Your Name
Your Email Address

For examples, check the stories in the archives.

Story Format

Work that we do not consider: stories in script format, songs, history or other timelines, or quotes. The last two have their own sections, while the others do not quite fit the definition of fan fiction. Poetry is fine, as is material containing yaoi or shounen-ai themes, but all work must be in good taste to be considered.

Also not considered are works in progress; we will not feature a story until it is completed. Selfcontained stories that are part of a larger whole will be considered, but please be sure that the part you send us has a full resolution or "ending" that makes it standalone.

Here are a few "do"s and "don't"s to help you in writing your story. These are all elements we look for in accepting or rejecting a submission. Additional help from fellow authors can be found in our Writing Tips section.

• Don't rewrite scenes from the game you've based your story upon, even if you've changed the dialogue or added on a few extra paragraphs of description. Most of your readers will have already played the game, and will be familiar with the scene you're describing; stories that are nothing but the same scene re-told usually fail to keep the audience's attention.
• Don't use the same plot that has been told before in other people's stories; find something fresh and original to focus upon. Here's a hint -- if you've read a story with a plot that's similar to yours, make yours contain something new and compelling. See our list of cliched plots below.
• Don't force the characters to act in ways that aren't consistent with the game. Try to keep your characters speaking and behaving in a way similar to their actions in the game.
• Do run your word processor's spell-check function on your file, but don't trust it completely. Spell checkers are notoriously bad at finding errors such as "your/you're" and "their/they're/there", and can often confuse homonyms such as "reign/rein/rain".
• Do proofread your story for grammar as well. There are a number of good grammar sites on the Web; the most often-used one is Strunk and White's Elements of Style. Consult an expert if you're really not sure. Spelling and grammar do count!
• Do be willing to write for lesser-known games and deal with lesser-known characters. Write a story for the games that aren't often dealt with, like Wild ARMs or Kartia, or write about characters from popular games that are often ignored, like FF7's Marlene or the navigator from Xenogears -- or most of the characters from Suikoden, for that matter! Part of the joy of fanfiction is reading about characters and situations that the game didn't touch upon.
• Do make sure your story has been carefully plotted -- given a beginning, a middle, and an end. Show us how your characters grow and change.
• And above all, DO have fun! If the author enjoys writing the story, there's a better chance the reader will enjoy reading the story!
  
  

Cliched Storylines

As stated above, try for a storyline that hasn't been done before. Of course, it's entirely possible that someone, somewhere, has written a story that you've never seen that turns out to be the exact same idea that you've had -- but there are a few storylines that we've all seen before. The two worst offenders of these types of plot are:

• The resurrection of (Insert game character here)
• The heroes band together once more after the game to fight a new villain
  

These stories have been done before. Many times. For nearly every game you could ever think of. And after a while, they all start blending in the reader's mind into the same story. If you want your story to stand out of the crowd, try choosing something else to write about. It's possible, of course, to write one of these two storylines so well that it grabs attention; it's just very rare. Be different! For more tips on avoiding cliches, see our compilation of Fanfic Cliches to Avoid.

Good Taste

This one's pretty simple. Keep it to a PG-13 rating. No sex scenes. No senseless violence or graphic descriptions of killing or torture. No gratuitous cursing. Yaoi and shounen-ai (relationships between men) or yuri and shoujo-ai (relationships between women) are allowed, but again, no graphic descriptions. Keep it to something you wouldn't be ashamed to show your mother. Who knows? She might be reading.

So, you've made it this far, and you're ready to send us your story -- great! We look forward to reading it. The fanfic team consists of Amber Michelle, fanfic editor, and Alanna, Roger Ostrander, and Zachary Knoles, fanfic assistants. We read all the files we get that meet the technical guidelines, though we are unable to respond personally to individual authors. So send your story to:

fanfic@rpgamer.com

Good luck!

-- The Fanfic Team