Three Strikes for EQD

This morning I posted chapter 9 of Black Angel, and it actually got featured briefly. I've had a story in the feature box before, but this time it held on for close to an hour, which I guess is my record. It picked up 14 faves over the course of the day. A comment or two would have been nice, but... still, not a bad showing. I was feeling pretty good about it.

Back in October, when I posted chapter 5, I also submitted it to EQD. This evening I got back the result. Check it...

Your story, "Black Angel" has been reviewed, and the following issues were found:

Narrative Issues:
Infodump, Lack of hook or stakes

Character Issues:
Out of character: Nightmare Moon, even the one from Past Sins, would not be so quick to bow to another.

Content Issues:
Other: Inaccessible crossover

You can find these issues explained in our Editor's Omnibus.

This is your First strike out of three. Make your next attempts count!

So... I waited two months to be given a laundry list of problems that I can't see, and that nobody else has mentioned to me in the 14+ months that I have been writing and posting this story. (And have you seen some of the stuff that actually makes it onto EQD?) What is an "inaccessible crossover", anyhow? I checked the Editor's Omnibus and could find nothing in it about crossovers.

This is the third time I've submitted to EQD, and I've decided to implement my own three-strikes policy. I'm never going through this nonsense again. And, truth be told... EQD no longer matters, when it comes to fanfiction. Way back when I first submitted the Minty story, FiMFiction hadn't really taken off yet, and EQD was still the main source for fanfics. I still love EQD for the steady stream of comics and artwork they queue up for me, but when it comes to fanfics... they've gone to complete irrelevance. People who read and care about FiM fics are looking for them here, not there.

Comments

[Admiral Biscuit]

And, truth be told... EQD no longer matters, when it comes to fanfiction.

I agree totally. I'd still like to have a fic there--just to say I've done it--but I'm not going to put any special effort into bending to their often nonsensical whims.

Also, somewhat related--I ought to read A Very Minty Summer Sun Celebration, having just watched A Very Minty Christmas. Because Minty is best pony.

Even more tangental, there's a Minty brushable available in the Midnight in Canterlot collection, available at Amazon.

[Axis of Rotation]

Yeah that's rough but you're totally right, EQD doesn't really matter when it comes to fics anymore. I'm sure plenty of people still send their stories there, but I don't think getting featured gains you anymore viewers/watchers than getting in the feature box does--in fact I'd wager it yields you less. Besides, there's a fairly widespread stigma against the prereaders, however justified it may or may not be.

I'm glad you've realized you don't need them.

[The Fanfic Crusader]

I've long heard about EQD's infamous rejection letters. I've never had the chance to read one before. Apparently they are not exaggerations.

I just discovered (and binge-read ) Black Angel, so I guess I can share a few comments on this letter you got.

Infodump

I seriously wonder if this person even know what an infodump is. World building doesn't count, and a character in a new situation needs to know what the heck is going on. Now, if Death had turned up and spent six chapters explaining the Sandman backstory in a single run-on paragraph, then it would be an infodump. In Black Angel, elements are introduced as they become relevant, and the descriptions take a back seat to what's going on.

Lack of hook or stakes

Well, okay. I could... kind of see this as a legitimate complaint. The stories did start out simple and build up plot and setting, instead of throwing it at us all at once with a bang. Of course, for a story to have such a hook or stakes while still being set in this universe, it would probably need to set the stage early on... like say, with an infodump.

It wouldn't take much to "fix" this. You could have written some in-character musings by Nightmare Moon, somewhere in the first couple chapters, to show her schemes to get back to Equestria, and establish that she has Plans. This would probably have helped mitigated the next issue:

Out of character: Nightmare Moon, even the one from Past Sins, would not be so quick to bow to another.

I guess they wanted to hear Nightmare Moon mwa-ha-ha-ing in the FIRST chapter, instead of introducing her plotting and scheming a little farther in. The fact that, when revealed, her specific plots and schemes match the character was of course ignored.

Inaccessible crossover

I don't even. The Sandman, one of the most celebrated sequential art series out there, is inaccessible?

Maybe they mean "I don't have this on my bookshelf, and I'm not interested in looking it up. Therefore, it sucks and I'm not reading it."

Not only that, but this story is structured so you don't have to know anything about Sandman! Sure, it's far more fun if you do, and I fangirl-ed with each character (Pony Morpheus! Squeee! ) but you get all the info you need, and thus it's not inaccessible.

This is your First strike out of three. Make your next attempts count!

WHAAAT?!

First strike out of... Mother of Celestia, who do these pompous windbags think they ARE?

This is so condescending and unprofessional it hurts.

If they had even phrased it differently, saying that they only accept three submissions for a given work... well, I would still oppose their policy as needlessly draconian, but the way they phrase it here just... gyaaaa!

I can understand having high submission standards that result in a lot of authors getting rejected and feeling bad. By necessity those rulings are going to be subjective, and people won't agree. But First Strike out of... Make your next attempts...

When people send you a single work they put effort into, then wait months for you to get around to them, you don't treat them like foals. You don't sneer down your muzzle at those beneath you who must grovel at your hooves to warrant your attention!

If getting featured on EQD did matter to getting a story seen by the fandom, we should stop it from mattering. I have some gripes with the Feature Box, but compared to this alternative...

I'm going to stop here before I do a Twilight and set my mane on fire.

Okay. So, um... tl;dr version: After careful consideration of your story and it's response, this letter is bonkers, and EQD deserve every bit of flack they get.

[Zobeid]

1753831

THANKS MUCH for taking the time to post all that! It really made my day, and my day was already going pretty well.

Since I posted the last (wimpy half-sized) chapter last night, Black Angel got to stay in the featured box all night and a pretty good hunk of today. I picked up faves, watchers... and now this!

As for the whole "inaccessible crossover" thing... Maybe it's generational? Maybe the EQD pre-reader was in diapers when Neil Gaiman was blazing his trail with Sandman? If you look at most crossovers here on FiMFiction, sometimes it seems that only current videogames are considered "accessible".

I once suggested a crossover with The Dark Crystal, and I got some people scratching their heads and saying, "That's awfully obscure, isn't it?" Obscure? What the hay?? And then I realized, that movie came out in 1982; it predates FIM G1. To the young whippersnappers, it was obscure.

[The Fanfic Crusader]

1754425

THANKS MUCH for taking the time to post all that! It really made my day, and my day was already going pretty well.

Huzzah! The fun has been doubled! You're welcome.

As for the whole "inaccessible crossover" thing... Maybe it's generational? Maybe the EQD pre-reader was in diapers when Neil Gaiman was blazing his trail with Sandman? If you look at most crossovers here on FiMFiction, sometimes it seems that only current videogames are considered "accessible".

To the young whippersnappers, it was obscure.

Generation may have something to do with it, and yet I don't think that's all. There are huge numbers of fans, even modern "whippersnapper" ones, that know and appreciate the classics. It may not be generation, but demographic. Their lack of knowledge, or interest, may stem from a lack of knowledge of comic books in general. The EQD editors may consider comics "beneath" them and "childish."

If so, that's some serious irony for an online magazine that promotes Cartoon Pony Fan Fiction.

I once suggested a crossover with The Dark Crystal, and I got some people scratching their heads and saying, "That's awfully obscure, isn't it?" Obscure? What the hay?? And then I realized, that movie came out in 1982; it predates FIM G1. To the young whippersnappers, it was obscure.

The Castle of the Crystal is what's really on the other side of that Interdimensional Mirror in the Crystal Empire, and King Sombra was corrupted when the Crystal cracked at the last Conjunction! it all makes sense now...

Alternately, maybe you're right, and we need to push it up a few years to appeal to the kids these days by using a slightly newer Jim Henson film...

Discord: "Pinkie Pie, you have thirteen hours to solve my Labyrinth or Pumpkin Cake becomes a Diamond Dog forever! Such a pity."

[Coranth]

I once suggested a crossover with The Dark Crystal, and I got some people scratching their heads and saying, "That's awfully obscure, isn't it?"

WHUT????? That's JIM HENSON YOU MAGGOTS!!!!!!!!! Jen and Kira, and the Uru and the Skeksis! The Great Conjunction!

I... I don't even.... WHY DO MORE PEOPLE NOT KNOW OF THIS? Get off your damn gamer butts and watch the movie.