FAQ Page
These are some of the common questions we get about Writing To Publish
1. Why is becoming a member done in stages? It seems complicated.
2. What are the word count guidelines for submissions to the group
3. You ask for member's contact information?
4. What got you started taking this information? It must turn off some interested people.
5. What specifically are the "rare situations" in which you would put my contact information to use?
6. Will the price for joining this group be spam, junk mail, and telephone solicitations?
7. But I'm not supposed to give anyone my personal information. People keep telling me not to!
8. How do I make a log of a session?
9. How do I cut and paste a submission into a new email so I can critique it?
9a.How can I prevent my transferred documents from looking like gibberish?
10. How do I set up an AOL Address Book/New Group?
1. Why is becoming a member done in stages? It seems
complicated.
The reason we do our member induction in stages is very simple. We sometimes get visitors to our chat(s) who express increasing degrees of enthusiasm about our group. They want the info, the piece to critique, to be 'put on the mailing list,' and so on -- "right away!!!" But then, when the following Monday rolls around, they are nowhere to be seen. Only a certain percentage of people have: a) the lasting commitment, b) the actual free time, and c) the organizational ability, to participate on an ongoing basis. Their second and third visits are a real demonstration of these.
2. What are the word count guidelines for submissions to the group?
The word limit on submissions is 3000, though flexible. They have run from as little as 250 words, to (in cases of misunderstanding) more than 12,000. But the members know they don't have to plow through more than 3000. In fact, folks who send along too many words won't get enough detailed critiques to be worth the bother.
3. You ask members for their contact information?
We ask everyone to submit their contact information, to be kept on file in strict privacy. That is, their:
Full Name
Full Street Address
Phone Number
An alternate email address (if available)
Permission to send group emails
While the group leader will have a copy of this information, the other members do
not have access. If you want to share personal information you are free to do so,
but you may also work anonymously once this data is on record.
The 'permission slip' needs just one sentence, and is AOL's (and W2P's) general policy, in response to federal antispam laws.
4. What got you started taking this information? It must turn off some interested people.
The main reason to get personal info is as a discouragement to plagiarism. It's an occasional problem for writers, one already experienced by several of our members, though not in this forum. However, should anyone be tempted, we'd see it eventually -- and know where to sic our lawyers. Look at it from our point of view. Why would we send our hard-wrought tales to someone who insists on remaining hidden? The second reason is to discourage 'role playing' by disturbed individuals. This is cyberspace, after all. With billions of members, AOL, IRC, and the Internet are larger than Los Angeles or New York City, and just as full of weirdoes. We've encountered a few, but they never stayed around for long.
On a positive note, we want everyone to be 'up front' about themselves, their
writing, and their goals for it. In this context, can you really separate the writer
from the writing? A street address is helpful. Should you ever win a prize in one
of our themed contests, I will, after all, need to know where to send it.
The alternate email helps us keep in touch if you ever have a problem with your
online accounts. Not that such a thing would ever really happen . . . 
5. What specifically are the "rare situations" in which you would put my contact information to use?
This brings us to another reason, the one that's most often invoked. Even so, since 1995, it's only come up a handful of times. It's really quite simple. Nothing can get started until the featured member appears. If they don't show up on time, the rest of us are pretty much sitting around, twiddling our cyber-thumbs, and hoping they will. The solution? I get on the phone to see what is going on. In one case, last minute computer problems had erupted. In another, that member had suddenly taken ill. (Fortunately it wasn't serious.) In a third, they managed to log on right when I was calling.
6. Will the price for joining this group be spam, junk mail, and telephone solicitations?
Our own Writing to Publish web site is full of spam-busting ideas. Our policy is that personal info will be private, and that's what it is and shall remain -- private! If you want additional verification, just ask the members. Besides, how much $$$ do you suppose we could make with a mailing list of less than two hundred people, in total? Spammers deal in millions of email addresses.
7. But I'm not supposed to give anyone my personal information. People keep telling me not to!
This is a private Writing to Publish membership policy, and it's worked well for twenty years. Let's compare. Have you ever signed a financial contract, or applied for a job, or purchased a house or new car? You gave that bunch of total strangers far more personal information than we're asking for.
* Let's wrap this up on a happy note. This privacy thing has not stopped a
number of close friendships from developing. 
Members have gone on to collaborate
on stories and scripts. One of our older ladies had cancer, and another member moved
to California to live nearby, and cared for her until her death. They were known
to everyone as The Twins because they're both named Cherie, and one of their children's
stories has been published by Yard Dog Press. Some of us have discovered other shared interests. Two members
who happen to be dentists attended a professional conference together. We've also
held one official Writing to Publish (eWorld Fiction Writers, back then) get-together,
in June 1999 in Las Vegas. Photos are posted on our web site.
8. How do I make a log of a session?
It's an easy process. Click on "File" at the top of your AOL screen,
and slide down to "Log Manager" and click on it. A box will pop up. Click
on the "Open Log" button. A box will appear, showing where the document will save.
You can save it where you like, naming the file anything you want. When done, open
the "Log Manager" box the same way and press "Close Log." It
is very simple, and feel free to ask for help if you have any difficulties.
Mibbit has its own session-logging methods, which depend upon your type of computer, and your web browser (or IRC application). We'd be happy to help you with the logging setup.
9. How do I cut and paste a submission into a new email so I can critique it?
Cutting and pasting is one of the most basic functions of ALL computers, and of ANY word processing, office, email, or other text-based software. The reason you can't alter an email (you have received) is that it is secured as a "hard version" of the document. Just think, you wouldn't want someone to change an email you sent and then pass it off as yours. So, what you have to do is copy the entire email into the text of a new one. To do this on most computers, either you use the edit screen to copy and paste, or use the function keys. Highlight the text, and then click the "reply all" button on the critique. When the new e-mail opens, the selected text will appear printed in the new e-mail. It's that easy.
9a. How can I prevent my transferred documents from
looking like gibberish?
Due to the variety of operating systems and word processing applications in use,
manuscripts should be submitted within the text of an AOL email. Attaching it as
a file is awkward in practice, though if it's a Plain Text or RTF document, that's also acceptable.
If you are cutting-and-pasting your manuscript from a word processor into an AOL
email, first use Save As to make it an "RTF"
(.rtf) or "plain text" (.txt) document. Then
copy and paste that version into your email. Heavily formatted (.doc) and Mac/Windows
transferred files can look very strange to the receiver, often with multiple pages
of gibberish! Please double check your email text before you send it, especially
for its paragraph indents.
10. How do I set up an AOL Address Book/New Group?
Open the email with the Active Member's List in it. Highlight the Active Member's list. Right click, revealing a pop-up menu, and click on "copy." Go to your "Mail" section of AOL, and slide down the pop-up menu to "Address Book." Click on your "Address Book," and your main Address Book screen will come up. In the center, there will be an option "Add Group," click on that. A new screen will appear, and at the top, there's a box to enter a group name. Name the group, then proceed to step 3. In the box for "additional contacts" right click, and click on "Paste," pasting the previously copied list of active members into the box. Last step, click on "Save," and you will save your new group to the Address Book. If you still have problems, just ask a host for help.