• rec.arts.comics.creative Frequently Asked Questions [FAQ]

    From Russ Allbery@21:1/5 to All on Fri Jan 1 08:01:04 2021
    Last-modified: 2018-07-16
    Posted-by: postfaq 1.17 (Perl 5.28.1)
    Archive-name: comics/creative/faq
    URL: https://www.eyrie.org/~eagle/faqs/racc.html
    Posting-frequency: monthly

    ==========================================================================
    rec.arts.comics.creative Frequently Asked Questions
    Maintained by Russ Allbery <eagle@eyrie.org>
    Original by Jeff McCoskey ==========================================================================

    If you're reading this on Usenet, this FAQ is formatted as a minimal
    digest. If your newsreader has digest handling capabilities you can use
    them to navigate between sections. In rn variants, you can use Ctrl-G to
    skip to the next section; in Gnus, press Ctrl-D to break each section into
    a separate article. For other newsreaders, see the documentation.

    The latest version of this FAQ is available on the web at:

    <https://www.eyrie.org/~eagle/faqs/racc.html>

    Please send any comments, suggestions, or updates to eagle@eyrie.org.

    ------------------------------

    Subject: Contents

    1. Welcome to rec.arts.comics.creative!
    1.1. What is RACC for?
    1.2. What isn't RACC for?
    1.3. What is the RACC official charter?
    1.4. Where are the stories about Wolverine(tm)?
    1.5. Where are the old stories?
    1.6. How can I read RACC via e-mail?

    2. Writing for RACC (How do I get involved?)
    2.1. Cool! Okay, how do I post?
    2.2. Format! I'm nothing without format!
    2.3. How 'bout them imprints? What's up with that?
    2.4. How do I archive my stories for posterity?
    2.5. What do copyright laws I pay taxes for do for me?

    3. Netiquette for RACC

    4. Glossary

    5. List of current imprints

    6. People to ask for help

    ------------------------------

    Subject: 1. Welcome to rec.arts.comics.creative!

    Welcome to rec.arts.comics.creative, the newsgroup which could have been
    named rec.prose.shared-universe but wasn't, the newsgroup which has, to
    date, produced well over 30MB of entirely free original fiction (and
    that's compressed!), the newsgroup which has nearly nothing to do with
    your favorite comic books at all!

    You're about to go insane. Don't worry, it's fun.

    rec.arts.comics.creative (henceforth RACC) is a moderated newsgroup for comics-related original fiction and discussion of same, originally created unmoderated by Martin Phipps and a cast of thousands (well, dozens at
    least) and later converted to moderated to keep out the spam. Don't
    worry, even though it's a moderated group, it's still friendly, chatty,
    and not at all formal, and we go out of our way to keep it that way.

    The first group of this sort on the Internet was the Superguy mailing
    list, which is still in operation to this day (you'll see posts from it on
    this group from time to time). Later, the Legion of Net.Heroes (LNH)
    sprung out of a free-form thread on rec.arts.comics and spawned another newsgroup (alt.comics.lnh). They were quickly followed by a wide variety
    of other comics-based shared universes, including the Patrol, the Net.Trenchcoat.Brigade, and Omega. All of these organizations, in
    parallel, gathered together authors in shared universes and strongly
    influenced the nature of RACC.

    First and foremost, RACC is a site for people to post comics-related
    fiction. Stories about long-underwear vigilantes, anthropomorphic
    animals, SF, westerns, even Kleen Teens if anyone is so moved. As long as
    it relates to comics it's okay. So whether you're a reader, a writer, or
    that fabled creature the critic, or even all three -- welcome to RACC:
    it's all the story, none of the art! (yet)

    ------------------------------

    Subject: 1.1. What is RACC for?

    For the official charter, see section 1.3. Here's the long, readable
    version.

    One term that you'll see a lot is "shared universe." This is a shared
    story background, co-created by multiple authors and used as the
    "universe" in which multiple different stories are set. This is a
    trademark characteristic of most comic books (seen in its clearest form in
    the ubiquitous crossover, a story written by multiple authors at once and involving multiple characters who all have their own stories), as well as appearing in some other published fiction (such as Wild Cards, or Larry
    Niven's Man-Kzin Wars). Most (but not all) of the stories posted here
    take place in one of the established shared universes (there's a list
    later on in this FAQ), to the point where this style of writing is nearly characteristic of the group.

    Another term you'll see is "comics-related." Nearly all of the authors
    writing here drew their original (if not primary) inspiration from comic
    books. As a result, nearly all of the stories are on-going (published a chapter at a time), divided up into "issues" and given numbers, and
    organized into "imprints." Many people also describe covers or design
    ASCII graphic logos.

    There is no restriction on types of fiction. (That'd kinda take the
    creative out of RACC, wouldn't it?) You'll see stories run the gamut from slapstick comedy to grim'n'gritty Real Life Supers (TM). As long as it's
    about comics, set your pen free. (You'll see a lot of superhero fiction,
    but that just means that those of us who like reading other things as well
    are anxiously awaiting your non-superhero stories.)

    RACC is also for discussion of stories, both specific ones and in general.
    The critic and reader is one of the most sought-after types of people
    around here; if you give us feedback on our stories, good or bad, we'll
    love you forever.

    Finally, if you want to announce your free web strip here, we welcome
    those posts too. If you're trying to sell it, though, please try rec.arts.comics.marketplace or rec.arts.comics.strips instead. (And rec.arts.comics.strips may be a better group in general, as RACC readers
    are mostly interested in text fiction.)

    ------------------------------

    Subject: 1.2. What isn't RACC for?

    A lot of things. We're not for wars of attrition, Third World starvation,
    45 mph speed limits, and brussel sprout toothpaste. Closer to home, RACC
    is not for any of the following:

    * Discussion of existing, "professional" books (except as they relate
    to our fiction)

    * Marketplace-type I-wanna-buy/I-wanna-sell postings

    * Flames and personality conflicts. Critiques, yes. Flames, no.

    * Fiction about established, trademarked characters and universes,
    unless you created them or have written permission.

    * Erotica, no matter how much spandex you put in. There are other
    groups for that.

    ------------------------------

    Subject: 1.3. What is the RACC official charter?

    This newsgroup welcomes any form of comics-related original fiction and discussion of the same, including but not limited to stories in the many established shared universes. Discussion of on-line fiction as a whole is
    also welcome provided that it is related to the stories on the newsgroup.
    If they choose to write in an existing shared universe, writers are
    strongly encouranged to follow the existing continuity and rules of that universe. "Comics-related" will be interpreted very broadly, as has been traditional on the newsgroup.

    Each posting to rec.arts.comics.creative should include a keyword on the subject line either designating which shared universe the posting refers
    to or marking the general subject of the post (ADMIN, META, MISC, etc.).
    If a submitted post does not have a keyword, the moderator will add an appropriate keyword, but posters are encouraged to add keywords themselves
    to save moderation work.

    Large binaries, such as artwork, will not be allowed on the newsgroup.
    Instead, binaries can be made available in the newsgroup archive (subject
    to the discretion of the archivist) and a pointer posted to the newsgroup. Pointers to Web pages are also welcome, provided the content of the page
    is related to the purpose of the group.

    Stories using copyrighted or trademarked characters are explicitly not
    within the charter of this group and may be rejected unless the author
    owns the copyrights and trademarks or has written permission from the
    owner. Networking posts (artists seeking writers or writers seeking
    artists) are inappropriate in this group and should be sent to appropriate mailing lists or other groups in the rec.arts.comics.* hierarchy (rec.arts.comics.misc if there is no other more appropriate group).

    ------------------------------

    Subject: 1.4. Where are the stories about Wolverine(tm)?

    This is very important, so I'm going to yell it. RACC IS NOT THE PLACE
    FOR FICTION ABOUT ESTABLISHED, TRADEMARKED CHARACTERS. This includes all Marvel, Image, DC, what-have-you characters. RACC's charter expressly
    FORBIDS such fiction.

    The reason for this is the ongoing legislative battles about intellectual property and the Net. rec.* groups are picked up worldwide, and sysadmins
    do not want to draw lawsuits because someone wrote a story that violated trademark laws. Note that fanfic stories may or may not be lawful and/or prosecutable, WE JUST DON'T KNOW. They're still writing the laws.

    To forestall any confusion or debates, and to protect sysadmins from inadvertently becoming the test case, this provision was adopted as a key requirement for RACC's creation. If you really must write about existing, trademarked characters, there is alt.comics.fan-fiction waiting to receive
    you. alt.* groups get picked up by sysadmins voluntarily, so they
    presumedly know what risks they're taking.

    Nothing will draw this group's ire faster than violating this requirement.

    ------------------------------

    Subject: 1.5. Where are the old stories?

    Thanks to the tireless efforts and bottomless disk space of Russ Allbery,
    all stories posted to rec.arts.comics.creative are archived! This means stories will be preserved for future generations of readers, providing a
    link to the past. It is difficult to over-praise this contribution.

    (Note: Lest you think I would be so crass as to praise myself, I want to
    make sure you know that Jeff wrote that last paragraph. 'course, I didn't delete it either.)

    Older stories are sorted by universe and series and are available at:

    <https://archives.eyrie.org/racc/>

    All of the stories are compressed using gzip, but most browsers can automatically decompress them for you. This archive unfortunately hasn't
    been updated recently, but it does have all of the older stories.

    Every message to rec.arts.comics.creative, story or not, is archived at:

    <https://lists.eyrie.org/pipermail/racc/>

    in the form of a more traditional mailing list archive, so you can also
    look there if a story hasn't been saved in the story archive. This is the
    best way to find anything posted in the last few years. You can search
    the archive by prepending "site:lists.eyrie.org" to a regular Google
    search.

    Please note that stories will be removed from both the list archive and
    the story archive at the author's request if the author wants to take them down. This has happened in the past, sometimes because the author wanted
    to sell the stories to a professional venue.

    ------------------------------

    Subject: 1.6. How can I read RACC via e-mail?

    Everything that shows up in RACC also shows up in its associated mailing
    list (and vice versa), so if you want to be sure not to miss anything, or
    if you just prefer e-mail to Usenet, you can subscribe to that mailing
    list.

    To do that, go to:

    <https://lists.eyrie.org/mailman/listinfo/racc>

    and fill out the form to subscribe. Alternately, you can subscribe via
    e-mail by sending mail to racc-request@lists.eyrie.org with the word:

    subscribe

    in the subject of the message. You then can read and reply to posts just
    as if the newsgroup were a mailing list. It's all the same to us.

    ------------------------------

    Subject: 2. Writing for RACC (How do I get involved?)

    Write a story. Post it. You're involved.

    This assumes you want to create your own universe to write in. If you
    want to join a pre-existing shared universe, it's a little more involved.

    Many of the imprints have FAQs of their own (OMEGA, Superguy, LNH,
    Crossroads to name a few). These get posted periodically. The first
    thing you should do is read these documents to get a feel for what these specific universes are like.

    The next thing you should do is _read_ the universe in question. This
    includes tapping the archives for back issues. No one would suggest you
    read the entire Superguy or LNH archives before writing, but definitely
    try to sample a large cross-section.

    Lastly, email some of the creators you see writing under a specific
    imprint. They will be able to tell you if your concept fits with their universe or not, and perhaps refer you to a more appropriate universe if necessary.

    THEN write a story and post it.

    ------------------------------

    Subject: 2.1. Cool! Okay, how do I post?

    RACC is a moderated newsgroup, which means that every post goes to the moderators first. If your site correctly has the group marked as
    moderated, you should be able to post just like you post to any other
    group and your news server will take care of the rest. If you have a Unix shell account, you can check if the group is correctly marked as moderated
    by typing:

    nntplist active | grep rec.arts.comics.creative

    If the last character on the resulting line is an "m," congratulations,
    you have a good news administrator. If it's a "y," send mail to your
    local computing support people and ask them to convert the group to
    moderated like it should be.

    If you don't have a Unix shell account, some newsreaders will also tell
    you if the group is moderated.

    If, for any reason, you have trouble posting or your site *doesn't* have
    the group marked as moderated, you can mail your post to racc@eyrie.org
    instead and it will be posted for you.

    Because the group is moderated, it can be up to a day after you post
    before your article is actually posted, and it can take a few more days
    for the article to propagate back to you. So don't be surprised if it
    doesn't show up right away.

    Many readers of rec.arts.comics.creative use Google Groups to read and
    post. While this works, and I know it's convenient, Google Groups also
    deletes anything enclosed in square brackets ([]) at the beginning of
    Subject lines in replies. If you use Google Groups, please try to
    remember to put back the imprint tags when you reply to posts; otherwise,
    I have to add them as the moderator.

    ------------------------------

    Subject: 2.2. Format! I'm nothing without format!

    Formatting is pretty loose. Since this is a comics newsgroup, you will
    hear people refer to their stories as "issues." Postings tend to run in numerical order just like comic books, and many people write continuing
    series. For example there are 25 "issues" in Drizzt's _Continuity Champ
    and the Drizzt's Defenders_ series.

    Stories don't have to be series though. One-shots, mini-series,
    maxi-series, crossovers -- all of these have been done before and will be
    done again.

    The subjects of postings should follow the convention of naming the
    imprint the title and the number. For example:

    LNH: System Corruptors #15, The Bard's Tale
    imprint --^ ^ ^ ^
    title --------------| | |
    number -------------------------| |
    subtitle/comment/etc [optional] -------|

    Since the archive mechanism relies heavily on this format (not to mention
    the format-accustomed eyes of this group's readers), please follow this strictly, including the use of the #-sign. Subtitles, alternate titles,
    and title comments should follow the number if they are used at all. If
    you want to, you can use [TAG] instead of TAG: at the beginning of the
    subject; it's all the same to the archiver. (TAG: causes a few fewer
    problems than [TAG] with Google Groups.)

    Occasionally, instead of (or in addition to) a number you will see "TEB."
    This stands for "Trade EtherBack." It means the posting is actually a collection of previously posted issues -- usually cleaned up and relating
    to a single story arc.

    Inside your story do what you will. Some folks run fake ads, others use
    cheesy ASCII graphics, some just use text. A word of advice: On
    older/more primitive newsreaders your text is MUCH easier to read if you
    space between paragraphs. On the other hand, some newer newsreader
    readers find the spaces jarring. The moral? You can't please all the
    people all the time. In general spaces seem to be more preferred.

    ------------------------------

    Subject: 2.3. How 'bout them imprints? What's up with that?

    In order to accommodate a near-infinite number of different potential universes, RACC has adopted the reasonable convention of flagging fiction.
    This allows uninterested parties to skip some genres, and others to
    quickly find their niches of interest. The flag goes before the title of
    story issues, related FAQs or universe-specific discussions. Many flags
    refer to existing shared-universes. New ones will come up all the time.
    For the current list, see section 5 of this FAQ.

    Once you pick an imprint name, stick with it. The Archive and your legion
    of new fans will both be happier if you don't make marketing name changes.

    Regardless of flags all SEXUALLY EXPLICIT or PROFANITY-RICH stories should
    have huge warning labels at the beginning of text. Last thing we need is
    a Florida DA bringing us all up on charges. ;] Besides, it's only common courtesy. Note that if a story could reasonably be posted on
    alt.sex.stories, you've probably strayed a bit far from this group's
    interests.

    Some sort of flag, either an imprint name or a more general tag, is
    required on all posts and one will be added by the moderator if you don't provide one. Leaving one off requires the moderator to edit your post,
    though, which takes time and means your post will be delayed. So please
    save them the trouble and remember to add the tag yourself.

    ------------------------------

    Subject: 2.4. How do I archive my stories for posterity?

    Good news! It's already being done for you! (Or at least it will be if
    Russ ever catches up with the archiving.)

    In theory, every story posted to rec.arts.comics.creative is archived at <https://archives.eyrie.org/racc/>. Most imprints have their own
    directories, with the stories stored in directories under that (depending
    on the size of the imprint, the directories could be very structured or
    just one directory for each series). Some imprints may be collected in
    the misc directory.

    Unfortunately, this archive is substantially out of date. Russ hopes to eventually find time to update it.

    The exception is Superguy, which has its own archiving mechanism. The
    Superguy archives are at <https://archives.eyrie.org/superguy/>, but one
    of the best ways to access them is through the Autocollector at:

    <https://archives.eyrie.org/cgi-bin/superguy>

    ------------------------------

    Subject: 2.5. What do Copyright laws I pay taxes for do for me?

    I don't even play a lawyer on TV, but there are some things you should
    know about Copyright laws.

    Anything you write is copyrighted immediately, whether you flag it with a copyright notice or not. Furthermore, the copyright protection is international under the Berne Copyright Convention, which has been signed
    by nearly every country with access to Usenet.

    If you label your text as copyrighted, it preempts a possible
    "unintentional infringement" defense from plagarizers. The copyright
    notice is considered legal notice that you intend to retain your rights.
    The legal format for such a notice requires three things: Your name, the
    year, and one or more of the following: "Copyright," "Copr.," and/or the c-in-circle symbol. Note that there is no firm legal precedence for (C)
    or (c) as having any special copyright meaning. Example notice:

    Copyright 1994 Jeff J McCoskey

    The only way to get full legal protection (at least in the United States)
    is to register your work with the government (forms are free, filing fees apply). This *guarantees* an archived, dated copy should future legal
    action be necessary. Other forms of dating, like mailing yourself a copy
    or archiving (to get a date stamp), are of dubious and unproven legal
    value.

    An excellent resource for Copyright information is misc.legal, where a FAQ
    is posted monthly.

    Another excellent resource is the U.S. Copyright Office home page at:

    <https://www.copyright.gov/>

    ------------------------------

    Subject: 3. Netiquette for RACC

    As a rule of thumb, everything you've heard elsewhere about good
    netiquette applies here. We hate spammers (more in a minute), expect
    smilies when joking (except in stories of course), and in general expect
    you to conduct yourselves as good net.citizens. There are three things
    you need to know after you've mastered Basic Netiquette:

    1. The only times flames are accepted on RACC are when they are both
    morally defensible and amusing. Flames are not welcome if they do not
    meet the above criteria. Here on RACC there is one organization that
    acts as moral compass for acceptable flames: the Order of St. Doomas.

    The Order has defined one activity that is worthy of flame: spamming.
    One member of the Order (usually the first to his/her keyboard) will
    have the honors. Repetitive flaming by multiple members is frowned
    upon by the Order.

    To join this righteous crusade, all you need do is select a
    net.persona and flame. Incorrect flaming (i.e. at non-sanctioned
    targets, or with unamusing effect) will result in ostracization and
    excommunication. Watch the Order in action before joining and all
    will be clear.

    Now that the group has been moderated, most opportunities for flames
    are gone. But watch carefully; new ones may arise.

    2. Reviews of stories (even negative ones) are one of the most
    sought-after commodities on RACC. You will instantly win friends and
    influence people if you post reviews. But especially in the case of
    negative reviews, ensure you confine your review to the story and not
    the writer. Keep in mind as you write "that SUCKS" that someone
    worked long and hard on the text. They might want to know what worked
    and what didn't in their narrative but it's doubtful they want to hear
    how clever you can be in ripping them up.

    It's certain the rest of us don't.

    3. One of the best features of a shared universe is the opportunity to
    have your characters interact with others in that universe. This is
    a privilege, not a right. All characters on RACC (and their
    distinctive text-likenesses) are the full and exclusive property of
    their creators. This is not as dogmatic as it sounds, and we're all
    adults (or pretending to be). Cameos (non-speaking/non-plot affecting
    roles) do not typically require permission unless the creator desires
    it. Speaking roles should be previewed through email and approved by
    the creator before being posted.

    ------------------------------

    Subject: 4. Glossary

    These are terms you will see come up on RACC that have special meaning
    here. (For general net.terms and abbreviations, see the META RAC FAQ.)

    Acraphobe RACC's version of adult warning label. Yes, with an "a."
    Don't ask.

    Arc A multi-issue storyline.

    Archive ftp.eyrie.org, where nearly ALL the back issues live.

    Crossover A storyline that involves several titles and/or authors. Also
    the bane of all mankind.

    Elsewhirls An imaginary story. (Yeah yeah, we know they're ALL
    imaginary. How about "out-of-continuity"?)

    Fanfiction Fiction about established, trademarked universes and
    or fanfic characters that the author did not create -- in short, the
    sort of stories RACC *wasn't* designed for. There's a good
    list of newsgroups at the end of this FAQ that should help in
    finding a better group if this is what you want to write.

    Imprint The shared universe your story takes place in or subject your
    posting relates to (we have many to chose from). This is
    usually an all-caps prefix on the title of the posting.

    LNH The Legion of Net.Heroes. The immediate father of this group
    and the oldest of the Usenet-based writing universes (see
    Superguy).

    RAC* The rec.arts.comics.* hierarchy of newsgroups.

    RACC rec.arts.comics.creative. You're soaking in it!

    rACCIES The annual RACC fanfiction awards, as voted on by the readers
    or RACCies of this newsgroup.

    Repost Story has been posted before, natch.

    Superguy A mailing list that predates all other Internet comics-fiction
    forums. There is a good-natured rivalry between the LNH and
    this group.

    TEB Trade EtherBack. This is a collection of previously posted
    material, usually cleaned up and relating to a single story
    arc.

    Title A numerically increasing, continuing series. Usually
    involving one character, cast, city, or unifying concept.

    ------------------------------

    Subject: 5. List of Current Tags

    When choosing a tag to put at the beginning of your post, this list should
    be a canonical reference. If you see a need for a new tag, send mail to
    the FAQ maintainer so that it can be added.

    First, the general tags:

    ADMIN Administrative matters affecting everyone on RACC.

    FAQ FAQs of note for the entire RAC* hierarchy. These will tend
    to be crossposted here.

    META Discussion about the newsgroup itself. This includes
    or CHAT everything from general discussion of on-line fiction and RACC
    in particular to recommendations on how long posts should be.

    PRECOG Announcements of upcoming series, planned stories, and the
    or PROMO like.

    WWW Announcement of a web page related to RACC or a free strip.

    Now, all of the writing imprints. Note that new ones of these pop up all
    the time. Entries marked with (*) are in danger of being retired due to
    lack of activity. If you have any changes, please mail eagle@eyrie.org.

    8FOLD A closed universe that encompasses serious superheroes, comedy,
    memoir, and just about anything else: high-quality fiction of
    any stripe is welcome.

    ACRAPHOBE Mature stories that may or may not fit into other universes'
    or ACRA continuity. Using this flag in conjunction with another is
    not unheard of. (For example, Scav's _501 Blues_ is
    LNH/ACRAPHOBE.) Think a meta-Vertigo.

    ASH Academy of Super-Heroes. Dave Van Domelen's RPG-based future-
    history stories. See <https://www.eyrie.org/~dvandom/ASH>.

    ELSEWHIRLS LNH stories that do not fit into LNH continuity. Think DC's
    or EW Elseworlds.

    HCC The High Concept Challenge, a continuous series of writing
    contests. Each round, the winner, chosen by reader vote, gets
    to pick the next round's concept.

    LNH Legion of Net.Heroes, "The Friendliest Shared Universe
    Going!(TM)" A mostly parody universe, though it does have its
    serious side.

    LNH20 On the LNH's 20th anniversary, a group of writers took it upon
    themselves to create a new world, based in everything they
    loved about the LNH, in the best spirit of comic book reboots!
    LNH20 is just as friendly as the original, but easier to get
    into! Hop right in, the adventure's fine!

    LNHY An Imprint involving an alternate LNH universe called
    Looniverse Y. The big difference between this and the Classic
    LNH is that writers are allowed to have only one character of
    theirs in this Looniverse's LNH.

    RACCCafe A continuity-free outpust where RACC characters can unwind
    after a hard day of being mangled by their writers. Anything
    can happen, as long as it's funny, and there are no
    consequences!

    SG Superguy. From Space Moose to the Bomb. Comedy superhero
    writing with a far different background than LNH. Note that
    only a small slice of Superguy stuff appears here; to see the
    rest, go to <https://lists.eyrie.org/mailman/listinfo/superguy>.

    STARFALL Lightly serious and seriously light superheroics, and better
    because of it. ;)

    NTB Net.Trenchcoat.Brigade. A bunch of Vertigo-like characters
    that own stock in London Fog. Not tremendously active, but
    they do have a considerable history. Implied Acraphobe.

    OMEGA A serious psi-based shared super-world and once upon a time
    RACC's third largest universe, now inactive. Created by the
    legendary Matt Rossi.

    OSD The Order of Saint Doomas. Items relating to RACC's anti-spam
    cult. (See Section 3 above.) No posts have been seen from
    this imprint in quite some time, but that doesn't mean they're
    gone....

    SW10 SW stands for Superhuman World. 10 is an annual tag. The
    comic has proceeded to 2011, but the tag has frozen at 2010
    because that's when the series really interacted with RACC.
    Scott Eiler has written the story of this universe since
    before 1991, but 1991 is when the modern heroes of this series
    start. His sources include adolescent male power fantasy,
    superhero role-playing, comic-book satire, and dreams. See
    <http://www.eilertech.com/stories/>.

    MISC Stories not in the above categories or in their own universes
    (authors are encouraged to make up their own headers as well).
    To limit the number of imprints, and to keep this FAQ to
    reasonable lengths, let's adopt this convention: One-shot
    stories or series should use the MISC flag. Series that set
    up shared universes should create their own, new imprint.

    ------------------------------

    Subject: 6. People to Ask for Help

    The major header contacts are listed below, who will be glad to answer
    email question. Also keep your eyes peeled for FAQs specific to
    particular imprints. The FAQs are also often in the archive in a
    directory named "FAQs" under the imprint directory.

    Imprint Contact Email
    ------------ -------------------- ---------------------------------
    8FOLD Jamie Rosen jamie.rosen@sunlife.com
    8FOLD Tom Russell joltcity@gmail.com
    + ASH Dave Van Domelen dvandom@eyrie.org
    + LNH Andrew Perron pwerdna@gmail.com
    LNH20 Andrew Perron pwerdna@gmail.com
    + LNHY Arthur Spitzer arspitzer@earthlink.net
    + NTB Arthur Spitzer arspitzer@earthlink.net
    + RACChallenge Sean MacDonald mcdonald@vorteb.math.uab.edu
    + StarFall Ted Brock phantom_belcher@yahoo.com
    + Superguy Eric Burns eaburns@annotations.com
    SW10 Scott Eiler seiler@eilertech.com

    The Archive Russ Allbery eagle@eyrie.org
    Moderation RACC Moderation Team racc-request@eyrie.org

    + indicates separate FAQs are available for these imprints.

    If you need to contact the moderator directly, the contact information is:

    Russ Allbery <eagle@eyrie.org>

    If none of the above people help, or your questions are too general or specific, just email anyone you see posting here that seems to know what they're doing. (WARNING: This is rarely the case.)

    --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
    * Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)
  • From Russ Allbery@21:1/5 to All on Mon Feb 1 08:01:03 2021
    Last-modified: 2018-07-16
    Posted-by: postfaq 1.17 (Perl 5.28.1)
    Archive-name: comics/creative/faq
    URL: https://www.eyrie.org/~eagle/faqs/racc.html
    Posting-frequency: monthly

    ==========================================================================
    rec.arts.comics.creative Frequently Asked Questions
    Maintained by Russ Allbery <eagle@eyrie.org>
    Original by Jeff McCoskey ==========================================================================

    If you're reading this on Usenet, this FAQ is formatted as a minimal
    digest. If your newsreader has digest handling capabilities you can use
    them to navigate between sections. In rn variants, you can use Ctrl-G to
    skip to the next section; in Gnus, press Ctrl-D to break each section into
    a separate article. For other newsreaders, see the documentation.

    The latest version of this FAQ is available on the web at:

    <https://www.eyrie.org/~eagle/faqs/racc.html>

    Please send any comments, suggestions, or updates to eagle@eyrie.org.

    ------------------------------

    Subject: Contents

    1. Welcome to rec.arts.comics.creative!
    1.1. What is RACC for?
    1.2. What isn't RACC for?
    1.3. What is the RACC official charter?
    1.4. Where are the stories about Wolverine(tm)?
    1.5. Where are the old stories?
    1.6. How can I read RACC via e-mail?

    2. Writing for RACC (How do I get involved?)
    2.1. Cool! Okay, how do I post?
    2.2. Format! I'm nothing without format!
    2.3. How 'bout them imprints? What's up with that?
    2.4. How do I archive my stories for posterity?
    2.5. What do copyright laws I pay taxes for do for me?

    3. Netiquette for RACC

    4. Glossary

    5. List of current imprints

    6. People to ask for help

    ------------------------------

    Subject: 1. Welcome to rec.arts.comics.creative!

    Welcome to rec.arts.comics.creative, the newsgroup which could have been
    named rec.prose.shared-universe but wasn't, the newsgroup which has, to
    date, produced well over 30MB of entirely free original fiction (and
    that's compressed!), the newsgroup which has nearly nothing to do with
    your favorite comic books at all!

    You're about to go insane. Don't worry, it's fun.

    rec.arts.comics.creative (henceforth RACC) is a moderated newsgroup for comics-related original fiction and discussion of same, originally created unmoderated by Martin Phipps and a cast of thousands (well, dozens at
    least) and later converted to moderated to keep out the spam. Don't
    worry, even though it's a moderated group, it's still friendly, chatty,
    and not at all formal, and we go out of our way to keep it that way.

    The first group of this sort on the Internet was the Superguy mailing
    list, which is still in operation to this day (you'll see posts from it on
    this group from time to time). Later, the Legion of Net.Heroes (LNH)
    sprung out of a free-form thread on rec.arts.comics and spawned another newsgroup (alt.comics.lnh). They were quickly followed by a wide variety
    of other comics-based shared universes, including the Patrol, the Net.Trenchcoat.Brigade, and Omega. All of these organizations, in
    parallel, gathered together authors in shared universes and strongly
    influenced the nature of RACC.

    First and foremost, RACC is a site for people to post comics-related
    fiction. Stories about long-underwear vigilantes, anthropomorphic
    animals, SF, westerns, even Kleen Teens if anyone is so moved. As long as
    it relates to comics it's okay. So whether you're a reader, a writer, or
    that fabled creature the critic, or even all three -- welcome to RACC:
    it's all the story, none of the art! (yet)

    ------------------------------

    Subject: 1.1. What is RACC for?

    For the official charter, see section 1.3. Here's the long, readable
    version.

    One term that you'll see a lot is "shared universe." This is a shared
    story background, co-created by multiple authors and used as the
    "universe" in which multiple different stories are set. This is a
    trademark characteristic of most comic books (seen in its clearest form in
    the ubiquitous crossover, a story written by multiple authors at once and involving multiple characters who all have their own stories), as well as appearing in some other published fiction (such as Wild Cards, or Larry
    Niven's Man-Kzin Wars). Most (but not all) of the stories posted here
    take place in one of the established shared universes (there's a list
    later on in this FAQ), to the point where this style of writing is nearly characteristic of the group.

    Another term you'll see is "comics-related." Nearly all of the authors
    writing here drew their original (if not primary) inspiration from comic
    books. As a result, nearly all of the stories are on-going (published a chapter at a time), divided up into "issues" and given numbers, and
    organized into "imprints." Many people also describe covers or design
    ASCII graphic logos.

    There is no restriction on types of fiction. (That'd kinda take the
    creative out of RACC, wouldn't it?) You'll see stories run the gamut from slapstick comedy to grim'n'gritty Real Life Supers (TM). As long as it's
    about comics, set your pen free. (You'll see a lot of superhero fiction,
    but that just means that those of us who like reading other things as well
    are anxiously awaiting your non-superhero stories.)

    RACC is also for discussion of stories, both specific ones and in general.
    The critic and reader is one of the most sought-after types of people
    around here; if you give us feedback on our stories, good or bad, we'll
    love you forever.

    Finally, if you want to announce your free web strip here, we welcome
    those posts too. If you're trying to sell it, though, please try rec.arts.comics.marketplace or rec.arts.comics.strips instead. (And rec.arts.comics.strips may be a better group in general, as RACC readers
    are mostly interested in text fiction.)

    ------------------------------

    Subject: 1.2. What isn't RACC for?

    A lot of things. We're not for wars of attrition, Third World starvation,
    45 mph speed limits, and brussel sprout toothpaste. Closer to home, RACC
    is not for any of the following:

    * Discussion of existing, "professional" books (except as they relate
    to our fiction)

    * Marketplace-type I-wanna-buy/I-wanna-sell postings

    * Flames and personality conflicts. Critiques, yes. Flames, no.

    * Fiction about established, trademarked characters and universes,
    unless you created them or have written permission.

    * Erotica, no matter how much spandex you put in. There are other
    groups for that.

    ------------------------------

    Subject: 1.3. What is the RACC official charter?

    This newsgroup welcomes any form of comics-related original fiction and discussion of the same, including but not limited to stories in the many established shared universes. Discussion of on-line fiction as a whole is
    also welcome provided that it is related to the stories on the newsgroup.
    If they choose to write in an existing shared universe, writers are
    strongly encouranged to follow the existing continuity and rules of that universe. "Comics-related" will be interpreted very broadly, as has been traditional on the newsgroup.

    Each posting to rec.arts.comics.creative should include a keyword on the subject line either designating which shared universe the posting refers
    to or marking the general subject of the post (ADMIN, META, MISC, etc.).
    If a submitted post does not have a keyword, the moderator will add an appropriate keyword, but posters are encouraged to add keywords themselves
    to save moderation work.

    Large binaries, such as artwork, will not be allowed on the newsgroup.
    Instead, binaries can be made available in the newsgroup archive (subject
    to the discretion of the archivist) and a pointer posted to the newsgroup. Pointers to Web pages are also welcome, provided the content of the page
    is related to the purpose of the group.

    Stories using copyrighted or trademarked characters are explicitly not
    within the charter of this group and may be rejected unless the author
    owns the copyrights and trademarks or has written permission from the
    owner. Networking posts (artists seeking writers or writers seeking
    artists) are inappropriate in this group and should be sent to appropriate mailing lists or other groups in the rec.arts.comics.* hierarchy (rec.arts.comics.misc if there is no other more appropriate group).

    ------------------------------

    Subject: 1.4. Where are the stories about Wolverine(tm)?

    This is very important, so I'm going to yell it. RACC IS NOT THE PLACE
    FOR FICTION ABOUT ESTABLISHED, TRADEMARKED CHARACTERS. This includes all Marvel, Image, DC, what-have-you characters. RACC's charter expressly
    FORBIDS such fiction.

    The reason for this is the ongoing legislative battles about intellectual property and the Net. rec.* groups are picked up worldwide, and sysadmins
    do not want to draw lawsuits because someone wrote a story that violated trademark laws. Note that fanfic stories may or may not be lawful and/or prosecutable, WE JUST DON'T KNOW. They're still writing the laws.

    To forestall any confusion or debates, and to protect sysadmins from inadvertently becoming the test case, this provision was adopted as a key requirement for RACC's creation. If you really must write about existing, trademarked characters, there is alt.comics.fan-fiction waiting to receive
    you. alt.* groups get picked up by sysadmins voluntarily, so they
    presumedly know what risks they're taking.

    Nothing will draw this group's ire faster than violating this requirement.

    ------------------------------

    Subject: 1.5. Where are the old stories?

    Thanks to the tireless efforts and bottomless disk space of Russ Allbery,
    all stories posted to rec.arts.comics.creative are archived! This means stories will be preserved for future generations of readers, providing a
    link to the past. It is difficult to over-praise this contribution.

    (Note: Lest you think I would be so crass as to praise myself, I want to
    make sure you know that Jeff wrote that last paragraph. 'course, I didn't delete it either.)

    Older stories are sorted by universe and series and are available at:

    <https://archives.eyrie.org/racc/>

    All of the stories are compressed using gzip, but most browsers can automatically decompress them for you. This archive unfortunately hasn't
    been updated recently, but it does have all of the older stories.

    Every message to rec.arts.comics.creative, story or not, is archived at:

    <https://lists.eyrie.org/pipermail/racc/>

    in the form of a more traditional mailing list archive, so you can also
    look there if a story hasn't been saved in the story archive. This is the
    best way to find anything posted in the last few years. You can search
    the archive by prepending "site:lists.eyrie.org" to a regular Google
    search.

    Please note that stories will be removed from both the list archive and
    the story archive at the author's request if the author wants to take them down. This has happened in the past, sometimes because the author wanted
    to sell the stories to a professional venue.

    ------------------------------

    Subject: 1.6. How can I read RACC via e-mail?

    Everything that shows up in RACC also shows up in its associated mailing
    list (and vice versa), so if you want to be sure not to miss anything, or
    if you just prefer e-mail to Usenet, you can subscribe to that mailing
    list.

    To do that, go to:

    <https://lists.eyrie.org/mailman/listinfo/racc>

    and fill out the form to subscribe. Alternately, you can subscribe via
    e-mail by sending mail to racc-request@lists.eyrie.org with the word:

    subscribe

    in the subject of the message. You then can read and reply to posts just
    as if the newsgroup were a mailing list. It's all the same to us.

    ------------------------------

    Subject: 2. Writing for RACC (How do I get involved?)

    Write a story. Post it. You're involved.

    This assumes you want to create your own universe to write in. If you
    want to join a pre-existing shared universe, it's a little more involved.

    Many of the imprints have FAQs of their own (OMEGA, Superguy, LNH,
    Crossroads to name a few). These get posted periodically. The first
    thing you should do is read these documents to get a feel for what these specific universes are like.

    The next thing you should do is _read_ the universe in question. This
    includes tapping the archives for back issues. No one would suggest you
    read the entire Superguy or LNH archives before writing, but definitely
    try to sample a large cross-section.

    Lastly, email some of the creators you see writing under a specific
    imprint. They will be able to tell you if your concept fits with their universe or not, and perhaps refer you to a more appropriate universe if necessary.

    THEN write a story and post it.

    ------------------------------

    Subject: 2.1. Cool! Okay, how do I post?

    RACC is a moderated newsgroup, which means that every post goes to the moderators first. If your site correctly has the group marked as
    moderated, you should be able to post just like you post to any other
    group and your news server will take care of the rest. If you have a Unix shell account, you can check if the group is correctly marked as moderated
    by typing:

    nntplist active | grep rec.arts.comics.creative

    If the last character on the resulting line is an "m," congratulations,
    you have a good news administrator. If it's a "y," send mail to your
    local computing support people and ask them to convert the group to
    moderated like it should be.

    If you don't have a Unix shell account, some newsreaders will also tell
    you if the group is moderated.

    If, for any reason, you have trouble posting or your site *doesn't* have
    the group marked as moderated, you can mail your post to racc@eyrie.org
    instead and it will be posted for you.

    Because the group is moderated, it can be up to a day after you post
    before your article is actually posted, and it can take a few more days
    for the article to propagate back to you. So don't be surprised if it
    doesn't show up right away.

    Many readers of rec.arts.comics.creative use Google Groups to read and
    post. While this works, and I know it's convenient, Google Groups also
    deletes anything enclosed in square brackets ([]) at the beginning of
    Subject lines in replies. If you use Google Groups, please try to
    remember to put back the imprint tags when you reply to posts; otherwise,
    I have to add them as the moderator.

    ------------------------------

    Subject: 2.2. Format! I'm nothing without format!

    Formatting is pretty loose. Since this is a comics newsgroup, you will
    hear people refer to their stories as "issues." Postings tend to run in numerical order just like comic books, and many people write continuing
    series. For example there are 25 "issues" in Drizzt's _Continuity Champ
    and the Drizzt's Defenders_ series.

    Stories don't have to be series though. One-shots, mini-series,
    maxi-series, crossovers -- all of these have been done before and will be
    done again.

    The subjects of postings should follow the convention of naming the
    imprint the title and the number. For example:

    LNH: System Corruptors #15, The Bard's Tale
    imprint --^ ^ ^ ^
    title --------------| | |
    number -------------------------| |
    subtitle/comment/etc [optional] -------|

    Since the archive mechanism relies heavily on this format (not to mention
    the format-accustomed eyes of this group's readers), please follow this strictly, including the use of the #-sign. Subtitles, alternate titles,
    and title comments should follow the number if they are used at all. If
    you want to, you can use [TAG] instead of TAG: at the beginning of the
    subject; it's all the same to the archiver. (TAG: causes a few fewer
    problems than [TAG] with Google Groups.)

    Occasionally, instead of (or in addition to) a number you will see "TEB."
    This stands for "Trade EtherBack." It means the posting is actually a collection of previously posted issues -- usually cleaned up and relating
    to a single story arc.

    Inside your story do what you will. Some folks run fake ads, others use
    cheesy ASCII graphics, some just use text. A word of advice: On
    older/more primitive newsreaders your text is MUCH easier to read if you
    space between paragraphs. On the other hand, some newer newsreader
    readers find the spaces jarring. The moral? You can't please all the
    people all the time. In general spaces seem to be more preferred.

    ------------------------------

    Subject: 2.3. How 'bout them imprints? What's up with that?

    In order to accommodate a near-infinite number of different potential universes, RACC has adopted the reasonable convention of flagging fiction.
    This allows uninterested parties to skip some genres, and others to
    quickly find their niches of interest. The flag goes before the title of
    story issues, related FAQs or universe-specific discussions. Many flags
    refer to existing shared-universes. New ones will come up all the time.
    For the current list, see section 5 of this FAQ.

    Once you pick an imprint name, stick with it. The Archive and your legion
    of new fans will both be happier if you don't make marketing name changes.

    Regardless of flags all SEXUALLY EXPLICIT or PROFANITY-RICH stories should
    have huge warning labels at the beginning of text. Last thing we need is
    a Florida DA bringing us all up on charges. ;] Besides, it's only common courtesy. Note that if a story could reasonably be posted on
    alt.sex.stories, you've probably strayed a bit far from this group's
    interests.

    Some sort of flag, either an imprint name or a more general tag, is
    required on all posts and one will be added by the moderator if you don't provide one. Leaving one off requires the moderator to edit your post,
    though, which takes time and means your post will be delayed. So please
    save them the trouble and remember to add the tag yourself.

    ------------------------------

    Subject: 2.4. How do I archive my stories for posterity?

    Good news! It's already being done for you! (Or at least it will be if
    Russ ever catches up with the archiving.)

    In theory, every story posted to rec.arts.comics.creative is archived at <https://archives.eyrie.org/racc/>. Most imprints have their own
    directories, with the stories stored in directories under that (depending
    on the size of the imprint, the directories could be very structured or
    just one directory for each series). Some imprints may be collected in
    the misc directory.

    Unfortunately, this archive is substantially out of date. Russ hopes to eventually find time to update it.

    The exception is Superguy, which has its own archiving mechanism. The
    Superguy archives are at <https://archives.eyrie.org/superguy/>, but one
    of the best ways to access them is through the Autocollector at:

    <https://archives.eyrie.org/cgi-bin/superguy>

    ------------------------------

    Subject: 2.5. What do Copyright laws I pay taxes for do for me?

    I don't even play a lawyer on TV, but there are some things you should
    know about Copyright laws.

    Anything you write is copyrighted immediately, whether you flag it with a copyright notice or not. Furthermore, the copyright protection is international under the Berne Copyright Convention, which has been signed
    by nearly every country with access to Usenet.

    If you label your text as copyrighted, it preempts a possible
    "unintentional infringement" defense from plagarizers. The copyright
    notice is considered legal notice that you intend to retain your rights.
    The legal format for such a notice requires three things: Your name, the
    year, and one or more of the following: "Copyright," "Copr.," and/or the c-in-circle symbol. Note that there is no firm legal precedence for (C)
    or (c) as having any special copyright meaning. Example notice:

    Copyright 1994 Jeff J McCoskey

    The only way to get full legal protection (at least in the United States)
    is to register your work with the government (forms are free, filing fees apply). This *guarantees* an archived, dated copy should future legal
    action be necessary. Other forms of dating, like mailing yourself a copy
    or archiving (to get a date stamp), are of dubious and unproven legal
    value.

    An excellent resource for Copyright information is misc.legal, where a FAQ
    is posted monthly.

    Another excellent resource is the U.S. Copyright Office home page at:

    <https://www.copyright.gov/>

    ------------------------------

    Subject: 3. Netiquette for RACC

    As a rule of thumb, everything you've heard elsewhere about good
    netiquette applies here. We hate spammers (more in a minute), expect
    smilies when joking (except in stories of course), and in general expect
    you to conduct yourselves as good net.citizens. There are three things
    you need to know after you've mastered Basic Netiquette:

    1. The only times flames are accepted on RACC are when they are both
    morally defensible and amusing. Flames are not welcome if they do not
    meet the above criteria. Here on RACC there is one organization that
    acts as moral compass for acceptable flames: the Order of St. Doomas.

    The Order has defined one activity that is worthy of flame: spamming.
    One member of the Order (usually the first to his/her keyboard) will
    have the honors. Repetitive flaming by multiple members is frowned
    upon by the Order.

    To join this righteous crusade, all you need do is select a
    net.persona and flame. Incorrect flaming (i.e. at non-sanctioned
    targets, or with unamusing effect) will result in ostracization and
    excommunication. Watch the Order in action before joining and all
    will be clear.

    Now that the group has been moderated, most opportunities for flames
    are gone. But watch carefully; new ones may arise.

    2. Reviews of stories (even negative ones) are one of the most
    sought-after commodities on RACC. You will instantly win friends and
    influence people if you post reviews. But especially in the case of
    negative reviews, ensure you confine your review to the story and not
    the writer. Keep in mind as you write "that SUCKS" that someone
    worked long and hard on the text. They might want to know what worked
    and what didn't in their narrative but it's doubtful they want to hear
    how clever you can be in ripping them up.

    It's certain the rest of us don't.

    3. One of the best features of a shared universe is the opportunity to
    have your characters interact with others in that universe. This is
    a privilege, not a right. All characters on RACC (and their
    distinctive text-likenesses) are the full and exclusive property of
    their creators. This is not as dogmatic as it sounds, and we're all
    adults (or pretending to be). Cameos (non-speaking/non-plot affecting
    roles) do not typically require permission unless the creator desires
    it. Speaking roles should be previewed through email and approved by
    the creator before being posted.

    ------------------------------

    Subject: 4. Glossary

    These are terms you will see come up on RACC that have special meaning
    here. (For general net.terms and abbreviations, see the META RAC FAQ.)

    Acraphobe RACC's version of adult warning label. Yes, with an "a."
    Don't ask.

    Arc A multi-issue storyline.

    Archive ftp.eyrie.org, where nearly ALL the back issues live.

    Crossover A storyline that involves several titles and/or authors. Also
    the bane of all mankind.

    Elsewhirls An imaginary story. (Yeah yeah, we know they're ALL
    imaginary. How about "out-of-continuity"?)

    Fanfiction Fiction about established, trademarked universes and
    or fanfic characters that the author did not create -- in short, the
    sort of stories RACC *wasn't* designed for. There's a good
    list of newsgroups at the end of this FAQ that should help in
    finding a better group if this is what you want to write.

    Imprint The shared universe your story takes place in or subject your
    posting relates to (we have many to chose from). This is
    usually an all-caps prefix on the title of the posting.

    LNH The Legion of Net.Heroes. The immediate father of this group
    and the oldest of the Usenet-based writing universes (see
    Superguy).

    RAC* The rec.arts.comics.* hierarchy of newsgroups.

    RACC rec.arts.comics.creative. You're soaking in it!

    rACCIES The annual RACC fanfiction awards, as voted on by the readers
    or RACCies of this newsgroup.

    Repost Story has been posted before, natch.

    Superguy A mailing list that predates all other Internet comics-fiction
    forums. There is a good-natured rivalry between the LNH and
    this group.

    TEB Trade EtherBack. This is a collection of previously posted
    material, usually cleaned up and relating to a single story
    arc.

    Title A numerically increasing, continuing series. Usually
    involving one character, cast, city, or unifying concept.

    ------------------------------

    Subject: 5. List of Current Tags

    When choosing a tag to put at the beginning of your post, this list should
    be a canonical reference. If you see a need for a new tag, send mail to
    the FAQ maintainer so that it can be added.

    First, the general tags:

    ADMIN Administrative matters affecting everyone on RACC.

    FAQ FAQs of note for the entire RAC* hierarchy. These will tend
    to be crossposted here.

    META Discussion about the newsgroup itself. This includes
    or CHAT everything from general discussion of on-line fiction and RACC
    in particular to recommendations on how long posts should be.

    PRECOG Announcements of upcoming series, planned stories, and the
    or PROMO like.

    WWW Announcement of a web page related to RACC or a free strip.

    Now, all of the writing imprints. Note that new ones of these pop up all
    the time. Entries marked with (*) are in danger of being retired due to
    lack of activity. If you have any changes, please mail eagle@eyrie.org.

    8FOLD A closed universe that encompasses serious superheroes, comedy,
    memoir, and just about anything else: high-quality fiction of
    any stripe is welcome.

    ACRAPHOBE Mature stories that may or may not fit into other universes'
    or ACRA continuity. Using this flag in conjunction with another is
    not unheard of. (For example, Scav's _501 Blues_ is
    LNH/ACRAPHOBE.) Think a meta-Vertigo.

    ASH Academy of Super-Heroes. Dave Van Domelen's RPG-based future-
    history stories. See <https://www.eyrie.org/~dvandom/ASH>.

    ELSEWHIRLS LNH stories that do not fit into LNH continuity. Think DC's
    or EW Elseworlds.

    HCC The High Concept Challenge, a continuous series of writing
    contests. Each round, the winner, chosen by reader vote, gets
    to pick the next round's concept.

    LNH Legion of Net.Heroes, "The Friendliest Shared Universe
    Going!(TM)" A mostly parody universe, though it does have its
    serious side.

    LNH20 On the LNH's 20th anniversary, a group of writers took it upon
    themselves to create a new world, based in everything they
    loved about the LNH, in the best spirit of comic book reboots!
    LNH20 is just as friendly as the original, but easier to get
    into! Hop right in, the adventure's fine!

    LNHY An Imprint involving an alternate LNH universe called
    Looniverse Y. The big difference between this and the Classic
    LNH is that writers are allowed to have only one character of
    theirs in this Looniverse's LNH.

    RACCCafe A continuity-free outpust where RACC characters can unwind
    after a hard day of being mangled by their writers. Anything
    can happen, as long as it's funny, and there are no
    consequences!

    SG Superguy. From Space Moose to the Bomb. Comedy superhero
    writing with a far different background than LNH. Note that
    only a small slice of Superguy stuff appears here; to see the
    rest, go to <https://lists.eyrie.org/mailman/listinfo/superguy>.

    STARFALL Lightly serious and seriously light superheroics, and better
    because of it. ;)

    NTB Net.Trenchcoat.Brigade. A bunch of Vertigo-like characters
    that own stock in London Fog. Not tremendously active, but
    they do have a considerable history. Implied Acraphobe.

    OMEGA A serious psi-based shared super-world and once upon a time
    RACC's third largest universe, now inactive. Created by the
    legendary Matt Rossi.

    OSD The Order of Saint Doomas. Items relating to RACC's anti-spam
    cult. (See Section 3 above.) No posts have been seen from
    this imprint in quite some time, but that doesn't mean they're
    gone....

    SW10 SW stands for Superhuman World. 10 is an annual tag. The
    comic has proceeded to 2011, but the tag has frozen at 2010
    because that's when the series really interacted with RACC.
    Scott Eiler has written the story of this universe since
    before 1991, but 1991 is when the modern heroes of this series
    start. His sources include adolescent male power fantasy,
    superhero role-playing, comic-book satire, and dreams. See
    <http://www.eilertech.com/stories/>.

    MISC Stories not in the above categories or in their own universes
    (authors are encouraged to make up their own headers as well).
    To limit the number of imprints, and to keep this FAQ to
    reasonable lengths, let's adopt this convention: One-shot
    stories or series should use the MISC flag. Series that set
    up shared universes should create their own, new imprint.

    ------------------------------

    Subject: 6. People to Ask for Help

    The major header contacts are listed below, who will be glad to answer
    email question. Also keep your eyes peeled for FAQs specific to
    particular imprints. The FAQs are also often in the archive in a
    directory named "FAQs" under the imprint directory.

    Imprint Contact Email
    ------------ -------------------- ---------------------------------
    8FOLD Jamie Rosen jamie.rosen@sunlife.com
    8FOLD Tom Russell joltcity@gmail.com
    + ASH Dave Van Domelen dvandom@eyrie.org
    + LNH Andrew Perron pwerdna@gmail.com
    LNH20 Andrew Perron pwerdna@gmail.com
    + LNHY Arthur Spitzer arspitzer@earthlink.net
    + NTB Arthur Spitzer arspitzer@earthlink.net
    + RACChallenge Sean MacDonald mcdonald@vorteb.math.uab.edu
    + StarFall Ted Brock phantom_belcher@yahoo.com
    + Superguy Eric Burns eaburns@annotations.com
    SW10 Scott Eiler seiler@eilertech.com

    The Archive Russ Allbery eagle@eyrie.org
    Moderation RACC Moderation Team racc-request@eyrie.org

    + indicates separate FAQs are available for these imprints.

    If you need to contact the moderator directly, the contact information is:

    Russ Allbery <eagle@eyrie.org>

    If none of the above people help, or your questions are too general or specific, just email anyone you see posting here that seems to know what they're doing. (WARNING: This is rarely the case.)

    --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
    * Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)
  • From Russ Allbery@21:1/5 to All on Mon Mar 1 08:01:04 2021
    Last-modified: 2018-07-16
    Posted-by: postfaq 1.17 (Perl 5.28.1)
    Archive-name: comics/creative/faq
    URL: https://www.eyrie.org/~eagle/faqs/racc.html
    Posting-frequency: monthly

    ==========================================================================
    rec.arts.comics.creative Frequently Asked Questions
    Maintained by Russ Allbery <eagle@eyrie.org>
    Original by Jeff McCoskey ==========================================================================

    If you're reading this on Usenet, this FAQ is formatted as a minimal
    digest. If your newsreader has digest handling capabilities you can use
    them to navigate between sections. In rn variants, you can use Ctrl-G to
    skip to the next section; in Gnus, press Ctrl-D to break each section into
    a separate article. For other newsreaders, see the documentation.

    The latest version of this FAQ is available on the web at:

    <https://www.eyrie.org/~eagle/faqs/racc.html>

    Please send any comments, suggestions, or updates to eagle@eyrie.org.

    ------------------------------

    Subject: Contents

    1. Welcome to rec.arts.comics.creative!
    1.1. What is RACC for?
    1.2. What isn't RACC for?
    1.3. What is the RACC official charter?
    1.4. Where are the stories about Wolverine(tm)?
    1.5. Where are the old stories?
    1.6. How can I read RACC via e-mail?

    2. Writing for RACC (How do I get involved?)
    2.1. Cool! Okay, how do I post?
    2.2. Format! I'm nothing without format!
    2.3. How 'bout them imprints? What's up with that?
    2.4. How do I archive my stories for posterity?
    2.5. What do copyright laws I pay taxes for do for me?

    3. Netiquette for RACC

    4. Glossary

    5. List of current imprints

    6. People to ask for help

    ------------------------------

    Subject: 1. Welcome to rec.arts.comics.creative!

    Welcome to rec.arts.comics.creative, the newsgroup which could have been
    named rec.prose.shared-universe but wasn't, the newsgroup which has, to
    date, produced well over 30MB of entirely free original fiction (and
    that's compressed!), the newsgroup which has nearly nothing to do with
    your favorite comic books at all!

    You're about to go insane. Don't worry, it's fun.

    rec.arts.comics.creative (henceforth RACC) is a moderated newsgroup for comics-related original fiction and discussion of same, originally created unmoderated by Martin Phipps and a cast of thousands (well, dozens at
    least) and later converted to moderated to keep out the spam. Don't
    worry, even though it's a moderated group, it's still friendly, chatty,
    and not at all formal, and we go out of our way to keep it that way.

    The first group of this sort on the Internet was the Superguy mailing
    list, which is still in operation to this day (you'll see posts from it on
    this group from time to time). Later, the Legion of Net.Heroes (LNH)
    sprung out of a free-form thread on rec.arts.comics and spawned another newsgroup (alt.comics.lnh). They were quickly followed by a wide variety
    of other comics-based shared universes, including the Patrol, the Net.Trenchcoat.Brigade, and Omega. All of these organizations, in
    parallel, gathered together authors in shared universes and strongly
    influenced the nature of RACC.

    First and foremost, RACC is a site for people to post comics-related
    fiction. Stories about long-underwear vigilantes, anthropomorphic
    animals, SF, westerns, even Kleen Teens if anyone is so moved. As long as
    it relates to comics it's okay. So whether you're a reader, a writer, or
    that fabled creature the critic, or even all three -- welcome to RACC:
    it's all the story, none of the art! (yet)

    ------------------------------

    Subject: 1.1. What is RACC for?

    For the official charter, see section 1.3. Here's the long, readable
    version.

    One term that you'll see a lot is "shared universe." This is a shared
    story background, co-created by multiple authors and used as the
    "universe" in which multiple different stories are set. This is a
    trademark characteristic of most comic books (seen in its clearest form in
    the ubiquitous crossover, a story written by multiple authors at once and involving multiple characters who all have their own stories), as well as appearing in some other published fiction (such as Wild Cards, or Larry
    Niven's Man-Kzin Wars). Most (but not all) of the stories posted here
    take place in one of the established shared universes (there's a list
    later on in this FAQ), to the point where this style of writing is nearly characteristic of the group.

    Another term you'll see is "comics-related." Nearly all of the authors
    writing here drew their original (if not primary) inspiration from comic
    books. As a result, nearly all of the stories are on-going (published a chapter at a time), divided up into "issues" and given numbers, and
    organized into "imprints." Many people also describe covers or design
    ASCII graphic logos.

    There is no restriction on types of fiction. (That'd kinda take the
    creative out of RACC, wouldn't it?) You'll see stories run the gamut from slapstick comedy to grim'n'gritty Real Life Supers (TM). As long as it's
    about comics, set your pen free. (You'll see a lot of superhero fiction,
    but that just means that those of us who like reading other things as well
    are anxiously awaiting your non-superhero stories.)

    RACC is also for discussion of stories, both specific ones and in general.
    The critic and reader is one of the most sought-after types of people
    around here; if you give us feedback on our stories, good or bad, we'll
    love you forever.

    Finally, if you want to announce your free web strip here, we welcome
    those posts too. If you're trying to sell it, though, please try rec.arts.comics.marketplace or rec.arts.comics.strips instead. (And rec.arts.comics.strips may be a better group in general, as RACC readers
    are mostly interested in text fiction.)

    ------------------------------

    Subject: 1.2. What isn't RACC for?

    A lot of things. We're not for wars of attrition, Third World starvation,
    45 mph speed limits, and brussel sprout toothpaste. Closer to home, RACC
    is not for any of the following:

    * Discussion of existing, "professional" books (except as they relate
    to our fiction)

    * Marketplace-type I-wanna-buy/I-wanna-sell postings

    * Flames and personality conflicts. Critiques, yes. Flames, no.

    * Fiction about established, trademarked characters and universes,
    unless you created them or have written permission.

    * Erotica, no matter how much spandex you put in. There are other
    groups for that.

    ------------------------------

    Subject: 1.3. What is the RACC official charter?

    This newsgroup welcomes any form of comics-related original fiction and discussion of the same, including but not limited to stories in the many established shared universes. Discussion of on-line fiction as a whole is
    also welcome provided that it is related to the stories on the newsgroup.
    If they choose to write in an existing shared universe, writers are
    strongly encouranged to follow the existing continuity and rules of that universe. "Comics-related" will be interpreted very broadly, as has been traditional on the newsgroup.

    Each posting to rec.arts.comics.creative should include a keyword on the subject line either designating which shared universe the posting refers
    to or marking the general subject of the post (ADMIN, META, MISC, etc.).
    If a submitted post does not have a keyword, the moderator will add an appropriate keyword, but posters are encouraged to add keywords themselves
    to save moderation work.

    Large binaries, such as artwork, will not be allowed on the newsgroup.
    Instead, binaries can be made available in the newsgroup archive (subject
    to the discretion of the archivist) and a pointer posted to the newsgroup. Pointers to Web pages are also welcome, provided the content of the page
    is related to the purpose of the group.

    Stories using copyrighted or trademarked characters are explicitly not
    within the charter of this group and may be rejected unless the author
    owns the copyrights and trademarks or has written permission from the
    owner. Networking posts (artists seeking writers or writers seeking
    artists) are inappropriate in this group and should be sent to appropriate mailing lists or other groups in the rec.arts.comics.* hierarchy (rec.arts.comics.misc if there is no other more appropriate group).

    ------------------------------

    Subject: 1.4. Where are the stories about Wolverine(tm)?

    This is very important, so I'm going to yell it. RACC IS NOT THE PLACE
    FOR FICTION ABOUT ESTABLISHED, TRADEMARKED CHARACTERS. This includes all Marvel, Image, DC, what-have-you characters. RACC's charter expressly
    FORBIDS such fiction.

    The reason for this is the ongoing legislative battles about intellectual property and the Net. rec.* groups are picked up worldwide, and sysadmins
    do not want to draw lawsuits because someone wrote a story that violated trademark laws. Note that fanfic stories may or may not be lawful and/or prosecutable, WE JUST DON'T KNOW. They're still writing the laws.

    To forestall any confusion or debates, and to protect sysadmins from inadvertently becoming the test case, this provision was adopted as a key requirement for RACC's creation. If you really must write about existing, trademarked characters, there is alt.comics.fan-fiction waiting to receive
    you. alt.* groups get picked up by sysadmins voluntarily, so they
    presumedly know what risks they're taking.

    Nothing will draw this group's ire faster than violating this requirement.

    ------------------------------

    Subject: 1.5. Where are the old stories?

    Thanks to the tireless efforts and bottomless disk space of Russ Allbery,
    all stories posted to rec.arts.comics.creative are archived! This means stories will be preserved for future generations of readers, providing a
    link to the past. It is difficult to over-praise this contribution.

    (Note: Lest you think I would be so crass as to praise myself, I want to
    make sure you know that Jeff wrote that last paragraph. 'course, I didn't delete it either.)

    Older stories are sorted by universe and series and are available at:

    <https://archives.eyrie.org/racc/>

    All of the stories are compressed using gzip, but most browsers can automatically decompress them for you. This archive unfortunately hasn't
    been updated recently, but it does have all of the older stories.

    Every message to rec.arts.comics.creative, story or not, is archived at:

    <https://lists.eyrie.org/pipermail/racc/>

    in the form of a more traditional mailing list archive, so you can also
    look there if a story hasn't been saved in the story archive. This is the
    best way to find anything posted in the last few years. You can search
    the archive by prepending "site:lists.eyrie.org" to a regular Google
    search.

    Please note that stories will be removed from both the list archive and
    the story archive at the author's request if the author wants to take them down. This has happened in the past, sometimes because the author wanted
    to sell the stories to a professional venue.

    ------------------------------

    Subject: 1.6. How can I read RACC via e-mail?

    Everything that shows up in RACC also shows up in its associated mailing
    list (and vice versa), so if you want to be sure not to miss anything, or
    if you just prefer e-mail to Usenet, you can subscribe to that mailing
    list.

    To do that, go to:

    <https://lists.eyrie.org/mailman/listinfo/racc>

    and fill out the form to subscribe. Alternately, you can subscribe via
    e-mail by sending mail to racc-request@lists.eyrie.org with the word:

    subscribe

    in the subject of the message. You then can read and reply to posts just
    as if the newsgroup were a mailing list. It's all the same to us.

    ------------------------------

    Subject: 2. Writing for RACC (How do I get involved?)

    Write a story. Post it. You're involved.

    This assumes you want to create your own universe to write in. If you
    want to join a pre-existing shared universe, it's a little more involved.

    Many of the imprints have FAQs of their own (OMEGA, Superguy, LNH,
    Crossroads to name a few). These get posted periodically. The first
    thing you should do is read these documents to get a feel for what these specific universes are like.

    The next thing you should do is _read_ the universe in question. This
    includes tapping the archives for back issues. No one would suggest you
    read the entire Superguy or LNH archives before writing, but definitely
    try to sample a large cross-section.

    Lastly, email some of the creators you see writing under a specific
    imprint. They will be able to tell you if your concept fits with their universe or not, and perhaps refer you to a more appropriate universe if necessary.

    THEN write a story and post it.

    ------------------------------

    Subject: 2.1. Cool! Okay, how do I post?

    RACC is a moderated newsgroup, which means that every post goes to the moderators first. If your site correctly has the group marked as
    moderated, you should be able to post just like you post to any other
    group and your news server will take care of the rest. If you have a Unix shell account, you can check if the group is correctly marked as moderated
    by typing:

    nntplist active | grep rec.arts.comics.creative

    If the last character on the resulting line is an "m," congratulations,
    you have a good news administrator. If it's a "y," send mail to your
    local computing support people and ask them to convert the group to
    moderated like it should be.

    If you don't have a Unix shell account, some newsreaders will also tell
    you if the group is moderated.

    If, for any reason, you have trouble posting or your site *doesn't* have
    the group marked as moderated, you can mail your post to racc@eyrie.org
    instead and it will be posted for you.

    Because the group is moderated, it can be up to a day after you post
    before your article is actually posted, and it can take a few more days
    for the article to propagate back to you. So don't be surprised if it
    doesn't show up right away.

    Many readers of rec.arts.comics.creative use Google Groups to read and
    post. While this works, and I know it's convenient, Google Groups also
    deletes anything enclosed in square brackets ([]) at the beginning of
    Subject lines in replies. If you use Google Groups, please try to
    remember to put back the imprint tags when you reply to posts; otherwise,
    I have to add them as the moderator.

    ------------------------------

    Subject: 2.2. Format! I'm nothing without format!

    Formatting is pretty loose. Since this is a comics newsgroup, you will
    hear people refer to their stories as "issues." Postings tend to run in numerical order just like comic books, and many people write continuing
    series. For example there are 25 "issues" in Drizzt's _Continuity Champ
    and the Drizzt's Defenders_ series.

    Stories don't have to be series though. One-shots, mini-series,
    maxi-series, crossovers -- all of these have been done before and will be
    done again.

    The subjects of postings should follow the convention of naming the
    imprint the title and the number. For example:

    LNH: System Corruptors #15, The Bard's Tale
    imprint --^ ^ ^ ^
    title --------------| | |
    number -------------------------| |
    subtitle/comment/etc [optional] -------|

    Since the archive mechanism relies heavily on this format (not to mention
    the format-accustomed eyes of this group's readers), please follow this strictly, including the use of the #-sign. Subtitles, alternate titles,
    and title comments should follow the number if they are used at all. If
    you want to, you can use [TAG] instead of TAG: at the beginning of the
    subject; it's all the same to the archiver. (TAG: causes a few fewer
    problems than [TAG] with Google Groups.)

    Occasionally, instead of (or in addition to) a number you will see "TEB."
    This stands for "Trade EtherBack." It means the posting is actually a collection of previously posted issues -- usually cleaned up and relating
    to a single story arc.

    Inside your story do what you will. Some folks run fake ads, others use
    cheesy ASCII graphics, some just use text. A word of advice: On
    older/more primitive newsreaders your text is MUCH easier to read if you
    space between paragraphs. On the other hand, some newer newsreader
    readers find the spaces jarring. The moral? You can't please all the
    people all the time. In general spaces seem to be more preferred.

    ------------------------------

    Subject: 2.3. How 'bout them imprints? What's up with that?

    In order to accommodate a near-infinite number of different potential universes, RACC has adopted the reasonable convention of flagging fiction.
    This allows uninterested parties to skip some genres, and others to
    quickly find their niches of interest. The flag goes before the title of
    story issues, related FAQs or universe-specific discussions. Many flags
    refer to existing shared-universes. New ones will come up all the time.
    For the current list, see section 5 of this FAQ.

    Once you pick an imprint name, stick with it. The Archive and your legion
    of new fans will both be happier if you don't make marketing name changes.

    Regardless of flags all SEXUALLY EXPLICIT or PROFANITY-RICH stories should
    have huge warning labels at the beginning of text. Last thing we need is
    a Florida DA bringing us all up on charges. ;] Besides, it's only common courtesy. Note that if a story could reasonably be posted on
    alt.sex.stories, you've probably strayed a bit far from this group's
    interests.

    Some sort of flag, either an imprint name or a more general tag, is
    required on all posts and one will be added by the moderator if you don't provide one. Leaving one off requires the moderator to edit your post,
    though, which takes time and means your post will be delayed. So please
    save them the trouble and remember to add the tag yourself.

    ------------------------------

    Subject: 2.4. How do I archive my stories for posterity?

    Good news! It's already being done for you! (Or at least it will be if
    Russ ever catches up with the archiving.)

    In theory, every story posted to rec.arts.comics.creative is archived at <https://archives.eyrie.org/racc/>. Most imprints have their own
    directories, with the stories stored in directories under that (depending
    on the size of the imprint, the directories could be very structured or
    just one directory for each series). Some imprints may be collected in
    the misc directory.

    Unfortunately, this archive is substantially out of date. Russ hopes to eventually find time to update it.

    The exception is Superguy, which has its own archiving mechanism. The
    Superguy archives are at <https://archives.eyrie.org/superguy/>, but one
    of the best ways to access them is through the Autocollector at:

    <https://archives.eyrie.org/cgi-bin/superguy>

    ------------------------------

    Subject: 2.5. What do Copyright laws I pay taxes for do for me?

    I don't even play a lawyer on TV, but there are some things you should
    know about Copyright laws.

    Anything you write is copyrighted immediately, whether you flag it with a copyright notice or not. Furthermore, the copyright protection is international under the Berne Copyright Convention, which has been signed
    by nearly every country with access to Usenet.

    If you label your text as copyrighted, it preempts a possible
    "unintentional infringement" defense from plagarizers. The copyright
    notice is considered legal notice that you intend to retain your rights.
    The legal format for such a notice requires three things: Your name, the
    year, and one or more of the following: "Copyright," "Copr.," and/or the c-in-circle symbol. Note that there is no firm legal precedence for (C)
    or (c) as having any special copyright meaning. Example notice:

    Copyright 1994 Jeff J McCoskey

    The only way to get full legal protection (at least in the United States)
    is to register your work with the government (forms are free, filing fees apply). This *guarantees* an archived, dated copy should future legal
    action be necessary. Other forms of dating, like mailing yourself a copy
    or archiving (to get a date stamp), are of dubious and unproven legal
    value.

    An excellent resource for Copyright information is misc.legal, where a FAQ
    is posted monthly.

    Another excellent resource is the U.S. Copyright Office home page at:

    <https://www.copyright.gov/>

    ------------------------------

    Subject: 3. Netiquette for RACC

    As a rule of thumb, everything you've heard elsewhere about good
    netiquette applies here. We hate spammers (more in a minute), expect
    smilies when joking (except in stories of course), and in general expect
    you to conduct yourselves as good net.citizens. There are three things
    you need to know after you've mastered Basic Netiquette:

    1. The only times flames are accepted on RACC are when they are both
    morally defensible and amusing. Flames are not welcome if they do not
    meet the above criteria. Here on RACC there is one organization that
    acts as moral compass for acceptable flames: the Order of St. Doomas.

    The Order has defined one activity that is worthy of flame: spamming.
    One member of the Order (usually the first to his/her keyboard) will
    have the honors. Repetitive flaming by multiple members is frowned
    upon by the Order.

    To join this righteous crusade, all you need do is select a
    net.persona and flame. Incorrect flaming (i.e. at non-sanctioned
    targets, or with unamusing effect) will result in ostracization and
    excommunication. Watch the Order in action before joining and all
    will be clear.

    Now that the group has been moderated, most opportunities for flames
    are gone. But watch carefully; new ones may arise.

    2. Reviews of stories (even negative ones) are one of the most
    sought-after commodities on RACC. You will instantly win friends and
    influence people if you post reviews. But especially in the case of
    negative reviews, ensure you confine your review to the story and not
    the writer. Keep in mind as you write "that SUCKS" that someone
    worked long and hard on the text. They might want to know what worked
    and what didn't in their narrative but it's doubtful they want to hear
    how clever you can be in ripping them up.

    It's certain the rest of us don't.

    3. One of the best features of a shared universe is the opportunity to
    have your characters interact with others in that universe. This is
    a privilege, not a right. All characters on RACC (and their
    distinctive text-likenesses) are the full and exclusive property of
    their creators. This is not as dogmatic as it sounds, and we're all
    adults (or pretending to be). Cameos (non-speaking/non-plot affecting
    roles) do not typically require permission unless the creator desires
    it. Speaking roles should be previewed through email and approved by
    the creator before being posted.

    ------------------------------

    Subject: 4. Glossary

    These are terms you will see come up on RACC that have special meaning
    here. (For general net.terms and abbreviations, see the META RAC FAQ.)

    Acraphobe RACC's version of adult warning label. Yes, with an "a."
    Don't ask.

    Arc A multi-issue storyline.

    Archive ftp.eyrie.org, where nearly ALL the back issues live.

    Crossover A storyline that involves several titles and/or authors. Also
    the bane of all mankind.

    Elsewhirls An imaginary story. (Yeah yeah, we know they're ALL
    imaginary. How about "out-of-continuity"?)

    Fanfiction Fiction about established, trademarked universes and
    or fanfic characters that the author did not create -- in short, the
    sort of stories RACC *wasn't* designed for. There's a good
    list of newsgroups at the end of this FAQ that should help in
    finding a better group if this is what you want to write.

    Imprint The shared universe your story takes place in or subject your
    posting relates to (we have many to chose from). This is
    usually an all-caps prefix on the title of the posting.

    LNH The Legion of Net.Heroes. The immediate father of this group
    and the oldest of the Usenet-based writing universes (see
    Superguy).

    RAC* The rec.arts.comics.* hierarchy of newsgroups.

    RACC rec.arts.comics.creative. You're soaking in it!

    rACCIES The annual RACC fanfiction awards, as voted on by the readers
    or RACCies of this newsgroup.

    Repost Story has been posted before, natch.

    Superguy A mailing list that predates all other Internet comics-fiction
    forums. There is a good-natured rivalry between the LNH and
    this group.

    TEB Trade EtherBack. This is a collection of previously posted
    material, usually cleaned up and relating to a single story
    arc.

    Title A numerically increasing, continuing series. Usually
    involving one character, cast, city, or unifying concept.

    ------------------------------

    Subject: 5. List of Current Tags

    When choosing a tag to put at the beginning of your post, this list should
    be a canonical reference. If you see a need for a new tag, send mail to
    the FAQ maintainer so that it can be added.

    First, the general tags:

    ADMIN Administrative matters affecting everyone on RACC.

    FAQ FAQs of note for the entire RAC* hierarchy. These will tend
    to be crossposted here.

    META Discussion about the newsgroup itself. This includes
    or CHAT everything from general discussion of on-line fiction and RACC
    in particular to recommendations on how long posts should be.

    PRECOG Announcements of upcoming series, planned stories, and the
    or PROMO like.

    WWW Announcement of a web page related to RACC or a free strip.

    Now, all of the writing imprints. Note that new ones of these pop up all
    the time. Entries marked with (*) are in danger of being retired due to
    lack of activity. If you have any changes, please mail eagle@eyrie.org.

    8FOLD A closed universe that encompasses serious superheroes, comedy,
    memoir, and just about anything else: high-quality fiction of
    any stripe is welcome.

    ACRAPHOBE Mature stories that may or may not fit into other universes'
    or ACRA continuity. Using this flag in conjunction with another is
    not unheard of. (For example, Scav's _501 Blues_ is
    LNH/ACRAPHOBE.) Think a meta-Vertigo.

    ASH Academy of Super-Heroes. Dave Van Domelen's RPG-based future-
    history stories. See <https://www.eyrie.org/~dvandom/ASH>.

    ELSEWHIRLS LNH stories that do not fit into LNH continuity. Think DC's
    or EW Elseworlds.

    HCC The High Concept Challenge, a continuous series of writing
    contests. Each round, the winner, chosen by reader vote, gets
    to pick the next round's concept.

    LNH Legion of Net.Heroes, "The Friendliest Shared Universe
    Going!(TM)" A mostly parody universe, though it does have its
    serious side.

    LNH20 On the LNH's 20th anniversary, a group of writers took it upon
    themselves to create a new world, based in everything they
    loved about the LNH, in the best spirit of comic book reboots!
    LNH20 is just as friendly as the original, but easier to get
    into! Hop right in, the adventure's fine!

    LNHY An Imprint involving an alternate LNH universe called
    Looniverse Y. The big difference between this and the Classic
    LNH is that writers are allowed to have only one character of
    theirs in this Looniverse's LNH.

    RACCCafe A continuity-free outpust where RACC characters can unwind
    after a hard day of being mangled by their writers. Anything
    can happen, as long as it's funny, and there are no
    consequences!

    SG Superguy. From Space Moose to the Bomb. Comedy superhero
    writing with a far different background than LNH. Note that
    only a small slice of Superguy stuff appears here; to see the
    rest, go to <https://lists.eyrie.org/mailman/listinfo/superguy>.

    STARFALL Lightly serious and seriously light superheroics, and better
    because of it. ;)

    NTB Net.Trenchcoat.Brigade. A bunch of Vertigo-like characters
    that own stock in London Fog. Not tremendously active, but
    they do have a considerable history. Implied Acraphobe.

    OMEGA A serious psi-based shared super-world and once upon a time
    RACC's third largest universe, now inactive. Created by the
    legendary Matt Rossi.

    OSD The Order of Saint Doomas. Items relating to RACC's anti-spam
    cult. (See Section 3 above.) No posts have been seen from
    this imprint in quite some time, but that doesn't mean they're
    gone....

    SW10 SW stands for Superhuman World. 10 is an annual tag. The
    comic has proceeded to 2011, but the tag has frozen at 2010
    because that's when the series really interacted with RACC.
    Scott Eiler has written the story of this universe since
    before 1991, but 1991 is when the modern heroes of this series
    start. His sources include adolescent male power fantasy,
    superhero role-playing, comic-book satire, and dreams. See
    <http://www.eilertech.com/stories/>.

    MISC Stories not in the above categories or in their own universes
    (authors are encouraged to make up their own headers as well).
    To limit the number of imprints, and to keep this FAQ to
    reasonable lengths, let's adopt this convention: One-shot
    stories or series should use the MISC flag. Series that set
    up shared universes should create their own, new imprint.

    ------------------------------

    Subject: 6. People to Ask for Help

    The major header contacts are listed below, who will be glad to answer
    email question. Also keep your eyes peeled for FAQs specific to
    particular imprints. The FAQs are also often in the archive in a
    directory named "FAQs" under the imprint directory.

    Imprint Contact Email
    ------------ -------------------- ---------------------------------
    8FOLD Jamie Rosen jamie.rosen@sunlife.com
    8FOLD Tom Russell joltcity@gmail.com
    + ASH Dave Van Domelen dvandom@eyrie.org
    + LNH Andrew Perron pwerdna@gmail.com
    LNH20 Andrew Perron pwerdna@gmail.com
    + LNHY Arthur Spitzer arspitzer@earthlink.net
    + NTB Arthur Spitzer arspitzer@earthlink.net
    + RACChallenge Sean MacDonald mcdonald@vorteb.math.uab.edu
    + StarFall Ted Brock phantom_belcher@yahoo.com
    + Superguy Eric Burns eaburns@annotations.com
    SW10 Scott Eiler seiler@eilertech.com

    The Archive Russ Allbery eagle@eyrie.org
    Moderation RACC Moderation Team racc-request@eyrie.org

    + indicates separate FAQs are available for these imprints.

    If you need to contact the moderator directly, the contact information is:

    Russ Allbery <eagle@eyrie.org>

    If none of the above people help, or your questions are too general or specific, just email anyone you see posting here that seems to know what they're doing. (WARNING: This is rarely the case.)

    --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
    * Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)
  • From Russ Allbery@21:1/5 to All on Thu Apr 1 07:01:04 2021
    Last-modified: 2018-07-16
    Posted-by: postfaq 1.17 (Perl 5.28.1)
    Archive-name: comics/creative/faq
    URL: https://www.eyrie.org/~eagle/faqs/racc.html
    Posting-frequency: monthly

    ==========================================================================
    rec.arts.comics.creative Frequently Asked Questions
    Maintained by Russ Allbery <eagle@eyrie.org>
    Original by Jeff McCoskey ==========================================================================

    If you're reading this on Usenet, this FAQ is formatted as a minimal
    digest. If your newsreader has digest handling capabilities you can use
    them to navigate between sections. In rn variants, you can use Ctrl-G to
    skip to the next section; in Gnus, press Ctrl-D to break each section into
    a separate article. For other newsreaders, see the documentation.

    The latest version of this FAQ is available on the web at:

    <https://www.eyrie.org/~eagle/faqs/racc.html>

    Please send any comments, suggestions, or updates to eagle@eyrie.org.

    ------------------------------

    Subject: Contents

    1. Welcome to rec.arts.comics.creative!
    1.1. What is RACC for?
    1.2. What isn't RACC for?
    1.3. What is the RACC official charter?
    1.4. Where are the stories about Wolverine(tm)?
    1.5. Where are the old stories?
    1.6. How can I read RACC via e-mail?

    2. Writing for RACC (How do I get involved?)
    2.1. Cool! Okay, how do I post?
    2.2. Format! I'm nothing without format!
    2.3. How 'bout them imprints? What's up with that?
    2.4. How do I archive my stories for posterity?
    2.5. What do copyright laws I pay taxes for do for me?

    3. Netiquette for RACC

    4. Glossary

    5. List of current imprints

    6. People to ask for help

    ------------------------------

    Subject: 1. Welcome to rec.arts.comics.creative!

    Welcome to rec.arts.comics.creative, the newsgroup which could have been
    named rec.prose.shared-universe but wasn't, the newsgroup which has, to
    date, produced well over 30MB of entirely free original fiction (and
    that's compressed!), the newsgroup which has nearly nothing to do with
    your favorite comic books at all!

    You're about to go insane. Don't worry, it's fun.

    rec.arts.comics.creative (henceforth RACC) is a moderated newsgroup for comics-related original fiction and discussion of same, originally created unmoderated by Martin Phipps and a cast of thousands (well, dozens at
    least) and later converted to moderated to keep out the spam. Don't
    worry, even though it's a moderated group, it's still friendly, chatty,
    and not at all formal, and we go out of our way to keep it that way.

    The first group of this sort on the Internet was the Superguy mailing
    list, which is still in operation to this day (you'll see posts from it on
    this group from time to time). Later, the Legion of Net.Heroes (LNH)
    sprung out of a free-form thread on rec.arts.comics and spawned another newsgroup (alt.comics.lnh). They were quickly followed by a wide variety
    of other comics-based shared universes, including the Patrol, the Net.Trenchcoat.Brigade, and Omega. All of these organizations, in
    parallel, gathered together authors in shared universes and strongly
    influenced the nature of RACC.

    First and foremost, RACC is a site for people to post comics-related
    fiction. Stories about long-underwear vigilantes, anthropomorphic
    animals, SF, westerns, even Kleen Teens if anyone is so moved. As long as
    it relates to comics it's okay. So whether you're a reader, a writer, or
    that fabled creature the critic, or even all three -- welcome to RACC:
    it's all the story, none of the art! (yet)

    ------------------------------

    Subject: 1.1. What is RACC for?

    For the official charter, see section 1.3. Here's the long, readable
    version.

    One term that you'll see a lot is "shared universe." This is a shared
    story background, co-created by multiple authors and used as the
    "universe" in which multiple different stories are set. This is a
    trademark characteristic of most comic books (seen in its clearest form in
    the ubiquitous crossover, a story written by multiple authors at once and involving multiple characters who all have their own stories), as well as appearing in some other published fiction (such as Wild Cards, or Larry
    Niven's Man-Kzin Wars). Most (but not all) of the stories posted here
    take place in one of the established shared universes (there's a list
    later on in this FAQ), to the point where this style of writing is nearly characteristic of the group.

    Another term you'll see is "comics-related." Nearly all of the authors
    writing here drew their original (if not primary) inspiration from comic
    books. As a result, nearly all of the stories are on-going (published a chapter at a time), divided up into "issues" and given numbers, and
    organized into "imprints." Many people also describe covers or design
    ASCII graphic logos.

    There is no restriction on types of fiction. (That'd kinda take the
    creative out of RACC, wouldn't it?) You'll see stories run the gamut from slapstick comedy to grim'n'gritty Real Life Supers (TM). As long as it's
    about comics, set your pen free. (You'll see a lot of superhero fiction,
    but that just means that those of us who like reading other things as well
    are anxiously awaiting your non-superhero stories.)

    RACC is also for discussion of stories, both specific ones and in general.
    The critic and reader is one of the most sought-after types of people
    around here; if you give us feedback on our stories, good or bad, we'll
    love you forever.

    Finally, if you want to announce your free web strip here, we welcome
    those posts too. If you're trying to sell it, though, please try rec.arts.comics.marketplace or rec.arts.comics.strips instead. (And rec.arts.comics.strips may be a better group in general, as RACC readers
    are mostly interested in text fiction.)

    ------------------------------

    Subject: 1.2. What isn't RACC for?

    A lot of things. We're not for wars of attrition, Third World starvation,
    45 mph speed limits, and brussel sprout toothpaste. Closer to home, RACC
    is not for any of the following:

    * Discussion of existing, "professional" books (except as they relate
    to our fiction)

    * Marketplace-type I-wanna-buy/I-wanna-sell postings

    * Flames and personality conflicts. Critiques, yes. Flames, no.

    * Fiction about established, trademarked characters and universes,
    unless you created them or have written permission.

    * Erotica, no matter how much spandex you put in. There are other
    groups for that.

    ------------------------------

    Subject: 1.3. What is the RACC official charter?

    This newsgroup welcomes any form of comics-related original fiction and discussion of the same, including but not limited to stories in the many established shared universes. Discussion of on-line fiction as a whole is
    also welcome provided that it is related to the stories on the newsgroup.
    If they choose to write in an existing shared universe, writers are
    strongly encouranged to follow the existing continuity and rules of that universe. "Comics-related" will be interpreted very broadly, as has been traditional on the newsgroup.

    Each posting to rec.arts.comics.creative should include a keyword on the subject line either designating which shared universe the posting refers
    to or marking the general subject of the post (ADMIN, META, MISC, etc.).
    If a submitted post does not have a keyword, the moderator will add an appropriate keyword, but posters are encouraged to add keywords themselves
    to save moderation work.

    Large binaries, such as artwork, will not be allowed on the newsgroup.
    Instead, binaries can be made available in the newsgroup archive (subject
    to the discretion of the archivist) and a pointer posted to the newsgroup. Pointers to Web pages are also welcome, provided the content of the page
    is related to the purpose of the group.

    Stories using copyrighted or trademarked characters are explicitly not
    within the charter of this group and may be rejected unless the author
    owns the copyrights and trademarks or has written permission from the
    owner. Networking posts (artists seeking writers or writers seeking
    artists) are inappropriate in this group and should be sent to appropriate mailing lists or other groups in the rec.arts.comics.* hierarchy (rec.arts.comics.misc if there is no other more appropriate group).

    ------------------------------

    Subject: 1.4. Where are the stories about Wolverine(tm)?

    This is very important, so I'm going to yell it. RACC IS NOT THE PLACE
    FOR FICTION ABOUT ESTABLISHED, TRADEMARKED CHARACTERS. This includes all Marvel, Image, DC, what-have-you characters. RACC's charter expressly
    FORBIDS such fiction.

    The reason for this is the ongoing legislative battles about intellectual property and the Net. rec.* groups are picked up worldwide, and sysadmins
    do not want to draw lawsuits because someone wrote a story that violated trademark laws. Note that fanfic stories may or may not be lawful and/or prosecutable, WE JUST DON'T KNOW. They're still writing the laws.

    To forestall any confusion or debates, and to protect sysadmins from inadvertently becoming the test case, this provision was adopted as a key requirement for RACC's creation. If you really must write about existing, trademarked characters, there is alt.comics.fan-fiction waiting to receive
    you. alt.* groups get picked up by sysadmins voluntarily, so they
    presumedly know what risks they're taking.

    Nothing will draw this group's ire faster than violating this requirement.

    ------------------------------

    Subject: 1.5. Where are the old stories?

    Thanks to the tireless efforts and bottomless disk space of Russ Allbery,
    all stories posted to rec.arts.comics.creative are archived! This means stories will be preserved for future generations of readers, providing a
    link to the past. It is difficult to over-praise this contribution.

    (Note: Lest you think I would be so crass as to praise myself, I want to
    make sure you know that Jeff wrote that last paragraph. 'course, I didn't delete it either.)

    Older stories are sorted by universe and series and are available at:

    <https://archives.eyrie.org/racc/>

    All of the stories are compressed using gzip, but most browsers can automatically decompress them for you. This archive unfortunately hasn't
    been updated recently, but it does have all of the older stories.

    Every message to rec.arts.comics.creative, story or not, is archived at:

    <https://lists.eyrie.org/pipermail/racc/>

    in the form of a more traditional mailing list archive, so you can also
    look there if a story hasn't been saved in the story archive. This is the
    best way to find anything posted in the last few years. You can search
    the archive by prepending "site:lists.eyrie.org" to a regular Google
    search.

    Please note that stories will be removed from both the list archive and
    the story archive at the author's request if the author wants to take them down. This has happened in the past, sometimes because the author wanted
    to sell the stories to a professional venue.

    ------------------------------

    Subject: 1.6. How can I read RACC via e-mail?

    Everything that shows up in RACC also shows up in its associated mailing
    list (and vice versa), so if you want to be sure not to miss anything, or
    if you just prefer e-mail to Usenet, you can subscribe to that mailing
    list.

    To do that, go to:

    <https://lists.eyrie.org/mailman/listinfo/racc>

    and fill out the form to subscribe. Alternately, you can subscribe via
    e-mail by sending mail to racc-request@lists.eyrie.org with the word:

    subscribe

    in the subject of the message. You then can read and reply to posts just
    as if the newsgroup were a mailing list. It's all the same to us.

    ------------------------------

    Subject: 2. Writing for RACC (How do I get involved?)

    Write a story. Post it. You're involved.

    This assumes you want to create your own universe to write in. If you
    want to join a pre-existing shared universe, it's a little more involved.

    Many of the imprints have FAQs of their own (OMEGA, Superguy, LNH,
    Crossroads to name a few). These get posted periodically. The first
    thing you should do is read these documents to get a feel for what these specific universes are like.

    The next thing you should do is _read_ the universe in question. This
    includes tapping the archives for back issues. No one would suggest you
    read the entire Superguy or LNH archives before writing, but definitely
    try to sample a large cross-section.

    Lastly, email some of the creators you see writing under a specific
    imprint. They will be able to tell you if your concept fits with their universe or not, and perhaps refer you to a more appropriate universe if necessary.

    THEN write a story and post it.

    ------------------------------

    Subject: 2.1. Cool! Okay, how do I post?

    RACC is a moderated newsgroup, which means that every post goes to the moderators first. If your site correctly has the group marked as
    moderated, you should be able to post just like you post to any other
    group and your news server will take care of the rest. If you have a Unix shell account, you can check if the group is correctly marked as moderated
    by typing:

    nntplist active | grep rec.arts.comics.creative

    If the last character on the resulting line is an "m," congratulations,
    you have a good news administrator. If it's a "y," send mail to your
    local computing support people and ask them to convert the group to
    moderated like it should be.

    If you don't have a Unix shell account, some newsreaders will also tell
    you if the group is moderated.

    If, for any reason, you have trouble posting or your site *doesn't* have
    the group marked as moderated, you can mail your post to racc@eyrie.org
    instead and it will be posted for you.

    Because the group is moderated, it can be up to a day after you post
    before your article is actually posted, and it can take a few more days
    for the article to propagate back to you. So don't be surprised if it
    doesn't show up right away.

    Many readers of rec.arts.comics.creative use Google Groups to read and
    post. While this works, and I know it's convenient, Google Groups also
    deletes anything enclosed in square brackets ([]) at the beginning of
    Subject lines in replies. If you use Google Groups, please try to
    remember to put back the imprint tags when you reply to posts; otherwise,
    I have to add them as the moderator.

    ------------------------------

    Subject: 2.2. Format! I'm nothing without format!

    Formatting is pretty loose. Since this is a comics newsgroup, you will
    hear people refer to their stories as "issues." Postings tend to run in numerical order just like comic books, and many people write continuing
    series. For example there are 25 "issues" in Drizzt's _Continuity Champ
    and the Drizzt's Defenders_ series.

    Stories don't have to be series though. One-shots, mini-series,
    maxi-series, crossovers -- all of these have been done before and will be
    done again.

    The subjects of postings should follow the convention of naming the
    imprint the title and the number. For example:

    LNH: System Corruptors #15, The Bard's Tale
    imprint --^ ^ ^ ^
    title --------------| | |
    number -------------------------| |
    subtitle/comment/etc [optional] -------|

    Since the archive mechanism relies heavily on this format (not to mention
    the format-accustomed eyes of this group's readers), please follow this strictly, including the use of the #-sign. Subtitles, alternate titles,
    and title comments should follow the number if they are used at all. If
    you want to, you can use [TAG] instead of TAG: at the beginning of the
    subject; it's all the same to the archiver. (TAG: causes a few fewer
    problems than [TAG] with Google Groups.)

    Occasionally, instead of (or in addition to) a number you will see "TEB."
    This stands for "Trade EtherBack." It means the posting is actually a collection of previously posted issues -- usually cleaned up and relating
    to a single story arc.

    Inside your story do what you will. Some folks run fake ads, others use
    cheesy ASCII graphics, some just use text. A word of advice: On
    older/more primitive newsreaders your text is MUCH easier to read if you
    space between paragraphs. On the other hand, some newer newsreader
    readers find the spaces jarring. The moral? You can't please all the
    people all the time. In general spaces seem to be more preferred.

    ------------------------------

    Subject: 2.3. How 'bout them imprints? What's up with that?

    In order to accommodate a near-infinite number of different potential universes, RACC has adopted the reasonable convention of flagging fiction.
    This allows uninterested parties to skip some genres, and others to
    quickly find their niches of interest. The flag goes before the title of
    story issues, related FAQs or universe-specific discussions. Many flags
    refer to existing shared-universes. New ones will come up all the time.
    For the current list, see section 5 of this FAQ.

    Once you pick an imprint name, stick with it. The Archive and your legion
    of new fans will both be happier if you don't make marketing name changes.

    Regardless of flags all SEXUALLY EXPLICIT or PROFANITY-RICH stories should
    have huge warning labels at the beginning of text. Last thing we need is
    a Florida DA bringing us all up on charges. ;] Besides, it's only common courtesy. Note that if a story could reasonably be posted on
    alt.sex.stories, you've probably strayed a bit far from this group's
    interests.

    Some sort of flag, either an imprint name or a more general tag, is
    required on all posts and one will be added by the moderator if you don't provide one. Leaving one off requires the moderator to edit your post,
    though, which takes time and means your post will be delayed. So please
    save them the trouble and remember to add the tag yourself.

    ------------------------------

    Subject: 2.4. How do I archive my stories for posterity?

    Good news! It's already being done for you! (Or at least it will be if
    Russ ever catches up with the archiving.)

    In theory, every story posted to rec.arts.comics.creative is archived at <https://archives.eyrie.org/racc/>. Most imprints have their own
    directories, with the stories stored in directories under that (depending
    on the size of the imprint, the directories could be very structured or
    just one directory for each series). Some imprints may be collected in
    the misc directory.

    Unfortunately, this archive is substantially out of date. Russ hopes to eventually find time to update it.

    The exception is Superguy, which has its own archiving mechanism. The
    Superguy archives are at <https://archives.eyrie.org/superguy/>, but one
    of the best ways to access them is through the Autocollector at:

    <https://archives.eyrie.org/cgi-bin/superguy>

    ------------------------------

    Subject: 2.5. What do Copyright laws I pay taxes for do for me?

    I don't even play a lawyer on TV, but there are some things you should
    know about Copyright laws.

    Anything you write is copyrighted immediately, whether you flag it with a copyright notice or not. Furthermore, the copyright protection is international under the Berne Copyright Convention, which has been signed
    by nearly every country with access to Usenet.

    If you label your text as copyrighted, it preempts a possible
    "unintentional infringement" defense from plagarizers. The copyright
    notice is considered legal notice that you intend to retain your rights.
    The legal format for such a notice requires three things: Your name, the
    year, and one or more of the following: "Copyright," "Copr.," and/or the c-in-circle symbol. Note that there is no firm legal precedence for (C)
    or (c) as having any special copyright meaning. Example notice:

    Copyright 1994 Jeff J McCoskey

    The only way to get full legal protection (at least in the United States)
    is to register your work with the government (forms are free, filing fees apply). This *guarantees* an archived, dated copy should future legal
    action be necessary. Other forms of dating, like mailing yourself a copy
    or archiving (to get a date stamp), are of dubious and unproven legal
    value.

    An excellent resource for Copyright information is misc.legal, where a FAQ
    is posted monthly.

    Another excellent resource is the U.S. Copyright Office home page at:

    <https://www.copyright.gov/>

    ------------------------------

    Subject: 3. Netiquette for RACC

    As a rule of thumb, everything you've heard elsewhere about good
    netiquette applies here. We hate spammers (more in a minute), expect
    smilies when joking (except in stories of course), and in general expect
    you to conduct yourselves as good net.citizens. There are three things
    you need to know after you've mastered Basic Netiquette:

    1. The only times flames are accepted on RACC are when they are both
    morally defensible and amusing. Flames are not welcome if they do not
    meet the above criteria. Here on RACC there is one organization that
    acts as moral compass for acceptable flames: the Order of St. Doomas.

    The Order has defined one activity that is worthy of flame: spamming.
    One member of the Order (usually the first to his/her keyboard) will
    have the honors. Repetitive flaming by multiple members is frowned
    upon by the Order.

    To join this righteous crusade, all you need do is select a
    net.persona and flame. Incorrect flaming (i.e. at non-sanctioned
    targets, or with unamusing effect) will result in ostracization and
    excommunication. Watch the Order in action before joining and all
    will be clear.

    Now that the group has been moderated, most opportunities for flames
    are gone. But watch carefully; new ones may arise.

    2. Reviews of stories (even negative ones) are one of the most
    sought-after commodities on RACC. You will instantly win friends and
    influence people if you post reviews. But especially in the case of
    negative reviews, ensure you confine your review to the story and not
    the writer. Keep in mind as you write "that SUCKS" that someone
    worked long and hard on the text. They might want to know what worked
    and what didn't in their narrative but it's doubtful they want to hear
    how clever you can be in ripping them up.

    It's certain the rest of us don't.

    3. One of the best features of a shared universe is the opportunity to
    have your characters interact with others in that universe. This is
    a privilege, not a right. All characters on RACC (and their
    distinctive text-likenesses) are the full and exclusive property of
    their creators. This is not as dogmatic as it sounds, and we're all
    adults (or pretending to be). Cameos (non-speaking/non-plot affecting
    roles) do not typically require permission unless the creator desires
    it. Speaking roles should be previewed through email and approved by
    the creator before being posted.

    ------------------------------

    Subject: 4. Glossary

    These are terms you will see come up on RACC that have special meaning
    here. (For general net.terms and abbreviations, see the META RAC FAQ.)

    Acraphobe RACC's version of adult warning label. Yes, with an "a."
    Don't ask.

    Arc A multi-issue storyline.

    Archive ftp.eyrie.org, where nearly ALL the back issues live.

    Crossover A storyline that involves several titles and/or authors. Also
    the bane of all mankind.

    Elsewhirls An imaginary story. (Yeah yeah, we know they're ALL
    imaginary. How about "out-of-continuity"?)

    Fanfiction Fiction about established, trademarked universes and
    or fanfic characters that the author did not create -- in short, the
    sort of stories RACC *wasn't* designed for. There's a good
    list of newsgroups at the end of this FAQ that should help in
    finding a better group if this is what you want to write.

    Imprint The shared universe your story takes place in or subject your
    posting relates to (we have many to chose from). This is
    usually an all-caps prefix on the title of the posting.

    LNH The Legion of Net.Heroes. The immediate father of this group
    and the oldest of the Usenet-based writing universes (see
    Superguy).

    RAC* The rec.arts.comics.* hierarchy of newsgroups.

    RACC rec.arts.comics.creative. You're soaking in it!

    rACCIES The annual RACC fanfiction awards, as voted on by the readers
    or RACCies of this newsgroup.

    Repost Story has been posted before, natch.

    Superguy A mailing list that predates all other Internet comics-fiction
    forums. There is a good-natured rivalry between the LNH and
    this group.

    TEB Trade EtherBack. This is a collection of previously posted
    material, usually cleaned up and relating to a single story
    arc.

    Title A numerically increasing, continuing series. Usually
    involving one character, cast, city, or unifying concept.

    ------------------------------

    Subject: 5. List of Current Tags

    When choosing a tag to put at the beginning of your post, this list should
    be a canonical reference. If you see a need for a new tag, send mail to
    the FAQ maintainer so that it can be added.

    First, the general tags:

    ADMIN Administrative matters affecting everyone on RACC.

    FAQ FAQs of note for the entire RAC* hierarchy. These will tend
    to be crossposted here.

    META Discussion about the newsgroup itself. This includes
    or CHAT everything from general discussion of on-line fiction and RACC
    in particular to recommendations on how long posts should be.

    PRECOG Announcements of upcoming series, planned stories, and the
    or PROMO like.

    WWW Announcement of a web page related to RACC or a free strip.

    Now, all of the writing imprints. Note that new ones of these pop up all
    the time. Entries marked with (*) are in danger of being retired due to
    lack of activity. If you have any changes, please mail eagle@eyrie.org.

    8FOLD A closed universe that encompasses serious superheroes, comedy,
    memoir, and just about anything else: high-quality fiction of
    any stripe is welcome.

    ACRAPHOBE Mature stories that may or may not fit into other universes'
    or ACRA continuity. Using this flag in conjunction with another is
    not unheard of. (For example, Scav's _501 Blues_ is
    LNH/ACRAPHOBE.) Think a meta-Vertigo.

    ASH Academy of Super-Heroes. Dave Van Domelen's RPG-based future-
    history stories. See <https://www.eyrie.org/~dvandom/ASH>.

    ELSEWHIRLS LNH stories that do not fit into LNH continuity. Think DC's
    or EW Elseworlds.

    HCC The High Concept Challenge, a continuous series of writing
    contests. Each round, the winner, chosen by reader vote, gets
    to pick the next round's concept.

    LNH Legion of Net.Heroes, "The Friendliest Shared Universe
    Going!(TM)" A mostly parody universe, though it does have its
    serious side.

    LNH20 On the LNH's 20th anniversary, a group of writers took it upon
    themselves to create a new world, based in everything they
    loved about the LNH, in the best spirit of comic book reboots!
    LNH20 is just as friendly as the original, but easier to get
    into! Hop right in, the adventure's fine!

    LNHY An Imprint involving an alternate LNH universe called
    Looniverse Y. The big difference between this and the Classic
    LNH is that writers are allowed to have only one character of
    theirs in this Looniverse's LNH.

    RACCCafe A continuity-free outpust where RACC characters can unwind
    after a hard day of being mangled by their writers. Anything
    can happen, as long as it's funny, and there are no
    consequences!

    SG Superguy. From Space Moose to the Bomb. Comedy superhero
    writing with a far different background than LNH. Note that
    only a small slice of Superguy stuff appears here; to see the
    rest, go to <https://lists.eyrie.org/mailman/listinfo/superguy>.

    STARFALL Lightly serious and seriously light superheroics, and better
    because of it. ;)

    NTB Net.Trenchcoat.Brigade. A bunch of Vertigo-like characters
    that own stock in London Fog. Not tremendously active, but
    they do have a considerable history. Implied Acraphobe.

    OMEGA A serious psi-based shared super-world and once upon a time
    RACC's third largest universe, now inactive. Created by the
    legendary Matt Rossi.

    OSD The Order of Saint Doomas. Items relating to RACC's anti-spam
    cult. (See Section 3 above.) No posts have been seen from
    this imprint in quite some time, but that doesn't mean they're
    gone....

    SW10 SW stands for Superhuman World. 10 is an annual tag. The
    comic has proceeded to 2011, but the tag has frozen at 2010
    because that's when the series really interacted with RACC.
    Scott Eiler has written the story of this universe since
    before 1991, but 1991 is when the modern heroes of this series
    start. His sources include adolescent male power fantasy,
    superhero role-playing, comic-book satire, and dreams. See
    <http://www.eilertech.com/stories/>.

    MISC Stories not in the above categories or in their own universes
    (authors are encouraged to make up their own headers as well).
    To limit the number of imprints, and to keep this FAQ to
    reasonable lengths, let's adopt this convention: One-shot
    stories or series should use the MISC flag. Series that set
    up shared universes should create their own, new imprint.

    ------------------------------

    Subject: 6. People to Ask for Help

    The major header contacts are listed below, who will be glad to answer
    email question. Also keep your eyes peeled for FAQs specific to
    particular imprints. The FAQs are also often in the archive in a
    directory named "FAQs" under the imprint directory.

    Imprint Contact Email
    ------------ -------------------- ---------------------------------
    8FOLD Jamie Rosen jamie.rosen@sunlife.com
    8FOLD Tom Russell joltcity@gmail.com
    + ASH Dave Van Domelen dvandom@eyrie.org
    + LNH Andrew Perron pwerdna@gmail.com
    LNH20 Andrew Perron pwerdna@gmail.com
    + LNHY Arthur Spitzer arspitzer@earthlink.net
    + NTB Arthur Spitzer arspitzer@earthlink.net
    + RACChallenge Sean MacDonald mcdonald@vorteb.math.uab.edu
    + StarFall Ted Brock phantom_belcher@yahoo.com
    + Superguy Eric Burns eaburns@annotations.com
    SW10 Scott Eiler seiler@eilertech.com

    The Archive Russ Allbery eagle@eyrie.org
    Moderation RACC Moderation Team racc-request@eyrie.org

    + indicates separate FAQs are available for these imprints.

    If you need to contact the moderator directly, the contact information is:

    Russ Allbery <eagle@eyrie.org>

    If none of the above people help, or your questions are too general or specific, just email anyone you see posting here that seems to know what they're doing. (WARNING: This is rarely the case.)

    --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
    * Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)
  • From Russ Allbery@21:1/5 to All on Sat May 1 07:01:03 2021
    Last-modified: 2018-07-16
    Posted-by: postfaq 1.17 (Perl 5.28.1)
    Archive-name: comics/creative/faq
    URL: https://www.eyrie.org/~eagle/faqs/racc.html
    Posting-frequency: monthly

    ==========================================================================
    rec.arts.comics.creative Frequently Asked Questions
    Maintained by Russ Allbery <eagle@eyrie.org>
    Original by Jeff McCoskey ==========================================================================

    If you're reading this on Usenet, this FAQ is formatted as a minimal
    digest. If your newsreader has digest handling capabilities you can use
    them to navigate between sections. In rn variants, you can use Ctrl-G to
    skip to the next section; in Gnus, press Ctrl-D to break each section into
    a separate article. For other newsreaders, see the documentation.

    The latest version of this FAQ is available on the web at:

    <https://www.eyrie.org/~eagle/faqs/racc.html>

    Please send any comments, suggestions, or updates to eagle@eyrie.org.

    ------------------------------

    Subject: Contents

    1. Welcome to rec.arts.comics.creative!
    1.1. What is RACC for?
    1.2. What isn't RACC for?
    1.3. What is the RACC official charter?
    1.4. Where are the stories about Wolverine(tm)?
    1.5. Where are the old stories?
    1.6. How can I read RACC via e-mail?

    2. Writing for RACC (How do I get involved?)
    2.1. Cool! Okay, how do I post?
    2.2. Format! I'm nothing without format!
    2.3. How 'bout them imprints? What's up with that?
    2.4. How do I archive my stories for posterity?
    2.5. What do copyright laws I pay taxes for do for me?

    3. Netiquette for RACC

    4. Glossary

    5. List of current imprints

    6. People to ask for help

    ------------------------------

    Subject: 1. Welcome to rec.arts.comics.creative!

    Welcome to rec.arts.comics.creative, the newsgroup which could have been
    named rec.prose.shared-universe but wasn't, the newsgroup which has, to
    date, produced well over 30MB of entirely free original fiction (and
    that's compressed!), the newsgroup which has nearly nothing to do with
    your favorite comic books at all!

    You're about to go insane. Don't worry, it's fun.

    rec.arts.comics.creative (henceforth RACC) is a moderated newsgroup for comics-related original fiction and discussion of same, originally created unmoderated by Martin Phipps and a cast of thousands (well, dozens at
    least) and later converted to moderated to keep out the spam. Don't
    worry, even though it's a moderated group, it's still friendly, chatty,
    and not at all formal, and we go out of our way to keep it that way.

    The first group of this sort on the Internet was the Superguy mailing
    list, which is still in operation to this day (you'll see posts from it on
    this group from time to time). Later, the Legion of Net.Heroes (LNH)
    sprung out of a free-form thread on rec.arts.comics and spawned another newsgroup (alt.comics.lnh). They were quickly followed by a wide variety
    of other comics-based shared universes, including the Patrol, the Net.Trenchcoat.Brigade, and Omega. All of these organizations, in
    parallel, gathered together authors in shared universes and strongly
    influenced the nature of RACC.

    First and foremost, RACC is a site for people to post comics-related
    fiction. Stories about long-underwear vigilantes, anthropomorphic
    animals, SF, westerns, even Kleen Teens if anyone is so moved. As long as
    it relates to comics it's okay. So whether you're a reader, a writer, or
    that fabled creature the critic, or even all three -- welcome to RACC:
    it's all the story, none of the art! (yet)

    ------------------------------

    Subject: 1.1. What is RACC for?

    For the official charter, see section 1.3. Here's the long, readable
    version.

    One term that you'll see a lot is "shared universe." This is a shared
    story background, co-created by multiple authors and used as the
    "universe" in which multiple different stories are set. This is a
    trademark characteristic of most comic books (seen in its clearest form in
    the ubiquitous crossover, a story written by multiple authors at once and involving multiple characters who all have their own stories), as well as appearing in some other published fiction (such as Wild Cards, or Larry
    Niven's Man-Kzin Wars). Most (but not all) of the stories posted here
    take place in one of the established shared universes (there's a list
    later on in this FAQ), to the point where this style of writing is nearly characteristic of the group.

    Another term you'll see is "comics-related." Nearly all of the authors
    writing here drew their original (if not primary) inspiration from comic
    books. As a result, nearly all of the stories are on-going (published a chapter at a time), divided up into "issues" and given numbers, and
    organized into "imprints." Many people also describe covers or design
    ASCII graphic logos.

    There is no restriction on types of fiction. (That'd kinda take the
    creative out of RACC, wouldn't it?) You'll see stories run the gamut from slapstick comedy to grim'n'gritty Real Life Supers (TM). As long as it's
    about comics, set your pen free. (You'll see a lot of superhero fiction,
    but that just means that those of us who like reading other things as well
    are anxiously awaiting your non-superhero stories.)

    RACC is also for discussion of stories, both specific ones and in general.
    The critic and reader is one of the most sought-after types of people
    around here; if you give us feedback on our stories, good or bad, we'll
    love you forever.

    Finally, if you want to announce your free web strip here, we welcome
    those posts too. If you're trying to sell it, though, please try rec.arts.comics.marketplace or rec.arts.comics.strips instead. (And rec.arts.comics.strips may be a better group in general, as RACC readers
    are mostly interested in text fiction.)

    ------------------------------

    Subject: 1.2. What isn't RACC for?

    A lot of things. We're not for wars of attrition, Third World starvation,
    45 mph speed limits, and brussel sprout toothpaste. Closer to home, RACC
    is not for any of the following:

    * Discussion of existing, "professional" books (except as they relate
    to our fiction)

    * Marketplace-type I-wanna-buy/I-wanna-sell postings

    * Flames and personality conflicts. Critiques, yes. Flames, no.

    * Fiction about established, trademarked characters and universes,
    unless you created them or have written permission.

    * Erotica, no matter how much spandex you put in. There are other
    groups for that.

    ------------------------------

    Subject: 1.3. What is the RACC official charter?

    This newsgroup welcomes any form of comics-related original fiction and discussion of the same, including but not limited to stories in the many established shared universes. Discussion of on-line fiction as a whole is
    also welcome provided that it is related to the stories on the newsgroup.
    If they choose to write in an existing shared universe, writers are
    strongly encouranged to follow the existing continuity and rules of that universe. "Comics-related" will be interpreted very broadly, as has been traditional on the newsgroup.

    Each posting to rec.arts.comics.creative should include a keyword on the subject line either designating which shared universe the posting refers
    to or marking the general subject of the post (ADMIN, META, MISC, etc.).
    If a submitted post does not have a keyword, the moderator will add an appropriate keyword, but posters are encouraged to add keywords themselves
    to save moderation work.

    Large binaries, such as artwork, will not be allowed on the newsgroup.
    Instead, binaries can be made available in the newsgroup archive (subject
    to the discretion of the archivist) and a pointer posted to the newsgroup. Pointers to Web pages are also welcome, provided the content of the page
    is related to the purpose of the group.

    Stories using copyrighted or trademarked characters are explicitly not
    within the charter of this group and may be rejected unless the author
    owns the copyrights and trademarks or has written permission from the
    owner. Networking posts (artists seeking writers or writers seeking
    artists) are inappropriate in this group and should be sent to appropriate mailing lists or other groups in the rec.arts.comics.* hierarchy (rec.arts.comics.misc if there is no other more appropriate group).

    ------------------------------

    Subject: 1.4. Where are the stories about Wolverine(tm)?

    This is very important, so I'm going to yell it. RACC IS NOT THE PLACE
    FOR FICTION ABOUT ESTABLISHED, TRADEMARKED CHARACTERS. This includes all Marvel, Image, DC, what-have-you characters. RACC's charter expressly
    FORBIDS such fiction.

    The reason for this is the ongoing legislative battles about intellectual property and the Net. rec.* groups are picked up worldwide, and sysadmins
    do not want to draw lawsuits because someone wrote a story that violated trademark laws. Note that fanfic stories may or may not be lawful and/or prosecutable, WE JUST DON'T KNOW. They're still writing the laws.

    To forestall any confusion or debates, and to protect sysadmins from inadvertently becoming the test case, this provision was adopted as a key requirement for RACC's creation. If you really must write about existing, trademarked characters, there is alt.comics.fan-fiction waiting to receive
    you. alt.* groups get picked up by sysadmins voluntarily, so they
    presumedly know what risks they're taking.

    Nothing will draw this group's ire faster than violating this requirement.

    ------------------------------

    Subject: 1.5. Where are the old stories?

    Thanks to the tireless efforts and bottomless disk space of Russ Allbery,
    all stories posted to rec.arts.comics.creative are archived! This means stories will be preserved for future generations of readers, providing a
    link to the past. It is difficult to over-praise this contribution.

    (Note: Lest you think I would be so crass as to praise myself, I want to
    make sure you know that Jeff wrote that last paragraph. 'course, I didn't delete it either.)

    Older stories are sorted by universe and series and are available at:

    <https://archives.eyrie.org/racc/>

    All of the stories are compressed using gzip, but most browsers can automatically decompress them for you. This archive unfortunately hasn't
    been updated recently, but it does have all of the older stories.

    Every message to rec.arts.comics.creative, story or not, is archived at:

    <https://lists.eyrie.org/pipermail/racc/>

    in the form of a more traditional mailing list archive, so you can also
    look there if a story hasn't been saved in the story archive. This is the
    best way to find anything posted in the last few years. You can search
    the archive by prepending "site:lists.eyrie.org" to a regular Google
    search.

    Please note that stories will be removed from both the list archive and
    the story archive at the author's request if the author wants to take them down. This has happened in the past, sometimes because the author wanted
    to sell the stories to a professional venue.

    ------------------------------

    Subject: 1.6. How can I read RACC via e-mail?

    Everything that shows up in RACC also shows up in its associated mailing
    list (and vice versa), so if you want to be sure not to miss anything, or
    if you just prefer e-mail to Usenet, you can subscribe to that mailing
    list.

    To do that, go to:

    <https://lists.eyrie.org/mailman/listinfo/racc>

    and fill out the form to subscribe. Alternately, you can subscribe via
    e-mail by sending mail to racc-request@lists.eyrie.org with the word:

    subscribe

    in the subject of the message. You then can read and reply to posts just
    as if the newsgroup were a mailing list. It's all the same to us.

    ------------------------------

    Subject: 2. Writing for RACC (How do I get involved?)

    Write a story. Post it. You're involved.

    This assumes you want to create your own universe to write in. If you
    want to join a pre-existing shared universe, it's a little more involved.

    Many of the imprints have FAQs of their own (OMEGA, Superguy, LNH,
    Crossroads to name a few). These get posted periodically. The first
    thing you should do is read these documents to get a feel for what these specific universes are like.

    The next thing you should do is _read_ the universe in question. This
    includes tapping the archives for back issues. No one would suggest you
    read the entire Superguy or LNH archives before writing, but definitely
    try to sample a large cross-section.

    Lastly, email some of the creators you see writing under a specific
    imprint. They will be able to tell you if your concept fits with their universe or not, and perhaps refer you to a more appropriate universe if necessary.

    THEN write a story and post it.

    ------------------------------

    Subject: 2.1. Cool! Okay, how do I post?

    RACC is a moderated newsgroup, which means that every post goes to the moderators first. If your site correctly has the group marked as
    moderated, you should be able to post just like you post to any other
    group and your news server will take care of the rest. If you have a Unix shell account, you can check if the group is correctly marked as moderated
    by typing:

    nntplist active | grep rec.arts.comics.creative

    If the last character on the resulting line is an "m," congratulations,
    you have a good news administrator. If it's a "y," send mail to your
    local computing support people and ask them to convert the group to
    moderated like it should be.

    If you don't have a Unix shell account, some newsreaders will also tell
    you if the group is moderated.

    If, for any reason, you have trouble posting or your site *doesn't* have
    the group marked as moderated, you can mail your post to racc@eyrie.org
    instead and it will be posted for you.

    Because the group is moderated, it can be up to a day after you post
    before your article is actually posted, and it can take a few more days
    for the article to propagate back to you. So don't be surprised if it
    doesn't show up right away.

    Many readers of rec.arts.comics.creative use Google Groups to read and
    post. While this works, and I know it's convenient, Google Groups also
    deletes anything enclosed in square brackets ([]) at the beginning of
    Subject lines in replies. If you use Google Groups, please try to
    remember to put back the imprint tags when you reply to posts; otherwise,
    I have to add them as the moderator.

    ------------------------------

    Subject: 2.2. Format! I'm nothing without format!

    Formatting is pretty loose. Since this is a comics newsgroup, you will
    hear people refer to their stories as "issues." Postings tend to run in numerical order just like comic books, and many people write continuing
    series. For example there are 25 "issues" in Drizzt's _Continuity Champ
    and the Drizzt's Defenders_ series.

    Stories don't have to be series though. One-shots, mini-series,
    maxi-series, crossovers -- all of these have been done before and will be
    done again.

    The subjects of postings should follow the convention of naming the
    imprint the title and the number. For example:

    LNH: System Corruptors #15, The Bard's Tale
    imprint --^ ^ ^ ^
    title --------------| | |
    number -------------------------| |
    subtitle/comment/etc [optional] -------|

    Since the archive mechanism relies heavily on this format (not to mention
    the format-accustomed eyes of this group's readers), please follow this strictly, including the use of the #-sign. Subtitles, alternate titles,
    and title comments should follow the number if they are used at all. If
    you want to, you can use [TAG] instead of TAG: at the beginning of the
    subject; it's all the same to the archiver. (TAG: causes a few fewer
    problems than [TAG] with Google Groups.)

    Occasionally, instead of (or in addition to) a number you will see "TEB."
    This stands for "Trade EtherBack." It means the posting is actually a collection of previously posted issues -- usually cleaned up and relating
    to a single story arc.

    Inside your story do what you will. Some folks run fake ads, others use
    cheesy ASCII graphics, some just use text. A word of advice: On
    older/more primitive newsreaders your text is MUCH easier to read if you
    space between paragraphs. On the other hand, some newer newsreader
    readers find the spaces jarring. The moral? You can't please all the
    people all the time. In general spaces seem to be more preferred.

    ------------------------------

    Subject: 2.3. How 'bout them imprints? What's up with that?

    In order to accommodate a near-infinite number of different potential universes, RACC has adopted the reasonable convention of flagging fiction.
    This allows uninterested parties to skip some genres, and others to
    quickly find their niches of interest. The flag goes before the title of
    story issues, related FAQs or universe-specific discussions. Many flags
    refer to existing shared-universes. New ones will come up all the time.
    For the current list, see section 5 of this FAQ.

    Once you pick an imprint name, stick with it. The Archive and your legion
    of new fans will both be happier if you don't make marketing name changes.

    Regardless of flags all SEXUALLY EXPLICIT or PROFANITY-RICH stories should
    have huge warning labels at the beginning of text. Last thing we need is
    a Florida DA bringing us all up on charges. ;] Besides, it's only common courtesy. Note that if a story could reasonably be posted on
    alt.sex.stories, you've probably strayed a bit far from this group's
    interests.

    Some sort of flag, either an imprint name or a more general tag, is
    required on all posts and one will be added by the moderator if you don't provide one. Leaving one off requires the moderator to edit your post,
    though, which takes time and means your post will be delayed. So please
    save them the trouble and remember to add the tag yourself.

    ------------------------------

    Subject: 2.4. How do I archive my stories for posterity?

    Good news! It's already being done for you! (Or at least it will be if
    Russ ever catches up with the archiving.)

    In theory, every story posted to rec.arts.comics.creative is archived at <https://archives.eyrie.org/racc/>. Most imprints have their own
    directories, with the stories stored in directories under that (depending
    on the size of the imprint, the directories could be very structured or
    just one directory for each series). Some imprints may be collected in
    the misc directory.

    Unfortunately, this archive is substantially out of date. Russ hopes to eventually find time to update it.

    The exception is Superguy, which has its own archiving mechanism. The
    Superguy archives are at <https://archives.eyrie.org/superguy/>, but one
    of the best ways to access them is through the Autocollector at:

    <https://archives.eyrie.org/cgi-bin/superguy>

    ------------------------------

    Subject: 2.5. What do Copyright laws I pay taxes for do for me?

    I don't even play a lawyer on TV, but there are some things you should
    know about Copyright laws.

    Anything you write is copyrighted immediately, whether you flag it with a copyright notice or not. Furthermore, the copyright protection is international under the Berne Copyright Convention, which has been signed
    by nearly every country with access to Usenet.

    If you label your text as copyrighted, it preempts a possible
    "unintentional infringement" defense from plagarizers. The copyright
    notice is considered legal notice that you intend to retain your rights.
    The legal format for such a notice requires three things: Your name, the
    year, and one or more of the following: "Copyright," "Copr.," and/or the c-in-circle symbol. Note that there is no firm legal precedence for (C)
    or (c) as having any special copyright meaning. Example notice:

    Copyright 1994 Jeff J McCoskey

    The only way to get full legal protection (at least in the United States)
    is to register your work with the government (forms are free, filing fees apply). This *guarantees* an archived, dated copy should future legal
    action be necessary. Other forms of dating, like mailing yourself a copy
    or archiving (to get a date stamp), are of dubious and unproven legal
    value.

    An excellent resource for Copyright information is misc.legal, where a FAQ
    is posted monthly.

    Another excellent resource is the U.S. Copyright Office home page at:

    <https://www.copyright.gov/>

    ------------------------------

    Subject: 3. Netiquette for RACC

    As a rule of thumb, everything you've heard elsewhere about good
    netiquette applies here. We hate spammers (more in a minute), expect
    smilies when joking (except in stories of course), and in general expect
    you to conduct yourselves as good net.citizens. There are three things
    you need to know after you've mastered Basic Netiquette:

    1. The only times flames are accepted on RACC are when they are both
    morally defensible and amusing. Flames are not welcome if they do not
    meet the above criteria. Here on RACC there is one organization that
    acts as moral compass for acceptable flames: the Order of St. Doomas.

    The Order has defined one activity that is worthy of flame: spamming.
    One member of the Order (usually the first to his/her keyboard) will
    have the honors. Repetitive flaming by multiple members is frowned
    upon by the Order.

    To join this righteous crusade, all you need do is select a
    net.persona and flame. Incorrect flaming (i.e. at non-sanctioned
    targets, or with unamusing effect) will result in ostracization and
    excommunication. Watch the Order in action before joining and all
    will be clear.

    Now that the group has been moderated, most opportunities for flames
    are gone. But watch carefully; new ones may arise.

    2. Reviews of stories (even negative ones) are one of the most
    sought-after commodities on RACC. You will instantly win friends and
    influence people if you post reviews. But especially in the case of
    negative reviews, ensure you confine your review to the story and not
    the writer. Keep in mind as you write "that SUCKS" that someone
    worked long and hard on the text. They might want to know what worked
    and what didn't in their narrative but it's doubtful they want to hear
    how clever you can be in ripping them up.

    It's certain the rest of us don't.

    3. One of the best features of a shared universe is the opportunity to
    have your characters interact with others in that universe. This is
    a privilege, not a right. All characters on RACC (and their
    distinctive text-likenesses) are the full and exclusive property of
    their creators. This is not as dogmatic as it sounds, and we're all
    adults (or pretending to be). Cameos (non-speaking/non-plot affecting
    roles) do not typically require permission unless the creator desires
    it. Speaking roles should be previewed through email and approved by
    the creator before being posted.

    ------------------------------

    Subject: 4. Glossary

    These are terms you will see come up on RACC that have special meaning
    here. (For general net.terms and abbreviations, see the META RAC FAQ.)

    Acraphobe RACC's version of adult warning label. Yes, with an "a."
    Don't ask.

    Arc A multi-issue storyline.

    Archive ftp.eyrie.org, where nearly ALL the back issues live.

    Crossover A storyline that involves several titles and/or authors. Also
    the bane of all mankind.

    Elsewhirls An imaginary story. (Yeah yeah, we know they're ALL
    imaginary. How about "out-of-continuity"?)

    Fanfiction Fiction about established, trademarked universes and
    or fanfic characters that the author did not create -- in short, the
    sort of stories RACC *wasn't* designed for. There's a good
    list of newsgroups at the end of this FAQ that should help in
    finding a better group if this is what you want to write.

    Imprint The shared universe your story takes place in or subject your
    posting relates to (we have many to chose from). This is
    usually an all-caps prefix on the title of the posting.

    LNH The Legion of Net.Heroes. The immediate father of this group
    and the oldest of the Usenet-based writing universes (see
    Superguy).

    RAC* The rec.arts.comics.* hierarchy of newsgroups.

    RACC rec.arts.comics.creative. You're soaking in it!

    rACCIES The annual RACC fanfiction awards, as voted on by the readers
    or RACCies of this newsgroup.

    Repost Story has been posted before, natch.

    Superguy A mailing list that predates all other Internet comics-fiction
    forums. There is a good-natured rivalry between the LNH and
    this group.

    TEB Trade EtherBack. This is a collection of previously posted
    material, usually cleaned up and relating to a single story
    arc.

    Title A numerically increasing, continuing series. Usually
    involving one character, cast, city, or unifying concept.

    ------------------------------

    Subject: 5. List of Current Tags

    When choosing a tag to put at the beginning of your post, this list should
    be a canonical reference. If you see a need for a new tag, send mail to
    the FAQ maintainer so that it can be added.

    First, the general tags:

    ADMIN Administrative matters affecting everyone on RACC.

    FAQ FAQs of note for the entire RAC* hierarchy. These will tend
    to be crossposted here.

    META Discussion about the newsgroup itself. This includes
    or CHAT everything from general discussion of on-line fiction and RACC
    in particular to recommendations on how long posts should be.

    PRECOG Announcements of upcoming series, planned stories, and the
    or PROMO like.

    WWW Announcement of a web page related to RACC or a free strip.

    Now, all of the writing imprints. Note that new ones of these pop up all
    the time. Entries marked with (*) are in danger of being retired due to
    lack of activity. If you have any changes, please mail eagle@eyrie.org.

    8FOLD A closed universe that encompasses serious superheroes, comedy,
    memoir, and just about anything else: high-quality fiction of
    any stripe is welcome.

    ACRAPHOBE Mature stories that may or may not fit into other universes'
    or ACRA continuity. Using this flag in conjunction with another is
    not unheard of. (For example, Scav's _501 Blues_ is
    LNH/ACRAPHOBE.) Think a meta-Vertigo.

    ASH Academy of Super-Heroes. Dave Van Domelen's RPG-based future-
    history stories. See <https://www.eyrie.org/~dvandom/ASH>.

    ELSEWHIRLS LNH stories that do not fit into LNH continuity. Think DC's
    or EW Elseworlds.

    HCC The High Concept Challenge, a continuous series of writing
    contests. Each round, the winner, chosen by reader vote, gets
    to pick the next round's concept.

    LNH Legion of Net.Heroes, "The Friendliest Shared Universe
    Going!(TM)" A mostly parody universe, though it does have its
    serious side.

    LNH20 On the LNH's 20th anniversary, a group of writers took it upon
    themselves to create a new world, based in everything they
    loved about the LNH, in the best spirit of comic book reboots!
    LNH20 is just as friendly as the original, but easier to get
    into! Hop right in, the adventure's fine!

    LNHY An Imprint involving an alternate LNH universe called
    Looniverse Y. The big difference between this and the Classic
    LNH is that writers are allowed to have only one character of
    theirs in this Looniverse's LNH.

    RACCCafe A continuity-free outpust where RACC characters can unwind
    after a hard day of being mangled by their writers. Anything
    can happen, as long as it's funny, and there are no
    consequences!

    SG Superguy. From Space Moose to the Bomb. Comedy superhero
    writing with a far different background than LNH. Note that
    only a small slice of Superguy stuff appears here; to see the
    rest, go to <https://lists.eyrie.org/mailman/listinfo/superguy>.

    STARFALL Lightly serious and seriously light superheroics, and better
    because of it. ;)

    NTB Net.Trenchcoat.Brigade. A bunch of Vertigo-like characters
    that own stock in London Fog. Not tremendously active, but
    they do have a considerable history. Implied Acraphobe.

    OMEGA A serious psi-based shared super-world and once upon a time
    RACC's third largest universe, now inactive. Created by the
    legendary Matt Rossi.

    OSD The Order of Saint Doomas. Items relating to RACC's anti-spam
    cult. (See Section 3 above.) No posts have been seen from
    this imprint in quite some time, but that doesn't mean they're
    gone....

    SW10 SW stands for Superhuman World. 10 is an annual tag. The
    comic has proceeded to 2011, but the tag has frozen at 2010
    because that's when the series really interacted with RACC.
    Scott Eiler has written the story of this universe since
    before 1991, but 1991 is when the modern heroes of this series
    start. His sources include adolescent male power fantasy,
    superhero role-playing, comic-book satire, and dreams. See
    <http://www.eilertech.com/stories/>.

    MISC Stories not in the above categories or in their own universes
    (authors are encouraged to make up their own headers as well).
    To limit the number of imprints, and to keep this FAQ to
    reasonable lengths, let's adopt this convention: One-shot
    stories or series should use the MISC flag. Series that set
    up shared universes should create their own, new imprint.

    ------------------------------

    Subject: 6. People to Ask for Help

    The major header contacts are listed below, who will be glad to answer
    email question. Also keep your eyes peeled for FAQs specific to
    particular imprints. The FAQs are also often in the archive in a
    directory named "FAQs" under the imprint directory.

    Imprint Contact Email
    ------------ -------------------- ---------------------------------
    8FOLD Jamie Rosen jamie.rosen@sunlife.com
    8FOLD Tom Russell joltcity@gmail.com
    + ASH Dave Van Domelen dvandom@eyrie.org
    + LNH Andrew Perron pwerdna@gmail.com
    LNH20 Andrew Perron pwerdna@gmail.com
    + LNHY Arthur Spitzer arspitzer@earthlink.net
    + NTB Arthur Spitzer arspitzer@earthlink.net
    + RACChallenge Sean MacDonald mcdonald@vorteb.math.uab.edu
    + StarFall Ted Brock phantom_belcher@yahoo.com
    + Superguy Eric Burns eaburns@annotations.com
    SW10 Scott Eiler seiler@eilertech.com

    The Archive Russ Allbery eagle@eyrie.org
    Moderation RACC Moderation Team racc-request@eyrie.org

    + indicates separate FAQs are available for these imprints.

    If you need to contact the moderator directly, the contact information is:

    Russ Allbery <eagle@eyrie.org>

    If none of the above people help, or your questions are too general or specific, just email anyone you see posting here that seems to know what they're doing. (WARNING: This is rarely the case.)

    --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
    * Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)
  • From Russ Allbery@21:1/5 to All on Tue Jun 1 07:01:03 2021
    Last-modified: 2018-07-16
    Posted-by: postfaq 1.17 (Perl 5.28.1)
    Archive-name: comics/creative/faq
    URL: https://www.eyrie.org/~eagle/faqs/racc.html
    Posting-frequency: monthly

    ==========================================================================
    rec.arts.comics.creative Frequently Asked Questions
    Maintained by Russ Allbery <eagle@eyrie.org>
    Original by Jeff McCoskey ==========================================================================

    If you're reading this on Usenet, this FAQ is formatted as a minimal
    digest. If your newsreader has digest handling capabilities you can use
    them to navigate between sections. In rn variants, you can use Ctrl-G to
    skip to the next section; in Gnus, press Ctrl-D to break each section into
    a separate article. For other newsreaders, see the documentation.

    The latest version of this FAQ is available on the web at:

    <https://www.eyrie.org/~eagle/faqs/racc.html>

    Please send any comments, suggestions, or updates to eagle@eyrie.org.

    ------------------------------

    Subject: Contents

    1. Welcome to rec.arts.comics.creative!
    1.1. What is RACC for?
    1.2. What isn't RACC for?
    1.3. What is the RACC official charter?
    1.4. Where are the stories about Wolverine(tm)?
    1.5. Where are the old stories?
    1.6. How can I read RACC via e-mail?

    2. Writing for RACC (How do I get involved?)
    2.1. Cool! Okay, how do I post?
    2.2. Format! I'm nothing without format!
    2.3. How 'bout them imprints? What's up with that?
    2.4. How do I archive my stories for posterity?
    2.5. What do copyright laws I pay taxes for do for me?

    3. Netiquette for RACC

    4. Glossary

    5. List of current imprints

    6. People to ask for help

    ------------------------------

    Subject: 1. Welcome to rec.arts.comics.creative!

    Welcome to rec.arts.comics.creative, the newsgroup which could have been
    named rec.prose.shared-universe but wasn't, the newsgroup which has, to
    date, produced well over 30MB of entirely free original fiction (and
    that's compressed!), the newsgroup which has nearly nothing to do with
    your favorite comic books at all!

    You're about to go insane. Don't worry, it's fun.

    rec.arts.comics.creative (henceforth RACC) is a moderated newsgroup for comics-related original fiction and discussion of same, originally created unmoderated by Martin Phipps and a cast of thousands (well, dozens at
    least) and later converted to moderated to keep out the spam. Don't
    worry, even though it's a moderated group, it's still friendly, chatty,
    and not at all formal, and we go out of our way to keep it that way.

    The first group of this sort on the Internet was the Superguy mailing
    list, which is still in operation to this day (you'll see posts from it on
    this group from time to time). Later, the Legion of Net.Heroes (LNH)
    sprung out of a free-form thread on rec.arts.comics and spawned another newsgroup (alt.comics.lnh). They were quickly followed by a wide variety
    of other comics-based shared universes, including the Patrol, the Net.Trenchcoat.Brigade, and Omega. All of these organizations, in
    parallel, gathered together authors in shared universes and strongly
    influenced the nature of RACC.

    First and foremost, RACC is a site for people to post comics-related
    fiction. Stories about long-underwear vigilantes, anthropomorphic
    animals, SF, westerns, even Kleen Teens if anyone is so moved. As long as
    it relates to comics it's okay. So whether you're a reader, a writer, or
    that fabled creature the critic, or even all three -- welcome to RACC:
    it's all the story, none of the art! (yet)

    ------------------------------

    Subject: 1.1. What is RACC for?

    For the official charter, see section 1.3. Here's the long, readable
    version.

    One term that you'll see a lot is "shared universe." This is a shared
    story background, co-created by multiple authors and used as the
    "universe" in which multiple different stories are set. This is a
    trademark characteristic of most comic books (seen in its clearest form in
    the ubiquitous crossover, a story written by multiple authors at once and involving multiple characters who all have their own stories), as well as appearing in some other published fiction (such as Wild Cards, or Larry
    Niven's Man-Kzin Wars). Most (but not all) of the stories posted here
    take place in one of the established shared universes (there's a list
    later on in this FAQ), to the point where this style of writing is nearly characteristic of the group.

    Another term you'll see is "comics-related." Nearly all of the authors
    writing here drew their original (if not primary) inspiration from comic
    books. As a result, nearly all of the stories are on-going (published a chapter at a time), divided up into "issues" and given numbers, and
    organized into "imprints." Many people also describe covers or design
    ASCII graphic logos.

    There is no restriction on types of fiction. (That'd kinda take the
    creative out of RACC, wouldn't it?) You'll see stories run the gamut from slapstick comedy to grim'n'gritty Real Life Supers (TM). As long as it's
    about comics, set your pen free. (You'll see a lot of superhero fiction,
    but that just means that those of us who like reading other things as well
    are anxiously awaiting your non-superhero stories.)

    RACC is also for discussion of stories, both specific ones and in general.
    The critic and reader is one of the most sought-after types of people
    around here; if you give us feedback on our stories, good or bad, we'll
    love you forever.

    Finally, if you want to announce your free web strip here, we welcome
    those posts too. If you're trying to sell it, though, please try rec.arts.comics.marketplace or rec.arts.comics.strips instead. (And rec.arts.comics.strips may be a better group in general, as RACC readers
    are mostly interested in text fiction.)

    ------------------------------

    Subject: 1.2. What isn't RACC for?

    A lot of things. We're not for wars of attrition, Third World starvation,
    45 mph speed limits, and brussel sprout toothpaste. Closer to home, RACC
    is not for any of the following:

    * Discussion of existing, "professional" books (except as they relate
    to our fiction)

    * Marketplace-type I-wanna-buy/I-wanna-sell postings

    * Flames and personality conflicts. Critiques, yes. Flames, no.

    * Fiction about established, trademarked characters and universes,
    unless you created them or have written permission.

    * Erotica, no matter how much spandex you put in. There are other
    groups for that.

    ------------------------------

    Subject: 1.3. What is the RACC official charter?

    This newsgroup welcomes any form of comics-related original fiction and discussion of the same, including but not limited to stories in the many established shared universes. Discussion of on-line fiction as a whole is
    also welcome provided that it is related to the stories on the newsgroup.
    If they choose to write in an existing shared universe, writers are
    strongly encouranged to follow the existing continuity and rules of that universe. "Comics-related" will be interpreted very broadly, as has been traditional on the newsgroup.

    Each posting to rec.arts.comics.creative should include a keyword on the subject line either designating which shared universe the posting refers
    to or marking the general subject of the post (ADMIN, META, MISC, etc.).
    If a submitted post does not have a keyword, the moderator will add an appropriate keyword, but posters are encouraged to add keywords themselves
    to save moderation work.

    Large binaries, such as artwork, will not be allowed on the newsgroup.
    Instead, binaries can be made available in the newsgroup archive (subject
    to the discretion of the archivist) and a pointer posted to the newsgroup. Pointers to Web pages are also welcome, provided the content of the page
    is related to the purpose of the group.

    Stories using copyrighted or trademarked characters are explicitly not
    within the charter of this group and may be rejected unless the author
    owns the copyrights and trademarks or has written permission from the
    owner. Networking posts (artists seeking writers or writers seeking
    artists) are inappropriate in this group and should be sent to appropriate mailing lists or other groups in the rec.arts.comics.* hierarchy (rec.arts.comics.misc if there is no other more appropriate group).

    ------------------------------

    Subject: 1.4. Where are the stories about Wolverine(tm)?

    This is very important, so I'm going to yell it. RACC IS NOT THE PLACE
    FOR FICTION ABOUT ESTABLISHED, TRADEMARKED CHARACTERS. This includes all Marvel, Image, DC, what-have-you characters. RACC's charter expressly
    FORBIDS such fiction.

    The reason for this is the ongoing legislative battles about intellectual property and the Net. rec.* groups are picked up worldwide, and sysadmins
    do not want to draw lawsuits because someone wrote a story that violated trademark laws. Note that fanfic stories may or may not be lawful and/or prosecutable, WE JUST DON'T KNOW. They're still writing the laws.

    To forestall any confusion or debates, and to protect sysadmins from inadvertently becoming the test case, this provision was adopted as a key requirement for RACC's creation. If you really must write about existing, trademarked characters, there is alt.comics.fan-fiction waiting to receive
    you. alt.* groups get picked up by sysadmins voluntarily, so they
    presumedly know what risks they're taking.

    Nothing will draw this group's ire faster than violating this requirement.

    ------------------------------

    Subject: 1.5. Where are the old stories?

    Thanks to the tireless efforts and bottomless disk space of Russ Allbery,
    all stories posted to rec.arts.comics.creative are archived! This means stories will be preserved for future generations of readers, providing a
    link to the past. It is difficult to over-praise this contribution.

    (Note: Lest you think I would be so crass as to praise myself, I want to
    make sure you know that Jeff wrote that last paragraph. 'course, I didn't delete it either.)

    Older stories are sorted by universe and series and are available at:

    <https://archives.eyrie.org/racc/>

    All of the stories are compressed using gzip, but most browsers can automatically decompress them for you. This archive unfortunately hasn't
    been updated recently, but it does have all of the older stories.

    Every message to rec.arts.comics.creative, story or not, is archived at:

    <https://lists.eyrie.org/pipermail/racc/>

    in the form of a more traditional mailing list archive, so you can also
    look there if a story hasn't been saved in the story archive. This is the
    best way to find anything posted in the last few years. You can search
    the archive by prepending "site:lists.eyrie.org" to a regular Google
    search.

    Please note that stories will be removed from both the list archive and
    the story archive at the author's request if the author wants to take them down. This has happened in the past, sometimes because the author wanted
    to sell the stories to a professional venue.

    ------------------------------

    Subject: 1.6. How can I read RACC via e-mail?

    Everything that shows up in RACC also shows up in its associated mailing
    list (and vice versa), so if you want to be sure not to miss anything, or
    if you just prefer e-mail to Usenet, you can subscribe to that mailing
    list.

    To do that, go to:

    <https://lists.eyrie.org/mailman/listinfo/racc>

    and fill out the form to subscribe. Alternately, you can subscribe via
    e-mail by sending mail to racc-request@lists.eyrie.org with the word:

    subscribe

    in the subject of the message. You then can read and reply to posts just
    as if the newsgroup were a mailing list. It's all the same to us.

    ------------------------------

    Subject: 2. Writing for RACC (How do I get involved?)

    Write a story. Post it. You're involved.

    This assumes you want to create your own universe to write in. If you
    want to join a pre-existing shared universe, it's a little more involved.

    Many of the imprints have FAQs of their own (OMEGA, Superguy, LNH,
    Crossroads to name a few). These get posted periodically. The first
    thing you should do is read these documents to get a feel for what these specific universes are like.

    The next thing you should do is _read_ the universe in question. This
    includes tapping the archives for back issues. No one would suggest you
    read the entire Superguy or LNH archives before writing, but definitely
    try to sample a large cross-section.

    Lastly, email some of the creators you see writing under a specific
    imprint. They will be able to tell you if your concept fits with their universe or not, and perhaps refer you to a more appropriate universe if necessary.

    THEN write a story and post it.

    ------------------------------

    Subject: 2.1. Cool! Okay, how do I post?

    RACC is a moderated newsgroup, which means that every post goes to the moderators first. If your site correctly has the group marked as
    moderated, you should be able to post just like you post to any other
    group and your news server will take care of the rest. If you have a Unix shell account, you can check if the group is correctly marked as moderated
    by typing:

    nntplist active | grep rec.arts.comics.creative

    If the last character on the resulting line is an "m," congratulations,
    you have a good news administrator. If it's a "y," send mail to your
    local computing support people and ask them to convert the group to
    moderated like it should be.

    If you don't have a Unix shell account, some newsreaders will also tell
    you if the group is moderated.

    If, for any reason, you have trouble posting or your site *doesn't* have
    the group marked as moderated, you can mail your post to racc@eyrie.org
    instead and it will be posted for you.

    Because the group is moderated, it can be up to a day after you post
    before your article is actually posted, and it can take a few more days
    for the article to propagate back to you. So don't be surprised if it
    doesn't show up right away.

    Many readers of rec.arts.comics.creative use Google Groups to read and
    post. While this works, and I know it's convenient, Google Groups also
    deletes anything enclosed in square brackets ([]) at the beginning of
    Subject lines in replies. If you use Google Groups, please try to
    remember to put back the imprint tags when you reply to posts; otherwise,
    I have to add them as the moderator.

    ------------------------------

    Subject: 2.2. Format! I'm nothing without format!

    Formatting is pretty loose. Since this is a comics newsgroup, you will
    hear people refer to their stories as "issues." Postings tend to run in numerical order just like comic books, and many people write continuing
    series. For example there are 25 "issues" in Drizzt's _Continuity Champ
    and the Drizzt's Defenders_ series.

    Stories don't have to be series though. One-shots, mini-series,
    maxi-series, crossovers -- all of these have been done before and will be
    done again.

    The subjects of postings should follow the convention of naming the
    imprint the title and the number. For example:

    LNH: System Corruptors #15, The Bard's Tale
    imprint --^ ^ ^ ^
    title --------------| | |
    number -------------------------| |
    subtitle/comment/etc [optional] -------|

    Since the archive mechanism relies heavily on this format (not to mention
    the format-accustomed eyes of this group's readers), please follow this strictly, including the use of the #-sign. Subtitles, alternate titles,
    and title comments should follow the number if they are used at all. If
    you want to, you can use [TAG] instead of TAG: at the beginning of the
    subject; it's all the same to the archiver. (TAG: causes a few fewer
    problems than [TAG] with Google Groups.)

    Occasionally, instead of (or in addition to) a number you will see "TEB."
    This stands for "Trade EtherBack." It means the posting is actually a collection of previously posted issues -- usually cleaned up and relating
    to a single story arc.

    Inside your story do what you will. Some folks run fake ads, others use
    cheesy ASCII graphics, some just use text. A word of advice: On
    older/more primitive newsreaders your text is MUCH easier to read if you
    space between paragraphs. On the other hand, some newer newsreader
    readers find the spaces jarring. The moral? You can't please all the
    people all the time. In general spaces seem to be more preferred.

    ------------------------------

    Subject: 2.3. How 'bout them imprints? What's up with that?

    In order to accommodate a near-infinite number of different potential universes, RACC has adopted the reasonable convention of flagging fiction.
    This allows uninterested parties to skip some genres, and others to
    quickly find their niches of interest. The flag goes before the title of
    story issues, related FAQs or universe-specific discussions. Many flags
    refer to existing shared-universes. New ones will come up all the time.
    For the current list, see section 5 of this FAQ.

    Once you pick an imprint name, stick with it. The Archive and your legion
    of new fans will both be happier if you don't make marketing name changes.

    Regardless of flags all SEXUALLY EXPLICIT or PROFANITY-RICH stories should
    have huge warning labels at the beginning of text. Last thing we need is
    a Florida DA bringing us all up on charges. ;] Besides, it's only common courtesy. Note that if a story could reasonably be posted on
    alt.sex.stories, you've probably strayed a bit far from this group's
    interests.

    Some sort of flag, either an imprint name or a more general tag, is
    required on all posts and one will be added by the moderator if you don't provide one. Leaving one off requires the moderator to edit your post,
    though, which takes time and means your post will be delayed. So please
    save them the trouble and remember to add the tag yourself.

    ------------------------------

    Subject: 2.4. How do I archive my stories for posterity?

    Good news! It's already being done for you! (Or at least it will be if
    Russ ever catches up with the archiving.)

    In theory, every story posted to rec.arts.comics.creative is archived at <https://archives.eyrie.org/racc/>. Most imprints have their own
    directories, with the stories stored in directories under that (depending
    on the size of the imprint, the directories could be very structured or
    just one directory for each series). Some imprints may be collected in
    the misc directory.

    Unfortunately, this archive is substantially out of date. Russ hopes to eventually find time to update it.

    The exception is Superguy, which has its own archiving mechanism. The
    Superguy archives are at <https://archives.eyrie.org/superguy/>, but one
    of the best ways to access them is through the Autocollector at:

    <https://archives.eyrie.org/cgi-bin/superguy>

    ------------------------------

    Subject: 2.5. What do Copyright laws I pay taxes for do for me?

    I don't even play a lawyer on TV, but there are some things you should
    know about Copyright laws.

    Anything you write is copyrighted immediately, whether you flag it with a copyright notice or not. Furthermore, the copyright protection is international under the Berne Copyright Convention, which has been signed
    by nearly every country with access to Usenet.

    If you label your text as copyrighted, it preempts a possible
    "unintentional infringement" defense from plagarizers. The copyright
    notice is considered legal notice that you intend to retain your rights.
    The legal format for such a notice requires three things: Your name, the
    year, and one or more of the following: "Copyright," "Copr.," and/or the c-in-circle symbol. Note that there is no firm legal precedence for (C)
    or (c) as having any special copyright meaning. Example notice:

    Copyright 1994 Jeff J McCoskey

    The only way to get full legal protection (at least in the United States)
    is to register your work with the government (forms are free, filing fees apply). This *guarantees* an archived, dated copy should future legal
    action be necessary. Other forms of dating, like mailing yourself a copy
    or archiving (to get a date stamp), are of dubious and unproven legal
    value.

    An excellent resource for Copyright information is misc.legal, where a FAQ
    is posted monthly.

    Another excellent resource is the U.S. Copyright Office home page at:

    <https://www.copyright.gov/>

    ------------------------------

    Subject: 3. Netiquette for RACC

    As a rule of thumb, everything you've heard elsewhere about good
    netiquette applies here. We hate spammers (more in a minute), expect
    smilies when joking (except in stories of course), and in general expect
    you to conduct yourselves as good net.citizens. There are three things
    you need to know after you've mastered Basic Netiquette:

    1. The only times flames are accepted on RACC are when they are both
    morally defensible and amusing. Flames are not welcome if they do not
    meet the above criteria. Here on RACC there is one organization that
    acts as moral compass for acceptable flames: the Order of St. Doomas.

    The Order has defined one activity that is worthy of flame: spamming.
    One member of the Order (usually the first to his/her keyboard) will
    have the honors. Repetitive flaming by multiple members is frowned
    upon by the Order.

    To join this righteous crusade, all you need do is select a
    net.persona and flame. Incorrect flaming (i.e. at non-sanctioned
    targets, or with unamusing effect) will result in ostracization and
    excommunication. Watch the Order in action before joining and all
    will be clear.

    Now that the group has been moderated, most opportunities for flames
    are gone. But watch carefully; new ones may arise.

    2. Reviews of stories (even negative ones) are one of the most
    sought-after commodities on RACC. You will instantly win friends and
    influence people if you post reviews. But especially in the case of
    negative reviews, ensure you confine your review to the story and not
    the writer. Keep in mind as you write "that SUCKS" that someone
    worked long and hard on the text. They might want to know what worked
    and what didn't in their narrative but it's doubtful they want to hear
    how clever you can be in ripping them up.

    It's certain the rest of us don't.

    3. One of the best features of a shared universe is the opportunity to
    have your characters interact with others in that universe. This is
    a privilege, not a right. All characters on RACC (and their
    distinctive text-likenesses) are the full and exclusive property of
    their creators. This is not as dogmatic as it sounds, and we're all
    adults (or pretending to be). Cameos (non-speaking/non-plot affecting
    roles) do not typically require permission unless the creator desires
    it. Speaking roles should be previewed through email and approved by
    the creator before being posted.

    ------------------------------

    Subject: 4. Glossary

    These are terms you will see come up on RACC that have special meaning
    here. (For general net.terms and abbreviations, see the META RAC FAQ.)

    Acraphobe RACC's version of adult warning label. Yes, with an "a."
    Don't ask.

    Arc A multi-issue storyline.

    Archive ftp.eyrie.org, where nearly ALL the back issues live.

    Crossover A storyline that involves several titles and/or authors. Also
    the bane of all mankind.

    Elsewhirls An imaginary story. (Yeah yeah, we know they're ALL
    imaginary. How about "out-of-continuity"?)

    Fanfiction Fiction about established, trademarked universes and
    or fanfic characters that the author did not create -- in short, the
    sort of stories RACC *wasn't* designed for. There's a good
    list of newsgroups at the end of this FAQ that should help in
    finding a better group if this is what you want to write.

    Imprint The shared universe your story takes place in or subject your
    posting relates to (we have many to chose from). This is
    usually an all-caps prefix on the title of the posting.

    LNH The Legion of Net.Heroes. The immediate father of this group
    and the oldest of the Usenet-based writing universes (see
    Superguy).

    RAC* The rec.arts.comics.* hierarchy of newsgroups.

    RACC rec.arts.comics.creative. You're soaking in it!

    rACCIES The annual RACC fanfiction awards, as voted on by the readers
    or RACCies of this newsgroup.

    Repost Story has been posted before, natch.

    Superguy A mailing list that predates all other Internet comics-fiction
    forums. There is a good-natured rivalry between the LNH and
    this group.

    TEB Trade EtherBack. This is a collection of previously posted
    material, usually cleaned up and relating to a single story
    arc.

    Title A numerically increasing, continuing series. Usually
    involving one character, cast, city, or unifying concept.

    ------------------------------

    Subject: 5. List of Current Tags

    When choosing a tag to put at the beginning of your post, this list should
    be a canonical reference. If you see a need for a new tag, send mail to
    the FAQ maintainer so that it can be added.

    First, the general tags:

    ADMIN Administrative matters affecting everyone on RACC.

    FAQ FAQs of note for the entire RAC* hierarchy. These will tend
    to be crossposted here.

    META Discussion about the newsgroup itself. This includes
    or CHAT everything from general discussion of on-line fiction and RACC
    in particular to recommendations on how long posts should be.

    PRECOG Announcements of upcoming series, planned stories, and the
    or PROMO like.

    WWW Announcement of a web page related to RACC or a free strip.

    Now, all of the writing imprints. Note that new ones of these pop up all
    the time. Entries marked with (*) are in danger of being retired due to
    lack of activity. If you have any changes, please mail eagle@eyrie.org.

    8FOLD A closed universe that encompasses serious superheroes, comedy,
    memoir, and just about anything else: high-quality fiction of
    any stripe is welcome.

    ACRAPHOBE Mature stories that may or may not fit into other universes'
    or ACRA continuity. Using this flag in conjunction with another is
    not unheard of. (For example, Scav's _501 Blues_ is
    LNH/ACRAPHOBE.) Think a meta-Vertigo.

    ASH Academy of Super-Heroes. Dave Van Domelen's RPG-based future-
    history stories. See <https://www.eyrie.org/~dvandom/ASH>.

    ELSEWHIRLS LNH stories that do not fit into LNH continuity. Think DC's
    or EW Elseworlds.

    HCC The High Concept Challenge, a continuous series of writing
    contests. Each round, the winner, chosen by reader vote, gets
    to pick the next round's concept.

    LNH Legion of Net.Heroes, "The Friendliest Shared Universe
    Going!(TM)" A mostly parody universe, though it does have its
    serious side.

    LNH20 On the LNH's 20th anniversary, a group of writers took it upon
    themselves to create a new world, based in everything they
    loved about the LNH, in the best spirit of comic book reboots!
    LNH20 is just as friendly as the original, but easier to get
    into! Hop right in, the adventure's fine!

    LNHY An Imprint involving an alternate LNH universe called
    Looniverse Y. The big difference between this and the Classic
    LNH is that writers are allowed to have only one character of
    theirs in this Looniverse's LNH.

    RACCCafe A continuity-free outpust where RACC characters can unwind
    after a hard day of being mangled by their writers. Anything
    can happen, as long as it's funny, and there are no
    consequences!

    SG Superguy. From Space Moose to the Bomb. Comedy superhero
    writing with a far different background than LNH. Note that
    only a small slice of Superguy stuff appears here; to see the
    rest, go to <https://lists.eyrie.org/mailman/listinfo/superguy>.

    STARFALL Lightly serious and seriously light superheroics, and better
    because of it. ;)

    NTB Net.Trenchcoat.Brigade. A bunch of Vertigo-like characters
    that own stock in London Fog. Not tremendously active, but
    they do have a considerable history. Implied Acraphobe.

    OMEGA A serious psi-based shared super-world and once upon a time
    RACC's third largest universe, now inactive. Created by the
    legendary Matt Rossi.

    OSD The Order of Saint Doomas. Items relating to RACC's anti-spam
    cult. (See Section 3 above.) No posts have been seen from
    this imprint in quite some time, but that doesn't mean they're
    gone....

    SW10 SW stands for Superhuman World. 10 is an annual tag. The
    comic has proceeded to 2011, but the tag has frozen at 2010
    because that's when the series really interacted with RACC.
    Scott Eiler has written the story of this universe since
    before 1991, but 1991 is when the modern heroes of this series
    start. His sources include adolescent male power fantasy,
    superhero role-playing, comic-book satire, and dreams. See
    <http://www.eilertech.com/stories/>.

    MISC Stories not in the above categories or in their own universes
    (authors are encouraged to make up their own headers as well).
    To limit the number of imprints, and to keep this FAQ to
    reasonable lengths, let's adopt this convention: One-shot
    stories or series should use the MISC flag. Series that set
    up shared universes should create their own, new imprint.

    ------------------------------

    Subject: 6. People to Ask for Help

    The major header contacts are listed below, who will be glad to answer
    email question. Also keep your eyes peeled for FAQs specific to
    particular imprints. The FAQs are also often in the archive in a
    directory named "FAQs" under the imprint directory.

    Imprint Contact Email
    ------------ -------------------- ---------------------------------
    8FOLD Jamie Rosen jamie.rosen@sunlife.com
    8FOLD Tom Russell joltcity@gmail.com
    + ASH Dave Van Domelen dvandom@eyrie.org
    + LNH Andrew Perron pwerdna@gmail.com
    LNH20 Andrew Perron pwerdna@gmail.com
    + LNHY Arthur Spitzer arspitzer@earthlink.net
    + NTB Arthur Spitzer arspitzer@earthlink.net
    + RACChallenge Sean MacDonald mcdonald@vorteb.math.uab.edu
    + StarFall Ted Brock phantom_belcher@yahoo.com
    + Superguy Eric Burns eaburns@annotations.com
    SW10 Scott Eiler seiler@eilertech.com

    The Archive Russ Allbery eagle@eyrie.org
    Moderation RACC Moderation Team racc-request@eyrie.org

    + indicates separate FAQs are available for these imprints.

    If you need to contact the moderator directly, the contact information is:

    Russ Allbery <eagle@eyrie.org>

    If none of the above people help, or your questions are too general or specific, just email anyone you see posting here that seems to know what they're doing. (WARNING: This is rarely the case.)

    --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
    * Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)
  • From Russ Allbery@21:1/5 to All on Thu Jul 1 07:01:03 2021
    Last-modified: 2018-07-16
    Posted-by: postfaq 1.17 (Perl 5.28.1)
    Archive-name: comics/creative/faq
    URL: https://www.eyrie.org/~eagle/faqs/racc.html
    Posting-frequency: monthly

    ==========================================================================
    rec.arts.comics.creative Frequently Asked Questions
    Maintained by Russ Allbery <eagle@eyrie.org>
    Original by Jeff McCoskey ==========================================================================

    If you're reading this on Usenet, this FAQ is formatted as a minimal
    digest. If your newsreader has digest handling capabilities you can use
    them to navigate between sections. In rn variants, you can use Ctrl-G to
    skip to the next section; in Gnus, press Ctrl-D to break each section into
    a separate article. For other newsreaders, see the documentation.

    The latest version of this FAQ is available on the web at:

    <https://www.eyrie.org/~eagle/faqs/racc.html>

    Please send any comments, suggestions, or updates to eagle@eyrie.org.

    ------------------------------

    Subject: Contents

    1. Welcome to rec.arts.comics.creative!
    1.1. What is RACC for?
    1.2. What isn't RACC for?
    1.3. What is the RACC official charter?
    1.4. Where are the stories about Wolverine(tm)?
    1.5. Where are the old stories?
    1.6. How can I read RACC via e-mail?

    2. Writing for RACC (How do I get involved?)
    2.1. Cool! Okay, how do I post?
    2.2. Format! I'm nothing without format!
    2.3. How 'bout them imprints? What's up with that?
    2.4. How do I archive my stories for posterity?
    2.5. What do copyright laws I pay taxes for do for me?

    3. Netiquette for RACC

    4. Glossary

    5. List of current imprints

    6. People to ask for help

    ------------------------------

    Subject: 1. Welcome to rec.arts.comics.creative!

    Welcome to rec.arts.comics.creative, the newsgroup which could have been
    named rec.prose.shared-universe but wasn't, the newsgroup which has, to
    date, produced well over 30MB of entirely free original fiction (and
    that's compressed!), the newsgroup which has nearly nothing to do with
    your favorite comic books at all!

    You're about to go insane. Don't worry, it's fun.

    rec.arts.comics.creative (henceforth RACC) is a moderated newsgroup for comics-related original fiction and discussion of same, originally created unmoderated by Martin Phipps and a cast of thousands (well, dozens at
    least) and later converted to moderated to keep out the spam. Don't
    worry, even though it's a moderated group, it's still friendly, chatty,
    and not at all formal, and we go out of our way to keep it that way.

    The first group of this sort on the Internet was the Superguy mailing
    list, which is still in operation to this day (you'll see posts from it on
    this group from time to time). Later, the Legion of Net.Heroes (LNH)
    sprung out of a free-form thread on rec.arts.comics and spawned another newsgroup (alt.comics.lnh). They were quickly followed by a wide variety
    of other comics-based shared universes, including the Patrol, the Net.Trenchcoat.Brigade, and Omega. All of these organizations, in
    parallel, gathered together authors in shared universes and strongly
    influenced the nature of RACC.

    First and foremost, RACC is a site for people to post comics-related
    fiction. Stories about long-underwear vigilantes, anthropomorphic
    animals, SF, westerns, even Kleen Teens if anyone is so moved. As long as
    it relates to comics it's okay. So whether you're a reader, a writer, or
    that fabled creature the critic, or even all three -- welcome to RACC:
    it's all the story, none of the art! (yet)

    ------------------------------

    Subject: 1.1. What is RACC for?

    For the official charter, see section 1.3. Here's the long, readable
    version.

    One term that you'll see a lot is "shared universe." This is a shared
    story background, co-created by multiple authors and used as the
    "universe" in which multiple different stories are set. This is a
    trademark characteristic of most comic books (seen in its clearest form in
    the ubiquitous crossover, a story written by multiple authors at once and involving multiple characters who all have their own stories), as well as appearing in some other published fiction (such as Wild Cards, or Larry
    Niven's Man-Kzin Wars). Most (but not all) of the stories posted here
    take place in one of the established shared universes (there's a list
    later on in this FAQ), to the point where this style of writing is nearly characteristic of the group.

    Another term you'll see is "comics-related." Nearly all of the authors
    writing here drew their original (if not primary) inspiration from comic
    books. As a result, nearly all of the stories are on-going (published a chapter at a time), divided up into "issues" and given numbers, and
    organized into "imprints." Many people also describe covers or design
    ASCII graphic logos.

    There is no restriction on types of fiction. (That'd kinda take the
    creative out of RACC, wouldn't it?) You'll see stories run the gamut from slapstick comedy to grim'n'gritty Real Life Supers (TM). As long as it's
    about comics, set your pen free. (You'll see a lot of superhero fiction,
    but that just means that those of us who like reading other things as well
    are anxiously awaiting your non-superhero stories.)

    RACC is also for discussion of stories, both specific ones and in general.
    The critic and reader is one of the most sought-after types of people
    around here; if you give us feedback on our stories, good or bad, we'll
    love you forever.

    Finally, if you want to announce your free web strip here, we welcome
    those posts too. If you're trying to sell it, though, please try rec.arts.comics.marketplace or rec.arts.comics.strips instead. (And rec.arts.comics.strips may be a better group in general, as RACC readers
    are mostly interested in text fiction.)

    ------------------------------

    Subject: 1.2. What isn't RACC for?

    A lot of things. We're not for wars of attrition, Third World starvation,
    45 mph speed limits, and brussel sprout toothpaste. Closer to home, RACC
    is not for any of the following:

    * Discussion of existing, "professional" books (except as they relate
    to our fiction)

    * Marketplace-type I-wanna-buy/I-wanna-sell postings

    * Flames and personality conflicts. Critiques, yes. Flames, no.

    * Fiction about established, trademarked characters and universes,
    unless you created them or have written permission.

    * Erotica, no matter how much spandex you put in. There are other
    groups for that.

    ------------------------------

    Subject: 1.3. What is the RACC official charter?

    This newsgroup welcomes any form of comics-related original fiction and discussion of the same, including but not limited to stories in the many established shared universes. Discussion of on-line fiction as a whole is
    also welcome provided that it is related to the stories on the newsgroup.
    If they choose to write in an existing shared universe, writers are
    strongly encouranged to follow the existing continuity and rules of that universe. "Comics-related" will be interpreted very broadly, as has been traditional on the newsgroup.

    Each posting to rec.arts.comics.creative should include a keyword on the subject line either designating which shared universe the posting refers
    to or marking the general subject of the post (ADMIN, META, MISC, etc.).
    If a submitted post does not have a keyword, the moderator will add an appropriate keyword, but posters are encouraged to add keywords themselves
    to save moderation work.

    Large binaries, such as artwork, will not be allowed on the newsgroup.
    Instead, binaries can be made available in the newsgroup archive (subject
    to the discretion of the archivist) and a pointer posted to the newsgroup. Pointers to Web pages are also welcome, provided the content of the page
    is related to the purpose of the group.

    Stories using copyrighted or trademarked characters are explicitly not
    within the charter of this group and may be rejected unless the author
    owns the copyrights and trademarks or has written permission from the
    owner. Networking posts (artists seeking writers or writers seeking
    artists) are inappropriate in this group and should be sent to appropriate mailing lists or other groups in the rec.arts.comics.* hierarchy (rec.arts.comics.misc if there is no other more appropriate group).

    ------------------------------

    Subject: 1.4. Where are the stories about Wolverine(tm)?

    This is very important, so I'm going to yell it. RACC IS NOT THE PLACE
    FOR FICTION ABOUT ESTABLISHED, TRADEMARKED CHARACTERS. This includes all Marvel, Image, DC, what-have-you characters. RACC's charter expressly
    FORBIDS such fiction.

    The reason for this is the ongoing legislative battles about intellectual property and the Net. rec.* groups are picked up worldwide, and sysadmins
    do not want to draw lawsuits because someone wrote a story that violated trademark laws. Note that fanfic stories may or may not be lawful and/or prosecutable, WE JUST DON'T KNOW. They're still writing the laws.

    To forestall any confusion or debates, and to protect sysadmins from inadvertently becoming the test case, this provision was adopted as a key requirement for RACC's creation. If you really must write about existing, trademarked characters, there is alt.comics.fan-fiction waiting to receive
    you. alt.* groups get picked up by sysadmins voluntarily, so they
    presumedly know what risks they're taking.

    Nothing will draw this group's ire faster than violating this requirement.

    ------------------------------

    Subject: 1.5. Where are the old stories?

    Thanks to the tireless efforts and bottomless disk space of Russ Allbery,
    all stories posted to rec.arts.comics.creative are archived! This means stories will be preserved for future generations of readers, providing a
    link to the past. It is difficult to over-praise this contribution.

    (Note: Lest you think I would be so crass as to praise myself, I want to
    make sure you know that Jeff wrote that last paragraph. 'course, I didn't delete it either.)

    Older stories are sorted by universe and series and are available at:

    <https://archives.eyrie.org/racc/>

    All of the stories are compressed using gzip, but most browsers can automatically decompress them for you. This archive unfortunately hasn't
    been updated recently, but it does have all of the older stories.

    Every message to rec.arts.comics.creative, story or not, is archived at:

    <https://lists.eyrie.org/pipermail/racc/>

    in the form of a more traditional mailing list archive, so you can also
    look there if a story hasn't been saved in the story archive. This is the
    best way to find anything posted in the last few years. You can search
    the archive by prepending "site:lists.eyrie.org" to a regular Google
    search.

    Please note that stories will be removed from both the list archive and
    the story archive at the author's request if the author wants to take them down. This has happened in the past, sometimes because the author wanted
    to sell the stories to a professional venue.

    ------------------------------

    Subject: 1.6. How can I read RACC via e-mail?

    Everything that shows up in RACC also shows up in its associated mailing
    list (and vice versa), so if you want to be sure not to miss anything, or
    if you just prefer e-mail to Usenet, you can subscribe to that mailing
    list.

    To do that, go to:

    <https://lists.eyrie.org/mailman/listinfo/racc>

    and fill out the form to subscribe. Alternately, you can subscribe via
    e-mail by sending mail to racc-request@lists.eyrie.org with the word:

    subscribe

    in the subject of the message. You then can read and reply to posts just
    as if the newsgroup were a mailing list. It's all the same to us.

    ------------------------------

    Subject: 2. Writing for RACC (How do I get involved?)

    Write a story. Post it. You're involved.

    This assumes you want to create your own universe to write in. If you
    want to join a pre-existing shared universe, it's a little more involved.

    Many of the imprints have FAQs of their own (OMEGA, Superguy, LNH,
    Crossroads to name a few). These get posted periodically. The first
    thing you should do is read these documents to get a feel for what these specific universes are like.

    The next thing you should do is _read_ the universe in question. This
    includes tapping the archives for back issues. No one would suggest you
    read the entire Superguy or LNH archives before writing, but definitely
    try to sample a large cross-section.

    Lastly, email some of the creators you see writing under a specific
    imprint. They will be able to tell you if your concept fits with their universe or not, and perhaps refer you to a more appropriate universe if necessary.

    THEN write a story and post it.

    ------------------------------

    Subject: 2.1. Cool! Okay, how do I post?

    RACC is a moderated newsgroup, which means that every post goes to the moderators first. If your site correctly has the group marked as
    moderated, you should be able to post just like you post to any other
    group and your news server will take care of the rest. If you have a Unix shell account, you can check if the group is correctly marked as moderated
    by typing:

    nntplist active | grep rec.arts.comics.creative

    If the last character on the resulting line is an "m," congratulations,
    you have a good news administrator. If it's a "y," send mail to your
    local computing support people and ask them to convert the group to
    moderated like it should be.

    If you don't have a Unix shell account, some newsreaders will also tell
    you if the group is moderated.

    If, for any reason, you have trouble posting or your site *doesn't* have
    the group marked as moderated, you can mail your post to racc@eyrie.org
    instead and it will be posted for you.

    Because the group is moderated, it can be up to a day after you post
    before your article is actually posted, and it can take a few more days
    for the article to propagate back to you. So don't be surprised if it
    doesn't show up right away.

    Many readers of rec.arts.comics.creative use Google Groups to read and
    post. While this works, and I know it's convenient, Google Groups also
    deletes anything enclosed in square brackets ([]) at the beginning of
    Subject lines in replies. If you use Google Groups, please try to
    remember to put back the imprint tags when you reply to posts; otherwise,
    I have to add them as the moderator.

    ------------------------------

    Subject: 2.2. Format! I'm nothing without format!

    Formatting is pretty loose. Since this is a comics newsgroup, you will
    hear people refer to their stories as "issues." Postings tend to run in numerical order just like comic books, and many people write continuing
    series. For example there are 25 "issues" in Drizzt's _Continuity Champ
    and the Drizzt's Defenders_ series.

    Stories don't have to be series though. One-shots, mini-series,
    maxi-series, crossovers -- all of these have been done before and will be
    done again.

    The subjects of postings should follow the convention of naming the
    imprint the title and the number. For example:

    LNH: System Corruptors #15, The Bard's Tale
    imprint --^ ^ ^ ^
    title --------------| | |
    number -------------------------| |
    subtitle/comment/etc [optional] -------|

    Since the archive mechanism relies heavily on this format (not to mention
    the format-accustomed eyes of this group's readers), please follow this strictly, including the use of the #-sign. Subtitles, alternate titles,
    and title comments should follow the number if they are used at all. If
    you want to, you can use [TAG] instead of TAG: at the beginning of the
    subject; it's all the same to the archiver. (TAG: causes a few fewer
    problems than [TAG] with Google Groups.)

    Occasionally, instead of (or in addition to) a number you will see "TEB."
    This stands for "Trade EtherBack." It means the posting is actually a collection of previously posted issues -- usually cleaned up and relating
    to a single story arc.

    Inside your story do what you will. Some folks run fake ads, others use
    cheesy ASCII graphics, some just use text. A word of advice: On
    older/more primitive newsreaders your text is MUCH easier to read if you
    space between paragraphs. On the other hand, some newer newsreader
    readers find the spaces jarring. The moral? You can't please all the
    people all the time. In general spaces seem to be more preferred.

    ------------------------------

    Subject: 2.3. How 'bout them imprints? What's up with that?

    In order to accommodate a near-infinite number of different potential universes, RACC has adopted the reasonable convention of flagging fiction.
    This allows uninterested parties to skip some genres, and others to
    quickly find their niches of interest. The flag goes before the title of
    story issues, related FAQs or universe-specific discussions. Many flags
    refer to existing shared-universes. New ones will come up all the time.
    For the current list, see section 5 of this FAQ.

    Once you pick an imprint name, stick with it. The Archive and your legion
    of new fans will both be happier if you don't make marketing name changes.

    Regardless of flags all SEXUALLY EXPLICIT or PROFANITY-RICH stories should
    have huge warning labels at the beginning of text. Last thing we need is
    a Florida DA bringing us all up on charges. ;] Besides, it's only common courtesy. Note that if a story could reasonably be posted on
    alt.sex.stories, you've probably strayed a bit far from this group's
    interests.

    Some sort of flag, either an imprint name or a more general tag, is
    required on all posts and one will be added by the moderator if you don't provide one. Leaving one off requires the moderator to edit your post,
    though, which takes time and means your post will be delayed. So please
    save them the trouble and remember to add the tag yourself.

    ------------------------------

    Subject: 2.4. How do I archive my stories for posterity?

    Good news! It's already being done for you! (Or at least it will be if
    Russ ever catches up with the archiving.)

    In theory, every story posted to rec.arts.comics.creative is archived at <https://archives.eyrie.org/racc/>. Most imprints have their own
    directories, with the stories stored in directories under that (depending
    on the size of the imprint, the directories could be very structured or
    just one directory for each series). Some imprints may be collected in
    the misc directory.

    Unfortunately, this archive is substantially out of date. Russ hopes to eventually find time to update it.

    The exception is Superguy, which has its own archiving mechanism. The
    Superguy archives are at <https://archives.eyrie.org/superguy/>, but one
    of the best ways to access them is through the Autocollector at:

    <https://archives.eyrie.org/cgi-bin/superguy>

    ------------------------------

    Subject: 2.5. What do Copyright laws I pay taxes for do for me?

    I don't even play a lawyer on TV, but there are some things you should
    know about Copyright laws.

    Anything you write is copyrighted immediately, whether you flag it with a copyright notice or not. Furthermore, the copyright protection is international under the Berne Copyright Convention, which has been signed
    by nearly every country with access to Usenet.

    If you label your text as copyrighted, it preempts a possible
    "unintentional infringement" defense from plagarizers. The copyright
    notice is considered legal notice that you intend to retain your rights.
    The legal format for such a notice requires three things: Your name, the
    year, and one or more of the following: "Copyright," "Copr.," and/or the c-in-circle symbol. Note that there is no firm legal precedence for (C)
    or (c) as having any special copyright meaning. Example notice:

    Copyright 1994 Jeff J McCoskey

    The only way to get full legal protection (at least in the United States)
    is to register your work with the government (forms are free, filing fees apply). This *guarantees* an archived, dated copy should future legal
    action be necessary. Other forms of dating, like mailing yourself a copy
    or archiving (to get a date stamp), are of dubious and unproven legal
    value.

    An excellent resource for Copyright information is misc.legal, where a FAQ
    is posted monthly.

    Another excellent resource is the U.S. Copyright Office home page at:

    <https://www.copyright.gov/>

    ------------------------------

    Subject: 3. Netiquette for RACC

    As a rule of thumb, everything you've heard elsewhere about good
    netiquette applies here. We hate spammers (more in a minute), expect
    smilies when joking (except in stories of course), and in general expect
    you to conduct yourselves as good net.citizens. There are three things
    you need to know after you've mastered Basic Netiquette:

    1. The only times flames are accepted on RACC are when they are both
    morally defensible and amusing. Flames are not welcome if they do not
    meet the above criteria. Here on RACC there is one organization that
    acts as moral compass for acceptable flames: the Order of St. Doomas.

    The Order has defined one activity that is worthy of flame: spamming.
    One member of the Order (usually the first to his/her keyboard) will
    have the honors. Repetitive flaming by multiple members is frowned
    upon by the Order.

    To join this righteous crusade, all you need do is select a
    net.persona and flame. Incorrect flaming (i.e. at non-sanctioned
    targets, or with unamusing effect) will result in ostracization and
    excommunication. Watch the Order in action before joining and all
    will be clear.

    Now that the group has been moderated, most opportunities for flames
    are gone. But watch carefully; new ones may arise.

    2. Reviews of stories (even negative ones) are one of the most
    sought-after commodities on RACC. You will instantly win friends and
    influence people if you post reviews. But especially in the case of
    negative reviews, ensure you confine your review to the story and not
    the writer. Keep in mind as you write "that SUCKS" that someone
    worked long and hard on the text. They might want to know what worked
    and what didn't in their narrative but it's doubtful they want to hear
    how clever you can be in ripping them up.

    It's certain the rest of us don't.

    3. One of the best features of a shared universe is the opportunity to
    have your characters interact with others in that universe. This is
    a privilege, not a right. All characters on RACC (and their
    distinctive text-likenesses) are the full and exclusive property of
    their creators. This is not as dogmatic as it sounds, and we're all
    adults (or pretending to be). Cameos (non-speaking/non-plot affecting
    roles) do not typically require permission unless the creator desires
    it. Speaking roles should be previewed through email and approved by
    the creator before being posted.

    ------------------------------

    Subject: 4. Glossary

    These are terms you will see come up on RACC that have special meaning
    here. (For general net.terms and abbreviations, see the META RAC FAQ.)

    Acraphobe RACC's version of adult warning label. Yes, with an "a."
    Don't ask.

    Arc A multi-issue storyline.

    Archive ftp.eyrie.org, where nearly ALL the back issues live.

    Crossover A storyline that involves several titles and/or authors. Also
    the bane of all mankind.

    Elsewhirls An imaginary story. (Yeah yeah, we know they're ALL
    imaginary. How about "out-of-continuity"?)

    Fanfiction Fiction about established, trademarked universes and
    or fanfic characters that the author did not create -- in short, the
    sort of stories RACC *wasn't* designed for. There's a good
    list of newsgroups at the end of this FAQ that should help in
    finding a better group if this is what you want to write.

    Imprint The shared universe your story takes place in or subject your
    posting relates to (we have many to chose from). This is
    usually an all-caps prefix on the title of the posting.

    LNH The Legion of Net.Heroes. The immediate father of this group
    and the oldest of the Usenet-based writing universes (see
    Superguy).

    RAC* The rec.arts.comics.* hierarchy of newsgroups.

    RACC rec.arts.comics.creative. You're soaking in it!

    rACCIES The annual RACC fanfiction awards, as voted on by the readers
    or RACCies of this newsgroup.

    Repost Story has been posted before, natch.

    Superguy A mailing list that predates all other Internet comics-fiction
    forums. There is a good-natured rivalry between the LNH and
    this group.

    TEB Trade EtherBack. This is a collection of previously posted
    material, usually cleaned up and relating to a single story
    arc.

    Title A numerically increasing, continuing series. Usually
    involving one character, cast, city, or unifying concept.

    ------------------------------

    Subject: 5. List of Current Tags

    When choosing a tag to put at the beginning of your post, this list should
    be a canonical reference. If you see a need for a new tag, send mail to
    the FAQ maintainer so that it can be added.

    First, the general tags:

    ADMIN Administrative matters affecting everyone on RACC.

    FAQ FAQs of note for the entire RAC* hierarchy. These will tend
    to be crossposted here.

    META Discussion about the newsgroup itself. This includes
    or CHAT everything from general discussion of on-line fiction and RACC
    in particular to recommendations on how long posts should be.

    PRECOG Announcements of upcoming series, planned stories, and the
    or PROMO like.

    WWW Announcement of a web page related to RACC or a free strip.

    Now, all of the writing imprints. Note that new ones of these pop up all
    the time. Entries marked with (*) are in danger of being retired due to
    lack of activity. If you have any changes, please mail eagle@eyrie.org.

    8FOLD A closed universe that encompasses serious superheroes, comedy,
    memoir, and just about anything else: high-quality fiction of
    any stripe is welcome.

    ACRAPHOBE Mature stories that may or may not fit into other universes'
    or ACRA continuity. Using this flag in conjunction with another is
    not unheard of. (For example, Scav's _501 Blues_ is
    LNH/ACRAPHOBE.) Think a meta-Vertigo.

    ASH Academy of Super-Heroes. Dave Van Domelen's RPG-based future-
    history stories. See <https://www.eyrie.org/~dvandom/ASH>.

    ELSEWHIRLS LNH stories that do not fit into LNH continuity. Think DC's
    or EW Elseworlds.

    HCC The High Concept Challenge, a continuous series of writing
    contests. Each round, the winner, chosen by reader vote, gets
    to pick the next round's concept.

    LNH Legion of Net.Heroes, "The Friendliest Shared Universe
    Going!(TM)" A mostly parody universe, though it does have its
    serious side.

    LNH20 On the LNH's 20th anniversary, a group of writers took it upon
    themselves to create a new world, based in everything they
    loved about the LNH, in the best spirit of comic book reboots!
    LNH20 is just as friendly as the original, but easier to get
    into! Hop right in, the adventure's fine!

    LNHY An Imprint involving an alternate LNH universe called
    Looniverse Y. The big difference between this and the Classic
    LNH is that writers are allowed to have only one character of
    theirs in this Looniverse's LNH.

    RACCCafe A continuity-free outpust where RACC characters can unwind
    after a hard day of being mangled by their writers. Anything
    can happen, as long as it's funny, and there are no
    consequences!

    SG Superguy. From Space Moose to the Bomb. Comedy superhero
    writing with a far different background than LNH. Note that
    only a small slice of Superguy stuff appears here; to see the
    rest, go to <https://lists.eyrie.org/mailman/listinfo/superguy>.

    STARFALL Lightly serious and seriously light superheroics, and better
    because of it. ;)

    NTB Net.Trenchcoat.Brigade. A bunch of Vertigo-like characters
    that own stock in London Fog. Not tremendously active, but
    they do have a considerable history. Implied Acraphobe.

    OMEGA A serious psi-based shared super-world and once upon a time
    RACC's third largest universe, now inactive. Created by the
    legendary Matt Rossi.

    OSD The Order of Saint Doomas. Items relating to RACC's anti-spam
    cult. (See Section 3 above.) No posts have been seen from
    this imprint in quite some time, but that doesn't mean they're
    gone....

    SW10 SW stands for Superhuman World. 10 is an annual tag. The
    comic has proceeded to 2011, but the tag has frozen at 2010
    because that's when the series really interacted with RACC.
    Scott Eiler has written the story of this universe since
    before 1991, but 1991 is when the modern heroes of this series
    start. His sources include adolescent male power fantasy,
    superhero role-playing, comic-book satire, and dreams. See
    <http://www.eilertech.com/stories/>.

    MISC Stories not in the above categories or in their own universes
    (authors are encouraged to make up their own headers as well).
    To limit the number of imprints, and to keep this FAQ to
    reasonable lengths, let's adopt this convention: One-shot
    stories or series should use the MISC flag. Series that set
    up shared universes should create their own, new imprint.

    ------------------------------

    Subject: 6. People to Ask for Help

    The major header contacts are listed below, who will be glad to answer
    email question. Also keep your eyes peeled for FAQs specific to
    particular imprints. The FAQs are also often in the archive in a
    directory named "FAQs" under the imprint directory.

    Imprint Contact Email
    ------------ -------------------- ---------------------------------
    8FOLD Jamie Rosen jamie.rosen@sunlife.com
    8FOLD Tom Russell joltcity@gmail.com
    + ASH Dave Van Domelen dvandom@eyrie.org
    + LNH Andrew Perron pwerdna@gmail.com
    LNH20 Andrew Perron pwerdna@gmail.com
    + LNHY Arthur Spitzer arspitzer@earthlink.net
    + NTB Arthur Spitzer arspitzer@earthlink.net
    + RACChallenge Sean MacDonald mcdonald@vorteb.math.uab.edu
    + StarFall Ted Brock phantom_belcher@yahoo.com
    + Superguy Eric Burns eaburns@annotations.com
    SW10 Scott Eiler seiler@eilertech.com

    The Archive Russ Allbery eagle@eyrie.org
    Moderation RACC Moderation Team racc-request@eyrie.org

    + indicates separate FAQs are available for these imprints.

    If you need to contact the moderator directly, the contact information is:

    Russ Allbery <eagle@eyrie.org>

    If none of the above people help, or your questions are too general or specific, just email anyone you see posting here that seems to know what they're doing. (WARNING: This is rarely the case.)

    --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
    * Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)
  • From Russ Allbery@21:1/5 to All on Sun Aug 1 07:01:03 2021
    Last-modified: 2018-07-16
    Posted-by: postfaq 1.17 (Perl 5.28.1)
    Archive-name: comics/creative/faq
    URL: https://www.eyrie.org/~eagle/faqs/racc.html
    Posting-frequency: monthly

    ==========================================================================
    rec.arts.comics.creative Frequently Asked Questions
    Maintained by Russ Allbery <eagle@eyrie.org>
    Original by Jeff McCoskey ==========================================================================

    If you're reading this on Usenet, this FAQ is formatted as a minimal
    digest. If your newsreader has digest handling capabilities you can use
    them to navigate between sections. In rn variants, you can use Ctrl-G to
    skip to the next section; in Gnus, press Ctrl-D to break each section into
    a separate article. For other newsreaders, see the documentation.

    The latest version of this FAQ is available on the web at:

    <https://www.eyrie.org/~eagle/faqs/racc.html>

    Please send any comments, suggestions, or updates to eagle@eyrie.org.

    ------------------------------

    Subject: Contents

    1. Welcome to rec.arts.comics.creative!
    1.1. What is RACC for?
    1.2. What isn't RACC for?
    1.3. What is the RACC official charter?
    1.4. Where are the stories about Wolverine(tm)?
    1.5. Where are the old stories?
    1.6. How can I read RACC via e-mail?

    2. Writing for RACC (How do I get involved?)
    2.1. Cool! Okay, how do I post?
    2.2. Format! I'm nothing without format!
    2.3. How 'bout them imprints? What's up with that?
    2.4. How do I archive my stories for posterity?
    2.5. What do copyright laws I pay taxes for do for me?

    3. Netiquette for RACC

    4. Glossary

    5. List of current imprints

    6. People to ask for help

    ------------------------------

    Subject: 1. Welcome to rec.arts.comics.creative!

    Welcome to rec.arts.comics.creative, the newsgroup which could have been
    named rec.prose.shared-universe but wasn't, the newsgroup which has, to
    date, produced well over 30MB of entirely free original fiction (and
    that's compressed!), the newsgroup which has nearly nothing to do with
    your favorite comic books at all!

    You're about to go insane. Don't worry, it's fun.

    rec.arts.comics.creative (henceforth RACC) is a moderated newsgroup for comics-related original fiction and discussion of same, originally created unmoderated by Martin Phipps and a cast of thousands (well, dozens at
    least) and later converted to moderated to keep out the spam. Don't
    worry, even though it's a moderated group, it's still friendly, chatty,
    and not at all formal, and we go out of our way to keep it that way.

    The first group of this sort on the Internet was the Superguy mailing
    list, which is still in operation to this day (you'll see posts from it on
    this group from time to time). Later, the Legion of Net.Heroes (LNH)
    sprung out of a free-form thread on rec.arts.comics and spawned another newsgroup (alt.comics.lnh). They were quickly followed by a wide variety
    of other comics-based shared universes, including the Patrol, the Net.Trenchcoat.Brigade, and Omega. All of these organizations, in
    parallel, gathered together authors in shared universes and strongly
    influenced the nature of RACC.

    First and foremost, RACC is a site for people to post comics-related
    fiction. Stories about long-underwear vigilantes, anthropomorphic
    animals, SF, westerns, even Kleen Teens if anyone is so moved. As long as
    it relates to comics it's okay. So whether you're a reader, a writer, or
    that fabled creature the critic, or even all three -- welcome to RACC:
    it's all the story, none of the art! (yet)

    ------------------------------

    Subject: 1.1. What is RACC for?

    For the official charter, see section 1.3. Here's the long, readable
    version.

    One term that you'll see a lot is "shared universe." This is a shared
    story background, co-created by multiple authors and used as the
    "universe" in which multiple different stories are set. This is a
    trademark characteristic of most comic books (seen in its clearest form in
    the ubiquitous crossover, a story written by multiple authors at once and involving multiple characters who all have their own stories), as well as appearing in some other published fiction (such as Wild Cards, or Larry
    Niven's Man-Kzin Wars). Most (but not all) of the stories posted here
    take place in one of the established shared universes (there's a list
    later on in this FAQ), to the point where this style of writing is nearly characteristic of the group.

    Another term you'll see is "comics-related." Nearly all of the authors
    writing here drew their original (if not primary) inspiration from comic
    books. As a result, nearly all of the stories are on-going (published a chapter at a time), divided up into "issues" and given numbers, and
    organized into "imprints." Many people also describe covers or design
    ASCII graphic logos.

    There is no restriction on types of fiction. (That'd kinda take the
    creative out of RACC, wouldn't it?) You'll see stories run the gamut from slapstick comedy to grim'n'gritty Real Life Supers (TM). As long as it's
    about comics, set your pen free. (You'll see a lot of superhero fiction,
    but that just means that those of us who like reading other things as well
    are anxiously awaiting your non-superhero stories.)

    RACC is also for discussion of stories, both specific ones and in general.
    The critic and reader is one of the most sought-after types of people
    around here; if you give us feedback on our stories, good or bad, we'll
    love you forever.

    Finally, if you want to announce your free web strip here, we welcome
    those posts too. If you're trying to sell it, though, please try rec.arts.comics.marketplace or rec.arts.comics.strips instead. (And rec.arts.comics.strips may be a better group in general, as RACC readers
    are mostly interested in text fiction.)

    ------------------------------

    Subject: 1.2. What isn't RACC for?

    A lot of things. We're not for wars of attrition, Third World starvation,
    45 mph speed limits, and brussel sprout toothpaste. Closer to home, RACC
    is not for any of the following:

    * Discussion of existing, "professional" books (except as they relate
    to our fiction)

    * Marketplace-type I-wanna-buy/I-wanna-sell postings

    * Flames and personality conflicts. Critiques, yes. Flames, no.

    * Fiction about established, trademarked characters and universes,
    unless you created them or have written permission.

    * Erotica, no matter how much spandex you put in. There are other
    groups for that.

    ------------------------------

    Subject: 1.3. What is the RACC official charter?

    This newsgroup welcomes any form of comics-related original fiction and discussion of the same, including but not limited to stories in the many established shared universes. Discussion of on-line fiction as a whole is
    also welcome provided that it is related to the stories on the newsgroup.
    If they choose to write in an existing shared universe, writers are
    strongly encouranged to follow the existing continuity and rules of that universe. "Comics-related" will be interpreted very broadly, as has been traditional on the newsgroup.

    Each posting to rec.arts.comics.creative should include a keyword on the subject line either designating which shared universe the posting refers
    to or marking the general subject of the post (ADMIN, META, MISC, etc.).
    If a submitted post does not have a keyword, the moderator will add an appropriate keyword, but posters are encouraged to add keywords themselves
    to save moderation work.

    Large binaries, such as artwork, will not be allowed on the newsgroup.
    Instead, binaries can be made available in the newsgroup archive (subject
    to the discretion of the archivist) and a pointer posted to the newsgroup. Pointers to Web pages are also welcome, provided the content of the page
    is related to the purpose of the group.

    Stories using copyrighted or trademarked characters are explicitly not
    within the charter of this group and may be rejected unless the author
    owns the copyrights and trademarks or has written permission from the
    owner. Networking posts (artists seeking writers or writers seeking
    artists) are inappropriate in this group and should be sent to appropriate mailing lists or other groups in the rec.arts.comics.* hierarchy (rec.arts.comics.misc if there is no other more appropriate group).

    ------------------------------

    Subject: 1.4. Where are the stories about Wolverine(tm)?

    This is very important, so I'm going to yell it. RACC IS NOT THE PLACE
    FOR FICTION ABOUT ESTABLISHED, TRADEMARKED CHARACTERS. This includes all Marvel, Image, DC, what-have-you characters. RACC's charter expressly
    FORBIDS such fiction.

    The reason for this is the ongoing legislative battles about intellectual property and the Net. rec.* groups are picked up worldwide, and sysadmins
    do not want to draw lawsuits because someone wrote a story that violated trademark laws. Note that fanfic stories may or may not be lawful and/or prosecutable, WE JUST DON'T KNOW. They're still writing the laws.

    To forestall any confusion or debates, and to protect sysadmins from inadvertently becoming the test case, this provision was adopted as a key requirement for RACC's creation. If you really must write about existing, trademarked characters, there is alt.comics.fan-fiction waiting to receive
    you. alt.* groups get picked up by sysadmins voluntarily, so they
    presumedly know what risks they're taking.

    Nothing will draw this group's ire faster than violating this requirement.

    ------------------------------

    Subject: 1.5. Where are the old stories?

    Thanks to the tireless efforts and bottomless disk space of Russ Allbery,
    all stories posted to rec.arts.comics.creative are archived! This means stories will be preserved for future generations of readers, providing a
    link to the past. It is difficult to over-praise this contribution.

    (Note: Lest you think I would be so crass as to praise myself, I want to
    make sure you know that Jeff wrote that last paragraph. 'course, I didn't delete it either.)

    Older stories are sorted by universe and series and are available at:

    <https://archives.eyrie.org/racc/>

    All of the stories are compressed using gzip, but most browsers can automatically decompress them for you. This archive unfortunately hasn't
    been updated recently, but it does have all of the older stories.

    Every message to rec.arts.comics.creative, story or not, is archived at:

    <https://lists.eyrie.org/pipermail/racc/>

    in the form of a more traditional mailing list archive, so you can also
    look there if a story hasn't been saved in the story archive. This is the
    best way to find anything posted in the last few years. You can search
    the archive by prepending "site:lists.eyrie.org" to a regular Google
    search.

    Please note that stories will be removed from both the list archive and
    the story archive at the author's request if the author wants to take them down. This has happened in the past, sometimes because the author wanted
    to sell the stories to a professional venue.

    ------------------------------

    Subject: 1.6. How can I read RACC via e-mail?

    Everything that shows up in RACC also shows up in its associated mailing
    list (and vice versa), so if you want to be sure not to miss anything, or
    if you just prefer e-mail to Usenet, you can subscribe to that mailing
    list.

    To do that, go to:

    <https://lists.eyrie.org/mailman/listinfo/racc>

    and fill out the form to subscribe. Alternately, you can subscribe via
    e-mail by sending mail to racc-request@lists.eyrie.org with the word:

    subscribe

    in the subject of the message. You then can read and reply to posts just
    as if the newsgroup were a mailing list. It's all the same to us.

    ------------------------------

    Subject: 2. Writing for RACC (How do I get involved?)

    Write a story. Post it. You're involved.

    This assumes you want to create your own universe to write in. If you
    want to join a pre-existing shared universe, it's a little more involved.

    Many of the imprints have FAQs of their own (OMEGA, Superguy, LNH,
    Crossroads to name a few). These get posted periodically. The first
    thing you should do is read these documents to get a feel for what these specific universes are like.

    The next thing you should do is _read_ the universe in question. This
    includes tapping the archives for back issues. No one would suggest you
    read the entire Superguy or LNH archives before writing, but definitely
    try to sample a large cross-section.

    Lastly, email some of the creators you see writing under a specific
    imprint. They will be able to tell you if your concept fits with their universe or not, and perhaps refer you to a more appropriate universe if necessary.

    THEN write a story and post it.

    ------------------------------

    Subject: 2.1. Cool! Okay, how do I post?

    RACC is a moderated newsgroup, which means that every post goes to the moderators first. If your site correctly has the group marked as
    moderated, you should be able to post just like you post to any other
    group and your news server will take care of the rest. If you have a Unix shell account, you can check if the group is correctly marked as moderated
    by typing:

    nntplist active | grep rec.arts.comics.creative

    If the last character on the resulting line is an "m," congratulations,
    you have a good news administrator. If it's a "y," send mail to your
    local computing support people and ask them to convert the group to
    moderated like it should be.

    If you don't have a Unix shell account, some newsreaders will also tell
    you if the group is moderated.

    If, for any reason, you have trouble posting or your site *doesn't* have
    the group marked as moderated, you can mail your post to racc@eyrie.org
    instead and it will be posted for you.

    Because the group is moderated, it can be up to a day after you post
    before your article is actually posted, and it can take a few more days
    for the article to propagate back to you. So don't be surprised if it
    doesn't show up right away.

    Many readers of rec.arts.comics.creative use Google Groups to read and
    post. While this works, and I know it's convenient, Google Groups also
    deletes anything enclosed in square brackets ([]) at the beginning of
    Subject lines in replies. If you use Google Groups, please try to
    remember to put back the imprint tags when you reply to posts; otherwise,
    I have to add them as the moderator.

    ------------------------------

    Subject: 2.2. Format! I'm nothing without format!

    Formatting is pretty loose. Since this is a comics newsgroup, you will
    hear people refer to their stories as "issues." Postings tend to run in numerical order just like comic books, and many people write continuing
    series. For example there are 25 "issues" in Drizzt's _Continuity Champ
    and the Drizzt's Defenders_ series.

    Stories don't have to be series though. One-shots, mini-series,
    maxi-series, crossovers -- all of these have been done before and will be
    done again.

    The subjects of postings should follow the convention of naming the
    imprint the title and the number. For example:

    LNH: System Corruptors #15, The Bard's Tale
    imprint --^ ^ ^ ^
    title --------------| | |
    number -------------------------| |
    subtitle/comment/etc [optional] -------|

    Since the archive mechanism relies heavily on this format (not to mention
    the format-accustomed eyes of this group's readers), please follow this strictly, including the use of the #-sign. Subtitles, alternate titles,
    and title comments should follow the number if they are used at all. If
    you want to, you can use [TAG] instead of TAG: at the beginning of the
    subject; it's all the same to the archiver. (TAG: causes a few fewer
    problems than [TAG] with Google Groups.)

    Occasionally, instead of (or in addition to) a number you will see "TEB."
    This stands for "Trade EtherBack." It means the posting is actually a collection of previously posted issues -- usually cleaned up and relating
    to a single story arc.

    Inside your story do what you will. Some folks run fake ads, others use
    cheesy ASCII graphics, some just use text. A word of advice: On
    older/more primitive newsreaders your text is MUCH easier to read if you
    space between paragraphs. On the other hand, some newer newsreader
    readers find the spaces jarring. The moral? You can't please all the
    people all the time. In general spaces seem to be more preferred.

    ------------------------------

    Subject: 2.3. How 'bout them imprints? What's up with that?

    In order to accommodate a near-infinite number of different potential universes, RACC has adopted the reasonable convention of flagging fiction.
    This allows uninterested parties to skip some genres, and others to
    quickly find their niches of interest. The flag goes before the title of
    story issues, related FAQs or universe-specific discussions. Many flags
    refer to existing shared-universes. New ones will come up all the time.
    For the current list, see section 5 of this FAQ.

    Once you pick an imprint name, stick with it. The Archive and your legion
    of new fans will both be happier if you don't make marketing name changes.

    Regardless of flags all SEXUALLY EXPLICIT or PROFANITY-RICH stories should
    have huge warning labels at the beginning of text. Last thing we need is
    a Florida DA bringing us all up on charges. ;] Besides, it's only common courtesy. Note that if a story could reasonably be posted on
    alt.sex.stories, you've probably strayed a bit far from this group's
    interests.

    Some sort of flag, either an imprint name or a more general tag, is
    required on all posts and one will be added by the moderator if you don't provide one. Leaving one off requires the moderator to edit your post,
    though, which takes time and means your post will be delayed. So please
    save them the trouble and remember to add the tag yourself.

    ------------------------------

    Subject: 2.4. How do I archive my stories for posterity?

    Good news! It's already being done for you! (Or at least it will be if
    Russ ever catches up with the archiving.)

    In theory, every story posted to rec.arts.comics.creative is archived at <https://archives.eyrie.org/racc/>. Most imprints have their own
    directories, with the stories stored in directories under that (depending
    on the size of the imprint, the directories could be very structured or
    just one directory for each series). Some imprints may be collected in
    the misc directory.

    Unfortunately, this archive is substantially out of date. Russ hopes to eventually find time to update it.

    The exception is Superguy, which has its own archiving mechanism. The
    Superguy archives are at <https://archives.eyrie.org/superguy/>, but one
    of the best ways to access them is through the Autocollector at:

    <https://archives.eyrie.org/cgi-bin/superguy>

    ------------------------------

    Subject: 2.5. What do Copyright laws I pay taxes for do for me?

    I don't even play a lawyer on TV, but there are some things you should
    know about Copyright laws.

    Anything you write is copyrighted immediately, whether you flag it with a copyright notice or not. Furthermore, the copyright protection is international under the Berne Copyright Convention, which has been signed
    by nearly every country with access to Usenet.

    If you label your text as copyrighted, it preempts a possible
    "unintentional infringement" defense from plagarizers. The copyright
    notice is considered legal notice that you intend to retain your rights.
    The legal format for such a notice requires three things: Your name, the
    year, and one or more of the following: "Copyright," "Copr.," and/or the c-in-circle symbol. Note that there is no firm legal precedence for (C)
    or (c) as having any special copyright meaning. Example notice:

    Copyright 1994 Jeff J McCoskey

    The only way to get full legal protection (at least in the United States)
    is to register your work with the government (forms are free, filing fees apply). This *guarantees* an archived, dated copy should future legal
    action be necessary. Other forms of dating, like mailing yourself a copy
    or archiving (to get a date stamp), are of dubious and unproven legal
    value.

    An excellent resource for Copyright information is misc.legal, where a FAQ
    is posted monthly.

    Another excellent resource is the U.S. Copyright Office home page at:

    <https://www.copyright.gov/>

    ------------------------------

    Subject: 3. Netiquette for RACC

    As a rule of thumb, everything you've heard elsewhere about good
    netiquette applies here. We hate spammers (more in a minute), expect
    smilies when joking (except in stories of course), and in general expect
    you to conduct yourselves as good net.citizens. There are three things
    you need to know after you've mastered Basic Netiquette:

    1. The only times flames are accepted on RACC are when they are both
    morally defensible and amusing. Flames are not welcome if they do not
    meet the above criteria. Here on RACC there is one organization that
    acts as moral compass for acceptable flames: the Order of St. Doomas.

    The Order has defined one activity that is worthy of flame: spamming.
    One member of the Order (usually the first to his/her keyboard) will
    have the honors. Repetitive flaming by multiple members is frowned
    upon by the Order.

    To join this righteous crusade, all you need do is select a
    net.persona and flame. Incorrect flaming (i.e. at non-sanctioned
    targets, or with unamusing effect) will result in ostracization and
    excommunication. Watch the Order in action before joining and all
    will be clear.

    Now that the group has been moderated, most opportunities for flames
    are gone. But watch carefully; new ones may arise.

    2. Reviews of stories (even negative ones) are one of the most
    sought-after commodities on RACC. You will instantly win friends and
    influence people if you post reviews. But especially in the case of
    negative reviews, ensure you confine your review to the story and not
    the writer. Keep in mind as you write "that SUCKS" that someone
    worked long and hard on the text. They might want to know what worked
    and what didn't in their narrative but it's doubtful they want to hear
    how clever you can be in ripping them up.

    It's certain the rest of us don't.

    3. One of the best features of a shared universe is the opportunity to
    have your characters interact with others in that universe. This is
    a privilege, not a right. All characters on RACC (and their
    distinctive text-likenesses) are the full and exclusive property of
    their creators. This is not as dogmatic as it sounds, and we're all
    adults (or pretending to be). Cameos (non-speaking/non-plot affecting
    roles) do not typically require permission unless the creator desires
    it. Speaking roles should be previewed through email and approved by
    the creator before being posted.

    ------------------------------

    Subject: 4. Glossary

    These are terms you will see come up on RACC that have special meaning
    here. (For general net.terms and abbreviations, see the META RAC FAQ.)

    Acraphobe RACC's version of adult warning label. Yes, with an "a."
    Don't ask.

    Arc A multi-issue storyline.

    Archive ftp.eyrie.org, where nearly ALL the back issues live.

    Crossover A storyline that involves several titles and/or authors. Also
    the bane of all mankind.

    Elsewhirls An imaginary story. (Yeah yeah, we know they're ALL
    imaginary. How about "out-of-continuity"?)

    Fanfiction Fiction about established, trademarked universes and
    or fanfic characters that the author did not create -- in short, the
    sort of stories RACC *wasn't* designed for. There's a good
    list of newsgroups at the end of this FAQ that should help in
    finding a better group if this is what you want to write.

    Imprint The shared universe your story takes place in or subject your
    posting relates to (we have many to chose from). This is
    usually an all-caps prefix on the title of the posting.

    LNH The Legion of Net.Heroes. The immediate father of this group
    and the oldest of the Usenet-based writing universes (see
    Superguy).

    RAC* The rec.arts.comics.* hierarchy of newsgroups.

    RACC rec.arts.comics.creative. You're soaking in it!

    rACCIES The annual RACC fanfiction awards, as voted on by the readers
    or RACCies of this newsgroup.

    Repost Story has been posted before, natch.

    Superguy A mailing list that predates all other Internet comics-fiction
    forums. There is a good-natured rivalry between the LNH and
    this group.

    TEB Trade EtherBack. This is a collection of previously posted
    material, usually cleaned up and relating to a single story
    arc.

    Title A numerically increasing, continuing series. Usually
    involving one character, cast, city, or unifying concept.

    ------------------------------

    Subject: 5. List of Current Tags

    When choosing a tag to put at the beginning of your post, this list should
    be a canonical reference. If you see a need for a new tag, send mail to
    the FAQ maintainer so that it can be added.

    First, the general tags:

    ADMIN Administrative matters affecting everyone on RACC.

    FAQ FAQs of note for the entire RAC* hierarchy. These will tend
    to be crossposted here.

    META Discussion about the newsgroup itself. This includes
    or CHAT everything from general discussion of on-line fiction and RACC
    in particular to recommendations on how long posts should be.

    PRECOG Announcements of upcoming series, planned stories, and the
    or PROMO like.

    WWW Announcement of a web page related to RACC or a free strip.

    Now, all of the writing imprints. Note that new ones of these pop up all
    the time. Entries marked with (*) are in danger of being retired due to
    lack of activity. If you have any changes, please mail eagle@eyrie.org.

    8FOLD A closed universe that encompasses serious superheroes, comedy,
    memoir, and just about anything else: high-quality fiction of
    any stripe is welcome.

    ACRAPHOBE Mature stories that may or may not fit into other universes'
    or ACRA continuity. Using this flag in conjunction with another is
    not unheard of. (For example, Scav's _501 Blues_ is
    LNH/ACRAPHOBE.) Think a meta-Vertigo.

    ASH Academy of Super-Heroes. Dave Van Domelen's RPG-based future-
    history stories. See <https://www.eyrie.org/~dvandom/ASH>.

    ELSEWHIRLS LNH stories that do not fit into LNH continuity. Think DC's
    or EW Elseworlds.

    HCC The High Concept Challenge, a continuous series of writing
    contests. Each round, the winner, chosen by reader vote, gets
    to pick the next round's concept.

    LNH Legion of Net.Heroes, "The Friendliest Shared Universe
    Going!(TM)" A mostly parody universe, though it does have its
    serious side.

    LNH20 On the LNH's 20th anniversary, a group of writers took it upon
    themselves to create a new world, based in everything they
    loved about the LNH, in the best spirit of comic book reboots!
    LNH20 is just as friendly as the original, but easier to get
    into! Hop right in, the adventure's fine!

    LNHY An Imprint involving an alternate LNH universe called
    Looniverse Y. The big difference between this and the Classic
    LNH is that writers are allowed to have only one character of
    theirs in this Looniverse's LNH.

    RACCCafe A continuity-free outpust where RACC characters can unwind
    after a hard day of being mangled by their writers. Anything
    can happen, as long as it's funny, and there are no
    consequences!

    SG Superguy. From Space Moose to the Bomb. Comedy superhero
    writing with a far different background than LNH. Note that
    only a small slice of Superguy stuff appears here; to see the
    rest, go to <https://lists.eyrie.org/mailman/listinfo/superguy>.

    STARFALL Lightly serious and seriously light superheroics, and better
    because of it. ;)

    NTB Net.Trenchcoat.Brigade. A bunch of Vertigo-like characters
    that own stock in London Fog. Not tremendously active, but
    they do have a considerable history. Implied Acraphobe.

    OMEGA A serious psi-based shared super-world and once upon a time
    RACC's third largest universe, now inactive. Created by the
    legendary Matt Rossi.

    OSD The Order of Saint Doomas. Items relating to RACC's anti-spam
    cult. (See Section 3 above.) No posts have been seen from
    this imprint in quite some time, but that doesn't mean they're
    gone....

    SW10 SW stands for Superhuman World. 10 is an annual tag. The
    comic has proceeded to 2011, but the tag has frozen at 2010
    because that's when the series really interacted with RACC.
    Scott Eiler has written the story of this universe since
    before 1991, but 1991 is when the modern heroes of this series
    start. His sources include adolescent male power fantasy,
    superhero role-playing, comic-book satire, and dreams. See
    <http://www.eilertech.com/stories/>.

    MISC Stories not in the above categories or in their own universes
    (authors are encouraged to make up their own headers as well).
    To limit the number of imprints, and to keep this FAQ to
    reasonable lengths, let's adopt this convention: One-shot
    stories or series should use the MISC flag. Series that set
    up shared universes should create their own, new imprint.

    ------------------------------

    Subject: 6. People to Ask for Help

    The major header contacts are listed below, who will be glad to answer
    email question. Also keep your eyes peeled for FAQs specific to
    particular imprints. The FAQs are also often in the archive in a
    directory named "FAQs" under the imprint directory.

    Imprint Contact Email
    ------------ -------------------- ---------------------------------
    8FOLD Jamie Rosen jamie.rosen@sunlife.com
    8FOLD Tom Russell joltcity@gmail.com
    + ASH Dave Van Domelen dvandom@eyrie.org
    + LNH Andrew Perron pwerdna@gmail.com
    LNH20 Andrew Perron pwerdna@gmail.com
    + LNHY Arthur Spitzer arspitzer@earthlink.net
    + NTB Arthur Spitzer arspitzer@earthlink.net
    + RACChallenge Sean MacDonald mcdonald@vorteb.math.uab.edu
    + StarFall Ted Brock phantom_belcher@yahoo.com
    + Superguy Eric Burns eaburns@annotations.com
    SW10 Scott Eiler seiler@eilertech.com

    The Archive Russ Allbery eagle@eyrie.org
    Moderation RACC Moderation Team racc-request@eyrie.org

    + indicates separate FAQs are available for these imprints.

    If you need to contact the moderator directly, the contact information is:

    Russ Allbery <eagle@eyrie.org>

    If none of the above people help, or your questions are too general or specific, just email anyone you see posting here that seems to know what they're doing. (WARNING: This is rarely the case.)

    --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
    * Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)
  • From Russ Allbery@21:1/5 to All on Wed Sep 1 07:01:02 2021
    Last-modified: 2018-07-16
    Posted-by: postfaq 1.17 (Perl 5.28.1)
    Archive-name: comics/creative/faq
    URL: https://www.eyrie.org/~eagle/faqs/racc.html
    Posting-frequency: monthly

    ==========================================================================
    rec.arts.comics.creative Frequently Asked Questions
    Maintained by Russ Allbery <eagle@eyrie.org>
    Original by Jeff McCoskey ==========================================================================

    If you're reading this on Usenet, this FAQ is formatted as a minimal
    digest. If your newsreader has digest handling capabilities you can use
    them to navigate between sections. In rn variants, you can use Ctrl-G to
    skip to the next section; in Gnus, press Ctrl-D to break each section into
    a separate article. For other newsreaders, see the documentation.

    The latest version of this FAQ is available on the web at:

    <https://www.eyrie.org/~eagle/faqs/racc.html>

    Please send any comments, suggestions, or updates to eagle@eyrie.org.

    ------------------------------

    Subject: Contents

    1. Welcome to rec.arts.comics.creative!
    1.1. What is RACC for?
    1.2. What isn't RACC for?
    1.3. What is the RACC official charter?
    1.4. Where are the stories about Wolverine(tm)?
    1.5. Where are the old stories?
    1.6. How can I read RACC via e-mail?

    2. Writing for RACC (How do I get involved?)
    2.1. Cool! Okay, how do I post?
    2.2. Format! I'm nothing without format!
    2.3. How 'bout them imprints? What's up with that?
    2.4. How do I archive my stories for posterity?
    2.5. What do copyright laws I pay taxes for do for me?

    3. Netiquette for RACC

    4. Glossary

    5. List of current imprints

    6. People to ask for help

    ------------------------------

    Subject: 1. Welcome to rec.arts.comics.creative!

    Welcome to rec.arts.comics.creative, the newsgroup which could have been
    named rec.prose.shared-universe but wasn't, the newsgroup which has, to
    date, produced well over 30MB of entirely free original fiction (and
    that's compressed!), the newsgroup which has nearly nothing to do with
    your favorite comic books at all!

    You're about to go insane. Don't worry, it's fun.

    rec.arts.comics.creative (henceforth RACC) is a moderated newsgroup for comics-related original fiction and discussion of same, originally created unmoderated by Martin Phipps and a cast of thousands (well, dozens at
    least) and later converted to moderated to keep out the spam. Don't
    worry, even though it's a moderated group, it's still friendly, chatty,
    and not at all formal, and we go out of our way to keep it that way.

    The first group of this sort on the Internet was the Superguy mailing
    list, which is still in operation to this day (you'll see posts from it on
    this group from time to time). Later, the Legion of Net.Heroes (LNH)
    sprung out of a free-form thread on rec.arts.comics and spawned another newsgroup (alt.comics.lnh). They were quickly followed by a wide variety
    of other comics-based shared universes, including the Patrol, the Net.Trenchcoat.Brigade, and Omega. All of these organizations, in
    parallel, gathered together authors in shared universes and strongly
    influenced the nature of RACC.

    First and foremost, RACC is a site for people to post comics-related
    fiction. Stories about long-underwear vigilantes, anthropomorphic
    animals, SF, westerns, even Kleen Teens if anyone is so moved. As long as
    it relates to comics it's okay. So whether you're a reader, a writer, or
    that fabled creature the critic, or even all three -- welcome to RACC:
    it's all the story, none of the art! (yet)

    ------------------------------

    Subject: 1.1. What is RACC for?

    For the official charter, see section 1.3. Here's the long, readable
    version.

    One term that you'll see a lot is "shared universe." This is a shared
    story background, co-created by multiple authors and used as the
    "universe" in which multiple different stories are set. This is a
    trademark characteristic of most comic books (seen in its clearest form in
    the ubiquitous crossover, a story written by multiple authors at once and involving multiple characters who all have their own stories), as well as appearing in some other published fiction (such as Wild Cards, or Larry
    Niven's Man-Kzin Wars). Most (but not all) of the stories posted here
    take place in one of the established shared universes (there's a list
    later on in this FAQ), to the point where this style of writing is nearly characteristic of the group.

    Another term you'll see is "comics-related." Nearly all of the authors
    writing here drew their original (if not primary) inspiration from comic
    books. As a result, nearly all of the stories are on-going (published a chapter at a time), divided up into "issues" and given numbers, and
    organized into "imprints." Many people also describe covers or design
    ASCII graphic logos.

    There is no restriction on types of fiction. (That'd kinda take the
    creative out of RACC, wouldn't it?) You'll see stories run the gamut from slapstick comedy to grim'n'gritty Real Life Supers (TM). As long as it's
    about comics, set your pen free. (You'll see a lot of superhero fiction,
    but that just means that those of us who like reading other things as well
    are anxiously awaiting your non-superhero stories.)

    RACC is also for discussion of stories, both specific ones and in general.
    The critic and reader is one of the most sought-after types of people
    around here; if you give us feedback on our stories, good or bad, we'll
    love you forever.

    Finally, if you want to announce your free web strip here, we welcome
    those posts too. If you're trying to sell it, though, please try rec.arts.comics.marketplace or rec.arts.comics.strips instead. (And rec.arts.comics.strips may be a better group in general, as RACC readers
    are mostly interested in text fiction.)

    ------------------------------

    Subject: 1.2. What isn't RACC for?

    A lot of things. We're not for wars of attrition, Third World starvation,
    45 mph speed limits, and brussel sprout toothpaste. Closer to home, RACC
    is not for any of the following:

    * Discussion of existing, "professional" books (except as they relate
    to our fiction)

    * Marketplace-type I-wanna-buy/I-wanna-sell postings

    * Flames and personality conflicts. Critiques, yes. Flames, no.

    * Fiction about established, trademarked characters and universes,
    unless you created them or have written permission.

    * Erotica, no matter how much spandex you put in. There are other
    groups for that.

    ------------------------------

    Subject: 1.3. What is the RACC official charter?

    This newsgroup welcomes any form of comics-related original fiction and discussion of the same, including but not limited to stories in the many established shared universes. Discussion of on-line fiction as a whole is
    also welcome provided that it is related to the stories on the newsgroup.
    If they choose to write in an existing shared universe, writers are
    strongly encouranged to follow the existing continuity and rules of that universe. "Comics-related" will be interpreted very broadly, as has been traditional on the newsgroup.

    Each posting to rec.arts.comics.creative should include a keyword on the subject line either designating which shared universe the posting refers
    to or marking the general subject of the post (ADMIN, META, MISC, etc.).
    If a submitted post does not have a keyword, the moderator will add an appropriate keyword, but posters are encouraged to add keywords themselves
    to save moderation work.

    Large binaries, such as artwork, will not be allowed on the newsgroup.
    Instead, binaries can be made available in the newsgroup archive (subject
    to the discretion of the archivist) and a pointer posted to the newsgroup. Pointers to Web pages are also welcome, provided the content of the page
    is related to the purpose of the group.

    Stories using copyrighted or trademarked characters are explicitly not
    within the charter of this group and may be rejected unless the author
    owns the copyrights and trademarks or has written permission from the
    owner. Networking posts (artists seeking writers or writers seeking
    artists) are inappropriate in this group and should be sent to appropriate mailing lists or other groups in the rec.arts.comics.* hierarchy (rec.arts.comics.misc if there is no other more appropriate group).

    ------------------------------

    Subject: 1.4. Where are the stories about Wolverine(tm)?

    This is very important, so I'm going to yell it. RACC IS NOT THE PLACE
    FOR FICTION ABOUT ESTABLISHED, TRADEMARKED CHARACTERS. This includes all Marvel, Image, DC, what-have-you characters. RACC's charter expressly
    FORBIDS such fiction.

    The reason for this is the ongoing legislative battles about intellectual property and the Net. rec.* groups are picked up worldwide, and sysadmins
    do not want to draw lawsuits because someone wrote a story that violated trademark laws. Note that fanfic stories may or may not be lawful and/or prosecutable, WE JUST DON'T KNOW. They're still writing the laws.

    To forestall any confusion or debates, and to protect sysadmins from inadvertently becoming the test case, this provision was adopted as a key requirement for RACC's creation. If you really must write about existing, trademarked characters, there is alt.comics.fan-fiction waiting to receive
    you. alt.* groups get picked up by sysadmins voluntarily, so they
    presumedly know what risks they're taking.

    Nothing will draw this group's ire faster than violating this requirement.

    ------------------------------

    Subject: 1.5. Where are the old stories?

    Thanks to the tireless efforts and bottomless disk space of Russ Allbery,
    all stories posted to rec.arts.comics.creative are archived! This means stories will be preserved for future generations of readers, providing a
    link to the past. It is difficult to over-praise this contribution.

    (Note: Lest you think I would be so crass as to praise myself, I want to
    make sure you know that Jeff wrote that last paragraph. 'course, I didn't delete it either.)

    Older stories are sorted by universe and series and are available at:

    <https://archives.eyrie.org/racc/>

    All of the stories are compressed using gzip, but most browsers can automatically decompress them for you. This archive unfortunately hasn't
    been updated recently, but it does have all of the older stories.

    Every message to rec.arts.comics.creative, story or not, is archived at:

    <https://lists.eyrie.org/pipermail/racc/>

    in the form of a more traditional mailing list archive, so you can also
    look there if a story hasn't been saved in the story archive. This is the
    best way to find anything posted in the last few years. You can search
    the archive by prepending "site:lists.eyrie.org" to a regular Google
    search.

    Please note that stories will be removed from both the list archive and
    the story archive at the author's request if the author wants to take them down. This has happened in the past, sometimes because the author wanted
    to sell the stories to a professional venue.

    ------------------------------

    Subject: 1.6. How can I read RACC via e-mail?

    Everything that shows up in RACC also shows up in its associated mailing
    list (and vice versa), so if you want to be sure not to miss anything, or
    if you just prefer e-mail to Usenet, you can subscribe to that mailing
    list.

    To do that, go to:

    <https://lists.eyrie.org/mailman/listinfo/racc>

    and fill out the form to subscribe. Alternately, you can subscribe via
    e-mail by sending mail to racc-request@lists.eyrie.org with the word:

    subscribe

    in the subject of the message. You then can read and reply to posts just
    as if the newsgroup were a mailing list. It's all the same to us.

    ------------------------------

    Subject: 2. Writing for RACC (How do I get involved?)

    Write a story. Post it. You're involved.

    This assumes you want to create your own universe to write in. If you
    want to join a pre-existing shared universe, it's a little more involved.

    Many of the imprints have FAQs of their own (OMEGA, Superguy, LNH,
    Crossroads to name a few). These get posted periodically. The first
    thing you should do is read these documents to get a feel for what these specific universes are like.

    The next thing you should do is _read_ the universe in question. This
    includes tapping the archives for back issues. No one would suggest you
    read the entire Superguy or LNH archives before writing, but definitely
    try to sample a large cross-section.

    Lastly, email some of the creators you see writing under a specific
    imprint. They will be able to tell you if your concept fits with their universe or not, and perhaps refer you to a more appropriate universe if necessary.

    THEN write a story and post it.

    ------------------------------

    Subject: 2.1. Cool! Okay, how do I post?

    RACC is a moderated newsgroup, which means that every post goes to the moderators first. If your site correctly has the group marked as
    moderated, you should be able to post just like you post to any other
    group and your news server will take care of the rest. If you have a Unix shell account, you can check if the group is correctly marked as moderated
    by typing:

    nntplist active | grep rec.arts.comics.creative

    If the last character on the resulting line is an "m," congratulations,
    you have a good news administrator. If it's a "y," send mail to your
    local computing support people and ask them to convert the group to
    moderated like it should be.

    If you don't have a Unix shell account, some newsreaders will also tell
    you if the group is moderated.

    If, for any reason, you have trouble posting or your site *doesn't* have
    the group marked as moderated, you can mail your post to racc@eyrie.org
    instead and it will be posted for you.

    Because the group is moderated, it can be up to a day after you post
    before your article is actually posted, and it can take a few more days
    for the article to propagate back to you. So don't be surprised if it
    doesn't show up right away.

    Many readers of rec.arts.comics.creative use Google Groups to read and
    post. While this works, and I know it's convenient, Google Groups also
    deletes anything enclosed in square brackets ([]) at the beginning of
    Subject lines in replies. If you use Google Groups, please try to
    remember to put back the imprint tags when you reply to posts; otherwise,
    I have to add them as the moderator.

    ------------------------------

    Subject: 2.2. Format! I'm nothing without format!

    Formatting is pretty loose. Since this is a comics newsgroup, you will
    hear people refer to their stories as "issues." Postings tend to run in numerical order just like comic books, and many people write continuing
    series. For example there are 25 "issues" in Drizzt's _Continuity Champ
    and the Drizzt's Defenders_ series.

    Stories don't have to be series though. One-shots, mini-series,
    maxi-series, crossovers -- all of these have been done before and will be
    done again.

    The subjects of postings should follow the convention of naming the
    imprint the title and the number. For example:

    LNH: System Corruptors #15, The Bard's Tale
    imprint --^ ^ ^ ^
    title --------------| | |
    number -------------------------| |
    subtitle/comment/etc [optional] -------|

    Since the archive mechanism relies heavily on this format (not to mention
    the format-accustomed eyes of this group's readers), please follow this strictly, including the use of the #-sign. Subtitles, alternate titles,
    and title comments should follow the number if they are used at all. If
    you want to, you can use [TAG] instead of TAG: at the beginning of the
    subject; it's all the same to the archiver. (TAG: causes a few fewer
    problems than [TAG] with Google Groups.)

    Occasionally, instead of (or in addition to) a number you will see "TEB."
    This stands for "Trade EtherBack." It means the posting is actually a collection of previously posted issues -- usually cleaned up and relating
    to a single story arc.

    Inside your story do what you will. Some folks run fake ads, others use
    cheesy ASCII graphics, some just use text. A word of advice: On
    older/more primitive newsreaders your text is MUCH easier to read if you
    space between paragraphs. On the other hand, some newer newsreader
    readers find the spaces jarring. The moral? You can't please all the
    people all the time. In general spaces seem to be more preferred.

    ------------------------------

    Subject: 2.3. How 'bout them imprints? What's up with that?

    In order to accommodate a near-infinite number of different potential universes, RACC has adopted the reasonable convention of flagging fiction.
    This allows uninterested parties to skip some genres, and others to
    quickly find their niches of interest. The flag goes before the title of
    story issues, related FAQs or universe-specific discussions. Many flags
    refer to existing shared-universes. New ones will come up all the time.
    For the current list, see section 5 of this FAQ.

    Once you pick an imprint name, stick with it. The Archive and your legion
    of new fans will both be happier if you don't make marketing name changes.

    Regardless of flags all SEXUALLY EXPLICIT or PROFANITY-RICH stories should
    have huge warning labels at the beginning of text. Last thing we need is
    a Florida DA bringing us all up on charges. ;] Besides, it's only common courtesy. Note that if a story could reasonably be posted on
    alt.sex.stories, you've probably strayed a bit far from this group's
    interests.

    Some sort of flag, either an imprint name or a more general tag, is
    required on all posts and one will be added by the moderator if you don't provide one. Leaving one off requires the moderator to edit your post,
    though, which takes time and means your post will be delayed. So please
    save them the trouble and remember to add the tag yourself.

    ------------------------------

    Subject: 2.4. How do I archive my stories for posterity?

    Good news! It's already being done for you! (Or at least it will be if
    Russ ever catches up with the archiving.)

    In theory, every story posted to rec.arts.comics.creative is archived at <https://archives.eyrie.org/racc/>. Most imprints have their own
    directories, with the stories stored in directories under that (depending
    on the size of the imprint, the directories could be very structured or
    just one directory for each series). Some imprints may be collected in
    the misc directory.

    Unfortunately, this archive is substantially out of date. Russ hopes to eventually find time to update it.

    The exception is Superguy, which has its own archiving mechanism. The
    Superguy archives are at <https://archives.eyrie.org/superguy/>, but one
    of the best ways to access them is through the Autocollector at:

    <https://archives.eyrie.org/cgi-bin/superguy>

    ------------------------------

    Subject: 2.5. What do Copyright laws I pay taxes for do for me?

    I don't even play a lawyer on TV, but there are some things you should
    know about Copyright laws.

    Anything you write is copyrighted immediately, whether you flag it with a copyright notice or not. Furthermore, the copyright protection is international under the Berne Copyright Convention, which has been signed
    by nearly every country with access to Usenet.

    If you label your text as copyrighted, it preempts a possible
    "unintentional infringement" defense from plagarizers. The copyright
    notice is considered legal notice that you intend to retain your rights.
    The legal format for such a notice requires three things: Your name, the
    year, and one or more of the following: "Copyright," "Copr.," and/or the c-in-circle symbol. Note that there is no firm legal precedence for (C)
    or (c) as having any special copyright meaning. Example notice:

    Copyright 1994 Jeff J McCoskey

    The only way to get full legal protection (at least in the United States)
    is to register your work with the government (forms are free, filing fees apply). This *guarantees* an archived, dated copy should future legal
    action be necessary. Other forms of dating, like mailing yourself a copy
    or archiving (to get a date stamp), are of dubious and unproven legal
    value.

    An excellent resource for Copyright information is misc.legal, where a FAQ
    is posted monthly.

    Another excellent resource is the U.S. Copyright Office home page at:

    <https://www.copyright.gov/>

    ------------------------------

    Subject: 3. Netiquette for RACC

    As a rule of thumb, everything you've heard elsewhere about good
    netiquette applies here. We hate spammers (more in a minute), expect
    smilies when joking (except in stories of course), and in general expect
    you to conduct yourselves as good net.citizens. There are three things
    you need to know after you've mastered Basic Netiquette:

    1. The only times flames are accepted on RACC are when they are both
    morally defensible and amusing. Flames are not welcome if they do not
    meet the above criteria. Here on RACC there is one organization that
    acts as moral compass for acceptable flames: the Order of St. Doomas.

    The Order has defined one activity that is worthy of flame: spamming.
    One member of the Order (usually the first to his/her keyboard) will
    have the honors. Repetitive flaming by multiple members is frowned
    upon by the Order.

    To join this righteous crusade, all you need do is select a
    net.persona and flame. Incorrect flaming (i.e. at non-sanctioned
    targets, or with unamusing effect) will result in ostracization and
    excommunication. Watch the Order in action before joining and all
    will be clear.

    Now that the group has been moderated, most opportunities for flames
    are gone. But watch carefully; new ones may arise.

    2. Reviews of stories (even negative ones) are one of the most
    sought-after commodities on RACC. You will instantly win friends and
    influence people if you post reviews. But especially in the case of
    negative reviews, ensure you confine your review to the story and not
    the writer. Keep in mind as you write "that SUCKS" that someone
    worked long and hard on the text. They might want to know what worked
    and what didn't in their narrative but it's doubtful they want to hear
    how clever you can be in ripping them up.

    It's certain the rest of us don't.

    3. One of the best features of a shared universe is the opportunity to
    have your characters interact with others in that universe. This is
    a privilege, not a right. All characters on RACC (and their
    distinctive text-likenesses) are the full and exclusive property of
    their creators. This is not as dogmatic as it sounds, and we're all
    adults (or pretending to be). Cameos (non-speaking/non-plot affecting
    roles) do not typically require permission unless the creator desires
    it. Speaking roles should be previewed through email and approved by
    the creator before being posted.

    ------------------------------

    Subject: 4. Glossary

    These are terms you will see come up on RACC that have special meaning
    here. (For general net.terms and abbreviations, see the META RAC FAQ.)

    Acraphobe RACC's version of adult warning label. Yes, with an "a."
    Don't ask.

    Arc A multi-issue storyline.

    Archive ftp.eyrie.org, where nearly ALL the back issues live.

    Crossover A storyline that involves several titles and/or authors. Also
    the bane of all mankind.

    Elsewhirls An imaginary story. (Yeah yeah, we know they're ALL
    imaginary. How about "out-of-continuity"?)

    Fanfiction Fiction about established, trademarked universes and
    or fanfic characters that the author did not create -- in short, the
    sort of stories RACC *wasn't* designed for. There's a good
    list of newsgroups at the end of this FAQ that should help in
    finding a better group if this is what you want to write.

    Imprint The shared universe your story takes place in or subject your
    posting relates to (we have many to chose from). This is
    usually an all-caps prefix on the title of the posting.

    LNH The Legion of Net.Heroes. The immediate father of this group
    and the oldest of the Usenet-based writing universes (see
    Superguy).

    RAC* The rec.arts.comics.* hierarchy of newsgroups.

    RACC rec.arts.comics.creative. You're soaking in it!

    rACCIES The annual RACC fanfiction awards, as voted on by the readers
    or RACCies of this newsgroup.

    Repost Story has been posted before, natch.

    Superguy A mailing list that predates all other Internet comics-fiction
    forums. There is a good-natured rivalry between the LNH and
    this group.

    TEB Trade EtherBack. This is a collection of previously posted
    material, usually cleaned up and relating to a single story
    arc.

    Title A numerically increasing, continuing series. Usually
    involving one character, cast, city, or unifying concept.

    ------------------------------

    Subject: 5. List of Current Tags

    When choosing a tag to put at the beginning of your post, this list should
    be a canonical reference. If you see a need for a new tag, send mail to
    the FAQ maintainer so that it can be added.

    First, the general tags:

    ADMIN Administrative matters affecting everyone on RACC.

    FAQ FAQs of note for the entire RAC* hierarchy. These will tend
    to be crossposted here.

    META Discussion about the newsgroup itself. This includes
    or CHAT everything from general discussion of on-line fiction and RACC
    in particular to recommendations on how long posts should be.

    PRECOG Announcements of upcoming series, planned stories, and the
    or PROMO like.

    WWW Announcement of a web page related to RACC or a free strip.

    Now, all of the writing imprints. Note that new ones of these pop up all
    the time. Entries marked with (*) are in danger of being retired due to
    lack of activity. If you have any changes, please mail eagle@eyrie.org.

    8FOLD A closed universe that encompasses serious superheroes, comedy,
    memoir, and just about anything else: high-quality fiction of
    any stripe is welcome.

    ACRAPHOBE Mature stories that may or may not fit into other universes'
    or ACRA continuity. Using this flag in conjunction with another is
    not unheard of. (For example, Scav's _501 Blues_ is
    LNH/ACRAPHOBE.) Think a meta-Vertigo.

    ASH Academy of Super-Heroes. Dave Van Domelen's RPG-based future-
    history stories. See <https://www.eyrie.org/~dvandom/ASH>.

    ELSEWHIRLS LNH stories that do not fit into LNH continuity. Think DC's
    or EW Elseworlds.

    HCC The High Concept Challenge, a continuous series of writing
    contests. Each round, the winner, chosen by reader vote, gets
    to pick the next round's concept.

    LNH Legion of Net.Heroes, "The Friendliest Shared Universe
    Going!(TM)" A mostly parody universe, though it does have its
    serious side.

    LNH20 On the LNH's 20th anniversary, a group of writers took it upon
    themselves to create a new world, based in everything they
    loved about the LNH, in the best spirit of comic book reboots!
    LNH20 is just as friendly as the original, but easier to get
    into! Hop right in, the adventure's fine!

    LNHY An Imprint involving an alternate LNH universe called
    Looniverse Y. The big difference between this and the Classic
    LNH is that writers are allowed to have only one character of
    theirs in this Looniverse's LNH.

    RACCCafe A continuity-free outpust where RACC characters can unwind
    after a hard day of being mangled by their writers. Anything
    can happen, as long as it's funny, and there are no
    consequences!

    SG Superguy. From Space Moose to the Bomb. Comedy superhero
    writing with a far different background than LNH. Note that
    only a small slice of Superguy stuff appears here; to see the
    rest, go to <https://lists.eyrie.org/mailman/listinfo/superguy>.

    STARFALL Lightly serious and seriously light superheroics, and better
    because of it. ;)

    NTB Net.Trenchcoat.Brigade. A bunch of Vertigo-like characters
    that own stock in London Fog. Not tremendously active, but
    they do have a considerable history. Implied Acraphobe.

    OMEGA A serious psi-based shared super-world and once upon a time
    RACC's third largest universe, now inactive. Created by the
    legendary Matt Rossi.

    OSD The Order of Saint Doomas. Items relating to RACC's anti-spam
    cult. (See Section 3 above.) No posts have been seen from
    this imprint in quite some time, but that doesn't mean they're
    gone....

    SW10 SW stands for Superhuman World. 10 is an annual tag. The
    comic has proceeded to 2011, but the tag has frozen at 2010
    because that's when the series really interacted with RACC.
    Scott Eiler has written the story of this universe since
    before 1991, but 1991 is when the modern heroes of this series
    start. His sources include adolescent male power fantasy,
    superhero role-playing, comic-book satire, and dreams. See
    <http://www.eilertech.com/stories/>.

    MISC Stories not in the above categories or in their own universes
    (authors are encouraged to make up their own headers as well).
    To limit the number of imprints, and to keep this FAQ to
    reasonable lengths, let's adopt this convention: One-shot
    stories or series should use the MISC flag. Series that set
    up shared universes should create their own, new imprint.

    ------------------------------

    Subject: 6. People to Ask for Help

    The major header contacts are listed below, who will be glad to answer
    email question. Also keep your eyes peeled for FAQs specific to
    particular imprints. The FAQs are also often in the archive in a
    directory named "FAQs" under the imprint directory.

    Imprint Contact Email
    ------------ -------------------- ---------------------------------
    8FOLD Jamie Rosen jamie.rosen@sunlife.com
    8FOLD Tom Russell joltcity@gmail.com
    + ASH Dave Van Domelen dvandom@eyrie.org
    + LNH Andrew Perron pwerdna@gmail.com
    LNH20 Andrew Perron pwerdna@gmail.com
    + LNHY Arthur Spitzer arspitzer@earthlink.net
    + NTB Arthur Spitzer arspitzer@earthlink.net
    + RACChallenge Sean MacDonald mcdonald@vorteb.math.uab.edu
    + StarFall Ted Brock phantom_belcher@yahoo.com
    + Superguy Eric Burns eaburns@annotations.com
    SW10 Scott Eiler seiler@eilertech.com

    The Archive Russ Allbery eagle@eyrie.org
    Moderation RACC Moderation Team racc-request@eyrie.org

    + indicates separate FAQs are available for these imprints.

    If you need to contact the moderator directly, the contact information is:

    Russ Allbery <eagle@eyrie.org>

    If none of the above people help, or your questions are too general or specific, just email anyone you see posting here that seems to know what they're doing. (WARNING: This is rarely the case.)

    --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
    * Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)
  • From Russ Allbery@21:1/5 to All on Fri Oct 1 07:01:03 2021
    Last-modified: 2018-07-16
    Posted-by: postfaq 1.17 (Perl 5.28.1)
    Archive-name: comics/creative/faq
    URL: https://www.eyrie.org/~eagle/faqs/racc.html
    Posting-frequency: monthly

    ==========================================================================
    rec.arts.comics.creative Frequently Asked Questions
    Maintained by Russ Allbery <eagle@eyrie.org>
    Original by Jeff McCoskey ==========================================================================

    If you're reading this on Usenet, this FAQ is formatted as a minimal
    digest. If your newsreader has digest handling capabilities you can use
    them to navigate between sections. In rn variants, you can use Ctrl-G to
    skip to the next section; in Gnus, press Ctrl-D to break each section into
    a separate article. For other newsreaders, see the documentation.

    The latest version of this FAQ is available on the web at:

    <https://www.eyrie.org/~eagle/faqs/racc.html>

    Please send any comments, suggestions, or updates to eagle@eyrie.org.

    ------------------------------

    Subject: Contents

    1. Welcome to rec.arts.comics.creative!
    1.1. What is RACC for?
    1.2. What isn't RACC for?
    1.3. What is the RACC official charter?
    1.4. Where are the stories about Wolverine(tm)?
    1.5. Where are the old stories?
    1.6. How can I read RACC via e-mail?

    2. Writing for RACC (How do I get involved?)
    2.1. Cool! Okay, how do I post?
    2.2. Format! I'm nothing without format!
    2.3. How 'bout them imprints? What's up with that?
    2.4. How do I archive my stories for posterity?
    2.5. What do copyright laws I pay taxes for do for me?

    3. Netiquette for RACC

    4. Glossary

    5. List of current imprints

    6. People to ask for help

    ------------------------------

    Subject: 1. Welcome to rec.arts.comics.creative!

    Welcome to rec.arts.comics.creative, the newsgroup which could have been
    named rec.prose.shared-universe but wasn't, the newsgroup which has, to
    date, produced well over 30MB of entirely free original fiction (and
    that's compressed!), the newsgroup which has nearly nothing to do with
    your favorite comic books at all!

    You're about to go insane. Don't worry, it's fun.

    rec.arts.comics.creative (henceforth RACC) is a moderated newsgroup for comics-related original fiction and discussion of same, originally created unmoderated by Martin Phipps and a cast of thousands (well, dozens at
    least) and later converted to moderated to keep out the spam. Don't
    worry, even though it's a moderated group, it's still friendly, chatty,
    and not at all formal, and we go out of our way to keep it that way.

    The first group of this sort on the Internet was the Superguy mailing
    list, which is still in operation to this day (you'll see posts from it on
    this group from time to time). Later, the Legion of Net.Heroes (LNH)
    sprung out of a free-form thread on rec.arts.comics and spawned another newsgroup (alt.comics.lnh). They were quickly followed by a wide variety
    of other comics-based shared universes, including the Patrol, the Net.Trenchcoat.Brigade, and Omega. All of these organizations, in
    parallel, gathered together authors in shared universes and strongly
    influenced the nature of RACC.

    First and foremost, RACC is a site for people to post comics-related
    fiction. Stories about long-underwear vigilantes, anthropomorphic
    animals, SF, westerns, even Kleen Teens if anyone is so moved. As long as
    it relates to comics it's okay. So whether you're a reader, a writer, or
    that fabled creature the critic, or even all three -- welcome to RACC:
    it's all the story, none of the art! (yet)

    ------------------------------

    Subject: 1.1. What is RACC for?

    For the official charter, see section 1.3. Here's the long, readable
    version.

    One term that you'll see a lot is "shared universe." This is a shared
    story background, co-created by multiple authors and used as the
    "universe" in which multiple different stories are set. This is a
    trademark characteristic of most comic books (seen in its clearest form in
    the ubiquitous crossover, a story written by multiple authors at once and involving multiple characters who all have their own stories), as well as appearing in some other published fiction (such as Wild Cards, or Larry
    Niven's Man-Kzin Wars). Most (but not all) of the stories posted here
    take place in one of the established shared universes (there's a list
    later on in this FAQ), to the point where this style of writing is nearly characteristic of the group.

    Another term you'll see is "comics-related." Nearly all of the authors
    writing here drew their original (if not primary) inspiration from comic
    books. As a result, nearly all of the stories are on-going (published a chapter at a time), divided up into "issues" and given numbers, and
    organized into "imprints." Many people also describe covers or design
    ASCII graphic logos.

    There is no restriction on types of fiction. (That'd kinda take the
    creative out of RACC, wouldn't it?) You'll see stories run the gamut from slapstick comedy to grim'n'gritty Real Life Supers (TM). As long as it's
    about comics, set your pen free. (You'll see a lot of superhero fiction,
    but that just means that those of us who like reading other things as well
    are anxiously awaiting your non-superhero stories.)

    RACC is also for discussion of stories, both specific ones and in general.
    The critic and reader is one of the most sought-after types of people
    around here; if you give us feedback on our stories, good or bad, we'll
    love you forever.

    Finally, if you want to announce your free web strip here, we welcome
    those posts too. If you're trying to sell it, though, please try rec.arts.comics.marketplace or rec.arts.comics.strips instead. (And rec.arts.comics.strips may be a better group in general, as RACC readers
    are mostly interested in text fiction.)

    ------------------------------

    Subject: 1.2. What isn't RACC for?

    A lot of things. We're not for wars of attrition, Third World starvation,
    45 mph speed limits, and brussel sprout toothpaste. Closer to home, RACC
    is not for any of the following:

    * Discussion of existing, "professional" books (except as they relate
    to our fiction)

    * Marketplace-type I-wanna-buy/I-wanna-sell postings

    * Flames and personality conflicts. Critiques, yes. Flames, no.

    * Fiction about established, trademarked characters and universes,
    unless you created them or have written permission.

    * Erotica, no matter how much spandex you put in. There are other
    groups for that.

    ------------------------------

    Subject: 1.3. What is the RACC official charter?

    This newsgroup welcomes any form of comics-related original fiction and discussion of the same, including but not limited to stories in the many established shared universes. Discussion of on-line fiction as a whole is
    also welcome provided that it is related to the stories on the newsgroup.
    If they choose to write in an existing shared universe, writers are
    strongly encouranged to follow the existing continuity and rules of that universe. "Comics-related" will be interpreted very broadly, as has been traditional on the newsgroup.

    Each posting to rec.arts.comics.creative should include a keyword on the subject line either designating which shared universe the posting refers
    to or marking the general subject of the post (ADMIN, META, MISC, etc.).
    If a submitted post does not have a keyword, the moderator will add an appropriate keyword, but posters are encouraged to add keywords themselves
    to save moderation work.

    Large binaries, such as artwork, will not be allowed on the newsgroup.
    Instead, binaries can be made available in the newsgroup archive (subject
    to the discretion of the archivist) and a pointer posted to the newsgroup. Pointers to Web pages are also welcome, provided the content of the page
    is related to the purpose of the group.

    Stories using copyrighted or trademarked characters are explicitly not
    within the charter of this group and may be rejected unless the author
    owns the copyrights and trademarks or has written permission from the
    owner. Networking posts (artists seeking writers or writers seeking
    artists) are inappropriate in this group and should be sent to appropriate mailing lists or other groups in the rec.arts.comics.* hierarchy (rec.arts.comics.misc if there is no other more appropriate group).

    ------------------------------

    Subject: 1.4. Where are the stories about Wolverine(tm)?

    This is very important, so I'm going to yell it. RACC IS NOT THE PLACE
    FOR FICTION ABOUT ESTABLISHED, TRADEMARKED CHARACTERS. This includes all Marvel, Image, DC, what-have-you characters. RACC's charter expressly
    FORBIDS such fiction.

    The reason for this is the ongoing legislative battles about intellectual property and the Net. rec.* groups are picked up worldwide, and sysadmins
    do not want to draw lawsuits because someone wrote a story that violated trademark laws. Note that fanfic stories may or may not be lawful and/or prosecutable, WE JUST DON'T KNOW. They're still writing the laws.

    To forestall any confusion or debates, and to protect sysadmins from inadvertently becoming the test case, this provision was adopted as a key requirement for RACC's creation. If you really must write about existing, trademarked characters, there is alt.comics.fan-fiction waiting to receive
    you. alt.* groups get picked up by sysadmins voluntarily, so they
    presumedly know what risks they're taking.

    Nothing will draw this group's ire faster than violating this requirement.

    ------------------------------

    Subject: 1.5. Where are the old stories?

    Thanks to the tireless efforts and bottomless disk space of Russ Allbery,
    all stories posted to rec.arts.comics.creative are archived! This means stories will be preserved for future generations of readers, providing a
    link to the past. It is difficult to over-praise this contribution.

    (Note: Lest you think I would be so crass as to praise myself, I want to
    make sure you know that Jeff wrote that last paragraph. 'course, I didn't delete it either.)

    Older stories are sorted by universe and series and are available at:

    <https://archives.eyrie.org/racc/>

    All of the stories are compressed using gzip, but most browsers can automatically decompress them for you. This archive unfortunately hasn't
    been updated recently, but it does have all of the older stories.

    Every message to rec.arts.comics.creative, story or not, is archived at:

    <https://lists.eyrie.org/pipermail/racc/>

    in the form of a more traditional mailing list archive, so you can also
    look there if a story hasn't been saved in the story archive. This is the
    best way to find anything posted in the last few years. You can search
    the archive by prepending "site:lists.eyrie.org" to a regular Google
    search.

    Please note that stories will be removed from both the list archive and
    the story archive at the author's request if the author wants to take them down. This has happened in the past, sometimes because the author wanted
    to sell the stories to a professional venue.

    ------------------------------

    Subject: 1.6. How can I read RACC via e-mail?

    Everything that shows up in RACC also shows up in its associated mailing
    list (and vice versa), so if you want to be sure not to miss anything, or
    if you just prefer e-mail to Usenet, you can subscribe to that mailing
    list.

    To do that, go to:

    <https://lists.eyrie.org/mailman/listinfo/racc>

    and fill out the form to subscribe. Alternately, you can subscribe via
    e-mail by sending mail to racc-request@lists.eyrie.org with the word:

    subscribe

    in the subject of the message. You then can read and reply to posts just
    as if the newsgroup were a mailing list. It's all the same to us.

    ------------------------------

    Subject: 2. Writing for RACC (How do I get involved?)

    Write a story. Post it. You're involved.

    This assumes you want to create your own universe to write in. If you
    want to join a pre-existing shared universe, it's a little more involved.

    Many of the imprints have FAQs of their own (OMEGA, Superguy, LNH,
    Crossroads to name a few). These get posted periodically. The first
    thing you should do is read these documents to get a feel for what these specific universes are like.

    The next thing you should do is _read_ the universe in question. This
    includes tapping the archives for back issues. No one would suggest you
    read the entire Superguy or LNH archives before writing, but definitely
    try to sample a large cross-section.

    Lastly, email some of the creators you see writing under a specific
    imprint. They will be able to tell you if your concept fits with their universe or not, and perhaps refer you to a more appropriate universe if necessary.

    THEN write a story and post it.

    ------------------------------

    Subject: 2.1. Cool! Okay, how do I post?

    RACC is a moderated newsgroup, which means that every post goes to the moderators first. If your site correctly has the group marked as
    moderated, you should be able to post just like you post to any other
    group and your news server will take care of the rest. If you have a Unix shell account, you can check if the group is correctly marked as moderated
    by typing:

    nntplist active | grep rec.arts.comics.creative

    If the last character on the resulting line is an "m," congratulations,
    you have a good news administrator. If it's a "y," send mail to your
    local computing support people and ask them to convert the group to
    moderated like it should be.

    If you don't have a Unix shell account, some newsreaders will also tell
    you if the group is moderated.

    If, for any reason, you have trouble posting or your site *doesn't* have
    the group marked as moderated, you can mail your post to racc@eyrie.org
    instead and it will be posted for you.

    Because the group is moderated, it can be up to a day after you post
    before your article is actually posted, and it can take a few more days
    for the article to propagate back to you. So don't be surprised if it
    doesn't show up right away.

    Many readers of rec.arts.comics.creative use Google Groups to read and
    post. While this works, and I know it's convenient, Google Groups also
    deletes anything enclosed in square brackets ([]) at the beginning of
    Subject lines in replies. If you use Google Groups, please try to
    remember to put back the imprint tags when you reply to posts; otherwise,
    I have to add them as the moderator.

    ------------------------------

    Subject: 2.2. Format! I'm nothing without format!

    Formatting is pretty loose. Since this is a comics newsgroup, you will
    hear people refer to their stories as "issues." Postings tend to run in numerical order just like comic books, and many people write continuing
    series. For example there are 25 "issues" in Drizzt's _Continuity Champ
    and the Drizzt's Defenders_ series.

    Stories don't have to be series though. One-shots, mini-series,
    maxi-series, crossovers -- all of these have been done before and will be
    done again.

    The subjects of postings should follow the convention of naming the
    imprint the title and the number. For example:

    LNH: System Corruptors #15, The Bard's Tale
    imprint --^ ^ ^ ^
    title --------------| | |
    number -------------------------| |
    subtitle/comment/etc [optional] -------|

    Since the archive mechanism relies heavily on this format (not to mention
    the format-accustomed eyes of this group's readers), please follow this strictly, including the use of the #-sign. Subtitles, alternate titles,
    and title comments should follow the number if they are used at all. If
    you want to, you can use [TAG] instead of TAG: at the beginning of the
    subject; it's all the same to the archiver. (TAG: causes a few fewer
    problems than [TAG] with Google Groups.)

    Occasionally, instead of (or in addition to) a number you will see "TEB."
    This stands for "Trade EtherBack." It means the posting is actually a collection of previously posted issues -- usually cleaned up and relating
    to a single story arc.

    Inside your story do what you will. Some folks run fake ads, others use
    cheesy ASCII graphics, some just use text. A word of advice: On
    older/more primitive newsreaders your text is MUCH easier to read if you
    space between paragraphs. On the other hand, some newer newsreader
    readers find the spaces jarring. The moral? You can't please all the
    people all the time. In general spaces seem to be more preferred.

    ------------------------------

    Subject: 2.3. How 'bout them imprints? What's up with that?

    In order to accommodate a near-infinite number of different potential universes, RACC has adopted the reasonable convention of flagging fiction.
    This allows uninterested parties to skip some genres, and others to
    quickly find their niches of interest. The flag goes before the title of
    story issues, related FAQs or universe-specific discussions. Many flags
    refer to existing shared-universes. New ones will come up all the time.
    For the current list, see section 5 of this FAQ.

    Once you pick an imprint name, stick with it. The Archive and your legion
    of new fans will both be happier if you don't make marketing name changes.

    Regardless of flags all SEXUALLY EXPLICIT or PROFANITY-RICH stories should
    have huge warning labels at the beginning of text. Last thing we need is
    a Florida DA bringing us all up on charges. ;] Besides, it's only common courtesy. Note that if a story could reasonably be posted on
    alt.sex.stories, you've probably strayed a bit far from this group's
    interests.

    Some sort of flag, either an imprint name or a more general tag, is
    required on all posts and one will be added by the moderator if you don't provide one. Leaving one off requires the moderator to edit your post,
    though, which takes time and means your post will be delayed. So please
    save them the trouble and remember to add the tag yourself.

    ------------------------------

    Subject: 2.4. How do I archive my stories for posterity?

    Good news! It's already being done for you! (Or at least it will be if
    Russ ever catches up with the archiving.)

    In theory, every story posted to rec.arts.comics.creative is archived at <https://archives.eyrie.org/racc/>. Most imprints have their own
    directories, with the stories stored in directories under that (depending
    on the size of the imprint, the directories could be very structured or
    just one directory for each series). Some imprints may be collected in
    the misc directory.

    Unfortunately, this archive is substantially out of date. Russ hopes to eventually find time to update it.

    The exception is Superguy, which has its own archiving mechanism. The
    Superguy archives are at <https://archives.eyrie.org/superguy/>, but one
    of the best ways to access them is through the Autocollector at:

    <https://archives.eyrie.org/cgi-bin/superguy>

    ------------------------------

    Subject: 2.5. What do Copyright laws I pay taxes for do for me?

    I don't even play a lawyer on TV, but there are some things you should
    know about Copyright laws.

    Anything you write is copyrighted immediately, whether you flag it with a copyright notice or not. Furthermore, the copyright protection is international under the Berne Copyright Convention, which has been signed
    by nearly every country with access to Usenet.

    If you label your text as copyrighted, it preempts a possible
    "unintentional infringement" defense from plagarizers. The copyright
    notice is considered legal notice that you intend to retain your rights.
    The legal format for such a notice requires three things: Your name, the
    year, and one or more of the following: "Copyright," "Copr.," and/or the c-in-circle symbol. Note that there is no firm legal precedence for (C)
    or (c) as having any special copyright meaning. Example notice:

    Copyright 1994 Jeff J McCoskey

    The only way to get full legal protection (at least in the United States)
    is to register your work with the government (forms are free, filing fees apply). This *guarantees* an archived, dated copy should future legal
    action be necessary. Other forms of dating, like mailing yourself a copy
    or archiving (to get a date stamp), are of dubious and unproven legal
    value.

    An excellent resource for Copyright information is misc.legal, where a FAQ
    is posted monthly.

    Another excellent resource is the U.S. Copyright Office home page at:

    <https://www.copyright.gov/>

    ------------------------------

    Subject: 3. Netiquette for RACC

    As a rule of thumb, everything you've heard elsewhere about good
    netiquette applies here. We hate spammers (more in a minute), expect
    smilies when joking (except in stories of course), and in general expect
    you to conduct yourselves as good net.citizens. There are three things
    you need to know after you've mastered Basic Netiquette:

    1. The only times flames are accepted on RACC are when they are both
    morally defensible and amusing. Flames are not welcome if they do not
    meet the above criteria. Here on RACC there is one organization that
    acts as moral compass for acceptable flames: the Order of St. Doomas.

    The Order has defined one activity that is worthy of flame: spamming.
    One member of the Order (usually the first to his/her keyboard) will
    have the honors. Repetitive flaming by multiple members is frowned
    upon by the Order.

    To join this righteous crusade, all you need do is select a
    net.persona and flame. Incorrect flaming (i.e. at non-sanctioned
    targets, or with unamusing effect) will result in ostracization and
    excommunication. Watch the Order in action before joining and all
    will be clear.

    Now that the group has been moderated, most opportunities for flames
    are gone. But watch carefully; new ones may arise.

    2. Reviews of stories (even negative ones) are one of the most
    sought-after commodities on RACC. You will instantly win friends and
    influence people if you post reviews. But especially in the case of
    negative reviews, ensure you confine your review to the story and not
    the writer. Keep in mind as you write "that SUCKS" that someone
    worked long and hard on the text. They might want to know what worked
    and what didn't in their narrative but it's doubtful they want to hear
    how clever you can be in ripping them up.

    It's certain the rest of us don't.

    3. One of the best features of a shared universe is the opportunity to
    have your characters interact with others in that universe. This is
    a privilege, not a right. All characters on RACC (and their
    distinctive text-likenesses) are the full and exclusive property of
    their creators. This is not as dogmatic as it sounds, and we're all
    adults (or pretending to be). Cameos (non-speaking/non-plot affecting
    roles) do not typically require permission unless the creator desires
    it. Speaking roles should be previewed through email and approved by
    the creator before being posted.

    ------------------------------

    Subject: 4. Glossary

    These are terms you will see come up on RACC that have special meaning
    here. (For general net.terms and abbreviations, see the META RAC FAQ.)

    Acraphobe RACC's version of adult warning label. Yes, with an "a."
    Don't ask.

    Arc A multi-issue storyline.

    Archive ftp.eyrie.org, where nearly ALL the back issues live.

    Crossover A storyline that involves several titles and/or authors. Also
    the bane of all mankind.

    Elsewhirls An imaginary story. (Yeah yeah, we know they're ALL
    imaginary. How about "out-of-continuity"?)

    Fanfiction Fiction about established, trademarked universes and
    or fanfic characters that the author did not create -- in short, the
    sort of stories RACC *wasn't* designed for. There's a good
    list of newsgroups at the end of this FAQ that should help in
    finding a better group if this is what you want to write.

    Imprint The shared universe your story takes place in or subject your
    posting relates to (we have many to chose from). This is
    usually an all-caps prefix on the title of the posting.

    LNH The Legion of Net.Heroes. The immediate father of this group
    and the oldest of the Usenet-based writing universes (see
    Superguy).

    RAC* The rec.arts.comics.* hierarchy of newsgroups.

    RACC rec.arts.comics.creative. You're soaking in it!

    rACCIES The annual RACC fanfiction awards, as voted on by the readers
    or RACCies of this newsgroup.

    Repost Story has been posted before, natch.

    Superguy A mailing list that predates all other Internet comics-fiction
    forums. There is a good-natured rivalry between the LNH and
    this group.

    TEB Trade EtherBack. This is a collection of previously posted
    material, usually cleaned up and relating to a single story
    arc.

    Title A numerically increasing, continuing series. Usually
    involving one character, cast, city, or unifying concept.

    ------------------------------

    Subject: 5. List of Current Tags

    When choosing a tag to put at the beginning of your post, this list should
    be a canonical reference. If you see a need for a new tag, send mail to
    the FAQ maintainer so that it can be added.

    First, the general tags:

    ADMIN Administrative matters affecting everyone on RACC.

    FAQ FAQs of note for the entire RAC* hierarchy. These will tend
    to be crossposted here.

    META Discussion about the newsgroup itself. This includes
    or CHAT everything from general discussion of on-line fiction and RACC
    in particular to recommendations on how long posts should be.

    PRECOG Announcements of upcoming series, planned stories, and the
    or PROMO like.

    WWW Announcement of a web page related to RACC or a free strip.

    Now, all of the writing imprints. Note that new ones of these pop up all
    the time. Entries marked with (*) are in danger of being retired due to
    lack of activity. If you have any changes, please mail eagle@eyrie.org.

    8FOLD A closed universe that encompasses serious superheroes, comedy,
    memoir, and just about anything else: high-quality fiction of
    any stripe is welcome.

    ACRAPHOBE Mature stories that may or may not fit into other universes'
    or ACRA continuity. Using this flag in conjunction with another is
    not unheard of. (For example, Scav's _501 Blues_ is
    LNH/ACRAPHOBE.) Think a meta-Vertigo.

    ASH Academy of Super-Heroes. Dave Van Domelen's RPG-based future-
    history stories. See <https://www.eyrie.org/~dvandom/ASH>.

    ELSEWHIRLS LNH stories that do not fit into LNH continuity. Think DC's
    or EW Elseworlds.

    HCC The High Concept Challenge, a continuous series of writing
    contests. Each round, the winner, chosen by reader vote, gets
    to pick the next round's concept.

    LNH Legion of Net.Heroes, "The Friendliest Shared Universe
    Going!(TM)" A mostly parody universe, though it does have its
    serious side.

    LNH20 On the LNH's 20th anniversary, a group of writers took it upon
    themselves to create a new world, based in everything they
    loved about the LNH, in the best spirit of comic book reboots!
    LNH20 is just as friendly as the original, but easier to get
    into! Hop right in, the adventure's fine!

    LNHY An Imprint involving an alternate LNH universe called
    Looniverse Y. The big difference between this and the Classic
    LNH is that writers are allowed to have only one character of
    theirs in this Looniverse's LNH.

    RACCCafe A continuity-free outpust where RACC characters can unwind
    after a hard day of being mangled by their writers. Anything
    can happen, as long as it's funny, and there are no
    consequences!

    SG Superguy. From Space Moose to the Bomb. Comedy superhero
    writing with a far different background than LNH. Note that
    only a small slice of Superguy stuff appears here; to see the
    rest, go to <https://lists.eyrie.org/mailman/listinfo/superguy>.

    STARFALL Lightly serious and seriously light superheroics, and better
    because of it. ;)

    NTB Net.Trenchcoat.Brigade. A bunch of Vertigo-like characters
    that own stock in London Fog. Not tremendously active, but
    they do have a considerable history. Implied Acraphobe.

    OMEGA A serious psi-based shared super-world and once upon a time
    RACC's third largest universe, now inactive. Created by the
    legendary Matt Rossi.

    OSD The Order of Saint Doomas. Items relating to RACC's anti-spam
    cult. (See Section 3 above.) No posts have been seen from
    this imprint in quite some time, but that doesn't mean they're
    gone....

    SW10 SW stands for Superhuman World. 10 is an annual tag. The
    comic has proceeded to 2011, but the tag has frozen at 2010
    because that's when the series really interacted with RACC.
    Scott Eiler has written the story of this universe since
    before 1991, but 1991 is when the modern heroes of this series
    start. His sources include adolescent male power fantasy,
    superhero role-playing, comic-book satire, and dreams. See
    <http://www.eilertech.com/stories/>.

    MISC Stories not in the above categories or in their own universes
    (authors are encouraged to make up their own headers as well).
    To limit the number of imprints, and to keep this FAQ to
    reasonable lengths, let's adopt this convention: One-shot
    stories or series should use the MISC flag. Series that set
    up shared universes should create their own, new imprint.

    ------------------------------

    Subject: 6. People to Ask for Help

    The major header contacts are listed below, who will be glad to answer
    email question. Also keep your eyes peeled for FAQs specific to
    particular imprints. The FAQs are also often in the archive in a
    directory named "FAQs" under the imprint directory.

    Imprint Contact Email
    ------------ -------------------- ---------------------------------
    8FOLD Jamie Rosen jamie.rosen@sunlife.com
    8FOLD Tom Russell joltcity@gmail.com
    + ASH Dave Van Domelen dvandom@eyrie.org
    + LNH Andrew Perron pwerdna@gmail.com
    LNH20 Andrew Perron pwerdna@gmail.com
    + LNHY Arthur Spitzer arspitzer@earthlink.net
    + NTB Arthur Spitzer arspitzer@earthlink.net
    + RACChallenge Sean MacDonald mcdonald@vorteb.math.uab.edu
    + StarFall Ted Brock phantom_belcher@yahoo.com
    + Superguy Eric Burns eaburns@annotations.com
    SW10 Scott Eiler seiler@eilertech.com

    The Archive Russ Allbery eagle@eyrie.org
    Moderation RACC Moderation Team racc-request@eyrie.org

    + indicates separate FAQs are available for these imprints.

    If you need to contact the moderator directly, the contact information is:

    Russ Allbery <eagle@eyrie.org>

    If none of the above people help, or your questions are too general or specific, just email anyone you see posting here that seems to know what they're doing. (WARNING: This is rarely the case.)

    --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
    * Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)
  • From Russ Allbery@21:1/5 to All on Mon Nov 1 07:01:02 2021
    Last-modified: 2018-07-16
    Posted-by: postfaq 1.17 (Perl 5.28.1)
    Archive-name: comics/creative/faq
    URL: https://www.eyrie.org/~eagle/faqs/racc.html
    Posting-frequency: monthly

    ==========================================================================
    rec.arts.comics.creative Frequently Asked Questions
    Maintained by Russ Allbery <eagle@eyrie.org>
    Original by Jeff McCoskey ==========================================================================

    If you're reading this on Usenet, this FAQ is formatted as a minimal
    digest. If your newsreader has digest handling capabilities you can use
    them to navigate between sections. In rn variants, you can use Ctrl-G to
    skip to the next section; in Gnus, press Ctrl-D to break each section into
    a separate article. For other newsreaders, see the documentation.

    The latest version of this FAQ is available on the web at:

    <https://www.eyrie.org/~eagle/faqs/racc.html>

    Please send any comments, suggestions, or updates to eagle@eyrie.org.

    ------------------------------

    Subject: Contents

    1. Welcome to rec.arts.comics.creative!
    1.1. What is RACC for?
    1.2. What isn't RACC for?
    1.3. What is the RACC official charter?
    1.4. Where are the stories about Wolverine(tm)?
    1.5. Where are the old stories?
    1.6. How can I read RACC via e-mail?

    2. Writing for RACC (How do I get involved?)
    2.1. Cool! Okay, how do I post?
    2.2. Format! I'm nothing without format!
    2.3. How 'bout them imprints? What's up with that?
    2.4. How do I archive my stories for posterity?
    2.5. What do copyright laws I pay taxes for do for me?

    3. Netiquette for RACC

    4. Glossary

    5. List of current imprints

    6. People to ask for help

    ------------------------------

    Subject: 1. Welcome to rec.arts.comics.creative!

    Welcome to rec.arts.comics.creative, the newsgroup which could have been
    named rec.prose.shared-universe but wasn't, the newsgroup which has, to
    date, produced well over 30MB of entirely free original fiction (and
    that's compressed!), the newsgroup which has nearly nothing to do with
    your favorite comic books at all!

    You're about to go insane. Don't worry, it's fun.

    rec.arts.comics.creative (henceforth RACC) is a moderated newsgroup for comics-related original fiction and discussion of same, originally created unmoderated by Martin Phipps and a cast of thousands (well, dozens at
    least) and later converted to moderated to keep out the spam. Don't
    worry, even though it's a moderated group, it's still friendly, chatty,
    and not at all formal, and we go out of our way to keep it that way.

    The first group of this sort on the Internet was the Superguy mailing
    list, which is still in operation to this day (you'll see posts from it on
    this group from time to time). Later, the Legion of Net.Heroes (LNH)
    sprung out of a free-form thread on rec.arts.comics and spawned another newsgroup (alt.comics.lnh). They were quickly followed by a wide variety
    of other comics-based shared universes, including the Patrol, the Net.Trenchcoat.Brigade, and Omega. All of these organizations, in
    parallel, gathered together authors in shared universes and strongly
    influenced the nature of RACC.

    First and foremost, RACC is a site for people to post comics-related
    fiction. Stories about long-underwear vigilantes, anthropomorphic
    animals, SF, westerns, even Kleen Teens if anyone is so moved. As long as
    it relates to comics it's okay. So whether you're a reader, a writer, or
    that fabled creature the critic, or even all three -- welcome to RACC:
    it's all the story, none of the art! (yet)

    ------------------------------

    Subject: 1.1. What is RACC for?

    For the official charter, see section 1.3. Here's the long, readable
    version.

    One term that you'll see a lot is "shared universe." This is a shared
    story background, co-created by multiple authors and used as the
    "universe" in which multiple different stories are set. This is a
    trademark characteristic of most comic books (seen in its clearest form in
    the ubiquitous crossover, a story written by multiple authors at once and involving multiple characters who all have their own stories), as well as appearing in some other published fiction (such as Wild Cards, or Larry
    Niven's Man-Kzin Wars). Most (but not all) of the stories posted here
    take place in one of the established shared universes (there's a list
    later on in this FAQ), to the point where this style of writing is nearly characteristic of the group.

    Another term you'll see is "comics-related." Nearly all of the authors
    writing here drew their original (if not primary) inspiration from comic
    books. As a result, nearly all of the stories are on-going (published a chapter at a time), divided up into "issues" and given numbers, and
    organized into "imprints." Many people also describe covers or design
    ASCII graphic logos.

    There is no restriction on types of fiction. (That'd kinda take the
    creative out of RACC, wouldn't it?) You'll see stories run the gamut from slapstick comedy to grim'n'gritty Real Life Supers (TM). As long as it's
    about comics, set your pen free. (You'll see a lot of superhero fiction,
    but that just means that those of us who like reading other things as well
    are anxiously awaiting your non-superhero stories.)

    RACC is also for discussion of stories, both specific ones and in general.
    The critic and reader is one of the most sought-after types of people
    around here; if you give us feedback on our stories, good or bad, we'll
    love you forever.

    Finally, if you want to announce your free web strip here, we welcome
    those posts too. If you're trying to sell it, though, please try rec.arts.comics.marketplace or rec.arts.comics.strips instead. (And rec.arts.comics.strips may be a better group in general, as RACC readers
    are mostly interested in text fiction.)

    ------------------------------

    Subject: 1.2. What isn't RACC for?

    A lot of things. We're not for wars of attrition, Third World starvation,
    45 mph speed limits, and brussel sprout toothpaste. Closer to home, RACC
    is not for any of the following:

    * Discussion of existing, "professional" books (except as they relate
    to our fiction)

    * Marketplace-type I-wanna-buy/I-wanna-sell postings

    * Flames and personality conflicts. Critiques, yes. Flames, no.

    * Fiction about established, trademarked characters and universes,
    unless you created them or have written permission.

    * Erotica, no matter how much spandex you put in. There are other
    groups for that.

    ------------------------------

    Subject: 1.3. What is the RACC official charter?

    This newsgroup welcomes any form of comics-related original fiction and discussion of the same, including but not limited to stories in the many established shared universes. Discussion of on-line fiction as a whole is
    also welcome provided that it is related to the stories on the newsgroup.
    If they choose to write in an existing shared universe, writers are
    strongly encouranged to follow the existing continuity and rules of that universe. "Comics-related" will be interpreted very broadly, as has been traditional on the newsgroup.

    Each posting to rec.arts.comics.creative should include a keyword on the subject line either designating which shared universe the posting refers
    to or marking the general subject of the post (ADMIN, META, MISC, etc.).
    If a submitted post does not have a keyword, the moderator will add an appropriate keyword, but posters are encouraged to add keywords themselves
    to save moderation work.

    Large binaries, such as artwork, will not be allowed on the newsgroup.
    Instead, binaries can be made available in the newsgroup archive (subject
    to the discretion of the archivist) and a pointer posted to the newsgroup. Pointers to Web pages are also welcome, provided the content of the page
    is related to the purpose of the group.

    Stories using copyrighted or trademarked characters are explicitly not
    within the charter of this group and may be rejected unless the author
    owns the copyrights and trademarks or has written permission from the
    owner. Networking posts (artists seeking writers or writers seeking
    artists) are inappropriate in this group and should be sent to appropriate mailing lists or other groups in the rec.arts.comics.* hierarchy (rec.arts.comics.misc if there is no other more appropriate group).

    ------------------------------

    Subject: 1.4. Where are the stories about Wolverine(tm)?

    This is very important, so I'm going to yell it. RACC IS NOT THE PLACE
    FOR FICTION ABOUT ESTABLISHED, TRADEMARKED CHARACTERS. This includes all Marvel, Image, DC, what-have-you characters. RACC's charter expressly
    FORBIDS such fiction.

    The reason for this is the ongoing legislative battles about intellectual property and the Net. rec.* groups are picked up worldwide, and sysadmins
    do not want to draw lawsuits because someone wrote a story that violated trademark laws. Note that fanfic stories may or may not be lawful and/or prosecutable, WE JUST DON'T KNOW. They're still writing the laws.

    To forestall any confusion or debates, and to protect sysadmins from inadvertently becoming the test case, this provision was adopted as a key requirement for RACC's creation. If you really must write about existing, trademarked characters, there is alt.comics.fan-fiction waiting to receive
    you. alt.* groups get picked up by sysadmins voluntarily, so they
    presumedly know what risks they're taking.

    Nothing will draw this group's ire faster than violating this requirement.

    ------------------------------

    Subject: 1.5. Where are the old stories?

    Thanks to the tireless efforts and bottomless disk space of Russ Allbery,
    all stories posted to rec.arts.comics.creative are archived! This means stories will be preserved for future generations of readers, providing a
    link to the past. It is difficult to over-praise this contribution.

    (Note: Lest you think I would be so crass as to praise myself, I want to
    make sure you know that Jeff wrote that last paragraph. 'course, I didn't delete it either.)

    Older stories are sorted by universe and series and are available at:

    <https://archives.eyrie.org/racc/>

    All of the stories are compressed using gzip, but most browsers can automatically decompress them for you. This archive unfortunately hasn't
    been updated recently, but it does have all of the older stories.

    Every message to rec.arts.comics.creative, story or not, is archived at:

    <https://lists.eyrie.org/pipermail/racc/>

    in the form of a more traditional mailing list archive, so you can also
    look there if a story hasn't been saved in the story archive. This is the
    best way to find anything posted in the last few years. You can search
    the archive by prepending "site:lists.eyrie.org" to a regular Google
    search.

    Please note that stories will be removed from both the list archive and
    the story archive at the author's request if the author wants to take them down. This has happened in the past, sometimes because the author wanted
    to sell the stories to a professional venue.

    ------------------------------

    Subject: 1.6. How can I read RACC via e-mail?

    Everything that shows up in RACC also shows up in its associated mailing
    list (and vice versa), so if you want to be sure not to miss anything, or
    if you just prefer e-mail to Usenet, you can subscribe to that mailing
    list.

    To do that, go to:

    <https://lists.eyrie.org/mailman/listinfo/racc>

    and fill out the form to subscribe. Alternately, you can subscribe via
    e-mail by sending mail to racc-request@lists.eyrie.org with the word:

    subscribe

    in the subject of the message. You then can read and reply to posts just
    as if the newsgroup were a mailing list. It's all the same to us.

    ------------------------------

    Subject: 2. Writing for RACC (How do I get involved?)

    Write a story. Post it. You're involved.

    This assumes you want to create your own universe to write in. If you
    want to join a pre-existing shared universe, it's a little more involved.

    Many of the imprints have FAQs of their own (OMEGA, Superguy, LNH,
    Crossroads to name a few). These get posted periodically. The first
    thing you should do is read these documents to get a feel for what these specific universes are like.

    The next thing you should do is _read_ the universe in question. This
    includes tapping the archives for back issues. No one would suggest you
    read the entire Superguy or LNH archives before writing, but definitely
    try to sample a large cross-section.

    Lastly, email some of the creators you see writing under a specific
    imprint. They will be able to tell you if your concept fits with their universe or not, and perhaps refer you to a more appropriate universe if necessary.

    THEN write a story and post it.

    ------------------------------

    Subject: 2.1. Cool! Okay, how do I post?

    RACC is a moderated newsgroup, which means that every post goes to the moderators first. If your site correctly has the group marked as
    moderated, you should be able to post just like you post to any other
    group and your news server will take care of the rest. If you have a Unix shell account, you can check if the group is correctly marked as moderated
    by typing:

    nntplist active | grep rec.arts.comics.creative

    If the last character on the resulting line is an "m," congratulations,
    you have a good news administrator. If it's a "y," send mail to your
    local computing support people and ask them to convert the group to
    moderated like it should be.

    If you don't have a Unix shell account, some newsreaders will also tell
    you if the group is moderated.

    If, for any reason, you have trouble posting or your site *doesn't* have
    the group marked as moderated, you can mail your post to racc@eyrie.org
    instead and it will be posted for you.

    Because the group is moderated, it can be up to a day after you post
    before your article is actually posted, and it can take a few more days
    for the article to propagate back to you. So don't be surprised if it
    doesn't show up right away.

    Many readers of rec.arts.comics.creative use Google Groups to read and
    post. While this works, and I know it's convenient, Google Groups also
    deletes anything enclosed in square brackets ([]) at the beginning of
    Subject lines in replies. If you use Google Groups, please try to
    remember to put back the imprint tags when you reply to posts; otherwise,
    I have to add them as the moderator.

    ------------------------------

    Subject: 2.2. Format! I'm nothing without format!

    Formatting is pretty loose. Since this is a comics newsgroup, you will
    hear people refer to their stories as "issues." Postings tend to run in numerical order just like comic books, and many people write continuing
    series. For example there are 25 "issues" in Drizzt's _Continuity Champ
    and the Drizzt's Defenders_ series.

    Stories don't have to be series though. One-shots, mini-series,
    maxi-series, crossovers -- all of these have been done before and will be
    done again.

    The subjects of postings should follow the convention of naming the
    imprint the title and the number. For example:

    LNH: System Corruptors #15, The Bard's Tale
    imprint --^ ^ ^ ^
    title --------------| | |
    number -------------------------| |
    subtitle/comment/etc [optional] -------|

    Since the archive mechanism relies heavily on this format (not to mention
    the format-accustomed eyes of this group's readers), please follow this strictly, including the use of the #-sign. Subtitles, alternate titles,
    and title comments should follow the number if they are used at all. If
    you want to, you can use [TAG] instead of TAG: at the beginning of the
    subject; it's all the same to the archiver. (TAG: causes a few fewer
    problems than [TAG] with Google Groups.)

    Occasionally, instead of (or in addition to) a number you will see "TEB."
    This stands for "Trade EtherBack." It means the posting is actually a collection of previously posted issues -- usually cleaned up and relating
    to a single story arc.

    Inside your story do what you will. Some folks run fake ads, others use
    cheesy ASCII graphics, some just use text. A word of advice: On
    older/more primitive newsreaders your text is MUCH easier to read if you
    space between paragraphs. On the other hand, some newer newsreader
    readers find the spaces jarring. The moral? You can't please all the
    people all the time. In general spaces seem to be more preferred.

    ------------------------------

    Subject: 2.3. How 'bout them imprints? What's up with that?

    In order to accommodate a near-infinite number of different potential universes, RACC has adopted the reasonable convention of flagging fiction.
    This allows uninterested parties to skip some genres, and others to
    quickly find their niches of interest. The flag goes before the title of
    story issues, related FAQs or universe-specific discussions. Many flags
    refer to existing shared-universes. New ones will come up all the time.
    For the current list, see section 5 of this FAQ.

    Once you pick an imprint name, stick with it. The Archive and your legion
    of new fans will both be happier if you don't make marketing name changes.

    Regardless of flags all SEXUALLY EXPLICIT or PROFANITY-RICH stories should
    have huge warning labels at the beginning of text. Last thing we need is
    a Florida DA bringing us all up on charges. ;] Besides, it's only common courtesy. Note that if a story could reasonably be posted on
    alt.sex.stories, you've probably strayed a bit far from this group's
    interests.

    Some sort of flag, either an imprint name or a more general tag, is
    required on all posts and one will be added by the moderator if you don't provide one. Leaving one off requires the moderator to edit your post,
    though, which takes time and means your post will be delayed. So please
    save them the trouble and remember to add the tag yourself.

    ------------------------------

    Subject: 2.4. How do I archive my stories for posterity?

    Good news! It's already being done for you! (Or at least it will be if
    Russ ever catches up with the archiving.)

    In theory, every story posted to rec.arts.comics.creative is archived at <https://archives.eyrie.org/racc/>. Most imprints have their own
    directories, with the stories stored in directories under that (depending
    on the size of the imprint, the directories could be very structured or
    just one directory for each series). Some imprints may be collected in
    the misc directory.

    Unfortunately, this archive is substantially out of date. Russ hopes to eventually find time to update it.

    The exception is Superguy, which has its own archiving mechanism. The
    Superguy archives are at <https://archives.eyrie.org/superguy/>, but one
    of the best ways to access them is through the Autocollector at:

    <https://archives.eyrie.org/cgi-bin/superguy>

    ------------------------------

    Subject: 2.5. What do Copyright laws I pay taxes for do for me?

    I don't even play a lawyer on TV, but there are some things you should
    know about Copyright laws.

    Anything you write is copyrighted immediately, whether you flag it with a copyright notice or not. Furthermore, the copyright protection is international under the Berne Copyright Convention, which has been signed
    by nearly every country with access to Usenet.

    If you label your text as copyrighted, it preempts a possible
    "unintentional infringement" defense from plagarizers. The copyright
    notice is considered legal notice that you intend to retain your rights.
    The legal format for such a notice requires three things: Your name, the
    year, and one or more of the following: "Copyright," "Copr.," and/or the c-in-circle symbol. Note that there is no firm legal precedence for (C)
    or (c) as having any special copyright meaning. Example notice:

    Copyright 1994 Jeff J McCoskey

    The only way to get full legal protection (at least in the United States)
    is to register your work with the government (forms are free, filing fees apply). This *guarantees* an archived, dated copy should future legal
    action be necessary. Other forms of dating, like mailing yourself a copy
    or archiving (to get a date stamp), are of dubious and unproven legal
    value.

    An excellent resource for Copyright information is misc.legal, where a FAQ
    is posted monthly.

    Another excellent resource is the U.S. Copyright Office home page at:

    <https://www.copyright.gov/>

    ------------------------------

    Subject: 3. Netiquette for RACC

    As a rule of thumb, everything you've heard elsewhere about good
    netiquette applies here. We hate spammers (more in a minute), expect
    smilies when joking (except in stories of course), and in general expect
    you to conduct yourselves as good net.citizens. There are three things
    you need to know after you've mastered Basic Netiquette:

    1. The only times flames are accepted on RACC are when they are both
    morally defensible and amusing. Flames are not welcome if they do not
    meet the above criteria. Here on RACC there is one organization that
    acts as moral compass for acceptable flames: the Order of St. Doomas.

    The Order has defined one activity that is worthy of flame: spamming.
    One member of the Order (usually the first to his/her keyboard) will
    have the honors. Repetitive flaming by multiple members is frowned
    upon by the Order.

    To join this righteous crusade, all you need do is select a
    net.persona and flame. Incorrect flaming (i.e. at non-sanctioned
    targets, or with unamusing effect) will result in ostracization and
    excommunication. Watch the Order in action before joining and all
    will be clear.

    Now that the group has been moderated, most opportunities for flames
    are gone. But watch carefully; new ones may arise.

    2. Reviews of stories (even negative ones) are one of the most
    sought-after commodities on RACC. You will instantly win friends and
    influence people if you post reviews. But especially in the case of
    negative reviews, ensure you confine your review to the story and not
    the writer. Keep in mind as you write "that SUCKS" that someone
    worked long and hard on the text. They might want to know what worked
    and what didn't in their narrative but it's doubtful they want to hear
    how clever you can be in ripping them up.

    It's certain the rest of us don't.

    3. One of the best features of a shared universe is the opportunity to
    have your characters interact with others in that universe. This is
    a privilege, not a right. All characters on RACC (and their
    distinctive text-likenesses) are the full and exclusive property of
    their creators. This is not as dogmatic as it sounds, and we're all
    adults (or pretending to be). Cameos (non-speaking/non-plot affecting
    roles) do not typically require permission unless the creator desires
    it. Speaking roles should be previewed through email and approved by
    the creator before being posted.

    ------------------------------

    Subject: 4. Glossary

    These are terms you will see come up on RACC that have special meaning
    here. (For general net.terms and abbreviations, see the META RAC FAQ.)

    Acraphobe RACC's version of adult warning label. Yes, with an "a."
    Don't ask.

    Arc A multi-issue storyline.

    Archive ftp.eyrie.org, where nearly ALL the back issues live.

    Crossover A storyline that involves several titles and/or authors. Also
    the bane of all mankind.

    Elsewhirls An imaginary story. (Yeah yeah, we know they're ALL
    imaginary. How about "out-of-continuity"?)

    Fanfiction Fiction about established, trademarked universes and
    or fanfic characters that the author did not create -- in short, the
    sort of stories RACC *wasn't* designed for. There's a good
    list of newsgroups at the end of this FAQ that should help in
    finding a better group if this is what you want to write.

    Imprint The shared universe your story takes place in or subject your
    posting relates to (we have many to chose from). This is
    usually an all-caps prefix on the title of the posting.

    LNH The Legion of Net.Heroes. The immediate father of this group
    and the oldest of the Usenet-based writing universes (see
    Superguy).

    RAC* The rec.arts.comics.* hierarchy of newsgroups.

    RACC rec.arts.comics.creative. You're soaking in it!

    rACCIES The annual RACC fanfiction awards, as voted on by the readers
    or RACCies of this newsgroup.

    Repost Story has been posted before, natch.

    Superguy A mailing list that predates all other Internet comics-fiction
    forums. There is a good-natured rivalry between the LNH and
    this group.

    TEB Trade EtherBack. This is a collection of previously posted
    material, usually cleaned up and relating to a single story
    arc.

    Title A numerically increasing, continuing series. Usually
    involving one character, cast, city, or unifying concept.

    ------------------------------

    Subject: 5. List of Current Tags

    When choosing a tag to put at the beginning of your post, this list should
    be a canonical reference. If you see a need for a new tag, send mail to
    the FAQ maintainer so that it can be added.

    First, the general tags:

    ADMIN Administrative matters affecting everyone on RACC.

    FAQ FAQs of note for the entire RAC* hierarchy. These will tend
    to be crossposted here.

    META Discussion about the newsgroup itself. This includes
    or CHAT everything from general discussion of on-line fiction and RACC
    in particular to recommendations on how long posts should be.

    PRECOG Announcements of upcoming series, planned stories, and the
    or PROMO like.

    WWW Announcement of a web page related to RACC or a free strip.

    Now, all of the writing imprints. Note that new ones of these pop up all
    the time. Entries marked with (*) are in danger of being retired due to
    lack of activity. If you have any changes, please mail eagle@eyrie.org.

    8FOLD A closed universe that encompasses serious superheroes, comedy,
    memoir, and just about anything else: high-quality fiction of
    any stripe is welcome.

    ACRAPHOBE Mature stories that may or may not fit into other universes'
    or ACRA continuity. Using this flag in conjunction with another is
    not unheard of. (For example, Scav's _501 Blues_ is
    LNH/ACRAPHOBE.) Think a meta-Vertigo.

    ASH Academy of Super-Heroes. Dave Van Domelen's RPG-based future-
    history stories. See <https://www.eyrie.org/~dvandom/ASH>.

    ELSEWHIRLS LNH stories that do not fit into LNH continuity. Think DC's
    or EW Elseworlds.

    HCC The High Concept Challenge, a continuous series of writing
    contests. Each round, the winner, chosen by reader vote, gets
    to pick the next round's concept.

    LNH Legion of Net.Heroes, "The Friendliest Shared Universe
    Going!(TM)" A mostly parody universe, though it does have its
    serious side.

    LNH20 On the LNH's 20th anniversary, a group of writers took it upon
    themselves to create a new world, based in everything they
    loved about the LNH, in the best spirit of comic book reboots!
    LNH20 is just as friendly as the original, but easier to get
    into! Hop right in, the adventure's fine!

    LNHY An Imprint involving an alternate LNH universe called
    Looniverse Y. The big difference between this and the Classic
    LNH is that writers are allowed to have only one character of
    theirs in this Looniverse's LNH.

    RACCCafe A continuity-free outpust where RACC characters can unwind
    after a hard day of being mangled by their writers. Anything
    can happen, as long as it's funny, and there are no
    consequences!

    SG Superguy. From Space Moose to the Bomb. Comedy superhero
    writing with a far different background than LNH. Note that
    only a small slice of Superguy stuff appears here; to see the
    rest, go to <https://lists.eyrie.org/mailman/listinfo/superguy>.

    STARFALL Lightly serious and seriously light superheroics, and better
    because of it. ;)

    NTB Net.Trenchcoat.Brigade. A bunch of Vertigo-like characters
    that own stock in London Fog. Not tremendously active, but
    they do have a considerable history. Implied Acraphobe.

    OMEGA A serious psi-based shared super-world and once upon a time
    RACC's third largest universe, now inactive. Created by the
    legendary Matt Rossi.

    OSD The Order of Saint Doomas. Items relating to RACC's anti-spam
    cult. (See Section 3 above.) No posts have been seen from
    this imprint in quite some time, but that doesn't mean they're
    gone....

    SW10 SW stands for Superhuman World. 10 is an annual tag. The
    comic has proceeded to 2011, but the tag has frozen at 2010
    because that's when the series really interacted with RACC.
    Scott Eiler has written the story of this universe since
    before 1991, but 1991 is when the modern heroes of this series
    start. His sources include adolescent male power fantasy,
    superhero role-playing, comic-book satire, and dreams. See
    <http://www.eilertech.com/stories/>.

    MISC Stories not in the above categories or in their own universes
    (authors are encouraged to make up their own headers as well).
    To limit the number of imprints, and to keep this FAQ to
    reasonable lengths, let's adopt this convention: One-shot
    stories or series should use the MISC flag. Series that set
    up shared universes should create their own, new imprint.

    ------------------------------

    Subject: 6. People to Ask for Help

    The major header contacts are listed below, who will be glad to answer
    email question. Also keep your eyes peeled for FAQs specific to
    particular imprints. The FAQs are also often in the archive in a
    directory named "FAQs" under the imprint directory.

    Imprint Contact Email
    ------------ -------------------- ---------------------------------
    8FOLD Jamie Rosen jamie.rosen@sunlife.com
    8FOLD Tom Russell joltcity@gmail.com
    + ASH Dave Van Domelen dvandom@eyrie.org
    + LNH Andrew Perron pwerdna@gmail.com
    LNH20 Andrew Perron pwerdna@gmail.com
    + LNHY Arthur Spitzer arspitzer@earthlink.net
    + NTB Arthur Spitzer arspitzer@earthlink.net
    + RACChallenge Sean MacDonald mcdonald@vorteb.math.uab.edu
    + StarFall Ted Brock phantom_belcher@yahoo.com
    + Superguy Eric Burns eaburns@annotations.com
    SW10 Scott Eiler seiler@eilertech.com

    The Archive Russ Allbery eagle@eyrie.org
    Moderation RACC Moderation Team racc-request@eyrie.org

    + indicates separate FAQs are available for these imprints.

    If you need to contact the moderator directly, the contact information is:

    Russ Allbery <eagle@eyrie.org>

    If none of the above people help, or your questions are too general or specific, just email anyone you see posting here that seems to know what they're doing. (WARNING: This is rarely the case.)

    --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
    * Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)
  • From Russ Allbery@21:1/5 to All on Wed Dec 1 08:01:03 2021
    Last-modified: 2018-07-16
    Posted-by: postfaq 1.17 (Perl 5.28.1)
    Archive-name: comics/creative/faq
    URL: https://www.eyrie.org/~eagle/faqs/racc.html
    Posting-frequency: monthly

    ==========================================================================
    rec.arts.comics.creative Frequently Asked Questions
    Maintained by Russ Allbery <eagle@eyrie.org>
    Original by Jeff McCoskey ==========================================================================

    If you're reading this on Usenet, this FAQ is formatted as a minimal
    digest. If your newsreader has digest handling capabilities you can use
    them to navigate between sections. In rn variants, you can use Ctrl-G to
    skip to the next section; in Gnus, press Ctrl-D to break each section into
    a separate article. For other newsreaders, see the documentation.

    The latest version of this FAQ is available on the web at:

    <https://www.eyrie.org/~eagle/faqs/racc.html>

    Please send any comments, suggestions, or updates to eagle@eyrie.org.

    ------------------------------

    Subject: Contents

    1. Welcome to rec.arts.comics.creative!
    1.1. What is RACC for?
    1.2. What isn't RACC for?
    1.3. What is the RACC official charter?
    1.4. Where are the stories about Wolverine(tm)?
    1.5. Where are the old stories?
    1.6. How can I read RACC via e-mail?

    2. Writing for RACC (How do I get involved?)
    2.1. Cool! Okay, how do I post?
    2.2. Format! I'm nothing without format!
    2.3. How 'bout them imprints? What's up with that?
    2.4. How do I archive my stories for posterity?
    2.5. What do copyright laws I pay taxes for do for me?

    3. Netiquette for RACC

    4. Glossary

    5. List of current imprints

    6. People to ask for help

    ------------------------------

    Subject: 1. Welcome to rec.arts.comics.creative!

    Welcome to rec.arts.comics.creative, the newsgroup which could have been
    named rec.prose.shared-universe but wasn't, the newsgroup which has, to
    date, produced well over 30MB of entirely free original fiction (and
    that's compressed!), the newsgroup which has nearly nothing to do with
    your favorite comic books at all!

    You're about to go insane. Don't worry, it's fun.

    rec.arts.comics.creative (henceforth RACC) is a moderated newsgroup for comics-related original fiction and discussion of same, originally created unmoderated by Martin Phipps and a cast of thousands (well, dozens at
    least) and later converted to moderated to keep out the spam. Don't
    worry, even though it's a moderated group, it's still friendly, chatty,
    and not at all formal, and we go out of our way to keep it that way.

    The first group of this sort on the Internet was the Superguy mailing
    list, which is still in operation to this day (you'll see posts from it on
    this group from time to time). Later, the Legion of Net.Heroes (LNH)
    sprung out of a free-form thread on rec.arts.comics and spawned another newsgroup (alt.comics.lnh). They were quickly followed by a wide variety
    of other comics-based shared universes, including the Patrol, the Net.Trenchcoat.Brigade, and Omega. All of these organizations, in
    parallel, gathered together authors in shared universes and strongly
    influenced the nature of RACC.

    First and foremost, RACC is a site for people to post comics-related
    fiction. Stories about long-underwear vigilantes, anthropomorphic
    animals, SF, westerns, even Kleen Teens if anyone is so moved. As long as
    it relates to comics it's okay. So whether you're a reader, a writer, or
    that fabled creature the critic, or even all three -- welcome to RACC:
    it's all the story, none of the art! (yet)

    ------------------------------

    Subject: 1.1. What is RACC for?

    For the official charter, see section 1.3. Here's the long, readable
    version.

    One term that you'll see a lot is "shared universe." This is a shared
    story background, co-created by multiple authors and used as the
    "universe" in which multiple different stories are set. This is a
    trademark characteristic of most comic books (seen in its clearest form in
    the ubiquitous crossover, a story written by multiple authors at once and involving multiple characters who all have their own stories), as well as appearing in some other published fiction (such as Wild Cards, or Larry
    Niven's Man-Kzin Wars). Most (but not all) of the stories posted here
    take place in one of the established shared universes (there's a list
    later on in this FAQ), to the point where this style of writing is nearly characteristic of the group.

    Another term you'll see is "comics-related." Nearly all of the authors
    writing here drew their original (if not primary) inspiration from comic
    books. As a result, nearly all of the stories are on-going (published a chapter at a time), divided up into "issues" and given numbers, and
    organized into "imprints." Many people also describe covers or design
    ASCII graphic logos.

    There is no restriction on types of fiction. (That'd kinda take the
    creative out of RACC, wouldn't it?) You'll see stories run the gamut from slapstick comedy to grim'n'gritty Real Life Supers (TM). As long as it's
    about comics, set your pen free. (You'll see a lot of superhero fiction,
    but that just means that those of us who like reading other things as well
    are anxiously awaiting your non-superhero stories.)

    RACC is also for discussion of stories, both specific ones and in general.
    The critic and reader is one of the most sought-after types of people
    around here; if you give us feedback on our stories, good or bad, we'll
    love you forever.

    Finally, if you want to announce your free web strip here, we welcome
    those posts too. If you're trying to sell it, though, please try rec.arts.comics.marketplace or rec.arts.comics.strips instead. (And rec.arts.comics.strips may be a better group in general, as RACC readers
    are mostly interested in text fiction.)

    ------------------------------

    Subject: 1.2. What isn't RACC for?

    A lot of things. We're not for wars of attrition, Third World starvation,
    45 mph speed limits, and brussel sprout toothpaste. Closer to home, RACC
    is not for any of the following:

    * Discussion of existing, "professional" books (except as they relate
    to our fiction)

    * Marketplace-type I-wanna-buy/I-wanna-sell postings

    * Flames and personality conflicts. Critiques, yes. Flames, no.

    * Fiction about established, trademarked characters and universes,
    unless you created them or have written permission.

    * Erotica, no matter how much spandex you put in. There are other
    groups for that.

    ------------------------------

    Subject: 1.3. What is the RACC official charter?

    This newsgroup welcomes any form of comics-related original fiction and discussion of the same, including but not limited to stories in the many established shared universes. Discussion of on-line fiction as a whole is
    also welcome provided that it is related to the stories on the newsgroup.
    If they choose to write in an existing shared universe, writers are
    strongly encouranged to follow the existing continuity and rules of that universe. "Comics-related" will be interpreted very broadly, as has been traditional on the newsgroup.

    Each posting to rec.arts.comics.creative should include a keyword on the subject line either designating which shared universe the posting refers
    to or marking the general subject of the post (ADMIN, META, MISC, etc.).
    If a submitted post does not have a keyword, the moderator will add an appropriate keyword, but posters are encouraged to add keywords themselves
    to save moderation work.

    Large binaries, such as artwork, will not be allowed on the newsgroup.
    Instead, binaries can be made available in the newsgroup archive (subject
    to the discretion of the archivist) and a pointer posted to the newsgroup. Pointers to Web pages are also welcome, provided the content of the page
    is related to the purpose of the group.

    Stories using copyrighted or trademarked characters are explicitly not
    within the charter of this group and may be rejected unless the author
    owns the copyrights and trademarks or has written permission from the
    owner. Networking posts (artists seeking writers or writers seeking
    artists) are inappropriate in this group and should be sent to appropriate mailing lists or other groups in the rec.arts.comics.* hierarchy (rec.arts.comics.misc if there is no other more appropriate group).

    ------------------------------

    Subject: 1.4. Where are the stories about Wolverine(tm)?

    This is very important, so I'm going to yell it. RACC IS NOT THE PLACE
    FOR FICTION ABOUT ESTABLISHED, TRADEMARKED CHARACTERS. This includes all Marvel, Image, DC, what-have-you characters. RACC's charter expressly
    FORBIDS such fiction.

    The reason for this is the ongoing legislative battles about intellectual property and the Net. rec.* groups are picked up worldwide, and sysadmins
    do not want to draw lawsuits because someone wrote a story that violated trademark laws. Note that fanfic stories may or may not be lawful and/or prosecutable, WE JUST DON'T KNOW. They're still writing the laws.

    To forestall any confusion or debates, and to protect sysadmins from inadvertently becoming the test case, this provision was adopted as a key requirement for RACC's creation. If you really must write about existing, trademarked characters, there is alt.comics.fan-fiction waiting to receive
    you. alt.* groups get picked up by sysadmins voluntarily, so they
    presumedly know what risks they're taking.

    Nothing will draw this group's ire faster than violating this requirement.

    ------------------------------

    Subject: 1.5. Where are the old stories?

    Thanks to the tireless efforts and bottomless disk space of Russ Allbery,
    all stories posted to rec.arts.comics.creative are archived! This means stories will be preserved for future generations of readers, providing a
    link to the past. It is difficult to over-praise this contribution.

    (Note: Lest you think I would be so crass as to praise myself, I want to
    make sure you know that Jeff wrote that last paragraph. 'course, I didn't delete it either.)

    Older stories are sorted by universe and series and are available at:

    <https://archives.eyrie.org/racc/>

    All of the stories are compressed using gzip, but most browsers can automatically decompress them for you. This archive unfortunately hasn't
    been updated recently, but it does have all of the older stories.

    Every message to rec.arts.comics.creative, story or not, is archived at:

    <https://lists.eyrie.org/pipermail/racc/>

    in the form of a more traditional mailing list archive, so you can also
    look there if a story hasn't been saved in the story archive. This is the
    best way to find anything posted in the last few years. You can search
    the archive by prepending "site:lists.eyrie.org" to a regular Google
    search.

    Please note that stories will be removed from both the list archive and
    the story archive at the author's request if the author wants to take them down. This has happened in the past, sometimes because the author wanted
    to sell the stories to a professional venue.

    ------------------------------

    Subject: 1.6. How can I read RACC via e-mail?

    Everything that shows up in RACC also shows up in its associated mailing
    list (and vice versa), so if you want to be sure not to miss anything, or
    if you just prefer e-mail to Usenet, you can subscribe to that mailing
    list.

    To do that, go to:

    <https://lists.eyrie.org/mailman/listinfo/racc>

    and fill out the form to subscribe. Alternately, you can subscribe via
    e-mail by sending mail to racc-request@lists.eyrie.org with the word:

    subscribe

    in the subject of the message. You then can read and reply to posts just
    as if the newsgroup were a mailing list. It's all the same to us.

    ------------------------------

    Subject: 2. Writing for RACC (How do I get involved?)

    Write a story. Post it. You're involved.

    This assumes you want to create your own universe to write in. If you
    want to join a pre-existing shared universe, it's a little more involved.

    Many of the imprints have FAQs of their own (OMEGA, Superguy, LNH,
    Crossroads to name a few). These get posted periodically. The first
    thing you should do is read these documents to get a feel for what these specific universes are like.

    The next thing you should do is _read_ the universe in question. This
    includes tapping the archives for back issues. No one would suggest you
    read the entire Superguy or LNH archives before writing, but definitely
    try to sample a large cross-section.

    Lastly, email some of the creators you see writing under a specific
    imprint. They will be able to tell you if your concept fits with their universe or not, and perhaps refer you to a more appropriate universe if necessary.

    THEN write a story and post it.

    ------------------------------

    Subject: 2.1. Cool! Okay, how do I post?

    RACC is a moderated newsgroup, which means that every post goes to the moderators first. If your site correctly has the group marked as
    moderated, you should be able to post just like you post to any other
    group and your news server will take care of the rest. If you have a Unix shell account, you can check if the group is correctly marked as moderated
    by typing:

    nntplist active | grep rec.arts.comics.creative

    If the last character on the resulting line is an "m," congratulations,
    you have a good news administrator. If it's a "y," send mail to your
    local computing support people and ask them to convert the group to
    moderated like it should be.

    If you don't have a Unix shell account, some newsreaders will also tell
    you if the group is moderated.

    If, for any reason, you have trouble posting or your site *doesn't* have
    the group marked as moderated, you can mail your post to racc@eyrie.org
    instead and it will be posted for you.

    Because the group is moderated, it can be up to a day after you post
    before your article is actually posted, and it can take a few more days
    for the article to propagate back to you. So don't be surprised if it
    doesn't show up right away.

    Many readers of rec.arts.comics.creative use Google Groups to read and
    post. While this works, and I know it's convenient, Google Groups also
    deletes anything enclosed in square brackets ([]) at the beginning of
    Subject lines in replies. If you use Google Groups, please try to
    remember to put back the imprint tags when you reply to posts; otherwise,
    I have to add them as the moderator.

    ------------------------------

    Subject: 2.2. Format! I'm nothing without format!

    Formatting is pretty loose. Since this is a comics newsgroup, you will
    hear people refer to their stories as "issues." Postings tend to run in numerical order just like comic books, and many people write continuing
    series. For example there are 25 "issues" in Drizzt's _Continuity Champ
    and the Drizzt's Defenders_ series.

    Stories don't have to be series though. One-shots, mini-series,
    maxi-series, crossovers -- all of these have been done before and will be
    done again.

    The subjects of postings should follow the convention of naming the
    imprint the title and the number. For example:

    LNH: System Corruptors #15, The Bard's Tale
    imprint --^ ^ ^ ^
    title --------------| | |
    number -------------------------| |
    subtitle/comment/etc [optional] -------|

    Since the archive mechanism relies heavily on this format (not to mention
    the format-accustomed eyes of this group's readers), please follow this strictly, including the use of the #-sign. Subtitles, alternate titles,
    and title comments should follow the number if they are used at all. If
    you want to, you can use [TAG] instead of TAG: at the beginning of the
    subject; it's all the same to the archiver. (TAG: causes a few fewer
    problems than [TAG] with Google Groups.)

    Occasionally, instead of (or in addition to) a number you will see "TEB."
    This stands for "Trade EtherBack." It means the posting is actually a collection of previously posted issues -- usually cleaned up and relating
    to a single story arc.

    Inside your story do what you will. Some folks run fake ads, others use
    cheesy ASCII graphics, some just use text. A word of advice: On
    older/more primitive newsreaders your text is MUCH easier to read if you
    space between paragraphs. On the other hand, some newer newsreader
    readers find the spaces jarring. The moral? You can't please all the
    people all the time. In general spaces seem to be more preferred.

    ------------------------------

    Subject: 2.3. How 'bout them imprints? What's up with that?

    In order to accommodate a near-infinite number of different potential universes, RACC has adopted the reasonable convention of flagging fiction.
    This allows uninterested parties to skip some genres, and others to
    quickly find their niches of interest. The flag goes before the title of
    story issues, related FAQs or universe-specific discussions. Many flags
    refer to existing shared-universes. New ones will come up all the time.
    For the current list, see section 5 of this FAQ.

    Once you pick an imprint name, stick with it. The Archive and your legion
    of new fans will both be happier if you don't make marketing name changes.

    Regardless of flags all SEXUALLY EXPLICIT or PROFANITY-RICH stories should
    have huge warning labels at the beginning of text. Last thing we need is
    a Florida DA bringing us all up on charges. ;] Besides, it's only common courtesy. Note that if a story could reasonably be posted on
    alt.sex.stories, you've probably strayed a bit far from this group's
    interests.

    Some sort of flag, either an imprint name or a more general tag, is
    required on all posts and one will be added by the moderator if you don't provide one. Leaving one off requires the moderator to edit your post,
    though, which takes time and means your post will be delayed. So please
    save them the trouble and remember to add the tag yourself.

    ------------------------------

    Subject: 2.4. How do I archive my stories for posterity?

    Good news! It's already being done for you! (Or at least it will be if
    Russ ever catches up with the archiving.)

    In theory, every story posted to rec.arts.comics.creative is archived at <https://archives.eyrie.org/racc/>. Most imprints have their own
    directories, with the stories stored in directories under that (depending
    on the size of the imprint, the directories could be very structured or
    just one directory for each series). Some imprints may be collected in
    the misc directory.

    Unfortunately, this archive is substantially out of date. Russ hopes to eventually find time to update it.

    The exception is Superguy, which has its own archiving mechanism. The
    Superguy archives are at <https://archives.eyrie.org/superguy/>, but one
    of the best ways to access them is through the Autocollector at:

    <https://archives.eyrie.org/cgi-bin/superguy>

    ------------------------------

    Subject: 2.5. What do Copyright laws I pay taxes for do for me?

    I don't even play a lawyer on TV, but there are some things you should
    know about Copyright laws.

    Anything you write is copyrighted immediately, whether you flag it with a copyright notice or not. Furthermore, the copyright protection is international under the Berne Copyright Convention, which has been signed
    by nearly every country with access to Usenet.

    If you label your text as copyrighted, it preempts a possible
    "unintentional infringement" defense from plagarizers. The copyright
    notice is considered legal notice that you intend to retain your rights.
    The legal format for such a notice requires three things: Your name, the
    year, and one or more of the following: "Copyright," "Copr.," and/or the c-in-circle symbol. Note that there is no firm legal precedence for (C)
    or (c) as having any special copyright meaning. Example notice:

    Copyright 1994 Jeff J McCoskey

    The only way to get full legal protection (at least in the United States)
    is to register your work with the government (forms are free, filing fees apply). This *guarantees* an archived, dated copy should future legal
    action be necessary. Other forms of dating, like mailing yourself a copy
    or archiving (to get a date stamp), are of dubious and unproven legal
    value.

    An excellent resource for Copyright information is misc.legal, where a FAQ
    is posted monthly.

    Another excellent resource is the U.S. Copyright Office home page at:

    <https://www.copyright.gov/>

    ------------------------------

    Subject: 3. Netiquette for RACC

    As a rule of thumb, everything you've heard elsewhere about good
    netiquette applies here. We hate spammers (more in a minute), expect
    smilies when joking (except in stories of course), and in general expect
    you to conduct yourselves as good net.citizens. There are three things
    you need to know after you've mastered Basic Netiquette:

    1. The only times flames are accepted on RACC are when they are both
    morally defensible and amusing. Flames are not welcome if they do not
    meet the above criteria. Here on RACC there is one organization that
    acts as moral compass for acceptable flames: the Order of St. Doomas.

    The Order has defined one activity that is worthy of flame: spamming.
    One member of the Order (usually the first to his/her keyboard) will
    have the honors. Repetitive flaming by multiple members is frowned
    upon by the Order.

    To join this righteous crusade, all you need do is select a
    net.persona and flame. Incorrect flaming (i.e. at non-sanctioned
    targets, or with unamusing effect) will result in ostracization and
    excommunication. Watch the Order in action before joining and all
    will be clear.

    Now that the group has been moderated, most opportunities for flames
    are gone. But watch carefully; new ones may arise.

    2. Reviews of stories (even negative ones) are one of the most
    sought-after commodities on RACC. You will instantly win friends and
    influence people if you post reviews. But especially in the case of
    negative reviews, ensure you confine your review to the story and not
    the writer. Keep in mind as you write "that SUCKS" that someone
    worked long and hard on the text. They might want to know what worked
    and what didn't in their narrative but it's doubtful they want to hear
    how clever you can be in ripping them up.

    It's certain the rest of us don't.

    3. One of the best features of a shared universe is the opportunity to
    have your characters interact with others in that universe. This is
    a privilege, not a right. All characters on RACC (and their
    distinctive text-likenesses) are the full and exclusive property of
    their creators. This is not as dogmatic as it sounds, and we're all
    adults (or pretending to be). Cameos (non-speaking/non-plot affecting
    roles) do not typically require permission unless the creator desires
    it. Speaking roles should be previewed through email and approved by
    the creator before being posted.

    ------------------------------

    Subject: 4. Glossary

    These are terms you will see come up on RACC that have special meaning
    here. (For general net.terms and abbreviations, see the META RAC FAQ.)

    Acraphobe RACC's version of adult warning label. Yes, with an "a."
    Don't ask.

    Arc A multi-issue storyline.

    Archive ftp.eyrie.org, where nearly ALL the back issues live.

    Crossover A storyline that involves several titles and/or authors. Also
    the bane of all mankind.

    Elsewhirls An imaginary story. (Yeah yeah, we know they're ALL
    imaginary. How about "out-of-continuity"?)

    Fanfiction Fiction about established, trademarked universes and
    or fanfic characters that the author did not create -- in short, the
    sort of stories RACC *wasn't* designed for. There's a good
    list of newsgroups at the end of this FAQ that should help in
    finding a better group if this is what you want to write.

    Imprint The shared universe your story takes place in or subject your
    posting relates to (we have many to chose from). This is
    usually an all-caps prefix on the title of the posting.

    LNH The Legion of Net.Heroes. The immediate father of this group
    and the oldest of the Usenet-based writing universes (see
    Superguy).

    RAC* The rec.arts.comics.* hierarchy of newsgroups.

    RACC rec.arts.comics.creative. You're soaking in it!

    rACCIES The annual RACC fanfiction awards, as voted on by the readers
    or RACCies of this newsgroup.

    Repost Story has been posted before, natch.

    Superguy A mailing list that predates all other Internet comics-fiction
    forums. There is a good-natured rivalry between the LNH and
    this group.

    TEB Trade EtherBack. This is a collection of previously posted
    material, usually cleaned up and relating to a single story
    arc.

    Title A numerically increasing, continuing series. Usually
    involving one character, cast, city, or unifying concept.

    ------------------------------

    Subject: 5. List of Current Tags

    When choosing a tag to put at the beginning of your post, this list should
    be a canonical reference. If you see a need for a new tag, send mail to
    the FAQ maintainer so that it can be added.

    First, the general tags:

    ADMIN Administrative matters affecting everyone on RACC.

    FAQ FAQs of note for the entire RAC* hierarchy. These will tend
    to be crossposted here.

    META Discussion about the newsgroup itself. This includes
    or CHAT everything from general discussion of on-line fiction and RACC
    in particular to recommendations on how long posts should be.

    PRECOG Announcements of upcoming series, planned stories, and the
    or PROMO like.

    WWW Announcement of a web page related to RACC or a free strip.

    Now, all of the writing imprints. Note that new ones of these pop up all
    the time. Entries marked with (*) are in danger of being retired due to
    lack of activity. If you have any changes, please mail eagle@eyrie.org.

    8FOLD A closed universe that encompasses serious superheroes, comedy,
    memoir, and just about anything else: high-quality fiction of
    any stripe is welcome.

    ACRAPHOBE Mature stories that may or may not fit into other universes'
    or ACRA continuity. Using this flag in conjunction with another is
    not unheard of. (For example, Scav's _501 Blues_ is
    LNH/ACRAPHOBE.) Think a meta-Vertigo.

    ASH Academy of Super-Heroes. Dave Van Domelen's RPG-based future-
    history stories. See <https://www.eyrie.org/~dvandom/ASH>.

    ELSEWHIRLS LNH stories that do not fit into LNH continuity. Think DC's
    or EW Elseworlds.

    HCC The High Concept Challenge, a continuous series of writing
    contests. Each round, the winner, chosen by reader vote, gets
    to pick the next round's concept.

    LNH Legion of Net.Heroes, "The Friendliest Shared Universe
    Going!(TM)" A mostly parody universe, though it does have its
    serious side.

    LNH20 On the LNH's 20th anniversary, a group of writers took it upon
    themselves to create a new world, based in everything they
    loved about the LNH, in the best spirit of comic book reboots!
    LNH20 is just as friendly as the original, but easier to get
    into! Hop right in, the adventure's fine!

    LNHY An Imprint involving an alternate LNH universe called
    Looniverse Y. The big difference between this and the Classic
    LNH is that writers are allowed to have only one character of
    theirs in this Looniverse's LNH.

    RACCCafe A continuity-free outpust where RACC characters can unwind
    after a hard day of being mangled by their writers. Anything
    can happen, as long as it's funny, and there are no
    consequences!

    SG Superguy. From Space Moose to the Bomb. Comedy superhero
    writing with a far different background than LNH. Note that
    only a small slice of Superguy stuff appears here; to see the
    rest, go to <https://lists.eyrie.org/mailman/listinfo/superguy>.

    STARFALL Lightly serious and seriously light superheroics, and better
    because of it. ;)

    NTB Net.Trenchcoat.Brigade. A bunch of Vertigo-like characters
    that own stock in London Fog. Not tremendously active, but
    they do have a considerable history. Implied Acraphobe.

    OMEGA A serious psi-based shared super-world and once upon a time
    RACC's third largest universe, now inactive. Created by the
    legendary Matt Rossi.

    OSD The Order of Saint Doomas. Items relating to RACC's anti-spam
    cult. (See Section 3 above.) No posts have been seen from
    this imprint in quite some time, but that doesn't mean they're
    gone....

    SW10 SW stands for Superhuman World. 10 is an annual tag. The
    comic has proceeded to 2011, but the tag has frozen at 2010
    because that's when the series really interacted with RACC.
    Scott Eiler has written the story of this universe since
    before 1991, but 1991 is when the modern heroes of this series
    start. His sources include adolescent male power fantasy,
    superhero role-playing, comic-book satire, and dreams. See
    <http://www.eilertech.com/stories/>.

    MISC Stories not in the above categories or in their own universes
    (authors are encouraged to make up their own headers as well).
    To limit the number of imprints, and to keep this FAQ to
    reasonable lengths, let's adopt this convention: One-shot
    stories or series should use the MISC flag. Series that set
    up shared universes should create their own, new imprint.

    ------------------------------

    Subject: 6. People to Ask for Help

    The major header contacts are listed below, who will be glad to answer
    email question. Also keep your eyes peeled for FAQs specific to
    particular imprints. The FAQs are also often in the archive in a
    directory named "FAQs" under the imprint directory.

    Imprint Contact Email
    ------------ -------------------- ---------------------------------
    8FOLD Jamie Rosen jamie.rosen@sunlife.com
    8FOLD Tom Russell joltcity@gmail.com
    + ASH Dave Van Domelen dvandom@eyrie.org
    + LNH Andrew Perron pwerdna@gmail.com
    LNH20 Andrew Perron pwerdna@gmail.com
    + LNHY Arthur Spitzer arspitzer@earthlink.net
    + NTB Arthur Spitzer arspitzer@earthlink.net
    + RACChallenge Sean MacDonald mcdonald@vorteb.math.uab.edu
    + StarFall Ted Brock phantom_belcher@yahoo.com
    + Superguy Eric Burns eaburns@annotations.com
    SW10 Scott Eiler seiler@eilertech.com

    The Archive Russ Allbery eagle@eyrie.org
    Moderation RACC Moderation Team racc-request@eyrie.org

    + indicates separate FAQs are available for these imprints.

    If you need to contact the moderator directly, the contact information is:

    Russ Allbery <eagle@eyrie.org>

    If none of the above people help, or your questions are too general or specific, just email anyone you see posting here that seems to know what they're doing. (WARNING: This is rarely the case.)

    --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
    * Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)
  • From Russ Allbery@21:1/5 to All on Sat Jan 1 08:01:02 2022
    Last-modified: 2018-07-16
    Posted-by: postfaq 1.17 (Perl 5.28.1)
    Archive-name: comics/creative/faq
    URL: https://www.eyrie.org/~eagle/faqs/racc.html
    Posting-frequency: monthly

    ==========================================================================
    rec.arts.comics.creative Frequently Asked Questions
    Maintained by Russ Allbery <eagle@eyrie.org>
    Original by Jeff McCoskey ==========================================================================

    If you're reading this on Usenet, this FAQ is formatted as a minimal
    digest. If your newsreader has digest handling capabilities you can use
    them to navigate between sections. In rn variants, you can use Ctrl-G to
    skip to the next section; in Gnus, press Ctrl-D to break each section into
    a separate article. For other newsreaders, see the documentation.

    The latest version of this FAQ is available on the web at:

    <https://www.eyrie.org/~eagle/faqs/racc.html>

    Please send any comments, suggestions, or updates to eagle@eyrie.org.

    ------------------------------

    Subject: Contents

    1. Welcome to rec.arts.comics.creative!
    1.1. What is RACC for?
    1.2. What isn't RACC for?
    1.3. What is the RACC official charter?
    1.4. Where are the stories about Wolverine(tm)?
    1.5. Where are the old stories?
    1.6. How can I read RACC via e-mail?

    2. Writing for RACC (How do I get involved?)
    2.1. Cool! Okay, how do I post?
    2.2. Format! I'm nothing without format!
    2.3. How 'bout them imprints? What's up with that?
    2.4. How do I archive my stories for posterity?
    2.5. What do copyright laws I pay taxes for do for me?

    3. Netiquette for RACC

    4. Glossary

    5. List of current imprints

    6. People to ask for help

    ------------------------------

    Subject: 1. Welcome to rec.arts.comics.creative!

    Welcome to rec.arts.comics.creative, the newsgroup which could have been
    named rec.prose.shared-universe but wasn't, the newsgroup which has, to
    date, produced well over 30MB of entirely free original fiction (and
    that's compressed!), the newsgroup which has nearly nothing to do with
    your favorite comic books at all!

    You're about to go insane. Don't worry, it's fun.

    rec.arts.comics.creative (henceforth RACC) is a moderated newsgroup for comics-related original fiction and discussion of same, originally created unmoderated by Martin Phipps and a cast of thousands (well, dozens at
    least) and later converted to moderated to keep out the spam. Don't
    worry, even though it's a moderated group, it's still friendly, chatty,
    and not at all formal, and we go out of our way to keep it that way.

    The first group of this sort on the Internet was the Superguy mailing
    list, which is still in operation to this day (you'll see posts from it on
    this group from time to time). Later, the Legion of Net.Heroes (LNH)
    sprung out of a free-form thread on rec.arts.comics and spawned another newsgroup (alt.comics.lnh). They were quickly followed by a wide variety
    of other comics-based shared universes, including the Patrol, the Net.Trenchcoat.Brigade, and Omega. All of these organizations, in
    parallel, gathered together authors in shared universes and strongly
    influenced the nature of RACC.

    First and foremost, RACC is a site for people to post comics-related
    fiction. Stories about long-underwear vigilantes, anthropomorphic
    animals, SF, westerns, even Kleen Teens if anyone is so moved. As long as
    it relates to comics it's okay. So whether you're a reader, a writer, or
    that fabled creature the critic, or even all three -- welcome to RACC:
    it's all the story, none of the art! (yet)

    ------------------------------

    Subject: 1.1. What is RACC for?

    For the official charter, see section 1.3. Here's the long, readable
    version.

    One term that you'll see a lot is "shared universe." This is a shared
    story background, co-created by multiple authors and used as the
    "universe" in which multiple different stories are set. This is a
    trademark characteristic of most comic books (seen in its clearest form in
    the ubiquitous crossover, a story written by multiple authors at once and involving multiple characters who all have their own stories), as well as appearing in some other published fiction (such as Wild Cards, or Larry
    Niven's Man-Kzin Wars). Most (but not all) of the stories posted here
    take place in one of the established shared universes (there's a list
    later on in this FAQ), to the point where this style of writing is nearly characteristic of the group.

    Another term you'll see is "comics-related." Nearly all of the authors
    writing here drew their original (if not primary) inspiration from comic
    books. As a result, nearly all of the stories are on-going (published a chapter at a time), divided up into "issues" and given numbers, and
    organized into "imprints." Many people also describe covers or design
    ASCII graphic logos.

    There is no restriction on types of fiction. (That'd kinda take the
    creative out of RACC, wouldn't it?) You'll see stories run the gamut from slapstick comedy to grim'n'gritty Real Life Supers (TM). As long as it's
    about comics, set your pen free. (You'll see a lot of superhero fiction,
    but that just means that those of us who like reading other things as well
    are anxiously awaiting your non-superhero stories.)

    RACC is also for discussion of stories, both specific ones and in general.
    The critic and reader is one of the most sought-after types of people
    around here; if you give us feedback on our stories, good or bad, we'll
    love you forever.

    Finally, if you want to announce your free web strip here, we welcome
    those posts too. If you're trying to sell it, though, please try rec.arts.comics.marketplace or rec.arts.comics.strips instead. (And rec.arts.comics.strips may be a better group in general, as RACC readers
    are mostly interested in text fiction.)

    ------------------------------

    Subject: 1.2. What isn't RACC for?

    A lot of things. We're not for wars of attrition, Third World starvation,
    45 mph speed limits, and brussel sprout toothpaste. Closer to home, RACC
    is not for any of the following:

    * Discussion of existing, "professional" books (except as they relate
    to our fiction)

    * Marketplace-type I-wanna-buy/I-wanna-sell postings

    * Flames and personality conflicts. Critiques, yes. Flames, no.

    * Fiction about established, trademarked characters and universes,
    unless you created them or have written permission.

    * Erotica, no matter how much spandex you put in. There are other
    groups for that.

    ------------------------------

    Subject: 1.3. What is the RACC official charter?

    This newsgroup welcomes any form of comics-related original fiction and discussion of the same, including but not limited to stories in the many established shared universes. Discussion of on-line fiction as a whole is
    also welcome provided that it is related to the stories on the newsgroup.
    If they choose to write in an existing shared universe, writers are
    strongly encouranged to follow the existing continuity and rules of that universe. "Comics-related" will be interpreted very broadly, as has been traditional on the newsgroup.

    Each posting to rec.arts.comics.creative should include a keyword on the subject line either designating which shared universe the posting refers
    to or marking the general subject of the post (ADMIN, META, MISC, etc.).
    If a submitted post does not have a keyword, the moderator will add an appropriate keyword, but posters are encouraged to add keywords themselves
    to save moderation work.

    Large binaries, such as artwork, will not be allowed on the newsgroup.
    Instead, binaries can be made available in the newsgroup archive (subject
    to the discretion of the archivist) and a pointer posted to the newsgroup. Pointers to Web pages are also welcome, provided the content of the page
    is related to the purpose of the group.

    Stories using copyrighted or trademarked characters are explicitly not
    within the charter of this group and may be rejected unless the author
    owns the copyrights and trademarks or has written permission from the
    owner. Networking posts (artists seeking writers or writers seeking
    artists) are inappropriate in this group and should be sent to appropriate mailing lists or other groups in the rec.arts.comics.* hierarchy (rec.arts.comics.misc if there is no other more appropriate group).

    ------------------------------

    Subject: 1.4. Where are the stories about Wolverine(tm)?

    This is very important, so I'm going to yell it. RACC IS NOT THE PLACE
    FOR FICTION ABOUT ESTABLISHED, TRADEMARKED CHARACTERS. This includes all Marvel, Image, DC, what-have-you characters. RACC's charter expressly
    FORBIDS such fiction.

    The reason for this is the ongoing legislative battles about intellectual property and the Net. rec.* groups are picked up worldwide, and sysadmins
    do not want to draw lawsuits because someone wrote a story that violated trademark laws. Note that fanfic stories may or may not be lawful and/or prosecutable, WE JUST DON'T KNOW. They're still writing the laws.

    To forestall any confusion or debates, and to protect sysadmins from inadvertently becoming the test case, this provision was adopted as a key requirement for RACC's creation. If you really must write about existing, trademarked characters, there is alt.comics.fan-fiction waiting to receive
    you. alt.* groups get picked up by sysadmins voluntarily, so they
    presumedly know what risks they're taking.

    Nothing will draw this group's ire faster than violating this requirement.

    ------------------------------

    Subject: 1.5. Where are the old stories?

    Thanks to the tireless efforts and bottomless disk space of Russ Allbery,
    all stories posted to rec.arts.comics.creative are archived! This means stories will be preserved for future generations of readers, providing a
    link to the past. It is difficult to over-praise this contribution.

    (Note: Lest you think I would be so crass as to praise myself, I want to
    make sure you know that Jeff wrote that last paragraph. 'course, I didn't delete it either.)

    Older stories are sorted by universe and series and are available at:

    <https://archives.eyrie.org/racc/>

    All of the stories are compressed using gzip, but most browsers can automatically decompress them for you. This archive unfortunately hasn't
    been updated recently, but it does have all of the older stories.

    Every message to rec.arts.comics.creative, story or not, is archived at:

    <https://lists.eyrie.org/pipermail/racc/>

    in the form of a more traditional mailing list archive, so you can also
    look there if a story hasn't been saved in the story archive. This is the
    best way to find anything posted in the last few years. You can search
    the archive by prepending "site:lists.eyrie.org" to a regular Google
    search.

    Please note that stories will be removed from both the list archive and
    the story archive at the author's request if the author wants to take them down. This has happened in the past, sometimes because the author wanted
    to sell the stories to a professional venue.

    ------------------------------

    Subject: 1.6. How can I read RACC via e-mail?

    Everything that shows up in RACC also shows up in its associated mailing
    list (and vice versa), so if you want to be sure not to miss anything, or
    if you just prefer e-mail to Usenet, you can subscribe to that mailing
    list.

    To do that, go to:

    <https://lists.eyrie.org/mailman/listinfo/racc>

    and fill out the form to subscribe. Alternately, you can subscribe via
    e-mail by sending mail to racc-request@lists.eyrie.org with the word:

    subscribe

    in the subject of the message. You then can read and reply to posts just
    as if the newsgroup were a mailing list. It's all the same to us.

    ------------------------------

    Subject: 2. Writing for RACC (How do I get involved?)

    Write a story. Post it. You're involved.

    This assumes you want to create your own universe to write in. If you
    want to join a pre-existing shared universe, it's a little more involved.

    Many of the imprints have FAQs of their own (OMEGA, Superguy, LNH,
    Crossroads to name a few). These get posted periodically. The first
    thing you should do is read these documents to get a feel for what these specific universes are like.

    The next thing you should do is _read_ the universe in question. This
    includes tapping the archives for back issues. No one would suggest you
    read the entire Superguy or LNH archives before writing, but definitely
    try to sample a large cross-section.

    Lastly, email some of the creators you see writing under a specific
    imprint. They will be able to tell you if your concept fits with their universe or not, and perhaps refer you to a more appropriate universe if necessary.

    THEN write a story and post it.

    ------------------------------

    Subject: 2.1. Cool! Okay, how do I post?

    RACC is a moderated newsgroup, which means that every post goes to the moderators first. If your site correctly has the group marked as
    moderated, you should be able to post just like you post to any other
    group and your news server will take care of the rest. If you have a Unix shell account, you can check if the group is correctly marked as moderated
    by typing:

    nntplist active | grep rec.arts.comics.creative

    If the last character on the resulting line is an "m," congratulations,
    you have a good news administrator. If it's a "y," send mail to your
    local computing support people and ask them to convert the group to
    moderated like it should be.

    If you don't have a Unix shell account, some newsreaders will also tell
    you if the group is moderated.

    If, for any reason, you have trouble posting or your site *doesn't* have
    the group marked as moderated, you can mail your post to racc@eyrie.org
    instead and it will be posted for you.

    Because the group is moderated, it can be up to a day after you post
    before your article is actually posted, and it can take a few more days
    for the article to propagate back to you. So don't be surprised if it
    doesn't show up right away.

    Many readers of rec.arts.comics.creative use Google Groups to read and
    post. While this works, and I know it's convenient, Google Groups also
    deletes anything enclosed in square brackets ([]) at the beginning of
    Subject lines in replies. If you use Google Groups, please try to
    remember to put back the imprint tags when you reply to posts; otherwise,
    I have to add them as the moderator.

    ------------------------------

    Subject: 2.2. Format! I'm nothing without format!

    Formatting is pretty loose. Since this is a comics newsgroup, you will
    hear people refer to their stories as "issues." Postings tend to run in numerical order just like comic books, and many people write continuing
    series. For example there are 25 "issues" in Drizzt's _Continuity Champ
    and the Drizzt's Defenders_ series.

    Stories don't have to be series though. One-shots, mini-series,
    maxi-series, crossovers -- all of these have been done before and will be
    done again.

    The subjects of postings should follow the convention of naming the
    imprint the title and the number. For example:

    LNH: System Corruptors #15, The Bard's Tale
    imprint --^ ^ ^ ^
    title --------------| | |
    number -------------------------| |
    subtitle/comment/etc [optional] -------|

    Since the archive mechanism relies heavily on this format (not to mention
    the format-accustomed eyes of this group's readers), please follow this strictly, including the use of the #-sign. Subtitles, alternate titles,
    and title comments should follow the number if they are used at all. If
    you want to, you can use [TAG] instead of TAG: at the beginning of the
    subject; it's all the same to the archiver. (TAG: causes a few fewer
    problems than [TAG] with Google Groups.)

    Occasionally, instead of (or in addition to) a number you will see "TEB."
    This stands for "Trade EtherBack." It means the posting is actually a collection of previously posted issues -- usually cleaned up and relating
    to a single story arc.

    Inside your story do what you will. Some folks run fake ads, others use
    cheesy ASCII graphics, some just use text. A word of advice: On
    older/more primitive newsreaders your text is MUCH easier to read if you
    space between paragraphs. On the other hand, some newer newsreader
    readers find the spaces jarring. The moral? You can't please all the
    people all the time. In general spaces seem to be more preferred.

    ------------------------------

    Subject: 2.3. How 'bout them imprints? What's up with that?

    In order to accommodate a near-infinite number of different potential universes, RACC has adopted the reasonable convention of flagging fiction.
    This allows uninterested parties to skip some genres, and others to
    quickly find their niches of interest. The flag goes before the title of
    story issues, related FAQs or universe-specific discussions. Many flags
    refer to existing shared-universes. New ones will come up all the time.
    For the current list, see section 5 of this FAQ.

    Once you pick an imprint name, stick with it. The Archive and your legion
    of new fans will both be happier if you don't make marketing name changes.

    Regardless of flags all SEXUALLY EXPLICIT or PROFANITY-RICH stories should
    have huge warning labels at the beginning of text. Last thing we need is
    a Florida DA bringing us all up on charges. ;] Besides, it's only common courtesy. Note that if a story could reasonably be posted on
    alt.sex.stories, you've probably strayed a bit far from this group's
    interests.

    Some sort of flag, either an imprint name or a more general tag, is
    required on all posts and one will be added by the moderator if you don't provide one. Leaving one off requires the moderator to edit your post,
    though, which takes time and means your post will be delayed. So please
    save them the trouble and remember to add the tag yourself.

    ------------------------------

    Subject: 2.4. How do I archive my stories for posterity?

    Good news! It's already being done for you! (Or at least it will be if
    Russ ever catches up with the archiving.)

    In theory, every story posted to rec.arts.comics.creative is archived at <https://archives.eyrie.org/racc/>. Most imprints have their own
    directories, with the stories stored in directories under that (depending
    on the size of the imprint, the directories could be very structured or
    just one directory for each series). Some imprints may be collected in
    the misc directory.

    Unfortunately, this archive is substantially out of date. Russ hopes to eventually find time to update it.

    The exception is Superguy, which has its own archiving mechanism. The
    Superguy archives are at <https://archives.eyrie.org/superguy/>, but one
    of the best ways to access them is through the Autocollector at:

    <https://archives.eyrie.org/cgi-bin/superguy>

    ------------------------------

    Subject: 2.5. What do Copyright laws I pay taxes for do for me?

    I don't even play a lawyer on TV, but there are some things you should
    know about Copyright laws.

    Anything you write is copyrighted immediately, whether you flag it with a copyright notice or not. Furthermore, the copyright protection is international under the Berne Copyright Convention, which has been signed
    by nearly every country with access to Usenet.

    If you label your text as copyrighted, it preempts a possible
    "unintentional infringement" defense from plagarizers. The copyright
    notice is considered legal notice that you intend to retain your rights.
    The legal format for such a notice requires three things: Your name, the
    year, and one or more of the following: "Copyright," "Copr.," and/or the c-in-circle symbol. Note that there is no firm legal precedence for (C)
    or (c) as having any special copyright meaning. Example notice:

    Copyright 1994 Jeff J McCoskey

    The only way to get full legal protection (at least in the United States)
    is to register your work with the government (forms are free, filing fees apply). This *guarantees* an archived, dated copy should future legal
    action be necessary. Other forms of dating, like mailing yourself a copy
    or archiving (to get a date stamp), are of dubious and unproven legal
    value.

    An excellent resource for Copyright information is misc.legal, where a FAQ
    is posted monthly.

    Another excellent resource is the U.S. Copyright Office home page at:

    <https://www.copyright.gov/>

    ------------------------------

    Subject: 3. Netiquette for RACC

    As a rule of thumb, everything you've heard elsewhere about good
    netiquette applies here. We hate spammers (more in a minute), expect
    smilies when joking (except in stories of course), and in general expect
    you to conduct yourselves as good net.citizens. There are three things
    you need to know after you've mastered Basic Netiquette:

    1. The only times flames are accepted on RACC are when they are both
    morally defensible and amusing. Flames are not welcome if they do not
    meet the above criteria. Here on RACC there is one organization that
    acts as moral compass for acceptable flames: the Order of St. Doomas.

    The Order has defined one activity that is worthy of flame: spamming.
    One member of the Order (usually the first to his/her keyboard) will
    have the honors. Repetitive flaming by multiple members is frowned
    upon by the Order.

    To join this righteous crusade, all you need do is select a
    net.persona and flame. Incorrect flaming (i.e. at non-sanctioned
    targets, or with unamusing effect) will result in ostracization and
    excommunication. Watch the Order in action before joining and all
    will be clear.

    Now that the group has been moderated, most opportunities for flames
    are gone. But watch carefully; new ones may arise.

    2. Reviews of stories (even negative ones) are one of the most
    sought-after commodities on RACC. You will instantly win friends and
    influence people if you post reviews. But especially in the case of
    negative reviews, ensure you confine your review to the story and not
    the writer. Keep in mind as you write "that SUCKS" that someone
    worked long and hard on the text. They might want to know what worked
    and what didn't in their narrative but it's doubtful they want to hear
    how clever you can be in ripping them up.

    It's certain the rest of us don't.

    3. One of the best features of a shared universe is the opportunity to
    have your characters interact with others in that universe. This is
    a privilege, not a right. All characters on RACC (and their
    distinctive text-likenesses) are the full and exclusive property of
    their creators. This is not as dogmatic as it sounds, and we're all
    adults (or pretending to be). Cameos (non-speaking/non-plot affecting
    roles) do not typically require permission unless the creator desires
    it. Speaking roles should be previewed through email and approved by
    the creator before being posted.

    ------------------------------

    Subject: 4. Glossary

    These are terms you will see come up on RACC that have special meaning
    here. (For general net.terms and abbreviations, see the META RAC FAQ.)

    Acraphobe RACC's version of adult warning label. Yes, with an "a."
    Don't ask.

    Arc A multi-issue storyline.

    Archive ftp.eyrie.org, where nearly ALL the back issues live.

    Crossover A storyline that involves several titles and/or authors. Also
    the bane of all mankind.

    Elsewhirls An imaginary story. (Yeah yeah, we know they're ALL
    imaginary. How about "out-of-continuity"?)

    Fanfiction Fiction about established, trademarked universes and
    or fanfic characters that the author did not create -- in short, the
    sort of stories RACC *wasn't* designed for. There's a good
    list of newsgroups at the end of this FAQ that should help in
    finding a better group if this is what you want to write.

    Imprint The shared universe your story takes place in or subject your
    posting relates to (we have many to chose from). This is
    usually an all-caps prefix on the title of the posting.

    LNH The Legion of Net.Heroes. The immediate father of this group
    and the oldest of the Usenet-based writing universes (see
    Superguy).

    RAC* The rec.arts.comics.* hierarchy of newsgroups.

    RACC rec.arts.comics.creative. You're soaking in it!

    rACCIES The annual RACC fanfiction awards, as voted on by the readers
    or RACCies of this newsgroup.

    Repost Story has been posted before, natch.

    Superguy A mailing list that predates all other Internet comics-fiction
    forums. There is a good-natured rivalry between the LNH and
    this group.

    TEB Trade EtherBack. This is a collection of previously posted
    material, usually cleaned up and relating to a single story
    arc.

    Title A numerically increasing, continuing series. Usually
    involving one character, cast, city, or unifying concept.

    ------------------------------

    Subject: 5. List of Current Tags

    When choosing a tag to put at the beginning of your post, this list should
    be a canonical reference. If you see a need for a new tag, send mail to
    the FAQ maintainer so that it can be added.

    First, the general tags:

    ADMIN Administrative matters affecting everyone on RACC.

    FAQ FAQs of note for the entire RAC* hierarchy. These will tend
    to be crossposted here.

    META Discussion about the newsgroup itself. This includes
    or CHAT everything from general discussion of on-line fiction and RACC
    in particular to recommendations on how long posts should be.

    PRECOG Announcements of upcoming series, planned stories, and the
    or PROMO like.

    WWW Announcement of a web page related to RACC or a free strip.

    Now, all of the writing imprints. Note that new ones of these pop up all
    the time. Entries marked with (*) are in danger of being retired due to
    lack of activity. If you have any changes, please mail eagle@eyrie.org.

    8FOLD A closed universe that encompasses serious superheroes, comedy,
    memoir, and just about anything else: high-quality fiction of
    any stripe is welcome.

    ACRAPHOBE Mature stories that may or may not fit into other universes'
    or ACRA continuity. Using this flag in conjunction with another is
    not unheard of. (For example, Scav's _501 Blues_ is
    LNH/ACRAPHOBE.) Think a meta-Vertigo.

    ASH Academy of Super-Heroes. Dave Van Domelen's RPG-based future-
    history stories. See <https://www.eyrie.org/~dvandom/ASH>.

    ELSEWHIRLS LNH stories that do not fit into LNH continuity. Think DC's
    or EW Elseworlds.

    HCC The High Concept Challenge, a continuous series of writing
    contests. Each round, the winner, chosen by reader vote, gets
    to pick the next round's concept.

    LNH Legion of Net.Heroes, "The Friendliest Shared Universe
    Going!(TM)" A mostly parody universe, though it does have its
    serious side.

    LNH20 On the LNH's 20th anniversary, a group of writers took it upon
    themselves to create a new world, based in everything they
    loved about the LNH, in the best spirit of comic book reboots!
    LNH20 is just as friendly as the original, but easier to get
    into! Hop right in, the adventure's fine!

    LNHY An Imprint involving an alternate LNH universe called
    Looniverse Y. The big difference between this and the Classic
    LNH is that writers are allowed to have only one character of
    theirs in this Looniverse's LNH.

    RACCCafe A continuity-free outpust where RACC characters can unwind
    after a hard day of being mangled by their writers. Anything
    can happen, as long as it's funny, and there are no
    consequences!

    SG Superguy. From Space Moose to the Bomb. Comedy superhero
    writing with a far different background than LNH. Note that
    only a small slice of Superguy stuff appears here; to see the
    rest, go to <https://lists.eyrie.org/mailman/listinfo/superguy>.

    STARFALL Lightly serious and seriously light superheroics, and better
    because of it. ;)

    NTB Net.Trenchcoat.Brigade. A bunch of Vertigo-like characters
    that own stock in London Fog. Not tremendously active, but
    they do have a considerable history. Implied Acraphobe.

    OMEGA A serious psi-based shared super-world and once upon a time
    RACC's third largest universe, now inactive. Created by the
    legendary Matt Rossi.

    OSD The Order of Saint Doomas. Items relating to RACC's anti-spam
    cult. (See Section 3 above.) No posts have been seen from
    this imprint in quite some time, but that doesn't mean they're
    gone....

    SW10 SW stands for Superhuman World. 10 is an annual tag. The
    comic has proceeded to 2011, but the tag has frozen at 2010
    because that's when the series really interacted with RACC.
    Scott Eiler has written the story of this universe since
    before 1991, but 1991 is when the modern heroes of this series
    start. His sources include adolescent male power fantasy,
    superhero role-playing, comic-book satire, and dreams. See
    <http://www.eilertech.com/stories/>.

    MISC Stories not in the above categories or in their own universes
    (authors are encouraged to make up their own headers as well).
    To limit the number of imprints, and to keep this FAQ to
    reasonable lengths, let's adopt this convention: One-shot
    stories or series should use the MISC flag. Series that set
    up shared universes should create their own, new imprint.

    ------------------------------

    Subject: 6. People to Ask for Help

    The major header contacts are listed below, who will be glad to answer
    email question. Also keep your eyes peeled for FAQs specific to
    particular imprints. The FAQs are also often in the archive in a
    directory named "FAQs" under the imprint directory.

    Imprint Contact Email
    ------------ -------------------- ---------------------------------
    8FOLD Jamie Rosen jamie.rosen@sunlife.com
    8FOLD Tom Russell joltcity@gmail.com
    + ASH Dave Van Domelen dvandom@eyrie.org
    + LNH Andrew Perron pwerdna@gmail.com
    LNH20 Andrew Perron pwerdna@gmail.com
    + LNHY Arthur Spitzer arspitzer@earthlink.net
    + NTB Arthur Spitzer arspitzer@earthlink.net
    + RACChallenge Sean MacDonald mcdonald@vorteb.math.uab.edu
    + StarFall Ted Brock phantom_belcher@yahoo.com
    + Superguy Eric Burns eaburns@annotations.com
    SW10 Scott Eiler seiler@eilertech.com

    The Archive Russ Allbery eagle@eyrie.org
    Moderation RACC Moderation Team racc-request@eyrie.org

    + indicates separate FAQs are available for these imprints.

    If you need to contact the moderator directly, the contact information is:

    Russ Allbery <eagle@eyrie.org>

    If none of the above people help, or your questions are too general or specific, just email anyone you see posting here that seems to know what they're doing. (WARNING: This is rarely the case.)

    --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
    * Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)
  • From Russ Allbery@21:1/5 to All on Tue Feb 1 08:01:03 2022
    Last-modified: 2018-07-16
    Posted-by: postfaq 1.17 (Perl 5.28.1)
    Archive-name: comics/creative/faq
    URL: https://www.eyrie.org/~eagle/faqs/racc.html
    Posting-frequency: monthly

    ==========================================================================
    rec.arts.comics.creative Frequently Asked Questions
    Maintained by Russ Allbery <eagle@eyrie.org>
    Original by Jeff McCoskey ==========================================================================

    If you're reading this on Usenet, this FAQ is formatted as a minimal
    digest. If your newsreader has digest handling capabilities you can use
    them to navigate between sections. In rn variants, you can use Ctrl-G to
    skip to the next section; in Gnus, press Ctrl-D to break each section into
    a separate article. For other newsreaders, see the documentation.

    The latest version of this FAQ is available on the web at:

    <https://www.eyrie.org/~eagle/faqs/racc.html>

    Please send any comments, suggestions, or updates to eagle@eyrie.org.

    ------------------------------

    Subject: Contents

    1. Welcome to rec.arts.comics.creative!
    1.1. What is RACC for?
    1.2. What isn't RACC for?
    1.3. What is the RACC official charter?
    1.4. Where are the stories about Wolverine(tm)?
    1.5. Where are the old stories?
    1.6. How can I read RACC via e-mail?

    2. Writing for RACC (How do I get involved?)
    2.1. Cool! Okay, how do I post?
    2.2. Format! I'm nothing without format!
    2.3. How 'bout them imprints? What's up with that?
    2.4. How do I archive my stories for posterity?
    2.5. What do copyright laws I pay taxes for do for me?

    3. Netiquette for RACC

    4. Glossary

    5. List of current imprints

    6. People to ask for help

    ------------------------------

    Subject: 1. Welcome to rec.arts.comics.creative!

    Welcome to rec.arts.comics.creative, the newsgroup which could have been
    named rec.prose.shared-universe but wasn't, the newsgroup which has, to
    date, produced well over 30MB of entirely free original fiction (and
    that's compressed!), the newsgroup which has nearly nothing to do with
    your favorite comic books at all!

    You're about to go insane. Don't worry, it's fun.

    rec.arts.comics.creative (henceforth RACC) is a moderated newsgroup for comics-related original fiction and discussion of same, originally created unmoderated by Martin Phipps and a cast of thousands (well, dozens at
    least) and later converted to moderated to keep out the spam. Don't
    worry, even though it's a moderated group, it's still friendly, chatty,
    and not at all formal, and we go out of our way to keep it that way.

    The first group of this sort on the Internet was the Superguy mailing
    list, which is still in operation to this day (you'll see posts from it on
    this group from time to time). Later, the Legion of Net.Heroes (LNH)
    sprung out of a free-form thread on rec.arts.comics and spawned another newsgroup (alt.comics.lnh). They were quickly followed by a wide variety
    of other comics-based shared universes, including the Patrol, the Net.Trenchcoat.Brigade, and Omega. All of these organizations, in
    parallel, gathered together authors in shared universes and strongly
    influenced the nature of RACC.

    First and foremost, RACC is a site for people to post comics-related
    fiction. Stories about long-underwear vigilantes, anthropomorphic
    animals, SF, westerns, even Kleen Teens if anyone is so moved. As long as
    it relates to comics it's okay. So whether you're a reader, a writer, or
    that fabled creature the critic, or even all three -- welcome to RACC:
    it's all the story, none of the art! (yet)

    ------------------------------

    Subject: 1.1. What is RACC for?

    For the official charter, see section 1.3. Here's the long, readable
    version.

    One term that you'll see a lot is "shared universe." This is a shared
    story background, co-created by multiple authors and used as the
    "universe" in which multiple different stories are set. This is a
    trademark characteristic of most comic books (seen in its clearest form in
    the ubiquitous crossover, a story written by multiple authors at once and involving multiple characters who all have their own stories), as well as appearing in some other published fiction (such as Wild Cards, or Larry
    Niven's Man-Kzin Wars). Most (but not all) of the stories posted here
    take place in one of the established shared universes (there's a list
    later on in this FAQ), to the point where this style of writing is nearly characteristic of the group.

    Another term you'll see is "comics-related." Nearly all of the authors
    writing here drew their original (if not primary) inspiration from comic
    books. As a result, nearly all of the stories are on-going (published a chapter at a time), divided up into "issues" and given numbers, and
    organized into "imprints." Many people also describe covers or design
    ASCII graphic logos.

    There is no restriction on types of fiction. (That'd kinda take the
    creative out of RACC, wouldn't it?) You'll see stories run the gamut from slapstick comedy to grim'n'gritty Real Life Supers (TM). As long as it's
    about comics, set your pen free. (You'll see a lot of superhero fiction,
    but that just means that those of us who like reading other things as well
    are anxiously awaiting your non-superhero stories.)

    RACC is also for discussion of stories, both specific ones and in general.
    The critic and reader is one of the most sought-after types of people
    around here; if you give us feedback on our stories, good or bad, we'll
    love you forever.

    Finally, if you want to announce your free web strip here, we welcome
    those posts too. If you're trying to sell it, though, please try rec.arts.comics.marketplace or rec.arts.comics.strips instead. (And rec.arts.comics.strips may be a better group in general, as RACC readers
    are mostly interested in text fiction.)

    ------------------------------

    Subject: 1.2. What isn't RACC for?

    A lot of things. We're not for wars of attrition, Third World starvation,
    45 mph speed limits, and brussel sprout toothpaste. Closer to home, RACC
    is not for any of the following:

    * Discussion of existing, "professional" books (except as they relate
    to our fiction)

    * Marketplace-type I-wanna-buy/I-wanna-sell postings

    * Flames and personality conflicts. Critiques, yes. Flames, no.

    * Fiction about established, trademarked characters and universes,
    unless you created them or have written permission.

    * Erotica, no matter how much spandex you put in. There are other
    groups for that.

    ------------------------------

    Subject: 1.3. What is the RACC official charter?

    This newsgroup welcomes any form of comics-related original fiction and discussion of the same, including but not limited to stories in the many established shared universes. Discussion of on-line fiction as a whole is
    also welcome provided that it is related to the stories on the newsgroup.
    If they choose to write in an existing shared universe, writers are
    strongly encouranged to follow the existing continuity and rules of that universe. "Comics-related" will be interpreted very broadly, as has been traditional on the newsgroup.

    Each posting to rec.arts.comics.creative should include a keyword on the subject line either designating which shared universe the posting refers
    to or marking the general subject of the post (ADMIN, META, MISC, etc.).
    If a submitted post does not have a keyword, the moderator will add an appropriate keyword, but posters are encouraged to add keywords themselves
    to save moderation work.

    Large binaries, such as artwork, will not be allowed on the newsgroup.
    Instead, binaries can be made available in the newsgroup archive (subject
    to the discretion of the archivist) and a pointer posted to the newsgroup. Pointers to Web pages are also welcome, provided the content of the page
    is related to the purpose of the group.

    Stories using copyrighted or trademarked characters are explicitly not
    within the charter of this group and may be rejected unless the author
    owns the copyrights and trademarks or has written permission from the
    owner. Networking posts (artists seeking writers or writers seeking
    artists) are inappropriate in this group and should be sent to appropriate mailing lists or other groups in the rec.arts.comics.* hierarchy (rec.arts.comics.misc if there is no other more appropriate group).

    ------------------------------

    Subject: 1.4. Where are the stories about Wolverine(tm)?

    This is very important, so I'm going to yell it. RACC IS NOT THE PLACE
    FOR FICTION ABOUT ESTABLISHED, TRADEMARKED CHARACTERS. This includes all Marvel, Image, DC, what-have-you characters. RACC's charter expressly
    FORBIDS such fiction.

    The reason for this is the ongoing legislative battles about intellectual property and the Net. rec.* groups are picked up worldwide, and sysadmins
    do not want to draw lawsuits because someone wrote a story that violated trademark laws. Note that fanfic stories may or may not be lawful and/or prosecutable, WE JUST DON'T KNOW. They're still writing the laws.

    To forestall any confusion or debates, and to protect sysadmins from inadvertently becoming the test case, this provision was adopted as a key requirement for RACC's creation. If you really must write about existing, trademarked characters, there is alt.comics.fan-fiction waiting to receive
    you. alt.* groups get picked up by sysadmins voluntarily, so they
    presumedly know what risks they're taking.

    Nothing will draw this group's ire faster than violating this requirement.

    ------------------------------

    Subject: 1.5. Where are the old stories?

    Thanks to the tireless efforts and bottomless disk space of Russ Allbery,
    all stories posted to rec.arts.comics.creative are archived! This means stories will be preserved for future generations of readers, providing a
    link to the past. It is difficult to over-praise this contribution.

    (Note: Lest you think I would be so crass as to praise myself, I want to
    make sure you know that Jeff wrote that last paragraph. 'course, I didn't delete it either.)

    Older stories are sorted by universe and series and are available at:

    <https://archives.eyrie.org/racc/>

    All of the stories are compressed using gzip, but most browsers can automatically decompress them for you. This archive unfortunately hasn't
    been updated recently, but it does have all of the older stories.

    Every message to rec.arts.comics.creative, story or not, is archived at:

    <https://lists.eyrie.org/pipermail/racc/>

    in the form of a more traditional mailing list archive, so you can also
    look there if a story hasn't been saved in the story archive. This is the
    best way to find anything posted in the last few years. You can search
    the archive by prepending "site:lists.eyrie.org" to a regular Google
    search.

    Please note that stories will be removed from both the list archive and
    the story archive at the author's request if the author wants to take them down. This has happened in the past, sometimes because the author wanted
    to sell the stories to a professional venue.

    ------------------------------

    Subject: 1.6. How can I read RACC via e-mail?

    Everything that shows up in RACC also shows up in its associated mailing
    list (and vice versa), so if you want to be sure not to miss anything, or
    if you just prefer e-mail to Usenet, you can subscribe to that mailing
    list.

    To do that, go to:

    <https://lists.eyrie.org/mailman/listinfo/racc>

    and fill out the form to subscribe. Alternately, you can subscribe via
    e-mail by sending mail to racc-request@lists.eyrie.org with the word:

    subscribe

    in the subject of the message. You then can read and reply to posts just
    as if the newsgroup were a mailing list. It's all the same to us.

    ------------------------------

    Subject: 2. Writing for RACC (How do I get involved?)

    Write a story. Post it. You're involved.

    This assumes you want to create your own universe to write in. If you
    want to join a pre-existing shared universe, it's a little more involved.

    Many of the imprints have FAQs of their own (OMEGA, Superguy, LNH,
    Crossroads to name a few). These get posted periodically. The first
    thing you should do is read these documents to get a feel for what these specific universes are like.

    The next thing you should do is _read_ the universe in question. This
    includes tapping the archives for back issues. No one would suggest you
    read the entire Superguy or LNH archives before writing, but definitely
    try to sample a large cross-section.

    Lastly, email some of the creators you see writing under a specific
    imprint. They will be able to tell you if your concept fits with their universe or not, and perhaps refer you to a more appropriate universe if necessary.

    THEN write a story and post it.

    ------------------------------

    Subject: 2.1. Cool! Okay, how do I post?

    RACC is a moderated newsgroup, which means that every post goes to the moderators first. If your site correctly has the group marked as
    moderated, you should be able to post just like you post to any other
    group and your news server will take care of the rest. If you have a Unix shell account, you can check if the group is correctly marked as moderated
    by typing:

    nntplist active | grep rec.arts.comics.creative

    If the last character on the resulting line is an "m," congratulations,
    you have a good news administrator. If it's a "y," send mail to your
    local computing support people and ask them to convert the group to
    moderated like it should be.

    If you don't have a Unix shell account, some newsreaders will also tell
    you if the group is moderated.

    If, for any reason, you have trouble posting or your site *doesn't* have
    the group marked as moderated, you can mail your post to racc@eyrie.org
    instead and it will be posted for you.

    Because the group is moderated, it can be up to a day after you post
    before your article is actually posted, and it can take a few more days
    for the article to propagate back to you. So don't be surprised if it
    doesn't show up right away.

    Many readers of rec.arts.comics.creative use Google Groups to read and
    post. While this works, and I know it's convenient, Google Groups also
    deletes anything enclosed in square brackets ([]) at the beginning of
    Subject lines in replies. If you use Google Groups, please try to
    remember to put back the imprint tags when you reply to posts; otherwise,
    I have to add them as the moderator.

    ------------------------------

    Subject: 2.2. Format! I'm nothing without format!

    Formatting is pretty loose. Since this is a comics newsgroup, you will
    hear people refer to their stories as "issues." Postings tend to run in numerical order just like comic books, and many people write continuing
    series. For example there are 25 "issues" in Drizzt's _Continuity Champ
    and the Drizzt's Defenders_ series.

    Stories don't have to be series though. One-shots, mini-series,
    maxi-series, crossovers -- all of these have been done before and will be
    done again.

    The subjects of postings should follow the convention of naming the
    imprint the title and the number. For example:

    LNH: System Corruptors #15, The Bard's Tale
    imprint --^ ^ ^ ^
    title --------------| | |
    number -------------------------| |
    subtitle/comment/etc [optional] -------|

    Since the archive mechanism relies heavily on this format (not to mention
    the format-accustomed eyes of this group's readers), please follow this strictly, including the use of the #-sign. Subtitles, alternate titles,
    and title comments should follow the number if they are used at all. If
    you want to, you can use [TAG] instead of TAG: at the beginning of the
    subject; it's all the same to the archiver. (TAG: causes a few fewer
    problems than [TAG] with Google Groups.)

    Occasionally, instead of (or in addition to) a number you will see "TEB."
    This stands for "Trade EtherBack." It means the posting is actually a collection of previously posted issues -- usually cleaned up and relating
    to a single story arc.

    Inside your story do what you will. Some folks run fake ads, others use
    cheesy ASCII graphics, some just use text. A word of advice: On
    older/more primitive newsreaders your text is MUCH easier to read if you
    space between paragraphs. On the other hand, some newer newsreader
    readers find the spaces jarring. The moral? You can't please all the
    people all the time. In general spaces seem to be more preferred.

    ------------------------------

    Subject: 2.3. How 'bout them imprints? What's up with that?

    In order to accommodate a near-infinite number of different potential universes, RACC has adopted the reasonable convention of flagging fiction.
    This allows uninterested parties to skip some genres, and others to
    quickly find their niches of interest. The flag goes before the title of
    story issues, related FAQs or universe-specific discussions. Many flags
    refer to existing shared-universes. New ones will come up all the time.
    For the current list, see section 5 of this FAQ.

    Once you pick an imprint name, stick with it. The Archive and your legion
    of new fans will both be happier if you don't make marketing name changes.

    Regardless of flags all SEXUALLY EXPLICIT or PROFANITY-RICH stories should
    have huge warning labels at the beginning of text. Last thing we need is
    a Florida DA bringing us all up on charges. ;] Besides, it's only common courtesy. Note that if a story could reasonably be posted on
    alt.sex.stories, you've probably strayed a bit far from this group's
    interests.

    Some sort of flag, either an imprint name or a more general tag, is
    required on all posts and one will be added by the moderator if you don't provide one. Leaving one off requires the moderator to edit your post,
    though, which takes time and means your post will be delayed. So please
    save them the trouble and remember to add the tag yourself.

    ------------------------------

    Subject: 2.4. How do I archive my stories for posterity?

    Good news! It's already being done for you! (Or at least it will be if
    Russ ever catches up with the archiving.)

    In theory, every story posted to rec.arts.comics.creative is archived at <https://archives.eyrie.org/racc/>. Most imprints have their own
    directories, with the stories stored in directories under that (depending
    on the size of the imprint, the directories could be very structured or
    just one directory for each series). Some imprints may be collected in
    the misc directory.

    Unfortunately, this archive is substantially out of date. Russ hopes to eventually find time to update it.

    The exception is Superguy, which has its own archiving mechanism. The
    Superguy archives are at <https://archives.eyrie.org/superguy/>, but one
    of the best ways to access them is through the Autocollector at:

    <https://archives.eyrie.org/cgi-bin/superguy>

    ------------------------------

    Subject: 2.5. What do Copyright laws I pay taxes for do for me?

    I don't even play a lawyer on TV, but there are some things you should
    know about Copyright laws.

    Anything you write is copyrighted immediately, whether you flag it with a copyright notice or not. Furthermore, the copyright protection is international under the Berne Copyright Convention, which has been signed
    by nearly every country with access to Usenet.

    If you label your text as copyrighted, it preempts a possible
    "unintentional infringement" defense from plagarizers. The copyright
    notice is considered legal notice that you intend to retain your rights.
    The legal format for such a notice requires three things: Your name, the
    year, and one or more of the following: "Copyright," "Copr.," and/or the c-in-circle symbol. Note that there is no firm legal precedence for (C)
    or (c) as having any special copyright meaning. Example notice:

    Copyright 1994 Jeff J McCoskey

    The only way to get full legal protection (at least in the United States)
    is to register your work with the government (forms are free, filing fees apply). This *guarantees* an archived, dated copy should future legal
    action be necessary. Other forms of dating, like mailing yourself a copy
    or archiving (to get a date stamp), are of dubious and unproven legal
    value.

    An excellent resource for Copyright information is misc.legal, where a FAQ
    is posted monthly.

    Another excellent resource is the U.S. Copyright Office home page at:

    <https://www.copyright.gov/>

    ------------------------------

    Subject: 3. Netiquette for RACC

    As a rule of thumb, everything you've heard elsewhere about good
    netiquette applies here. We hate spammers (more in a minute), expect
    smilies when joking (except in stories of course), and in general expect
    you to conduct yourselves as good net.citizens. There are three things
    you need to know after you've mastered Basic Netiquette:

    1. The only times flames are accepted on RACC are when they are both
    morally defensible and amusing. Flames are not welcome if they do not
    meet the above criteria. Here on RACC there is one organization that
    acts as moral compass for acceptable flames: the Order of St. Doomas.

    The Order has defined one activity that is worthy of flame: spamming.
    One member of the Order (usually the first to his/her keyboard) will
    have the honors. Repetitive flaming by multiple members is frowned
    upon by the Order.

    To join this righteous crusade, all you need do is select a
    net.persona and flame. Incorrect flaming (i.e. at non-sanctioned
    targets, or with unamusing effect) will result in ostracization and
    excommunication. Watch the Order in action before joining and all
    will be clear.

    Now that the group has been moderated, most opportunities for flames
    are gone. But watch carefully; new ones may arise.

    2. Reviews of stories (even negative ones) are one of the most
    sought-after commodities on RACC. You will instantly win friends and
    influence people if you post reviews. But especially in the case of
    negative reviews, ensure you confine your review to the story and not
    the writer. Keep in mind as you write "that SUCKS" that someone
    worked long and hard on the text. They might want to know what worked
    and what didn't in their narrative but it's doubtful they want to hear
    how clever you can be in ripping them up.

    It's certain the rest of us don't.

    3. One of the best features of a shared universe is the opportunity to
    have your characters interact with others in that universe. This is
    a privilege, not a right. All characters on RACC (and their
    distinctive text-likenesses) are the full and exclusive property of
    their creators. This is not as dogmatic as it sounds, and we're all
    adults (or pretending to be). Cameos (non-speaking/non-plot affecting
    roles) do not typically require permission unless the creator desires
    it. Speaking roles should be previewed through email and approved by
    the creator before being posted.

    ------------------------------

    Subject: 4. Glossary

    These are terms you will see come up on RACC that have special meaning
    here. (For general net.terms and abbreviations, see the META RAC FAQ.)

    Acraphobe RACC's version of adult warning label. Yes, with an "a."
    Don't ask.

    Arc A multi-issue storyline.

    Archive ftp.eyrie.org, where nearly ALL the back issues live.

    Crossover A storyline that involves several titles and/or authors. Also
    the bane of all mankind.

    Elsewhirls An imaginary story. (Yeah yeah, we know they're ALL
    imaginary. How about "out-of-continuity"?)

    Fanfiction Fiction about established, trademarked universes and
    or fanfic characters that the author did not create -- in short, the
    sort of stories RACC *wasn't* designed for. There's a good
    list of newsgroups at the end of this FAQ that should help in
    finding a better group if this is what you want to write.

    Imprint The shared universe your story takes place in or subject your
    posting relates to (we have many to chose from). This is
    usually an all-caps prefix on the title of the posting.

    LNH The Legion of Net.Heroes. The immediate father of this group
    and the oldest of the Usenet-based writing universes (see
    Superguy).

    RAC* The rec.arts.comics.* hierarchy of newsgroups.

    RACC rec.arts.comics.creative. You're soaking in it!

    rACCIES The annual RACC fanfiction awards, as voted on by the readers
    or RACCies of this newsgroup.

    Repost Story has been posted before, natch.

    Superguy A mailing list that predates all other Internet comics-fiction
    forums. There is a good-natured rivalry between the LNH and
    this group.

    TEB Trade EtherBack. This is a collection of previously posted
    material, usually cleaned up and relating to a single story
    arc.

    Title A numerically increasing, continuing series. Usually
    involving one character, cast, city, or unifying concept.

    ------------------------------

    Subject: 5. List of Current Tags

    When choosing a tag to put at the beginning of your post, this list should
    be a canonical reference. If you see a need for a new tag, send mail to
    the FAQ maintainer so that it can be added.

    First, the general tags:

    ADMIN Administrative matters affecting everyone on RACC.

    FAQ FAQs of note for the entire RAC* hierarchy. These will tend
    to be crossposted here.

    META Discussion about the newsgroup itself. This includes
    or CHAT everything from general discussion of on-line fiction and RACC
    in particular to recommendations on how long posts should be.

    PRECOG Announcements of upcoming series, planned stories, and the
    or PROMO like.

    WWW Announcement of a web page related to RACC or a free strip.

    Now, all of the writing imprints. Note that new ones of these pop up all
    the time. Entries marked with (*) are in danger of being retired due to
    lack of activity. If you have any changes, please mail eagle@eyrie.org.

    8FOLD A closed universe that encompasses serious superheroes, comedy,
    memoir, and just about anything else: high-quality fiction of
    any stripe is welcome.

    ACRAPHOBE Mature stories that may or may not fit into other universes'
    or ACRA continuity. Using this flag in conjunction with another is
    not unheard of. (For example, Scav's _501 Blues_ is
    LNH/ACRAPHOBE.) Think a meta-Vertigo.

    ASH Academy of Super-Heroes. Dave Van Domelen's RPG-based future-
    history stories. See <https://www.eyrie.org/~dvandom/ASH>.

    ELSEWHIRLS LNH stories that do not fit into LNH continuity. Think DC's
    or EW Elseworlds.

    HCC The High Concept Challenge, a continuous series of writing
    contests. Each round, the winner, chosen by reader vote, gets
    to pick the next round's concept.

    LNH Legion of Net.Heroes, "The Friendliest Shared Universe
    Going!(TM)" A mostly parody universe, though it does have its
    serious side.

    LNH20 On the LNH's 20th anniversary, a group of writers took it upon
    themselves to create a new world, based in everything they
    loved about the LNH, in the best spirit of comic book reboots!
    LNH20 is just as friendly as the original, but easier to get
    into! Hop right in, the adventure's fine!

    LNHY An Imprint involving an alternate LNH universe called
    Looniverse Y. The big difference between this and the Classic
    LNH is that writers are allowed to have only one character of
    theirs in this Looniverse's LNH.

    RACCCafe A continuity-free outpust where RACC characters can unwind
    after a hard day of being mangled by their writers. Anything
    can happen, as long as it's funny, and there are no
    consequences!

    SG Superguy. From Space Moose to the Bomb. Comedy superhero
    writing with a far different background than LNH. Note that
    only a small slice of Superguy stuff appears here; to see the
    rest, go to <https://lists.eyrie.org/mailman/listinfo/superguy>.

    STARFALL Lightly serious and seriously light superheroics, and better
    because of it. ;)

    NTB Net.Trenchcoat.Brigade. A bunch of Vertigo-like characters
    that own stock in London Fog. Not tremendously active, but
    they do have a considerable history. Implied Acraphobe.

    OMEGA A serious psi-based shared super-world and once upon a time
    RACC's third largest universe, now inactive. Created by the
    legendary Matt Rossi.

    OSD The Order of Saint Doomas. Items relating to RACC's anti-spam
    cult. (See Section 3 above.) No posts have been seen from
    this imprint in quite some time, but that doesn't mean they're
    gone....

    SW10 SW stands for Superhuman World. 10 is an annual tag. The
    comic has proceeded to 2011, but the tag has frozen at 2010
    because that's when the series really interacted with RACC.
    Scott Eiler has written the story of this universe since
    before 1991, but 1991 is when the modern heroes of this series
    start. His sources include adolescent male power fantasy,
    superhero role-playing, comic-book satire, and dreams. See
    <http://www.eilertech.com/stories/>.

    MISC Stories not in the above categories or in their own universes
    (authors are encouraged to make up their own headers as well).
    To limit the number of imprints, and to keep this FAQ to
    reasonable lengths, let's adopt this convention: One-shot
    stories or series should use the MISC flag. Series that set
    up shared universes should create their own, new imprint.

    ------------------------------

    Subject: 6. People to Ask for Help

    The major header contacts are listed below, who will be glad to answer
    email question. Also keep your eyes peeled for FAQs specific to
    particular imprints. The FAQs are also often in the archive in a
    directory named "FAQs" under the imprint directory.

    Imprint Contact Email
    ------------ -------------------- ---------------------------------
    8FOLD Jamie Rosen jamie.rosen@sunlife.com
    8FOLD Tom Russell joltcity@gmail.com
    + ASH Dave Van Domelen dvandom@eyrie.org
    + LNH Andrew Perron pwerdna@gmail.com
    LNH20 Andrew Perron pwerdna@gmail.com
    + LNHY Arthur Spitzer arspitzer@earthlink.net
    + NTB Arthur Spitzer arspitzer@earthlink.net
    + RACChallenge Sean MacDonald mcdonald@vorteb.math.uab.edu
    + StarFall Ted Brock phantom_belcher@yahoo.com
    + Superguy Eric Burns eaburns@annotations.com
    SW10 Scott Eiler seiler@eilertech.com

    The Archive Russ Allbery eagle@eyrie.org
    Moderation RACC Moderation Team racc-request@eyrie.org

    + indicates separate FAQs are available for these imprints.

    If you need to contact the moderator directly, the contact information is:

    Russ Allbery <eagle@eyrie.org>

    If none of the above people help, or your questions are too general or specific, just email anyone you see posting here that seems to know what they're doing. (WARNING: This is rarely the case.)

    --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
    * Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)
  • From Russ Allbery@21:1/5 to All on Tue Mar 1 08:01:02 2022
    Last-modified: 2018-07-16
    Posted-by: postfaq 1.17 (Perl 5.28.1)
    Archive-name: comics/creative/faq
    URL: https://www.eyrie.org/~eagle/faqs/racc.html
    Posting-frequency: monthly

    ==========================================================================
    rec.arts.comics.creative Frequently Asked Questions
    Maintained by Russ Allbery <eagle@eyrie.org>
    Original by Jeff McCoskey ==========================================================================

    If you're reading this on Usenet, this FAQ is formatted as a minimal
    digest. If your newsreader has digest handling capabilities you can use
    them to navigate between sections. In rn variants, you can use Ctrl-G to
    skip to the next section; in Gnus, press Ctrl-D to break each section into
    a separate article. For other newsreaders, see the documentation.

    The latest version of this FAQ is available on the web at:

    <https://www.eyrie.org/~eagle/faqs/racc.html>

    Please send any comments, suggestions, or updates to eagle@eyrie.org.

    ------------------------------

    Subject: Contents

    1. Welcome to rec.arts.comics.creative!
    1.1. What is RACC for?
    1.2. What isn't RACC for?
    1.3. What is the RACC official charter?
    1.4. Where are the stories about Wolverine(tm)?
    1.5. Where are the old stories?
    1.6. How can I read RACC via e-mail?

    2. Writing for RACC (How do I get involved?)
    2.1. Cool! Okay, how do I post?
    2.2. Format! I'm nothing without format!
    2.3. How 'bout them imprints? What's up with that?
    2.4. How do I archive my stories for posterity?
    2.5. What do copyright laws I pay taxes for do for me?

    3. Netiquette for RACC

    4. Glossary

    5. List of current imprints

    6. People to ask for help

    ------------------------------

    Subject: 1. Welcome to rec.arts.comics.creative!

    Welcome to rec.arts.comics.creative, the newsgroup which could have been
    named rec.prose.shared-universe but wasn't, the newsgroup which has, to
    date, produced well over 30MB of entirely free original fiction (and
    that's compressed!), the newsgroup which has nearly nothing to do with
    your favorite comic books at all!

    You're about to go insane. Don't worry, it's fun.

    rec.arts.comics.creative (henceforth RACC) is a moderated newsgroup for comics-related original fiction and discussion of same, originally created unmoderated by Martin Phipps and a cast of thousands (well, dozens at
    least) and later converted to moderated to keep out the spam. Don't
    worry, even though it's a moderated group, it's still friendly, chatty,
    and not at all formal, and we go out of our way to keep it that way.

    The first group of this sort on the Internet was the Superguy mailing
    list, which is still in operation to this day (you'll see posts from it on
    this group from time to time). Later, the Legion of Net.Heroes (LNH)
    sprung out of a free-form thread on rec.arts.comics and spawned another newsgroup (alt.comics.lnh). They were quickly followed by a wide variety
    of other comics-based shared universes, including the Patrol, the Net.Trenchcoat.Brigade, and Omega. All of these organizations, in
    parallel, gathered together authors in shared universes and strongly
    influenced the nature of RACC.

    First and foremost, RACC is a site for people to post comics-related
    fiction. Stories about long-underwear vigilantes, anthropomorphic
    animals, SF, westerns, even Kleen Teens if anyone is so moved. As long as
    it relates to comics it's okay. So whether you're a reader, a writer, or
    that fabled creature the critic, or even all three -- welcome to RACC:
    it's all the story, none of the art! (yet)

    ------------------------------

    Subject: 1.1. What is RACC for?

    For the official charter, see section 1.3. Here's the long, readable
    version.

    One term that you'll see a lot is "shared universe." This is a shared
    story background, co-created by multiple authors and used as the
    "universe" in which multiple different stories are set. This is a
    trademark characteristic of most comic books (seen in its clearest form in
    the ubiquitous crossover, a story written by multiple authors at once and involving multiple characters who all have their own stories), as well as appearing in some other published fiction (such as Wild Cards, or Larry
    Niven's Man-Kzin Wars). Most (but not all) of the stories posted here
    take place in one of the established shared universes (there's a list
    later on in this FAQ), to the point where this style of writing is nearly characteristic of the group.

    Another term you'll see is "comics-related." Nearly all of the authors
    writing here drew their original (if not primary) inspiration from comic
    books. As a result, nearly all of the stories are on-going (published a chapter at a time), divided up into "issues" and given numbers, and
    organized into "imprints." Many people also describe covers or design
    ASCII graphic logos.

    There is no restriction on types of fiction. (That'd kinda take the
    creative out of RACC, wouldn't it?) You'll see stories run the gamut from slapstick comedy to grim'n'gritty Real Life Supers (TM). As long as it's
    about comics, set your pen free. (You'll see a lot of superhero fiction,
    but that just means that those of us who like reading other things as well
    are anxiously awaiting your non-superhero stories.)

    RACC is also for discussion of stories, both specific ones and in general.
    The critic and reader is one of the most sought-after types of people
    around here; if you give us feedback on our stories, good or bad, we'll
    love you forever.

    Finally, if you want to announce your free web strip here, we welcome
    those posts too. If you're trying to sell it, though, please try rec.arts.comics.marketplace or rec.arts.comics.strips instead. (And rec.arts.comics.strips may be a better group in general, as RACC readers
    are mostly interested in text fiction.)

    ------------------------------

    Subject: 1.2. What isn't RACC for?

    A lot of things. We're not for wars of attrition, Third World starvation,
    45 mph speed limits, and brussel sprout toothpaste. Closer to home, RACC
    is not for any of the following:

    * Discussion of existing, "professional" books (except as they relate
    to our fiction)

    * Marketplace-type I-wanna-buy/I-wanna-sell postings

    * Flames and personality conflicts. Critiques, yes. Flames, no.

    * Fiction about established, trademarked characters and universes,
    unless you created them or have written permission.

    * Erotica, no matter how much spandex you put in. There are other
    groups for that.

    ------------------------------

    Subject: 1.3. What is the RACC official charter?

    This newsgroup welcomes any form of comics-related original fiction and discussion of the same, including but not limited to stories in the many established shared universes. Discussion of on-line fiction as a whole is
    also welcome provided that it is related to the stories on the newsgroup.
    If they choose to write in an existing shared universe, writers are
    strongly encouranged to follow the existing continuity and rules of that universe. "Comics-related" will be interpreted very broadly, as has been traditional on the newsgroup.

    Each posting to rec.arts.comics.creative should include a keyword on the subject line either designating which shared universe the posting refers
    to or marking the general subject of the post (ADMIN, META, MISC, etc.).
    If a submitted post does not have a keyword, the moderator will add an appropriate keyword, but posters are encouraged to add keywords themselves
    to save moderation work.

    Large binaries, such as artwork, will not be allowed on the newsgroup.
    Instead, binaries can be made available in the newsgroup archive (subject
    to the discretion of the archivist) and a pointer posted to the newsgroup. Pointers to Web pages are also welcome, provided the content of the page
    is related to the purpose of the group.

    Stories using copyrighted or trademarked characters are explicitly not
    within the charter of this group and may be rejected unless the author
    owns the copyrights and trademarks or has written permission from the
    owner. Networking posts (artists seeking writers or writers seeking
    artists) are inappropriate in this group and should be sent to appropriate mailing lists or other groups in the rec.arts.comics.* hierarchy (rec.arts.comics.misc if there is no other more appropriate group).

    ------------------------------

    Subject: 1.4. Where are the stories about Wolverine(tm)?

    This is very important, so I'm going to yell it. RACC IS NOT THE PLACE
    FOR FICTION ABOUT ESTABLISHED, TRADEMARKED CHARACTERS. This includes all Marvel, Image, DC, what-have-you characters. RACC's charter expressly
    FORBIDS such fiction.

    The reason for this is the ongoing legislative battles about intellectual property and the Net. rec.* groups are picked up worldwide, and sysadmins
    do not want to draw lawsuits because someone wrote a story that violated trademark laws. Note that fanfic stories may or may not be lawful and/or prosecutable, WE JUST DON'T KNOW. They're still writing the laws.

    To forestall any confusion or debates, and to protect sysadmins from inadvertently becoming the test case, this provision was adopted as a key requirement for RACC's creation. If you really must write about existing, trademarked characters, there is alt.comics.fan-fiction waiting to receive
    you. alt.* groups get picked up by sysadmins voluntarily, so they
    presumedly know what risks they're taking.

    Nothing will draw this group's ire faster than violating this requirement.

    ------------------------------

    Subject: 1.5. Where are the old stories?

    Thanks to the tireless efforts and bottomless disk space of Russ Allbery,
    all stories posted to rec.arts.comics.creative are archived! This means stories will be preserved for future generations of readers, providing a
    link to the past. It is difficult to over-praise this contribution.

    (Note: Lest you think I would be so crass as to praise myself, I want to
    make sure you know that Jeff wrote that last paragraph. 'course, I didn't delete it either.)

    Older stories are sorted by universe and series and are available at:

    <https://archives.eyrie.org/racc/>

    All of the stories are compressed using gzip, but most browsers can automatically decompress them for you. This archive unfortunately hasn't
    been updated recently, but it does have all of the older stories.

    Every message to rec.arts.comics.creative, story or not, is archived at:

    <https://lists.eyrie.org/pipermail/racc/>

    in the form of a more traditional mailing list archive, so you can also
    look there if a story hasn't been saved in the story archive. This is the
    best way to find anything posted in the last few years. You can search
    the archive by prepending "site:lists.eyrie.org" to a regular Google
    search.

    Please note that stories will be removed from both the list archive and
    the story archive at the author's request if the author wants to take them down. This has happened in the past, sometimes because the author wanted
    to sell the stories to a professional venue.

    ------------------------------

    Subject: 1.6. How can I read RACC via e-mail?

    Everything that shows up in RACC also shows up in its associated mailing
    list (and vice versa), so if you want to be sure not to miss anything, or
    if you just prefer e-mail to Usenet, you can subscribe to that mailing
    list.

    To do that, go to:

    <https://lists.eyrie.org/mailman/listinfo/racc>

    and fill out the form to subscribe. Alternately, you can subscribe via
    e-mail by sending mail to racc-request@lists.eyrie.org with the word:

    subscribe

    in the subject of the message. You then can read and reply to posts just
    as if the newsgroup were a mailing list. It's all the same to us.

    ------------------------------

    Subject: 2. Writing for RACC (How do I get involved?)

    Write a story. Post it. You're involved.

    This assumes you want to create your own universe to write in. If you
    want to join a pre-existing shared universe, it's a little more involved.

    Many of the imprints have FAQs of their own (OMEGA, Superguy, LNH,
    Crossroads to name a few). These get posted periodically. The first
    thing you should do is read these documents to get a feel for what these specific universes are like.

    The next thing you should do is _read_ the universe in question. This
    includes tapping the archives for back issues. No one would suggest you
    read the entire Superguy or LNH archives before writing, but definitely
    try to sample a large cross-section.

    Lastly, email some of the creators you see writing under a specific
    imprint. They will be able to tell you if your concept fits with their universe or not, and perhaps refer you to a more appropriate universe if necessary.

    THEN write a story and post it.

    ------------------------------

    Subject: 2.1. Cool! Okay, how do I post?

    RACC is a moderated newsgroup, which means that every post goes to the moderators first. If your site correctly has the group marked as
    moderated, you should be able to post just like you post to any other
    group and your news server will take care of the rest. If you have a Unix shell account, you can check if the group is correctly marked as moderated
    by typing:

    nntplist active | grep rec.arts.comics.creative

    If the last character on the resulting line is an "m," congratulations,
    you have a good news administrator. If it's a "y," send mail to your
    local computing support people and ask them to convert the group to
    moderated like it should be.

    If you don't have a Unix shell account, some newsreaders will also tell
    you if the group is moderated.

    If, for any reason, you have trouble posting or your site *doesn't* have
    the group marked as moderated, you can mail your post to racc@eyrie.org
    instead and it will be posted for you.

    Because the group is moderated, it can be up to a day after you post
    before your article is actually posted, and it can take a few more days
    for the article to propagate back to you. So don't be surprised if it
    doesn't show up right away.

    Many readers of rec.arts.comics.creative use Google Groups to read and
    post. While this works, and I know it's convenient, Google Groups also
    deletes anything enclosed in square brackets ([]) at the beginning of
    Subject lines in replies. If you use Google Groups, please try to
    remember to put back the imprint tags when you reply to posts; otherwise,
    I have to add them as the moderator.

    ------------------------------

    Subject: 2.2. Format! I'm nothing without format!

    Formatting is pretty loose. Since this is a comics newsgroup, you will
    hear people refer to their stories as "issues." Postings tend to run in numerical order just like comic books, and many people write continuing
    series. For example there are 25 "issues" in Drizzt's _Continuity Champ
    and the Drizzt's Defenders_ series.

    Stories don't have to be series though. One-shots, mini-series,
    maxi-series, crossovers -- all of these have been done before and will be
    done again.

    The subjects of postings should follow the convention of naming the
    imprint the title and the number. For example:

    LNH: System Corruptors #15, The Bard's Tale
    imprint --^ ^ ^ ^
    title --------------| | |
    number -------------------------| |
    subtitle/comment/etc [optional] -------|

    Since the archive mechanism relies heavily on this format (not to mention
    the format-accustomed eyes of this group's readers), please follow this strictly, including the use of the #-sign. Subtitles, alternate titles,
    and title comments should follow the number if they are used at all. If
    you want to, you can use [TAG] instead of TAG: at the beginning of the
    subject; it's all the same to the archiver. (TAG: causes a few fewer
    problems than [TAG] with Google Groups.)

    Occasionally, instead of (or in addition to) a number you will see "TEB."
    This stands for "Trade EtherBack." It means the posting is actually a collection of previously posted issues -- usually cleaned up and relating
    to a single story arc.

    Inside your story do what you will. Some folks run fake ads, others use
    cheesy ASCII graphics, some just use text. A word of advice: On
    older/more primitive newsreaders your text is MUCH easier to read if you
    space between paragraphs. On the other hand, some newer newsreader
    readers find the spaces jarring. The moral? You can't please all the
    people all the time. In general spaces seem to be more preferred.

    ------------------------------

    Subject: 2.3. How 'bout them imprints? What's up with that?

    In order to accommodate a near-infinite number of different potential universes, RACC has adopted the reasonable convention of flagging fiction.
    This allows uninterested parties to skip some genres, and others to
    quickly find their niches of interest. The flag goes before the title of
    story issues, related FAQs or universe-specific discussions. Many flags
    refer to existing shared-universes. New ones will come up all the time.
    For the current list, see section 5 of this FAQ.

    Once you pick an imprint name, stick with it. The Archive and your legion
    of new fans will both be happier if you don't make marketing name changes.

    Regardless of flags all SEXUALLY EXPLICIT or PROFANITY-RICH stories should
    have huge warning labels at the beginning of text. Last thing we need is
    a Florida DA bringing us all up on charges. ;] Besides, it's only common courtesy. Note that if a story could reasonably be posted on
    alt.sex.stories, you've probably strayed a bit far from this group's
    interests.

    Some sort of flag, either an imprint name or a more general tag, is
    required on all posts and one will be added by the moderator if you don't provide one. Leaving one off requires the moderator to edit your post,
    though, which takes time and means your post will be delayed. So please
    save them the trouble and remember to add the tag yourself.

    ------------------------------

    Subject: 2.4. How do I archive my stories for posterity?

    Good news! It's already being done for you! (Or at least it will be if
    Russ ever catches up with the archiving.)

    In theory, every story posted to rec.arts.comics.creative is archived at <https://archives.eyrie.org/racc/>. Most imprints have their own
    directories, with the stories stored in directories under that (depending
    on the size of the imprint, the directories could be very structured or
    just one directory for each series). Some imprints may be collected in
    the misc directory.

    Unfortunately, this archive is substantially out of date. Russ hopes to eventually find time to update it.

    The exception is Superguy, which has its own archiving mechanism. The
    Superguy archives are at <https://archives.eyrie.org/superguy/>, but one
    of the best ways to access them is through the Autocollector at:

    <https://archives.eyrie.org/cgi-bin/superguy>

    ------------------------------

    Subject: 2.5. What do Copyright laws I pay taxes for do for me?

    I don't even play a lawyer on TV, but there are some things you should
    know about Copyright laws.

    Anything you write is copyrighted immediately, whether you flag it with a copyright notice or not. Furthermore, the copyright protection is international under the Berne Copyright Convention, which has been signed
    by nearly every country with access to Usenet.

    If you label your text as copyrighted, it preempts a possible
    "unintentional infringement" defense from plagarizers. The copyright
    notice is considered legal notice that you intend to retain your rights.
    The legal format for such a notice requires three things: Your name, the
    year, and one or more of the following: "Copyright," "Copr.," and/or the c-in-circle symbol. Note that there is no firm legal precedence for (C)
    or (c) as having any special copyright meaning. Example notice:

    Copyright 1994 Jeff J McCoskey

    The only way to get full legal protection (at least in the United States)
    is to register your work with the government (forms are free, filing fees apply). This *guarantees* an archived, dated copy should future legal
    action be necessary. Other forms of dating, like mailing yourself a copy
    or archiving (to get a date stamp), are of dubious and unproven legal
    value.

    An excellent resource for Copyright information is misc.legal, where a FAQ
    is posted monthly.

    Another excellent resource is the U.S. Copyright Office home page at:

    <https://www.copyright.gov/>

    ------------------------------

    Subject: 3. Netiquette for RACC

    As a rule of thumb, everything you've heard elsewhere about good
    netiquette applies here. We hate spammers (more in a minute), expect
    smilies when joking (except in stories of course), and in general expect
    you to conduct yourselves as good net.citizens. There are three things
    you need to know after you've mastered Basic Netiquette:

    1. The only times flames are accepted on RACC are when they are both
    morally defensible and amusing. Flames are not welcome if they do not
    meet the above criteria. Here on RACC there is one organization that
    acts as moral compass for acceptable flames: the Order of St. Doomas.

    The Order has defined one activity that is worthy of flame: spamming.
    One member of the Order (usually the first to his/her keyboard) will
    have the honors. Repetitive flaming by multiple members is frowned
    upon by the Order.

    To join this righteous crusade, all you need do is select a
    net.persona and flame. Incorrect flaming (i.e. at non-sanctioned
    targets, or with unamusing effect) will result in ostracization and
    excommunication. Watch the Order in action before joining and all
    will be clear.

    Now that the group has been moderated, most opportunities for flames
    are gone. But watch carefully; new ones may arise.

    2. Reviews of stories (even negative ones) are one of the most
    sought-after commodities on RACC. You will instantly win friends and
    influence people if you post reviews. But especially in the case of
    negative reviews, ensure you confine your review to the story and not
    the writer. Keep in mind as you write "that SUCKS" that someone
    worked long and hard on the text. They might want to know what worked
    and what didn't in their narrative but it's doubtful they want to hear
    how clever you can be in ripping them up.

    It's certain the rest of us don't.

    3. One of the best features of a shared universe is the opportunity to
    have your characters interact with others in that universe. This is
    a privilege, not a right. All characters on RACC (and their
    distinctive text-likenesses) are the full and exclusive property of
    their creators. This is not as dogmatic as it sounds, and we're all
    adults (or pretending to be). Cameos (non-speaking/non-plot affecting
    roles) do not typically require permission unless the creator desires
    it. Speaking roles should be previewed through email and approved by
    the creator before being posted.

    ------------------------------

    Subject: 4. Glossary

    These are terms you will see come up on RACC that have special meaning
    here. (For general net.terms and abbreviations, see the META RAC FAQ.)

    Acraphobe RACC's version of adult warning label. Yes, with an "a."
    Don't ask.

    Arc A multi-issue storyline.

    Archive ftp.eyrie.org, where nearly ALL the back issues live.

    Crossover A storyline that involves several titles and/or authors. Also
    the bane of all mankind.

    Elsewhirls An imaginary story. (Yeah yeah, we know they're ALL
    imaginary. How about "out-of-continuity"?)

    Fanfiction Fiction about established, trademarked universes and
    or fanfic characters that the author did not create -- in short, the
    sort of stories RACC *wasn't* designed for. There's a good
    list of newsgroups at the end of this FAQ that should help in
    finding a better group if this is what you want to write.

    Imprint The shared universe your story takes place in or subject your
    posting relates to (we have many to chose from). This is
    usually an all-caps prefix on the title of the posting.

    LNH The Legion of Net.Heroes. The immediate father of this group
    and the oldest of the Usenet-based writing universes (see
    Superguy).

    RAC* The rec.arts.comics.* hierarchy of newsgroups.

    RACC rec.arts.comics.creative. You're soaking in it!

    rACCIES The annual RACC fanfiction awards, as voted on by the readers
    or RACCies of this newsgroup.

    Repost Story has been posted before, natch.

    Superguy A mailing list that predates all other Internet comics-fiction
    forums. There is a good-natured rivalry between the LNH and
    this group.

    TEB Trade EtherBack. This is a collection of previously posted
    material, usually cleaned up and relating to a single story
    arc.

    Title A numerically increasing, continuing series. Usually
    involving one character, cast, city, or unifying concept.

    ------------------------------

    Subject: 5. List of Current Tags

    When choosing a tag to put at the beginning of your post, this list should
    be a canonical reference. If you see a need for a new tag, send mail to
    the FAQ maintainer so that it can be added.

    First, the general tags:

    ADMIN Administrative matters affecting everyone on RACC.

    FAQ FAQs of note for the entire RAC* hierarchy. These will tend
    to be crossposted here.

    META Discussion about the newsgroup itself. This includes
    or CHAT everything from general discussion of on-line fiction and RACC
    in particular to recommendations on how long posts should be.

    PRECOG Announcements of upcoming series, planned stories, and the
    or PROMO like.

    WWW Announcement of a web page related to RACC or a free strip.

    Now, all of the writing imprints. Note that new ones of these pop up all
    the time. Entries marked with (*) are in danger of being retired due to
    lack of activity. If you have any changes, please mail eagle@eyrie.org.

    8FOLD A closed universe that encompasses serious superheroes, comedy,
    memoir, and just about anything else: high-quality fiction of
    any stripe is welcome.

    ACRAPHOBE Mature stories that may or may not fit into other universes'
    or ACRA continuity. Using this flag in conjunction with another is
    not unheard of. (For example, Scav's _501 Blues_ is
    LNH/ACRAPHOBE.) Think a meta-Vertigo.

    ASH Academy of Super-Heroes. Dave Van Domelen's RPG-based future-
    history stories. See <https://www.eyrie.org/~dvandom/ASH>.

    ELSEWHIRLS LNH stories that do not fit into LNH continuity. Think DC's
    or EW Elseworlds.

    HCC The High Concept Challenge, a continuous series of writing
    contests. Each round, the winner, chosen by reader vote, gets
    to pick the next round's concept.

    LNH Legion of Net.Heroes, "The Friendliest Shared Universe
    Going!(TM)" A mostly parody universe, though it does have its
    serious side.

    LNH20 On the LNH's 20th anniversary, a group of writers took it upon
    themselves to create a new world, based in everything they
    loved about the LNH, in the best spirit of comic book reboots!
    LNH20 is just as friendly as the original, but easier to get
    into! Hop right in, the adventure's fine!

    LNHY An Imprint involving an alternate LNH universe called
    Looniverse Y. The big difference between this and the Classic
    LNH is that writers are allowed to have only one character of
    theirs in this Looniverse's LNH.

    RACCCafe A continuity-free outpust where RACC characters can unwind
    after a hard day of being mangled by their writers. Anything
    can happen, as long as it's funny, and there are no
    consequences!

    SG Superguy. From Space Moose to the Bomb. Comedy superhero
    writing with a far different background than LNH. Note that
    only a small slice of Superguy stuff appears here; to see the
    rest, go to <https://lists.eyrie.org/mailman/listinfo/superguy>.

    STARFALL Lightly serious and seriously light superheroics, and better
    because of it. ;)

    NTB Net.Trenchcoat.Brigade. A bunch of Vertigo-like characters
    that own stock in London Fog. Not tremendously active, but
    they do have a considerable history. Implied Acraphobe.

    OMEGA A serious psi-based shared super-world and once upon a time
    RACC's third largest universe, now inactive. Created by the
    legendary Matt Rossi.

    OSD The Order of Saint Doomas. Items relating to RACC's anti-spam
    cult. (See Section 3 above.) No posts have been seen from
    this imprint in quite some time, but that doesn't mean they're
    gone....

    SW10 SW stands for Superhuman World. 10 is an annual tag. The
    comic has proceeded to 2011, but the tag has frozen at 2010
    because that's when the series really interacted with RACC.
    Scott Eiler has written the story of this universe since
    before 1991, but 1991 is when the modern heroes of this series
    start. His sources include adolescent male power fantasy,
    superhero role-playing, comic-book satire, and dreams. See
    <http://www.eilertech.com/stories/>.

    MISC Stories not in the above categories or in their own universes
    (authors are encouraged to make up their own headers as well).
    To limit the number of imprints, and to keep this FAQ to
    reasonable lengths, let's adopt this convention: One-shot
    stories or series should use the MISC flag. Series that set
    up shared universes should create their own, new imprint.

    ------------------------------

    Subject: 6. People to Ask for Help

    The major header contacts are listed below, who will be glad to answer
    email question. Also keep your eyes peeled for FAQs specific to
    particular imprints. The FAQs are also often in the archive in a
    directory named "FAQs" under the imprint directory.

    Imprint Contact Email
    ------------ -------------------- ---------------------------------
    8FOLD Jamie Rosen jamie.rosen@sunlife.com
    8FOLD Tom Russell joltcity@gmail.com
    + ASH Dave Van Domelen dvandom@eyrie.org
    + LNH Andrew Perron pwerdna@gmail.com
    LNH20 Andrew Perron pwerdna@gmail.com
    + LNHY Arthur Spitzer arspitzer@earthlink.net
    + NTB Arthur Spitzer arspitzer@earthlink.net
    + RACChallenge Sean MacDonald mcdonald@vorteb.math.uab.edu
    + StarFall Ted Brock phantom_belcher@yahoo.com
    + Superguy Eric Burns eaburns@annotations.com
    SW10 Scott Eiler seiler@eilertech.com

    The Archive Russ Allbery eagle@eyrie.org
    Moderation RACC Moderation Team racc-request@eyrie.org

    + indicates separate FAQs are available for these imprints.

    If you need to contact the moderator directly, the contact information is:

    Russ Allbery <eagle@eyrie.org>

    If none of the above people help, or your questions are too general or specific, just email anyone you see posting here that seems to know what they're doing. (WARNING: This is rarely the case.)

    --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
    * Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)
  • From Russ Allbery@21:1/5 to All on Fri Apr 1 07:01:04 2022
    Last-modified: 2018-07-16
    Posted-by: postfaq 1.17 (Perl 5.28.1)
    Archive-name: comics/creative/faq
    URL: https://www.eyrie.org/~eagle/faqs/racc.html
    Posting-frequency: monthly

    ==========================================================================
    rec.arts.comics.creative Frequently Asked Questions
    Maintained by Russ Allbery <eagle@eyrie.org>
    Original by Jeff McCoskey ==========================================================================

    If you're reading this on Usenet, this FAQ is formatted as a minimal
    digest. If your newsreader has digest handling capabilities you can use
    them to navigate between sections. In rn variants, you can use Ctrl-G to
    skip to the next section; in Gnus, press Ctrl-D to break each section into
    a separate article. For other newsreaders, see the documentation.

    The latest version of this FAQ is available on the web at:

    <https://www.eyrie.org/~eagle/faqs/racc.html>

    Please send any comments, suggestions, or updates to eagle@eyrie.org.

    ------------------------------

    Subject: Contents

    1. Welcome to rec.arts.comics.creative!
    1.1. What is RACC for?
    1.2. What isn't RACC for?
    1.3. What is the RACC official charter?
    1.4. Where are the stories about Wolverine(tm)?
    1.5. Where are the old stories?
    1.6. How can I read RACC via e-mail?

    2. Writing for RACC (How do I get involved?)
    2.1. Cool! Okay, how do I post?
    2.2. Format! I'm nothing without format!
    2.3. How 'bout them imprints? What's up with that?
    2.4. How do I archive my stories for posterity?
    2.5. What do copyright laws I pay taxes for do for me?

    3. Netiquette for RACC

    4. Glossary

    5. List of current imprints

    6. People to ask for help

    ------------------------------

    Subject: 1. Welcome to rec.arts.comics.creative!

    Welcome to rec.arts.comics.creative, the newsgroup which could have been
    named rec.prose.shared-universe but wasn't, the newsgroup which has, to
    date, produced well over 30MB of entirely free original fiction (and
    that's compressed!), the newsgroup which has nearly nothing to do with
    your favorite comic books at all!

    You're about to go insane. Don't worry, it's fun.

    rec.arts.comics.creative (henceforth RACC) is a moderated newsgroup for comics-related original fiction and discussion of same, originally created unmoderated by Martin Phipps and a cast of thousands (well, dozens at
    least) and later converted to moderated to keep out the spam. Don't
    worry, even though it's a moderated group, it's still friendly, chatty,
    and not at all formal, and we go out of our way to keep it that way.

    The first group of this sort on the Internet was the Superguy mailing
    list, which is still in operation to this day (you'll see posts from it on
    this group from time to time). Later, the Legion of Net.Heroes (LNH)
    sprung out of a free-form thread on rec.arts.comics and spawned another newsgroup (alt.comics.lnh). They were quickly followed by a wide variety
    of other comics-based shared universes, including the Patrol, the Net.Trenchcoat.Brigade, and Omega. All of these organizations, in
    parallel, gathered together authors in shared universes and strongly
    influenced the nature of RACC.

    First and foremost, RACC is a site for people to post comics-related
    fiction. Stories about long-underwear vigilantes, anthropomorphic
    animals, SF, westerns, even Kleen Teens if anyone is so moved. As long as
    it relates to comics it's okay. So whether you're a reader, a writer, or
    that fabled creature the critic, or even all three -- welcome to RACC:
    it's all the story, none of the art! (yet)

    ------------------------------

    Subject: 1.1. What is RACC for?

    For the official charter, see section 1.3. Here's the long, readable
    version.

    One term that you'll see a lot is "shared universe." This is a shared
    story background, co-created by multiple authors and used as the
    "universe" in which multiple different stories are set. This is a
    trademark characteristic of most comic books (seen in its clearest form in
    the ubiquitous crossover, a story written by multiple authors at once and involving multiple characters who all have their own stories), as well as appearing in some other published fiction (such as Wild Cards, or Larry
    Niven's Man-Kzin Wars). Most (but not all) of the stories posted here
    take place in one of the established shared universes (there's a list
    later on in this FAQ), to the point where this style of writing is nearly characteristic of the group.

    Another term you'll see is "comics-related." Nearly all of the authors
    writing here drew their original (if not primary) inspiration from comic
    books. As a result, nearly all of the stories are on-going (published a chapter at a time), divided up into "issues" and given numbers, and
    organized into "imprints." Many people also describe covers or design
    ASCII graphic logos.

    There is no restriction on types of fiction. (That'd kinda take the
    creative out of RACC, wouldn't it?) You'll see stories run the gamut from slapstick comedy to grim'n'gritty Real Life Supers (TM). As long as it's
    about comics, set your pen free. (You'll see a lot of superhero fiction,
    but that just means that those of us who like reading other things as well
    are anxiously awaiting your non-superhero stories.)

    RACC is also for discussion of stories, both specific ones and in general.
    The critic and reader is one of the most sought-after types of people
    around here; if you give us feedback on our stories, good or bad, we'll
    love you forever.

    Finally, if you want to announce your free web strip here, we welcome
    those posts too. If you're trying to sell it, though, please try rec.arts.comics.marketplace or rec.arts.comics.strips instead. (And rec.arts.comics.strips may be a better group in general, as RACC readers
    are mostly interested in text fiction.)

    ------------------------------

    Subject: 1.2. What isn't RACC for?

    A lot of things. We're not for wars of attrition, Third World starvation,
    45 mph speed limits, and brussel sprout toothpaste. Closer to home, RACC
    is not for any of the following:

    * Discussion of existing, "professional" books (except as they relate
    to our fiction)

    * Marketplace-type I-wanna-buy/I-wanna-sell postings

    * Flames and personality conflicts. Critiques, yes. Flames, no.

    * Fiction about established, trademarked characters and universes,
    unless you created them or have written permission.

    * Erotica, no matter how much spandex you put in. There are other
    groups for that.

    ------------------------------

    Subject: 1.3. What is the RACC official charter?

    This newsgroup welcomes any form of comics-related original fiction and discussion of the same, including but not limited to stories in the many established shared universes. Discussion of on-line fiction as a whole is
    also welcome provided that it is related to the stories on the newsgroup.
    If they choose to write in an existing shared universe, writers are
    strongly encouranged to follow the existing continuity and rules of that universe. "Comics-related" will be interpreted very broadly, as has been traditional on the newsgroup.

    Each posting to rec.arts.comics.creative should include a keyword on the subject line either designating which shared universe the posting refers
    to or marking the general subject of the post (ADMIN, META, MISC, etc.).
    If a submitted post does not have a keyword, the moderator will add an appropriate keyword, but posters are encouraged to add keywords themselves
    to save moderation work.

    Large binaries, such as artwork, will not be allowed on the newsgroup.
    Instead, binaries can be made available in the newsgroup archive (subject
    to the discretion of the archivist) and a pointer posted to the newsgroup. Pointers to Web pages are also welcome, provided the content of the page
    is related to the purpose of the group.

    Stories using copyrighted or trademarked characters are explicitly not
    within the charter of this group and may be rejected unless the author
    owns the copyrights and trademarks or has written permission from the
    owner. Networking posts (artists seeking writers or writers seeking
    artists) are inappropriate in this group and should be sent to appropriate mailing lists or other groups in the rec.arts.comics.* hierarchy (rec.arts.comics.misc if there is no other more appropriate group).

    ------------------------------

    Subject: 1.4. Where are the stories about Wolverine(tm)?

    This is very important, so I'm going to yell it. RACC IS NOT THE PLACE
    FOR FICTION ABOUT ESTABLISHED, TRADEMARKED CHARACTERS. This includes all Marvel, Image, DC, what-have-you characters. RACC's charter expressly
    FORBIDS such fiction.

    The reason for this is the ongoing legislative battles about intellectual property and the Net. rec.* groups are picked up worldwide, and sysadmins
    do not want to draw lawsuits because someone wrote a story that violated trademark laws. Note that fanfic stories may or may not be lawful and/or prosecutable, WE JUST DON'T KNOW. They're still writing the laws.

    To forestall any confusion or debates, and to protect sysadmins from inadvertently becoming the test case, this provision was adopted as a key requirement for RACC's creation. If you really must write about existing, trademarked characters, there is alt.comics.fan-fiction waiting to receive
    you. alt.* groups get picked up by sysadmins voluntarily, so they
    presumedly know what risks they're taking.

    Nothing will draw this group's ire faster than violating this requirement.

    ------------------------------

    Subject: 1.5. Where are the old stories?

    Thanks to the tireless efforts and bottomless disk space of Russ Allbery,
    all stories posted to rec.arts.comics.creative are archived! This means stories will be preserved for future generations of readers, providing a
    link to the past. It is difficult to over-praise this contribution.

    (Note: Lest you think I would be so crass as to praise myself, I want to
    make sure you know that Jeff wrote that last paragraph. 'course, I didn't delete it either.)

    Older stories are sorted by universe and series and are available at:

    <https://archives.eyrie.org/racc/>

    All of the stories are compressed using gzip, but most browsers can automatically decompress them for you. This archive unfortunately hasn't
    been updated recently, but it does have all of the older stories.

    Every message to rec.arts.comics.creative, story or not, is archived at:

    <https://lists.eyrie.org/pipermail/racc/>

    in the form of a more traditional mailing list archive, so you can also
    look there if a story hasn't been saved in the story archive. This is the
    best way to find anything posted in the last few years. You can search
    the archive by prepending "site:lists.eyrie.org" to a regular Google
    search.

    Please note that stories will be removed from both the list archive and
    the story archive at the author's request if the author wants to take them down. This has happened in the past, sometimes because the author wanted
    to sell the stories to a professional venue.

    ------------------------------

    Subject: 1.6. How can I read RACC via e-mail?

    Everything that shows up in RACC also shows up in its associated mailing
    list (and vice versa), so if you want to be sure not to miss anything, or
    if you just prefer e-mail to Usenet, you can subscribe to that mailing
    list.

    To do that, go to:

    <https://lists.eyrie.org/mailman/listinfo/racc>

    and fill out the form to subscribe. Alternately, you can subscribe via
    e-mail by sending mail to racc-request@lists.eyrie.org with the word:

    subscribe

    in the subject of the message. You then can read and reply to posts just
    as if the newsgroup were a mailing list. It's all the same to us.

    ------------------------------

    Subject: 2. Writing for RACC (How do I get involved?)

    Write a story. Post it. You're involved.

    This assumes you want to create your own universe to write in. If you
    want to join a pre-existing shared universe, it's a little more involved.

    Many of the imprints have FAQs of their own (OMEGA, Superguy, LNH,
    Crossroads to name a few). These get posted periodically. The first
    thing you should do is read these documents to get a feel for what these specific universes are like.

    The next thing you should do is _read_ the universe in question. This
    includes tapping the archives for back issues. No one would suggest you
    read the entire Superguy or LNH archives before writing, but definitely
    try to sample a large cross-section.

    Lastly, email some of the creators you see writing under a specific
    imprint. They will be able to tell you if your concept fits with their universe or not, and perhaps refer you to a more appropriate universe if necessary.

    THEN write a story and post it.

    ------------------------------

    Subject: 2.1. Cool! Okay, how do I post?

    RACC is a moderated newsgroup, which means that every post goes to the moderators first. If your site correctly has the group marked as
    moderated, you should be able to post just like you post to any other
    group and your news server will take care of the rest. If you have a Unix shell account, you can check if the group is correctly marked as moderated
    by typing:

    nntplist active | grep rec.arts.comics.creative

    If the last character on the resulting line is an "m," congratulations,
    you have a good news administrator. If it's a "y," send mail to your
    local computing support people and ask them to convert the group to
    moderated like it should be.

    If you don't have a Unix shell account, some newsreaders will also tell
    you if the group is moderated.

    If, for any reason, you have trouble posting or your site *doesn't* have
    the group marked as moderated, you can mail your post to racc@eyrie.org
    instead and it will be posted for you.

    Because the group is moderated, it can be up to a day after you post
    before your article is actually posted, and it can take a few more days
    for the article to propagate back to you. So don't be surprised if it
    doesn't show up right away.

    Many readers of rec.arts.comics.creative use Google Groups to read and
    post. While this works, and I know it's convenient, Google Groups also
    deletes anything enclosed in square brackets ([]) at the beginning of
    Subject lines in replies. If you use Google Groups, please try to
    remember to put back the imprint tags when you reply to posts; otherwise,
    I have to add them as the moderator.

    ------------------------------

    Subject: 2.2. Format! I'm nothing without format!

    Formatting is pretty loose. Since this is a comics newsgroup, you will
    hear people refer to their stories as "issues." Postings tend to run in numerical order just like comic books, and many people write continuing
    series. For example there are 25 "issues" in Drizzt's _Continuity Champ
    and the Drizzt's Defenders_ series.

    Stories don't have to be series though. One-shots, mini-series,
    maxi-series, crossovers -- all of these have been done before and will be
    done again.

    The subjects of postings should follow the convention of naming the
    imprint the title and the number. For example:

    LNH: System Corruptors #15, The Bard's Tale
    imprint --^ ^ ^ ^
    title --------------| | |
    number -------------------------| |
    subtitle/comment/etc [optional] -------|

    Since the archive mechanism relies heavily on this format (not to mention
    the format-accustomed eyes of this group's readers), please follow this strictly, including the use of the #-sign. Subtitles, alternate titles,
    and title comments should follow the number if they are used at all. If
    you want to, you can use [TAG] instead of TAG: at the beginning of the
    subject; it's all the same to the archiver. (TAG: causes a few fewer
    problems than [TAG] with Google Groups.)

    Occasionally, instead of (or in addition to) a number you will see "TEB."
    This stands for "Trade EtherBack." It means the posting is actually a collection of previously posted issues -- usually cleaned up and relating
    to a single story arc.

    Inside your story do what you will. Some folks run fake ads, others use
    cheesy ASCII graphics, some just use text. A word of advice: On
    older/more primitive newsreaders your text is MUCH easier to read if you
    space between paragraphs. On the other hand, some newer newsreader
    readers find the spaces jarring. The moral? You can't please all the
    people all the time. In general spaces seem to be more preferred.

    ------------------------------

    Subject: 2.3. How 'bout them imprints? What's up with that?

    In order to accommodate a near-infinite number of different potential universes, RACC has adopted the reasonable convention of flagging fiction.
    This allows uninterested parties to skip some genres, and others to
    quickly find their niches of interest. The flag goes before the title of
    story issues, related FAQs or universe-specific discussions. Many flags
    refer to existing shared-universes. New ones will come up all the time.
    For the current list, see section 5 of this FAQ.

    Once you pick an imprint name, stick with it. The Archive and your legion
    of new fans will both be happier if you don't make marketing name changes.

    Regardless of flags all SEXUALLY EXPLICIT or PROFANITY-RICH stories should
    have huge warning labels at the beginning of text. Last thing we need is
    a Florida DA bringing us all up on charges. ;] Besides, it's only common courtesy. Note that if a story could reasonably be posted on
    alt.sex.stories, you've probably strayed a bit far from this group's
    interests.

    Some sort of flag, either an imprint name or a more general tag, is
    required on all posts and one will be added by the moderator if you don't provide one. Leaving one off requires the moderator to edit your post,
    though, which takes time and means your post will be delayed. So please
    save them the trouble and remember to add the tag yourself.

    ------------------------------

    Subject: 2.4. How do I archive my stories for posterity?

    Good news! It's already being done for you! (Or at least it will be if
    Russ ever catches up with the archiving.)

    In theory, every story posted to rec.arts.comics.creative is archived at <https://archives.eyrie.org/racc/>. Most imprints have their own
    directories, with the stories stored in directories under that (depending
    on the size of the imprint, the directories could be very structured or
    just one directory for each series). Some imprints may be collected in
    the misc directory.

    Unfortunately, this archive is substantially out of date. Russ hopes to eventually find time to update it.

    The exception is Superguy, which has its own archiving mechanism. The
    Superguy archives are at <https://archives.eyrie.org/superguy/>, but one
    of the best ways to access them is through the Autocollector at:

    <https://archives.eyrie.org/cgi-bin/superguy>

    ------------------------------

    Subject: 2.5. What do Copyright laws I pay taxes for do for me?

    I don't even play a lawyer on TV, but there are some things you should
    know about Copyright laws.

    Anything you write is copyrighted immediately, whether you flag it with a copyright notice or not. Furthermore, the copyright protection is international under the Berne Copyright Convention, which has been signed
    by nearly every country with access to Usenet.

    If you label your text as copyrighted, it preempts a possible
    "unintentional infringement" defense from plagarizers. The copyright
    notice is considered legal notice that you intend to retain your rights.
    The legal format for such a notice requires three things: Your name, the
    year, and one or more of the following: "Copyright," "Copr.," and/or the c-in-circle symbol. Note that there is no firm legal precedence for (C)
    or (c) as having any special copyright meaning. Example notice:

    Copyright 1994 Jeff J McCoskey

    The only way to get full legal protection (at least in the United States)
    is to register your work with the government (forms are free, filing fees apply). This *guarantees* an archived, dated copy should future legal
    action be necessary. Other forms of dating, like mailing yourself a copy
    or archiving (to get a date stamp), are of dubious and unproven legal
    value.

    An excellent resource for Copyright information is misc.legal, where a FAQ
    is posted monthly.

    Another excellent resource is the U.S. Copyright Office home page at:

    <https://www.copyright.gov/>

    ------------------------------

    Subject: 3. Netiquette for RACC

    As a rule of thumb, everything you've heard elsewhere about good
    netiquette applies here. We hate spammers (more in a minute), expect
    smilies when joking (except in stories of course), and in general expect
    you to conduct yourselves as good net.citizens. There are three things
    you need to know after you've mastered Basic Netiquette:

    1. The only times flames are accepted on RACC are when they are both
    morally defensible and amusing. Flames are not welcome if they do not
    meet the above criteria. Here on RACC there is one organization that
    acts as moral compass for acceptable flames: the Order of St. Doomas.

    The Order has defined one activity that is worthy of flame: spamming.
    One member of the Order (usually the first to his/her keyboard) will
    have the honors. Repetitive flaming by multiple members is frowned
    upon by the Order.

    To join this righteous crusade, all you need do is select a
    net.persona and flame. Incorrect flaming (i.e. at non-sanctioned
    targets, or with unamusing effect) will result in ostracization and
    excommunication. Watch the Order in action before joining and all
    will be clear.

    Now that the group has been moderated, most opportunities for flames
    are gone. But watch carefully; new ones may arise.

    2. Reviews of stories (even negative ones) are one of the most
    sought-after commodities on RACC. You will instantly win friends and
    influence people if you post reviews. But especially in the case of
    negative reviews, ensure you confine your review to the story and not
    the writer. Keep in mind as you write "that SUCKS" that someone
    worked long and hard on the text. They might want to know what worked
    and what didn't in their narrative but it's doubtful they want to hear
    how clever you can be in ripping them up.

    It's certain the rest of us don't.

    3. One of the best features of a shared universe is the opportunity to
    have your characters interact with others in that universe. This is
    a privilege, not a right. All characters on RACC (and their
    distinctive text-likenesses) are the full and exclusive property of
    their creators. This is not as dogmatic as it sounds, and we're all
    adults (or pretending to be). Cameos (non-speaking/non-plot affecting
    roles) do not typically require permission unless the creator desires
    it. Speaking roles should be previewed through email and approved by
    the creator before being posted.

    ------------------------------

    Subject: 4. Glossary

    These are terms you will see come up on RACC that have special meaning
    here. (For general net.terms and abbreviations, see the META RAC FAQ.)

    Acraphobe RACC's version of adult warning label. Yes, with an "a."
    Don't ask.

    Arc A multi-issue storyline.

    Archive ftp.eyrie.org, where nearly ALL the back issues live.

    Crossover A storyline that involves several titles and/or authors. Also
    the bane of all mankind.

    Elsewhirls An imaginary story. (Yeah yeah, we know they're ALL
    imaginary. How about "out-of-continuity"?)

    Fanfiction Fiction about established, trademarked universes and
    or fanfic characters that the author did not create -- in short, the
    sort of stories RACC *wasn't* designed for. There's a good
    list of newsgroups at the end of this FAQ that should help in
    finding a better group if this is what you want to write.

    Imprint The shared universe your story takes place in or subject your
    posting relates to (we have many to chose from). This is
    usually an all-caps prefix on the title of the posting.

    LNH The Legion of Net.Heroes. The immediate father of this group
    and the oldest of the Usenet-based writing universes (see
    Superguy).

    RAC* The rec.arts.comics.* hierarchy of newsgroups.

    RACC rec.arts.comics.creative. You're soaking in it!

    rACCIES The annual RACC fanfiction awards, as voted on by the readers
    or RACCies of this newsgroup.

    Repost Story has been posted before, natch.

    Superguy A mailing list that predates all other Internet comics-fiction
    forums. There is a good-natured rivalry between the LNH and
    this group.

    TEB Trade EtherBack. This is a collection of previously posted
    material, usually cleaned up and relating to a single story
    arc.

    Title A numerically increasing, continuing series. Usually
    involving one character, cast, city, or unifying concept.

    ------------------------------

    Subject: 5. List of Current Tags

    When choosing a tag to put at the beginning of your post, this list should
    be a canonical reference. If you see a need for a new tag, send mail to
    the FAQ maintainer so that it can be added.

    First, the general tags:

    ADMIN Administrative matters affecting everyone on RACC.

    FAQ FAQs of note for the entire RAC* hierarchy. These will tend
    to be crossposted here.

    META Discussion about the newsgroup itself. This includes
    or CHAT everything from general discussion of on-line fiction and RACC
    in particular to recommendations on how long posts should be.

    PRECOG Announcements of upcoming series, planned stories, and the
    or PROMO like.

    WWW Announcement of a web page related to RACC or a free strip.

    Now, all of the writing imprints. Note that new ones of these pop up all
    the time. Entries marked with (*) are in danger of being retired due to
    lack of activity. If you have any changes, please mail eagle@eyrie.org.

    8FOLD A closed universe that encompasses serious superheroes, comedy,
    memoir, and just about anything else: high-quality fiction of
    any stripe is welcome.

    ACRAPHOBE Mature stories that may or may not fit into other universes'
    or ACRA continuity. Using this flag in conjunction with another is
    not unheard of. (For example, Scav's _501 Blues_ is
    LNH/ACRAPHOBE.) Think a meta-Vertigo.

    ASH Academy of Super-Heroes. Dave Van Domelen's RPG-based future-
    history stories. See <https://www.eyrie.org/~dvandom/ASH>.

    ELSEWHIRLS LNH stories that do not fit into LNH continuity. Think DC's
    or EW Elseworlds.

    HCC The High Concept Challenge, a continuous series of writing
    contests. Each round, the winner, chosen by reader vote, gets
    to pick the next round's concept.

    LNH Legion of Net.Heroes, "The Friendliest Shared Universe
    Going!(TM)" A mostly parody universe, though it does have its
    serious side.

    LNH20 On the LNH's 20th anniversary, a group of writers took it upon
    themselves to create a new world, based in everything they
    loved about the LNH, in the best spirit of comic book reboots!
    LNH20 is just as friendly as the original, but easier to get
    into! Hop right in, the adventure's fine!

    LNHY An Imprint involving an alternate LNH universe called
    Looniverse Y. The big difference between this and the Classic
    LNH is that writers are allowed to have only one character of
    theirs in this Looniverse's LNH.

    RACCCafe A continuity-free outpust where RACC characters can unwind
    after a hard day of being mangled by their writers. Anything
    can happen, as long as it's funny, and there are no
    consequences!

    SG Superguy. From Space Moose to the Bomb. Comedy superhero
    writing with a far different background than LNH. Note that
    only a small slice of Superguy stuff appears here; to see the
    rest, go to <https://lists.eyrie.org/mailman/listinfo/superguy>.

    STARFALL Lightly serious and seriously light superheroics, and better
    because of it. ;)

    NTB Net.Trenchcoat.Brigade. A bunch of Vertigo-like characters
    that own stock in London Fog. Not tremendously active, but
    they do have a considerable history. Implied Acraphobe.

    OMEGA A serious psi-based shared super-world and once upon a time
    RACC's third largest universe, now inactive. Created by the
    legendary Matt Rossi.

    OSD The Order of Saint Doomas. Items relating to RACC's anti-spam
    cult. (See Section 3 above.) No posts have been seen from
    this imprint in quite some time, but that doesn't mean they're
    gone....

    SW10 SW stands for Superhuman World. 10 is an annual tag. The
    comic has proceeded to 2011, but the tag has frozen at 2010
    because that's when the series really interacted with RACC.
    Scott Eiler has written the story of this universe since
    before 1991, but 1991 is when the modern heroes of this series
    start. His sources include adolescent male power fantasy,
    superhero role-playing, comic-book satire, and dreams. See
    <http://www.eilertech.com/stories/>.

    MISC Stories not in the above categories or in their own universes
    (authors are encouraged to make up their own headers as well).
    To limit the number of imprints, and to keep this FAQ to
    reasonable lengths, let's adopt this convention: One-shot
    stories or series should use the MISC flag. Series that set
    up shared universes should create their own, new imprint.

    ------------------------------

    Subject: 6. People to Ask for Help

    The major header contacts are listed below, who will be glad to answer
    email question. Also keep your eyes peeled for FAQs specific to
    particular imprints. The FAQs are also often in the archive in a
    directory named "FAQs" under the imprint directory.

    Imprint Contact Email
    ------------ -------------------- ---------------------------------
    8FOLD Jamie Rosen jamie.rosen@sunlife.com
    8FOLD Tom Russell joltcity@gmail.com
    + ASH Dave Van Domelen dvandom@eyrie.org
    + LNH Andrew Perron pwerdna@gmail.com
    LNH20 Andrew Perron pwerdna@gmail.com
    + LNHY Arthur Spitzer arspitzer@earthlink.net
    + NTB Arthur Spitzer arspitzer@earthlink.net
    + RACChallenge Sean MacDonald mcdonald@vorteb.math.uab.edu
    + StarFall Ted Brock phantom_belcher@yahoo.com
    + Superguy Eric Burns eaburns@annotations.com
    SW10 Scott Eiler seiler@eilertech.com

    The Archive Russ Allbery eagle@eyrie.org
    Moderation RACC Moderation Team racc-request@eyrie.org

    + indicates separate FAQs are available for these imprints.

    If you need to contact the moderator directly, the contact information is:

    Russ Allbery <eagle@eyrie.org>

    If none of the above people help, or your questions are too general or specific, just email anyone you see posting here that seems to know what they're doing. (WARNING: This is rarely the case.)

    --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
    * Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)
  • From Russ Allbery@21:1/5 to All on Sun May 1 07:01:03 2022
    Last-modified: 2018-07-16
    Posted-by: postfaq 1.17 (Perl 5.28.1)
    Archive-name: comics/creative/faq
    URL: https://www.eyrie.org/~eagle/faqs/racc.html
    Posting-frequency: monthly

    ==========================================================================
    rec.arts.comics.creative Frequently Asked Questions
    Maintained by Russ Allbery <eagle@eyrie.org>
    Original by Jeff McCoskey ==========================================================================

    If you're reading this on Usenet, this FAQ is formatted as a minimal
    digest. If your newsreader has digest handling capabilities you can use
    them to navigate between sections. In rn variants, you can use Ctrl-G to
    skip to the next section; in Gnus, press Ctrl-D to break each section into
    a separate article. For other newsreaders, see the documentation.

    The latest version of this FAQ is available on the web at:

    <https://www.eyrie.org/~eagle/faqs/racc.html>

    Please send any comments, suggestions, or updates to eagle@eyrie.org.

    ------------------------------

    Subject: Contents

    1. Welcome to rec.arts.comics.creative!
    1.1. What is RACC for?
    1.2. What isn't RACC for?
    1.3. What is the RACC official charter?
    1.4. Where are the stories about Wolverine(tm)?
    1.5. Where are the old stories?
    1.6. How can I read RACC via e-mail?

    2. Writing for RACC (How do I get involved?)
    2.1. Cool! Okay, how do I post?
    2.2. Format! I'm nothing without format!
    2.3. How 'bout them imprints? What's up with that?
    2.4. How do I archive my stories for posterity?
    2.5. What do copyright laws I pay taxes for do for me?

    3. Netiquette for RACC

    4. Glossary

    5. List of current imprints

    6. People to ask for help

    ------------------------------

    Subject: 1. Welcome to rec.arts.comics.creative!

    Welcome to rec.arts.comics.creative, the newsgroup which could have been
    named rec.prose.shared-universe but wasn't, the newsgroup which has, to
    date, produced well over 30MB of entirely free original fiction (and
    that's compressed!), the newsgroup which has nearly nothing to do with
    your favorite comic books at all!

    You're about to go insane. Don't worry, it's fun.

    rec.arts.comics.creative (henceforth RACC) is a moderated newsgroup for comics-related original fiction and discussion of same, originally created unmoderated by Martin Phipps and a cast of thousands (well, dozens at
    least) and later converted to moderated to keep out the spam. Don't
    worry, even though it's a moderated group, it's still friendly, chatty,
    and not at all formal, and we go out of our way to keep it that way.

    The first group of this sort on the Internet was the Superguy mailing
    list, which is still in operation to this day (you'll see posts from it on
    this group from time to time). Later, the Legion of Net.Heroes (LNH)
    sprung out of a free-form thread on rec.arts.comics and spawned another newsgroup (alt.comics.lnh). They were quickly followed by a wide variety
    of other comics-based shared universes, including the Patrol, the Net.Trenchcoat.Brigade, and Omega. All of these organizations, in
    parallel, gathered together authors in shared universes and strongly
    influenced the nature of RACC.

    First and foremost, RACC is a site for people to post comics-related
    fiction. Stories about long-underwear vigilantes, anthropomorphic
    animals, SF, westerns, even Kleen Teens if anyone is so moved. As long as
    it relates to comics it's okay. So whether you're a reader, a writer, or
    that fabled creature the critic, or even all three -- welcome to RACC:
    it's all the story, none of the art! (yet)

    ------------------------------

    Subject: 1.1. What is RACC for?

    For the official charter, see section 1.3. Here's the long, readable
    version.

    One term that you'll see a lot is "shared universe." This is a shared
    story background, co-created by multiple authors and used as the
    "universe" in which multiple different stories are set. This is a
    trademark characteristic of most comic books (seen in its clearest form in
    the ubiquitous crossover, a story written by multiple authors at once and involving multiple characters who all have their own stories), as well as appearing in some other published fiction (such as Wild Cards, or Larry
    Niven's Man-Kzin Wars). Most (but not all) of the stories posted here
    take place in one of the established shared universes (there's a list
    later on in this FAQ), to the point where this style of writing is nearly characteristic of the group.

    Another term you'll see is "comics-related." Nearly all of the authors
    writing here drew their original (if not primary) inspiration from comic
    books. As a result, nearly all of the stories are on-going (published a chapter at a time), divided up into "issues" and given numbers, and
    organized into "imprints." Many people also describe covers or design
    ASCII graphic logos.

    There is no restriction on types of fiction. (That'd kinda take the
    creative out of RACC, wouldn't it?) You'll see stories run the gamut from slapstick comedy to grim'n'gritty Real Life Supers (TM). As long as it's
    about comics, set your pen free. (You'll see a lot of superhero fiction,
    but that just means that those of us who like reading other things as well
    are anxiously awaiting your non-superhero stories.)

    RACC is also for discussion of stories, both specific ones and in general.
    The critic and reader is one of the most sought-after types of people
    around here; if you give us feedback on our stories, good or bad, we'll
    love you forever.

    Finally, if you want to announce your free web strip here, we welcome
    those posts too. If you're trying to sell it, though, please try rec.arts.comics.marketplace or rec.arts.comics.strips instead. (And rec.arts.comics.strips may be a better group in general, as RACC readers
    are mostly interested in text fiction.)

    ------------------------------

    Subject: 1.2. What isn't RACC for?

    A lot of things. We're not for wars of attrition, Third World starvation,
    45 mph speed limits, and brussel sprout toothpaste. Closer to home, RACC
    is not for any of the following:

    * Discussion of existing, "professional" books (except as they relate
    to our fiction)

    * Marketplace-type I-wanna-buy/I-wanna-sell postings

    * Flames and personality conflicts. Critiques, yes. Flames, no.

    * Fiction about established, trademarked characters and universes,
    unless you created them or have written permission.

    * Erotica, no matter how much spandex you put in. There are other
    groups for that.

    ------------------------------

    Subject: 1.3. What is the RACC official charter?

    This newsgroup welcomes any form of comics-related original fiction and discussion of the same, including but not limited to stories in the many established shared universes. Discussion of on-line fiction as a whole is
    also welcome provided that it is related to the stories on the newsgroup.
    If they choose to write in an existing shared universe, writers are
    strongly encouranged to follow the existing continuity and rules of that universe. "Comics-related" will be interpreted very broadly, as has been traditional on the newsgroup.

    Each posting to rec.arts.comics.creative should include a keyword on the subject line either designating which shared universe the posting refers
    to or marking the general subject of the post (ADMIN, META, MISC, etc.).
    If a submitted post does not have a keyword, the moderator will add an appropriate keyword, but posters are encouraged to add keywords themselves
    to save moderation work.

    Large binaries, such as artwork, will not be allowed on the newsgroup.
    Instead, binaries can be made available in the newsgroup archive (subject
    to the discretion of the archivist) and a pointer posted to the newsgroup. Pointers to Web pages are also welcome, provided the content of the page
    is related to the purpose of the group.

    Stories using copyrighted or trademarked characters are explicitly not
    within the charter of this group and may be rejected unless the author
    owns the copyrights and trademarks or has written permission from the
    owner. Networking posts (artists seeking writers or writers seeking
    artists) are inappropriate in this group and should be sent to appropriate mailing lists or other groups in the rec.arts.comics.* hierarchy (rec.arts.comics.misc if there is no other more appropriate group).

    ------------------------------

    Subject: 1.4. Where are the stories about Wolverine(tm)?

    This is very important, so I'm going to yell it. RACC IS NOT THE PLACE
    FOR FICTION ABOUT ESTABLISHED, TRADEMARKED CHARACTERS. This includes all Marvel, Image, DC, what-have-you characters. RACC's charter expressly
    FORBIDS such fiction.

    The reason for this is the ongoing legislative battles about intellectual property and the Net. rec.* groups are picked up worldwide, and sysadmins
    do not want to draw lawsuits because someone wrote a story that violated trademark laws. Note that fanfic stories may or may not be lawful and/or prosecutable, WE JUST DON'T KNOW. They're still writing the laws.

    To forestall any confusion or debates, and to protect sysadmins from inadvertently becoming the test case, this provision was adopted as a key requirement for RACC's creation. If you really must write about existing, trademarked characters, there is alt.comics.fan-fiction waiting to receive
    you. alt.* groups get picked up by sysadmins voluntarily, so they
    presumedly know what risks they're taking.

    Nothing will draw this group's ire faster than violating this requirement.

    ------------------------------

    Subject: 1.5. Where are the old stories?

    Thanks to the tireless efforts and bottomless disk space of Russ Allbery,
    all stories posted to rec.arts.comics.creative are archived! This means stories will be preserved for future generations of readers, providing a
    link to the past. It is difficult to over-praise this contribution.

    (Note: Lest you think I would be so crass as to praise myself, I want to
    make sure you know that Jeff wrote that last paragraph. 'course, I didn't delete it either.)

    Older stories are sorted by universe and series and are available at:

    <https://archives.eyrie.org/racc/>

    All of the stories are compressed using gzip, but most browsers can automatically decompress them for you. This archive unfortunately hasn't
    been updated recently, but it does have all of the older stories.

    Every message to rec.arts.comics.creative, story or not, is archived at:

    <https://lists.eyrie.org/pipermail/racc/>

    in the form of a more traditional mailing list archive, so you can also
    look there if a story hasn't been saved in the story archive. This is the
    best way to find anything posted in the last few years. You can search
    the archive by prepending "site:lists.eyrie.org" to a regular Google
    search.

    Please note that stories will be removed from both the list archive and
    the story archive at the author's request if the author wants to take them down. This has happened in the past, sometimes because the author wanted
    to sell the stories to a professional venue.

    ------------------------------

    Subject: 1.6. How can I read RACC via e-mail?

    Everything that shows up in RACC also shows up in its associated mailing
    list (and vice versa), so if you want to be sure not to miss anything, or
    if you just prefer e-mail to Usenet, you can subscribe to that mailing
    list.

    To do that, go to:

    <https://lists.eyrie.org/mailman/listinfo/racc>

    and fill out the form to subscribe. Alternately, you can subscribe via
    e-mail by sending mail to racc-request@lists.eyrie.org with the word:

    subscribe

    in the subject of the message. You then can read and reply to posts just
    as if the newsgroup were a mailing list. It's all the same to us.

    ------------------------------

    Subject: 2. Writing for RACC (How do I get involved?)

    Write a story. Post it. You're involved.

    This assumes you want to create your own universe to write in. If you
    want to join a pre-existing shared universe, it's a little more involved.

    Many of the imprints have FAQs of their own (OMEGA, Superguy, LNH,
    Crossroads to name a few). These get posted periodically. The first
    thing you should do is read these documents to get a feel for what these specific universes are like.

    The next thing you should do is _read_ the universe in question. This
    includes tapping the archives for back issues. No one would suggest you
    read the entire Superguy or LNH archives before writing, but definitely
    try to sample a large cross-section.

    Lastly, email some of the creators you see writing under a specific
    imprint. They will be able to tell you if your concept fits with their universe or not, and perhaps refer you to a more appropriate universe if necessary.

    THEN write a story and post it.

    ------------------------------

    Subject: 2.1. Cool! Okay, how do I post?

    RACC is a moderated newsgroup, which means that every post goes to the moderators first. If your site correctly has the group marked as
    moderated, you should be able to post just like you post to any other
    group and your news server will take care of the rest. If you have a Unix shell account, you can check if the group is correctly marked as moderated
    by typing:

    nntplist active | grep rec.arts.comics.creative

    If the last character on the resulting line is an "m," congratulations,
    you have a good news administrator. If it's a "y," send mail to your
    local computing support people and ask them to convert the group to
    moderated like it should be.

    If you don't have a Unix shell account, some newsreaders will also tell
    you if the group is moderated.

    If, for any reason, you have trouble posting or your site *doesn't* have
    the group marked as moderated, you can mail your post to racc@eyrie.org
    instead and it will be posted for you.

    Because the group is moderated, it can be up to a day after you post
    before your article is actually posted, and it can take a few more days
    for the article to propagate back to you. So don't be surprised if it
    doesn't show up right away.

    Many readers of rec.arts.comics.creative use Google Groups to read and
    post. While this works, and I know it's convenient, Google Groups also
    deletes anything enclosed in square brackets ([]) at the beginning of
    Subject lines in replies. If you use Google Groups, please try to
    remember to put back the imprint tags when you reply to posts; otherwise,
    I have to add them as the moderator.

    ------------------------------

    Subject: 2.2. Format! I'm nothing without format!

    Formatting is pretty loose. Since this is a comics newsgroup, you will
    hear people refer to their stories as "issues." Postings tend to run in numerical order just like comic books, and many people write continuing
    series. For example there are 25 "issues" in Drizzt's _Continuity Champ
    and the Drizzt's Defenders_ series.

    Stories don't have to be series though. One-shots, mini-series,
    maxi-series, crossovers -- all of these have been done before and will be
    done again.

    The subjects of postings should follow the convention of naming the
    imprint the title and the number. For example:

    LNH: System Corruptors #15, The Bard's Tale
    imprint --^ ^ ^ ^
    title --------------| | |
    number -------------------------| |
    subtitle/comment/etc [optional] -------|

    Since the archive mechanism relies heavily on this format (not to mention
    the format-accustomed eyes of this group's readers), please follow this strictly, including the use of the #-sign. Subtitles, alternate titles,
    and title comments should follow the number if they are used at all. If
    you want to, you can use [TAG] instead of TAG: at the beginning of the
    subject; it's all the same to the archiver. (TAG: causes a few fewer
    problems than [TAG] with Google Groups.)

    Occasionally, instead of (or in addition to) a number you will see "TEB."
    This stands for "Trade EtherBack." It means the posting is actually a collection of previously posted issues -- usually cleaned up and relating
    to a single story arc.

    Inside your story do what you will. Some folks run fake ads, others use
    cheesy ASCII graphics, some just use text. A word of advice: On
    older/more primitive newsreaders your text is MUCH easier to read if you
    space between paragraphs. On the other hand, some newer newsreader
    readers find the spaces jarring. The moral? You can't please all the
    people all the time. In general spaces seem to be more preferred.

    ------------------------------

    Subject: 2.3. How 'bout them imprints? What's up with that?

    In order to accommodate a near-infinite number of different potential universes, RACC has adopted the reasonable convention of flagging fiction.
    This allows uninterested parties to skip some genres, and others to
    quickly find their niches of interest. The flag goes before the title of
    story issues, related FAQs or universe-specific discussions. Many flags
    refer to existing shared-universes. New ones will come up all the time.
    For the current list, see section 5 of this FAQ.

    Once you pick an imprint name, stick with it. The Archive and your legion
    of new fans will both be happier if you don't make marketing name changes.

    Regardless of flags all SEXUALLY EXPLICIT or PROFANITY-RICH stories should
    have huge warning labels at the beginning of text. Last thing we need is
    a Florida DA bringing us all up on charges. ;] Besides, it's only common courtesy. Note that if a story could reasonably be posted on
    alt.sex.stories, you've probably strayed a bit far from this group's
    interests.

    Some sort of flag, either an imprint name or a more general tag, is
    required on all posts and one will be added by the moderator if you don't provide one. Leaving one off requires the moderator to edit your post,
    though, which takes time and means your post will be delayed. So please
    save them the trouble and remember to add the tag yourself.

    ------------------------------

    Subject: 2.4. How do I archive my stories for posterity?

    Good news! It's already being done for you! (Or at least it will be if
    Russ ever catches up with the archiving.)

    In theory, every story posted to rec.arts.comics.creative is archived at <https://archives.eyrie.org/racc/>. Most imprints have their own
    directories, with the stories stored in directories under that (depending
    on the size of the imprint, the directories could be very structured or
    just one directory for each series). Some imprints may be collected in
    the misc directory.

    Unfortunately, this archive is substantially out of date. Russ hopes to eventually find time to update it.

    The exception is Superguy, which has its own archiving mechanism. The
    Superguy archives are at <https://archives.eyrie.org/superguy/>, but one
    of the best ways to access them is through the Autocollector at:

    <https://archives.eyrie.org/cgi-bin/superguy>

    ------------------------------

    Subject: 2.5. What do Copyright laws I pay taxes for do for me?

    I don't even play a lawyer on TV, but there are some things you should
    know about Copyright laws.

    Anything you write is copyrighted immediately, whether you flag it with a copyright notice or not. Furthermore, the copyright protection is international under the Berne Copyright Convention, which has been signed
    by nearly every country with access to Usenet.

    If you label your text as copyrighted, it preempts a possible
    "unintentional infringement" defense from plagarizers. The copyright
    notice is considered legal notice that you intend to retain your rights.
    The legal format for such a notice requires three things: Your name, the
    year, and one or more of the following: "Copyright," "Copr.," and/or the c-in-circle symbol. Note that there is no firm legal precedence for (C)
    or (c) as having any special copyright meaning. Example notice:

    Copyright 1994 Jeff J McCoskey

    The only way to get full legal protection (at least in the United States)
    is to register your work with the government (forms are free, filing fees apply). This *guarantees* an archived, dated copy should future legal
    action be necessary. Other forms of dating, like mailing yourself a copy
    or archiving (to get a date stamp), are of dubious and unproven legal
    value.

    An excellent resource for Copyright information is misc.legal, where a FAQ
    is posted monthly.

    Another excellent resource is the U.S. Copyright Office home page at:

    <https://www.copyright.gov/>

    ------------------------------

    Subject: 3. Netiquette for RACC

    As a rule of thumb, everything you've heard elsewhere about good
    netiquette applies here. We hate spammers (more in a minute), expect
    smilies when joking (except in stories of course), and in general expect
    you to conduct yourselves as good net.citizens. There are three things
    you need to know after you've mastered Basic Netiquette:

    1. The only times flames are accepted on RACC are when they are both
    morally defensible and amusing. Flames are not welcome if they do not
    meet the above criteria. Here on RACC there is one organization that
    acts as moral compass for acceptable flames: the Order of St. Doomas.

    The Order has defined one activity that is worthy of flame: spamming.
    One member of the Order (usually the first to his/her keyboard) will
    have the honors. Repetitive flaming by multiple members is frowned
    upon by the Order.

    To join this righteous crusade, all you need do is select a
    net.persona and flame. Incorrect flaming (i.e. at non-sanctioned
    targets, or with unamusing effect) will result in ostracization and
    excommunication. Watch the Order in action before joining and all
    will be clear.

    Now that the group has been moderated, most opportunities for flames
    are gone. But watch carefully; new ones may arise.

    2. Reviews of stories (even negative ones) are one of the most
    sought-after commodities on RACC. You will instantly win friends and
    influence people if you post reviews. But especially in the case of
    negative reviews, ensure you confine your review to the story and not
    the writer. Keep in mind as you write "that SUCKS" that someone
    worked long and hard on the text. They might want to know what worked
    and what didn't in their narrative but it's doubtful they want to hear
    how clever you can be in ripping them up.

    It's certain the rest of us don't.

    3. One of the best features of a shared universe is the opportunity to
    have your characters interact with others in that universe. This is
    a privilege, not a right. All characters on RACC (and their
    distinctive text-likenesses) are the full and exclusive property of
    their creators. This is not as dogmatic as it sounds, and we're all
    adults (or pretending to be). Cameos (non-speaking/non-plot affecting
    roles) do not typically require permission unless the creator desires
    it. Speaking roles should be previewed through email and approved by
    the creator before being posted.

    ------------------------------

    Subject: 4. Glossary

    These are terms you will see come up on RACC that have special meaning
    here. (For general net.terms and abbreviations, see the META RAC FAQ.)

    Acraphobe RACC's version of adult warning label. Yes, with an "a."
    Don't ask.

    Arc A multi-issue storyline.

    Archive ftp.eyrie.org, where nearly ALL the back issues live.

    Crossover A storyline that involves several titles and/or authors. Also
    the bane of all mankind.

    Elsewhirls An imaginary story. (Yeah yeah, we know they're ALL
    imaginary. How about "out-of-continuity"?)

    Fanfiction Fiction about established, trademarked universes and
    or fanfic characters that the author did not create -- in short, the
    sort of stories RACC *wasn't* designed for. There's a good
    list of newsgroups at the end of this FAQ that should help in
    finding a better group if this is what you want to write.

    Imprint The shared universe your story takes place in or subject your
    posting relates to (we have many to chose from). This is
    usually an all-caps prefix on the title of the posting.

    LNH The Legion of Net.Heroes. The immediate father of this group
    and the oldest of the Usenet-based writing universes (see
    Superguy).

    RAC* The rec.arts.comics.* hierarchy of newsgroups.

    RACC rec.arts.comics.creative. You're soaking in it!

    rACCIES The annual RACC fanfiction awards, as voted on by the readers
    or RACCies of this newsgroup.

    Repost Story has been posted before, natch.

    Superguy A mailing list that predates all other Internet comics-fiction
    forums. There is a good-natured rivalry between the LNH and
    this group.

    TEB Trade EtherBack. This is a collection of previously posted
    material, usually cleaned up and relating to a single story
    arc.

    Title A numerically increasing, continuing series. Usually
    involving one character, cast, city, or unifying concept.

    ------------------------------

    Subject: 5. List of Current Tags

    When choosing a tag to put at the beginning of your post, this list should
    be a canonical reference. If you see a need for a new tag, send mail to
    the FAQ maintainer so that it can be added.

    First, the general tags:

    ADMIN Administrative matters affecting everyone on RACC.

    FAQ FAQs of note for the entire RAC* hierarchy. These will tend
    to be crossposted here.

    META Discussion about the newsgroup itself. This includes
    or CHAT everything from general discussion of on-line fiction and RACC
    in particular to recommendations on how long posts should be.

    PRECOG Announcements of upcoming series, planned stories, and the
    or PROMO like.

    WWW Announcement of a web page related to RACC or a free strip.

    Now, all of the writing imprints. Note that new ones of these pop up all
    the time. Entries marked with (*) are in danger of being retired due to
    lack of activity. If you have any changes, please mail eagle@eyrie.org.

    8FOLD A closed universe that encompasses serious superheroes, comedy,
    memoir, and just about anything else: high-quality fiction of
    any stripe is welcome.

    ACRAPHOBE Mature stories that may or may not fit into other universes'
    or ACRA continuity. Using this flag in conjunction with another is
    not unheard of. (For example, Scav's _501 Blues_ is
    LNH/ACRAPHOBE.) Think a meta-Vertigo.

    ASH Academy of Super-Heroes. Dave Van Domelen's RPG-based future-
    history stories. See <https://www.eyrie.org/~dvandom/ASH>.

    ELSEWHIRLS LNH stories that do not fit into LNH continuity. Think DC's
    or EW Elseworlds.

    HCC The High Concept Challenge, a continuous series of writing
    contests. Each round, the winner, chosen by reader vote, gets
    to pick the next round's concept.

    LNH Legion of Net.Heroes, "The Friendliest Shared Universe
    Going!(TM)" A mostly parody universe, though it does have its
    serious side.

    LNH20 On the LNH's 20th anniversary, a group of writers took it upon
    themselves to create a new world, based in everything they
    loved about the LNH, in the best spirit of comic book reboots!
    LNH20 is just as friendly as the original, but easier to get
    into! Hop right in, the adventure's fine!

    LNHY An Imprint involving an alternate LNH universe called
    Looniverse Y. The big difference between this and the Classic
    LNH is that writers are allowed to have only one character of
    theirs in this Looniverse's LNH.

    RACCCafe A continuity-free outpust where RACC characters can unwind
    after a hard day of being mangled by their writers. Anything
    can happen, as long as it's funny, and there are no
    consequences!

    SG Superguy. From Space Moose to the Bomb. Comedy superhero
    writing with a far different background than LNH. Note that
    only a small slice of Superguy stuff appears here; to see the
    rest, go to <https://lists.eyrie.org/mailman/listinfo/superguy>.

    STARFALL Lightly serious and seriously light superheroics, and better
    because of it. ;)

    NTB Net.Trenchcoat.Brigade. A bunch of Vertigo-like characters
    that own stock in London Fog. Not tremendously active, but
    they do have a considerable history. Implied Acraphobe.

    OMEGA A serious psi-based shared super-world and once upon a time
    RACC's third largest universe, now inactive. Created by the
    legendary Matt Rossi.

    OSD The Order of Saint Doomas. Items relating to RACC's anti-spam
    cult. (See Section 3 above.) No posts have been seen from
    this imprint in quite some time, but that doesn't mean they're
    gone....

    SW10 SW stands for Superhuman World. 10 is an annual tag. The
    comic has proceeded to 2011, but the tag has frozen at 2010
    because that's when the series really interacted with RACC.
    Scott Eiler has written the story of this universe since
    before 1991, but 1991 is when the modern heroes of this series
    start. His sources include adolescent male power fantasy,
    superhero role-playing, comic-book satire, and dreams. See
    <http://www.eilertech.com/stories/>.

    MISC Stories not in the above categories or in their own universes
    (authors are encouraged to make up their own headers as well).
    To limit the number of imprints, and to keep this FAQ to
    reasonable lengths, let's adopt this convention: One-shot
    stories or series should use the MISC flag. Series that set
    up shared universes should create their own, new imprint.

    ------------------------------

    Subject: 6. People to Ask for Help

    The major header contacts are listed below, who will be glad to answer
    email question. Also keep your eyes peeled for FAQs specific to
    particular imprints. The FAQs are also often in the archive in a
    directory named "FAQs" under the imprint directory.

    Imprint Contact Email
    ------------ -------------------- ---------------------------------
    8FOLD Jamie Rosen jamie.rosen@sunlife.com
    8FOLD Tom Russell joltcity@gmail.com
    + ASH Dave Van Domelen dvandom@eyrie.org
    + LNH Andrew Perron pwerdna@gmail.com
    LNH20 Andrew Perron pwerdna@gmail.com
    + LNHY Arthur Spitzer arspitzer@earthlink.net
    + NTB Arthur Spitzer arspitzer@earthlink.net
    + RACChallenge Sean MacDonald mcdonald@vorteb.math.uab.edu
    + StarFall Ted Brock phantom_belcher@yahoo.com
    + Superguy Eric Burns eaburns@annotations.com
    SW10 Scott Eiler seiler@eilertech.com

    The Archive Russ Allbery eagle@eyrie.org
    Moderation RACC Moderation Team racc-request@eyrie.org

    + indicates separate FAQs are available for these imprints.

    If you need to contact the moderator directly, the contact information is:

    Russ Allbery <eagle@eyrie.org>

    If none of the above people help, or your questions are too general or specific, just email anyone you see posting here that seems to know what they're doing. (WARNING: This is rarely the case.)

    --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
    * Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)
  • From Russ Allbery@21:1/5 to All on Wed Jun 1 07:01:02 2022
    Last-modified: 2018-07-16
    Posted-by: postfaq 1.17 (Perl 5.28.1)
    Archive-name: comics/creative/faq
    URL: https://www.eyrie.org/~eagle/faqs/racc.html
    Posting-frequency: monthly

    ==========================================================================
    rec.arts.comics.creative Frequently Asked Questions
    Maintained by Russ Allbery <eagle@eyrie.org>
    Original by Jeff McCoskey ==========================================================================

    If you're reading this on Usenet, this FAQ is formatted as a minimal
    digest. If your newsreader has digest handling capabilities you can use
    them to navigate between sections. In rn variants, you can use Ctrl-G to
    skip to the next section; in Gnus, press Ctrl-D to break each section into
    a separate article. For other newsreaders, see the documentation.

    The latest version of this FAQ is available on the web at:

    <https://www.eyrie.org/~eagle/faqs/racc.html>

    Please send any comments, suggestions, or updates to eagle@eyrie.org.

    ------------------------------

    Subject: Contents

    1. Welcome to rec.arts.comics.creative!
    1.1. What is RACC for?
    1.2. What isn't RACC for?
    1.3. What is the RACC official charter?
    1.4. Where are the stories about Wolverine(tm)?
    1.5. Where are the old stories?
    1.6. How can I read RACC via e-mail?

    2. Writing for RACC (How do I get involved?)
    2.1. Cool! Okay, how do I post?
    2.2. Format! I'm nothing without format!
    2.3. How 'bout them imprints? What's up with that?
    2.4. How do I archive my stories for posterity?
    2.5. What do copyright laws I pay taxes for do for me?

    3. Netiquette for RACC

    4. Glossary

    5. List of current imprints

    6. People to ask for help

    ------------------------------

    Subject: 1. Welcome to rec.arts.comics.creative!

    Welcome to rec.arts.comics.creative, the newsgroup which could have been
    named rec.prose.shared-universe but wasn't, the newsgroup which has, to
    date, produced well over 30MB of entirely free original fiction (and
    that's compressed!), the newsgroup which has nearly nothing to do with
    your favorite comic books at all!

    You're about to go insane. Don't worry, it's fun.

    rec.arts.comics.creative (henceforth RACC) is a moderated newsgroup for comics-related original fiction and discussion of same, originally created unmoderated by Martin Phipps and a cast of thousands (well, dozens at
    least) and later converted to moderated to keep out the spam. Don't
    worry, even though it's a moderated group, it's still friendly, chatty,
    and not at all formal, and we go out of our way to keep it that way.

    The first group of this sort on the Internet was the Superguy mailing
    list, which is still in operation to this day (you'll see posts from it on
    this group from time to time). Later, the Legion of Net.Heroes (LNH)
    sprung out of a free-form thread on rec.arts.comics and spawned another newsgroup (alt.comics.lnh). They were quickly followed by a wide variety
    of other comics-based shared universes, including the Patrol, the Net.Trenchcoat.Brigade, and Omega. All of these organizations, in
    parallel, gathered together authors in shared universes and strongly
    influenced the nature of RACC.

    First and foremost, RACC is a site for people to post comics-related
    fiction. Stories about long-underwear vigilantes, anthropomorphic
    animals, SF, westerns, even Kleen Teens if anyone is so moved. As long as
    it relates to comics it's okay. So whether you're a reader, a writer, or
    that fabled creature the critic, or even all three -- welcome to RACC:
    it's all the story, none of the art! (yet)

    ------------------------------

    Subject: 1.1. What is RACC for?

    For the official charter, see section 1.3. Here's the long, readable
    version.

    One term that you'll see a lot is "shared universe." This is a shared
    story background, co-created by multiple authors and used as the
    "universe" in which multiple different stories are set. This is a
    trademark characteristic of most comic books (seen in its clearest form in
    the ubiquitous crossover, a story written by multiple authors at once and involving multiple characters who all have their own stories), as well as appearing in some other published fiction (such as Wild Cards, or Larry
    Niven's Man-Kzin Wars). Most (but not all) of the stories posted here
    take place in one of the established shared universes (there's a list
    later on in this FAQ), to the point where this style of writing is nearly characteristic of the group.

    Another term you'll see is "comics-related." Nearly all of the authors
    writing here drew their original (if not primary) inspiration from comic
    books. As a result, nearly all of the stories are on-going (published a chapter at a time), divided up into "issues" and given numbers, and
    organized into "imprints." Many people also describe covers or design
    ASCII graphic logos.

    There is no restriction on types of fiction. (That'd kinda take the
    creative out of RACC, wouldn't it?) You'll see stories run the gamut from slapstick comedy to grim'n'gritty Real Life Supers (TM). As long as it's
    about comics, set your pen free. (You'll see a lot of superhero fiction,
    but that just means that those of us who like reading other things as well
    are anxiously awaiting your non-superhero stories.)

    RACC is also for discussion of stories, both specific ones and in general.
    The critic and reader is one of the most sought-after types of people
    around here; if you give us feedback on our stories, good or bad, we'll
    love you forever.

    Finally, if you want to announce your free web strip here, we welcome
    those posts too. If you're trying to sell it, though, please try rec.arts.comics.marketplace or rec.arts.comics.strips instead. (And rec.arts.comics.strips may be a better group in general, as RACC readers
    are mostly interested in text fiction.)

    ------------------------------

    Subject: 1.2. What isn't RACC for?

    A lot of things. We're not for wars of attrition, Third World starvation,
    45 mph speed limits, and brussel sprout toothpaste. Closer to home, RACC
    is not for any of the following:

    * Discussion of existing, "professional" books (except as they relate
    to our fiction)

    * Marketplace-type I-wanna-buy/I-wanna-sell postings

    * Flames and personality conflicts. Critiques, yes. Flames, no.

    * Fiction about established, trademarked characters and universes,
    unless you created them or have written permission.

    * Erotica, no matter how much spandex you put in. There are other
    groups for that.

    ------------------------------

    Subject: 1.3. What is the RACC official charter?

    This newsgroup welcomes any form of comics-related original fiction and discussion of the same, including but not limited to stories in the many established shared universes. Discussion of on-line fiction as a whole is
    also welcome provided that it is related to the stories on the newsgroup.
    If they choose to write in an existing shared universe, writers are
    strongly encouranged to follow the existing continuity and rules of that universe. "Comics-related" will be interpreted very broadly, as has been traditional on the newsgroup.

    Each posting to rec.arts.comics.creative should include a keyword on the subject line either designating which shared universe the posting refers
    to or marking the general subject of the post (ADMIN, META, MISC, etc.).
    If a submitted post does not have a keyword, the moderator will add an appropriate keyword, but posters are encouraged to add keywords themselves
    to save moderation work.

    Large binaries, such as artwork, will not be allowed on the newsgroup.
    Instead, binaries can be made available in the newsgroup archive (subject
    to the discretion of the archivist) and a pointer posted to the newsgroup. Pointers to Web pages are also welcome, provided the content of the page
    is related to the purpose of the group.

    Stories using copyrighted or trademarked characters are explicitly not
    within the charter of this group and may be rejected unless the author
    owns the copyrights and trademarks or has written permission from the
    owner. Networking posts (artists seeking writers or writers seeking
    artists) are inappropriate in this group and should be sent to appropriate mailing lists or other groups in the rec.arts.comics.* hierarchy (rec.arts.comics.misc if there is no other more appropriate group).

    ------------------------------

    Subject: 1.4. Where are the stories about Wolverine(tm)?

    This is very important, so I'm going to yell it. RACC IS NOT THE PLACE
    FOR FICTION ABOUT ESTABLISHED, TRADEMARKED CHARACTERS. This includes all Marvel, Image, DC, what-have-you characters. RACC's charter expressly
    FORBIDS such fiction.

    The reason for this is the ongoing legislative battles about intellectual property and the Net. rec.* groups are picked up worldwide, and sysadmins
    do not want to draw lawsuits because someone wrote a story that violated trademark laws. Note that fanfic stories may or may not be lawful and/or prosecutable, WE JUST DON'T KNOW. They're still writing the laws.

    To forestall any confusion or debates, and to protect sysadmins from inadvertently becoming the test case, this provision was adopted as a key requirement for RACC's creation. If you really must write about existing, trademarked characters, there is alt.comics.fan-fiction waiting to receive
    you. alt.* groups get picked up by sysadmins voluntarily, so they
    presumedly know what risks they're taking.

    Nothing will draw this group's ire faster than violating this requirement.

    ------------------------------

    Subject: 1.5. Where are the old stories?

    Thanks to the tireless efforts and bottomless disk space of Russ Allbery,
    all stories posted to rec.arts.comics.creative are archived! This means stories will be preserved for future generations of readers, providing a
    link to the past. It is difficult to over-praise this contribution.

    (Note: Lest you think I would be so crass as to praise myself, I want to
    make sure you know that Jeff wrote that last paragraph. 'course, I didn't delete it either.)

    Older stories are sorted by universe and series and are available at:

    <https://archives.eyrie.org/racc/>

    All of the stories are compressed using gzip, but most browsers can automatically decompress them for you. This archive unfortunately hasn't
    been updated recently, but it does have all of the older stories.

    Every message to rec.arts.comics.creative, story or not, is archived at:

    <https://lists.eyrie.org/pipermail/racc/>

    in the form of a more traditional mailing list archive, so you can also
    look there if a story hasn't been saved in the story archive. This is the
    best way to find anything posted in the last few years. You can search
    the archive by prepending "site:lists.eyrie.org" to a regular Google
    search.

    Please note that stories will be removed from both the list archive and
    the story archive at the author's request if the author wants to take them down. This has happened in the past, sometimes because the author wanted
    to sell the stories to a professional venue.

    ------------------------------

    Subject: 1.6. How can I read RACC via e-mail?

    Everything that shows up in RACC also shows up in its associated mailing
    list (and vice versa), so if you want to be sure not to miss anything, or
    if you just prefer e-mail to Usenet, you can subscribe to that mailing
    list.

    To do that, go to:

    <https://lists.eyrie.org/mailman/listinfo/racc>

    and fill out the form to subscribe. Alternately, you can subscribe via
    e-mail by sending mail to racc-request@lists.eyrie.org with the word:

    subscribe

    in the subject of the message. You then can read and reply to posts just
    as if the newsgroup were a mailing list. It's all the same to us.

    ------------------------------

    Subject: 2. Writing for RACC (How do I get involved?)

    Write a story. Post it. You're involved.

    This assumes you want to create your own universe to write in. If you
    want to join a pre-existing shared universe, it's a little more involved.

    Many of the imprints have FAQs of their own (OMEGA, Superguy, LNH,
    Crossroads to name a few). These get posted periodically. The first
    thing you should do is read these documents to get a feel for what these specific universes are like.

    The next thing you should do is _read_ the universe in question. This
    includes tapping the archives for back issues. No one would suggest you
    read the entire Superguy or LNH archives before writing, but definitely
    try to sample a large cross-section.

    Lastly, email some of the creators you see writing under a specific
    imprint. They will be able to tell you if your concept fits with their universe or not, and perhaps refer you to a more appropriate universe if necessary.

    THEN write a story and post it.

    ------------------------------

    Subject: 2.1. Cool! Okay, how do I post?

    RACC is a moderated newsgroup, which means that every post goes to the moderators first. If your site correctly has the group marked as
    moderated, you should be able to post just like you post to any other
    group and your news server will take care of the rest. If you have a Unix shell account, you can check if the group is correctly marked as moderated
    by typing:

    nntplist active | grep rec.arts.comics.creative

    If the last character on the resulting line is an "m," congratulations,
    you have a good news administrator. If it's a "y," send mail to your
    local computing support people and ask them to convert the group to
    moderated like it should be.

    If you don't have a Unix shell account, some newsreaders will also tell
    you if the group is moderated.

    If, for any reason, you have trouble posting or your site *doesn't* have
    the group marked as moderated, you can mail your post to racc@eyrie.org
    instead and it will be posted for you.

    Because the group is moderated, it can be up to a day after you post
    before your article is actually posted, and it can take a few more days
    for the article to propagate back to you. So don't be surprised if it
    doesn't show up right away.

    Many readers of rec.arts.comics.creative use Google Groups to read and
    post. While this works, and I know it's convenient, Google Groups also
    deletes anything enclosed in square brackets ([]) at the beginning of
    Subject lines in replies. If you use Google Groups, please try to
    remember to put back the imprint tags when you reply to posts; otherwise,
    I have to add them as the moderator.

    ------------------------------

    Subject: 2.2. Format! I'm nothing without format!

    Formatting is pretty loose. Since this is a comics newsgroup, you will
    hear people refer to their stories as "issues." Postings tend to run in numerical order just like comic books, and many people write continuing
    series. For example there are 25 "issues" in Drizzt's _Continuity Champ
    and the Drizzt's Defenders_ series.

    Stories don't have to be series though. One-shots, mini-series,
    maxi-series, crossovers -- all of these have been done before and will be
    done again.

    The subjects of postings should follow the convention of naming the
    imprint the title and the number. For example:

    LNH: System Corruptors #15, The Bard's Tale
    imprint --^ ^ ^ ^
    title --------------| | |
    number -------------------------| |
    subtitle/comment/etc [optional] -------|

    Since the archive mechanism relies heavily on this format (not to mention
    the format-accustomed eyes of this group's readers), please follow this strictly, including the use of the #-sign. Subtitles, alternate titles,
    and title comments should follow the number if they are used at all. If
    you want to, you can use [TAG] instead of TAG: at the beginning of the
    subject; it's all the same to the archiver. (TAG: causes a few fewer
    problems than [TAG] with Google Groups.)

    Occasionally, instead of (or in addition to) a number you will see "TEB."
    This stands for "Trade EtherBack." It means the posting is actually a collection of previously posted issues -- usually cleaned up and relating
    to a single story arc.

    Inside your story do what you will. Some folks run fake ads, others use
    cheesy ASCII graphics, some just use text. A word of advice: On
    older/more primitive newsreaders your text is MUCH easier to read if you
    space between paragraphs. On the other hand, some newer newsreader
    readers find the spaces jarring. The moral? You can't please all the
    people all the time. In general spaces seem to be more preferred.

    ------------------------------

    Subject: 2.3. How 'bout them imprints? What's up with that?

    In order to accommodate a near-infinite number of different potential universes, RACC has adopted the reasonable convention of flagging fiction.
    This allows uninterested parties to skip some genres, and others to
    quickly find their niches of interest. The flag goes before the title of
    story issues, related FAQs or universe-specific discussions. Many flags
    refer to existing shared-universes. New ones will come up all the time.
    For the current list, see section 5 of this FAQ.

    Once you pick an imprint name, stick with it. The Archive and your legion
    of new fans will both be happier if you don't make marketing name changes.

    Regardless of flags all SEXUALLY EXPLICIT or PROFANITY-RICH stories should
    have huge warning labels at the beginning of text. Last thing we need is
    a Florida DA bringing us all up on charges. ;] Besides, it's only common courtesy. Note that if a story could reasonably be posted on
    alt.sex.stories, you've probably strayed a bit far from this group's
    interests.

    Some sort of flag, either an imprint name or a more general tag, is
    required on all posts and one will be added by the moderator if you don't provide one. Leaving one off requires the moderator to edit your post,
    though, which takes time and means your post will be delayed. So please
    save them the trouble and remember to add the tag yourself.

    ------------------------------

    Subject: 2.4. How do I archive my stories for posterity?

    Good news! It's already being done for you! (Or at least it will be if
    Russ ever catches up with the archiving.)

    In theory, every story posted to rec.arts.comics.creative is archived at <https://archives.eyrie.org/racc/>. Most imprints have their own
    directories, with the stories stored in directories under that (depending
    on the size of the imprint, the directories could be very structured or
    just one directory for each series). Some imprints may be collected in
    the misc directory.

    Unfortunately, this archive is substantially out of date. Russ hopes to eventually find time to update it.

    The exception is Superguy, which has its own archiving mechanism. The
    Superguy archives are at <https://archives.eyrie.org/superguy/>, but one
    of the best ways to access them is through the Autocollector at:

    <https://archives.eyrie.org/cgi-bin/superguy>

    ------------------------------

    Subject: 2.5. What do Copyright laws I pay taxes for do for me?

    I don't even play a lawyer on TV, but there are some things you should
    know about Copyright laws.

    Anything you write is copyrighted immediately, whether you flag it with a copyright notice or not. Furthermore, the copyright protection is international under the Berne Copyright Convention, which has been signed
    by nearly every country with access to Usenet.

    If you label your text as copyrighted, it preempts a possible
    "unintentional infringement" defense from plagarizers. The copyright
    notice is considered legal notice that you intend to retain your rights.
    The legal format for such a notice requires three things: Your name, the
    year, and one or more of the following: "Copyright," "Copr.," and/or the c-in-circle symbol. Note that there is no firm legal precedence for (C)
    or (c) as having any special copyright meaning. Example notice:

    Copyright 1994 Jeff J McCoskey

    The only way to get full legal protection (at least in the United States)
    is to register your work with the government (forms are free, filing fees apply). This *guarantees* an archived, dated copy should future legal
    action be necessary. Other forms of dating, like mailing yourself a copy
    or archiving (to get a date stamp), are of dubious and unproven legal
    value.

    An excellent resource for Copyright information is misc.legal, where a FAQ
    is posted monthly.

    Another excellent resource is the U.S. Copyright Office home page at:

    <https://www.copyright.gov/>

    ------------------------------

    Subject: 3. Netiquette for RACC

    As a rule of thumb, everything you've heard elsewhere about good
    netiquette applies here. We hate spammers (more in a minute), expect
    smilies when joking (except in stories of course), and in general expect
    you to conduct yourselves as good net.citizens. There are three things
    you need to know after you've mastered Basic Netiquette:

    1. The only times flames are accepted on RACC are when they are both
    morally defensible and amusing. Flames are not welcome if they do not
    meet the above criteria. Here on RACC there is one organization that
    acts as moral compass for acceptable flames: the Order of St. Doomas.

    The Order has defined one activity that is worthy of flame: spamming.
    One member of the Order (usually the first to his/her keyboard) will
    have the honors. Repetitive flaming by multiple members is frowned
    upon by the Order.

    To join this righteous crusade, all you need do is select a
    net.persona and flame. Incorrect flaming (i.e. at non-sanctioned
    targets, or with unamusing effect) will result in ostracization and
    excommunication. Watch the Order in action before joining and all
    will be clear.

    Now that the group has been moderated, most opportunities for flames
    are gone. But watch carefully; new ones may arise.

    2. Reviews of stories (even negative ones) are one of the most
    sought-after commodities on RACC. You will instantly win friends and
    influence people if you post reviews. But especially in the case of
    negative reviews, ensure you confine your review to the story and not
    the writer. Keep in mind as you write "that SUCKS" that someone
    worked long and hard on the text. They might want to know what worked
    and what didn't in their narrative but it's doubtful they want to hear
    how clever you can be in ripping them up.

    It's certain the rest of us don't.

    3. One of the best features of a shared universe is the opportunity to
    have your characters interact with others in that universe. This is
    a privilege, not a right. All characters on RACC (and their
    distinctive text-likenesses) are the full and exclusive property of
    their creators. This is not as dogmatic as it sounds, and we're all
    adults (or pretending to be). Cameos (non-speaking/non-plot affecting
    roles) do not typically require permission unless the creator desires
    it. Speaking roles should be previewed through email and approved by
    the creator before being posted.

    ------------------------------

    Subject: 4. Glossary

    These are terms you will see come up on RACC that have special meaning
    here. (For general net.terms and abbreviations, see the META RAC FAQ.)

    Acraphobe RACC's version of adult warning label. Yes, with an "a."
    Don't ask.

    Arc A multi-issue storyline.

    Archive ftp.eyrie.org, where nearly ALL the back issues live.

    Crossover A storyline that involves several titles and/or authors. Also
    the bane of all mankind.

    Elsewhirls An imaginary story. (Yeah yeah, we know they're ALL
    imaginary. How about "out-of-continuity"?)

    Fanfiction Fiction about established, trademarked universes and
    or fanfic characters that the author did not create -- in short, the
    sort of stories RACC *wasn't* designed for. There's a good
    list of newsgroups at the end of this FAQ that should help in
    finding a better group if this is what you want to write.

    Imprint The shared universe your story takes place in or subject your
    posting relates to (we have many to chose from). This is
    usually an all-caps prefix on the title of the posting.

    LNH The Legion of Net.Heroes. The immediate father of this group
    and the oldest of the Usenet-based writing universes (see
    Superguy).

    RAC* The rec.arts.comics.* hierarchy of newsgroups.

    RACC rec.arts.comics.creative. You're soaking in it!

    rACCIES The annual RACC fanfiction awards, as voted on by the readers
    or RACCies of this newsgroup.

    Repost Story has been posted before, natch.

    Superguy A mailing list that predates all other Internet comics-fiction
    forums. There is a good-natured rivalry between the LNH and
    this group.

    TEB Trade EtherBack. This is a collection of previously posted
    material, usually cleaned up and relating to a single story
    arc.

    Title A numerically increasing, continuing series. Usually
    involving one character, cast, city, or unifying concept.

    ------------------------------

    Subject: 5. List of Current Tags

    When choosing a tag to put at the beginning of your post, this list should
    be a canonical reference. If you see a need for a new tag, send mail to
    the FAQ maintainer so that it can be added.

    First, the general tags:

    ADMIN Administrative matters affecting everyone on RACC.

    FAQ FAQs of note for the entire RAC* hierarchy. These will tend
    to be crossposted here.

    META Discussion about the newsgroup itself. This includes
    or CHAT everything from general discussion of on-line fiction and RACC
    in particular to recommendations on how long posts should be.

    PRECOG Announcements of upcoming series, planned stories, and the
    or PROMO like.

    WWW Announcement of a web page related to RACC or a free strip.

    Now, all of the writing imprints. Note that new ones of these pop up all
    the time. Entries marked with (*) are in danger of being retired due to
    lack of activity. If you have any changes, please mail eagle@eyrie.org.

    8FOLD A closed universe that encompasses serious superheroes, comedy,
    memoir, and just about anything else: high-quality fiction of
    any stripe is welcome.

    ACRAPHOBE Mature stories that may or may not fit into other universes'
    or ACRA continuity. Using this flag in conjunction with another is
    not unheard of. (For example, Scav's _501 Blues_ is
    LNH/ACRAPHOBE.) Think a meta-Vertigo.

    ASH Academy of Super-Heroes. Dave Van Domelen's RPG-based future-
    history stories. See <https://www.eyrie.org/~dvandom/ASH>.

    ELSEWHIRLS LNH stories that do not fit into LNH continuity. Think DC's
    or EW Elseworlds.

    HCC The High Concept Challenge, a continuous series of writing
    contests. Each round, the winner, chosen by reader vote, gets
    to pick the next round's concept.

    LNH Legion of Net.Heroes, "The Friendliest Shared Universe
    Going!(TM)" A mostly parody universe, though it does have its
    serious side.

    LNH20 On the LNH's 20th anniversary, a group of writers took it upon
    themselves to create a new world, based in everything they
    loved about the LNH, in the best spirit of comic book reboots!
    LNH20 is just as friendly as the original, but easier to get
    into! Hop right in, the adventure's fine!

    LNHY An Imprint involving an alternate LNH universe called
    Looniverse Y. The big difference between this and the Classic
    LNH is that writers are allowed to have only one character of
    theirs in this Looniverse's LNH.

    RACCCafe A continuity-free outpust where RACC characters can unwind
    after a hard day of being mangled by their writers. Anything
    can happen, as long as it's funny, and there are no
    consequences!

    SG Superguy. From Space Moose to the Bomb. Comedy superhero
    writing with a far different background than LNH. Note that
    only a small slice of Superguy stuff appears here; to see the
    rest, go to <https://lists.eyrie.org/mailman/listinfo/superguy>.

    STARFALL Lightly serious and seriously light superheroics, and better
    because of it. ;)

    NTB Net.Trenchcoat.Brigade. A bunch of Vertigo-like characters
    that own stock in London Fog. Not tremendously active, but
    they do have a considerable history. Implied Acraphobe.

    OMEGA A serious psi-based shared super-world and once upon a time
    RACC's third largest universe, now inactive. Created by the
    legendary Matt Rossi.

    OSD The Order of Saint Doomas. Items relating to RACC's anti-spam
    cult. (See Section 3 above.) No posts have been seen from
    this imprint in quite some time, but that doesn't mean they're
    gone....

    SW10 SW stands for Superhuman World. 10 is an annual tag. The
    comic has proceeded to 2011, but the tag has frozen at 2010
    because that's when the series really interacted with RACC.
    Scott Eiler has written the story of this universe since
    before 1991, but 1991 is when the modern heroes of this series
    start. His sources include adolescent male power fantasy,
    superhero role-playing, comic-book satire, and dreams. See
    <http://www.eilertech.com/stories/>.

    MISC Stories not in the above categories or in their own universes
    (authors are encouraged to make up their own headers as well).
    To limit the number of imprints, and to keep this FAQ to
    reasonable lengths, let's adopt this convention: One-shot
    stories or series should use the MISC flag. Series that set
    up shared universes should create their own, new imprint.

    ------------------------------

    Subject: 6. People to Ask for Help

    The major header contacts are listed below, who will be glad to answer
    email question. Also keep your eyes peeled for FAQs specific to
    particular imprints. The FAQs are also often in the archive in a
    directory named "FAQs" under the imprint directory.

    Imprint Contact Email
    ------------ -------------------- ---------------------------------
    8FOLD Jamie Rosen jamie.rosen@sunlife.com
    8FOLD Tom Russell joltcity@gmail.com
    + ASH Dave Van Domelen dvandom@eyrie.org
    + LNH Andrew Perron pwerdna@gmail.com
    LNH20 Andrew Perron pwerdna@gmail.com
    + LNHY Arthur Spitzer arspitzer@earthlink.net
    + NTB Arthur Spitzer arspitzer@earthlink.net
    + RACChallenge Sean MacDonald mcdonald@vorteb.math.uab.edu
    + StarFall Ted Brock phantom_belcher@yahoo.com
    + Superguy Eric Burns eaburns@annotations.com
    SW10 Scott Eiler seiler@eilertech.com

    The Archive Russ Allbery eagle@eyrie.org
    Moderation RACC Moderation Team racc-request@eyrie.org

    + indicates separate FAQs are available for these imprints.

    If you need to contact the moderator directly, the contact information is:

    Russ Allbery <eagle@eyrie.org>

    If none of the above people help, or your questions are too general or specific, just email anyone you see posting here that seems to know what they're doing. (WARNING: This is rarely the case.)

    --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
    * Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)
  • From Russ Allbery@21:1/5 to All on Fri Jul 1 07:01:04 2022
    Last-modified: 2018-07-16
    Posted-by: postfaq 1.17 (Perl 5.28.1)
    Archive-name: comics/creative/faq
    URL: https://www.eyrie.org/~eagle/faqs/racc.html
    Posting-frequency: monthly

    ==========================================================================
    rec.arts.comics.creative Frequently Asked Questions
    Maintained by Russ Allbery <eagle@eyrie.org>
    Original by Jeff McCoskey ==========================================================================

    If you're reading this on Usenet, this FAQ is formatted as a minimal
    digest. If your newsreader has digest handling capabilities you can use
    them to navigate between sections. In rn variants, you can use Ctrl-G to
    skip to the next section; in Gnus, press Ctrl-D to break each section into
    a separate article. For other newsreaders, see the documentation.

    The latest version of this FAQ is available on the web at:

    <https://www.eyrie.org/~eagle/faqs/racc.html>

    Please send any comments, suggestions, or updates to eagle@eyrie.org.

    ------------------------------

    Subject: Contents

    1. Welcome to rec.arts.comics.creative!
    1.1. What is RACC for?
    1.2. What isn't RACC for?
    1.3. What is the RACC official charter?
    1.4. Where are the stories about Wolverine(tm)?
    1.5. Where are the old stories?
    1.6. How can I read RACC via e-mail?

    2. Writing for RACC (How do I get involved?)
    2.1. Cool! Okay, how do I post?
    2.2. Format! I'm nothing without format!
    2.3. How 'bout them imprints? What's up with that?
    2.4. How do I archive my stories for posterity?
    2.5. What do copyright laws I pay taxes for do for me?

    3. Netiquette for RACC

    4. Glossary

    5. List of current imprints

    6. People to ask for help

    ------------------------------

    Subject: 1. Welcome to rec.arts.comics.creative!

    Welcome to rec.arts.comics.creative, the newsgroup which could have been
    named rec.prose.shared-universe but wasn't, the newsgroup which has, to
    date, produced well over 30MB of entirely free original fiction (and
    that's compressed!), the newsgroup which has nearly nothing to do with
    your favorite comic books at all!

    You're about to go insane. Don't worry, it's fun.

    rec.arts.comics.creative (henceforth RACC) is a moderated newsgroup for comics-related original fiction and discussion of same, originally created unmoderated by Martin Phipps and a cast of thousands (well, dozens at
    least) and later converted to moderated to keep out the spam. Don't
    worry, even though it's a moderated group, it's still friendly, chatty,
    and not at all formal, and we go out of our way to keep it that way.

    The first group of this sort on the Internet was the Superguy mailing
    list, which is still in operation to this day (you'll see posts from it on
    this group from time to time). Later, the Legion of Net.Heroes (LNH)
    sprung out of a free-form thread on rec.arts.comics and spawned another newsgroup (alt.comics.lnh). They were quickly followed by a wide variety
    of other comics-based shared universes, including the Patrol, the Net.Trenchcoat.Brigade, and Omega. All of these organizations, in
    parallel, gathered together authors in shared universes and strongly
    influenced the nature of RACC.

    First and foremost, RACC is a site for people to post comics-related
    fiction. Stories about long-underwear vigilantes, anthropomorphic
    animals, SF, westerns, even Kleen Teens if anyone is so moved. As long as
    it relates to comics it's okay. So whether you're a reader, a writer, or
    that fabled creature the critic, or even all three -- welcome to RACC:
    it's all the story, none of the art! (yet)

    ------------------------------

    Subject: 1.1. What is RACC for?

    For the official charter, see section 1.3. Here's the long, readable
    version.

    One term that you'll see a lot is "shared universe." This is a shared
    story background, co-created by multiple authors and used as the
    "universe" in which multiple different stories are set. This is a
    trademark characteristic of most comic books (seen in its clearest form in
    the ubiquitous crossover, a story written by multiple authors at once and involving multiple characters who all have their own stories), as well as appearing in some other published fiction (such as Wild Cards, or Larry
    Niven's Man-Kzin Wars). Most (but not all) of the stories posted here
    take place in one of the established shared universes (there's a list
    later on in this FAQ), to the point where this style of writing is nearly characteristic of the group.

    Another term you'll see is "comics-related." Nearly all of the authors
    writing here drew their original (if not primary) inspiration from comic
    books. As a result, nearly all of the stories are on-going (published a chapter at a time), divided up into "issues" and given numbers, and
    organized into "imprints." Many people also describe covers or design
    ASCII graphic logos.

    There is no restriction on types of fiction. (That'd kinda take the
    creative out of RACC, wouldn't it?) You'll see stories run the gamut from slapstick comedy to grim'n'gritty Real Life Supers (TM). As long as it's
    about comics, set your pen free. (You'll see a lot of superhero fiction,
    but that just means that those of us who like reading other things as well
    are anxiously awaiting your non-superhero stories.)

    RACC is also for discussion of stories, both specific ones and in general.
    The critic and reader is one of the most sought-after types of people
    around here; if you give us feedback on our stories, good or bad, we'll
    love you forever.

    Finally, if you want to announce your free web strip here, we welcome
    those posts too. If you're trying to sell it, though, please try rec.arts.comics.marketplace or rec.arts.comics.strips instead. (And rec.arts.comics.strips may be a better group in general, as RACC readers
    are mostly interested in text fiction.)

    ------------------------------

    Subject: 1.2. What isn't RACC for?

    A lot of things. We're not for wars of attrition, Third World starvation,
    45 mph speed limits, and brussel sprout toothpaste. Closer to home, RACC
    is not for any of the following:

    * Discussion of existing, "professional" books (except as they relate
    to our fiction)

    * Marketplace-type I-wanna-buy/I-wanna-sell postings

    * Flames and personality conflicts. Critiques, yes. Flames, no.

    * Fiction about established, trademarked characters and universes,
    unless you created them or have written permission.

    * Erotica, no matter how much spandex you put in. There are other
    groups for that.

    ------------------------------

    Subject: 1.3. What is the RACC official charter?

    This newsgroup welcomes any form of comics-related original fiction and discussion of the same, including but not limited to stories in the many established shared universes. Discussion of on-line fiction as a whole is
    also welcome provided that it is related to the stories on the newsgroup.
    If they choose to write in an existing shared universe, writers are
    strongly encouranged to follow the existing continuity and rules of that universe. "Comics-related" will be interpreted very broadly, as has been traditional on the newsgroup.

    Each posting to rec.arts.comics.creative should include a keyword on the subject line either designating which shared universe the posting refers
    to or marking the general subject of the post (ADMIN, META, MISC, etc.).
    If a submitted post does not have a keyword, the moderator will add an appropriate keyword, but posters are encouraged to add keywords themselves
    to save moderation work.

    Large binaries, such as artwork, will not be allowed on the newsgroup.
    Instead, binaries can be made available in the newsgroup archive (subject
    to the discretion of the archivist) and a pointer posted to the newsgroup. Pointers to Web pages are also welcome, provided the content of the page
    is related to the purpose of the group.

    Stories using copyrighted or trademarked characters are explicitly not
    within the charter of this group and may be rejected unless the author
    owns the copyrights and trademarks or has written permission from the
    owner. Networking posts (artists seeking writers or writers seeking
    artists) are inappropriate in this group and should be sent to appropriate mailing lists or other groups in the rec.arts.comics.* hierarchy (rec.arts.comics.misc if there is no other more appropriate group).

    ------------------------------

    Subject: 1.4. Where are the stories about Wolverine(tm)?

    This is very important, so I'm going to yell it. RACC IS NOT THE PLACE
    FOR FICTION ABOUT ESTABLISHED, TRADEMARKED CHARACTERS. This includes all Marvel, Image, DC, what-have-you characters. RACC's charter expressly
    FORBIDS such fiction.

    The reason for this is the ongoing legislative battles about intellectual property and the Net. rec.* groups are picked up worldwide, and sysadmins
    do not want to draw lawsuits because someone wrote a story that violated trademark laws. Note that fanfic stories may or may not be lawful and/or prosecutable, WE JUST DON'T KNOW. They're still writing the laws.

    To forestall any confusion or debates, and to protect sysadmins from inadvertently becoming the test case, this provision was adopted as a key requirement for RACC's creation. If you really must write about existing, trademarked characters, there is alt.comics.fan-fiction waiting to receive
    you. alt.* groups get picked up by sysadmins voluntarily, so they
    presumedly know what risks they're taking.

    Nothing will draw this group's ire faster than violating this requirement.

    ------------------------------

    Subject: 1.5. Where are the old stories?

    Thanks to the tireless efforts and bottomless disk space of Russ Allbery,
    all stories posted to rec.arts.comics.creative are archived! This means stories will be preserved for future generations of readers, providing a
    link to the past. It is difficult to over-praise this contribution.

    (Note: Lest you think I would be so crass as to praise myself, I want to
    make sure you know that Jeff wrote that last paragraph. 'course, I didn't delete it either.)

    Older stories are sorted by universe and series and are available at:

    <https://archives.eyrie.org/racc/>

    All of the stories are compressed using gzip, but most browsers can automatically decompress them for you. This archive unfortunately hasn't
    been updated recently, but it does have all of the older stories.

    Every message to rec.arts.comics.creative, story or not, is archived at:

    <https://lists.eyrie.org/pipermail/racc/>

    in the form of a more traditional mailing list archive, so you can also
    look there if a story hasn't been saved in the story archive. This is the
    best way to find anything posted in the last few years. You can search
    the archive by prepending "site:lists.eyrie.org" to a regular Google
    search.

    Please note that stories will be removed from both the list archive and
    the story archive at the author's request if the author wants to take them down. This has happened in the past, sometimes because the author wanted
    to sell the stories to a professional venue.

    ------------------------------

    Subject: 1.6. How can I read RACC via e-mail?

    Everything that shows up in RACC also shows up in its associated mailing
    list (and vice versa), so if you want to be sure not to miss anything, or
    if you just prefer e-mail to Usenet, you can subscribe to that mailing
    list.

    To do that, go to:

    <https://lists.eyrie.org/mailman/listinfo/racc>

    and fill out the form to subscribe. Alternately, you can subscribe via
    e-mail by sending mail to racc-request@lists.eyrie.org with the word:

    subscribe

    in the subject of the message. You then can read and reply to posts just
    as if the newsgroup were a mailing list. It's all the same to us.

    ------------------------------

    Subject: 2. Writing for RACC (How do I get involved?)

    Write a story. Post it. You're involved.

    This assumes you want to create your own universe to write in. If you
    want to join a pre-existing shared universe, it's a little more involved.

    Many of the imprints have FAQs of their own (OMEGA, Superguy, LNH,
    Crossroads to name a few). These get posted periodically. The first
    thing you should do is read these documents to get a feel for what these specific universes are like.

    The next thing you should do is _read_ the universe in question. This
    includes tapping the archives for back issues. No one would suggest you
    read the entire Superguy or LNH archives before writing, but definitely
    try to sample a large cross-section.

    Lastly, email some of the creators you see writing under a specific
    imprint. They will be able to tell you if your concept fits with their universe or not, and perhaps refer you to a more appropriate universe if necessary.

    THEN write a story and post it.

    ------------------------------

    Subject: 2.1. Cool! Okay, how do I post?

    RACC is a moderated newsgroup, which means that every post goes to the moderators first. If your site correctly has the group marked as
    moderated, you should be able to post just like you post to any other
    group and your news server will take care of the rest. If you have a Unix shell account, you can check if the group is correctly marked as moderated
    by typing:

    nntplist active | grep rec.arts.comics.creative

    If the last character on the resulting line is an "m," congratulations,
    you have a good news administrator. If it's a "y," send mail to your
    local computing support people and ask them to convert the group to
    moderated like it should be.

    If you don't have a Unix shell account, some newsreaders will also tell
    you if the group is moderated.

    If, for any reason, you have trouble posting or your site *doesn't* have
    the group marked as moderated, you can mail your post to racc@eyrie.org
    instead and it will be posted for you.

    Because the group is moderated, it can be up to a day after you post
    before your article is actually posted, and it can take a few more days
    for the article to propagate back to you. So don't be surprised if it
    doesn't show up right away.

    Many readers of rec.arts.comics.creative use Google Groups to read and
    post. While this works, and I know it's convenient, Google Groups also
    deletes anything enclosed in square brackets ([]) at the beginning of
    Subject lines in replies. If you use Google Groups, please try to
    remember to put back the imprint tags when you reply to posts; otherwise,
    I have to add them as the moderator.

    ------------------------------

    Subject: 2.2. Format! I'm nothing without format!

    Formatting is pretty loose. Since this is a comics newsgroup, you will
    hear people refer to their stories as "issues." Postings tend to run in numerical order just like comic books, and many people write continuing
    series. For example there are 25 "issues" in Drizzt's _Continuity Champ
    and the Drizzt's Defenders_ series.

    Stories don't have to be series though. One-shots, mini-series,
    maxi-series, crossovers -- all of these have been done before and will be
    done again.

    The subjects of postings should follow the convention of naming the
    imprint the title and the number. For example:

    LNH: System Corruptors #15, The Bard's Tale
    imprint --^ ^ ^ ^
    title --------------| | |
    number -------------------------| |
    subtitle/comment/etc [optional] -------|

    Since the archive mechanism relies heavily on this format (not to mention
    the format-accustomed eyes of this group's readers), please follow this strictly, including the use of the #-sign. Subtitles, alternate titles,
    and title comments should follow the number if they are used at all. If
    you want to, you can use [TAG] instead of TAG: at the beginning of the
    subject; it's all the same to the archiver. (TAG: causes a few fewer
    problems than [TAG] with Google Groups.)

    Occasionally, instead of (or in addition to) a number you will see "TEB."
    This stands for "Trade EtherBack." It means the posting is actually a collection of previously posted issues -- usually cleaned up and relating
    to a single story arc.

    Inside your story do what you will. Some folks run fake ads, others use
    cheesy ASCII graphics, some just use text. A word of advice: On
    older/more primitive newsreaders your text is MUCH easier to read if you
    space between paragraphs. On the other hand, some newer newsreader
    readers find the spaces jarring. The moral? You can't please all the
    people all the time. In general spaces seem to be more preferred.

    ------------------------------

    Subject: 2.3. How 'bout them imprints? What's up with that?

    In order to accommodate a near-infinite number of different potential universes, RACC has adopted the reasonable convention of flagging fiction.
    This allows uninterested parties to skip some genres, and others to
    quickly find their niches of interest. The flag goes before the title of
    story issues, related FAQs or universe-specific discussions. Many flags
    refer to existing shared-universes. New ones will come up all the time.
    For the current list, see section 5 of this FAQ.

    Once you pick an imprint name, stick with it. The Archive and your legion
    of new fans will both be happier if you don't make marketing name changes.

    Regardless of flags all SEXUALLY EXPLICIT or PROFANITY-RICH stories should
    have huge warning labels at the beginning of text. Last thing we need is
    a Florida DA bringing us all up on charges. ;] Besides, it's only common courtesy. Note that if a story could reasonably be posted on
    alt.sex.stories, you've probably strayed a bit far from this group's
    interests.

    Some sort of flag, either an imprint name or a more general tag, is
    required on all posts and one will be added by the moderator if you don't provide one. Leaving one off requires the moderator to edit your post,
    though, which takes time and means your post will be delayed. So please
    save them the trouble and remember to add the tag yourself.

    ------------------------------

    Subject: 2.4. How do I archive my stories for posterity?

    Good news! It's already being done for you! (Or at least it will be if
    Russ ever catches up with the archiving.)

    In theory, every story posted to rec.arts.comics.creative is archived at <https://archives.eyrie.org/racc/>. Most imprints have their own
    directories, with the stories stored in directories under that (depending
    on the size of the imprint, the directories could be very structured or
    just one directory for each series). Some imprints may be collected in
    the misc directory.

    Unfortunately, this archive is substantially out of date. Russ hopes to eventually find time to update it.

    The exception is Superguy, which has its own archiving mechanism. The
    Superguy archives are at <https://archives.eyrie.org/superguy/>, but one
    of the best ways to access them is through the Autocollector at:

    <https://archives.eyrie.org/cgi-bin/superguy>

    ------------------------------

    Subject: 2.5. What do Copyright laws I pay taxes for do for me?

    I don't even play a lawyer on TV, but there are some things you should
    know about Copyright laws.

    Anything you write is copyrighted immediately, whether you flag it with a copyright notice or not. Furthermore, the copyright protection is international under the Berne Copyright Convention, which has been signed
    by nearly every country with access to Usenet.

    If you label your text as copyrighted, it preempts a possible
    "unintentional infringement" defense from plagarizers. The copyright
    notice is considered legal notice that you intend to retain your rights.
    The legal format for such a notice requires three things: Your name, the
    year, and one or more of the following: "Copyright," "Copr.," and/or the c-in-circle symbol. Note that there is no firm legal precedence for (C)
    or (c) as having any special copyright meaning. Example notice:

    Copyright 1994 Jeff J McCoskey

    The only way to get full legal protection (at least in the United States)
    is to register your work with the government (forms are free, filing fees apply). This *guarantees* an archived, dated copy should future legal
    action be necessary. Other forms of dating, like mailing yourself a copy
    or archiving (to get a date stamp), are of dubious and unproven legal
    value.

    An excellent resource for Copyright information is misc.legal, where a FAQ
    is posted monthly.

    Another excellent resource is the U.S. Copyright Office home page at:

    <https://www.copyright.gov/>

    ------------------------------

    Subject: 3. Netiquette for RACC

    As a rule of thumb, everything you've heard elsewhere about good
    netiquette applies here. We hate spammers (more in a minute), expect
    smilies when joking (except in stories of course), and in general expect
    you to conduct yourselves as good net.citizens. There are three things
    you need to know after you've mastered Basic Netiquette:

    1. The only times flames are accepted on RACC are when they are both
    morally defensible and amusing. Flames are not welcome if they do not
    meet the above criteria. Here on RACC there is one organization that
    acts as moral compass for acceptable flames: the Order of St. Doomas.

    The Order has defined one activity that is worthy of flame: spamming.
    One member of the Order (usually the first to his/her keyboard) will
    have the honors. Repetitive flaming by multiple members is frowned
    upon by the Order.

    To join this righteous crusade, all you need do is select a
    net.persona and flame. Incorrect flaming (i.e. at non-sanctioned
    targets, or with unamusing effect) will result in ostracization and
    excommunication. Watch the Order in action before joining and all
    will be clear.

    Now that the group has been moderated, most opportunities for flames
    are gone. But watch carefully; new ones may arise.

    2. Reviews of stories (even negative ones) are one of the most
    sought-after commodities on RACC. You will instantly win friends and
    influence people if you post reviews. But especially in the case of
    negative reviews, ensure you confine your review to the story and not
    the writer. Keep in mind as you write "that SUCKS" that someone
    worked long and hard on the text. They might want to know what worked
    and what didn't in their narrative but it's doubtful they want to hear
    how clever you can be in ripping them up.

    It's certain the rest of us don't.

    3. One of the best features of a shared universe is the opportunity to
    have your characters interact with others in that universe. This is
    a privilege, not a right. All characters on RACC (and their
    distinctive text-likenesses) are the full and exclusive property of
    their creators. This is not as dogmatic as it sounds, and we're all
    adults (or pretending to be). Cameos (non-speaking/non-plot affecting
    roles) do not typically require permission unless the creator desires
    it. Speaking roles should be previewed through email and approved by
    the creator before being posted.

    ------------------------------

    Subject: 4. Glossary

    These are terms you will see come up on RACC that have special meaning
    here. (For general net.terms and abbreviations, see the META RAC FAQ.)

    Acraphobe RACC's version of adult warning label. Yes, with an "a."
    Don't ask.

    Arc A multi-issue storyline.

    Archive ftp.eyrie.org, where nearly ALL the back issues live.

    Crossover A storyline that involves several titles and/or authors. Also
    the bane of all mankind.

    Elsewhirls An imaginary story. (Yeah yeah, we know they're ALL
    imaginary. How about "out-of-continuity"?)

    Fanfiction Fiction about established, trademarked universes and
    or fanfic characters that the author did not create -- in short, the
    sort of stories RACC *wasn't* designed for. There's a good
    list of newsgroups at the end of this FAQ that should help in
    finding a better group if this is what you want to write.

    Imprint The shared universe your story takes place in or subject your
    posting relates to (we have many to chose from). This is
    usually an all-caps prefix on the title of the posting.

    LNH The Legion of Net.Heroes. The immediate father of this group
    and the oldest of the Usenet-based writing universes (see
    Superguy).

    RAC* The rec.arts.comics.* hierarchy of newsgroups.

    RACC rec.arts.comics.creative. You're soaking in it!

    rACCIES The annual RACC fanfiction awards, as voted on by the readers
    or RACCies of this newsgroup.

    Repost Story has been posted before, natch.

    Superguy A mailing list that predates all other Internet comics-fiction
    forums. There is a good-natured rivalry between the LNH and
    this group.

    TEB Trade EtherBack. This is a collection of previously posted
    material, usually cleaned up and relating to a single story
    arc.

    Title A numerically increasing, continuing series. Usually
    involving one character, cast, city, or unifying concept.

    ------------------------------

    Subject: 5. List of Current Tags

    When choosing a tag to put at the beginning of your post, this list should
    be a canonical reference. If you see a need for a new tag, send mail to
    the FAQ maintainer so that it can be added.

    First, the general tags:

    ADMIN Administrative matters affecting everyone on RACC.

    FAQ FAQs of note for the entire RAC* hierarchy. These will tend
    to be crossposted here.

    META Discussion about the newsgroup itself. This includes
    or CHAT everything from general discussion of on-line fiction and RACC
    in particular to recommendations on how long posts should be.

    PRECOG Announcements of upcoming series, planned stories, and the
    or PROMO like.

    WWW Announcement of a web page related to RACC or a free strip.

    Now, all of the writing imprints. Note that new ones of these pop up all
    the time. Entries marked with (*) are in danger of being retired due to
    lack of activity. If you have any changes, please mail eagle@eyrie.org.

    8FOLD A closed universe that encompasses serious superheroes, comedy,
    memoir, and just about anything else: high-quality fiction of
    any stripe is welcome.

    ACRAPHOBE Mature stories that may or may not fit into other universes'
    or ACRA continuity. Using this flag in conjunction with another is
    not unheard of. (For example, Scav's _501 Blues_ is
    LNH/ACRAPHOBE.) Think a meta-Vertigo.

    ASH Academy of Super-Heroes. Dave Van Domelen's RPG-based future-
    history stories. See <https://www.eyrie.org/~dvandom/ASH>.

    ELSEWHIRLS LNH stories that do not fit into LNH continuity. Think DC's
    or EW Elseworlds.

    HCC The High Concept Challenge, a continuous series of writing
    contests. Each round, the winner, chosen by reader vote, gets
    to pick the next round's concept.

    LNH Legion of Net.Heroes, "The Friendliest Shared Universe
    Going!(TM)" A mostly parody universe, though it does have its
    serious side.

    LNH20 On the LNH's 20th anniversary, a group of writers took it upon
    themselves to create a new world, based in everything they
    loved about the LNH, in the best spirit of comic book reboots!
    LNH20 is just as friendly as the original, but easier to get
    into! Hop right in, the adventure's fine!

    LNHY An Imprint involving an alternate LNH universe called
    Looniverse Y. The big difference between this and the Classic
    LNH is that writers are allowed to have only one character of
    theirs in this Looniverse's LNH.

    RACCCafe A continuity-free outpust where RACC characters can unwind
    after a hard day of being mangled by their writers. Anything
    can happen, as long as it's funny, and there are no
    consequences!

    SG Superguy. From Space Moose to the Bomb. Comedy superhero
    writing with a far different background than LNH. Note that
    only a small slice of Superguy stuff appears here; to see the
    rest, go to <https://lists.eyrie.org/mailman/listinfo/superguy>.

    STARFALL Lightly serious and seriously light superheroics, and better
    because of it. ;)

    NTB Net.Trenchcoat.Brigade. A bunch of Vertigo-like characters
    that own stock in London Fog. Not tremendously active, but
    they do have a considerable history. Implied Acraphobe.

    OMEGA A serious psi-based shared super-world and once upon a time
    RACC's third largest universe, now inactive. Created by the
    legendary Matt Rossi.

    OSD The Order of Saint Doomas. Items relating to RACC's anti-spam
    cult. (See Section 3 above.) No posts have been seen from
    this imprint in quite some time, but that doesn't mean they're
    gone....

    SW10 SW stands for Superhuman World. 10 is an annual tag. The
    comic has proceeded to 2011, but the tag has frozen at 2010
    because that's when the series really interacted with RACC.
    Scott Eiler has written the story of this universe since
    before 1991, but 1991 is when the modern heroes of this series
    start. His sources include adolescent male power fantasy,
    superhero role-playing, comic-book satire, and dreams. See
    <http://www.eilertech.com/stories/>.

    MISC Stories not in the above categories or in their own universes
    (authors are encouraged to make up their own headers as well).
    To limit the number of imprints, and to keep this FAQ to
    reasonable lengths, let's adopt this convention: One-shot
    stories or series should use the MISC flag. Series that set
    up shared universes should create their own, new imprint.

    ------------------------------

    Subject: 6. People to Ask for Help

    The major header contacts are listed below, who will be glad to answer
    email question. Also keep your eyes peeled for FAQs specific to
    particular imprints. The FAQs are also often in the archive in a
    directory named "FAQs" under the imprint directory.

    Imprint Contact Email
    ------------ -------------------- ---------------------------------
    8FOLD Jamie Rosen jamie.rosen@sunlife.com
    8FOLD Tom Russell joltcity@gmail.com
    + ASH Dave Van Domelen dvandom@eyrie.org
    + LNH Andrew Perron pwerdna@gmail.com
    LNH20 Andrew Perron pwerdna@gmail.com
    + LNHY Arthur Spitzer arspitzer@earthlink.net
    + NTB Arthur Spitzer arspitzer@earthlink.net
    + RACChallenge Sean MacDonald mcdonald@vorteb.math.uab.edu
    + StarFall Ted Brock phantom_belcher@yahoo.com
    + Superguy Eric Burns eaburns@annotations.com
    SW10 Scott Eiler seiler@eilertech.com

    The Archive Russ Allbery eagle@eyrie.org
    Moderation RACC Moderation Team racc-request@eyrie.org

    + indicates separate FAQs are available for these imprints.

    If you need to contact the moderator directly, the contact information is:

    Russ Allbery <eagle@eyrie.org>

    If none of the above people help, or your questions are too general or specific, just email anyone you see posting here that seems to know what they're doing. (WARNING: This is rarely the case.)

    --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
    * Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)
  • From Russ Allbery@21:1/5 to All on Mon Aug 1 07:01:02 2022
    Last-modified: 2018-07-16
    Posted-by: postfaq 1.17 (Perl 5.28.1)
    Archive-name: comics/creative/faq
    URL: https://www.eyrie.org/~eagle/faqs/racc.html
    Posting-frequency: monthly

    ==========================================================================
    rec.arts.comics.creative Frequently Asked Questions
    Maintained by Russ Allbery <eagle@eyrie.org>
    Original by Jeff McCoskey ==========================================================================

    If you're reading this on Usenet, this FAQ is formatted as a minimal
    digest. If your newsreader has digest handling capabilities you can use
    them to navigate between sections. In rn variants, you can use Ctrl-G to
    skip to the next section; in Gnus, press Ctrl-D to break each section into
    a separate article. For other newsreaders, see the documentation.

    The latest version of this FAQ is available on the web at:

    <https://www.eyrie.org/~eagle/faqs/racc.html>

    Please send any comments, suggestions, or updates to eagle@eyrie.org.

    ------------------------------

    Subject: Contents

    1. Welcome to rec.arts.comics.creative!
    1.1. What is RACC for?
    1.2. What isn't RACC for?
    1.3. What is the RACC official charter?
    1.4. Where are the stories about Wolverine(tm)?
    1.5. Where are the old stories?
    1.6. How can I read RACC via e-mail?

    2. Writing for RACC (How do I get involved?)
    2.1. Cool! Okay, how do I post?
    2.2. Format! I'm nothing without format!
    2.3. How 'bout them imprints? What's up with that?
    2.4. How do I archive my stories for posterity?
    2.5. What do copyright laws I pay taxes for do for me?

    3. Netiquette for RACC

    4. Glossary

    5. List of current imprints

    6. People to ask for help

    ------------------------------

    Subject: 1. Welcome to rec.arts.comics.creative!

    Welcome to rec.arts.comics.creative, the newsgroup which could have been
    named rec.prose.shared-universe but wasn't, the newsgroup which has, to
    date, produced well over 30MB of entirely free original fiction (and
    that's compressed!), the newsgroup which has nearly nothing to do with
    your favorite comic books at all!

    You're about to go insane. Don't worry, it's fun.

    rec.arts.comics.creative (henceforth RACC) is a moderated newsgroup for comics-related original fiction and discussion of same, originally created unmoderated by Martin Phipps and a cast of thousands (well, dozens at
    least) and later converted to moderated to keep out the spam. Don't
    worry, even though it's a moderated group, it's still friendly, chatty,
    and not at all formal, and we go out of our way to keep it that way.

    The first group of this sort on the Internet was the Superguy mailing
    list, which is still in operation to this day (you'll see posts from it on
    this group from time to time). Later, the Legion of Net.Heroes (LNH)
    sprung out of a free-form thread on rec.arts.comics and spawned another newsgroup (alt.comics.lnh). They were quickly followed by a wide variety
    of other comics-based shared universes, including the Patrol, the Net.Trenchcoat.Brigade, and Omega. All of these organizations, in
    parallel, gathered together authors in shared universes and strongly
    influenced the nature of RACC.

    First and foremost, RACC is a site for people to post comics-related
    fiction. Stories about long-underwear vigilantes, anthropomorphic
    animals, SF, westerns, even Kleen Teens if anyone is so moved. As long as
    it relates to comics it's okay. So whether you're a reader, a writer, or
    that fabled creature the critic, or even all three -- welcome to RACC:
    it's all the story, none of the art! (yet)

    ------------------------------

    Subject: 1.1. What is RACC for?

    For the official charter, see section 1.3. Here's the long, readable
    version.

    One term that you'll see a lot is "shared universe." This is a shared
    story background, co-created by multiple authors and used as the
    "universe" in which multiple different stories are set. This is a
    trademark characteristic of most comic books (seen in its clearest form in
    the ubiquitous crossover, a story written by multiple authors at once and involving multiple characters who all have their own stories), as well as appearing in some other published fiction (such as Wild Cards, or Larry
    Niven's Man-Kzin Wars). Most (but not all) of the stories posted here
    take place in one of the established shared universes (there's a list
    later on in this FAQ), to the point where this style of writing is nearly characteristic of the group.

    Another term you'll see is "comics-related." Nearly all of the authors
    writing here drew their original (if not primary) inspiration from comic
    books. As a result, nearly all of the stories are on-going (published a chapter at a time), divided up into "issues" and given numbers, and
    organized into "imprints." Many people also describe covers or design
    ASCII graphic logos.

    There is no restriction on types of fiction. (That'd kinda take the
    creative out of RACC, wouldn't it?) You'll see stories run the gamut from slapstick comedy to grim'n'gritty Real Life Supers (TM). As long as it's
    about comics, set your pen free. (You'll see a lot of superhero fiction,
    but that just means that those of us who like reading other things as well
    are anxiously awaiting your non-superhero stories.)

    RACC is also for discussion of stories, both specific ones and in general.
    The critic and reader is one of the most sought-after types of people
    around here; if you give us feedback on our stories, good or bad, we'll
    love you forever.

    Finally, if you want to announce your free web strip here, we welcome
    those posts too. If you're trying to sell it, though, please try rec.arts.comics.marketplace or rec.arts.comics.strips instead. (And rec.arts.comics.strips may be a better group in general, as RACC readers
    are mostly interested in text fiction.)

    ------------------------------

    Subject: 1.2. What isn't RACC for?

    A lot of things. We're not for wars of attrition, Third World starvation,
    45 mph speed limits, and brussel sprout toothpaste. Closer to home, RACC
    is not for any of the following:

    * Discussion of existing, "professional" books (except as they relate
    to our fiction)

    * Marketplace-type I-wanna-buy/I-wanna-sell postings

    * Flames and personality conflicts. Critiques, yes. Flames, no.

    * Fiction about established, trademarked characters and universes,
    unless you created them or have written permission.

    * Erotica, no matter how much spandex you put in. There are other
    groups for that.

    ------------------------------

    Subject: 1.3. What is the RACC official charter?

    This newsgroup welcomes any form of comics-related original fiction and discussion of the same, including but not limited to stories in the many established shared universes. Discussion of on-line fiction as a whole is
    also welcome provided that it is related to the stories on the newsgroup.
    If they choose to write in an existing shared universe, writers are
    strongly encouranged to follow the existing continuity and rules of that universe. "Comics-related" will be interpreted very broadly, as has been traditional on the newsgroup.

    Each posting to rec.arts.comics.creative should include a keyword on the subject line either designating which shared universe the posting refers
    to or marking the general subject of the post (ADMIN, META, MISC, etc.).
    If a submitted post does not have a keyword, the moderator will add an appropriate keyword, but posters are encouraged to add keywords themselves
    to save moderation work.

    Large binaries, such as artwork, will not be allowed on the newsgroup.
    Instead, binaries can be made available in the newsgroup archive (subject
    to the discretion of the archivist) and a pointer posted to the newsgroup. Pointers to Web pages are also welcome, provided the content of the page
    is related to the purpose of the group.

    Stories using copyrighted or trademarked characters are explicitly not
    within the charter of this group and may be rejected unless the author
    owns the copyrights and trademarks or has written permission from the
    owner. Networking posts (artists seeking writers or writers seeking
    artists) are inappropriate in this group and should be sent to appropriate mailing lists or other groups in the rec.arts.comics.* hierarchy (rec.arts.comics.misc if there is no other more appropriate group).

    ------------------------------

    Subject: 1.4. Where are the stories about Wolverine(tm)?

    This is very important, so I'm going to yell it. RACC IS NOT THE PLACE
    FOR FICTION ABOUT ESTABLISHED, TRADEMARKED CHARACTERS. This includes all Marvel, Image, DC, what-have-you characters. RACC's charter expressly
    FORBIDS such fiction.

    The reason for this is the ongoing legislative battles about intellectual property and the Net. rec.* groups are picked up worldwide, and sysadmins
    do not want to draw lawsuits because someone wrote a story that violated trademark laws. Note that fanfic stories may or may not be lawful and/or prosecutable, WE JUST DON'T KNOW. They're still writing the laws.

    To forestall any confusion or debates, and to protect sysadmins from inadvertently becoming the test case, this provision was adopted as a key requirement for RACC's creation. If you really must write about existing, trademarked characters, there is alt.comics.fan-fiction waiting to receive
    you. alt.* groups get picked up by sysadmins voluntarily, so they
    presumedly know what risks they're taking.

    Nothing will draw this group's ire faster than violating this requirement.

    ------------------------------

    Subject: 1.5. Where are the old stories?

    Thanks to the tireless efforts and bottomless disk space of Russ Allbery,
    all stories posted to rec.arts.comics.creative are archived! This means stories will be preserved for future generations of readers, providing a
    link to the past. It is difficult to over-praise this contribution.

    (Note: Lest you think I would be so crass as to praise myself, I want to
    make sure you know that Jeff wrote that last paragraph. 'course, I didn't delete it either.)

    Older stories are sorted by universe and series and are available at:

    <https://archives.eyrie.org/racc/>

    All of the stories are compressed using gzip, but most browsers can automatically decompress them for you. This archive unfortunately hasn't
    been updated recently, but it does have all of the older stories.

    Every message to rec.arts.comics.creative, story or not, is archived at:

    <https://lists.eyrie.org/pipermail/racc/>

    in the form of a more traditional mailing list archive, so you can also
    look there if a story hasn't been saved in the story archive. This is the
    best way to find anything posted in the last few years. You can search
    the archive by prepending "site:lists.eyrie.org" to a regular Google
    search.

    Please note that stories will be removed from both the list archive and
    the story archive at the author's request if the author wants to take them down. This has happened in the past, sometimes because the author wanted
    to sell the stories to a professional venue.

    ------------------------------

    Subject: 1.6. How can I read RACC via e-mail?

    Everything that shows up in RACC also shows up in its associated mailing
    list (and vice versa), so if you want to be sure not to miss anything, or
    if you just prefer e-mail to Usenet, you can subscribe to that mailing
    list.

    To do that, go to:

    <https://lists.eyrie.org/mailman/listinfo/racc>

    and fill out the form to subscribe. Alternately, you can subscribe via
    e-mail by sending mail to racc-request@lists.eyrie.org with the word:

    subscribe

    in the subject of the message. You then can read and reply to posts just
    as if the newsgroup were a mailing list. It's all the same to us.

    ------------------------------

    Subject: 2. Writing for RACC (How do I get involved?)

    Write a story. Post it. You're involved.

    This assumes you want to create your own universe to write in. If you
    want to join a pre-existing shared universe, it's a little more involved.

    Many of the imprints have FAQs of their own (OMEGA, Superguy, LNH,
    Crossroads to name a few). These get posted periodically. The first
    thing you should do is read these documents to get a feel for what these specific universes are like.

    The next thing you should do is _read_ the universe in question. This
    includes tapping the archives for back issues. No one would suggest you
    read the entire Superguy or LNH archives before writing, but definitely
    try to sample a large cross-section.

    Lastly, email some of the creators you see writing under a specific
    imprint. They will be able to tell you if your concept fits with their universe or not, and perhaps refer you to a more appropriate universe if necessary.

    THEN write a story and post it.

    ------------------------------

    Subject: 2.1. Cool! Okay, how do I post?

    RACC is a moderated newsgroup, which means that every post goes to the moderators first. If your site correctly has the group marked as
    moderated, you should be able to post just like you post to any other
    group and your news server will take care of the rest. If you have a Unix shell account, you can check if the group is correctly marked as moderated
    by typing:

    nntplist active | grep rec.arts.comics.creative

    If the last character on the resulting line is an "m," congratulations,
    you have a good news administrator. If it's a "y," send mail to your
    local computing support people and ask them to convert the group to
    moderated like it should be.

    If you don't have a Unix shell account, some newsreaders will also tell
    you if the group is moderated.

    If, for any reason, you have trouble posting or your site *doesn't* have
    the group marked as moderated, you can mail your post to racc@eyrie.org
    instead and it will be posted for you.

    Because the group is moderated, it can be up to a day after you post
    before your article is actually posted, and it can take a few more days
    for the article to propagate back to you. So don't be surprised if it
    doesn't show up right away.

    Many readers of rec.arts.comics.creative use Google Groups to read and
    post. While this works, and I know it's convenient, Google Groups also
    deletes anything enclosed in square brackets ([]) at the beginning of
    Subject lines in replies. If you use Google Groups, please try to
    remember to put back the imprint tags when you reply to posts; otherwise,
    I have to add them as the moderator.

    ------------------------------

    Subject: 2.2. Format! I'm nothing without format!

    Formatting is pretty loose. Since this is a comics newsgroup, you will
    hear people refer to their stories as "issues." Postings tend to run in numerical order just like comic books, and many people write continuing
    series. For example there are 25 "issues" in Drizzt's _Continuity Champ
    and the Drizzt's Defenders_ series.

    Stories don't have to be series though. One-shots, mini-series,
    maxi-series, crossovers -- all of these have been done before and will be
    done again.

    The subjects of postings should follow the convention of naming the
    imprint the title and the number. For example:

    LNH: System Corruptors #15, The Bard's Tale
    imprint --^ ^ ^ ^
    title --------------| | |
    number -------------------------| |
    subtitle/comment/etc [optional] -------|

    Since the archive mechanism relies heavily on this format (not to mention
    the format-accustomed eyes of this group's readers), please follow this strictly, including the use of the #-sign. Subtitles, alternate titles,
    and title comments should follow the number if they are used at all. If
    you want to, you can use [TAG] instead of TAG: at the beginning of the
    subject; it's all the same to the archiver. (TAG: causes a few fewer
    problems than [TAG] with Google Groups.)

    Occasionally, instead of (or in addition to) a number you will see "TEB."
    This stands for "Trade EtherBack." It means the posting is actually a collection of previously posted issues -- usually cleaned up and relating
    to a single story arc.

    Inside your story do what you will. Some folks run fake ads, others use
    cheesy ASCII graphics, some just use text. A word of advice: On
    older/more primitive newsreaders your text is MUCH easier to read if you
    space between paragraphs. On the other hand, some newer newsreader
    readers find the spaces jarring. The moral? You can't please all the
    people all the time. In general spaces seem to be more preferred.

    ------------------------------

    Subject: 2.3. How 'bout them imprints? What's up with that?

    In order to accommodate a near-infinite number of different potential universes, RACC has adopted the reasonable convention of flagging fiction.
    This allows uninterested parties to skip some genres, and others to
    quickly find their niches of interest. The flag goes before the title of
    story issues, related FAQs or universe-specific discussions. Many flags
    refer to existing shared-universes. New ones will come up all the time.
    For the current list, see section 5 of this FAQ.

    Once you pick an imprint name, stick with it. The Archive and your legion
    of new fans will both be happier if you don't make marketing name changes.

    Regardless of flags all SEXUALLY EXPLICIT or PROFANITY-RICH stories should
    have huge warning labels at the beginning of text. Last thing we need is
    a Florida DA bringing us all up on charges. ;] Besides, it's only common courtesy. Note that if a story could reasonably be posted on
    alt.sex.stories, you've probably strayed a bit far from this group's
    interests.

    Some sort of flag, either an imprint name or a more general tag, is
    required on all posts and one will be added by the moderator if you don't provide one. Leaving one off requires the moderator to edit your post,
    though, which takes time and means your post will be delayed. So please
    save them the trouble and remember to add the tag yourself.

    ------------------------------

    Subject: 2.4. How do I archive my stories for posterity?

    Good news! It's already being done for you! (Or at least it will be if
    Russ ever catches up with the archiving.)

    In theory, every story posted to rec.arts.comics.creative is archived at <https://archives.eyrie.org/racc/>. Most imprints have their own
    directories, with the stories stored in directories under that (depending
    on the size of the imprint, the directories could be very structured or
    just one directory for each series). Some imprints may be collected in
    the misc directory.

    Unfortunately, this archive is substantially out of date. Russ hopes to eventually find time to update it.

    The exception is Superguy, which has its own archiving mechanism. The
    Superguy archives are at <https://archives.eyrie.org/superguy/>, but one
    of the best ways to access them is through the Autocollector at:

    <https://archives.eyrie.org/cgi-bin/superguy>

    ------------------------------

    Subject: 2.5. What do Copyright laws I pay taxes for do for me?

    I don't even play a lawyer on TV, but there are some things you should
    know about Copyright laws.

    Anything you write is copyrighted immediately, whether you flag it with a copyright notice or not. Furthermore, the copyright protection is international under the Berne Copyright Convention, which has been signed
    by nearly every country with access to Usenet.

    If you label your text as copyrighted, it preempts a possible
    "unintentional infringement" defense from plagarizers. The copyright
    notice is considered legal notice that you intend to retain your rights.
    The legal format for such a notice requires three things: Your name, the
    year, and one or more of the following: "Copyright," "Copr.," and/or the c-in-circle symbol. Note that there is no firm legal precedence for (C)
    or (c) as having any special copyright meaning. Example notice:

    Copyright 1994 Jeff J McCoskey

    The only way to get full legal protection (at least in the United States)
    is to register your work with the government (forms are free, filing fees apply). This *guarantees* an archived, dated copy should future legal
    action be necessary. Other forms of dating, like mailing yourself a copy
    or archiving (to get a date stamp), are of dubious and unproven legal
    value.

    An excellent resource for Copyright information is misc.legal, where a FAQ
    is posted monthly.

    Another excellent resource is the U.S. Copyright Office home page at:

    <https://www.copyright.gov/>

    ------------------------------

    Subject: 3. Netiquette for RACC

    As a rule of thumb, everything you've heard elsewhere about good
    netiquette applies here. We hate spammers (more in a minute), expect
    smilies when joking (except in stories of course), and in general expect
    you to conduct yourselves as good net.citizens. There are three things
    you need to know after you've mastered Basic Netiquette:

    1. The only times flames are accepted on RACC are when they are both
    morally defensible and amusing. Flames are not welcome if they do not
    meet the above criteria. Here on RACC there is one organization that
    acts as moral compass for acceptable flames: the Order of St. Doomas.

    The Order has defined one activity that is worthy of flame: spamming.
    One member of the Order (usually the first to his/her keyboard) will
    have the honors. Repetitive flaming by multiple members is frowned
    upon by the Order.

    To join this righteous crusade, all you need do is select a
    net.persona and flame. Incorrect flaming (i.e. at non-sanctioned
    targets, or with unamusing effect) will result in ostracization and
    excommunication. Watch the Order in action before joining and all
    will be clear.

    Now that the group has been moderated, most opportunities for flames
    are gone. But watch carefully; new ones may arise.

    2. Reviews of stories (even negative ones) are one of the most
    sought-after commodities on RACC. You will instantly win friends and
    influence people if you post reviews. But especially in the case of
    negative reviews, ensure you confine your review to the story and not
    the writer. Keep in mind as you write "that SUCKS" that someone
    worked long and hard on the text. They might want to know what worked
    and what didn't in their narrative but it's doubtful they want to hear
    how clever you can be in ripping them up.

    It's certain the rest of us don't.

    3. One of the best features of a shared universe is the opportunity to
    have your characters interact with others in that universe. This is
    a privilege, not a right. All characters on RACC (and their
    distinctive text-likenesses) are the full and exclusive property of
    their creators. This is not as dogmatic as it sounds, and we're all
    adults (or pretending to be). Cameos (non-speaking/non-plot affecting
    roles) do not typically require permission unless the creator desires
    it. Speaking roles should be previewed through email and approved by
    the creator before being posted.

    ------------------------------

    Subject: 4. Glossary

    These are terms you will see come up on RACC that have special meaning
    here. (For general net.terms and abbreviations, see the META RAC FAQ.)

    Acraphobe RACC's version of adult warning label. Yes, with an "a."
    Don't ask.

    Arc A multi-issue storyline.

    Archive ftp.eyrie.org, where nearly ALL the back issues live.

    Crossover A storyline that involves several titles and/or authors. Also
    the bane of all mankind.

    Elsewhirls An imaginary story. (Yeah yeah, we know they're ALL
    imaginary. How about "out-of-continuity"?)

    Fanfiction Fiction about established, trademarked universes and
    or fanfic characters that the author did not create -- in short, the
    sort of stories RACC *wasn't* designed for. There's a good
    list of newsgroups at the end of this FAQ that should help in
    finding a better group if this is what you want to write.

    Imprint The shared universe your story takes place in or subject your
    posting relates to (we have many to chose from). This is
    usually an all-caps prefix on the title of the posting.

    LNH The Legion of Net.Heroes. The immediate father of this group
    and the oldest of the Usenet-based writing universes (see
    Superguy).

    RAC* The rec.arts.comics.* hierarchy of newsgroups.

    RACC rec.arts.comics.creative. You're soaking in it!

    rACCIES The annual RACC fanfiction awards, as voted on by the readers
    or RACCies of this newsgroup.

    Repost Story has been posted before, natch.

    Superguy A mailing list that predates all other Internet comics-fiction
    forums. There is a good-natured rivalry between the LNH and
    this group.

    TEB Trade EtherBack. This is a collection of previously posted
    material, usually cleaned up and relating to a single story
    arc.

    Title A numerically increasing, continuing series. Usually
    involving one character, cast, city, or unifying concept.

    ------------------------------

    Subject: 5. List of Current Tags

    When choosing a tag to put at the beginning of your post, this list should
    be a canonical reference. If you see a need for a new tag, send mail to
    the FAQ maintainer so that it can be added.

    First, the general tags:

    ADMIN Administrative matters affecting everyone on RACC.

    FAQ FAQs of note for the entire RAC* hierarchy. These will tend
    to be crossposted here.

    META Discussion about the newsgroup itself. This includes
    or CHAT everything from general discussion of on-line fiction and RACC
    in particular to recommendations on how long posts should be.

    PRECOG Announcements of upcoming series, planned stories, and the
    or PROMO like.

    WWW Announcement of a web page related to RACC or a free strip.

    Now, all of the writing imprints. Note that new ones of these pop up all
    the time. Entries marked with (*) are in danger of being retired due to
    lack of activity. If you have any changes, please mail eagle@eyrie.org.

    8FOLD A closed universe that encompasses serious superheroes, comedy,
    memoir, and just about anything else: high-quality fiction of
    any stripe is welcome.

    ACRAPHOBE Mature stories that may or may not fit into other universes'
    or ACRA continuity. Using this flag in conjunction with another is
    not unheard of. (For example, Scav's _501 Blues_ is
    LNH/ACRAPHOBE.) Think a meta-Vertigo.

    ASH Academy of Super-Heroes. Dave Van Domelen's RPG-based future-
    history stories. See <https://www.eyrie.org/~dvandom/ASH>.

    ELSEWHIRLS LNH stories that do not fit into LNH continuity. Think DC's
    or EW Elseworlds.

    HCC The High Concept Challenge, a continuous series of writing
    contests. Each round, the winner, chosen by reader vote, gets
    to pick the next round's concept.

    LNH Legion of Net.Heroes, "The Friendliest Shared Universe
    Going!(TM)" A mostly parody universe, though it does have its
    serious side.

    LNH20 On the LNH's 20th anniversary, a group of writers took it upon
    themselves to create a new world, based in everything they
    loved about the LNH, in the best spirit of comic book reboots!
    LNH20 is just as friendly as the original, but easier to get
    into! Hop right in, the adventure's fine!

    LNHY An Imprint involving an alternate LNH universe called
    Looniverse Y. The big difference between this and the Classic
    LNH is that writers are allowed to have only one character of
    theirs in this Looniverse's LNH.

    RACCCafe A continuity-free outpust where RACC characters can unwind
    after a hard day of being mangled by their writers. Anything
    can happen, as long as it's funny, and there are no
    consequences!

    SG Superguy. From Space Moose to the Bomb. Comedy superhero
    writing with a far different background than LNH. Note that
    only a small slice of Superguy stuff appears here; to see the
    rest, go to <https://lists.eyrie.org/mailman/listinfo/superguy>.

    STARFALL Lightly serious and seriously light superheroics, and better
    because of it. ;)

    NTB Net.Trenchcoat.Brigade. A bunch of Vertigo-like characters
    that own stock in London Fog. Not tremendously active, but
    they do have a considerable history. Implied Acraphobe.

    OMEGA A serious psi-based shared super-world and once upon a time
    RACC's third largest universe, now inactive. Created by the
    legendary Matt Rossi.

    OSD The Order of Saint Doomas. Items relating to RACC's anti-spam
    cult. (See Section 3 above.) No posts have been seen from
    this imprint in quite some time, but that doesn't mean they're
    gone....

    SW10 SW stands for Superhuman World. 10 is an annual tag. The
    comic has proceeded to 2011, but the tag has frozen at 2010
    because that's when the series really interacted with RACC.
    Scott Eiler has written the story of this universe since
    before 1991, but 1991 is when the modern heroes of this series
    start. His sources include adolescent male power fantasy,
    superhero role-playing, comic-book satire, and dreams. See
    <http://www.eilertech.com/stories/>.

    MISC Stories not in the above categories or in their own universes
    (authors are encouraged to make up their own headers as well).
    To limit the number of imprints, and to keep this FAQ to
    reasonable lengths, let's adopt this convention: One-shot
    stories or series should use the MISC flag. Series that set
    up shared universes should create their own, new imprint.

    ------------------------------

    Subject: 6. People to Ask for Help

    The major header contacts are listed below, who will be glad to answer
    email question. Also keep your eyes peeled for FAQs specific to
    particular imprints. The FAQs are also often in the archive in a
    directory named "FAQs" under the imprint directory.

    Imprint Contact Email
    ------------ -------------------- ---------------------------------
    8FOLD Jamie Rosen jamie.rosen@sunlife.com
    8FOLD Tom Russell joltcity@gmail.com
    + ASH Dave Van Domelen dvandom@eyrie.org
    + LNH Andrew Perron pwerdna@gmail.com
    LNH20 Andrew Perron pwerdna@gmail.com
    + LNHY Arthur Spitzer arspitzer@earthlink.net
    + NTB Arthur Spitzer arspitzer@earthlink.net
    + RACChallenge Sean MacDonald mcdonald@vorteb.math.uab.edu
    + StarFall Ted Brock phantom_belcher@yahoo.com
    + Superguy Eric Burns eaburns@annotations.com
    SW10 Scott Eiler seiler@eilertech.com

    The Archive Russ Allbery eagle@eyrie.org
    Moderation RACC Moderation Team racc-request@eyrie.org

    + indicates separate FAQs are available for these imprints.

    If you need to contact the moderator directly, the contact information is:

    Russ Allbery <eagle@eyrie.org>

    If none of the above people help, or your questions are too general or specific, just email anyone you see posting here that seems to know what they're doing. (WARNING: This is rarely the case.)

    --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
    * Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)
  • From Russ Allbery@21:1/5 to All on Thu Sep 1 07:01:03 2022
    Last-modified: 2018-07-16
    Posted-by: postfaq 1.17 (Perl 5.28.1)
    Archive-name: comics/creative/faq
    URL: https://www.eyrie.org/~eagle/faqs/racc.html
    Posting-frequency: monthly

    ==========================================================================
    rec.arts.comics.creative Frequently Asked Questions
    Maintained by Russ Allbery <eagle@eyrie.org>
    Original by Jeff McCoskey ==========================================================================

    If you're reading this on Usenet, this FAQ is formatted as a minimal
    digest. If your newsreader has digest handling capabilities you can use
    them to navigate between sections. In rn variants, you can use Ctrl-G to
    skip to the next section; in Gnus, press Ctrl-D to break each section into
    a separate article. For other newsreaders, see the documentation.

    The latest version of this FAQ is available on the web at:

    <https://www.eyrie.org/~eagle/faqs/racc.html>

    Please send any comments, suggestions, or updates to eagle@eyrie.org.

    ------------------------------

    Subject: Contents

    1. Welcome to rec.arts.comics.creative!
    1.1. What is RACC for?
    1.2. What isn't RACC for?
    1.3. What is the RACC official charter?
    1.4. Where are the stories about Wolverine(tm)?
    1.5. Where are the old stories?
    1.6. How can I read RACC via e-mail?

    2. Writing for RACC (How do I get involved?)
    2.1. Cool! Okay, how do I post?
    2.2. Format! I'm nothing without format!
    2.3. How 'bout them imprints? What's up with that?
    2.4. How do I archive my stories for posterity?
    2.5. What do copyright laws I pay taxes for do for me?

    3. Netiquette for RACC

    4. Glossary

    5. List of current imprints

    6. People to ask for help

    ------------------------------

    Subject: 1. Welcome to rec.arts.comics.creative!

    Welcome to rec.arts.comics.creative, the newsgroup which could have been
    named rec.prose.shared-universe but wasn't, the newsgroup which has, to
    date, produced well over 30MB of entirely free original fiction (and
    that's compressed!), the newsgroup which has nearly nothing to do with
    your favorite comic books at all!

    You're about to go insane. Don't worry, it's fun.

    rec.arts.comics.creative (henceforth RACC) is a moderated newsgroup for comics-related original fiction and discussion of same, originally created unmoderated by Martin Phipps and a cast of thousands (well, dozens at
    least) and later converted to moderated to keep out the spam. Don't
    worry, even though it's a moderated group, it's still friendly, chatty,
    and not at all formal, and we go out of our way to keep it that way.

    The first group of this sort on the Internet was the Superguy mailing
    list, which is still in operation to this day (you'll see posts from it on
    this group from time to time). Later, the Legion of Net.Heroes (LNH)
    sprung out of a free-form thread on rec.arts.comics and spawned another newsgroup (alt.comics.lnh). They were quickly followed by a wide variety
    of other comics-based shared universes, including the Patrol, the Net.Trenchcoat.Brigade, and Omega. All of these organizations, in
    parallel, gathered together authors in shared universes and strongly
    influenced the nature of RACC.

    First and foremost, RACC is a site for people to post comics-related
    fiction. Stories about long-underwear vigilantes, anthropomorphic
    animals, SF, westerns, even Kleen Teens if anyone is so moved. As long as
    it relates to comics it's okay. So whether you're a reader, a writer, or
    that fabled creature the critic, or even all three -- welcome to RACC:
    it's all the story, none of the art! (yet)

    ------------------------------

    Subject: 1.1. What is RACC for?

    For the official charter, see section 1.3. Here's the long, readable
    version.

    One term that you'll see a lot is "shared universe." This is a shared
    story background, co-created by multiple authors and used as the
    "universe" in which multiple different stories are set. This is a
    trademark characteristic of most comic books (seen in its clearest form in
    the ubiquitous crossover, a story written by multiple authors at once and involving multiple characters who all have their own stories), as well as appearing in some other published fiction (such as Wild Cards, or Larry
    Niven's Man-Kzin Wars). Most (but not all) of the stories posted here
    take place in one of the established shared universes (there's a list
    later on in this FAQ), to the point where this style of writing is nearly characteristic of the group.

    Another term you'll see is "comics-related." Nearly all of the authors
    writing here drew their original (if not primary) inspiration from comic
    books. As a result, nearly all of the stories are on-going (published a chapter at a time), divided up into "issues" and given numbers, and
    organized into "imprints." Many people also describe covers or design
    ASCII graphic logos.

    There is no restriction on types of fiction. (That'd kinda take the
    creative out of RACC, wouldn't it?) You'll see stories run the gamut from slapstick comedy to grim'n'gritty Real Life Supers (TM). As long as it's
    about comics, set your pen free. (You'll see a lot of superhero fiction,
    but that just means that those of us who like reading other things as well
    are anxiously awaiting your non-superhero stories.)

    RACC is also for discussion of stories, both specific ones and in general.
    The critic and reader is one of the most sought-after types of people
    around here; if you give us feedback on our stories, good or bad, we'll
    love you forever.

    Finally, if you want to announce your free web strip here, we welcome
    those posts too. If you're trying to sell it, though, please try rec.arts.comics.marketplace or rec.arts.comics.strips instead. (And rec.arts.comics.strips may be a better group in general, as RACC readers
    are mostly interested in text fiction.)

    ------------------------------

    Subject: 1.2. What isn't RACC for?

    A lot of things. We're not for wars of attrition, Third World starvation,
    45 mph speed limits, and brussel sprout toothpaste. Closer to home, RACC
    is not for any of the following:

    * Discussion of existing, "professional" books (except as they relate
    to our fiction)

    * Marketplace-type I-wanna-buy/I-wanna-sell postings

    * Flames and personality conflicts. Critiques, yes. Flames, no.

    * Fiction about established, trademarked characters and universes,
    unless you created them or have written permission.

    * Erotica, no matter how much spandex you put in. There are other
    groups for that.

    ------------------------------

    Subject: 1.3. What is the RACC official charter?

    This newsgroup welcomes any form of comics-related original fiction and discussion of the same, including but not limited to stories in the many established shared universes. Discussion of on-line fiction as a whole is
    also welcome provided that it is related to the stories on the newsgroup.
    If they choose to write in an existing shared universe, writers are
    strongly encouranged to follow the existing continuity and rules of that universe. "Comics-related" will be interpreted very broadly, as has been traditional on the newsgroup.

    Each posting to rec.arts.comics.creative should include a keyword on the subject line either designating which shared universe the posting refers
    to or marking the general subject of the post (ADMIN, META, MISC, etc.).
    If a submitted post does not have a keyword, the moderator will add an appropriate keyword, but posters are encouraged to add keywords themselves
    to save moderation work.

    Large binaries, such as artwork, will not be allowed on the newsgroup.
    Instead, binaries can be made available in the newsgroup archive (subject
    to the discretion of the archivist) and a pointer posted to the newsgroup. Pointers to Web pages are also welcome, provided the content of the page
    is related to the purpose of the group.

    Stories using copyrighted or trademarked characters are explicitly not
    within the charter of this group and may be rejected unless the author
    owns the copyrights and trademarks or has written permission from the
    owner. Networking posts (artists seeking writers or writers seeking
    artists) are inappropriate in this group and should be sent to appropriate mailing lists or other groups in the rec.arts.comics.* hierarchy (rec.arts.comics.misc if there is no other more appropriate group).

    ------------------------------

    Subject: 1.4. Where are the stories about Wolverine(tm)?

    This is very important, so I'm going to yell it. RACC IS NOT THE PLACE
    FOR FICTION ABOUT ESTABLISHED, TRADEMARKED CHARACTERS. This includes all Marvel, Image, DC, what-have-you characters. RACC's charter expressly
    FORBIDS such fiction.

    The reason for this is the ongoing legislative battles about intellectual property and the Net. rec.* groups are picked up worldwide, and sysadmins
    do not want to draw lawsuits because someone wrote a story that violated trademark laws. Note that fanfic stories may or may not be lawful and/or prosecutable, WE JUST DON'T KNOW. They're still writing the laws.

    To forestall any confusion or debates, and to protect sysadmins from inadvertently becoming the test case, this provision was adopted as a key requirement for RACC's creation. If you really must write about existing, trademarked characters, there is alt.comics.fan-fiction waiting to receive
    you. alt.* groups get picked up by sysadmins voluntarily, so they
    presumedly know what risks they're taking.

    Nothing will draw this group's ire faster than violating this requirement.

    ------------------------------

    Subject: 1.5. Where are the old stories?

    Thanks to the tireless efforts and bottomless disk space of Russ Allbery,
    all stories posted to rec.arts.comics.creative are archived! This means stories will be preserved for future generations of readers, providing a
    link to the past. It is difficult to over-praise this contribution.

    (Note: Lest you think I would be so crass as to praise myself, I want to
    make sure you know that Jeff wrote that last paragraph. 'course, I didn't delete it either.)

    Older stories are sorted by universe and series and are available at:

    <https://archives.eyrie.org/racc/>

    All of the stories are compressed using gzip, but most browsers can automatically decompress them for you. This archive unfortunately hasn't
    been updated recently, but it does have all of the older stories.

    Every message to rec.arts.comics.creative, story or not, is archived at:

    <https://lists.eyrie.org/pipermail/racc/>

    in the form of a more traditional mailing list archive, so you can also
    look there if a story hasn't been saved in the story archive. This is the
    best way to find anything posted in the last few years. You can search
    the archive by prepending "site:lists.eyrie.org" to a regular Google
    search.

    Please note that stories will be removed from both the list archive and
    the story archive at the author's request if the author wants to take them down. This has happened in the past, sometimes because the author wanted
    to sell the stories to a professional venue.

    ------------------------------

    Subject: 1.6. How can I read RACC via e-mail?

    Everything that shows up in RACC also shows up in its associated mailing
    list (and vice versa), so if you want to be sure not to miss anything, or
    if you just prefer e-mail to Usenet, you can subscribe to that mailing
    list.

    To do that, go to:

    <https://lists.eyrie.org/mailman/listinfo/racc>

    and fill out the form to subscribe. Alternately, you can subscribe via
    e-mail by sending mail to racc-request@lists.eyrie.org with the word:

    subscribe

    in the subject of the message. You then can read and reply to posts just
    as if the newsgroup were a mailing list. It's all the same to us.

    ------------------------------

    Subject: 2. Writing for RACC (How do I get involved?)

    Write a story. Post it. You're involved.

    This assumes you want to create your own universe to write in. If you
    want to join a pre-existing shared universe, it's a little more involved.

    Many of the imprints have FAQs of their own (OMEGA, Superguy, LNH,
    Crossroads to name a few). These get posted periodically. The first
    thing you should do is read these documents to get a feel for what these specific universes are like.

    The next thing you should do is _read_ the universe in question. This
    includes tapping the archives for back issues. No one would suggest you
    read the entire Superguy or LNH archives before writing, but definitely
    try to sample a large cross-section.

    Lastly, email some of the creators you see writing under a specific
    imprint. They will be able to tell you if your concept fits with their universe or not, and perhaps refer you to a more appropriate universe if necessary.

    THEN write a story and post it.

    ------------------------------

    Subject: 2.1. Cool! Okay, how do I post?

    RACC is a moderated newsgroup, which means that every post goes to the moderators first. If your site correctly has the group marked as
    moderated, you should be able to post just like you post to any other
    group and your news server will take care of the rest. If you have a Unix shell account, you can check if the group is correctly marked as moderated
    by typing:

    nntplist active | grep rec.arts.comics.creative

    If the last character on the resulting line is an "m," congratulations,
    you have a good news administrator. If it's a "y," send mail to your
    local computing support people and ask them to convert the group to
    moderated like it should be.

    If you don't have a Unix shell account, some newsreaders will also tell
    you if the group is moderated.

    If, for any reason, you have trouble posting or your site *doesn't* have
    the group marked as moderated, you can mail your post to racc@eyrie.org
    instead and it will be posted for you.

    Because the group is moderated, it can be up to a day after you post
    before your article is actually posted, and it can take a few more days
    for the article to propagate back to you. So don't be surprised if it
    doesn't show up right away.

    Many readers of rec.arts.comics.creative use Google Groups to read and
    post. While this works, and I know it's convenient, Google Groups also
    deletes anything enclosed in square brackets ([]) at the beginning of
    Subject lines in replies. If you use Google Groups, please try to
    remember to put back the imprint tags when you reply to posts; otherwise,
    I have to add them as the moderator.

    ------------------------------

    Subject: 2.2. Format! I'm nothing without format!

    Formatting is pretty loose. Since this is a comics newsgroup, you will
    hear people refer to their stories as "issues." Postings tend to run in numerical order just like comic books, and many people write continuing
    series. For example there are 25 "issues" in Drizzt's _Continuity Champ
    and the Drizzt's Defenders_ series.

    Stories don't have to be series though. One-shots, mini-series,
    maxi-series, crossovers -- all of these have been done before and will be
    done again.

    The subjects of postings should follow the convention of naming the
    imprint the title and the number. For example:

    LNH: System Corruptors #15, The Bard's Tale
    imprint --^ ^ ^ ^
    title --------------| | |
    number -------------------------| |
    subtitle/comment/etc [optional] -------|

    Since the archive mechanism relies heavily on this format (not to mention
    the format-accustomed eyes of this group's readers), please follow this strictly, including the use of the #-sign. Subtitles, alternate titles,
    and title comments should follow the number if they are used at all. If
    you want to, you can use [TAG] instead of TAG: at the beginning of the
    subject; it's all the same to the archiver. (TAG: causes a few fewer
    problems than [TAG] with Google Groups.)

    Occasionally, instead of (or in addition to) a number you will see "TEB."
    This stands for "Trade EtherBack." It means the posting is actually a collection of previously posted issues -- usually cleaned up and relating
    to a single story arc.

    Inside your story do what you will. Some folks run fake ads, others use
    cheesy ASCII graphics, some just use text. A word of advice: On
    older/more primitive newsreaders your text is MUCH easier to read if you
    space between paragraphs. On the other hand, some newer newsreader
    readers find the spaces jarring. The moral? You can't please all the
    people all the time. In general spaces seem to be more preferred.

    ------------------------------

    Subject: 2.3. How 'bout them imprints? What's up with that?

    In order to accommodate a near-infinite number of different potential universes, RACC has adopted the reasonable convention of flagging fiction.
    This allows uninterested parties to skip some genres, and others to
    quickly find their niches of interest. The flag goes before the title of
    story issues, related FAQs or universe-specific discussions. Many flags
    refer to existing shared-universes. New ones will come up all the time.
    For the current list, see section 5 of this FAQ.

    Once you pick an imprint name, stick with it. The Archive and your legion
    of new fans will both be happier if you don't make marketing name changes.

    Regardless of flags all SEXUALLY EXPLICIT or PROFANITY-RICH stories should
    have huge warning labels at the beginning of text. Last thing we need is
    a Florida DA bringing us all up on charges. ;] Besides, it's only common courtesy. Note that if a story could reasonably be posted on
    alt.sex.stories, you've probably strayed a bit far from this group's
    interests.

    Some sort of flag, either an imprint name or a more general tag, is
    required on all posts and one will be added by the moderator if you don't provide one. Leaving one off requires the moderator to edit your post,
    though, which takes time and means your post will be delayed. So please
    save them the trouble and remember to add the tag yourself.

    ------------------------------

    Subject: 2.4. How do I archive my stories for posterity?

    Good news! It's already being done for you! (Or at least it will be if
    Russ ever catches up with the archiving.)

    In theory, every story posted to rec.arts.comics.creative is archived at <https://archives.eyrie.org/racc/>. Most imprints have their own
    directories, with the stories stored in directories under that (depending
    on the size of the imprint, the directories could be very structured or
    just one directory for each series). Some imprints may be collected in
    the misc directory.

    Unfortunately, this archive is substantially out of date. Russ hopes to eventually find time to update it.

    The exception is Superguy, which has its own archiving mechanism. The
    Superguy archives are at <https://archives.eyrie.org/superguy/>, but one
    of the best ways to access them is through the Autocollector at:

    <https://archives.eyrie.org/cgi-bin/superguy>

    ------------------------------

    Subject: 2.5. What do Copyright laws I pay taxes for do for me?

    I don't even play a lawyer on TV, but there are some things you should
    know about Copyright laws.

    Anything you write is copyrighted immediately, whether you flag it with a copyright notice or not. Furthermore, the copyright protection is international under the Berne Copyright Convention, which has been signed
    by nearly every country with access to Usenet.

    If you label your text as copyrighted, it preempts a possible
    "unintentional infringement" defense from plagarizers. The copyright
    notice is considered legal notice that you intend to retain your rights.
    The legal format for such a notice requires three things: Your name, the
    year, and one or more of the following: "Copyright," "Copr.," and/or the c-in-circle symbol. Note that there is no firm legal precedence for (C)
    or (c) as having any special copyright meaning. Example notice:

    Copyright 1994 Jeff J McCoskey

    The only way to get full legal protection (at least in the United States)
    is to register your work with the government (forms are free, filing fees apply). This *guarantees* an archived, dated copy should future legal
    action be necessary. Other forms of dating, like mailing yourself a copy
    or archiving (to get a date stamp), are of dubious and unproven legal
    value.

    An excellent resource for Copyright information is misc.legal, where a FAQ
    is posted monthly.

    Another excellent resource is the U.S. Copyright Office home page at:

    <https://www.copyright.gov/>

    ------------------------------

    Subject: 3. Netiquette for RACC

    As a rule of thumb, everything you've heard elsewhere about good
    netiquette applies here. We hate spammers (more in a minute), expect
    smilies when joking (except in stories of course), and in general expect
    you to conduct yourselves as good net.citizens. There are three things
    you need to know after you've mastered Basic Netiquette:

    1. The only times flames are accepted on RACC are when they are both
    morally defensible and amusing. Flames are not welcome if they do not
    meet the above criteria. Here on RACC there is one organization that
    acts as moral compass for acceptable flames: the Order of St. Doomas.

    The Order has defined one activity that is worthy of flame: spamming.
    One member of the Order (usually the first to his/her keyboard) will
    have the honors. Repetitive flaming by multiple members is frowned
    upon by the Order.

    To join this righteous crusade, all you need do is select a
    net.persona and flame. Incorrect flaming (i.e. at non-sanctioned
    targets, or with unamusing effect) will result in ostracization and
    excommunication. Watch the Order in action before joining and all
    will be clear.

    Now that the group has been moderated, most opportunities for flames
    are gone. But watch carefully; new ones may arise.

    2. Reviews of stories (even negative ones) are one of the most
    sought-after commodities on RACC. You will instantly win friends and
    influence people if you post reviews. But especially in the case of
    negative reviews, ensure you confine your review to the story and not
    the writer. Keep in mind as you write "that SUCKS" that someone
    worked long and hard on the text. They might want to know what worked
    and what didn't in their narrative but it's doubtful they want to hear
    how clever you can be in ripping them up.

    It's certain the rest of us don't.

    3. One of the best features of a shared universe is the opportunity to
    have your characters interact with others in that universe. This is
    a privilege, not a right. All characters on RACC (and their
    distinctive text-likenesses) are the full and exclusive property of
    their creators. This is not as dogmatic as it sounds, and we're all
    adults (or pretending to be). Cameos (non-speaking/non-plot affecting
    roles) do not typically require permission unless the creator desires
    it. Speaking roles should be previewed through email and approved by
    the creator before being posted.

    ------------------------------

    Subject: 4. Glossary

    These are terms you will see come up on RACC that have special meaning
    here. (For general net.terms and abbreviations, see the META RAC FAQ.)

    Acraphobe RACC's version of adult warning label. Yes, with an "a."
    Don't ask.

    Arc A multi-issue storyline.

    Archive ftp.eyrie.org, where nearly ALL the back issues live.

    Crossover A storyline that involves several titles and/or authors. Also
    the bane of all mankind.

    Elsewhirls An imaginary story. (Yeah yeah, we know they're ALL
    imaginary. How about "out-of-continuity"?)

    Fanfiction Fiction about established, trademarked universes and
    or fanfic characters that the author did not create -- in short, the
    sort of stories RACC *wasn't* designed for. There's a good
    list of newsgroups at the end of this FAQ that should help in
    finding a better group if this is what you want to write.

    Imprint The shared universe your story takes place in or subject your
    posting relates to (we have many to chose from). This is
    usually an all-caps prefix on the title of the posting.

    LNH The Legion of Net.Heroes. The immediate father of this group
    and the oldest of the Usenet-based writing universes (see
    Superguy).

    RAC* The rec.arts.comics.* hierarchy of newsgroups.

    RACC rec.arts.comics.creative. You're soaking in it!

    rACCIES The annual RACC fanfiction awards, as voted on by the readers
    or RACCies of this newsgroup.

    Repost Story has been posted before, natch.

    Superguy A mailing list that predates all other Internet comics-fiction
    forums. There is a good-natured rivalry between the LNH and
    this group.

    TEB Trade EtherBack. This is a collection of previously posted
    material, usually cleaned up and relating to a single story
    arc.

    Title A numerically increasing, continuing series. Usually
    involving one character, cast, city, or unifying concept.

    ------------------------------

    Subject: 5. List of Current Tags

    When choosing a tag to put at the beginning of your post, this list should
    be a canonical reference. If you see a need for a new tag, send mail to
    the FAQ maintainer so that it can be added.

    First, the general tags:

    ADMIN Administrative matters affecting everyone on RACC.

    FAQ FAQs of note for the entire RAC* hierarchy. These will tend
    to be crossposted here.

    META Discussion about the newsgroup itself. This includes
    or CHAT everything from general discussion of on-line fiction and RACC
    in particular to recommendations on how long posts should be.

    PRECOG Announcements of upcoming series, planned stories, and the
    or PROMO like.

    WWW Announcement of a web page related to RACC or a free strip.

    Now, all of the writing imprints. Note that new ones of these pop up all
    the time. Entries marked with (*) are in danger of being retired due to
    lack of activity. If you have any changes, please mail eagle@eyrie.org.

    8FOLD A closed universe that encompasses serious superheroes, comedy,
    memoir, and just about anything else: high-quality fiction of
    any stripe is welcome.

    ACRAPHOBE Mature stories that may or may not fit into other universes'
    or ACRA continuity. Using this flag in conjunction with another is
    not unheard of. (For example, Scav's _501 Blues_ is
    LNH/ACRAPHOBE.) Think a meta-Vertigo.

    ASH Academy of Super-Heroes. Dave Van Domelen's RPG-based future-
    history stories. See <https://www.eyrie.org/~dvandom/ASH>.

    ELSEWHIRLS LNH stories that do not fit into LNH continuity. Think DC's
    or EW Elseworlds.

    HCC The High Concept Challenge, a continuous series of writing
    contests. Each round, the winner, chosen by reader vote, gets
    to pick the next round's concept.

    LNH Legion of Net.Heroes, "The Friendliest Shared Universe
    Going!(TM)" A mostly parody universe, though it does have its
    serious side.

    LNH20 On the LNH's 20th anniversary, a group of writers took it upon
    themselves to create a new world, based in everything they
    loved about the LNH, in the best spirit of comic book reboots!
    LNH20 is just as friendly as the original, but easier to get
    into! Hop right in, the adventure's fine!

    LNHY An Imprint involving an alternate LNH universe called
    Looniverse Y. The big difference between this and the Classic
    LNH is that writers are allowed to have only one character of
    theirs in this Looniverse's LNH.

    RACCCafe A continuity-free outpust where RACC characters can unwind
    after a hard day of being mangled by their writers. Anything
    can happen, as long as it's funny, and there are no
    consequences!

    SG Superguy. From Space Moose to the Bomb. Comedy superhero
    writing with a far different background than LNH. Note that
    only a small slice of Superguy stuff appears here; to see the
    rest, go to <https://lists.eyrie.org/mailman/listinfo/superguy>.

    STARFALL Lightly serious and seriously light superheroics, and better
    because of it. ;)

    NTB Net.Trenchcoat.Brigade. A bunch of Vertigo-like characters
    that own stock in London Fog. Not tremendously active, but
    they do have a considerable history. Implied Acraphobe.

    OMEGA A serious psi-based shared super-world and once upon a time
    RACC's third largest universe, now inactive. Created by the
    legendary Matt Rossi.

    OSD The Order of Saint Doomas. Items relating to RACC's anti-spam
    cult. (See Section 3 above.) No posts have been seen from
    this imprint in quite some time, but that doesn't mean they're
    gone....

    SW10 SW stands for Superhuman World. 10 is an annual tag. The
    comic has proceeded to 2011, but the tag has frozen at 2010
    because that's when the series really interacted with RACC.
    Scott Eiler has written the story of this universe since
    before 1991, but 1991 is when the modern heroes of this series
    start. His sources include adolescent male power fantasy,
    superhero role-playing, comic-book satire, and dreams. See
    <http://www.eilertech.com/stories/>.

    MISC Stories not in the above categories or in their own universes
    (authors are encouraged to make up their own headers as well).
    To limit the number of imprints, and to keep this FAQ to
    reasonable lengths, let's adopt this convention: One-shot
    stories or series should use the MISC flag. Series that set
    up shared universes should create their own, new imprint.

    ------------------------------

    Subject: 6. People to Ask for Help

    The major header contacts are listed below, who will be glad to answer
    email question. Also keep your eyes peeled for FAQs specific to
    particular imprints. The FAQs are also often in the archive in a
    directory named "FAQs" under the imprint directory.

    Imprint Contact Email
    ------------ -------------------- ---------------------------------
    8FOLD Jamie Rosen jamie.rosen@sunlife.com
    8FOLD Tom Russell joltcity@gmail.com
    + ASH Dave Van Domelen dvandom@eyrie.org
    + LNH Andrew Perron pwerdna@gmail.com
    LNH20 Andrew Perron pwerdna@gmail.com
    + LNHY Arthur Spitzer arspitzer@earthlink.net
    + NTB Arthur Spitzer arspitzer@earthlink.net
    + RACChallenge Sean MacDonald mcdonald@vorteb.math.uab.edu
    + StarFall Ted Brock phantom_belcher@yahoo.com
    + Superguy Eric Burns eaburns@annotations.com
    SW10 Scott Eiler seiler@eilertech.com

    The Archive Russ Allbery eagle@eyrie.org
    Moderation RACC Moderation Team racc-request@eyrie.org

    + indicates separate FAQs are available for these imprints.

    If you need to contact the moderator directly, the contact information is:

    Russ Allbery <eagle@eyrie.org>

    If none of the above people help, or your questions are too general or specific, just email anyone you see posting here that seems to know what they're doing. (WARNING: This is rarely the case.)

    --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
    * Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)
  • From Russ Allbery@21:1/5 to All on Sat Oct 1 07:01:02 2022
    Last-modified: 2018-07-16
    Posted-by: postfaq 1.17 (Perl 5.28.1)
    Archive-name: comics/creative/faq
    URL: https://www.eyrie.org/~eagle/faqs/racc.html
    Posting-frequency: monthly

    ==========================================================================
    rec.arts.comics.creative Frequently Asked Questions
    Maintained by Russ Allbery <eagle@eyrie.org>
    Original by Jeff McCoskey ==========================================================================

    If you're reading this on Usenet, this FAQ is formatted as a minimal
    digest. If your newsreader has digest handling capabilities you can use
    them to navigate between sections. In rn variants, you can use Ctrl-G to
    skip to the next section; in Gnus, press Ctrl-D to break each section into
    a separate article. For other newsreaders, see the documentation.

    The latest version of this FAQ is available on the web at:

    <https://www.eyrie.org/~eagle/faqs/racc.html>

    Please send any comments, suggestions, or updates to eagle@eyrie.org.

    ------------------------------

    Subject: Contents

    1. Welcome to rec.arts.comics.creative!
    1.1. What is RACC for?
    1.2. What isn't RACC for?
    1.3. What is the RACC official charter?
    1.4. Where are the stories about Wolverine(tm)?
    1.5. Where are the old stories?
    1.6. How can I read RACC via e-mail?

    2. Writing for RACC (How do I get involved?)
    2.1. Cool! Okay, how do I post?
    2.2. Format! I'm nothing without format!
    2.3. How 'bout them imprints? What's up with that?
    2.4. How do I archive my stories for posterity?
    2.5. What do copyright laws I pay taxes for do for me?

    3. Netiquette for RACC

    4. Glossary

    5. List of current imprints

    6. People to ask for help

    ------------------------------

    Subject: 1. Welcome to rec.arts.comics.creative!

    Welcome to rec.arts.comics.creative, the newsgroup which could have been
    named rec.prose.shared-universe but wasn't, the newsgroup which has, to
    date, produced well over 30MB of entirely free original fiction (and
    that's compressed!), the newsgroup which has nearly nothing to do with
    your favorite comic books at all!

    You're about to go insane. Don't worry, it's fun.

    rec.arts.comics.creative (henceforth RACC) is a moderated newsgroup for comics-related original fiction and discussion of same, originally created unmoderated by Martin Phipps and a cast of thousands (well, dozens at
    least) and later converted to moderated to keep out the spam. Don't
    worry, even though it's a moderated group, it's still friendly, chatty,
    and not at all formal, and we go out of our way to keep it that way.

    The first group of this sort on the Internet was the Superguy mailing
    list, which is still in operation to this day (you'll see posts from it on
    this group from time to time). Later, the Legion of Net.Heroes (LNH)
    sprung out of a free-form thread on rec.arts.comics and spawned another newsgroup (alt.comics.lnh). They were quickly followed by a wide variety
    of other comics-based shared universes, including the Patrol, the Net.Trenchcoat.Brigade, and Omega. All of these organizations, in
    parallel, gathered together authors in shared universes and strongly
    influenced the nature of RACC.

    First and foremost, RACC is a site for people to post comics-related
    fiction. Stories about long-underwear vigilantes, anthropomorphic
    animals, SF, westerns, even Kleen Teens if anyone is so moved. As long as
    it relates to comics it's okay. So whether you're a reader, a writer, or
    that fabled creature the critic, or even all three -- welcome to RACC:
    it's all the story, none of the art! (yet)

    ------------------------------

    Subject: 1.1. What is RACC for?

    For the official charter, see section 1.3. Here's the long, readable
    version.

    One term that you'll see a lot is "shared universe." This is a shared
    story background, co-created by multiple authors and used as the
    "universe" in which multiple different stories are set. This is a
    trademark characteristic of most comic books (seen in its clearest form in
    the ubiquitous crossover, a story written by multiple authors at once and involving multiple characters who all have their own stories), as well as appearing in some other published fiction (such as Wild Cards, or Larry
    Niven's Man-Kzin Wars). Most (but not all) of the stories posted here
    take place in one of the established shared universes (there's a list
    later on in this FAQ), to the point where this style of writing is nearly characteristic of the group.

    Another term you'll see is "comics-related." Nearly all of the authors
    writing here drew their original (if not primary) inspiration from comic
    books. As a result, nearly all of the stories are on-going (published a chapter at a time), divided up into "issues" and given numbers, and
    organized into "imprints." Many people also describe covers or design
    ASCII graphic logos.

    There is no restriction on types of fiction. (That'd kinda take the
    creative out of RACC, wouldn't it?) You'll see stories run the gamut from slapstick comedy to grim'n'gritty Real Life Supers (TM). As long as it's
    about comics, set your pen free. (You'll see a lot of superhero fiction,
    but that just means that those of us who like reading other things as well
    are anxiously awaiting your non-superhero stories.)

    RACC is also for discussion of stories, both specific ones and in general.
    The critic and reader is one of the most sought-after types of people
    around here; if you give us feedback on our stories, good or bad, we'll
    love you forever.

    Finally, if you want to announce your free web strip here, we welcome
    those posts too. If you're trying to sell it, though, please try rec.arts.comics.marketplace or rec.arts.comics.strips instead. (And rec.arts.comics.strips may be a better group in general, as RACC readers
    are mostly interested in text fiction.)

    ------------------------------

    Subject: 1.2. What isn't RACC for?

    A lot of things. We're not for wars of attrition, Third World starvation,
    45 mph speed limits, and brussel sprout toothpaste. Closer to home, RACC
    is not for any of the following:

    * Discussion of existing, "professional" books (except as they relate
    to our fiction)

    * Marketplace-type I-wanna-buy/I-wanna-sell postings

    * Flames and personality conflicts. Critiques, yes. Flames, no.

    * Fiction about established, trademarked characters and universes,
    unless you created them or have written permission.

    * Erotica, no matter how much spandex you put in. There are other
    groups for that.

    ------------------------------

    Subject: 1.3. What is the RACC official charter?

    This newsgroup welcomes any form of comics-related original fiction and discussion of the same, including but not limited to stories in the many established shared universes. Discussion of on-line fiction as a whole is
    also welcome provided that it is related to the stories on the newsgroup.
    If they choose to write in an existing shared universe, writers are
    strongly encouranged to follow the existing continuity and rules of that universe. "Comics-related" will be interpreted very broadly, as has been traditional on the newsgroup.

    Each posting to rec.arts.comics.creative should include a keyword on the subject line either designating which shared universe the posting refers
    to or marking the general subject of the post (ADMIN, META, MISC, etc.).
    If a submitted post does not have a keyword, the moderator will add an appropriate keyword, but posters are encouraged to add keywords themselves
    to save moderation work.

    Large binaries, such as artwork, will not be allowed on the newsgroup.
    Instead, binaries can be made available in the newsgroup archive (subject
    to the discretion of the archivist) and a pointer posted to the newsgroup. Pointers to Web pages are also welcome, provided the content of the page
    is related to the purpose of the group.

    Stories using copyrighted or trademarked characters are explicitly not
    within the charter of this group and may be rejected unless the author
    owns the copyrights and trademarks or has written permission from the
    owner. Networking posts (artists seeking writers or writers seeking
    artists) are inappropriate in this group and should be sent to appropriate mailing lists or other groups in the rec.arts.comics.* hierarchy (rec.arts.comics.misc if there is no other more appropriate group).

    ------------------------------

    Subject: 1.4. Where are the stories about Wolverine(tm)?

    This is very important, so I'm going to yell it. RACC IS NOT THE PLACE
    FOR FICTION ABOUT ESTABLISHED, TRADEMARKED CHARACTERS. This includes all Marvel, Image, DC, what-have-you characters. RACC's charter expressly
    FORBIDS such fiction.

    The reason for this is the ongoing legislative battles about intellectual property and the Net. rec.* groups are picked up worldwide, and sysadmins
    do not want to draw lawsuits because someone wrote a story that violated trademark laws. Note that fanfic stories may or may not be lawful and/or prosecutable, WE JUST DON'T KNOW. They're still writing the laws.

    To forestall any confusion or debates, and to protect sysadmins from inadvertently becoming the test case, this provision was adopted as a key requirement for RACC's creation. If you really must write about existing, trademarked characters, there is alt.comics.fan-fiction waiting to receive
    you. alt.* groups get picked up by sysadmins voluntarily, so they
    presumedly know what risks they're taking.

    Nothing will draw this group's ire faster than violating this requirement.

    ------------------------------

    Subject: 1.5. Where are the old stories?

    Thanks to the tireless efforts and bottomless disk space of Russ Allbery,
    all stories posted to rec.arts.comics.creative are archived! This means stories will be preserved for future generations of readers, providing a
    link to the past. It is difficult to over-praise this contribution.

    (Note: Lest you think I would be so crass as to praise myself, I want to
    make sure you know that Jeff wrote that last paragraph. 'course, I didn't delete it either.)

    Older stories are sorted by universe and series and are available at:

    <https://archives.eyrie.org/racc/>

    All of the stories are compressed using gzip, but most browsers can automatically decompress them for you. This archive unfortunately hasn't
    been updated recently, but it does have all of the older stories.

    Every message to rec.arts.comics.creative, story or not, is archived at:

    <https://lists.eyrie.org/pipermail/racc/>

    in the form of a more traditional mailing list archive, so you can also
    look there if a story hasn't been saved in the story archive. This is the
    best way to find anything posted in the last few years. You can search
    the archive by prepending "site:lists.eyrie.org" to a regular Google
    search.

    Please note that stories will be removed from both the list archive and
    the story archive at the author's request if the author wants to take them down. This has happened in the past, sometimes because the author wanted
    to sell the stories to a professional venue.

    ------------------------------

    Subject: 1.6. How can I read RACC via e-mail?

    Everything that shows up in RACC also shows up in its associated mailing
    list (and vice versa), so if you want to be sure not to miss anything, or
    if you just prefer e-mail to Usenet, you can subscribe to that mailing
    list.

    To do that, go to:

    <https://lists.eyrie.org/mailman/listinfo/racc>

    and fill out the form to subscribe. Alternately, you can subscribe via
    e-mail by sending mail to racc-request@lists.eyrie.org with the word:

    subscribe

    in the subject of the message. You then can read and reply to posts just
    as if the newsgroup were a mailing list. It's all the same to us.

    ------------------------------

    Subject: 2. Writing for RACC (How do I get involved?)

    Write a story. Post it. You're involved.

    This assumes you want to create your own universe to write in. If you
    want to join a pre-existing shared universe, it's a little more involved.

    Many of the imprints have FAQs of their own (OMEGA, Superguy, LNH,
    Crossroads to name a few). These get posted periodically. The first
    thing you should do is read these documents to get a feel for what these specific universes are like.

    The next thing you should do is _read_ the universe in question. This
    includes tapping the archives for back issues. No one would suggest you
    read the entire Superguy or LNH archives before writing, but definitely
    try to sample a large cross-section.

    Lastly, email some of the creators you see writing under a specific
    imprint. They will be able to tell you if your concept fits with their universe or not, and perhaps refer you to a more appropriate universe if necessary.

    THEN write a story and post it.

    ------------------------------

    Subject: 2.1. Cool! Okay, how do I post?

    RACC is a moderated newsgroup, which means that every post goes to the moderators first. If your site correctly has the group marked as
    moderated, you should be able to post just like you post to any other
    group and your news server will take care of the rest. If you have a Unix shell account, you can check if the group is correctly marked as moderated
    by typing:

    nntplist active | grep rec.arts.comics.creative

    If the last character on the resulting line is an "m," congratulations,
    you have a good news administrator. If it's a "y," send mail to your
    local computing support people and ask them to convert the group to
    moderated like it should be.

    If you don't have a Unix shell account, some newsreaders will also tell
    you if the group is moderated.

    If, for any reason, you have trouble posting or your site *doesn't* have
    the group marked as moderated, you can mail your post to racc@eyrie.org
    instead and it will be posted for you.

    Because the group is moderated, it can be up to a day after you post
    before your article is actually posted, and it can take a few more days
    for the article to propagate back to you. So don't be surprised if it
    doesn't show up right away.

    Many readers of rec.arts.comics.creative use Google Groups to read and
    post. While this works, and I know it's convenient, Google Groups also
    deletes anything enclosed in square brackets ([]) at the beginning of
    Subject lines in replies. If you use Google Groups, please try to
    remember to put back the imprint tags when you reply to posts; otherwise,
    I have to add them as the moderator.

    ------------------------------

    Subject: 2.2. Format! I'm nothing without format!

    Formatting is pretty loose. Since this is a comics newsgroup, you will
    hear people refer to their stories as "issues." Postings tend to run in numerical order just like comic books, and many people write continuing
    series. For example there are 25 "issues" in Drizzt's _Continuity Champ
    and the Drizzt's Defenders_ series.

    Stories don't have to be series though. One-shots, mini-series,
    maxi-series, crossovers -- all of these have been done before and will be
    done again.

    The subjects of postings should follow the convention of naming the
    imprint the title and the number. For example:

    LNH: System Corruptors #15, The Bard's Tale
    imprint --^ ^ ^ ^
    title --------------| | |
    number -------------------------| |
    subtitle/comment/etc [optional] -------|

    Since the archive mechanism relies heavily on this format (not to mention
    the format-accustomed eyes of this group's readers), please follow this strictly, including the use of the #-sign. Subtitles, alternate titles,
    and title comments should follow the number if they are used at all. If
    you want to, you can use [TAG] instead of TAG: at the beginning of the
    subject; it's all the same to the archiver. (TAG: causes a few fewer
    problems than [TAG] with Google Groups.)

    Occasionally, instead of (or in addition to) a number you will see "TEB."
    This stands for "Trade EtherBack." It means the posting is actually a collection of previously posted issues -- usually cleaned up and relating
    to a single story arc.

    Inside your story do what you will. Some folks run fake ads, others use
    cheesy ASCII graphics, some just use text. A word of advice: On
    older/more primitive newsreaders your text is MUCH easier to read if you
    space between paragraphs. On the other hand, some newer newsreader
    readers find the spaces jarring. The moral? You can't please all the
    people all the time. In general spaces seem to be more preferred.

    ------------------------------

    Subject: 2.3. How 'bout them imprints? What's up with that?

    In order to accommodate a near-infinite number of different potential universes, RACC has adopted the reasonable convention of flagging fiction.
    This allows uninterested parties to skip some genres, and others to
    quickly find their niches of interest. The flag goes before the title of
    story issues, related FAQs or universe-specific discussions. Many flags
    refer to existing shared-universes. New ones will come up all the time.
    For the current list, see section 5 of this FAQ.

    Once you pick an imprint name, stick with it. The Archive and your legion
    of new fans will both be happier if you don't make marketing name changes.

    Regardless of flags all SEXUALLY EXPLICIT or PROFANITY-RICH stories should
    have huge warning labels at the beginning of text. Last thing we need is
    a Florida DA bringing us all up on charges. ;] Besides, it's only common courtesy. Note that if a story could reasonably be posted on
    alt.sex.stories, you've probably strayed a bit far from this group's
    interests.

    Some sort of flag, either an imprint name or a more general tag, is
    required on all posts and one will be added by the moderator if you don't provide one. Leaving one off requires the moderator to edit your post,
    though, which takes time and means your post will be delayed. So please
    save them the trouble and remember to add the tag yourself.

    ------------------------------

    Subject: 2.4. How do I archive my stories for posterity?

    Good news! It's already being done for you! (Or at least it will be if
    Russ ever catches up with the archiving.)

    In theory, every story posted to rec.arts.comics.creative is archived at <https://archives.eyrie.org/racc/>. Most imprints have their own
    directories, with the stories stored in directories under that (depending
    on the size of the imprint, the directories could be very structured or
    just one directory for each series). Some imprints may be collected in
    the misc directory.

    Unfortunately, this archive is substantially out of date. Russ hopes to eventually find time to update it.

    The exception is Superguy, which has its own archiving mechanism. The
    Superguy archives are at <https://archives.eyrie.org/superguy/>, but one
    of the best ways to access them is through the Autocollector at:

    <https://archives.eyrie.org/cgi-bin/superguy>

    ------------------------------

    Subject: 2.5. What do Copyright laws I pay taxes for do for me?

    I don't even play a lawyer on TV, but there are some things you should
    know about Copyright laws.

    Anything you write is copyrighted immediately, whether you flag it with a copyright notice or not. Furthermore, the copyright protection is international under the Berne Copyright Convention, which has been signed
    by nearly every country with access to Usenet.

    If you label your text as copyrighted, it preempts a possible
    "unintentional infringement" defense from plagarizers. The copyright
    notice is considered legal notice that you intend to retain your rights.
    The legal format for such a notice requires three things: Your name, the
    year, and one or more of the following: "Copyright," "Copr.," and/or the c-in-circle symbol. Note that there is no firm legal precedence for (C)
    or (c) as having any special copyright meaning. Example notice:

    Copyright 1994 Jeff J McCoskey

    The only way to get full legal protection (at least in the United States)
    is to register your work with the government (forms are free, filing fees apply). This *guarantees* an archived, dated copy should future legal
    action be necessary. Other forms of dating, like mailing yourself a copy
    or archiving (to get a date stamp), are of dubious and unproven legal
    value.

    An excellent resource for Copyright information is misc.legal, where a FAQ
    is posted monthly.

    Another excellent resource is the U.S. Copyright Office home page at:

    <https://www.copyright.gov/>

    ------------------------------

    Subject: 3. Netiquette for RACC

    As a rule of thumb, everything you've heard elsewhere about good
    netiquette applies here. We hate spammers (more in a minute), expect
    smilies when joking (except in stories of course), and in general expect
    you to conduct yourselves as good net.citizens. There are three things
    you need to know after you've mastered Basic Netiquette:

    1. The only times flames are accepted on RACC are when they are both
    morally defensible and amusing. Flames are not welcome if they do not
    meet the above criteria. Here on RACC there is one organization that
    acts as moral compass for acceptable flames: the Order of St. Doomas.

    The Order has defined one activity that is worthy of flame: spamming.
    One member of the Order (usually the first to his/her keyboard) will
    have the honors. Repetitive flaming by multiple members is frowned
    upon by the Order.

    To join this righteous crusade, all you need do is select a
    net.persona and flame. Incorrect flaming (i.e. at non-sanctioned
    targets, or with unamusing effect) will result in ostracization and
    excommunication. Watch the Order in action before joining and all
    will be clear.

    Now that the group has been moderated, most opportunities for flames
    are gone. But watch carefully; new ones may arise.

    2. Reviews of stories (even negative ones) are one of the most
    sought-after commodities on RACC. You will instantly win friends and
    influence people if you post reviews. But especially in the case of
    negative reviews, ensure you confine your review to the story and not
    the writer. Keep in mind as you write "that SUCKS" that someone
    worked long and hard on the text. They might want to know what worked
    and what didn't in their narrative but it's doubtful they want to hear
    how clever you can be in ripping them up.

    It's certain the rest of us don't.

    3. One of the best features of a shared universe is the opportunity to
    have your characters interact with others in that universe. This is
    a privilege, not a right. All characters on RACC (and their
    distinctive text-likenesses) are the full and exclusive property of
    their creators. This is not as dogmatic as it sounds, and we're all
    adults (or pretending to be). Cameos (non-speaking/non-plot affecting
    roles) do not typically require permission unless the creator desires
    it. Speaking roles should be previewed through email and approved by
    the creator before being posted.

    ------------------------------

    Subject: 4. Glossary

    These are terms you will see come up on RACC that have special meaning
    here. (For general net.terms and abbreviations, see the META RAC FAQ.)

    Acraphobe RACC's version of adult warning label. Yes, with an "a."
    Don't ask.

    Arc A multi-issue storyline.

    Archive ftp.eyrie.org, where nearly ALL the back issues live.

    Crossover A storyline that involves several titles and/or authors. Also
    the bane of all mankind.

    Elsewhirls An imaginary story. (Yeah yeah, we know they're ALL
    imaginary. How about "out-of-continuity"?)

    Fanfiction Fiction about established, trademarked universes and
    or fanfic characters that the author did not create -- in short, the
    sort of stories RACC *wasn't* designed for. There's a good
    list of newsgroups at the end of this FAQ that should help in
    finding a better group if this is what you want to write.

    Imprint The shared universe your story takes place in or subject your
    posting relates to (we have many to chose from). This is
    usually an all-caps prefix on the title of the posting.

    LNH The Legion of Net.Heroes. The immediate father of this group
    and the oldest of the Usenet-based writing universes (see
    Superguy).

    RAC* The rec.arts.comics.* hierarchy of newsgroups.

    RACC rec.arts.comics.creative. You're soaking in it!

    rACCIES The annual RACC fanfiction awards, as voted on by the readers
    or RACCies of this newsgroup.

    Repost Story has been posted before, natch.

    Superguy A mailing list that predates all other Internet comics-fiction
    forums. There is a good-natured rivalry between the LNH and
    this group.

    TEB Trade EtherBack. This is a collection of previously posted
    material, usually cleaned up and relating to a single story
    arc.

    Title A numerically increasing, continuing series. Usually
    involving one character, cast, city, or unifying concept.

    ------------------------------

    Subject: 5. List of Current Tags

    When choosing a tag to put at the beginning of your post, this list should
    be a canonical reference. If you see a need for a new tag, send mail to
    the FAQ maintainer so that it can be added.

    First, the general tags:

    ADMIN Administrative matters affecting everyone on RACC.

    FAQ FAQs of note for the entire RAC* hierarchy. These will tend
    to be crossposted here.

    META Discussion about the newsgroup itself. This includes
    or CHAT everything from general discussion of on-line fiction and RACC
    in particular to recommendations on how long posts should be.

    PRECOG Announcements of upcoming series, planned stories, and the
    or PROMO like.

    WWW Announcement of a web page related to RACC or a free strip.

    Now, all of the writing imprints. Note that new ones of these pop up all
    the time. Entries marked with (*) are in danger of being retired due to
    lack of activity. If you have any changes, please mail eagle@eyrie.org.

    8FOLD A closed universe that encompasses serious superheroes, comedy,
    memoir, and just about anything else: high-quality fiction of
    any stripe is welcome.

    ACRAPHOBE Mature stories that may or may not fit into other universes'
    or ACRA continuity. Using this flag in conjunction with another is
    not unheard of. (For example, Scav's _501 Blues_ is
    LNH/ACRAPHOBE.) Think a meta-Vertigo.

    ASH Academy of Super-Heroes. Dave Van Domelen's RPG-based future-
    history stories. See <https://www.eyrie.org/~dvandom/ASH>.

    ELSEWHIRLS LNH stories that do not fit into LNH continuity. Think DC's
    or EW Elseworlds.

    HCC The High Concept Challenge, a continuous series of writing
    contests. Each round, the winner, chosen by reader vote, gets
    to pick the next round's concept.

    LNH Legion of Net.Heroes, "The Friendliest Shared Universe
    Going!(TM)" A mostly parody universe, though it does have its
    serious side.

    LNH20 On the LNH's 20th anniversary, a group of writers took it upon
    themselves to create a new world, based in everything they
    loved about the LNH, in the best spirit of comic book reboots!
    LNH20 is just as friendly as the original, but easier to get
    into! Hop right in, the adventure's fine!

    LNHY An Imprint involving an alternate LNH universe called
    Looniverse Y. The big difference between this and the Classic
    LNH is that writers are allowed to have only one character of
    theirs in this Looniverse's LNH.

    RACCCafe A continuity-free outpust where RACC characters can unwind
    after a hard day of being mangled by their writers. Anything
    can happen, as long as it's funny, and there are no
    consequences!

    SG Superguy. From Space Moose to the Bomb. Comedy superhero
    writing with a far different background than LNH. Note that
    only a small slice of Superguy stuff appears here; to see the
    rest, go to <https://lists.eyrie.org/mailman/listinfo/superguy>.

    STARFALL Lightly serious and seriously light superheroics, and better
    because of it. ;)

    NTB Net.Trenchcoat.Brigade. A bunch of Vertigo-like characters
    that own stock in London Fog. Not tremendously active, but
    they do have a considerable history. Implied Acraphobe.

    OMEGA A serious psi-based shared super-world and once upon a time
    RACC's third largest universe, now inactive. Created by the
    legendary Matt Rossi.

    OSD The Order of Saint Doomas. Items relating to RACC's anti-spam
    cult. (See Section 3 above.) No posts have been seen from
    this imprint in quite some time, but that doesn't mean they're
    gone....

    SW10 SW stands for Superhuman World. 10 is an annual tag. The
    comic has proceeded to 2011, but the tag has frozen at 2010
    because that's when the series really interacted with RACC.
    Scott Eiler has written the story of this universe since
    before 1991, but 1991 is when the modern heroes of this series
    start. His sources include adolescent male power fantasy,
    superhero role-playing, comic-book satire, and dreams. See
    <http://www.eilertech.com/stories/>.

    MISC Stories not in the above categories or in their own universes
    (authors are encouraged to make up their own headers as well).
    To limit the number of imprints, and to keep this FAQ to
    reasonable lengths, let's adopt this convention: One-shot
    stories or series should use the MISC flag. Series that set
    up shared universes should create their own, new imprint.

    ------------------------------

    Subject: 6. People to Ask for Help

    The major header contacts are listed below, who will be glad to answer
    email question. Also keep your eyes peeled for FAQs specific to
    particular imprints. The FAQs are also often in the archive in a
    directory named "FAQs" under the imprint directory.

    Imprint Contact Email
    ------------ -------------------- ---------------------------------
    8FOLD Jamie Rosen jamie.rosen@sunlife.com
    8FOLD Tom Russell joltcity@gmail.com
    + ASH Dave Van Domelen dvandom@eyrie.org
    + LNH Andrew Perron pwerdna@gmail.com
    LNH20 Andrew Perron pwerdna@gmail.com
    + LNHY Arthur Spitzer arspitzer@earthlink.net
    + NTB Arthur Spitzer arspitzer@earthlink.net
    + RACChallenge Sean MacDonald mcdonald@vorteb.math.uab.edu
    + StarFall Ted Brock phantom_belcher@yahoo.com
    + Superguy Eric Burns eaburns@annotations.com
    SW10 Scott Eiler seiler@eilertech.com

    The Archive Russ Allbery eagle@eyrie.org
    Moderation RACC Moderation Team racc-request@eyrie.org

    + indicates separate FAQs are available for these imprints.

    If you need to contact the moderator directly, the contact information is:

    Russ Allbery <eagle@eyrie.org>

    If none of the above people help, or your questions are too general or specific, just email anyone you see posting here that seems to know what they're doing. (WARNING: This is rarely the case.)

    --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
    * Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)
  • From Russ Allbery@21:1/5 to All on Tue Nov 1 07:01:01 2022
    Last-modified: 2018-07-16
    Posted-by: postfaq 1.17 (Perl 5.28.1)
    Archive-name: comics/creative/faq
    URL: https://www.eyrie.org/~eagle/faqs/racc.html
    Posting-frequency: monthly

    ==========================================================================
    rec.arts.comics.creative Frequently Asked Questions
    Maintained by Russ Allbery <eagle@eyrie.org>
    Original by Jeff McCoskey ==========================================================================

    If you're reading this on Usenet, this FAQ is formatted as a minimal
    digest. If your newsreader has digest handling capabilities you can use
    them to navigate between sections. In rn variants, you can use Ctrl-G to
    skip to the next section; in Gnus, press Ctrl-D to break each section into
    a separate article. For other newsreaders, see the documentation.

    The latest version of this FAQ is available on the web at:

    <https://www.eyrie.org/~eagle/faqs/racc.html>

    Please send any comments, suggestions, or updates to eagle@eyrie.org.

    ------------------------------

    Subject: Contents

    1. Welcome to rec.arts.comics.creative!
    1.1. What is RACC for?
    1.2. What isn't RACC for?
    1.3. What is the RACC official charter?
    1.4. Where are the stories about Wolverine(tm)?
    1.5. Where are the old stories?
    1.6. How can I read RACC via e-mail?

    2. Writing for RACC (How do I get involved?)
    2.1. Cool! Okay, how do I post?
    2.2. Format! I'm nothing without format!
    2.3. How 'bout them imprints? What's up with that?
    2.4. How do I archive my stories for posterity?
    2.5. What do copyright laws I pay taxes for do for me?

    3. Netiquette for RACC

    4. Glossary

    5. List of current imprints

    6. People to ask for help

    ------------------------------

    Subject: 1. Welcome to rec.arts.comics.creative!

    Welcome to rec.arts.comics.creative, the newsgroup which could have been
    named rec.prose.shared-universe but wasn't, the newsgroup which has, to
    date, produced well over 30MB of entirely free original fiction (and
    that's compressed!), the newsgroup which has nearly nothing to do with
    your favorite comic books at all!

    You're about to go insane. Don't worry, it's fun.

    rec.arts.comics.creative (henceforth RACC) is a moderated newsgroup for comics-related original fiction and discussion of same, originally created unmoderated by Martin Phipps and a cast of thousands (well, dozens at
    least) and later converted to moderated to keep out the spam. Don't
    worry, even though it's a moderated group, it's still friendly, chatty,
    and not at all formal, and we go out of our way to keep it that way.

    The first group of this sort on the Internet was the Superguy mailing
    list, which is still in operation to this day (you'll see posts from it on
    this group from time to time). Later, the Legion of Net.Heroes (LNH)
    sprung out of a free-form thread on rec.arts.comics and spawned another newsgroup (alt.comics.lnh). They were quickly followed by a wide variety
    of other comics-based shared universes, including the Patrol, the Net.Trenchcoat.Brigade, and Omega. All of these organizations, in
    parallel, gathered together authors in shared universes and strongly
    influenced the nature of RACC.

    First and foremost, RACC is a site for people to post comics-related
    fiction. Stories about long-underwear vigilantes, anthropomorphic
    animals, SF, westerns, even Kleen Teens if anyone is so moved. As long as
    it relates to comics it's okay. So whether you're a reader, a writer, or
    that fabled creature the critic, or even all three -- welcome to RACC:
    it's all the story, none of the art! (yet)

    ------------------------------

    Subject: 1.1. What is RACC for?

    For the official charter, see section 1.3. Here's the long, readable
    version.

    One term that you'll see a lot is "shared universe." This is a shared
    story background, co-created by multiple authors and used as the
    "universe" in which multiple different stories are set. This is a
    trademark characteristic of most comic books (seen in its clearest form in
    the ubiquitous crossover, a story written by multiple authors at once and involving multiple characters who all have their own stories), as well as appearing in some other published fiction (such as Wild Cards, or Larry
    Niven's Man-Kzin Wars). Most (but not all) of the stories posted here
    take place in one of the established shared universes (there's a list
    later on in this FAQ), to the point where this style of writing is nearly characteristic of the group.

    Another term you'll see is "comics-related." Nearly all of the authors
    writing here drew their original (if not primary) inspiration from comic
    books. As a result, nearly all of the stories are on-going (published a chapter at a time), divided up into "issues" and given numbers, and
    organized into "imprints." Many people also describe covers or design
    ASCII graphic logos.

    There is no restriction on types of fiction. (That'd kinda take the
    creative out of RACC, wouldn't it?) You'll see stories run the gamut from slapstick comedy to grim'n'gritty Real Life Supers (TM). As long as it's
    about comics, set your pen free. (You'll see a lot of superhero fiction,
    but that just means that those of us who like reading other things as well
    are anxiously awaiting your non-superhero stories.)

    RACC is also for discussion of stories, both specific ones and in general.
    The critic and reader is one of the most sought-after types of people
    around here; if you give us feedback on our stories, good or bad, we'll
    love you forever.

    Finally, if you want to announce your free web strip here, we welcome
    those posts too. If you're trying to sell it, though, please try rec.arts.comics.marketplace or rec.arts.comics.strips instead. (And rec.arts.comics.strips may be a better group in general, as RACC readers
    are mostly interested in text fiction.)

    ------------------------------

    Subject: 1.2. What isn't RACC for?

    A lot of things. We're not for wars of attrition, Third World starvation,
    45 mph speed limits, and brussel sprout toothpaste. Closer to home, RACC
    is not for any of the following:

    * Discussion of existing, "professional" books (except as they relate
    to our fiction)

    * Marketplace-type I-wanna-buy/I-wanna-sell postings

    * Flames and personality conflicts. Critiques, yes. Flames, no.

    * Fiction about established, trademarked characters and universes,
    unless you created them or have written permission.

    * Erotica, no matter how much spandex you put in. There are other
    groups for that.

    ------------------------------

    Subject: 1.3. What is the RACC official charter?

    This newsgroup welcomes any form of comics-related original fiction and discussion of the same, including but not limited to stories in the many established shared universes. Discussion of on-line fiction as a whole is
    also welcome provided that it is related to the stories on the newsgroup.
    If they choose to write in an existing shared universe, writers are
    strongly encouranged to follow the existing continuity and rules of that universe. "Comics-related" will be interpreted very broadly, as has been traditional on the newsgroup.

    Each posting to rec.arts.comics.creative should include a keyword on the subject line either designating which shared universe the posting refers
    to or marking the general subject of the post (ADMIN, META, MISC, etc.).
    If a submitted post does not have a keyword, the moderator will add an appropriate keyword, but posters are encouraged to add keywords themselves
    to save moderation work.

    Large binaries, such as artwork, will not be allowed on the newsgroup.
    Instead, binaries can be made available in the newsgroup archive (subject
    to the discretion of the archivist) and a pointer posted to the newsgroup. Pointers to Web pages are also welcome, provided the content of the page
    is related to the purpose of the group.

    Stories using copyrighted or trademarked characters are explicitly not
    within the charter of this group and may be rejected unless the author
    owns the copyrights and trademarks or has written permission from the
    owner. Networking posts (artists seeking writers or writers seeking
    artists) are inappropriate in this group and should be sent to appropriate mailing lists or other groups in the rec.arts.comics.* hierarchy (rec.arts.comics.misc if there is no other more appropriate group).

    ------------------------------

    Subject: 1.4. Where are the stories about Wolverine(tm)?

    This is very important, so I'm going to yell it. RACC IS NOT THE PLACE
    FOR FICTION ABOUT ESTABLISHED, TRADEMARKED CHARACTERS. This includes all Marvel, Image, DC, what-have-you characters. RACC's charter expressly
    FORBIDS such fiction.

    The reason for this is the ongoing legislative battles about intellectual property and the Net. rec.* groups are picked up worldwide, and sysadmins
    do not want to draw lawsuits because someone wrote a story that violated trademark laws. Note that fanfic stories may or may not be lawful and/or prosecutable, WE JUST DON'T KNOW. They're still writing the laws.

    To forestall any confusion or debates, and to protect sysadmins from inadvertently becoming the test case, this provision was adopted as a key requirement for RACC's creation. If you really must write about existing, trademarked characters, there is alt.comics.fan-fiction waiting to receive
    you. alt.* groups get picked up by sysadmins voluntarily, so they
    presumedly know what risks they're taking.

    Nothing will draw this group's ire faster than violating this requirement.

    ------------------------------

    Subject: 1.5. Where are the old stories?

    Thanks to the tireless efforts and bottomless disk space of Russ Allbery,
    all stories posted to rec.arts.comics.creative are archived! This means stories will be preserved for future generations of readers, providing a
    link to the past. It is difficult to over-praise this contribution.

    (Note: Lest you think I would be so crass as to praise myself, I want to
    make sure you know that Jeff wrote that last paragraph. 'course, I didn't delete it either.)

    Older stories are sorted by universe and series and are available at:

    <https://archives.eyrie.org/racc/>

    All of the stories are compressed using gzip, but most browsers can automatically decompress them for you. This archive unfortunately hasn't
    been updated recently, but it does have all of the older stories.

    Every message to rec.arts.comics.creative, story or not, is archived at:

    <https://lists.eyrie.org/pipermail/racc/>

    in the form of a more traditional mailing list archive, so you can also
    look there if a story hasn't been saved in the story archive. This is the
    best way to find anything posted in the last few years. You can search
    the archive by prepending "site:lists.eyrie.org" to a regular Google
    search.

    Please note that stories will be removed from both the list archive and
    the story archive at the author's request if the author wants to take them down. This has happened in the past, sometimes because the author wanted
    to sell the stories to a professional venue.

    ------------------------------

    Subject: 1.6. How can I read RACC via e-mail?

    Everything that shows up in RACC also shows up in its associated mailing
    list (and vice versa), so if you want to be sure not to miss anything, or
    if you just prefer e-mail to Usenet, you can subscribe to that mailing
    list.

    To do that, go to:

    <https://lists.eyrie.org/mailman/listinfo/racc>

    and fill out the form to subscribe. Alternately, you can subscribe via
    e-mail by sending mail to racc-request@lists.eyrie.org with the word:

    subscribe

    in the subject of the message. You then can read and reply to posts just
    as if the newsgroup were a mailing list. It's all the same to us.

    ------------------------------

    Subject: 2. Writing for RACC (How do I get involved?)

    Write a story. Post it. You're involved.

    This assumes you want to create your own universe to write in. If you
    want to join a pre-existing shared universe, it's a little more involved.

    Many of the imprints have FAQs of their own (OMEGA, Superguy, LNH,
    Crossroads to name a few). These get posted periodically. The first
    thing you should do is read these documents to get a feel for what these specific universes are like.

    The next thing you should do is _read_ the universe in question. This
    includes tapping the archives for back issues. No one would suggest you
    read the entire Superguy or LNH archives before writing, but definitely
    try to sample a large cross-section.

    Lastly, email some of the creators you see writing under a specific
    imprint. They will be able to tell you if your concept fits with their universe or not, and perhaps refer you to a more appropriate universe if necessary.

    THEN write a story and post it.

    ------------------------------

    Subject: 2.1. Cool! Okay, how do I post?

    RACC is a moderated newsgroup, which means that every post goes to the moderators first. If your site correctly has the group marked as
    moderated, you should be able to post just like you post to any other
    group and your news server will take care of the rest. If you have a Unix shell account, you can check if the group is correctly marked as moderated
    by typing:

    nntplist active | grep rec.arts.comics.creative

    If the last character on the resulting line is an "m," congratulations,
    you have a good news administrator. If it's a "y," send mail to your
    local computing support people and ask them to convert the group to
    moderated like it should be.

    If you don't have a Unix shell account, some newsreaders will also tell
    you if the group is moderated.

    If, for any reason, you have trouble posting or your site *doesn't* have
    the group marked as moderated, you can mail your post to racc@eyrie.org
    instead and it will be posted for you.

    Because the group is moderated, it can be up to a day after you post
    before your article is actually posted, and it can take a few more days
    for the article to propagate back to you. So don't be surprised if it
    doesn't show up right away.

    Many readers of rec.arts.comics.creative use Google Groups to read and
    post. While this works, and I know it's convenient, Google Groups also
    deletes anything enclosed in square brackets ([]) at the beginning of
    Subject lines in replies. If you use Google Groups, please try to
    remember to put back the imprint tags when you reply to posts; otherwise,
    I have to add them as the moderator.

    ------------------------------

    Subject: 2.2. Format! I'm nothing without format!

    Formatting is pretty loose. Since this is a comics newsgroup, you will
    hear people refer to their stories as "issues." Postings tend to run in numerical order just like comic books, and many people write continuing
    series. For example there are 25 "issues" in Drizzt's _Continuity Champ
    and the Drizzt's Defenders_ series.

    Stories don't have to be series though. One-shots, mini-series,
    maxi-series, crossovers -- all of these have been done before and will be
    done again.

    The subjects of postings should follow the convention of naming the
    imprint the title and the number. For example:

    LNH: System Corruptors #15, The Bard's Tale
    imprint --^ ^ ^ ^
    title --------------| | |
    number -------------------------| |
    subtitle/comment/etc [optional] -------|

    Since the archive mechanism relies heavily on this format (not to mention
    the format-accustomed eyes of this group's readers), please follow this strictly, including the use of the #-sign. Subtitles, alternate titles,
    and title comments should follow the number if they are used at all. If
    you want to, you can use [TAG] instead of TAG: at the beginning of the
    subject; it's all the same to the archiver. (TAG: causes a few fewer
    problems than [TAG] with Google Groups.)

    Occasionally, instead of (or in addition to) a number you will see "TEB."
    This stands for "Trade EtherBack." It means the posting is actually a collection of previously posted issues -- usually cleaned up and relating
    to a single story arc.

    Inside your story do what you will. Some folks run fake ads, others use
    cheesy ASCII graphics, some just use text. A word of advice: On
    older/more primitive newsreaders your text is MUCH easier to read if you
    space between paragraphs. On the other hand, some newer newsreader
    readers find the spaces jarring. The moral? You can't please all the
    people all the time. In general spaces seem to be more preferred.

    ------------------------------

    Subject: 2.3. How 'bout them imprints? What's up with that?

    In order to accommodate a near-infinite number of different potential universes, RACC has adopted the reasonable convention of flagging fiction.
    This allows uninterested parties to skip some genres, and others to
    quickly find their niches of interest. The flag goes before the title of
    story issues, related FAQs or universe-specific discussions. Many flags
    refer to existing shared-universes. New ones will come up all the time.
    For the current list, see section 5 of this FAQ.

    Once you pick an imprint name, stick with it. The Archive and your legion
    of new fans will both be happier if you don't make marketing name changes.

    Regardless of flags all SEXUALLY EXPLICIT or PROFANITY-RICH stories should
    have huge warning labels at the beginning of text. Last thing we need is
    a Florida DA bringing us all up on charges. ;] Besides, it's only common courtesy. Note that if a story could reasonably be posted on
    alt.sex.stories, you've probably strayed a bit far from this group's
    interests.

    Some sort of flag, either an imprint name or a more general tag, is
    required on all posts and one will be added by the moderator if you don't provide one. Leaving one off requires the moderator to edit your post,
    though, which takes time and means your post will be delayed. So please
    save them the trouble and remember to add the tag yourself.

    ------------------------------

    Subject: 2.4. How do I archive my stories for posterity?

    Good news! It's already being done for you! (Or at least it will be if
    Russ ever catches up with the archiving.)

    In theory, every story posted to rec.arts.comics.creative is archived at <https://archives.eyrie.org/racc/>. Most imprints have their own
    directories, with the stories stored in directories under that (depending
    on the size of the imprint, the directories could be very structured or
    just one directory for each series). Some imprints may be collected in
    the misc directory.

    Unfortunately, this archive is substantially out of date. Russ hopes to eventually find time to update it.

    The exception is Superguy, which has its own archiving mechanism. The
    Superguy archives are at <https://archives.eyrie.org/superguy/>, but one
    of the best ways to access them is through the Autocollector at:

    <https://archives.eyrie.org/cgi-bin/superguy>

    ------------------------------

    Subject: 2.5. What do Copyright laws I pay taxes for do for me?

    I don't even play a lawyer on TV, but there are some things you should
    know about Copyright laws.

    Anything you write is copyrighted immediately, whether you flag it with a copyright notice or not. Furthermore, the copyright protection is international under the Berne Copyright Convention, which has been signed
    by nearly every country with access to Usenet.

    If you label your text as copyrighted, it preempts a possible
    "unintentional infringement" defense from plagarizers. The copyright
    notice is considered legal notice that you intend to retain your rights.
    The legal format for such a notice requires three things: Your name, the
    year, and one or more of the following: "Copyright," "Copr.," and/or the c-in-circle symbol. Note that there is no firm legal precedence for (C)
    or (c) as having any special copyright meaning. Example notice:

    Copyright 1994 Jeff J McCoskey

    The only way to get full legal protection (at least in the United States)
    is to register your work with the government (forms are free, filing fees apply). This *guarantees* an archived, dated copy should future legal
    action be necessary. Other forms of dating, like mailing yourself a copy
    or archiving (to get a date stamp), are of dubious and unproven legal
    value.

    An excellent resource for Copyright information is misc.legal, where a FAQ
    is posted monthly.

    Another excellent resource is the U.S. Copyright Office home page at:

    <https://www.copyright.gov/>

    ------------------------------

    Subject: 3. Netiquette for RACC

    As a rule of thumb, everything you've heard elsewhere about good
    netiquette applies here. We hate spammers (more in a minute), expect
    smilies when joking (except in stories of course), and in general expect
    you to conduct yourselves as good net.citizens. There are three things
    you need to know after you've mastered Basic Netiquette:

    1. The only times flames are accepted on RACC are when they are both
    morally defensible and amusing. Flames are not welcome if they do not
    meet the above criteria. Here on RACC there is one organization that
    acts as moral compass for acceptable flames: the Order of St. Doomas.

    The Order has defined one activity that is worthy of flame: spamming.
    One member of the Order (usually the first to his/her keyboard) will
    have the honors. Repetitive flaming by multiple members is frowned
    upon by the Order.

    To join this righteous crusade, all you need do is select a
    net.persona and flame. Incorrect flaming (i.e. at non-sanctioned
    targets, or with unamusing effect) will result in ostracization and
    excommunication. Watch the Order in action before joining and all
    will be clear.

    Now that the group has been moderated, most opportunities for flames
    are gone. But watch carefully; new ones may arise.

    2. Reviews of stories (even negative ones) are one of the most
    sought-after commodities on RACC. You will instantly win friends and
    influence people if you post reviews. But especially in the case of
    negative reviews, ensure you confine your review to the story and not
    the writer. Keep in mind as you write "that SUCKS" that someone
    worked long and hard on the text. They might want to know what worked
    and what didn't in their narrative but it's doubtful they want to hear
    how clever you can be in ripping them up.

    It's certain the rest of us don't.

    3. One of the best features of a shared universe is the opportunity to
    have your characters interact with others in that universe. This is
    a privilege, not a right. All characters on RACC (and their
    distinctive text-likenesses) are the full and exclusive property of
    their creators. This is not as dogmatic as it sounds, and we're all
    adults (or pretending to be). Cameos (non-speaking/non-plot affecting
    roles) do not typically require permission unless the creator desires
    it. Speaking roles should be previewed through email and approved by
    the creator before being posted.

    ------------------------------

    Subject: 4. Glossary

    These are terms you will see come up on RACC that have special meaning
    here. (For general net.terms and abbreviations, see the META RAC FAQ.)

    Acraphobe RACC's version of adult warning label. Yes, with an "a."
    Don't ask.

    Arc A multi-issue storyline.

    Archive ftp.eyrie.org, where nearly ALL the back issues live.

    Crossover A storyline that involves several titles and/or authors. Also
    the bane of all mankind.

    Elsewhirls An imaginary story. (Yeah yeah, we know they're ALL
    imaginary. How about "out-of-continuity"?)

    Fanfiction Fiction about established, trademarked universes and
    or fanfic characters that the author did not create -- in short, the
    sort of stories RACC *wasn't* designed for. There's a good
    list of newsgroups at the end of this FAQ that should help in
    finding a better group if this is what you want to write.

    Imprint The shared universe your story takes place in or subject your
    posting relates to (we have many to chose from). This is
    usually an all-caps prefix on the title of the posting.

    LNH The Legion of Net.Heroes. The immediate father of this group
    and the oldest of the Usenet-based writing universes (see
    Superguy).

    RAC* The rec.arts.comics.* hierarchy of newsgroups.

    RACC rec.arts.comics.creative. You're soaking in it!

    rACCIES The annual RACC fanfiction awards, as voted on by the readers
    or RACCies of this newsgroup.

    Repost Story has been posted before, natch.

    Superguy A mailing list that predates all other Internet comics-fiction
    forums. There is a good-natured rivalry between the LNH and
    this group.

    TEB Trade EtherBack. This is a collection of previously posted
    material, usually cleaned up and relating to a single story
    arc.

    Title A numerically increasing, continuing series. Usually
    involving one character, cast, city, or unifying concept.

    ------------------------------

    Subject: 5. List of Current Tags

    When choosing a tag to put at the beginning of your post, this list should
    be a canonical reference. If you see a need for a new tag, send mail to
    the FAQ maintainer so that it can be added.

    First, the general tags:

    ADMIN Administrative matters affecting everyone on RACC.

    FAQ FAQs of note for the entire RAC* hierarchy. These will tend
    to be crossposted here.

    META Discussion about the newsgroup itself. This includes
    or CHAT everything from general discussion of on-line fiction and RACC
    in particular to recommendations on how long posts should be.

    PRECOG Announcements of upcoming series, planned stories, and the
    or PROMO like.

    WWW Announcement of a web page related to RACC or a free strip.

    Now, all of the writing imprints. Note that new ones of these pop up all
    the time. Entries marked with (*) are in danger of being retired due to
    lack of activity. If you have any changes, please mail eagle@eyrie.org.

    8FOLD A closed universe that encompasses serious superheroes, comedy,
    memoir, and just about anything else: high-quality fiction of
    any stripe is welcome.

    ACRAPHOBE Mature stories that may or may not fit into other universes'
    or ACRA continuity. Using this flag in conjunction with another is
    not unheard of. (For example, Scav's _501 Blues_ is
    LNH/ACRAPHOBE.) Think a meta-Vertigo.

    ASH Academy of Super-Heroes. Dave Van Domelen's RPG-based future-
    history stories. See <https://www.eyrie.org/~dvandom/ASH>.

    ELSEWHIRLS LNH stories that do not fit into LNH continuity. Think DC's
    or EW Elseworlds.

    HCC The High Concept Challenge, a continuous series of writing
    contests. Each round, the winner, chosen by reader vote, gets
    to pick the next round's concept.

    LNH Legion of Net.Heroes, "The Friendliest Shared Universe
    Going!(TM)" A mostly parody universe, though it does have its
    serious side.

    LNH20 On the LNH's 20th anniversary, a group of writers took it upon
    themselves to create a new world, based in everything they
    loved about the LNH, in the best spirit of comic book reboots!
    LNH20 is just as friendly as the original, but easier to get
    into! Hop right in, the adventure's fine!

    LNHY An Imprint involving an alternate LNH universe called
    Looniverse Y. The big difference between this and the Classic
    LNH is that writers are allowed to have only one character of
    theirs in this Looniverse's LNH.

    RACCCafe A continuity-free outpust where RACC characters can unwind
    after a hard day of being mangled by their writers. Anything
    can happen, as long as it's funny, and there are no
    consequences!

    SG Superguy. From Space Moose to the Bomb. Comedy superhero
    writing with a far different background than LNH. Note that
    only a small slice of Superguy stuff appears here; to see the
    rest, go to <https://lists.eyrie.org/mailman/listinfo/superguy>.

    STARFALL Lightly serious and seriously light superheroics, and better
    because of it. ;)

    NTB Net.Trenchcoat.Brigade. A bunch of Vertigo-like characters
    that own stock in London Fog. Not tremendously active, but
    they do have a considerable history. Implied Acraphobe.

    OMEGA A serious psi-based shared super-world and once upon a time
    RACC's third largest universe, now inactive. Created by the
    legendary Matt Rossi.

    OSD The Order of Saint Doomas. Items relating to RACC's anti-spam
    cult. (See Section 3 above.) No posts have been seen from
    this imprint in quite some time, but that doesn't mean they're
    gone....

    SW10 SW stands for Superhuman World. 10 is an annual tag. The
    comic has proceeded to 2011, but the tag has frozen at 2010
    because that's when the series really interacted with RACC.
    Scott Eiler has written the story of this universe since
    before 1991, but 1991 is when the modern heroes of this series
    start. His sources include adolescent male power fantasy,
    superhero role-playing, comic-book satire, and dreams. See
    <http://www.eilertech.com/stories/>.

    MISC Stories not in the above categories or in their own universes
    (authors are encouraged to make up their own headers as well).
    To limit the number of imprints, and to keep this FAQ to
    reasonable lengths, let's adopt this convention: One-shot
    stories or series should use the MISC flag. Series that set
    up shared universes should create their own, new imprint.

    ------------------------------

    Subject: 6. People to Ask for Help

    The major header contacts are listed below, who will be glad to answer
    email question. Also keep your eyes peeled for FAQs specific to
    particular imprints. The FAQs are also often in the archive in a
    directory named "FAQs" under the imprint directory.

    Imprint Contact Email
    ------------ -------------------- ---------------------------------
    8FOLD Jamie Rosen jamie.rosen@sunlife.com
    8FOLD Tom Russell joltcity@gmail.com
    + ASH Dave Van Domelen dvandom@eyrie.org
    + LNH Andrew Perron pwerdna@gmail.com
    LNH20 Andrew Perron pwerdna@gmail.com
    + LNHY Arthur Spitzer arspitzer@earthlink.net
    + NTB Arthur Spitzer arspitzer@earthlink.net
    + RACChallenge Sean MacDonald mcdonald@vorteb.math.uab.edu
    + StarFall Ted Brock phantom_belcher@yahoo.com
    + Superguy Eric Burns eaburns@annotations.com
    SW10 Scott Eiler seiler@eilertech.com

    The Archive Russ Allbery eagle@eyrie.org
    Moderation RACC Moderation Team racc-request@eyrie.org

    + indicates separate FAQs are available for these imprints.

    If you need to contact the moderator directly, the contact information is:

    Russ Allbery <eagle@eyrie.org>

    If none of the above people help, or your questions are too general or specific, just email anyone you see posting here that seems to know what they're doing. (WARNING: This is rarely the case.)

    --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
    * Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)
  • From Russ Allbery@21:1/5 to All on Thu Dec 1 08:01:04 2022
    Last-modified: 2018-07-16
    Posted-by: postfaq 1.17 (Perl 5.28.1)
    Archive-name: comics/creative/faq
    URL: https://www.eyrie.org/~eagle/faqs/racc.html
    Posting-frequency: monthly

    ==========================================================================
    rec.arts.comics.creative Frequently Asked Questions
    Maintained by Russ Allbery <eagle@eyrie.org>
    Original by Jeff McCoskey ==========================================================================

    If you're reading this on Usenet, this FAQ is formatted as a minimal
    digest. If your newsreader has digest handling capabilities you can use
    them to navigate between sections. In rn variants, you can use Ctrl-G to
    skip to the next section; in Gnus, press Ctrl-D to break each section into
    a separate article. For other newsreaders, see the documentation.

    The latest version of this FAQ is available on the web at:

    <https://www.eyrie.org/~eagle/faqs/racc.html>

    Please send any comments, suggestions, or updates to eagle@eyrie.org.

    ------------------------------

    Subject: Contents

    1. Welcome to rec.arts.comics.creative!
    1.1. What is RACC for?
    1.2. What isn't RACC for?
    1.3. What is the RACC official charter?
    1.4. Where are the stories about Wolverine(tm)?
    1.5. Where are the old stories?
    1.6. How can I read RACC via e-mail?

    2. Writing for RACC (How do I get involved?)
    2.1. Cool! Okay, how do I post?
    2.2. Format! I'm nothing without format!
    2.3. How 'bout them imprints? What's up with that?
    2.4. How do I archive my stories for posterity?
    2.5. What do copyright laws I pay taxes for do for me?

    3. Netiquette for RACC

    4. Glossary

    5. List of current imprints

    6. People to ask for help

    ------------------------------

    Subject: 1. Welcome to rec.arts.comics.creative!

    Welcome to rec.arts.comics.creative, the newsgroup which could have been
    named rec.prose.shared-universe but wasn't, the newsgroup which has, to
    date, produced well over 30MB of entirely free original fiction (and
    that's compressed!), the newsgroup which has nearly nothing to do with
    your favorite comic books at all!

    You're about to go insane. Don't worry, it's fun.

    rec.arts.comics.creative (henceforth RACC) is a moderated newsgroup for comics-related original fiction and discussion of same, originally created unmoderated by Martin Phipps and a cast of thousands (well, dozens at
    least) and later converted to moderated to keep out the spam. Don't
    worry, even though it's a moderated group, it's still friendly, chatty,
    and not at all formal, and we go out of our way to keep it that way.

    The first group of this sort on the Internet was the Superguy mailing
    list, which is still in operation to this day (you'll see posts from it on
    this group from time to time). Later, the Legion of Net.Heroes (LNH)
    sprung out of a free-form thread on rec.arts.comics and spawned another newsgroup (alt.comics.lnh). They were quickly followed by a wide variety
    of other comics-based shared universes, including the Patrol, the Net.Trenchcoat.Brigade, and Omega. All of these organizations, in
    parallel, gathered together authors in shared universes and strongly
    influenced the nature of RACC.

    First and foremost, RACC is a site for people to post comics-related
    fiction. Stories about long-underwear vigilantes, anthropomorphic
    animals, SF, westerns, even Kleen Teens if anyone is so moved. As long as
    it relates to comics it's okay. So whether you're a reader, a writer, or
    that fabled creature the critic, or even all three -- welcome to RACC:
    it's all the story, none of the art! (yet)

    ------------------------------

    Subject: 1.1. What is RACC for?

    For the official charter, see section 1.3. Here's the long, readable
    version.

    One term that you'll see a lot is "shared universe." This is a shared
    story background, co-created by multiple authors and used as the
    "universe" in which multiple different stories are set. This is a
    trademark characteristic of most comic books (seen in its clearest form in
    the ubiquitous crossover, a story written by multiple authors at once and involving multiple characters who all have their own stories), as well as appearing in some other published fiction (such as Wild Cards, or Larry
    Niven's Man-Kzin Wars). Most (but not all) of the stories posted here
    take place in one of the established shared universes (there's a list
    later on in this FAQ), to the point where this style of writing is nearly characteristic of the group.

    Another term you'll see is "comics-related." Nearly all of the authors
    writing here drew their original (if not primary) inspiration from comic
    books. As a result, nearly all of the stories are on-going (published a chapter at a time), divided up into "issues" and given numbers, and
    organized into "imprints." Many people also describe covers or design
    ASCII graphic logos.

    There is no restriction on types of fiction. (That'd kinda take the
    creative out of RACC, wouldn't it?) You'll see stories run the gamut from slapstick comedy to grim'n'gritty Real Life Supers (TM). As long as it's
    about comics, set your pen free. (You'll see a lot of superhero fiction,
    but that just means that those of us who like reading other things as well
    are anxiously awaiting your non-superhero stories.)

    RACC is also for discussion of stories, both specific ones and in general.
    The critic and reader is one of the most sought-after types of people
    around here; if you give us feedback on our stories, good or bad, we'll
    love you forever.

    Finally, if you want to announce your free web strip here, we welcome
    those posts too. If you're trying to sell it, though, please try rec.arts.comics.marketplace or rec.arts.comics.strips instead. (And rec.arts.comics.strips may be a better group in general, as RACC readers
    are mostly interested in text fiction.)

    ------------------------------

    Subject: 1.2. What isn't RACC for?

    A lot of things. We're not for wars of attrition, Third World starvation,
    45 mph speed limits, and brussel sprout toothpaste. Closer to home, RACC
    is not for any of the following:

    * Discussion of existing, "professional" books (except as they relate
    to our fiction)

    * Marketplace-type I-wanna-buy/I-wanna-sell postings

    * Flames and personality conflicts. Critiques, yes. Flames, no.

    * Fiction about established, trademarked characters and universes,
    unless you created them or have written permission.

    * Erotica, no matter how much spandex you put in. There are other
    groups for that.

    ------------------------------

    Subject: 1.3. What is the RACC official charter?

    This newsgroup welcomes any form of comics-related original fiction and discussion of the same, including but not limited to stories in the many established shared universes. Discussion of on-line fiction as a whole is
    also welcome provided that it is related to the stories on the newsgroup.
    If they choose to write in an existing shared universe, writers are
    strongly encouranged to follow the existing continuity and rules of that universe. "Comics-related" will be interpreted very broadly, as has been traditional on the newsgroup.

    Each posting to rec.arts.comics.creative should include a keyword on the subject line either designating which shared universe the posting refers
    to or marking the general subject of the post (ADMIN, META, MISC, etc.).
    If a submitted post does not have a keyword, the moderator will add an appropriate keyword, but posters are encouraged to add keywords themselves
    to save moderation work.

    Large binaries, such as artwork, will not be allowed on the newsgroup.
    Instead, binaries can be made available in the newsgroup archive (subject
    to the discretion of the archivist) and a pointer posted to the newsgroup. Pointers to Web pages are also welcome, provided the content of the page
    is related to the purpose of the group.

    Stories using copyrighted or trademarked characters are explicitly not
    within the charter of this group and may be rejected unless the author
    owns the copyrights and trademarks or has written permission from the
    owner. Networking posts (artists seeking writers or writers seeking
    artists) are inappropriate in this group and should be sent to appropriate mailing lists or other groups in the rec.arts.comics.* hierarchy (rec.arts.comics.misc if there is no other more appropriate group).

    ------------------------------

    Subject: 1.4. Where are the stories about Wolverine(tm)?

    This is very important, so I'm going to yell it. RACC IS NOT THE PLACE
    FOR FICTION ABOUT ESTABLISHED, TRADEMARKED CHARACTERS. This includes all Marvel, Image, DC, what-have-you characters. RACC's charter expressly
    FORBIDS such fiction.

    The reason for this is the ongoing legislative battles about intellectual property and the Net. rec.* groups are picked up worldwide, and sysadmins
    do not want to draw lawsuits because someone wrote a story that violated trademark laws. Note that fanfic stories may or may not be lawful and/or prosecutable, WE JUST DON'T KNOW. They're still writing the laws.

    To forestall any confusion or debates, and to protect sysadmins from inadvertently becoming the test case, this provision was adopted as a key requirement for RACC's creation. If you really must write about existing, trademarked characters, there is alt.comics.fan-fiction waiting to receive
    you. alt.* groups get picked up by sysadmins voluntarily, so they
    presumedly know what risks they're taking.

    Nothing will draw this group's ire faster than violating this requirement.

    ------------------------------

    Subject: 1.5. Where are the old stories?

    Thanks to the tireless efforts and bottomless disk space of Russ Allbery,
    all stories posted to rec.arts.comics.creative are archived! This means stories will be preserved for future generations of readers, providing a
    link to the past. It is difficult to over-praise this contribution.

    (Note: Lest you think I would be so crass as to praise myself, I want to
    make sure you know that Jeff wrote that last paragraph. 'course, I didn't delete it either.)

    Older stories are sorted by universe and series and are available at:

    <https://archives.eyrie.org/racc/>

    All of the stories are compressed using gzip, but most browsers can automatically decompress them for you. This archive unfortunately hasn't
    been updated recently, but it does have all of the older stories.

    Every message to rec.arts.comics.creative, story or not, is archived at:

    <https://lists.eyrie.org/pipermail/racc/>

    in the form of a more traditional mailing list archive, so you can also
    look there if a story hasn't been saved in the story archive. This is the
    best way to find anything posted in the last few years. You can search
    the archive by prepending "site:lists.eyrie.org" to a regular Google
    search.

    Please note that stories will be removed from both the list archive and
    the story archive at the author's request if the author wants to take them down. This has happened in the past, sometimes because the author wanted
    to sell the stories to a professional venue.

    ------------------------------

    Subject: 1.6. How can I read RACC via e-mail?

    Everything that shows up in RACC also shows up in its associated mailing
    list (and vice versa), so if you want to be sure not to miss anything, or
    if you just prefer e-mail to Usenet, you can subscribe to that mailing
    list.

    To do that, go to:

    <https://lists.eyrie.org/mailman/listinfo/racc>

    and fill out the form to subscribe. Alternately, you can subscribe via
    e-mail by sending mail to racc-request@lists.eyrie.org with the word:

    subscribe

    in the subject of the message. You then can read and reply to posts just
    as if the newsgroup were a mailing list. It's all the same to us.

    ------------------------------

    Subject: 2. Writing for RACC (How do I get involved?)

    Write a story. Post it. You're involved.

    This assumes you want to create your own universe to write in. If you
    want to join a pre-existing shared universe, it's a little more involved.

    Many of the imprints have FAQs of their own (OMEGA, Superguy, LNH,
    Crossroads to name a few). These get posted periodically. The first
    thing you should do is read these documents to get a feel for what these specific universes are like.

    The next thing you should do is _read_ the universe in question. This
    includes tapping the archives for back issues. No one would suggest you
    read the entire Superguy or LNH archives before writing, but definitely
    try to sample a large cross-section.

    Lastly, email some of the creators you see writing under a specific
    imprint. They will be able to tell you if your concept fits with their universe or not, and perhaps refer you to a more appropriate universe if necessary.

    THEN write a story and post it.

    ------------------------------

    Subject: 2.1. Cool! Okay, how do I post?

    RACC is a moderated newsgroup, which means that every post goes to the moderators first. If your site correctly has the group marked as
    moderated, you should be able to post just like you post to any other
    group and your news server will take care of the rest. If you have a Unix shell account, you can check if the group is correctly marked as moderated
    by typing:

    nntplist active | grep rec.arts.comics.creative

    If the last character on the resulting line is an "m," congratulations,
    you have a good news administrator. If it's a "y," send mail to your
    local computing support people and ask them to convert the group to
    moderated like it should be.

    If you don't have a Unix shell account, some newsreaders will also tell
    you if the group is moderated.

    If, for any reason, you have trouble posting or your site *doesn't* have
    the group marked as moderated, you can mail your post to racc@eyrie.org
    instead and it will be posted for you.

    Because the group is moderated, it can be up to a day after you post
    before your article is actually posted, and it can take a few more days
    for the article to propagate back to you. So don't be surprised if it
    doesn't show up right away.

    Many readers of rec.arts.comics.creative use Google Groups to read and
    post. While this works, and I know it's convenient, Google Groups also
    deletes anything enclosed in square brackets ([]) at the beginning of
    Subject lines in replies. If you use Google Groups, please try to
    remember to put back the imprint tags when you reply to posts; otherwise,
    I have to add them as the moderator.

    ------------------------------

    Subject: 2.2. Format! I'm nothing without format!

    Formatting is pretty loose. Since this is a comics newsgroup, you will
    hear people refer to their stories as "issues." Postings tend to run in numerical order just like comic books, and many people write continuing
    series. For example there are 25 "issues" in Drizzt's _Continuity Champ
    and the Drizzt's Defenders_ series.

    Stories don't have to be series though. One-shots, mini-series,
    maxi-series, crossovers -- all of these have been done before and will be
    done again.

    The subjects of postings should follow the convention of naming the
    imprint the title and the number. For example:

    LNH: System Corruptors #15, The Bard's Tale
    imprint --^ ^ ^ ^
    title --------------| | |
    number -------------------------| |
    subtitle/comment/etc [optional] -------|

    Since the archive mechanism relies heavily on this format (not to mention
    the format-accustomed eyes of this group's readers), please follow this strictly, including the use of the #-sign. Subtitles, alternate titles,
    and title comments should follow the number if they are used at all. If
    you want to, you can use [TAG] instead of TAG: at the beginning of the
    subject; it's all the same to the archiver. (TAG: causes a few fewer
    problems than [TAG] with Google Groups.)

    Occasionally, instead of (or in addition to) a number you will see "TEB."
    This stands for "Trade EtherBack." It means the posting is actually a collection of previously posted issues -- usually cleaned up and relating
    to a single story arc.

    Inside your story do what you will. Some folks run fake ads, others use
    cheesy ASCII graphics, some just use text. A word of advice: On
    older/more primitive newsreaders your text is MUCH easier to read if you
    space between paragraphs. On the other hand, some newer newsreader
    readers find the spaces jarring. The moral? You can't please all the
    people all the time. In general spaces seem to be more preferred.

    ------------------------------

    Subject: 2.3. How 'bout them imprints? What's up with that?

    In order to accommodate a near-infinite number of different potential universes, RACC has adopted the reasonable convention of flagging fiction.
    This allows uninterested parties to skip some genres, and others to
    quickly find their niches of interest. The flag goes before the title of
    story issues, related FAQs or universe-specific discussions. Many flags
    refer to existing shared-universes. New ones will come up all the time.
    For the current list, see section 5 of this FAQ.

    Once you pick an imprint name, stick with it. The Archive and your legion
    of new fans will both be happier if you don't make marketing name changes.

    Regardless of flags all SEXUALLY EXPLICIT or PROFANITY-RICH stories should
    have huge warning labels at the beginning of text. Last thing we need is
    a Florida DA bringing us all up on charges. ;] Besides, it's only common courtesy. Note that if a story could reasonably be posted on
    alt.sex.stories, you've probably strayed a bit far from this group's
    interests.

    Some sort of flag, either an imprint name or a more general tag, is
    required on all posts and one will be added by the moderator if you don't provide one. Leaving one off requires the moderator to edit your post,
    though, which takes time and means your post will be delayed. So please
    save them the trouble and remember to add the tag yourself.

    ------------------------------

    Subject: 2.4. How do I archive my stories for posterity?

    Good news! It's already being done for you! (Or at least it will be if
    Russ ever catches up with the archiving.)

    In theory, every story posted to rec.arts.comics.creative is archived at <https://archives.eyrie.org/racc/>. Most imprints have their own
    directories, with the stories stored in directories under that (depending
    on the size of the imprint, the directories could be very structured or
    just one directory for each series). Some imprints may be collected in
    the misc directory.

    Unfortunately, this archive is substantially out of date. Russ hopes to eventually find time to update it.

    The exception is Superguy, which has its own archiving mechanism. The
    Superguy archives are at <https://archives.eyrie.org/superguy/>, but one
    of the best ways to access them is through the Autocollector at:

    <https://archives.eyrie.org/cgi-bin/superguy>

    ------------------------------

    Subject: 2.5. What do Copyright laws I pay taxes for do for me?

    I don't even play a lawyer on TV, but there are some things you should
    know about Copyright laws.

    Anything you write is copyrighted immediately, whether you flag it with a copyright notice or not. Furthermore, the copyright protection is international under the Berne Copyright Convention, which has been signed
    by nearly every country with access to Usenet.

    If you label your text as copyrighted, it preempts a possible
    "unintentional infringement" defense from plagarizers. The copyright
    notice is considered legal notice that you intend to retain your rights.
    The legal format for such a notice requires three things: Your name, the
    year, and one or more of the following: "Copyright," "Copr.," and/or the c-in-circle symbol. Note that there is no firm legal precedence for (C)
    or (c) as having any special copyright meaning. Example notice:

    Copyright 1994 Jeff J McCoskey

    The only way to get full legal protection (at least in the United States)
    is to register your work with the government (forms are free, filing fees apply). This *guarantees* an archived, dated copy should future legal
    action be necessary. Other forms of dating, like mailing yourself a copy
    or archiving (to get a date stamp), are of dubious and unproven legal
    value.

    An excellent resource for Copyright information is misc.legal, where a FAQ
    is posted monthly.

    Another excellent resource is the U.S. Copyright Office home page at:

    <https://www.copyright.gov/>

    ------------------------------

    Subject: 3. Netiquette for RACC

    As a rule of thumb, everything you've heard elsewhere about good
    netiquette applies here. We hate spammers (more in a minute), expect
    smilies when joking (except in stories of course), and in general expect
    you to conduct yourselves as good net.citizens. There are three things
    you need to know after you've mastered Basic Netiquette:

    1. The only times flames are accepted on RACC are when they are both
    morally defensible and amusing. Flames are not welcome if they do not
    meet the above criteria. Here on RACC there is one organization that
    acts as moral compass for acceptable flames: the Order of St. Doomas.

    The Order has defined one activity that is worthy of flame: spamming.
    One member of the Order (usually the first to his/her keyboard) will
    have the honors. Repetitive flaming by multiple members is frowned
    upon by the Order.

    To join this righteous crusade, all you need do is select a
    net.persona and flame. Incorrect flaming (i.e. at non-sanctioned
    targets, or with unamusing effect) will result in ostracization and
    excommunication. Watch the Order in action before joining and all
    will be clear.

    Now that the group has been moderated, most opportunities for flames
    are gone. But watch carefully; new ones may arise.

    2. Reviews of stories (even negative ones) are one of the most
    sought-after commodities on RACC. You will instantly win friends and
    influence people if you post reviews. But especially in the case of
    negative reviews, ensure you confine your review to the story and not
    the writer. Keep in mind as you write "that SUCKS" that someone
    worked long and hard on the text. They might want to know what worked
    and what didn't in their narrative but it's doubtful they want to hear
    how clever you can be in ripping them up.

    It's certain the rest of us don't.

    3. One of the best features of a shared universe is the opportunity to
    have your characters interact with others in that universe. This is
    a privilege, not a right. All characters on RACC (and their
    distinctive text-likenesses) are the full and exclusive property of
    their creators. This is not as dogmatic as it sounds, and we're all
    adults (or pretending to be). Cameos (non-speaking/non-plot affecting
    roles) do not typically require permission unless the creator desires
    it. Speaking roles should be previewed through email and approved by
    the creator before being posted.

    ------------------------------

    Subject: 4. Glossary

    These are terms you will see come up on RACC that have special meaning
    here. (For general net.terms and abbreviations, see the META RAC FAQ.)

    Acraphobe RACC's version of adult warning label. Yes, with an "a."
    Don't ask.

    Arc A multi-issue storyline.

    Archive ftp.eyrie.org, where nearly ALL the back issues live.

    Crossover A storyline that involves several titles and/or authors. Also
    the bane of all mankind.

    Elsewhirls An imaginary story. (Yeah yeah, we know they're ALL
    imaginary. How about "out-of-continuity"?)

    Fanfiction Fiction about established, trademarked universes and
    or fanfic characters that the author did not create -- in short, the
    sort of stories RACC *wasn't* designed for. There's a good
    list of newsgroups at the end of this FAQ that should help in
    finding a better group if this is what you want to write.

    Imprint The shared universe your story takes place in or subject your
    posting relates to (we have many to chose from). This is
    usually an all-caps prefix on the title of the posting.

    LNH The Legion of Net.Heroes. The immediate father of this group
    and the oldest of the Usenet-based writing universes (see
    Superguy).

    RAC* The rec.arts.comics.* hierarchy of newsgroups.

    RACC rec.arts.comics.creative. You're soaking in it!

    rACCIES The annual RACC fanfiction awards, as voted on by the readers
    or RACCies of this newsgroup.

    Repost Story has been posted before, natch.

    Superguy A mailing list that predates all other Internet comics-fiction
    forums. There is a good-natured rivalry between the LNH and
    this group.

    TEB Trade EtherBack. This is a collection of previously posted
    material, usually cleaned up and relating to a single story
    arc.

    Title A numerically increasing, continuing series. Usually
    involving one character, cast, city, or unifying concept.

    ------------------------------

    Subject: 5. List of Current Tags

    When choosing a tag to put at the beginning of your post, this list should
    be a canonical reference. If you see a need for a new tag, send mail to
    the FAQ maintainer so that it can be added.

    First, the general tags:

    ADMIN Administrative matters affecting everyone on RACC.

    FAQ FAQs of note for the entire RAC* hierarchy. These will tend
    to be crossposted here.

    META Discussion about the newsgroup itself. This includes
    or CHAT everything from general discussion of on-line fiction and RACC
    in particular to recommendations on how long posts should be.

    PRECOG Announcements of upcoming series, planned stories, and the
    or PROMO like.

    WWW Announcement of a web page related to RACC or a free strip.

    Now, all of the writing imprints. Note that new ones of these pop up all
    the time. Entries marked with (*) are in danger of being retired due to
    lack of activity. If you have any changes, please mail eagle@eyrie.org.

    8FOLD A closed universe that encompasses serious superheroes, comedy,
    memoir, and just about anything else: high-quality fiction of
    any stripe is welcome.

    ACRAPHOBE Mature stories that may or may not fit into other universes'
    or ACRA continuity. Using this flag in conjunction with another is
    not unheard of. (For example, Scav's _501 Blues_ is
    LNH/ACRAPHOBE.) Think a meta-Vertigo.

    ASH Academy of Super-Heroes. Dave Van Domelen's RPG-based future-
    history stories. See <https://www.eyrie.org/~dvandom/ASH>.

    ELSEWHIRLS LNH stories that do not fit into LNH continuity. Think DC's
    or EW Elseworlds.

    HCC The High Concept Challenge, a continuous series of writing
    contests. Each round, the winner, chosen by reader vote, gets
    to pick the next round's concept.

    LNH Legion of Net.Heroes, "The Friendliest Shared Universe
    Going!(TM)" A mostly parody universe, though it does have its
    serious side.

    LNH20 On the LNH's 20th anniversary, a group of writers took it upon
    themselves to create a new world, based in everything they
    loved about the LNH, in the best spirit of comic book reboots!
    LNH20 is just as friendly as the original, but easier to get
    into! Hop right in, the adventure's fine!

    LNHY An Imprint involving an alternate LNH universe called
    Looniverse Y. The big difference between this and the Classic
    LNH is that writers are allowed to have only one character of
    theirs in this Looniverse's LNH.

    RACCCafe A continuity-free outpust where RACC characters can unwind
    after a hard day of being mangled by their writers. Anything
    can happen, as long as it's funny, and there are no
    consequences!

    SG Superguy. From Space Moose to the Bomb. Comedy superhero
    writing with a far different background than LNH. Note that
    only a small slice of Superguy stuff appears here; to see the
    rest, go to <https://lists.eyrie.org/mailman/listinfo/superguy>.

    STARFALL Lightly serious and seriously light superheroics, and better
    because of it. ;)

    NTB Net.Trenchcoat.Brigade. A bunch of Vertigo-like characters
    that own stock in London Fog. Not tremendously active, but
    they do have a considerable history. Implied Acraphobe.

    OMEGA A serious psi-based shared super-world and once upon a time
    RACC's third largest universe, now inactive. Created by the
    legendary Matt Rossi.

    OSD The Order of Saint Doomas. Items relating to RACC's anti-spam
    cult. (See Section 3 above.) No posts have been seen from
    this imprint in quite some time, but that doesn't mean they're
    gone....

    SW10 SW stands for Superhuman World. 10 is an annual tag. The
    comic has proceeded to 2011, but the tag has frozen at 2010
    because that's when the series really interacted with RACC.
    Scott Eiler has written the story of this universe since
    before 1991, but 1991 is when the modern heroes of this series
    start. His sources include adolescent male power fantasy,
    superhero role-playing, comic-book satire, and dreams. See
    <http://www.eilertech.com/stories/>.

    MISC Stories not in the above categories or in their own universes
    (authors are encouraged to make up their own headers as well).
    To limit the number of imprints, and to keep this FAQ to
    reasonable lengths, let's adopt this convention: One-shot
    stories or series should use the MISC flag. Series that set
    up shared universes should create their own, new imprint.

    ------------------------------

    Subject: 6. People to Ask for Help

    The major header contacts are listed below, who will be glad to answer
    email question. Also keep your eyes peeled for FAQs specific to
    particular imprints. The FAQs are also often in the archive in a
    directory named "FAQs" under the imprint directory.

    Imprint Contact Email
    ------------ -------------------- ---------------------------------
    8FOLD Jamie Rosen jamie.rosen@sunlife.com
    8FOLD Tom Russell joltcity@gmail.com
    + ASH Dave Van Domelen dvandom@eyrie.org
    + LNH Andrew Perron pwerdna@gmail.com
    LNH20 Andrew Perron pwerdna@gmail.com
    + LNHY Arthur Spitzer arspitzer@earthlink.net
    + NTB Arthur Spitzer arspitzer@earthlink.net
    + RACChallenge Sean MacDonald mcdonald@vorteb.math.uab.edu
    + StarFall Ted Brock phantom_belcher@yahoo.com
    + Superguy Eric Burns eaburns@annotations.com
    SW10 Scott Eiler seiler@eilertech.com

    The Archive Russ Allbery eagle@eyrie.org
    Moderation RACC Moderation Team racc-request@eyrie.org

    + indicates separate FAQs are available for these imprints.

    If you need to contact the moderator directly, the contact information is:

    Russ Allbery <eagle@eyrie.org>

    If none of the above people help, or your questions are too general or specific, just email anyone you see posting here that seems to know what they're doing. (WARNING: This is rarely the case.)

    --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
    * Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)
  • From Russ Allbery@21:1/5 to All on Sun Jan 1 08:01:03 2023
    Last-modified: 2018-07-16
    Posted-by: postfaq 1.17 (Perl 5.28.1)
    Archive-name: comics/creative/faq
    URL: https://www.eyrie.org/~eagle/faqs/racc.html
    Posting-frequency: monthly

    ==========================================================================
    rec.arts.comics.creative Frequently Asked Questions
    Maintained by Russ Allbery <eagle@eyrie.org>
    Original by Jeff McCoskey ==========================================================================

    If you're reading this on Usenet, this FAQ is formatted as a minimal
    digest. If your newsreader has digest handling capabilities you can use
    them to navigate between sections. In rn variants, you can use Ctrl-G to
    skip to the next section; in Gnus, press Ctrl-D to break each section into
    a separate article. For other newsreaders, see the documentation.

    The latest version of this FAQ is available on the web at:

    <https://www.eyrie.org/~eagle/faqs/racc.html>

    Please send any comments, suggestions, or updates to eagle@eyrie.org.

    ------------------------------

    Subject: Contents

    1. Welcome to rec.arts.comics.creative!
    1.1. What is RACC for?
    1.2. What isn't RACC for?
    1.3. What is the RACC official charter?
    1.4. Where are the stories about Wolverine(tm)?
    1.5. Where are the old stories?
    1.6. How can I read RACC via e-mail?

    2. Writing for RACC (How do I get involved?)
    2.1. Cool! Okay, how do I post?
    2.2. Format! I'm nothing without format!
    2.3. How 'bout them imprints? What's up with that?
    2.4. How do I archive my stories for posterity?
    2.5. What do copyright laws I pay taxes for do for me?

    3. Netiquette for RACC

    4. Glossary

    5. List of current imprints

    6. People to ask for help

    ------------------------------

    Subject: 1. Welcome to rec.arts.comics.creative!

    Welcome to rec.arts.comics.creative, the newsgroup which could have been
    named rec.prose.shared-universe but wasn't, the newsgroup which has, to
    date, produced well over 30MB of entirely free original fiction (and
    that's compressed!), the newsgroup which has nearly nothing to do with
    your favorite comic books at all!

    You're about to go insane. Don't worry, it's fun.

    rec.arts.comics.creative (henceforth RACC) is a moderated newsgroup for comics-related original fiction and discussion of same, originally created unmoderated by Martin Phipps and a cast of thousands (well, dozens at
    least) and later converted to moderated to keep out the spam. Don't
    worry, even though it's a moderated group, it's still friendly, chatty,
    and not at all formal, and we go out of our way to keep it that way.

    The first group of this sort on the Internet was the Superguy mailing
    list, which is still in operation to this day (you'll see posts from it on
    this group from time to time). Later, the Legion of Net.Heroes (LNH)
    sprung out of a free-form thread on rec.arts.comics and spawned another newsgroup (alt.comics.lnh). They were quickly followed by a wide variety
    of other comics-based shared universes, including the Patrol, the Net.Trenchcoat.Brigade, and Omega. All of these organizations, in
    parallel, gathered together authors in shared universes and strongly
    influenced the nature of RACC.

    First and foremost, RACC is a site for people to post comics-related
    fiction. Stories about long-underwear vigilantes, anthropomorphic
    animals, SF, westerns, even Kleen Teens if anyone is so moved. As long as
    it relates to comics it's okay. So whether you're a reader, a writer, or
    that fabled creature the critic, or even all three -- welcome to RACC:
    it's all the story, none of the art! (yet)

    ------------------------------

    Subject: 1.1. What is RACC for?

    For the official charter, see section 1.3. Here's the long, readable
    version.

    One term that you'll see a lot is "shared universe." This is a shared
    story background, co-created by multiple authors and used as the
    "universe" in which multiple different stories are set. This is a
    trademark characteristic of most comic books (seen in its clearest form in
    the ubiquitous crossover, a story written by multiple authors at once and involving multiple characters who all have their own stories), as well as appearing in some other published fiction (such as Wild Cards, or Larry
    Niven's Man-Kzin Wars). Most (but not all) of the stories posted here
    take place in one of the established shared universes (there's a list
    later on in this FAQ), to the point where this style of writing is nearly characteristic of the group.

    Another term you'll see is "comics-related." Nearly all of the authors
    writing here drew their original (if not primary) inspiration from comic
    books. As a result, nearly all of the stories are on-going (published a chapter at a time), divided up into "issues" and given numbers, and
    organized into "imprints." Many people also describe covers or design
    ASCII graphic logos.

    There is no restriction on types of fiction. (That'd kinda take the
    creative out of RACC, wouldn't it?) You'll see stories run the gamut from slapstick comedy to grim'n'gritty Real Life Supers (TM). As long as it's
    about comics, set your pen free. (You'll see a lot of superhero fiction,
    but that just means that those of us who like reading other things as well
    are anxiously awaiting your non-superhero stories.)

    RACC is also for discussion of stories, both specific ones and in general.
    The critic and reader is one of the most sought-after types of people
    around here; if you give us feedback on our stories, good or bad, we'll
    love you forever.

    Finally, if you want to announce your free web strip here, we welcome
    those posts too. If you're trying to sell it, though, please try rec.arts.comics.marketplace or rec.arts.comics.strips instead. (And rec.arts.comics.strips may be a better group in general, as RACC readers
    are mostly interested in text fiction.)

    ------------------------------

    Subject: 1.2. What isn't RACC for?

    A lot of things. We're not for wars of attrition, Third World starvation,
    45 mph speed limits, and brussel sprout toothpaste. Closer to home, RACC
    is not for any of the following:

    * Discussion of existing, "professional" books (except as they relate
    to our fiction)

    * Marketplace-type I-wanna-buy/I-wanna-sell postings

    * Flames and personality conflicts. Critiques, yes. Flames, no.

    * Fiction about established, trademarked characters and universes,
    unless you created them or have written permission.

    * Erotica, no matter how much spandex you put in. There are other
    groups for that.

    ------------------------------

    Subject: 1.3. What is the RACC official charter?

    This newsgroup welcomes any form of comics-related original fiction and discussion of the same, including but not limited to stories in the many established shared universes. Discussion of on-line fiction as a whole is
    also welcome provided that it is related to the stories on the newsgroup.
    If they choose to write in an existing shared universe, writers are
    strongly encouranged to follow the existing continuity and rules of that universe. "Comics-related" will be interpreted very broadly, as has been traditional on the newsgroup.

    Each posting to rec.arts.comics.creative should include a keyword on the subject line either designating which shared universe the posting refers
    to or marking the general subject of the post (ADMIN, META, MISC, etc.).
    If a submitted post does not have a keyword, the moderator will add an appropriate keyword, but posters are encouraged to add keywords themselves
    to save moderation work.

    Large binaries, such as artwork, will not be allowed on the newsgroup.
    Instead, binaries can be made available in the newsgroup archive (subject
    to the discretion of the archivist) and a pointer posted to the newsgroup. Pointers to Web pages are also welcome, provided the content of the page
    is related to the purpose of the group.

    Stories using copyrighted or trademarked characters are explicitly not
    within the charter of this group and may be rejected unless the author
    owns the copyrights and trademarks or has written permission from the
    owner. Networking posts (artists seeking writers or writers seeking
    artists) are inappropriate in this group and should be sent to appropriate mailing lists or other groups in the rec.arts.comics.* hierarchy (rec.arts.comics.misc if there is no other more appropriate group).

    ------------------------------

    Subject: 1.4. Where are the stories about Wolverine(tm)?

    This is very important, so I'm going to yell it. RACC IS NOT THE PLACE
    FOR FICTION ABOUT ESTABLISHED, TRADEMARKED CHARACTERS. This includes all Marvel, Image, DC, what-have-you characters. RACC's charter expressly
    FORBIDS such fiction.

    The reason for this is the ongoing legislative battles about intellectual property and the Net. rec.* groups are picked up worldwide, and sysadmins
    do not want to draw lawsuits because someone wrote a story that violated trademark laws. Note that fanfic stories may or may not be lawful and/or prosecutable, WE JUST DON'T KNOW. They're still writing the laws.

    To forestall any confusion or debates, and to protect sysadmins from inadvertently becoming the test case, this provision was adopted as a key requirement for RACC's creation. If you really must write about existing, trademarked characters, there is alt.comics.fan-fiction waiting to receive
    you. alt.* groups get picked up by sysadmins voluntarily, so they
    presumedly know what risks they're taking.

    Nothing will draw this group's ire faster than violating this requirement.

    ------------------------------

    Subject: 1.5. Where are the old stories?

    Thanks to the tireless efforts and bottomless disk space of Russ Allbery,
    all stories posted to rec.arts.comics.creative are archived! This means stories will be preserved for future generations of readers, providing a
    link to the past. It is difficult to over-praise this contribution.

    (Note: Lest you think I would be so crass as to praise myself, I want to
    make sure you know that Jeff wrote that last paragraph. 'course, I didn't delete it either.)

    Older stories are sorted by universe and series and are available at:

    <https://archives.eyrie.org/racc/>

    All of the stories are compressed using gzip, but most browsers can automatically decompress them for you. This archive unfortunately hasn't
    been updated recently, but it does have all of the older stories.

    Every message to rec.arts.comics.creative, story or not, is archived at:

    <https://lists.eyrie.org/pipermail/racc/>

    in the form of a more traditional mailing list archive, so you can also
    look there if a story hasn't been saved in the story archive. This is the
    best way to find anything posted in the last few years. You can search
    the archive by prepending "site:lists.eyrie.org" to a regular Google
    search.

    Please note that stories will be removed from both the list archive and
    the story archive at the author's request if the author wants to take them down. This has happened in the past, sometimes because the author wanted
    to sell the stories to a professional venue.

    ------------------------------

    Subject: 1.6. How can I read RACC via e-mail?

    Everything that shows up in RACC also shows up in its associated mailing
    list (and vice versa), so if you want to be sure not to miss anything, or
    if you just prefer e-mail to Usenet, you can subscribe to that mailing
    list.

    To do that, go to:

    <https://lists.eyrie.org/mailman/listinfo/racc>

    and fill out the form to subscribe. Alternately, you can subscribe via
    e-mail by sending mail to racc-request@lists.eyrie.org with the word:

    subscribe

    in the subject of the message. You then can read and reply to posts just
    as if the newsgroup were a mailing list. It's all the same to us.

    ------------------------------

    Subject: 2. Writing for RACC (How do I get involved?)

    Write a story. Post it. You're involved.

    This assumes you want to create your own universe to write in. If you
    want to join a pre-existing shared universe, it's a little more involved.

    Many of the imprints have FAQs of their own (OMEGA, Superguy, LNH,
    Crossroads to name a few). These get posted periodically. The first
    thing you should do is read these documents to get a feel for what these specific universes are like.

    The next thing you should do is _read_ the universe in question. This
    includes tapping the archives for back issues. No one would suggest you
    read the entire Superguy or LNH archives before writing, but definitely
    try to sample a large cross-section.

    Lastly, email some of the creators you see writing under a specific
    imprint. They will be able to tell you if your concept fits with their universe or not, and perhaps refer you to a more appropriate universe if necessary.

    THEN write a story and post it.

    ------------------------------

    Subject: 2.1. Cool! Okay, how do I post?

    RACC is a moderated newsgroup, which means that every post goes to the moderators first. If your site correctly has the group marked as
    moderated, you should be able to post just like you post to any other
    group and your news server will take care of the rest. If you have a Unix shell account, you can check if the group is correctly marked as moderated
    by typing:

    nntplist active | grep rec.arts.comics.creative

    If the last character on the resulting line is an "m," congratulations,
    you have a good news administrator. If it's a "y," send mail to your
    local computing support people and ask them to convert the group to
    moderated like it should be.

    If you don't have a Unix shell account, some newsreaders will also tell
    you if the group is moderated.

    If, for any reason, you have trouble posting or your site *doesn't* have
    the group marked as moderated, you can mail your post to racc@eyrie.org
    instead and it will be posted for you.

    Because the group is moderated, it can be up to a day after you post
    before your article is actually posted, and it can take a few more days
    for the article to propagate back to you. So don't be surprised if it
    doesn't show up right away.

    Many readers of rec.arts.comics.creative use Google Groups to read and
    post. While this works, and I know it's convenient, Google Groups also
    deletes anything enclosed in square brackets ([]) at the beginning of
    Subject lines in replies. If you use Google Groups, please try to
    remember to put back the imprint tags when you reply to posts; otherwise,
    I have to add them as the moderator.

    ------------------------------

    Subject: 2.2. Format! I'm nothing without format!

    Formatting is pretty loose. Since this is a comics newsgroup, you will
    hear people refer to their stories as "issues." Postings tend to run in numerical order just like comic books, and many people write continuing
    series. For example there are 25 "issues" in Drizzt's _Continuity Champ
    and the Drizzt's Defenders_ series.

    Stories don't have to be series though. One-shots, mini-series,
    maxi-series, crossovers -- all of these have been done before and will be
    done again.

    The subjects of postings should follow the convention of naming the
    imprint the title and the number. For example:

    LNH: System Corruptors #15, The Bard's Tale
    imprint --^ ^ ^ ^
    title --------------| | |
    number -------------------------| |
    subtitle/comment/etc [optional] -------|

    Since the archive mechanism relies heavily on this format (not to mention
    the format-accustomed eyes of this group's readers), please follow this strictly, including the use of the #-sign. Subtitles, alternate titles,
    and title comments should follow the number if they are used at all. If
    you want to, you can use [TAG] instead of TAG: at the beginning of the
    subject; it's all the same to the archiver. (TAG: causes a few fewer
    problems than [TAG] with Google Groups.)

    Occasionally, instead of (or in addition to) a number you will see "TEB."
    This stands for "Trade EtherBack." It means the posting is actually a collection of previously posted issues -- usually cleaned up and relating
    to a single story arc.

    Inside your story do what you will. Some folks run fake ads, others use
    cheesy ASCII graphics, some just use text. A word of advice: On
    older/more primitive newsreaders your text is MUCH easier to read if you
    space between paragraphs. On the other hand, some newer newsreader
    readers find the spaces jarring. The moral? You can't please all the
    people all the time. In general spaces seem to be more preferred.

    ------------------------------

    Subject: 2.3. How 'bout them imprints? What's up with that?

    In order to accommodate a near-infinite number of different potential universes, RACC has adopted the reasonable convention of flagging fiction.
    This allows uninterested parties to skip some genres, and others to
    quickly find their niches of interest. The flag goes before the title of
    story issues, related FAQs or universe-specific discussions. Many flags
    refer to existing shared-universes. New ones will come up all the time.
    For the current list, see section 5 of this FAQ.

    Once you pick an imprint name, stick with it. The Archive and your legion
    of new fans will both be happier if you don't make marketing name changes.

    Regardless of flags all SEXUALLY EXPLICIT or PROFANITY-RICH stories should
    have huge warning labels at the beginning of text. Last thing we need is
    a Florida DA bringing us all up on charges. ;] Besides, it's only common courtesy. Note that if a story could reasonably be posted on
    alt.sex.stories, you've probably strayed a bit far from this group's
    interests.

    Some sort of flag, either an imprint name or a more general tag, is
    required on all posts and one will be added by the moderator if you don't provide one. Leaving one off requires the moderator to edit your post,
    though, which takes time and means your post will be delayed. So please
    save them the trouble and remember to add the tag yourself.

    ------------------------------

    Subject: 2.4. How do I archive my stories for posterity?

    Good news! It's already being done for you! (Or at least it will be if
    Russ ever catches up with the archiving.)

    In theory, every story posted to rec.arts.comics.creative is archived at <https://archives.eyrie.org/racc/>. Most imprints have their own
    directories, with the stories stored in directories under that (depending
    on the size of the imprint, the directories could be very structured or
    just one directory for each series). Some imprints may be collected in
    the misc directory.

    Unfortunately, this archive is substantially out of date. Russ hopes to eventually find time to update it.

    The exception is Superguy, which has its own archiving mechanism. The
    Superguy archives are at <https://archives.eyrie.org/superguy/>, but one
    of the best ways to access them is through the Autocollector at:

    <https://archives.eyrie.org/cgi-bin/superguy>

    ------------------------------

    Subject: 2.5. What do Copyright laws I pay taxes for do for me?

    I don't even play a lawyer on TV, but there are some things you should
    know about Copyright laws.

    Anything you write is copyrighted immediately, whether you flag it with a copyright notice or not. Furthermore, the copyright protection is international under the Berne Copyright Convention, which has been signed
    by nearly every country with access to Usenet.

    If you label your text as copyrighted, it preempts a possible
    "unintentional infringement" defense from plagarizers. The copyright
    notice is considered legal notice that you intend to retain your rights.
    The legal format for such a notice requires three things: Your name, the
    year, and one or more of the following: "Copyright," "Copr.," and/or the c-in-circle symbol. Note that there is no firm legal precedence for (C)
    or (c) as having any special copyright meaning. Example notice:

    Copyright 1994 Jeff J McCoskey

    The only way to get full legal protection (at least in the United States)
    is to register your work with the government (forms are free, filing fees apply). This *guarantees* an archived, dated copy should future legal
    action be necessary. Other forms of dating, like mailing yourself a copy
    or archiving (to get a date stamp), are of dubious and unproven legal
    value.

    An excellent resource for Copyright information is misc.legal, where a FAQ
    is posted monthly.

    Another excellent resource is the U.S. Copyright Office home page at:

    <https://www.copyright.gov/>

    ------------------------------

    Subject: 3. Netiquette for RACC

    As a rule of thumb, everything you've heard elsewhere about good
    netiquette applies here. We hate spammers (more in a minute), expect
    smilies when joking (except in stories of course), and in general expect
    you to conduct yourselves as good net.citizens. There are three things
    you need to know after you've mastered Basic Netiquette:

    1. The only times flames are accepted on RACC are when they are both
    morally defensible and amusing. Flames are not welcome if they do not
    meet the above criteria. Here on RACC there is one organization that
    acts as moral compass for acceptable flames: the Order of St. Doomas.

    The Order has defined one activity that is worthy of flame: spamming.
    One member of the Order (usually the first to his/her keyboard) will
    have the honors. Repetitive flaming by multiple members is frowned
    upon by the Order.

    To join this righteous crusade, all you need do is select a
    net.persona and flame. Incorrect flaming (i.e. at non-sanctioned
    targets, or with unamusing effect) will result in ostracization and
    excommunication. Watch the Order in action before joining and all
    will be clear.

    Now that the group has been moderated, most opportunities for flames
    are gone. But watch carefully; new ones may arise.

    2. Reviews of stories (even negative ones) are one of the most
    sought-after commodities on RACC. You will instantly win friends and
    influence people if you post reviews. But especially in the case of
    negative reviews, ensure you confine your review to the story and not
    the writer. Keep in mind as you write "that SUCKS" that someone
    worked long and hard on the text. They might want to know what worked
    and what didn't in their narrative but it's doubtful they want to hear
    how clever you can be in ripping them up.

    It's certain the rest of us don't.

    3. One of the best features of a shared universe is the opportunity to
    have your characters interact with others in that universe. This is
    a privilege, not a right. All characters on RACC (and their
    distinctive text-likenesses) are the full and exclusive property of
    their creators. This is not as dogmatic as it sounds, and we're all
    adults (or pretending to be). Cameos (non-speaking/non-plot affecting
    roles) do not typically require permission unless the creator desires
    it. Speaking roles should be previewed through email and approved by
    the creator before being posted.

    ------------------------------

    Subject: 4. Glossary

    These are terms you will see come up on RACC that have special meaning
    here. (For general net.terms and abbreviations, see the META RAC FAQ.)

    Acraphobe RACC's version of adult warning label. Yes, with an "a."
    Don't ask.

    Arc A multi-issue storyline.

    Archive ftp.eyrie.org, where nearly ALL the back issues live.

    Crossover A storyline that involves several titles and/or authors. Also
    the bane of all mankind.

    Elsewhirls An imaginary story. (Yeah yeah, we know they're ALL
    imaginary. How about "out-of-continuity"?)

    Fanfiction Fiction about established, trademarked universes and
    or fanfic characters that the author did not create -- in short, the
    sort of stories RACC *wasn't* designed for. There's a good
    list of newsgroups at the end of this FAQ that should help in
    finding a better group if this is what you want to write.

    Imprint The shared universe your story takes place in or subject your
    posting relates to (we have many to chose from). This is
    usually an all-caps prefix on the title of the posting.

    LNH The Legion of Net.Heroes. The immediate father of this group
    and the oldest of the Usenet-based writing universes (see
    Superguy).

    RAC* The rec.arts.comics.* hierarchy of newsgroups.

    RACC rec.arts.comics.creative. You're soaking in it!

    rACCIES The annual RACC fanfiction awards, as voted on by the readers
    or RACCies of this newsgroup.

    Repost Story has been posted before, natch.

    Superguy A mailing list that predates all other Internet comics-fiction
    forums. There is a good-natured rivalry between the LNH and
    this group.

    TEB Trade EtherBack. This is a collection of previously posted
    material, usually cleaned up and relating to a single story
    arc.

    Title A numerically increasing, continuing series. Usually
    involving one character, cast, city, or unifying concept.

    ------------------------------

    Subject: 5. List of Current Tags

    When choosing a tag to put at the beginning of your post, this list should
    be a canonical reference. If you see a need for a new tag, send mail to
    the FAQ maintainer so that it can be added.

    First, the general tags:

    ADMIN Administrative matters affecting everyone on RACC.

    FAQ FAQs of note for the entire RAC* hierarchy. These will tend
    to be crossposted here.

    META Discussion about the newsgroup itself. This includes
    or CHAT everything from general discussion of on-line fiction and RACC
    in particular to recommendations on how long posts should be.

    PRECOG Announcements of upcoming series, planned stories, and the
    or PROMO like.

    WWW Announcement of a web page related to RACC or a free strip.

    Now, all of the writing imprints. Note that new ones of these pop up all
    the time. Entries marked with (*) are in danger of being retired due to
    lack of activity. If you have any changes, please mail eagle@eyrie.org.

    8FOLD A closed universe that encompasses serious superheroes, comedy,
    memoir, and just about anything else: high-quality fiction of
    any stripe is welcome.

    ACRAPHOBE Mature stories that may or may not fit into other universes'
    or ACRA continuity. Using this flag in conjunction with another is
    not unheard of. (For example, Scav's _501 Blues_ is
    LNH/ACRAPHOBE.) Think a meta-Vertigo.

    ASH Academy of Super-Heroes. Dave Van Domelen's RPG-based future-
    history stories. See <https://www.eyrie.org/~dvandom/ASH>.

    ELSEWHIRLS LNH stories that do not fit into LNH continuity. Think DC's
    or EW Elseworlds.

    HCC The High Concept Challenge, a continuous series of writing
    contests. Each round, the winner, chosen by reader vote, gets
    to pick the next round's concept.

    LNH Legion of Net.Heroes, "The Friendliest Shared Universe
    Going!(TM)" A mostly parody universe, though it does have its
    serious side.

    LNH20 On the LNH's 20th anniversary, a group of writers took it upon
    themselves to create a new world, based in everything they
    loved about the LNH, in the best spirit of comic book reboots!
    LNH20 is just as friendly as the original, but easier to get
    into! Hop right in, the adventure's fine!

    LNHY An Imprint involving an alternate LNH universe called
    Looniverse Y. The big difference between this and the Classic
    LNH is that writers are allowed to have only one character of
    theirs in this Looniverse's LNH.

    RACCCafe A continuity-free outpust where RACC characters can unwind
    after a hard day of being mangled by their writers. Anything
    can happen, as long as it's funny, and there are no
    consequences!

    SG Superguy. From Space Moose to the Bomb. Comedy superhero
    writing with a far different background than LNH. Note that
    only a small slice of Superguy stuff appears here; to see the
    rest, go to <https://lists.eyrie.org/mailman/listinfo/superguy>.

    STARFALL Lightly serious and seriously light superheroics, and better
    because of it. ;)

    NTB Net.Trenchcoat.Brigade. A bunch of Vertigo-like characters
    that own stock in London Fog. Not tremendously active, but
    they do have a considerable history. Implied Acraphobe.

    OMEGA A serious psi-based shared super-world and once upon a time
    RACC's third largest universe, now inactive. Created by the
    legendary Matt Rossi.

    OSD The Order of Saint Doomas. Items relating to RACC's anti-spam
    cult. (See Section 3 above.) No posts have been seen from
    this imprint in quite some time, but that doesn't mean they're
    gone....

    SW10 SW stands for Superhuman World. 10 is an annual tag. The
    comic has proceeded to 2011, but the tag has frozen at 2010
    because that's when the series really interacted with RACC.
    Scott Eiler has written the story of this universe since
    before 1991, but 1991 is when the modern heroes of this series
    start. His sources include adolescent male power fantasy,
    superhero role-playing, comic-book satire, and dreams. See
    <http://www.eilertech.com/stories/>.

    MISC Stories not in the above categories or in their own universes
    (authors are encouraged to make up their own headers as well).
    To limit the number of imprints, and to keep this FAQ to
    reasonable lengths, let's adopt this convention: One-shot
    stories or series should use the MISC flag. Series that set
    up shared universes should create their own, new imprint.

    ------------------------------

    Subject: 6. People to Ask for Help

    The major header contacts are listed below, who will be glad to answer
    email question. Also keep your eyes peeled for FAQs specific to
    particular imprints. The FAQs are also often in the archive in a
    directory named "FAQs" under the imprint directory.

    Imprint Contact Email
    ------------ -------------------- ---------------------------------
    8FOLD Jamie Rosen jamie.rosen@sunlife.com
    8FOLD Tom Russell joltcity@gmail.com
    + ASH Dave Van Domelen dvandom@eyrie.org
    + LNH Andrew Perron pwerdna@gmail.com
    LNH20 Andrew Perron pwerdna@gmail.com
    + LNHY Arthur Spitzer arspitzer@earthlink.net
    + NTB Arthur Spitzer arspitzer@earthlink.net
    + RACChallenge Sean MacDonald mcdonald@vorteb.math.uab.edu
    + StarFall Ted Brock phantom_belcher@yahoo.com
    + Superguy Eric Burns eaburns@annotations.com
    SW10 Scott Eiler seiler@eilertech.com

    The Archive Russ Allbery eagle@eyrie.org
    Moderation RACC Moderation Team racc-request@eyrie.org

    + indicates separate FAQs are available for these imprints.

    If you need to contact the moderator directly, the contact information is:

    Russ Allbery <eagle@eyrie.org>

    If none of the above people help, or your questions are too general or specific, just email anyone you see posting here that seems to know what they're doing. (WARNING: This is rarely the case.)

    --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
    * Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)
  • From Russ Allbery@21:1/5 to All on Wed Feb 1 08:01:03 2023
    Last-modified: 2018-07-16
    Posted-by: postfaq 1.17 (Perl 5.28.1)
    Archive-name: comics/creative/faq
    URL: https://www.eyrie.org/~eagle/faqs/racc.html
    Posting-frequency: monthly

    ==========================================================================
    rec.arts.comics.creative Frequently Asked Questions
    Maintained by Russ Allbery <eagle@eyrie.org>
    Original by Jeff McCoskey ==========================================================================

    If you're reading this on Usenet, this FAQ is formatted as a minimal
    digest. If your newsreader has digest handling capabilities you can use
    them to navigate between sections. In rn variants, you can use Ctrl-G to
    skip to the next section; in Gnus, press Ctrl-D to break each section into
    a separate article. For other newsreaders, see the documentation.

    The latest version of this FAQ is available on the web at:

    <https://www.eyrie.org/~eagle/faqs/racc.html>

    Please send any comments, suggestions, or updates to eagle@eyrie.org.

    ------------------------------

    Subject: Contents

    1. Welcome to rec.arts.comics.creative!
    1.1. What is RACC for?
    1.2. What isn't RACC for?
    1.3. What is the RACC official charter?
    1.4. Where are the stories about Wolverine(tm)?
    1.5. Where are the old stories?
    1.6. How can I read RACC via e-mail?

    2. Writing for RACC (How do I get involved?)
    2.1. Cool! Okay, how do I post?
    2.2. Format! I'm nothing without format!
    2.3. How 'bout them imprints? What's up with that?
    2.4. How do I archive my stories for posterity?
    2.5. What do copyright laws I pay taxes for do for me?

    3. Netiquette for RACC

    4. Glossary

    5. List of current imprints

    6. People to ask for help

    ------------------------------

    Subject: 1. Welcome to rec.arts.comics.creative!

    Welcome to rec.arts.comics.creative, the newsgroup which could have been
    named rec.prose.shared-universe but wasn't, the newsgroup which has, to
    date, produced well over 30MB of entirely free original fiction (and
    that's compressed!), the newsgroup which has nearly nothing to do with
    your favorite comic books at all!

    You're about to go insane. Don't worry, it's fun.

    rec.arts.comics.creative (henceforth RACC) is a moderated newsgroup for comics-related original fiction and discussion of same, originally created unmoderated by Martin Phipps and a cast of thousands (well, dozens at
    least) and later converted to moderated to keep out the spam. Don't
    worry, even though it's a moderated group, it's still friendly, chatty,
    and not at all formal, and we go out of our way to keep it that way.

    The first group of this sort on the Internet was the Superguy mailing
    list, which is still in operation to this day (you'll see posts from it on
    this group from time to time). Later, the Legion of Net.Heroes (LNH)
    sprung out of a free-form thread on rec.arts.comics and spawned another newsgroup (alt.comics.lnh). They were quickly followed by a wide variety
    of other comics-based shared universes, including the Patrol, the Net.Trenchcoat.Brigade, and Omega. All of these organizations, in
    parallel, gathered together authors in shared universes and strongly
    influenced the nature of RACC.

    First and foremost, RACC is a site for people to post comics-related
    fiction. Stories about long-underwear vigilantes, anthropomorphic
    animals, SF, westerns, even Kleen Teens if anyone is so moved. As long as
    it relates to comics it's okay. So whether you're a reader, a writer, or
    that fabled creature the critic, or even all three -- welcome to RACC:
    it's all the story, none of the art! (yet)

    ------------------------------

    Subject: 1.1. What is RACC for?

    For the official charter, see section 1.3. Here's the long, readable
    version.

    One term that you'll see a lot is "shared universe." This is a shared
    story background, co-created by multiple authors and used as the
    "universe" in which multiple different stories are set. This is a
    trademark characteristic of most comic books (seen in its clearest form in
    the ubiquitous crossover, a story written by multiple authors at once and involving multiple characters who all have their own stories), as well as appearing in some other published fiction (such as Wild Cards, or Larry
    Niven's Man-Kzin Wars). Most (but not all) of the stories posted here
    take place in one of the established shared universes (there's a list
    later on in this FAQ), to the point where this style of writing is nearly characteristic of the group.

    Another term you'll see is "comics-related." Nearly all of the authors
    writing here drew their original (if not primary) inspiration from comic
    books. As a result, nearly all of the stories are on-going (published a chapter at a time), divided up into "issues" and given numbers, and
    organized into "imprints." Many people also describe covers or design
    ASCII graphic logos.

    There is no restriction on types of fiction. (That'd kinda take the
    creative out of RACC, wouldn't it?) You'll see stories run the gamut from slapstick comedy to grim'n'gritty Real Life Supers (TM). As long as it's
    about comics, set your pen free. (You'll see a lot of superhero fiction,
    but that just means that those of us who like reading other things as well
    are anxiously awaiting your non-superhero stories.)

    RACC is also for discussion of stories, both specific ones and in general.
    The critic and reader is one of the most sought-after types of people
    around here; if you give us feedback on our stories, good or bad, we'll
    love you forever.

    Finally, if you want to announce your free web strip here, we welcome
    those posts too. If you're trying to sell it, though, please try rec.arts.comics.marketplace or rec.arts.comics.strips instead. (And rec.arts.comics.strips may be a better group in general, as RACC readers
    are mostly interested in text fiction.)

    ------------------------------

    Subject: 1.2. What isn't RACC for?

    A lot of things. We're not for wars of attrition, Third World starvation,
    45 mph speed limits, and brussel sprout toothpaste. Closer to home, RACC
    is not for any of the following:

    * Discussion of existing, "professional" books (except as they relate
    to our fiction)

    * Marketplace-type I-wanna-buy/I-wanna-sell postings

    * Flames and personality conflicts. Critiques, yes. Flames, no.

    * Fiction about established, trademarked characters and universes,
    unless you created them or have written permission.

    * Erotica, no matter how much spandex you put in. There are other
    groups for that.

    ------------------------------

    Subject: 1.3. What is the RACC official charter?

    This newsgroup welcomes any form of comics-related original fiction and discussion of the same, including but not limited to stories in the many established shared universes. Discussion of on-line fiction as a whole is
    also welcome provided that it is related to the stories on the newsgroup.
    If they choose to write in an existing shared universe, writers are
    strongly encouranged to follow the existing continuity and rules of that universe. "Comics-related" will be interpreted very broadly, as has been traditional on the newsgroup.

    Each posting to rec.arts.comics.creative should include a keyword on the subject line either designating which shared universe the posting refers
    to or marking the general subject of the post (ADMIN, META, MISC, etc.).
    If a submitted post does not have a keyword, the moderator will add an appropriate keyword, but posters are encouraged to add keywords themselves
    to save moderation work.

    Large binaries, such as artwork, will not be allowed on the newsgroup.
    Instead, binaries can be made available in the newsgroup archive (subject
    to the discretion of the archivist) and a pointer posted to the newsgroup. Pointers to Web pages are also welcome, provided the content of the page
    is related to the purpose of the group.

    Stories using copyrighted or trademarked characters are explicitly not
    within the charter of this group and may be rejected unless the author
    owns the copyrights and trademarks or has written permission from the
    owner. Networking posts (artists seeking writers or writers seeking
    artists) are inappropriate in this group and should be sent to appropriate mailing lists or other groups in the rec.arts.comics.* hierarchy (rec.arts.comics.misc if there is no other more appropriate group).

    ------------------------------

    Subject: 1.4. Where are the stories about Wolverine(tm)?

    This is very important, so I'm going to yell it. RACC IS NOT THE PLACE
    FOR FICTION ABOUT ESTABLISHED, TRADEMARKED CHARACTERS. This includes all Marvel, Image, DC, what-have-you characters. RACC's charter expressly
    FORBIDS such fiction.

    The reason for this is the ongoing legislative battles about intellectual property and the Net. rec.* groups are picked up worldwide, and sysadmins
    do not want to draw lawsuits because someone wrote a story that violated trademark laws. Note that fanfic stories may or may not be lawful and/or prosecutable, WE JUST DON'T KNOW. They're still writing the laws.

    To forestall any confusion or debates, and to protect sysadmins from inadvertently becoming the test case, this provision was adopted as a key requirement for RACC's creation. If you really must write about existing, trademarked characters, there is alt.comics.fan-fiction waiting to receive
    you. alt.* groups get picked up by sysadmins voluntarily, so they
    presumedly know what risks they're taking.

    Nothing will draw this group's ire faster than violating this requirement.

    ------------------------------

    Subject: 1.5. Where are the old stories?

    Thanks to the tireless efforts and bottomless disk space of Russ Allbery,
    all stories posted to rec.arts.comics.creative are archived! This means stories will be preserved for future generations of readers, providing a
    link to the past. It is difficult to over-praise this contribution.

    (Note: Lest you think I would be so crass as to praise myself, I want to
    make sure you know that Jeff wrote that last paragraph. 'course, I didn't delete it either.)

    Older stories are sorted by universe and series and are available at:

    <https://archives.eyrie.org/racc/>

    All of the stories are compressed using gzip, but most browsers can automatically decompress them for you. This archive unfortunately hasn't
    been updated recently, but it does have all of the older stories.

    Every message to rec.arts.comics.creative, story or not, is archived at:

    <https://lists.eyrie.org/pipermail/racc/>

    in the form of a more traditional mailing list archive, so you can also
    look there if a story hasn't been saved in the story archive. This is the
    best way to find anything posted in the last few years. You can search
    the archive by prepending "site:lists.eyrie.org" to a regular Google
    search.

    Please note that stories will be removed from both the list archive and
    the story archive at the author's request if the author wants to take them down. This has happened in the past, sometimes because the author wanted
    to sell the stories to a professional venue.

    ------------------------------

    Subject: 1.6. How can I read RACC via e-mail?

    Everything that shows up in RACC also shows up in its associated mailing
    list (and vice versa), so if you want to be sure not to miss anything, or
    if you just prefer e-mail to Usenet, you can subscribe to that mailing
    list.

    To do that, go to:

    <https://lists.eyrie.org/mailman/listinfo/racc>

    and fill out the form to subscribe. Alternately, you can subscribe via
    e-mail by sending mail to racc-request@lists.eyrie.org with the word:

    subscribe

    in the subject of the message. You then can read and reply to posts just
    as if the newsgroup were a mailing list. It's all the same to us.

    ------------------------------

    Subject: 2. Writing for RACC (How do I get involved?)

    Write a story. Post it. You're involved.

    This assumes you want to create your own universe to write in. If you
    want to join a pre-existing shared universe, it's a little more involved.

    Many of the imprints have FAQs of their own (OMEGA, Superguy, LNH,
    Crossroads to name a few). These get posted periodically. The first
    thing you should do is read these documents to get a feel for what these specific universes are like.

    The next thing you should do is _read_ the universe in question. This
    includes tapping the archives for back issues. No one would suggest you
    read the entire Superguy or LNH archives before writing, but definitely
    try to sample a large cross-section.

    Lastly, email some of the creators you see writing under a specific
    imprint. They will be able to tell you if your concept fits with their universe or not, and perhaps refer you to a more appropriate universe if necessary.

    THEN write a story and post it.

    ------------------------------

    Subject: 2.1. Cool! Okay, how do I post?

    RACC is a moderated newsgroup, which means that every post goes to the moderators first. If your site correctly has the group marked as
    moderated, you should be able to post just like you post to any other
    group and your news server will take care of the rest. If you have a Unix shell account, you can check if the group is correctly marked as moderated
    by typing:

    nntplist active | grep rec.arts.comics.creative

    If the last character on the resulting line is an "m," congratulations,
    you have a good news administrator. If it's a "y," send mail to your
    local computing support people and ask them to convert the group to
    moderated like it should be.

    If you don't have a Unix shell account, some newsreaders will also tell
    you if the group is moderated.

    If, for any reason, you have trouble posting or your site *doesn't* have
    the group marked as moderated, you can mail your post to racc@eyrie.org
    instead and it will be posted for you.

    Because the group is moderated, it can be up to a day after you post
    before your article is actually posted, and it can take a few more days
    for the article to propagate back to you. So don't be surprised if it
    doesn't show up right away.

    Many readers of rec.arts.comics.creative use Google Groups to read and
    post. While this works, and I know it's convenient, Google Groups also
    deletes anything enclosed in square brackets ([]) at the beginning of
    Subject lines in replies. If you use Google Groups, please try to
    remember to put back the imprint tags when you reply to posts; otherwise,
    I have to add them as the moderator.

    ------------------------------

    Subject: 2.2. Format! I'm nothing without format!

    Formatting is pretty loose. Since this is a comics newsgroup, you will
    hear people refer to their stories as "issues." Postings tend to run in numerical order just like comic books, and many people write continuing
    series. For example there are 25 "issues" in Drizzt's _Continuity Champ
    and the Drizzt's Defenders_ series.

    Stories don't have to be series though. One-shots, mini-series,
    maxi-series, crossovers -- all of these have been done before and will be
    done again.

    The subjects of postings should follow the convention of naming the
    imprint the title and the number. For example:

    LNH: System Corruptors #15, The Bard's Tale
    imprint --^ ^ ^ ^
    title --------------| | |
    number -------------------------| |
    subtitle/comment/etc [optional] -------|

    Since the archive mechanism relies heavily on this format (not to mention
    the format-accustomed eyes of this group's readers), please follow this strictly, including the use of the #-sign. Subtitles, alternate titles,
    and title comments should follow the number if they are used at all. If
    you want to, you can use [TAG] instead of TAG: at the beginning of the
    subject; it's all the same to the archiver. (TAG: causes a few fewer
    problems than [TAG] with Google Groups.)

    Occasionally, instead of (or in addition to) a number you will see "TEB."
    This stands for "Trade EtherBack." It means the posting is actually a collection of previously posted issues -- usually cleaned up and relating
    to a single story arc.

    Inside your story do what you will. Some folks run fake ads, others use
    cheesy ASCII graphics, some just use text. A word of advice: On
    older/more primitive newsreaders your text is MUCH easier to read if you
    space between paragraphs. On the other hand, some newer newsreader
    readers find the spaces jarring. The moral? You can't please all the
    people all the time. In general spaces seem to be more preferred.

    ------------------------------

    Subject: 2.3. How 'bout them imprints? What's up with that?

    In order to accommodate a near-infinite number of different potential universes, RACC has adopted the reasonable convention of flagging fiction.
    This allows uninterested parties to skip some genres, and others to
    quickly find their niches of interest. The flag goes before the title of
    story issues, related FAQs or universe-specific discussions. Many flags
    refer to existing shared-universes. New ones will come up all the time.
    For the current list, see section 5 of this FAQ.

    Once you pick an imprint name, stick with it. The Archive and your legion
    of new fans will both be happier if you don't make marketing name changes.

    Regardless of flags all SEXUALLY EXPLICIT or PROFANITY-RICH stories should
    have huge warning labels at the beginning of text. Last thing we need is
    a Florida DA bringing us all up on charges. ;] Besides, it's only common courtesy. Note that if a story could reasonably be posted on
    alt.sex.stories, you've probably strayed a bit far from this group's
    interests.

    Some sort of flag, either an imprint name or a more general tag, is
    required on all posts and one will be added by the moderator if you don't provide one. Leaving one off requires the moderator to edit your post,
    though, which takes time and means your post will be delayed. So please
    save them the trouble and remember to add the tag yourself.

    ------------------------------

    Subject: 2.4. How do I archive my stories for posterity?

    Good news! It's already being done for you! (Or at least it will be if
    Russ ever catches up with the archiving.)

    In theory, every story posted to rec.arts.comics.creative is archived at <https://archives.eyrie.org/racc/>. Most imprints have their own
    directories, with the stories stored in directories under that (depending
    on the size of the imprint, the directories could be very structured or
    just one directory for each series). Some imprints may be collected in
    the misc directory.

    Unfortunately, this archive is substantially out of date. Russ hopes to eventually find time to update it.

    The exception is Superguy, which has its own archiving mechanism. The
    Superguy archives are at <https://archives.eyrie.org/superguy/>, but one
    of the best ways to access them is through the Autocollector at:

    <https://archives.eyrie.org/cgi-bin/superguy>

    ------------------------------

    Subject: 2.5. What do Copyright laws I pay taxes for do for me?

    I don't even play a lawyer on TV, but there are some things you should
    know about Copyright laws.

    Anything you write is copyrighted immediately, whether you flag it with a copyright notice or not. Furthermore, the copyright protection is international under the Berne Copyright Convention, which has been signed
    by nearly every country with access to Usenet.

    If you label your text as copyrighted, it preempts a possible
    "unintentional infringement" defense from plagarizers. The copyright
    notice is considered legal notice that you intend to retain your rights.
    The legal format for such a notice requires three things: Your name, the
    year, and one or more of the following: "Copyright," "Copr.," and/or the c-in-circle symbol. Note that there is no firm legal precedence for (C)
    or (c) as having any special copyright meaning. Example notice:

    Copyright 1994 Jeff J McCoskey

    The only way to get full legal protection (at least in the United States)
    is to register your work with the government (forms are free, filing fees apply). This *guarantees* an archived, dated copy should future legal
    action be necessary. Other forms of dating, like mailing yourself a copy
    or archiving (to get a date stamp), are of dubious and unproven legal
    value.

    An excellent resource for Copyright information is misc.legal, where a FAQ
    is posted monthly.

    Another excellent resource is the U.S. Copyright Office home page at:

    <https://www.copyright.gov/>

    ------------------------------

    Subject: 3. Netiquette for RACC

    As a rule of thumb, everything you've heard elsewhere about good
    netiquette applies here. We hate spammers (more in a minute), expect
    smilies when joking (except in stories of course), and in general expect
    you to conduct yourselves as good net.citizens. There are three things
    you need to know after you've mastered Basic Netiquette:

    1. The only times flames are accepted on RACC are when they are both
    morally defensible and amusing. Flames are not welcome if they do not
    meet the above criteria. Here on RACC there is one organization that
    acts as moral compass for acceptable flames: the Order of St. Doomas.

    The Order has defined one activity that is worthy of flame: spamming.
    One member of the Order (usually the first to his/her keyboard) will
    have the honors. Repetitive flaming by multiple members is frowned
    upon by the Order.

    To join this righteous crusade, all you need do is select a
    net.persona and flame. Incorrect flaming (i.e. at non-sanctioned
    targets, or with unamusing effect) will result in ostracization and
    excommunication. Watch the Order in action before joining and all
    will be clear.

    Now that the group has been moderated, most opportunities for flames
    are gone. But watch carefully; new ones may arise.

    2. Reviews of stories (even negative ones) are one of the most
    sought-after commodities on RACC. You will instantly win friends and
    influence people if you post reviews. But especially in the case of
    negative reviews, ensure you confine your review to the story and not
    the writer. Keep in mind as you write "that SUCKS" that someone
    worked long and hard on the text. They might want to know what worked
    and what didn't in their narrative but it's doubtful they want to hear
    how clever you can be in ripping them up.

    It's certain the rest of us don't.

    3. One of the best features of a shared universe is the opportunity to
    have your characters interact with others in that universe. This is
    a privilege, not a right. All characters on RACC (and their
    distinctive text-likenesses) are the full and exclusive property of
    their creators. This is not as dogmatic as it sounds, and we're all
    adults (or pretending to be). Cameos (non-speaking/non-plot affecting
    roles) do not typically require permission unless the creator desires
    it. Speaking roles should be previewed through email and approved by
    the creator before being posted.

    ------------------------------

    Subject: 4. Glossary

    These are terms you will see come up on RACC that have special meaning
    here. (For general net.terms and abbreviations, see the META RAC FAQ.)

    Acraphobe RACC's version of adult warning label. Yes, with an "a."
    Don't ask.

    Arc A multi-issue storyline.

    Archive ftp.eyrie.org, where nearly ALL the back issues live.

    Crossover A storyline that involves several titles and/or authors. Also
    the bane of all mankind.

    Elsewhirls An imaginary story. (Yeah yeah, we know they're ALL
    imaginary. How about "out-of-continuity"?)

    Fanfiction Fiction about established, trademarked universes and
    or fanfic characters that the author did not create -- in short, the
    sort of stories RACC *wasn't* designed for. There's a good
    list of newsgroups at the end of this FAQ that should help in
    finding a better group if this is what you want to write.

    Imprint The shared universe your story takes place in or subject your
    posting relates to (we have many to chose from). This is
    usually an all-caps prefix on the title of the posting.

    LNH The Legion of Net.Heroes. The immediate father of this group
    and the oldest of the Usenet-based writing universes (see
    Superguy).

    RAC* The rec.arts.comics.* hierarchy of newsgroups.

    RACC rec.arts.comics.creative. You're soaking in it!

    rACCIES The annual RACC fanfiction awards, as voted on by the readers
    or RACCies of this newsgroup.

    Repost Story has been posted before, natch.

    Superguy A mailing list that predates all other Internet comics-fiction
    forums. There is a good-natured rivalry between the LNH and
    this group.

    TEB Trade EtherBack. This is a collection of previously posted
    material, usually cleaned up and relating to a single story
    arc.

    Title A numerically increasing, continuing series. Usually
    involving one character, cast, city, or unifying concept.

    ------------------------------

    Subject: 5. List of Current Tags

    When choosing a tag to put at the beginning of your post, this list should
    be a canonical reference. If you see a need for a new tag, send mail to
    the FAQ maintainer so that it can be added.

    First, the general tags:

    ADMIN Administrative matters affecting everyone on RACC.

    FAQ FAQs of note for the entire RAC* hierarchy. These will tend
    to be crossposted here.

    META Discussion about the newsgroup itself. This includes
    or CHAT everything from general discussion of on-line fiction and RACC
    in particular to recommendations on how long posts should be.

    PRECOG Announcements of upcoming series, planned stories, and the
    or PROMO like.

    WWW Announcement of a web page related to RACC or a free strip.

    Now, all of the writing imprints. Note that new ones of these pop up all
    the time. Entries marked with (*) are in danger of being retired due to
    lack of activity. If you have any changes, please mail eagle@eyrie.org.

    8FOLD A closed universe that encompasses serious superheroes, comedy,
    memoir, and just about anything else: high-quality fiction of
    any stripe is welcome.

    ACRAPHOBE Mature stories that may or may not fit into other universes'
    or ACRA continuity. Using this flag in conjunction with another is
    not unheard of. (For example, Scav's _501 Blues_ is
    LNH/ACRAPHOBE.) Think a meta-Vertigo.

    ASH Academy of Super-Heroes. Dave Van Domelen's RPG-based future-
    history stories. See <https://www.eyrie.org/~dvandom/ASH>.

    ELSEWHIRLS LNH stories that do not fit into LNH continuity. Think DC's
    or EW Elseworlds.

    HCC The High Concept Challenge, a continuous series of writing
    contests. Each round, the winner, chosen by reader vote, gets
    to pick the next round's concept.

    LNH Legion of Net.Heroes, "The Friendliest Shared Universe
    Going!(TM)" A mostly parody universe, though it does have its
    serious side.

    LNH20 On the LNH's 20th anniversary, a group of writers took it upon
    themselves to create a new world, based in everything they
    loved about the LNH, in the best spirit of comic book reboots!
    LNH20 is just as friendly as the original, but easier to get
    into! Hop right in, the adventure's fine!

    LNHY An Imprint involving an alternate LNH universe called
    Looniverse Y. The big difference between this and the Classic
    LNH is that writers are allowed to have only one character of
    theirs in this Looniverse's LNH.

    RACCCafe A continuity-free outpust where RACC characters can unwind
    after a hard day of being mangled by their writers. Anything
    can happen, as long as it's funny, and there are no
    consequences!

    SG Superguy. From Space Moose to the Bomb. Comedy superhero
    writing with a far different background than LNH. Note that
    only a small slice of Superguy stuff appears here; to see the
    rest, go to <https://lists.eyrie.org/mailman/listinfo/superguy>.

    STARFALL Lightly serious and seriously light superheroics, and better
    because of it. ;)

    NTB Net.Trenchcoat.Brigade. A bunch of Vertigo-like characters
    that own stock in London Fog. Not tremendously active, but
    they do have a considerable history. Implied Acraphobe.

    OMEGA A serious psi-based shared super-world and once upon a time
    RACC's third largest universe, now inactive. Created by the
    legendary Matt Rossi.

    OSD The Order of Saint Doomas. Items relating to RACC's anti-spam
    cult. (See Section 3 above.) No posts have been seen from
    this imprint in quite some time, but that doesn't mean they're
    gone....

    SW10 SW stands for Superhuman World. 10 is an annual tag. The
    comic has proceeded to 2011, but the tag has frozen at 2010
    because that's when the series really interacted with RACC.
    Scott Eiler has written the story of this universe since
    before 1991, but 1991 is when the modern heroes of this series
    start. His sources include adolescent male power fantasy,
    superhero role-playing, comic-book satire, and dreams. See
    <http://www.eilertech.com/stories/>.

    MISC Stories not in the above categories or in their own universes
    (authors are encouraged to make up their own headers as well).
    To limit the number of imprints, and to keep this FAQ to
    reasonable lengths, let's adopt this convention: One-shot
    stories or series should use the MISC flag. Series that set
    up shared universes should create their own, new imprint.

    ------------------------------

    Subject: 6. People to Ask for Help

    The major header contacts are listed below, who will be glad to answer
    email question. Also keep your eyes peeled for FAQs specific to
    particular imprints. The FAQs are also often in the archive in a
    directory named "FAQs" under the imprint directory.

    Imprint Contact Email
    ------------ -------------------- ---------------------------------
    8FOLD Jamie Rosen jamie.rosen@sunlife.com
    8FOLD Tom Russell joltcity@gmail.com
    + ASH Dave Van Domelen dvandom@eyrie.org
    + LNH Andrew Perron pwerdna@gmail.com
    LNH20 Andrew Perron pwerdna@gmail.com
    + LNHY Arthur Spitzer arspitzer@earthlink.net
    + NTB Arthur Spitzer arspitzer@earthlink.net
    + RACChallenge Sean MacDonald mcdonald@vorteb.math.uab.edu
    + StarFall Ted Brock phantom_belcher@yahoo.com
    + Superguy Eric Burns eaburns@annotations.com
    SW10 Scott Eiler seiler@eilertech.com

    The Archive Russ Allbery eagle@eyrie.org
    Moderation RACC Moderation Team racc-request@eyrie.org

    + indicates separate FAQs are available for these imprints.

    If you need to contact the moderator directly, the contact information is:

    Russ Allbery <eagle@eyrie.org>

    If none of the above people help, or your questions are too general or specific, just email anyone you see posting here that seems to know what they're doing. (WARNING: This is rarely the case.)

    --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
    * Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)
  • From Russ Allbery@21:1/5 to All on Wed Mar 1 08:01:03 2023
    Last-modified: 2018-07-16
    Posted-by: postfaq 1.17 (Perl 5.28.1)
    Archive-name: comics/creative/faq
    URL: https://www.eyrie.org/~eagle/faqs/racc.html
    Posting-frequency: monthly

    ==========================================================================
    rec.arts.comics.creative Frequently Asked Questions
    Maintained by Russ Allbery <eagle@eyrie.org>
    Original by Jeff McCoskey ==========================================================================

    If you're reading this on Usenet, this FAQ is formatted as a minimal
    digest. If your newsreader has digest handling capabilities you can use
    them to navigate between sections. In rn variants, you can use Ctrl-G to
    skip to the next section; in Gnus, press Ctrl-D to break each section into
    a separate article. For other newsreaders, see the documentation.

    The latest version of this FAQ is available on the web at:

    <https://www.eyrie.org/~eagle/faqs/racc.html>

    Please send any comments, suggestions, or updates to eagle@eyrie.org.

    ------------------------------

    Subject: Contents

    1. Welcome to rec.arts.comics.creative!
    1.1. What is RACC for?
    1.2. What isn't RACC for?
    1.3. What is the RACC official charter?
    1.4. Where are the stories about Wolverine(tm)?
    1.5. Where are the old stories?
    1.6. How can I read RACC via e-mail?

    2. Writing for RACC (How do I get involved?)
    2.1. Cool! Okay, how do I post?
    2.2. Format! I'm nothing without format!
    2.3. How 'bout them imprints? What's up with that?
    2.4. How do I archive my stories for posterity?
    2.5. What do copyright laws I pay taxes for do for me?

    3. Netiquette for RACC

    4. Glossary

    5. List of current imprints

    6. People to ask for help

    ------------------------------

    Subject: 1. Welcome to rec.arts.comics.creative!

    Welcome to rec.arts.comics.creative, the newsgroup which could have been
    named rec.prose.shared-universe but wasn't, the newsgroup which has, to
    date, produced well over 30MB of entirely free original fiction (and
    that's compressed!), the newsgroup which has nearly nothing to do with
    your favorite comic books at all!

    You're about to go insane. Don't worry, it's fun.

    rec.arts.comics.creative (henceforth RACC) is a moderated newsgroup for comics-related original fiction and discussion of same, originally created unmoderated by Martin Phipps and a cast of thousands (well, dozens at
    least) and later converted to moderated to keep out the spam. Don't
    worry, even though it's a moderated group, it's still friendly, chatty,
    and not at all formal, and we go out of our way to keep it that way.

    The first group of this sort on the Internet was the Superguy mailing
    list, which is still in operation to this day (you'll see posts from it on
    this group from time to time). Later, the Legion of Net.Heroes (LNH)
    sprung out of a free-form thread on rec.arts.comics and spawned another newsgroup (alt.comics.lnh). They were quickly followed by a wide variety
    of other comics-based shared universes, including the Patrol, the Net.Trenchcoat.Brigade, and Omega. All of these organizations, in
    parallel, gathered together authors in shared universes and strongly
    influenced the nature of RACC.

    First and foremost, RACC is a site for people to post comics-related
    fiction. Stories about long-underwear vigilantes, anthropomorphic
    animals, SF, westerns, even Kleen Teens if anyone is so moved. As long as
    it relates to comics it's okay. So whether you're a reader, a writer, or
    that fabled creature the critic, or even all three -- welcome to RACC:
    it's all the story, none of the art! (yet)

    ------------------------------

    Subject: 1.1. What is RACC for?

    For the official charter, see section 1.3. Here's the long, readable
    version.

    One term that you'll see a lot is "shared universe." This is a shared
    story background, co-created by multiple authors and used as the
    "universe" in which multiple different stories are set. This is a
    trademark characteristic of most comic books (seen in its clearest form in
    the ubiquitous crossover, a story written by multiple authors at once and involving multiple characters who all have their own stories), as well as appearing in some other published fiction (such as Wild Cards, or Larry
    Niven's Man-Kzin Wars). Most (but not all) of the stories posted here
    take place in one of the established shared universes (there's a list
    later on in this FAQ), to the point where this style of writing is nearly characteristic of the group.

    Another term you'll see is "comics-related." Nearly all of the authors
    writing here drew their original (if not primary) inspiration from comic
    books. As a result, nearly all of the stories are on-going (published a chapter at a time), divided up into "issues" and given numbers, and
    organized into "imprints." Many people also describe covers or design
    ASCII graphic logos.

    There is no restriction on types of fiction. (That'd kinda take the
    creative out of RACC, wouldn't it?) You'll see stories run the gamut from slapstick comedy to grim'n'gritty Real Life Supers (TM). As long as it's
    about comics, set your pen free. (You'll see a lot of superhero fiction,
    but that just means that those of us who like reading other things as well
    are anxiously awaiting your non-superhero stories.)

    RACC is also for discussion of stories, both specific ones and in general.
    The critic and reader is one of the most sought-after types of people
    around here; if you give us feedback on our stories, good or bad, we'll
    love you forever.

    Finally, if you want to announce your free web strip here, we welcome
    those posts too. If you're trying to sell it, though, please try rec.arts.comics.marketplace or rec.arts.comics.strips instead. (And rec.arts.comics.strips may be a better group in general, as RACC readers
    are mostly interested in text fiction.)

    ------------------------------

    Subject: 1.2. What isn't RACC for?

    A lot of things. We're not for wars of attrition, Third World starvation,
    45 mph speed limits, and brussel sprout toothpaste. Closer to home, RACC
    is not for any of the following:

    * Discussion of existing, "professional" books (except as they relate
    to our fiction)

    * Marketplace-type I-wanna-buy/I-wanna-sell postings

    * Flames and personality conflicts. Critiques, yes. Flames, no.

    * Fiction about established, trademarked characters and universes,
    unless you created them or have written permission.

    * Erotica, no matter how much spandex you put in. There are other
    groups for that.

    ------------------------------

    Subject: 1.3. What is the RACC official charter?

    This newsgroup welcomes any form of comics-related original fiction and discussion of the same, including but not limited to stories in the many established shared universes. Discussion of on-line fiction as a whole is
    also welcome provided that it is related to the stories on the newsgroup.
    If they choose to write in an existing shared universe, writers are
    strongly encouranged to follow the existing continuity and rules of that universe. "Comics-related" will be interpreted very broadly, as has been traditional on the newsgroup.

    Each posting to rec.arts.comics.creative should include a keyword on the subject line either designating which shared universe the posting refers
    to or marking the general subject of the post (ADMIN, META, MISC, etc.).
    If a submitted post does not have a keyword, the moderator will add an appropriate keyword, but posters are encouraged to add keywords themselves
    to save moderation work.

    Large binaries, such as artwork, will not be allowed on the newsgroup.
    Instead, binaries can be made available in the newsgroup archive (subject
    to the discretion of the archivist) and a pointer posted to the newsgroup. Pointers to Web pages are also welcome, provided the content of the page
    is related to the purpose of the group.

    Stories using copyrighted or trademarked characters are explicitly not
    within the charter of this group and may be rejected unless the author
    owns the copyrights and trademarks or has written permission from the
    owner. Networking posts (artists seeking writers or writers seeking
    artists) are inappropriate in this group and should be sent to appropriate mailing lists or other groups in the rec.arts.comics.* hierarchy (rec.arts.comics.misc if there is no other more appropriate group).

    ------------------------------

    Subject: 1.4. Where are the stories about Wolverine(tm)?

    This is very important, so I'm going to yell it. RACC IS NOT THE PLACE
    FOR FICTION ABOUT ESTABLISHED, TRADEMARKED CHARACTERS. This includes all Marvel, Image, DC, what-have-you characters. RACC's charter expressly
    FORBIDS such fiction.

    The reason for this is the ongoing legislative battles about intellectual property and the Net. rec.* groups are picked up worldwide, and sysadmins
    do not want to draw lawsuits because someone wrote a story that violated trademark laws. Note that fanfic stories may or may not be lawful and/or prosecutable, WE JUST DON'T KNOW. They're still writing the laws.

    To forestall any confusion or debates, and to protect sysadmins from inadvertently becoming the test case, this provision was adopted as a key requirement for RACC's creation. If you really must write about existing, trademarked characters, there is alt.comics.fan-fiction waiting to receive
    you. alt.* groups get picked up by sysadmins voluntarily, so they
    presumedly know what risks they're taking.

    Nothing will draw this group's ire faster than violating this requirement.

    ------------------------------

    Subject: 1.5. Where are the old stories?

    Thanks to the tireless efforts and bottomless disk space of Russ Allbery,
    all stories posted to rec.arts.comics.creative are archived! This means stories will be preserved for future generations of readers, providing a
    link to the past. It is difficult to over-praise this contribution.

    (Note: Lest you think I would be so crass as to praise myself, I want to
    make sure you know that Jeff wrote that last paragraph. 'course, I didn't delete it either.)

    Older stories are sorted by universe and series and are available at:

    <https://archives.eyrie.org/racc/>

    All of the stories are compressed using gzip, but most browsers can automatically decompress them for you. This archive unfortunately hasn't
    been updated recently, but it does have all of the older stories.

    Every message to rec.arts.comics.creative, story or not, is archived at:

    <https://lists.eyrie.org/pipermail/racc/>

    in the form of a more traditional mailing list archive, so you can also
    look there if a story hasn't been saved in the story archive. This is the
    best way to find anything posted in the last few years. You can search
    the archive by prepending "site:lists.eyrie.org" to a regular Google
    search.

    Please note that stories will be removed from both the list archive and
    the story archive at the author's request if the author wants to take them down. This has happened in the past, sometimes because the author wanted
    to sell the stories to a professional venue.

    ------------------------------

    Subject: 1.6. How can I read RACC via e-mail?

    Everything that shows up in RACC also shows up in its associated mailing
    list (and vice versa), so if you want to be sure not to miss anything, or
    if you just prefer e-mail to Usenet, you can subscribe to that mailing
    list.

    To do that, go to:

    <https://lists.eyrie.org/mailman/listinfo/racc>

    and fill out the form to subscribe. Alternately, you can subscribe via
    e-mail by sending mail to racc-request@lists.eyrie.org with the word:

    subscribe

    in the subject of the message. You then can read and reply to posts just
    as if the newsgroup were a mailing list. It's all the same to us.

    ------------------------------

    Subject: 2. Writing for RACC (How do I get involved?)

    Write a story. Post it. You're involved.

    This assumes you want to create your own universe to write in. If you
    want to join a pre-existing shared universe, it's a little more involved.

    Many of the imprints have FAQs of their own (OMEGA, Superguy, LNH,
    Crossroads to name a few). These get posted periodically. The first
    thing you should do is read these documents to get a feel for what these specific universes are like.

    The next thing you should do is _read_ the universe in question. This
    includes tapping the archives for back issues. No one would suggest you
    read the entire Superguy or LNH archives before writing, but definitely
    try to sample a large cross-section.

    Lastly, email some of the creators you see writing under a specific
    imprint. They will be able to tell you if your concept fits with their universe or not, and perhaps refer you to a more appropriate universe if necessary.

    THEN write a story and post it.

    ------------------------------

    Subject: 2.1. Cool! Okay, how do I post?

    RACC is a moderated newsgroup, which means that every post goes to the moderators first. If your site correctly has the group marked as
    moderated, you should be able to post just like you post to any other
    group and your news server will take care of the rest. If you have a Unix shell account, you can check if the group is correctly marked as moderated
    by typing:

    nntplist active | grep rec.arts.comics.creative

    If the last character on the resulting line is an "m," congratulations,
    you have a good news administrator. If it's a "y," send mail to your
    local computing support people and ask them to convert the group to
    moderated like it should be.

    If you don't have a Unix shell account, some newsreaders will also tell
    you if the group is moderated.

    If, for any reason, you have trouble posting or your site *doesn't* have
    the group marked as moderated, you can mail your post to racc@eyrie.org
    instead and it will be posted for you.

    Because the group is moderated, it can be up to a day after you post
    before your article is actually posted, and it can take a few more days
    for the article to propagate back to you. So don't be surprised if it
    doesn't show up right away.

    Many readers of rec.arts.comics.creative use Google Groups to read and
    post. While this works, and I know it's convenient, Google Groups also
    deletes anything enclosed in square brackets ([]) at the beginning of
    Subject lines in replies. If you use Google Groups, please try to
    remember to put back the imprint tags when you reply to posts; otherwise,
    I have to add them as the moderator.

    ------------------------------

    Subject: 2.2. Format! I'm nothing without format!

    Formatting is pretty loose. Since this is a comics newsgroup, you will
    hear people refer to their stories as "issues." Postings tend to run in numerical order just like comic books, and many people write continuing
    series. For example there are 25 "issues" in Drizzt's _Continuity Champ
    and the Drizzt's Defenders_ series.

    Stories don't have to be series though. One-shots, mini-series,
    maxi-series, crossovers -- all of these have been done before and will be
    done again.

    The subjects of postings should follow the convention of naming the
    imprint the title and the number. For example:

    LNH: System Corruptors #15, The Bard's Tale
    imprint --^ ^ ^ ^
    title --------------| | |
    number -------------------------| |
    subtitle/comment/etc [optional] -------|

    Since the archive mechanism relies heavily on this format (not to mention
    the format-accustomed eyes of this group's readers), please follow this strictly, including the use of the #-sign. Subtitles, alternate titles,
    and title comments should follow the number if they are used at all. If
    you want to, you can use [TAG] instead of TAG: at the beginning of the
    subject; it's all the same to the archiver. (TAG: causes a few fewer
    problems than [TAG] with Google Groups.)

    Occasionally, instead of (or in addition to) a number you will see "TEB."
    This stands for "Trade EtherBack." It means the posting is actually a collection of previously posted issues -- usually cleaned up and relating
    to a single story arc.

    Inside your story do what you will. Some folks run fake ads, others use
    cheesy ASCII graphics, some just use text. A word of advice: On
    older/more primitive newsreaders your text is MUCH easier to read if you
    space between paragraphs. On the other hand, some newer newsreader
    readers find the spaces jarring. The moral? You can't please all the
    people all the time. In general spaces seem to be more preferred.

    ------------------------------

    Subject: 2.3. How 'bout them imprints? What's up with that?

    In order to accommodate a near-infinite number of different potential universes, RACC has adopted the reasonable convention of flagging fiction.
    This allows uninterested parties to skip some genres, and others to
    quickly find their niches of interest. The flag goes before the title of
    story issues, related FAQs or universe-specific discussions. Many flags
    refer to existing shared-universes. New ones will come up all the time.
    For the current list, see section 5 of this FAQ.

    Once you pick an imprint name, stick with it. The Archive and your legion
    of new fans will both be happier if you don't make marketing name changes.

    Regardless of flags all SEXUALLY EXPLICIT or PROFANITY-RICH stories should
    have huge warning labels at the beginning of text. Last thing we need is
    a Florida DA bringing us all up on charges. ;] Besides, it's only common courtesy. Note that if a story could reasonably be posted on
    alt.sex.stories, you've probably strayed a bit far from this group's
    interests.

    Some sort of flag, either an imprint name or a more general tag, is
    required on all posts and one will be added by the moderator if you don't provide one. Leaving one off requires the moderator to edit your post,
    though, which takes time and means your post will be delayed. So please
    save them the trouble and remember to add the tag yourself.

    ------------------------------

    Subject: 2.4. How do I archive my stories for posterity?

    Good news! It's already being done for you! (Or at least it will be if
    Russ ever catches up with the archiving.)

    In theory, every story posted to rec.arts.comics.creative is archived at <https://archives.eyrie.org/racc/>. Most imprints have their own
    directories, with the stories stored in directories under that (depending
    on the size of the imprint, the directories could be very structured or
    just one directory for each series). Some imprints may be collected in
    the misc directory.

    Unfortunately, this archive is substantially out of date. Russ hopes to eventually find time to update it.

    The exception is Superguy, which has its own archiving mechanism. The
    Superguy archives are at <https://archives.eyrie.org/superguy/>, but one
    of the best ways to access them is through the Autocollector at:

    <https://archives.eyrie.org/cgi-bin/superguy>

    ------------------------------

    Subject: 2.5. What do Copyright laws I pay taxes for do for me?

    I don't even play a lawyer on TV, but there are some things you should
    know about Copyright laws.

    Anything you write is copyrighted immediately, whether you flag it with a copyright notice or not. Furthermore, the copyright protection is international under the Berne Copyright Convention, which has been signed
    by nearly every country with access to Usenet.

    If you label your text as copyrighted, it preempts a possible
    "unintentional infringement" defense from plagarizers. The copyright
    notice is considered legal notice that you intend to retain your rights.
    The legal format for such a notice requires three things: Your name, the
    year, and one or more of the following: "Copyright," "Copr.," and/or the c-in-circle symbol. Note that there is no firm legal precedence for (C)
    or (c) as having any special copyright meaning. Example notice:

    Copyright 1994 Jeff J McCoskey

    The only way to get full legal protection (at least in the United States)
    is to register your work with the government (forms are free, filing fees apply). This *guarantees* an archived, dated copy should future legal
    action be necessary. Other forms of dating, like mailing yourself a copy
    or archiving (to get a date stamp), are of dubious and unproven legal
    value.

    An excellent resource for Copyright information is misc.legal, where a FAQ
    is posted monthly.

    Another excellent resource is the U.S. Copyright Office home page at:

    <https://www.copyright.gov/>

    ------------------------------

    Subject: 3. Netiquette for RACC

    As a rule of thumb, everything you've heard elsewhere about good
    netiquette applies here. We hate spammers (more in a minute), expect
    smilies when joking (except in stories of course), and in general expect
    you to conduct yourselves as good net.citizens. There are three things
    you need to know after you've mastered Basic Netiquette:

    1. The only times flames are accepted on RACC are when they are both
    morally defensible and amusing. Flames are not welcome if they do not
    meet the above criteria. Here on RACC there is one organization that
    acts as moral compass for acceptable flames: the Order of St. Doomas.

    The Order has defined one activity that is worthy of flame: spamming.
    One member of the Order (usually the first to his/her keyboard) will
    have the honors. Repetitive flaming by multiple members is frowned
    upon by the Order.

    To join this righteous crusade, all you need do is select a
    net.persona and flame. Incorrect flaming (i.e. at non-sanctioned
    targets, or with unamusing effect) will result in ostracization and
    excommunication. Watch the Order in action before joining and all
    will be clear.

    Now that the group has been moderated, most opportunities for flames
    are gone. But watch carefully; new ones may arise.

    2. Reviews of stories (even negative ones) are one of the most
    sought-after commodities on RACC. You will instantly win friends and
    influence people if you post reviews. But especially in the case of
    negative reviews, ensure you confine your review to the story and not
    the writer. Keep in mind as you write "that SUCKS" that someone
    worked long and hard on the text. They might want to know what worked
    and what didn't in their narrative but it's doubtful they want to hear
    how clever you can be in ripping them up.

    It's certain the rest of us don't.

    3. One of the best features of a shared universe is the opportunity to
    have your characters interact with others in that universe. This is
    a privilege, not a right. All characters on RACC (and their
    distinctive text-likenesses) are the full and exclusive property of
    their creators. This is not as dogmatic as it sounds, and we're all
    adults (or pretending to be). Cameos (non-speaking/non-plot affecting
    roles) do not typically require permission unless the creator desires
    it. Speaking roles should be previewed through email and approved by
    the creator before being posted.

    ------------------------------

    Subject: 4. Glossary

    These are terms you will see come up on RACC that have special meaning
    here. (For general net.terms and abbreviations, see the META RAC FAQ.)

    Acraphobe RACC's version of adult warning label. Yes, with an "a."
    Don't ask.

    Arc A multi-issue storyline.

    Archive ftp.eyrie.org, where nearly ALL the back issues live.

    Crossover A storyline that involves several titles and/or authors. Also
    the bane of all mankind.

    Elsewhirls An imaginary story. (Yeah yeah, we know they're ALL
    imaginary. How about "out-of-continuity"?)

    Fanfiction Fiction about established, trademarked universes and
    or fanfic characters that the author did not create -- in short, the
    sort of stories RACC *wasn't* designed for. There's a good
    list of newsgroups at the end of this FAQ that should help in
    finding a better group if this is what you want to write.

    Imprint The shared universe your story takes place in or subject your
    posting relates to (we have many to chose from). This is
    usually an all-caps prefix on the title of the posting.

    LNH The Legion of Net.Heroes. The immediate father of this group
    and the oldest of the Usenet-based writing universes (see
    Superguy).

    RAC* The rec.arts.comics.* hierarchy of newsgroups.

    RACC rec.arts.comics.creative. You're soaking in it!

    rACCIES The annual RACC fanfiction awards, as voted on by the readers
    or RACCies of this newsgroup.

    Repost Story has been posted before, natch.

    Superguy A mailing list that predates all other Internet comics-fiction
    forums. There is a good-natured rivalry between the LNH and
    this group.

    TEB Trade EtherBack. This is a collection of previously posted
    material, usually cleaned up and relating to a single story
    arc.

    Title A numerically increasing, continuing series. Usually
    involving one character, cast, city, or unifying concept.

    ------------------------------

    Subject: 5. List of Current Tags

    When choosing a tag to put at the beginning of your post, this list should
    be a canonical reference. If you see a need for a new tag, send mail to
    the FAQ maintainer so that it can be added.

    First, the general tags:

    ADMIN Administrative matters affecting everyone on RACC.

    FAQ FAQs of note for the entire RAC* hierarchy. These will tend
    to be crossposted here.

    META Discussion about the newsgroup itself. This includes
    or CHAT everything from general discussion of on-line fiction and RACC
    in particular to recommendations on how long posts should be.

    PRECOG Announcements of upcoming series, planned stories, and the
    or PROMO like.

    WWW Announcement of a web page related to RACC or a free strip.

    Now, all of the writing imprints. Note that new ones of these pop up all
    the time. Entries marked with (*) are in danger of being retired due to
    lack of activity. If you have any changes, please mail eagle@eyrie.org.

    8FOLD A closed universe that encompasses serious superheroes, comedy,
    memoir, and just about anything else: high-quality fiction of
    any stripe is welcome.

    ACRAPHOBE Mature stories that may or may not fit into other universes'
    or ACRA continuity. Using this flag in conjunction with another is
    not unheard of. (For example, Scav's _501 Blues_ is
    LNH/ACRAPHOBE.) Think a meta-Vertigo.

    ASH Academy of Super-Heroes. Dave Van Domelen's RPG-based future-
    history stories. See <https://www.eyrie.org/~dvandom/ASH>.

    ELSEWHIRLS LNH stories that do not fit into LNH continuity. Think DC's
    or EW Elseworlds.

    HCC The High Concept Challenge, a continuous series of writing
    contests. Each round, the winner, chosen by reader vote, gets
    to pick the next round's concept.

    LNH Legion of Net.Heroes, "The Friendliest Shared Universe
    Going!(TM)" A mostly parody universe, though it does have its
    serious side.

    LNH20 On the LNH's 20th anniversary, a group of writers took it upon
    themselves to create a new world, based in everything they
    loved about the LNH, in the best spirit of comic book reboots!
    LNH20 is just as friendly as the original, but easier to get
    into! Hop right in, the adventure's fine!

    LNHY An Imprint involving an alternate LNH universe called
    Looniverse Y. The big difference between this and the Classic
    LNH is that writers are allowed to have only one character of
    theirs in this Looniverse's LNH.

    RACCCafe A continuity-free outpust where RACC characters can unwind
    after a hard day of being mangled by their writers. Anything
    can happen, as long as it's funny, and there are no
    consequences!

    SG Superguy. From Space Moose to the Bomb. Comedy superhero
    writing with a far different background than LNH. Note that
    only a small slice of Superguy stuff appears here; to see the
    rest, go to <https://lists.eyrie.org/mailman/listinfo/superguy>.

    STARFALL Lightly serious and seriously light superheroics, and better
    because of it. ;)

    NTB Net.Trenchcoat.Brigade. A bunch of Vertigo-like characters
    that own stock in London Fog. Not tremendously active, but
    they do have a considerable history. Implied Acraphobe.

    OMEGA A serious psi-based shared super-world and once upon a time
    RACC's third largest universe, now inactive. Created by the
    legendary Matt Rossi.

    OSD The Order of Saint Doomas. Items relating to RACC's anti-spam
    cult. (See Section 3 above.) No posts have been seen from
    this imprint in quite some time, but that doesn't mean they're
    gone....

    SW10 SW stands for Superhuman World. 10 is an annual tag. The
    comic has proceeded to 2011, but the tag has frozen at 2010
    because that's when the series really interacted with RACC.
    Scott Eiler has written the story of this universe since
    before 1991, but 1991 is when the modern heroes of this series
    start. His sources include adolescent male power fantasy,
    superhero role-playing, comic-book satire, and dreams. See
    <http://www.eilertech.com/stories/>.

    MISC Stories not in the above categories or in their own universes
    (authors are encouraged to make up their own headers as well).
    To limit the number of imprints, and to keep this FAQ to
    reasonable lengths, let's adopt this convention: One-shot
    stories or series should use the MISC flag. Series that set
    up shared universes should create their own, new imprint.

    ------------------------------

    Subject: 6. People to Ask for Help

    The major header contacts are listed below, who will be glad to answer
    email question. Also keep your eyes peeled for FAQs specific to
    particular imprints. The FAQs are also often in the archive in a
    directory named "FAQs" under the imprint directory.

    Imprint Contact Email
    ------------ -------------------- ---------------------------------
    8FOLD Jamie Rosen jamie.rosen@sunlife.com
    8FOLD Tom Russell joltcity@gmail.com
    + ASH Dave Van Domelen dvandom@eyrie.org
    + LNH Andrew Perron pwerdna@gmail.com
    LNH20 Andrew Perron pwerdna@gmail.com
    + LNHY Arthur Spitzer arspitzer@earthlink.net
    + NTB Arthur Spitzer arspitzer@earthlink.net
    + RACChallenge Sean MacDonald mcdonald@vorteb.math.uab.edu
    + StarFall Ted Brock phantom_belcher@yahoo.com
    + Superguy Eric Burns eaburns@annotations.com
    SW10 Scott Eiler seiler@eilertech.com

    The Archive Russ Allbery eagle@eyrie.org
    Moderation RACC Moderation Team racc-request@eyrie.org

    + indicates separate FAQs are available for these imprints.

    If you need to contact the moderator directly, the contact information is:

    Russ Allbery <eagle@eyrie.org>

    If none of the above people help, or your questions are too general or specific, just email anyone you see posting here that seems to know what they're doing. (WARNING: This is rarely the case.)

    --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
    * Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)
  • From Russ Allbery@21:1/5 to All on Sat Apr 1 07:01:03 2023
    Last-modified: 2018-07-16
    Posted-by: postfaq 1.17 (Perl 5.28.1)
    Archive-name: comics/creative/faq
    URL: https://www.eyrie.org/~eagle/faqs/racc.html
    Posting-frequency: monthly

    ==========================================================================
    rec.arts.comics.creative Frequently Asked Questions
    Maintained by Russ Allbery <eagle@eyrie.org>
    Original by Jeff McCoskey ==========================================================================

    If you're reading this on Usenet, this FAQ is formatted as a minimal
    digest. If your newsreader has digest handling capabilities you can use
    them to navigate between sections. In rn variants, you can use Ctrl-G to
    skip to the next section; in Gnus, press Ctrl-D to break each section into
    a separate article. For other newsreaders, see the documentation.

    The latest version of this FAQ is available on the web at:

    <https://www.eyrie.org/~eagle/faqs/racc.html>

    Please send any comments, suggestions, or updates to eagle@eyrie.org.

    ------------------------------

    Subject: Contents

    1. Welcome to rec.arts.comics.creative!
    1.1. What is RACC for?
    1.2. What isn't RACC for?
    1.3. What is the RACC official charter?
    1.4. Where are the stories about Wolverine(tm)?
    1.5. Where are the old stories?
    1.6. How can I read RACC via e-mail?

    2. Writing for RACC (How do I get involved?)
    2.1. Cool! Okay, how do I post?
    2.2. Format! I'm nothing without format!
    2.3. How 'bout them imprints? What's up with that?
    2.4. How do I archive my stories for posterity?
    2.5. What do copyright laws I pay taxes for do for me?

    3. Netiquette for RACC

    4. Glossary

    5. List of current imprints

    6. People to ask for help

    ------------------------------

    Subject: 1. Welcome to rec.arts.comics.creative!

    Welcome to rec.arts.comics.creative, the newsgroup which could have been
    named rec.prose.shared-universe but wasn't, the newsgroup which has, to
    date, produced well over 30MB of entirely free original fiction (and
    that's compressed!), the newsgroup which has nearly nothing to do with
    your favorite comic books at all!

    You're about to go insane. Don't worry, it's fun.

    rec.arts.comics.creative (henceforth RACC) is a moderated newsgroup for comics-related original fiction and discussion of same, originally created unmoderated by Martin Phipps and a cast of thousands (well, dozens at
    least) and later converted to moderated to keep out the spam. Don't
    worry, even though it's a moderated group, it's still friendly, chatty,
    and not at all formal, and we go out of our way to keep it that way.

    The first group of this sort on the Internet was the Superguy mailing
    list, which is still in operation to this day (you'll see posts from it on
    this group from time to time). Later, the Legion of Net.Heroes (LNH)
    sprung out of a free-form thread on rec.arts.comics and spawned another newsgroup (alt.comics.lnh). They were quickly followed by a wide variety
    of other comics-based shared universes, including the Patrol, the Net.Trenchcoat.Brigade, and Omega. All of these organizations, in
    parallel, gathered together authors in shared universes and strongly
    influenced the nature of RACC.

    First and foremost, RACC is a site for people to post comics-related
    fiction. Stories about long-underwear vigilantes, anthropomorphic
    animals, SF, westerns, even Kleen Teens if anyone is so moved. As long as
    it relates to comics it's okay. So whether you're a reader, a writer, or
    that fabled creature the critic, or even all three -- welcome to RACC:
    it's all the story, none of the art! (yet)

    ------------------------------

    Subject: 1.1. What is RACC for?

    For the official charter, see section 1.3. Here's the long, readable
    version.

    One term that you'll see a lot is "shared universe." This is a shared
    story background, co-created by multiple authors and used as the
    "universe" in which multiple different stories are set. This is a
    trademark characteristic of most comic books (seen in its clearest form in
    the ubiquitous crossover, a story written by multiple authors at once and involving multiple characters who all have their own stories), as well as appearing in some other published fiction (such as Wild Cards, or Larry
    Niven's Man-Kzin Wars). Most (but not all) of the stories posted here
    take place in one of the established shared universes (there's a list
    later on in this FAQ), to the point where this style of writing is nearly characteristic of the group.

    Another term you'll see is "comics-related." Nearly all of the authors
    writing here drew their original (if not primary) inspiration from comic
    books. As a result, nearly all of the stories are on-going (published a chapter at a time), divided up into "issues" and given numbers, and
    organized into "imprints." Many people also describe covers or design
    ASCII graphic logos.

    There is no restriction on types of fiction. (That'd kinda take the
    creative out of RACC, wouldn't it?) You'll see stories run the gamut from slapstick comedy to grim'n'gritty Real Life Supers (TM). As long as it's
    about comics, set your pen free. (You'll see a lot of superhero fiction,
    but that just means that those of us who like reading other things as well
    are anxiously awaiting your non-superhero stories.)

    RACC is also for discussion of stories, both specific ones and in general.
    The critic and reader is one of the most sought-after types of people
    around here; if you give us feedback on our stories, good or bad, we'll
    love you forever.

    Finally, if you want to announce your free web strip here, we welcome
    those posts too. If you're trying to sell it, though, please try rec.arts.comics.marketplace or rec.arts.comics.strips instead. (And rec.arts.comics.strips may be a better group in general, as RACC readers
    are mostly interested in text fiction.)

    ------------------------------

    Subject: 1.2. What isn't RACC for?

    A lot of things. We're not for wars of attrition, Third World starvation,
    45 mph speed limits, and brussel sprout toothpaste. Closer to home, RACC
    is not for any of the following:

    * Discussion of existing, "professional" books (except as they relate
    to our fiction)

    * Marketplace-type I-wanna-buy/I-wanna-sell postings

    * Flames and personality conflicts. Critiques, yes. Flames, no.

    * Fiction about established, trademarked characters and universes,
    unless you created them or have written permission.

    * Erotica, no matter how much spandex you put in. There are other
    groups for that.

    ------------------------------

    Subject: 1.3. What is the RACC official charter?

    This newsgroup welcomes any form of comics-related original fiction and discussion of the same, including but not limited to stories in the many established shared universes. Discussion of on-line fiction as a whole is
    also welcome provided that it is related to the stories on the newsgroup.
    If they choose to write in an existing shared universe, writers are
    strongly encouranged to follow the existing continuity and rules of that universe. "Comics-related" will be interpreted very broadly, as has been traditional on the newsgroup.

    Each posting to rec.arts.comics.creative should include a keyword on the subject line either designating which shared universe the posting refers
    to or marking the general subject of the post (ADMIN, META, MISC, etc.).
    If a submitted post does not have a keyword, the moderator will add an appropriate keyword, but posters are encouraged to add keywords themselves
    to save moderation work.

    Large binaries, such as artwork, will not be allowed on the newsgroup.
    Instead, binaries can be made available in the newsgroup archive (subject
    to the discretion of the archivist) and a pointer posted to the newsgroup. Pointers to Web pages are also welcome, provided the content of the page
    is related to the purpose of the group.

    Stories using copyrighted or trademarked characters are explicitly not
    within the charter of this group and may be rejected unless the author
    owns the copyrights and trademarks or has written permission from the
    owner. Networking posts (artists seeking writers or writers seeking
    artists) are inappropriate in this group and should be sent to appropriate mailing lists or other groups in the rec.arts.comics.* hierarchy (rec.arts.comics.misc if there is no other more appropriate group).

    ------------------------------

    Subject: 1.4. Where are the stories about Wolverine(tm)?

    This is very important, so I'm going to yell it. RACC IS NOT THE PLACE
    FOR FICTION ABOUT ESTABLISHED, TRADEMARKED CHARACTERS. This includes all Marvel, Image, DC, what-have-you characters. RACC's charter expressly
    FORBIDS such fiction.

    The reason for this is the ongoing legislative battles about intellectual property and the Net. rec.* groups are picked up worldwide, and sysadmins
    do not want to draw lawsuits because someone wrote a story that violated trademark laws. Note that fanfic stories may or may not be lawful and/or prosecutable, WE JUST DON'T KNOW. They're still writing the laws.

    To forestall any confusion or debates, and to protect sysadmins from inadvertently becoming the test case, this provision was adopted as a key requirement for RACC's creation. If you really must write about existing, trademarked characters, there is alt.comics.fan-fiction waiting to receive
    you. alt.* groups get picked up by sysadmins voluntarily, so they
    presumedly know what risks they're taking.

    Nothing will draw this group's ire faster than violating this requirement.

    ------------------------------

    Subject: 1.5. Where are the old stories?

    Thanks to the tireless efforts and bottomless disk space of Russ Allbery,
    all stories posted to rec.arts.comics.creative are archived! This means stories will be preserved for future generations of readers, providing a
    link to the past. It is difficult to over-praise this contribution.

    (Note: Lest you think I would be so crass as to praise myself, I want to
    make sure you know that Jeff wrote that last paragraph. 'course, I didn't delete it either.)

    Older stories are sorted by universe and series and are available at:

    <https://archives.eyrie.org/racc/>

    All of the stories are compressed using gzip, but most browsers can automatically decompress them for you. This archive unfortunately hasn't
    been updated recently, but it does have all of the older stories.

    Every message to rec.arts.comics.creative, story or not, is archived at:

    <https://lists.eyrie.org/pipermail/racc/>

    in the form of a more traditional mailing list archive, so you can also
    look there if a story hasn't been saved in the story archive. This is the
    best way to find anything posted in the last few years. You can search
    the archive by prepending "site:lists.eyrie.org" to a regular Google
    search.

    Please note that stories will be removed from both the list archive and
    the story archive at the author's request if the author wants to take them down. This has happened in the past, sometimes because the author wanted
    to sell the stories to a professional venue.

    ------------------------------

    Subject: 1.6. How can I read RACC via e-mail?

    Everything that shows up in RACC also shows up in its associated mailing
    list (and vice versa), so if you want to be sure not to miss anything, or
    if you just prefer e-mail to Usenet, you can subscribe to that mailing
    list.

    To do that, go to:

    <https://lists.eyrie.org/mailman/listinfo/racc>

    and fill out the form to subscribe. Alternately, you can subscribe via
    e-mail by sending mail to racc-request@lists.eyrie.org with the word:

    subscribe

    in the subject of the message. You then can read and reply to posts just
    as if the newsgroup were a mailing list. It's all the same to us.

    ------------------------------

    Subject: 2. Writing for RACC (How do I get involved?)

    Write a story. Post it. You're involved.

    This assumes you want to create your own universe to write in. If you
    want to join a pre-existing shared universe, it's a little more involved.

    Many of the imprints have FAQs of their own (OMEGA, Superguy, LNH,
    Crossroads to name a few). These get posted periodically. The first
    thing you should do is read these documents to get a feel for what these specific universes are like.

    The next thing you should do is _read_ the universe in question. This
    includes tapping the archives for back issues. No one would suggest you
    read the entire Superguy or LNH archives before writing, but definitely
    try to sample a large cross-section.

    Lastly, email some of the creators you see writing under a specific
    imprint. They will be able to tell you if your concept fits with their universe or not, and perhaps refer you to a more appropriate universe if necessary.

    THEN write a story and post it.

    ------------------------------

    Subject: 2.1. Cool! Okay, how do I post?

    RACC is a moderated newsgroup, which means that every post goes to the moderators first. If your site correctly has the group marked as
    moderated, you should be able to post just like you post to any other
    group and your news server will take care of the rest. If you have a Unix shell account, you can check if the group is correctly marked as moderated
    by typing:

    nntplist active | grep rec.arts.comics.creative

    If the last character on the resulting line is an "m," congratulations,
    you have a good news administrator. If it's a "y," send mail to your
    local computing support people and ask them to convert the group to
    moderated like it should be.

    If you don't have a Unix shell account, some newsreaders will also tell
    you if the group is moderated.

    If, for any reason, you have trouble posting or your site *doesn't* have
    the group marked as moderated, you can mail your post to racc@eyrie.org
    instead and it will be posted for you.

    Because the group is moderated, it can be up to a day after you post
    before your article is actually posted, and it can take a few more days
    for the article to propagate back to you. So don't be surprised if it
    doesn't show up right away.

    Many readers of rec.arts.comics.creative use Google Groups to read and
    post. While this works, and I know it's convenient, Google Groups also
    deletes anything enclosed in square brackets ([]) at the beginning of
    Subject lines in replies. If you use Google Groups, please try to
    remember to put back the imprint tags when you reply to posts; otherwise,
    I have to add them as the moderator.

    ------------------------------

    Subject: 2.2. Format! I'm nothing without format!

    Formatting is pretty loose. Since this is a comics newsgroup, you will
    hear people refer to their stories as "issues." Postings tend to run in numerical order just like comic books, and many people write continuing
    series. For example there are 25 "issues" in Drizzt's _Continuity Champ
    and the Drizzt's Defenders_ series.

    Stories don't have to be series though. One-shots, mini-series,
    maxi-series, crossovers -- all of these have been done before and will be
    done again.

    The subjects of postings should follow the convention of naming the
    imprint the title and the number. For example:

    LNH: System Corruptors #15, The Bard's Tale
    imprint --^ ^ ^ ^
    title --------------| | |
    number -------------------------| |
    subtitle/comment/etc [optional] -------|

    Since the archive mechanism relies heavily on this format (not to mention
    the format-accustomed eyes of this group's readers), please follow this strictly, including the use of the #-sign. Subtitles, alternate titles,
    and title comments should follow the number if they are used at all. If
    you want to, you can use [TAG] instead of TAG: at the beginning of the
    subject; it's all the same to the archiver. (TAG: causes a few fewer
    problems than [TAG] with Google Groups.)

    Occasionally, instead of (or in addition to) a number you will see "TEB."
    This stands for "Trade EtherBack." It means the posting is actually a collection of previously posted issues -- usually cleaned up and relating
    to a single story arc.

    Inside your story do what you will. Some folks run fake ads, others use
    cheesy ASCII graphics, some just use text. A word of advice: On
    older/more primitive newsreaders your text is MUCH easier to read if you
    space between paragraphs. On the other hand, some newer newsreader
    readers find the spaces jarring. The moral? You can't please all the
    people all the time. In general spaces seem to be more preferred.

    ------------------------------

    Subject: 2.3. How 'bout them imprints? What's up with that?

    In order to accommodate a near-infinite number of different potential universes, RACC has adopted the reasonable convention of flagging fiction.
    This allows uninterested parties to skip some genres, and others to
    quickly find their niches of interest. The flag goes before the title of
    story issues, related FAQs or universe-specific discussions. Many flags
    refer to existing shared-universes. New ones will come up all the time.
    For the current list, see section 5 of this FAQ.

    Once you pick an imprint name, stick with it. The Archive and your legion
    of new fans will both be happier if you don't make marketing name changes.

    Regardless of flags all SEXUALLY EXPLICIT or PROFANITY-RICH stories should
    have huge warning labels at the beginning of text. Last thing we need is
    a Florida DA bringing us all up on charges. ;] Besides, it's only common courtesy. Note that if a story could reasonably be posted on
    alt.sex.stories, you've probably strayed a bit far from this group's
    interests.

    Some sort of flag, either an imprint name or a more general tag, is
    required on all posts and one will be added by the moderator if you don't provide one. Leaving one off requires the moderator to edit your post,
    though, which takes time and means your post will be delayed. So please
    save them the trouble and remember to add the tag yourself.

    ------------------------------

    Subject: 2.4. How do I archive my stories for posterity?

    Good news! It's already being done for you! (Or at least it will be if
    Russ ever catches up with the archiving.)

    In theory, every story posted to rec.arts.comics.creative is archived at <https://archives.eyrie.org/racc/>. Most imprints have their own
    directories, with the stories stored in directories under that (depending
    on the size of the imprint, the directories could be very structured or
    just one directory for each series). Some imprints may be collected in
    the misc directory.

    Unfortunately, this archive is substantially out of date. Russ hopes to eventually find time to update it.

    The exception is Superguy, which has its own archiving mechanism. The
    Superguy archives are at <https://archives.eyrie.org/superguy/>, but one
    of the best ways to access them is through the Autocollector at:

    <https://archives.eyrie.org/cgi-bin/superguy>

    ------------------------------

    Subject: 2.5. What do Copyright laws I pay taxes for do for me?

    I don't even play a lawyer on TV, but there are some things you should
    know about Copyright laws.

    Anything you write is copyrighted immediately, whether you flag it with a copyright notice or not. Furthermore, the copyright protection is international under the Berne Copyright Convention, which has been signed
    by nearly every country with access to Usenet.

    If you label your text as copyrighted, it preempts a possible
    "unintentional infringement" defense from plagarizers. The copyright
    notice is considered legal notice that you intend to retain your rights.
    The legal format for such a notice requires three things: Your name, the
    year, and one or more of the following: "Copyright," "Copr.," and/or the c-in-circle symbol. Note that there is no firm legal precedence for (C)
    or (c) as having any special copyright meaning. Example notice:

    Copyright 1994 Jeff J McCoskey

    The only way to get full legal protection (at least in the United States)
    is to register your work with the government (forms are free, filing fees apply). This *guarantees* an archived, dated copy should future legal
    action be necessary. Other forms of dating, like mailing yourself a copy
    or archiving (to get a date stamp), are of dubious and unproven legal
    value.

    An excellent resource for Copyright information is misc.legal, where a FAQ
    is posted monthly.

    Another excellent resource is the U.S. Copyright Office home page at:

    <https://www.copyright.gov/>

    ------------------------------

    Subject: 3. Netiquette for RACC

    As a rule of thumb, everything you've heard elsewhere about good
    netiquette applies here. We hate spammers (more in a minute), expect
    smilies when joking (except in stories of course), and in general expect
    you to conduct yourselves as good net.citizens. There are three things
    you need to know after you've mastered Basic Netiquette:

    1. The only times flames are accepted on RACC are when they are both
    morally defensible and amusing. Flames are not welcome if they do not
    meet the above criteria. Here on RACC there is one organization that
    acts as moral compass for acceptable flames: the Order of St. Doomas.

    The Order has defined one activity that is worthy of flame: spamming.
    One member of the Order (usually the first to his/her keyboard) will
    have the honors. Repetitive flaming by multiple members is frowned
    upon by the Order.

    To join this righteous crusade, all you need do is select a
    net.persona and flame. Incorrect flaming (i.e. at non-sanctioned
    targets, or with unamusing effect) will result in ostracization and
    excommunication. Watch the Order in action before joining and all
    will be clear.

    Now that the group has been moderated, most opportunities for flames
    are gone. But watch carefully; new ones may arise.

    2. Reviews of stories (even negative ones) are one of the most
    sought-after commodities on RACC. You will instantly win friends and
    influence people if you post reviews. But especially in the case of
    negative reviews, ensure you confine your review to the story and not
    the writer. Keep in mind as you write "that SUCKS" that someone
    worked long and hard on the text. They might want to know what worked
    and what didn't in their narrative but it's doubtful they want to hear
    how clever you can be in ripping them up.

    It's certain the rest of us don't.

    3. One of the best features of a shared universe is the opportunity to
    have your characters interact with others in that universe. This is
    a privilege, not a right. All characters on RACC (and their
    distinctive text-likenesses) are the full and exclusive property of
    their creators. This is not as dogmatic as it sounds, and we're all
    adults (or pretending to be). Cameos (non-speaking/non-plot affecting
    roles) do not typically require permission unless the creator desires
    it. Speaking roles should be previewed through email and approved by
    the creator before being posted.

    ------------------------------

    Subject: 4. Glossary

    These are terms you will see come up on RACC that have special meaning
    here. (For general net.terms and abbreviations, see the META RAC FAQ.)

    Acraphobe RACC's version of adult warning label. Yes, with an "a."
    Don't ask.

    Arc A multi-issue storyline.

    Archive ftp.eyrie.org, where nearly ALL the back issues live.

    Crossover A storyline that involves several titles and/or authors. Also
    the bane of all mankind.

    Elsewhirls An imaginary story. (Yeah yeah, we know they're ALL
    imaginary. How about "out-of-continuity"?)

    Fanfiction Fiction about established, trademarked universes and
    or fanfic characters that the author did not create -- in short, the
    sort of stories RACC *wasn't* designed for. There's a good
    list of newsgroups at the end of this FAQ that should help in
    finding a better group if this is what you want to write.

    Imprint The shared universe your story takes place in or subject your
    posting relates to (we have many to chose from). This is
    usually an all-caps prefix on the title of the posting.

    LNH The Legion of Net.Heroes. The immediate father of this group
    and the oldest of the Usenet-based writing universes (see
    Superguy).

    RAC* The rec.arts.comics.* hierarchy of newsgroups.

    RACC rec.arts.comics.creative. You're soaking in it!

    rACCIES The annual RACC fanfiction awards, as voted on by the readers
    or RACCies of this newsgroup.

    Repost Story has been posted before, natch.

    Superguy A mailing list that predates all other Internet comics-fiction
    forums. There is a good-natured rivalry between the LNH and
    this group.

    TEB Trade EtherBack. This is a collection of previously posted
    material, usually cleaned up and relating to a single story
    arc.

    Title A numerically increasing, continuing series. Usually
    involving one character, cast, city, or unifying concept.

    ------------------------------

    Subject: 5. List of Current Tags

    When choosing a tag to put at the beginning of your post, this list should
    be a canonical reference. If you see a need for a new tag, send mail to
    the FAQ maintainer so that it can be added.

    First, the general tags:

    ADMIN Administrative matters affecting everyone on RACC.

    FAQ FAQs of note for the entire RAC* hierarchy. These will tend
    to be crossposted here.

    META Discussion about the newsgroup itself. This includes
    or CHAT everything from general discussion of on-line fiction and RACC
    in particular to recommendations on how long posts should be.

    PRECOG Announcements of upcoming series, planned stories, and the
    or PROMO like.

    WWW Announcement of a web page related to RACC or a free strip.

    Now, all of the writing imprints. Note that new ones of these pop up all
    the time. Entries marked with (*) are in danger of being retired due to
    lack of activity. If you have any changes, please mail eagle@eyrie.org.

    8FOLD A closed universe that encompasses serious superheroes, comedy,
    memoir, and just about anything else: high-quality fiction of
    any stripe is welcome.

    ACRAPHOBE Mature stories that may or may not fit into other universes'
    or ACRA continuity. Using this flag in conjunction with another is
    not unheard of. (For example, Scav's _501 Blues_ is
    LNH/ACRAPHOBE.) Think a meta-Vertigo.

    ASH Academy of Super-Heroes. Dave Van Domelen's RPG-based future-
    history stories. See <https://www.eyrie.org/~dvandom/ASH>.

    ELSEWHIRLS LNH stories that do not fit into LNH continuity. Think DC's
    or EW Elseworlds.

    HCC The High Concept Challenge, a continuous series of writing
    contests. Each round, the winner, chosen by reader vote, gets
    to pick the next round's concept.

    LNH Legion of Net.Heroes, "The Friendliest Shared Universe
    Going!(TM)" A mostly parody universe, though it does have its
    serious side.

    LNH20 On the LNH's 20th anniversary, a group of writers took it upon
    themselves to create a new world, based in everything they
    loved about the LNH, in the best spirit of comic book reboots!
    LNH20 is just as friendly as the original, but easier to get
    into! Hop right in, the adventure's fine!

    LNHY An Imprint involving an alternate LNH universe called
    Looniverse Y. The big difference between this and the Classic
    LNH is that writers are allowed to have only one character of
    theirs in this Looniverse's LNH.

    RACCCafe A continuity-free outpust where RACC characters can unwind
    after a hard day of being mangled by their writers. Anything
    can happen, as long as it's funny, and there are no
    consequences!

    SG Superguy. From Space Moose to the Bomb. Comedy superhero
    writing with a far different background than LNH. Note that
    only a small slice of Superguy stuff appears here; to see the
    rest, go to <https://lists.eyrie.org/mailman/listinfo/superguy>.

    STARFALL Lightly serious and seriously light superheroics, and better
    because of it. ;)

    NTB Net.Trenchcoat.Brigade. A bunch of Vertigo-like characters
    that own stock in London Fog. Not tremendously active, but
    they do have a considerable history. Implied Acraphobe.

    OMEGA A serious psi-based shared super-world and once upon a time
    RACC's third largest universe, now inactive. Created by the
    legendary Matt Rossi.

    OSD The Order of Saint Doomas. Items relating to RACC's anti-spam
    cult. (See Section 3 above.) No posts have been seen from
    this imprint in quite some time, but that doesn't mean they're
    gone....

    SW10 SW stands for Superhuman World. 10 is an annual tag. The
    comic has proceeded to 2011, but the tag has frozen at 2010
    because that's when the series really interacted with RACC.
    Scott Eiler has written the story of this universe since
    before 1991, but 1991 is when the modern heroes of this series
    start. His sources include adolescent male power fantasy,
    superhero role-playing, comic-book satire, and dreams. See
    <http://www.eilertech.com/stories/>.

    MISC Stories not in the above categories or in their own universes
    (authors are encouraged to make up their own headers as well).
    To limit the number of imprints, and to keep this FAQ to
    reasonable lengths, let's adopt this convention: One-shot
    stories or series should use the MISC flag. Series that set
    up shared universes should create their own, new imprint.

    ------------------------------

    Subject: 6. People to Ask for Help

    The major header contacts are listed below, who will be glad to answer
    email question. Also keep your eyes peeled for FAQs specific to
    particular imprints. The FAQs are also often in the archive in a
    directory named "FAQs" under the imprint directory.

    Imprint Contact Email
    ------------ -------------------- ---------------------------------
    8FOLD Jamie Rosen jamie.rosen@sunlife.com
    8FOLD Tom Russell joltcity@gmail.com
    + ASH Dave Van Domelen dvandom@eyrie.org
    + LNH Andrew Perron pwerdna@gmail.com
    LNH20 Andrew Perron pwerdna@gmail.com
    + LNHY Arthur Spitzer arspitzer@earthlink.net
    + NTB Arthur Spitzer arspitzer@earthlink.net
    + RACChallenge Sean MacDonald mcdonald@vorteb.math.uab.edu
    + StarFall Ted Brock phantom_belcher@yahoo.com
    + Superguy Eric Burns eaburns@annotations.com
    SW10 Scott Eiler seiler@eilertech.com

    The Archive Russ Allbery eagle@eyrie.org
    Moderation RACC Moderation Team racc-request@eyrie.org

    + indicates separate FAQs are available for these imprints.

    If you need to contact the moderator directly, the contact information is:

    Russ Allbery <eagle@eyrie.org>

    If none of the above people help, or your questions are too general or specific, just email anyone you see posting here that seems to know what they're doing. (WARNING: This is rarely the case.)

    --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
    * Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)
  • From Russ Allbery@21:1/5 to All on Mon May 1 07:01:04 2023
    Last-modified: 2018-07-16
    Posted-by: postfaq 1.17 (Perl 5.28.1)
    Archive-name: comics/creative/faq
    URL: https://www.eyrie.org/~eagle/faqs/racc.html
    Posting-frequency: monthly

    ==========================================================================
    rec.arts.comics.creative Frequently Asked Questions
    Maintained by Russ Allbery <eagle@eyrie.org>
    Original by Jeff McCoskey ==========================================================================

    If you're reading this on Usenet, this FAQ is formatted as a minimal
    digest. If your newsreader has digest handling capabilities you can use
    them to navigate between sections. In rn variants, you can use Ctrl-G to
    skip to the next section; in Gnus, press Ctrl-D to break each section into
    a separate article. For other newsreaders, see the documentation.

    The latest version of this FAQ is available on the web at:

    <https://www.eyrie.org/~eagle/faqs/racc.html>

    Please send any comments, suggestions, or updates to eagle@eyrie.org.

    ------------------------------

    Subject: Contents

    1. Welcome to rec.arts.comics.creative!
    1.1. What is RACC for?
    1.2. What isn't RACC for?
    1.3. What is the RACC official charter?
    1.4. Where are the stories about Wolverine(tm)?
    1.5. Where are the old stories?
    1.6. How can I read RACC via e-mail?

    2. Writing for RACC (How do I get involved?)
    2.1. Cool! Okay, how do I post?
    2.2. Format! I'm nothing without format!
    2.3. How 'bout them imprints? What's up with that?
    2.4. How do I archive my stories for posterity?
    2.5. What do copyright laws I pay taxes for do for me?

    3. Netiquette for RACC

    4. Glossary

    5. List of current imprints

    6. People to ask for help

    ------------------------------

    Subject: 1. Welcome to rec.arts.comics.creative!

    Welcome to rec.arts.comics.creative, the newsgroup which could have been
    named rec.prose.shared-universe but wasn't, the newsgroup which has, to
    date, produced well over 30MB of entirely free original fiction (and
    that's compressed!), the newsgroup which has nearly nothing to do with
    your favorite comic books at all!

    You're about to go insane. Don't worry, it's fun.

    rec.arts.comics.creative (henceforth RACC) is a moderated newsgroup for comics-related original fiction and discussion of same, originally created unmoderated by Martin Phipps and a cast of thousands (well, dozens at
    least) and later converted to moderated to keep out the spam. Don't
    worry, even though it's a moderated group, it's still friendly, chatty,
    and not at all formal, and we go out of our way to keep it that way.

    The first group of this sort on the Internet was the Superguy mailing
    list, which is still in operation to this day (you'll see posts from it on
    this group from time to time). Later, the Legion of Net.Heroes (LNH)
    sprung out of a free-form thread on rec.arts.comics and spawned another newsgroup (alt.comics.lnh). They were quickly followed by a wide variety
    of other comics-based shared universes, including the Patrol, the Net.Trenchcoat.Brigade, and Omega. All of these organizations, in
    parallel, gathered together authors in shared universes and strongly
    influenced the nature of RACC.

    First and foremost, RACC is a site for people to post comics-related
    fiction. Stories about long-underwear vigilantes, anthropomorphic
    animals, SF, westerns, even Kleen Teens if anyone is so moved. As long as
    it relates to comics it's okay. So whether you're a reader, a writer, or
    that fabled creature the critic, or even all three -- welcome to RACC:
    it's all the story, none of the art! (yet)

    ------------------------------

    Subject: 1.1. What is RACC for?

    For the official charter, see section 1.3. Here's the long, readable
    version.

    One term that you'll see a lot is "shared universe." This is a shared
    story background, co-created by multiple authors and used as the
    "universe" in which multiple different stories are set. This is a
    trademark characteristic of most comic books (seen in its clearest form in
    the ubiquitous crossover, a story written by multiple authors at once and involving multiple characters who all have their own stories), as well as appearing in some other published fiction (such as Wild Cards, or Larry
    Niven's Man-Kzin Wars). Most (but not all) of the stories posted here
    take place in one of the established shared universes (there's a list
    later on in this FAQ), to the point where this style of writing is nearly characteristic of the group.

    Another term you'll see is "comics-related." Nearly all of the authors
    writing here drew their original (if not primary) inspiration from comic
    books. As a result, nearly all of the stories are on-going (published a chapter at a time), divided up into "issues" and given numbers, and
    organized into "imprints." Many people also describe covers or design
    ASCII graphic logos.

    There is no restriction on types of fiction. (That'd kinda take the
    creative out of RACC, wouldn't it?) You'll see stories run the gamut from slapstick comedy to grim'n'gritty Real Life Supers (TM). As long as it's
    about comics, set your pen free. (You'll see a lot of superhero fiction,
    but that just means that those of us who like reading other things as well
    are anxiously awaiting your non-superhero stories.)

    RACC is also for discussion of stories, both specific ones and in general.
    The critic and reader is one of the most sought-after types of people
    around here; if you give us feedback on our stories, good or bad, we'll
    love you forever.

    Finally, if you want to announce your free web strip here, we welcome
    those posts too. If you're trying to sell it, though, please try rec.arts.comics.marketplace or rec.arts.comics.strips instead. (And rec.arts.comics.strips may be a better group in general, as RACC readers
    are mostly interested in text fiction.)

    ------------------------------

    Subject: 1.2. What isn't RACC for?

    A lot of things. We're not for wars of attrition, Third World starvation,
    45 mph speed limits, and brussel sprout toothpaste. Closer to home, RACC
    is not for any of the following:

    * Discussion of existing, "professional" books (except as they relate
    to our fiction)

    * Marketplace-type I-wanna-buy/I-wanna-sell postings

    * Flames and personality conflicts. Critiques, yes. Flames, no.

    * Fiction about established, trademarked characters and universes,
    unless you created them or have written permission.

    * Erotica, no matter how much spandex you put in. There are other
    groups for that.

    ------------------------------

    Subject: 1.3. What is the RACC official charter?

    This newsgroup welcomes any form of comics-related original fiction and discussion of the same, including but not limited to stories in the many established shared universes. Discussion of on-line fiction as a whole is
    also welcome provided that it is related to the stories on the newsgroup.
    If they choose to write in an existing shared universe, writers are
    strongly encouranged to follow the existing continuity and rules of that universe. "Comics-related" will be interpreted very broadly, as has been traditional on the newsgroup.

    Each posting to rec.arts.comics.creative should include a keyword on the subject line either designating which shared universe the posting refers
    to or marking the general subject of the post (ADMIN, META, MISC, etc.).
    If a submitted post does not have a keyword, the moderator will add an appropriate keyword, but posters are encouraged to add keywords themselves
    to save moderation work.

    Large binaries, such as artwork, will not be allowed on the newsgroup.
    Instead, binaries can be made available in the newsgroup archive (subject
    to the discretion of the archivist) and a pointer posted to the newsgroup. Pointers to Web pages are also welcome, provided the content of the page
    is related to the purpose of the group.

    Stories using copyrighted or trademarked characters are explicitly not
    within the charter of this group and may be rejected unless the author
    owns the copyrights and trademarks or has written permission from the
    owner. Networking posts (artists seeking writers or writers seeking
    artists) are inappropriate in this group and should be sent to appropriate mailing lists or other groups in the rec.arts.comics.* hierarchy (rec.arts.comics.misc if there is no other more appropriate group).

    ------------------------------

    Subject: 1.4. Where are the stories about Wolverine(tm)?

    This is very important, so I'm going to yell it. RACC IS NOT THE PLACE
    FOR FICTION ABOUT ESTABLISHED, TRADEMARKED CHARACTERS. This includes all Marvel, Image, DC, what-have-you characters. RACC's charter expressly
    FORBIDS such fiction.

    The reason for this is the ongoing legislative battles about intellectual property and the Net. rec.* groups are picked up worldwide, and sysadmins
    do not want to draw lawsuits because someone wrote a story that violated trademark laws. Note that fanfic stories may or may not be lawful and/or prosecutable, WE JUST DON'T KNOW. They're still writing the laws.

    To forestall any confusion or debates, and to protect sysadmins from inadvertently becoming the test case, this provision was adopted as a key requirement for RACC's creation. If you really must write about existing, trademarked characters, there is alt.comics.fan-fiction waiting to receive
    you. alt.* groups get picked up by sysadmins voluntarily, so they
    presumedly know what risks they're taking.

    Nothing will draw this group's ire faster than violating this requirement.

    ------------------------------

    Subject: 1.5. Where are the old stories?

    Thanks to the tireless efforts and bottomless disk space of Russ Allbery,
    all stories posted to rec.arts.comics.creative are archived! This means stories will be preserved for future generations of readers, providing a
    link to the past. It is difficult to over-praise this contribution.

    (Note: Lest you think I would be so crass as to praise myself, I want to
    make sure you know that Jeff wrote that last paragraph. 'course, I didn't delete it either.)

    Older stories are sorted by universe and series and are available at:

    <https://archives.eyrie.org/racc/>

    All of the stories are compressed using gzip, but most browsers can automatically decompress them for you. This archive unfortunately hasn't
    been updated recently, but it does have all of the older stories.

    Every message to rec.arts.comics.creative, story or not, is archived at:

    <https://lists.eyrie.org/pipermail/racc/>

    in the form of a more traditional mailing list archive, so you can also
    look there if a story hasn't been saved in the story archive. This is the
    best way to find anything posted in the last few years. You can search
    the archive by prepending "site:lists.eyrie.org" to a regular Google
    search.

    Please note that stories will be removed from both the list archive and
    the story archive at the author's request if the author wants to take them down. This has happened in the past, sometimes because the author wanted
    to sell the stories to a professional venue.

    ------------------------------

    Subject: 1.6. How can I read RACC via e-mail?

    Everything that shows up in RACC also shows up in its associated mailing
    list (and vice versa), so if you want to be sure not to miss anything, or
    if you just prefer e-mail to Usenet, you can subscribe to that mailing
    list.

    To do that, go to:

    <https://lists.eyrie.org/mailman/listinfo/racc>

    and fill out the form to subscribe. Alternately, you can subscribe via
    e-mail by sending mail to racc-request@lists.eyrie.org with the word:

    subscribe

    in the subject of the message. You then can read and reply to posts just
    as if the newsgroup were a mailing list. It's all the same to us.

    ------------------------------

    Subject: 2. Writing for RACC (How do I get involved?)

    Write a story. Post it. You're involved.

    This assumes you want to create your own universe to write in. If you
    want to join a pre-existing shared universe, it's a little more involved.

    Many of the imprints have FAQs of their own (OMEGA, Superguy, LNH,
    Crossroads to name a few). These get posted periodically. The first
    thing you should do is read these documents to get a feel for what these specific universes are like.

    The next thing you should do is _read_ the universe in question. This
    includes tapping the archives for back issues. No one would suggest you
    read the entire Superguy or LNH archives before writing, but definitely
    try to sample a large cross-section.

    Lastly, email some of the creators you see writing under a specific
    imprint. They will be able to tell you if your concept fits with their universe or not, and perhaps refer you to a more appropriate universe if necessary.

    THEN write a story and post it.

    ------------------------------

    Subject: 2.1. Cool! Okay, how do I post?

    RACC is a moderated newsgroup, which means that every post goes to the moderators first. If your site correctly has the group marked as
    moderated, you should be able to post just like you post to any other
    group and your news server will take care of the rest. If you have a Unix shell account, you can check if the group is correctly marked as moderated
    by typing:

    nntplist active | grep rec.arts.comics.creative

    If the last character on the resulting line is an "m," congratulations,
    you have a good news administrator. If it's a "y," send mail to your
    local computing support people and ask them to convert the group to
    moderated like it should be.

    If you don't have a Unix shell account, some newsreaders will also tell
    you if the group is moderated.

    If, for any reason, you have trouble posting or your site *doesn't* have
    the group marked as moderated, you can mail your post to racc@eyrie.org
    instead and it will be posted for you.

    Because the group is moderated, it can be up to a day after you post
    before your article is actually posted, and it can take a few more days
    for the article to propagate back to you. So don't be surprised if it
    doesn't show up right away.

    Many readers of rec.arts.comics.creative use Google Groups to read and
    post. While this works, and I know it's convenient, Google Groups also
    deletes anything enclosed in square brackets ([]) at the beginning of
    Subject lines in replies. If you use Google Groups, please try to
    remember to put back the imprint tags when you reply to posts; otherwise,
    I have to add them as the moderator.

    ------------------------------

    Subject: 2.2. Format! I'm nothing without format!

    Formatting is pretty loose. Since this is a comics newsgroup, you will
    hear people refer to their stories as "issues." Postings tend to run in numerical order just like comic books, and many people write continuing
    series. For example there are 25 "issues" in Drizzt's _Continuity Champ
    and the Drizzt's Defenders_ series.

    Stories don't have to be series though. One-shots, mini-series,
    maxi-series, crossovers -- all of these have been done before and will be
    done again.

    The subjects of postings should follow the convention of naming the
    imprint the title and the number. For example:

    LNH: System Corruptors #15, The Bard's Tale
    imprint --^ ^ ^ ^
    title --------------| | |
    number -------------------------| |
    subtitle/comment/etc [optional] -------|

    Since the archive mechanism relies heavily on this format (not to mention
    the format-accustomed eyes of this group's readers), please follow this strictly, including the use of the #-sign. Subtitles, alternate titles,
    and title comments should follow the number if they are used at all. If
    you want to, you can use [TAG] instead of TAG: at the beginning of the
    subject; it's all the same to the archiver. (TAG: causes a few fewer
    problems than [TAG] with Google Groups.)

    Occasionally, instead of (or in addition to) a number you will see "TEB."
    This stands for "Trade EtherBack." It means the posting is actually a collection of previously posted issues -- usually cleaned up and relating
    to a single story arc.

    Inside your story do what you will. Some folks run fake ads, others use
    cheesy ASCII graphics, some just use text. A word of advice: On
    older/more primitive newsreaders your text is MUCH easier to read if you
    space between paragraphs. On the other hand, some newer newsreader
    readers find the spaces jarring. The moral? You can't please all the
    people all the time. In general spaces seem to be more preferred.

    ------------------------------

    Subject: 2.3. How 'bout them imprints? What's up with that?

    In order to accommodate a near-infinite number of different potential universes, RACC has adopted the reasonable convention of flagging fiction.
    This allows uninterested parties to skip some genres, and others to
    quickly find their niches of interest. The flag goes before the title of
    story issues, related FAQs or universe-specific discussions. Many flags
    refer to existing shared-universes. New ones will come up all the time.
    For the current list, see section 5 of this FAQ.

    Once you pick an imprint name, stick with it. The Archive and your legion
    of new fans will both be happier if you don't make marketing name changes.

    Regardless of flags all SEXUALLY EXPLICIT or PROFANITY-RICH stories should
    have huge warning labels at the beginning of text. Last thing we need is
    a Florida DA bringing us all up on charges. ;] Besides, it's only common courtesy. Note that if a story could reasonably be posted on
    alt.sex.stories, you've probably strayed a bit far from this group's
    interests.

    Some sort of flag, either an imprint name or a more general tag, is
    required on all posts and one will be added by the moderator if you don't provide one. Leaving one off requires the moderator to edit your post,
    though, which takes time and means your post will be delayed. So please
    save them the trouble and remember to add the tag yourself.

    ------------------------------

    Subject: 2.4. How do I archive my stories for posterity?

    Good news! It's already being done for you! (Or at least it will be if
    Russ ever catches up with the archiving.)

    In theory, every story posted to rec.arts.comics.creative is archived at <https://archives.eyrie.org/racc/>. Most imprints have their own
    directories, with the stories stored in directories under that (depending
    on the size of the imprint, the directories could be very structured or
    just one directory for each series). Some imprints may be collected in
    the misc directory.

    Unfortunately, this archive is substantially out of date. Russ hopes to eventually find time to update it.

    The exception is Superguy, which has its own archiving mechanism. The
    Superguy archives are at <https://archives.eyrie.org/superguy/>, but one
    of the best ways to access them is through the Autocollector at:

    <https://archives.eyrie.org/cgi-bin/superguy>

    ------------------------------

    Subject: 2.5. What do Copyright laws I pay taxes for do for me?

    I don't even play a lawyer on TV, but there are some things you should
    know about Copyright laws.

    Anything you write is copyrighted immediately, whether you flag it with a copyright notice or not. Furthermore, the copyright protection is international under the Berne Copyright Convention, which has been signed
    by nearly every country with access to Usenet.

    If you label your text as copyrighted, it preempts a possible
    "unintentional infringement" defense from plagarizers. The copyright
    notice is considered legal notice that you intend to retain your rights.
    The legal format for such a notice requires three things: Your name, the
    year, and one or more of the following: "Copyright," "Copr.," and/or the c-in-circle symbol. Note that there is no firm legal precedence for (C)
    or (c) as having any special copyright meaning. Example notice:

    Copyright 1994 Jeff J McCoskey

    The only way to get full legal protection (at least in the United States)
    is to register your work with the government (forms are free, filing fees apply). This *guarantees* an archived, dated copy should future legal
    action be necessary. Other forms of dating, like mailing yourself a copy
    or archiving (to get a date stamp), are of dubious and unproven legal
    value.

    An excellent resource for Copyright information is misc.legal, where a FAQ
    is posted monthly.

    Another excellent resource is the U.S. Copyright Office home page at:

    <https://www.copyright.gov/>

    ------------------------------

    Subject: 3. Netiquette for RACC

    As a rule of thumb, everything you've heard elsewhere about good
    netiquette applies here. We hate spammers (more in a minute), expect
    smilies when joking (except in stories of course), and in general expect
    you to conduct yourselves as good net.citizens. There are three things
    you need to know after you've mastered Basic Netiquette:

    1. The only times flames are accepted on RACC are when they are both
    morally defensible and amusing. Flames are not welcome if they do not
    meet the above criteria. Here on RACC there is one organization that
    acts as moral compass for acceptable flames: the Order of St. Doomas.

    The Order has defined one activity that is worthy of flame: spamming.
    One member of the Order (usually the first to his/her keyboard) will
    have the honors. Repetitive flaming by multiple members is frowned
    upon by the Order.

    To join this righteous crusade, all you need do is select a
    net.persona and flame. Incorrect flaming (i.e. at non-sanctioned
    targets, or with unamusing effect) will result in ostracization and
    excommunication. Watch the Order in action before joining and all
    will be clear.

    Now that the group has been moderated, most opportunities for flames
    are gone. But watch carefully; new ones may arise.

    2. Reviews of stories (even negative ones) are one of the most
    sought-after commodities on RACC. You will instantly win friends and
    influence people if you post reviews. But especially in the case of
    negative reviews, ensure you confine your review to the story and not
    the writer. Keep in mind as you write "that SUCKS" that someone
    worked long and hard on the text. They might want to know what worked
    and what didn't in their narrative but it's doubtful they want to hear
    how clever you can be in ripping them up.

    It's certain the rest of us don't.

    3. One of the best features of a shared universe is the opportunity to
    have your characters interact with others in that universe. This is
    a privilege, not a right. All characters on RACC (and their
    distinctive text-likenesses) are the full and exclusive property of
    their creators. This is not as dogmatic as it sounds, and we're all
    adults (or pretending to be). Cameos (non-speaking/non-plot affecting
    roles) do not typically require permission unless the creator desires
    it. Speaking roles should be previewed through email and approved by
    the creator before being posted.

    ------------------------------

    Subject: 4. Glossary

    These are terms you will see come up on RACC that have special meaning
    here. (For general net.terms and abbreviations, see the META RAC FAQ.)

    Acraphobe RACC's version of adult warning label. Yes, with an "a."
    Don't ask.

    Arc A multi-issue storyline.

    Archive ftp.eyrie.org, where nearly ALL the back issues live.

    Crossover A storyline that involves several titles and/or authors. Also
    the bane of all mankind.

    Elsewhirls An imaginary story. (Yeah yeah, we know they're ALL
    imaginary. How about "out-of-continuity"?)

    Fanfiction Fiction about established, trademarked universes and
    or fanfic characters that the author did not create -- in short, the
    sort of stories RACC *wasn't* designed for. There's a good
    list of newsgroups at the end of this FAQ that should help in
    finding a better group if this is what you want to write.

    Imprint The shared universe your story takes place in or subject your
    posting relates to (we have many to chose from). This is
    usually an all-caps prefix on the title of the posting.

    LNH The Legion of Net.Heroes. The immediate father of this group
    and the oldest of the Usenet-based writing universes (see
    Superguy).

    RAC* The rec.arts.comics.* hierarchy of newsgroups.

    RACC rec.arts.comics.creative. You're soaking in it!

    rACCIES The annual RACC fanfiction awards, as voted on by the readers
    or RACCies of this newsgroup.

    Repost Story has been posted before, natch.

    Superguy A mailing list that predates all other Internet comics-fiction
    forums. There is a good-natured rivalry between the LNH and
    this group.

    TEB Trade EtherBack. This is a collection of previously posted
    material, usually cleaned up and relating to a single story
    arc.

    Title A numerically increasing, continuing series. Usually
    involving one character, cast, city, or unifying concept.

    ------------------------------

    Subject: 5. List of Current Tags

    When choosing a tag to put at the beginning of your post, this list should
    be a canonical reference. If you see a need for a new tag, send mail to
    the FAQ maintainer so that it can be added.

    First, the general tags:

    ADMIN Administrative matters affecting everyone on RACC.

    FAQ FAQs of note for the entire RAC* hierarchy. These will tend
    to be crossposted here.

    META Discussion about the newsgroup itself. This includes
    or CHAT everything from general discussion of on-line fiction and RACC
    in particular to recommendations on how long posts should be.

    PRECOG Announcements of upcoming series, planned stories, and the
    or PROMO like.

    WWW Announcement of a web page related to RACC or a free strip.

    Now, all of the writing imprints. Note that new ones of these pop up all
    the time. Entries marked with (*) are in danger of being retired due to
    lack of activity. If you have any changes, please mail eagle@eyrie.org.

    8FOLD A closed universe that encompasses serious superheroes, comedy,
    memoir, and just about anything else: high-quality fiction of
    any stripe is welcome.

    ACRAPHOBE Mature stories that may or may not fit into other universes'
    or ACRA continuity. Using this flag in conjunction with another is
    not unheard of. (For example, Scav's _501 Blues_ is
    LNH/ACRAPHOBE.) Think a meta-Vertigo.

    ASH Academy of Super-Heroes. Dave Van Domelen's RPG-based future-
    history stories. See <https://www.eyrie.org/~dvandom/ASH>.

    ELSEWHIRLS LNH stories that do not fit into LNH continuity. Think DC's
    or EW Elseworlds.

    HCC The High Concept Challenge, a continuous series of writing
    contests. Each round, the winner, chosen by reader vote, gets
    to pick the next round's concept.

    LNH Legion of Net.Heroes, "The Friendliest Shared Universe
    Going!(TM)" A mostly parody universe, though it does have its
    serious side.

    LNH20 On the LNH's 20th anniversary, a group of writers took it upon
    themselves to create a new world, based in everything they
    loved about the LNH, in the best spirit of comic book reboots!
    LNH20 is just as friendly as the original, but easier to get
    into! Hop right in, the adventure's fine!

    LNHY An Imprint involving an alternate LNH universe called
    Looniverse Y. The big difference between this and the Classic
    LNH is that writers are allowed to have only one character of
    theirs in this Looniverse's LNH.

    RACCCafe A continuity-free outpust where RACC characters can unwind
    after a hard day of being mangled by their writers. Anything
    can happen, as long as it's funny, and there are no
    consequences!

    SG Superguy. From Space Moose to the Bomb. Comedy superhero
    writing with a far different background than LNH. Note that
    only a small slice of Superguy stuff appears here; to see the
    rest, go to <https://lists.eyrie.org/mailman/listinfo/superguy>.

    STARFALL Lightly serious and seriously light superheroics, and better
    because of it. ;)

    NTB Net.Trenchcoat.Brigade. A bunch of Vertigo-like characters
    that own stock in London Fog. Not tremendously active, but
    they do have a considerable history. Implied Acraphobe.

    OMEGA A serious psi-based shared super-world and once upon a time
    RACC's third largest universe, now inactive. Created by the
    legendary Matt Rossi.

    OSD The Order of Saint Doomas. Items relating to RACC's anti-spam
    cult. (See Section 3 above.) No posts have been seen from
    this imprint in quite some time, but that doesn't mean they're
    gone....

    SW10 SW stands for Superhuman World. 10 is an annual tag. The
    comic has proceeded to 2011, but the tag has frozen at 2010
    because that's when the series really interacted with RACC.
    Scott Eiler has written the story of this universe since
    before 1991, but 1991 is when the modern heroes of this series
    start. His sources include adolescent male power fantasy,
    superhero role-playing, comic-book satire, and dreams. See
    <http://www.eilertech.com/stories/>.

    MISC Stories not in the above categories or in their own universes
    (authors are encouraged to make up their own headers as well).
    To limit the number of imprints, and to keep this FAQ to
    reasonable lengths, let's adopt this convention: One-shot
    stories or series should use the MISC flag. Series that set
    up shared universes should create their own, new imprint.

    ------------------------------

    Subject: 6. People to Ask for Help

    The major header contacts are listed below, who will be glad to answer
    email question. Also keep your eyes peeled for FAQs specific to
    particular imprints. The FAQs are also often in the archive in a
    directory named "FAQs" under the imprint directory.

    Imprint Contact Email
    ------------ -------------------- ---------------------------------
    8FOLD Jamie Rosen jamie.rosen@sunlife.com
    8FOLD Tom Russell joltcity@gmail.com
    + ASH Dave Van Domelen dvandom@eyrie.org
    + LNH Andrew Perron pwerdna@gmail.com
    LNH20 Andrew Perron pwerdna@gmail.com
    + LNHY Arthur Spitzer arspitzer@earthlink.net
    + NTB Arthur Spitzer arspitzer@earthlink.net
    + RACChallenge Sean MacDonald mcdonald@vorteb.math.uab.edu
    + StarFall Ted Brock phantom_belcher@yahoo.com
    + Superguy Eric Burns eaburns@annotations.com
    SW10 Scott Eiler seiler@eilertech.com

    The Archive Russ Allbery eagle@eyrie.org
    Moderation RACC Moderation Team racc-request@eyrie.org

    + indicates separate FAQs are available for these imprints.

    If you need to contact the moderator directly, the contact information is:

    Russ Allbery <eagle@eyrie.org>

    If none of the above people help, or your questions are too general or specific, just email anyone you see posting here that seems to know what they're doing. (WARNING: This is rarely the case.)

    --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
    * Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)
  • From Russ Allbery@21:1/5 to All on Thu Jun 1 07:01:02 2023
    Last-modified: 2018-07-16
    Posted-by: postfaq 1.17 (Perl 5.28.1)
    Archive-name: comics/creative/faq
    URL: https://www.eyrie.org/~eagle/faqs/racc.html
    Posting-frequency: monthly

    ==========================================================================
    rec.arts.comics.creative Frequently Asked Questions
    Maintained by Russ Allbery <eagle@eyrie.org>
    Original by Jeff McCoskey ==========================================================================

    If you're reading this on Usenet, this FAQ is formatted as a minimal
    digest. If your newsreader has digest handling capabilities you can use
    them to navigate between sections. In rn variants, you can use Ctrl-G to
    skip to the next section; in Gnus, press Ctrl-D to break each section into
    a separate article. For other newsreaders, see the documentation.

    The latest version of this FAQ is available on the web at:

    <https://www.eyrie.org/~eagle/faqs/racc.html>

    Please send any comments, suggestions, or updates to eagle@eyrie.org.

    ------------------------------

    Subject: Contents

    1. Welcome to rec.arts.comics.creative!
    1.1. What is RACC for?
    1.2. What isn't RACC for?
    1.3. What is the RACC official charter?
    1.4. Where are the stories about Wolverine(tm)?
    1.5. Where are the old stories?
    1.6. How can I read RACC via e-mail?

    2. Writing for RACC (How do I get involved?)
    2.1. Cool! Okay, how do I post?
    2.2. Format! I'm nothing without format!
    2.3. How 'bout them imprints? What's up with that?
    2.4. How do I archive my stories for posterity?
    2.5. What do copyright laws I pay taxes for do for me?

    3. Netiquette for RACC

    4. Glossary

    5. List of current imprints

    6. People to ask for help

    ------------------------------

    Subject: 1. Welcome to rec.arts.comics.creative!

    Welcome to rec.arts.comics.creative, the newsgroup which could have been
    named rec.prose.shared-universe but wasn't, the newsgroup which has, to
    date, produced well over 30MB of entirely free original fiction (and
    that's compressed!), the newsgroup which has nearly nothing to do with
    your favorite comic books at all!

    You're about to go insane. Don't worry, it's fun.

    rec.arts.comics.creative (henceforth RACC) is a moderated newsgroup for comics-related original fiction and discussion of same, originally created unmoderated by Martin Phipps and a cast of thousands (well, dozens at
    least) and later converted to moderated to keep out the spam. Don't
    worry, even though it's a moderated group, it's still friendly, chatty,
    and not at all formal, and we go out of our way to keep it that way.

    The first group of this sort on the Internet was the Superguy mailing
    list, which is still in operation to this day (you'll see posts from it on
    this group from time to time). Later, the Legion of Net.Heroes (LNH)
    sprung out of a free-form thread on rec.arts.comics and spawned another newsgroup (alt.comics.lnh). They were quickly followed by a wide variety
    of other comics-based shared universes, including the Patrol, the Net.Trenchcoat.Brigade, and Omega. All of these organizations, in
    parallel, gathered together authors in shared universes and strongly
    influenced the nature of RACC.

    First and foremost, RACC is a site for people to post comics-related
    fiction. Stories about long-underwear vigilantes, anthropomorphic
    animals, SF, westerns, even Kleen Teens if anyone is so moved. As long as
    it relates to comics it's okay. So whether you're a reader, a writer, or
    that fabled creature the critic, or even all three -- welcome to RACC:
    it's all the story, none of the art! (yet)

    ------------------------------

    Subject: 1.1. What is RACC for?

    For the official charter, see section 1.3. Here's the long, readable
    version.

    One term that you'll see a lot is "shared universe." This is a shared
    story background, co-created by multiple authors and used as the
    "universe" in which multiple different stories are set. This is a
    trademark characteristic of most comic books (seen in its clearest form in
    the ubiquitous crossover, a story written by multiple authors at once and involving multiple characters who all have their own stories), as well as appearing in some other published fiction (such as Wild Cards, or Larry
    Niven's Man-Kzin Wars). Most (but not all) of the stories posted here
    take place in one of the established shared universes (there's a list
    later on in this FAQ), to the point where this style of writing is nearly characteristic of the group.

    Another term you'll see is "comics-related." Nearly all of the authors
    writing here drew their original (if not primary) inspiration from comic
    books. As a result, nearly all of the stories are on-going (published a chapter at a time), divided up into "issues" and given numbers, and
    organized into "imprints." Many people also describe covers or design
    ASCII graphic logos.

    There is no restriction on types of fiction. (That'd kinda take the
    creative out of RACC, wouldn't it?) You'll see stories run the gamut from slapstick comedy to grim'n'gritty Real Life Supers (TM). As long as it's
    about comics, set your pen free. (You'll see a lot of superhero fiction,
    but that just means that those of us who like reading other things as well
    are anxiously awaiting your non-superhero stories.)

    RACC is also for discussion of stories, both specific ones and in general.
    The critic and reader is one of the most sought-after types of people
    around here; if you give us feedback on our stories, good or bad, we'll
    love you forever.

    Finally, if you want to announce your free web strip here, we welcome
    those posts too. If you're trying to sell it, though, please try rec.arts.comics.marketplace or rec.arts.comics.strips instead. (And rec.arts.comics.strips may be a better group in general, as RACC readers
    are mostly interested in text fiction.)

    ------------------------------

    Subject: 1.2. What isn't RACC for?

    A lot of things. We're not for wars of attrition, Third World starvation,
    45 mph speed limits, and brussel sprout toothpaste. Closer to home, RACC
    is not for any of the following:

    * Discussion of existing, "professional" books (except as they relate
    to our fiction)

    * Marketplace-type I-wanna-buy/I-wanna-sell postings

    * Flames and personality conflicts. Critiques, yes. Flames, no.

    * Fiction about established, trademarked characters and universes,
    unless you created them or have written permission.

    * Erotica, no matter how much spandex you put in. There are other
    groups for that.

    ------------------------------

    Subject: 1.3. What is the RACC official charter?

    This newsgroup welcomes any form of comics-related original fiction and discussion of the same, including but not limited to stories in the many established shared universes. Discussion of on-line fiction as a whole is
    also welcome provided that it is related to the stories on the newsgroup.
    If they choose to write in an existing shared universe, writers are
    strongly encouranged to follow the existing continuity and rules of that universe. "Comics-related" will be interpreted very broadly, as has been traditional on the newsgroup.

    Each posting to rec.arts.comics.creative should include a keyword on the subject line either designating which shared universe the posting refers
    to or marking the general subject of the post (ADMIN, META, MISC, etc.).
    If a submitted post does not have a keyword, the moderator will add an appropriate keyword, but posters are encouraged to add keywords themselves
    to save moderation work.

    Large binaries, such as artwork, will not be allowed on the newsgroup.
    Instead, binaries can be made available in the newsgroup archive (subject
    to the discretion of the archivist) and a pointer posted to the newsgroup. Pointers to Web pages are also welcome, provided the content of the page
    is related to the purpose of the group.

    Stories using copyrighted or trademarked characters are explicitly not
    within the charter of this group and may be rejected unless the author
    owns the copyrights and trademarks or has written permission from the
    owner. Networking posts (artists seeking writers or writers seeking
    artists) are inappropriate in this group and should be sent to appropriate mailing lists or other groups in the rec.arts.comics.* hierarchy (rec.arts.comics.misc if there is no other more appropriate group).

    ------------------------------

    Subject: 1.4. Where are the stories about Wolverine(tm)?

    This is very important, so I'm going to yell it. RACC IS NOT THE PLACE
    FOR FICTION ABOUT ESTABLISHED, TRADEMARKED CHARACTERS. This includes all Marvel, Image, DC, what-have-you characters. RACC's charter expressly
    FORBIDS such fiction.

    The reason for this is the ongoing legislative battles about intellectual property and the Net. rec.* groups are picked up worldwide, and sysadmins
    do not want to draw lawsuits because someone wrote a story that violated trademark laws. Note that fanfic stories may or may not be lawful and/or prosecutable, WE JUST DON'T KNOW. They're still writing the laws.

    To forestall any confusion or debates, and to protect sysadmins from inadvertently becoming the test case, this provision was adopted as a key requirement for RACC's creation. If you really must write about existing, trademarked characters, there is alt.comics.fan-fiction waiting to receive
    you. alt.* groups get picked up by sysadmins voluntarily, so they
    presumedly know what risks they're taking.

    Nothing will draw this group's ire faster than violating this requirement.

    ------------------------------

    Subject: 1.5. Where are the old stories?

    Thanks to the tireless efforts and bottomless disk space of Russ Allbery,
    all stories posted to rec.arts.comics.creative are archived! This means stories will be preserved for future generations of readers, providing a
    link to the past. It is difficult to over-praise this contribution.

    (Note: Lest you think I would be so crass as to praise myself, I want to
    make sure you know that Jeff wrote that last paragraph. 'course, I didn't delete it either.)

    Older stories are sorted by universe and series and are available at:

    <https://archives.eyrie.org/racc/>

    All of the stories are compressed using gzip, but most browsers can automatically decompress them for you. This archive unfortunately hasn't
    been updated recently, but it does have all of the older stories.

    Every message to rec.arts.comics.creative, story or not, is archived at:

    <https://lists.eyrie.org/pipermail/racc/>

    in the form of a more traditional mailing list archive, so you can also
    look there if a story hasn't been saved in the story archive. This is the
    best way to find anything posted in the last few years. You can search
    the archive by prepending "site:lists.eyrie.org" to a regular Google
    search.

    Please note that stories will be removed from both the list archive and
    the story archive at the author's request if the author wants to take them down. This has happened in the past, sometimes because the author wanted
    to sell the stories to a professional venue.

    ------------------------------

    Subject: 1.6. How can I read RACC via e-mail?

    Everything that shows up in RACC also shows up in its associated mailing
    list (and vice versa), so if you want to be sure not to miss anything, or
    if you just prefer e-mail to Usenet, you can subscribe to that mailing
    list.

    To do that, go to:

    <https://lists.eyrie.org/mailman/listinfo/racc>

    and fill out the form to subscribe. Alternately, you can subscribe via
    e-mail by sending mail to racc-request@lists.eyrie.org with the word:

    subscribe

    in the subject of the message. You then can read and reply to posts just
    as if the newsgroup were a mailing list. It's all the same to us.

    ------------------------------

    Subject: 2. Writing for RACC (How do I get involved?)

    Write a story. Post it. You're involved.

    This assumes you want to create your own universe to write in. If you
    want to join a pre-existing shared universe, it's a little more involved.

    Many of the imprints have FAQs of their own (OMEGA, Superguy, LNH,
    Crossroads to name a few). These get posted periodically. The first
    thing you should do is read these documents to get a feel for what these specific universes are like.

    The next thing you should do is _read_ the universe in question. This
    includes tapping the archives for back issues. No one would suggest you
    read the entire Superguy or LNH archives before writing, but definitely
    try to sample a large cross-section.

    Lastly, email some of the creators you see writing under a specific
    imprint. They will be able to tell you if your concept fits with their universe or not, and perhaps refer you to a more appropriate universe if necessary.

    THEN write a story and post it.

    ------------------------------

    Subject: 2.1. Cool! Okay, how do I post?

    RACC is a moderated newsgroup, which means that every post goes to the moderators first. If your site correctly has the group marked as
    moderated, you should be able to post just like you post to any other
    group and your news server will take care of the rest. If you have a Unix shell account, you can check if the group is correctly marked as moderated
    by typing:

    nntplist active | grep rec.arts.comics.creative

    If the last character on the resulting line is an "m," congratulations,
    you have a good news administrator. If it's a "y," send mail to your
    local computing support people and ask them to convert the group to
    moderated like it should be.

    If you don't have a Unix shell account, some newsreaders will also tell
    you if the group is moderated.

    If, for any reason, you have trouble posting or your site *doesn't* have
    the group marked as moderated, you can mail your post to racc@eyrie.org
    instead and it will be posted for you.

    Because the group is moderated, it can be up to a day after you post
    before your article is actually posted, and it can take a few more days
    for the article to propagate back to you. So don't be surprised if it
    doesn't show up right away.

    Many readers of rec.arts.comics.creative use Google Groups to read and
    post. While this works, and I know it's convenient, Google Groups also
    deletes anything enclosed in square brackets ([]) at the beginning of
    Subject lines in replies. If you use Google Groups, please try to
    remember to put back the imprint tags when you reply to posts; otherwise,
    I have to add them as the moderator.

    ------------------------------

    Subject: 2.2. Format! I'm nothing without format!

    Formatting is pretty loose. Since this is a comics newsgroup, you will
    hear people refer to their stories as "issues." Postings tend to run in numerical order just like comic books, and many people write continuing
    series. For example there are 25 "issues" in Drizzt's _Continuity Champ
    and the Drizzt's Defenders_ series.

    Stories don't have to be series though. One-shots, mini-series,
    maxi-series, crossovers -- all of these have been done before and will be
    done again.

    The subjects of postings should follow the convention of naming the
    imprint the title and the number. For example:

    LNH: System Corruptors #15, The Bard's Tale
    imprint --^ ^ ^ ^
    title --------------| | |
    number -------------------------| |
    subtitle/comment/etc [optional] -------|

    Since the archive mechanism relies heavily on this format (not to mention
    the format-accustomed eyes of this group's readers), please follow this strictly, including the use of the #-sign. Subtitles, alternate titles,
    and title comments should follow the number if they are used at all. If
    you want to, you can use [TAG] instead of TAG: at the beginning of the
    subject; it's all the same to the archiver. (TAG: causes a few fewer
    problems than [TAG] with Google Groups.)

    Occasionally, instead of (or in addition to) a number you will see "TEB."
    This stands for "Trade EtherBack." It means the posting is actually a collection of previously posted issues -- usually cleaned up and relating
    to a single story arc.

    Inside your story do what you will. Some folks run fake ads, others use
    cheesy ASCII graphics, some just use text. A word of advice: On
    older/more primitive newsreaders your text is MUCH easier to read if you
    space between paragraphs. On the other hand, some newer newsreader
    readers find the spaces jarring. The moral? You can't please all the
    people all the time. In general spaces seem to be more preferred.

    ------------------------------

    Subject: 2.3. How 'bout them imprints? What's up with that?

    In order to accommodate a near-infinite number of different potential universes, RACC has adopted the reasonable convention of flagging fiction.
    This allows uninterested parties to skip some genres, and others to
    quickly find their niches of interest. The flag goes before the title of
    story issues, related FAQs or universe-specific discussions. Many flags
    refer to existing shared-universes. New ones will come up all the time.
    For the current list, see section 5 of this FAQ.

    Once you pick an imprint name, stick with it. The Archive and your legion
    of new fans will both be happier if you don't make marketing name changes.

    Regardless of flags all SEXUALLY EXPLICIT or PROFANITY-RICH stories should
    have huge warning labels at the beginning of text. Last thing we need is
    a Florida DA bringing us all up on charges. ;] Besides, it's only common courtesy. Note that if a story could reasonably be posted on
    alt.sex.stories, you've probably strayed a bit far from this group's
    interests.

    Some sort of flag, either an imprint name or a more general tag, is
    required on all posts and one will be added by the moderator if you don't provide one. Leaving one off requires the moderator to edit your post,
    though, which takes time and means your post will be delayed. So please
    save them the trouble and remember to add the tag yourself.

    ------------------------------

    Subject: 2.4. How do I archive my stories for posterity?

    Good news! It's already being done for you! (Or at least it will be if
    Russ ever catches up with the archiving.)

    In theory, every story posted to rec.arts.comics.creative is archived at <https://archives.eyrie.org/racc/>. Most imprints have their own
    directories, with the stories stored in directories under that (depending
    on the size of the imprint, the directories could be very structured or
    just one directory for each series). Some imprints may be collected in
    the misc directory.

    Unfortunately, this archive is substantially out of date. Russ hopes to eventually find time to update it.

    The exception is Superguy, which has its own archiving mechanism. The
    Superguy archives are at <https://archives.eyrie.org/superguy/>, but one
    of the best ways to access them is through the Autocollector at:

    <https://archives.eyrie.org/cgi-bin/superguy>

    ------------------------------

    Subject: 2.5. What do Copyright laws I pay taxes for do for me?

    I don't even play a lawyer on TV, but there are some things you should
    know about Copyright laws.

    Anything you write is copyrighted immediately, whether you flag it with a copyright notice or not. Furthermore, the copyright protection is international under the Berne Copyright Convention, which has been signed
    by nearly every country with access to Usenet.

    If you label your text as copyrighted, it preempts a possible
    "unintentional infringement" defense from plagarizers. The copyright
    notice is considered legal notice that you intend to retain your rights.
    The legal format for such a notice requires three things: Your name, the
    year, and one or more of the following: "Copyright," "Copr.," and/or the c-in-circle symbol. Note that there is no firm legal precedence for (C)
    or (c) as having any special copyright meaning. Example notice:

    Copyright 1994 Jeff J McCoskey

    The only way to get full legal protection (at least in the United States)
    is to register your work with the government (forms are free, filing fees apply). This *guarantees* an archived, dated copy should future legal
    action be necessary. Other forms of dating, like mailing yourself a copy
    or archiving (to get a date stamp), are of dubious and unproven legal
    value.

    An excellent resource for Copyright information is misc.legal, where a FAQ
    is posted monthly.

    Another excellent resource is the U.S. Copyright Office home page at:

    <https://www.copyright.gov/>

    ------------------------------

    Subject: 3. Netiquette for RACC

    As a rule of thumb, everything you've heard elsewhere about good
    netiquette applies here. We hate spammers (more in a minute), expect
    smilies when joking (except in stories of course), and in general expect
    you to conduct yourselves as good net.citizens. There are three things
    you need to know after you've mastered Basic Netiquette:

    1. The only times flames are accepted on RACC are when they are both
    morally defensible and amusing. Flames are not welcome if they do not
    meet the above criteria. Here on RACC there is one organization that
    acts as moral compass for acceptable flames: the Order of St. Doomas.

    The Order has defined one activity that is worthy of flame: spamming.
    One member of the Order (usually the first to his/her keyboard) will
    have the honors. Repetitive flaming by multiple members is frowned
    upon by the Order.

    To join this righteous crusade, all you need do is select a
    net.persona and flame. Incorrect flaming (i.e. at non-sanctioned
    targets, or with unamusing effect) will result in ostracization and
    excommunication. Watch the Order in action before joining and all
    will be clear.

    Now that the group has been moderated, most opportunities for flames
    are gone. But watch carefully; new ones may arise.

    2. Reviews of stories (even negative ones) are one of the most
    sought-after commodities on RACC. You will instantly win friends and
    influence people if you post reviews. But especially in the case of
    negative reviews, ensure you confine your review to the story and not
    the writer. Keep in mind as you write "that SUCKS" that someone
    worked long and hard on the text. They might want to know what worked
    and what didn't in their narrative but it's doubtful they want to hear
    how clever you can be in ripping them up.

    It's certain the rest of us don't.

    3. One of the best features of a shared universe is the opportunity to
    have your characters interact with others in that universe. This is
    a privilege, not a right. All characters on RACC (and their
    distinctive text-likenesses) are the full and exclusive property of
    their creators. This is not as dogmatic as it sounds, and we're all
    adults (or pretending to be). Cameos (non-speaking/non-plot affecting
    roles) do not typically require permission unless the creator desires
    it. Speaking roles should be previewed through email and approved by
    the creator before being posted.

    ------------------------------

    Subject: 4. Glossary

    These are terms you will see come up on RACC that have special meaning
    here. (For general net.terms and abbreviations, see the META RAC FAQ.)

    Acraphobe RACC's version of adult warning label. Yes, with an "a."
    Don't ask.

    Arc A multi-issue storyline.

    Archive ftp.eyrie.org, where nearly ALL the back issues live.

    Crossover A storyline that involves several titles and/or authors. Also
    the bane of all mankind.

    Elsewhirls An imaginary story. (Yeah yeah, we know they're ALL
    imaginary. How about "out-of-continuity"?)

    Fanfiction Fiction about established, trademarked universes and
    or fanfic characters that the author did not create -- in short, the
    sort of stories RACC *wasn't* designed for. There's a good
    list of newsgroups at the end of this FAQ that should help in
    finding a better group if this is what you want to write.

    Imprint The shared universe your story takes place in or subject your
    posting relates to (we have many to chose from). This is
    usually an all-caps prefix on the title of the posting.

    LNH The Legion of Net.Heroes. The immediate father of this group
    and the oldest of the Usenet-based writing universes (see
    Superguy).

    RAC* The rec.arts.comics.* hierarchy of newsgroups.

    RACC rec.arts.comics.creative. You're soaking in it!

    rACCIES The annual RACC fanfiction awards, as voted on by the readers
    or RACCies of this newsgroup.

    Repost Story has been posted before, natch.

    Superguy A mailing list that predates all other Internet comics-fiction
    forums. There is a good-natured rivalry between the LNH and
    this group.

    TEB Trade EtherBack. This is a collection of previously posted
    material, usually cleaned up and relating to a single story
    arc.

    Title A numerically increasing, continuing series. Usually
    involving one character, cast, city, or unifying concept.

    ------------------------------

    Subject: 5. List of Current Tags

    When choosing a tag to put at the beginning of your post, this list should
    be a canonical reference. If you see a need for a new tag, send mail to
    the FAQ maintainer so that it can be added.

    First, the general tags:

    ADMIN Administrative matters affecting everyone on RACC.

    FAQ FAQs of note for the entire RAC* hierarchy. These will tend
    to be crossposted here.

    META Discussion about the newsgroup itself. This includes
    or CHAT everything from general discussion of on-line fiction and RACC
    in particular to recommendations on how long posts should be.

    PRECOG Announcements of upcoming series, planned stories, and the
    or PROMO like.

    WWW Announcement of a web page related to RACC or a free strip.

    Now, all of the writing imprints. Note that new ones of these pop up all
    the time. Entries marked with (*) are in danger of being retired due to
    lack of activity. If you have any changes, please mail eagle@eyrie.org.

    8FOLD A closed universe that encompasses serious superheroes, comedy,
    memoir, and just about anything else: high-quality fiction of
    any stripe is welcome.

    ACRAPHOBE Mature stories that may or may not fit into other universes'
    or ACRA continuity. Using this flag in conjunction with another is
    not unheard of. (For example, Scav's _501 Blues_ is
    LNH/ACRAPHOBE.) Think a meta-Vertigo.

    ASH Academy of Super-Heroes. Dave Van Domelen's RPG-based future-
    history stories. See <https://www.eyrie.org/~dvandom/ASH>.

    ELSEWHIRLS LNH stories that do not fit into LNH continuity. Think DC's
    or EW Elseworlds.

    HCC The High Concept Challenge, a continuous series of writing
    contests. Each round, the winner, chosen by reader vote, gets
    to pick the next round's concept.

    LNH Legion of Net.Heroes, "The Friendliest Shared Universe
    Going!(TM)" A mostly parody universe, though it does have its
    serious side.

    LNH20 On the LNH's 20th anniversary, a group of writers took it upon
    themselves to create a new world, based in everything they
    loved about the LNH, in the best spirit of comic book reboots!
    LNH20 is just as friendly as the original, but easier to get
    into! Hop right in, the adventure's fine!

    LNHY An Imprint involving an alternate LNH universe called
    Looniverse Y. The big difference between this and the Classic
    LNH is that writers are allowed to have only one character of
    theirs in this Looniverse's LNH.

    RACCCafe A continuity-free outpust where RACC characters can unwind
    after a hard day of being mangled by their writers. Anything
    can happen, as long as it's funny, and there are no
    consequences!

    SG Superguy. From Space Moose to the Bomb. Comedy superhero
    writing with a far different background than LNH. Note that
    only a small slice of Superguy stuff appears here; to see the
    rest, go to <https://lists.eyrie.org/mailman/listinfo/superguy>.

    STARFALL Lightly serious and seriously light superheroics, and better
    because of it. ;)

    NTB Net.Trenchcoat.Brigade. A bunch of Vertigo-like characters
    that own stock in London Fog. Not tremendously active, but
    they do have a considerable history. Implied Acraphobe.

    OMEGA A serious psi-based shared super-world and once upon a time
    RACC's third largest universe, now inactive. Created by the
    legendary Matt Rossi.

    OSD The Order of Saint Doomas. Items relating to RACC's anti-spam
    cult. (See Section 3 above.) No posts have been seen from
    this imprint in quite some time, but that doesn't mean they're
    gone....

    SW10 SW stands for Superhuman World. 10 is an annual tag. The
    comic has proceeded to 2011, but the tag has frozen at 2010
    because that's when the series really interacted with RACC.
    Scott Eiler has written the story of this universe since
    before 1991, but 1991 is when the modern heroes of this series
    start. His sources include adolescent male power fantasy,
    superhero role-playing, comic-book satire, and dreams. See
    <http://www.eilertech.com/stories/>.

    MISC Stories not in the above categories or in their own universes
    (authors are encouraged to make up their own headers as well).
    To limit the number of imprints, and to keep this FAQ to
    reasonable lengths, let's adopt this convention: One-shot
    stories or series should use the MISC flag. Series that set
    up shared universes should create their own, new imprint.

    ------------------------------

    Subject: 6. People to Ask for Help

    The major header contacts are listed below, who will be glad to answer
    email question. Also keep your eyes peeled for FAQs specific to
    particular imprints. The FAQs are also often in the archive in a
    directory named "FAQs" under the imprint directory.

    Imprint Contact Email
    ------------ -------------------- ---------------------------------
    8FOLD Jamie Rosen jamie.rosen@sunlife.com
    8FOLD Tom Russell joltcity@gmail.com
    + ASH Dave Van Domelen dvandom@eyrie.org
    + LNH Andrew Perron pwerdna@gmail.com
    LNH20 Andrew Perron pwerdna@gmail.com
    + LNHY Arthur Spitzer arspitzer@earthlink.net
    + NTB Arthur Spitzer arspitzer@earthlink.net
    + RACChallenge Sean MacDonald mcdonald@vorteb.math.uab.edu
    + StarFall Ted Brock phantom_belcher@yahoo.com
    + Superguy Eric Burns eaburns@annotations.com
    SW10 Scott Eiler seiler@eilertech.com

    The Archive Russ Allbery eagle@eyrie.org
    Moderation RACC Moderation Team racc-request@eyrie.org

    + indicates separate FAQs are available for these imprints.

    If you need to contact the moderator directly, the contact information is:

    Russ Allbery <eagle@eyrie.org>

    If none of the above people help, or your questions are too general or specific, just email anyone you see posting here that seems to know what they're doing. (WARNING: This is rarely the case.)

    --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
    * Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)
  • From Russ Allbery@21:1/5 to All on Sat Jul 1 07:01:02 2023
    Last-modified: 2018-07-16
    Posted-by: postfaq 1.17 (Perl 5.28.1)
    Archive-name: comics/creative/faq
    URL: https://www.eyrie.org/~eagle/faqs/racc.html
    Posting-frequency: monthly

    ==========================================================================
    rec.arts.comics.creative Frequently Asked Questions
    Maintained by Russ Allbery <eagle@eyrie.org>
    Original by Jeff McCoskey ==========================================================================

    If you're reading this on Usenet, this FAQ is formatted as a minimal
    digest. If your newsreader has digest handling capabilities you can use
    them to navigate between sections. In rn variants, you can use Ctrl-G to
    skip to the next section; in Gnus, press Ctrl-D to break each section into
    a separate article. For other newsreaders, see the documentation.

    The latest version of this FAQ is available on the web at:

    <https://www.eyrie.org/~eagle/faqs/racc.html>

    Please send any comments, suggestions, or updates to eagle@eyrie.org.

    ------------------------------

    Subject: Contents

    1. Welcome to rec.arts.comics.creative!
    1.1. What is RACC for?
    1.2. What isn't RACC for?
    1.3. What is the RACC official charter?
    1.4. Where are the stories about Wolverine(tm)?
    1.5. Where are the old stories?
    1.6. How can I read RACC via e-mail?

    2. Writing for RACC (How do I get involved?)
    2.1. Cool! Okay, how do I post?
    2.2. Format! I'm nothing without format!
    2.3. How 'bout them imprints? What's up with that?
    2.4. How do I archive my stories for posterity?
    2.5. What do copyright laws I pay taxes for do for me?

    3. Netiquette for RACC

    4. Glossary

    5. List of current imprints

    6. People to ask for help

    ------------------------------

    Subject: 1. Welcome to rec.arts.comics.creative!

    Welcome to rec.arts.comics.creative, the newsgroup which could have been
    named rec.prose.shared-universe but wasn't, the newsgroup which has, to
    date, produced well over 30MB of entirely free original fiction (and
    that's compressed!), the newsgroup which has nearly nothing to do with
    your favorite comic books at all!

    You're about to go insane. Don't worry, it's fun.

    rec.arts.comics.creative (henceforth RACC) is a moderated newsgroup for comics-related original fiction and discussion of same, originally created unmoderated by Martin Phipps and a cast of thousands (well, dozens at
    least) and later converted to moderated to keep out the spam. Don't
    worry, even though it's a moderated group, it's still friendly, chatty,
    and not at all formal, and we go out of our way to keep it that way.

    The first group of this sort on the Internet was the Superguy mailing
    list, which is still in operation to this day (you'll see posts from it on
    this group from time to time). Later, the Legion of Net.Heroes (LNH)
    sprung out of a free-form thread on rec.arts.comics and spawned another newsgroup (alt.comics.lnh). They were quickly followed by a wide variety
    of other comics-based shared universes, including the Patrol, the Net.Trenchcoat.Brigade, and Omega. All of these organizations, in
    parallel, gathered together authors in shared universes and strongly
    influenced the nature of RACC.

    First and foremost, RACC is a site for people to post comics-related
    fiction. Stories about long-underwear vigilantes, anthropomorphic
    animals, SF, westerns, even Kleen Teens if anyone is so moved. As long as
    it relates to comics it's okay. So whether you're a reader, a writer, or
    that fabled creature the critic, or even all three -- welcome to RACC:
    it's all the story, none of the art! (yet)

    ------------------------------

    Subject: 1.1. What is RACC for?

    For the official charter, see section 1.3. Here's the long, readable
    version.

    One term that you'll see a lot is "shared universe." This is a shared
    story background, co-created by multiple authors and used as the
    "universe" in which multiple different stories are set. This is a
    trademark characteristic of most comic books (seen in its clearest form in
    the ubiquitous crossover, a story written by multiple authors at once and involving multiple characters who all have their own stories), as well as appearing in some other published fiction (such as Wild Cards, or Larry
    Niven's Man-Kzin Wars). Most (but not all) of the stories posted here
    take place in one of the established shared universes (there's a list
    later on in this FAQ), to the point where this style of writing is nearly characteristic of the group.

    Another term you'll see is "comics-related." Nearly all of the authors
    writing here drew their original (if not primary) inspiration from comic
    books. As a result, nearly all of the stories are on-going (published a chapter at a time), divided up into "issues" and given numbers, and
    organized into "imprints." Many people also describe covers or design
    ASCII graphic logos.

    There is no restriction on types of fiction. (That'd kinda take the
    creative out of RACC, wouldn't it?) You'll see stories run the gamut from slapstick comedy to grim'n'gritty Real Life Supers (TM). As long as it's
    about comics, set your pen free. (You'll see a lot of superhero fiction,
    but that just means that those of us who like reading other things as well
    are anxiously awaiting your non-superhero stories.)

    RACC is also for discussion of stories, both specific ones and in general.
    The critic and reader is one of the most sought-after types of people
    around here; if you give us feedback on our stories, good or bad, we'll
    love you forever.

    Finally, if you want to announce your free web strip here, we welcome
    those posts too. If you're trying to sell it, though, please try rec.arts.comics.marketplace or rec.arts.comics.strips instead. (And rec.arts.comics.strips may be a better group in general, as RACC readers
    are mostly interested in text fiction.)

    ------------------------------

    Subject: 1.2. What isn't RACC for?

    A lot of things. We're not for wars of attrition, Third World starvation,
    45 mph speed limits, and brussel sprout toothpaste. Closer to home, RACC
    is not for any of the following:

    * Discussion of existing, "professional" books (except as they relate
    to our fiction)

    * Marketplace-type I-wanna-buy/I-wanna-sell postings

    * Flames and personality conflicts. Critiques, yes. Flames, no.

    * Fiction about established, trademarked characters and universes,
    unless you created them or have written permission.

    * Erotica, no matter how much spandex you put in. There are other
    groups for that.

    ------------------------------

    Subject: 1.3. What is the RACC official charter?

    This newsgroup welcomes any form of comics-related original fiction and discussion of the same, including but not limited to stories in the many established shared universes. Discussion of on-line fiction as a whole is
    also welcome provided that it is related to the stories on the newsgroup.
    If they choose to write in an existing shared universe, writers are
    strongly encouranged to follow the existing continuity and rules of that universe. "Comics-related" will be interpreted very broadly, as has been traditional on the newsgroup.

    Each posting to rec.arts.comics.creative should include a keyword on the subject line either designating which shared universe the posting refers
    to or marking the general subject of the post (ADMIN, META, MISC, etc.).
    If a submitted post does not have a keyword, the moderator will add an appropriate keyword, but posters are encouraged to add keywords themselves
    to save moderation work.

    Large binaries, such as artwork, will not be allowed on the newsgroup.
    Instead, binaries can be made available in the newsgroup archive (subject
    to the discretion of the archivist) and a pointer posted to the newsgroup. Pointers to Web pages are also welcome, provided the content of the page
    is related to the purpose of the group.

    Stories using copyrighted or trademarked characters are explicitly not
    within the charter of this group and may be rejected unless the author
    owns the copyrights and trademarks or has written permission from the
    owner. Networking posts (artists seeking writers or writers seeking
    artists) are inappropriate in this group and should be sent to appropriate mailing lists or other groups in the rec.arts.comics.* hierarchy (rec.arts.comics.misc if there is no other more appropriate group).

    ------------------------------

    Subject: 1.4. Where are the stories about Wolverine(tm)?

    This is very important, so I'm going to yell it. RACC IS NOT THE PLACE
    FOR FICTION ABOUT ESTABLISHED, TRADEMARKED CHARACTERS. This includes all Marvel, Image, DC, what-have-you characters. RACC's charter expressly
    FORBIDS such fiction.

    The reason for this is the ongoing legislative battles about intellectual property and the Net. rec.* groups are picked up worldwide, and sysadmins
    do not want to draw lawsuits because someone wrote a story that violated trademark laws. Note that fanfic stories may or may not be lawful and/or prosecutable, WE JUST DON'T KNOW. They're still writing the laws.

    To forestall any confusion or debates, and to protect sysadmins from inadvertently becoming the test case, this provision was adopted as a key requirement for RACC's creation. If you really must write about existing, trademarked characters, there is alt.comics.fan-fiction waiting to receive
    you. alt.* groups get picked up by sysadmins voluntarily, so they
    presumedly know what risks they're taking.

    Nothing will draw this group's ire faster than violating this requirement.

    ------------------------------

    Subject: 1.5. Where are the old stories?

    Thanks to the tireless efforts and bottomless disk space of Russ Allbery,
    all stories posted to rec.arts.comics.creative are archived! This means stories will be preserved for future generations of readers, providing a
    link to the past. It is difficult to over-praise this contribution.

    (Note: Lest you think I would be so crass as to praise myself, I want to
    make sure you know that Jeff wrote that last paragraph. 'course, I didn't delete it either.)

    Older stories are sorted by universe and series and are available at:

    <https://archives.eyrie.org/racc/>

    All of the stories are compressed using gzip, but most browsers can automatically decompress them for you. This archive unfortunately hasn't
    been updated recently, but it does have all of the older stories.

    Every message to rec.arts.comics.creative, story or not, is archived at:

    <https://lists.eyrie.org/pipermail/racc/>

    in the form of a more traditional mailing list archive, so you can also
    look there if a story hasn't been saved in the story archive. This is the
    best way to find anything posted in the last few years. You can search
    the archive by prepending "site:lists.eyrie.org" to a regular Google
    search.

    Please note that stories will be removed from both the list archive and
    the story archive at the author's request if the author wants to take them down. This has happened in the past, sometimes because the author wanted
    to sell the stories to a professional venue.

    ------------------------------

    Subject: 1.6. How can I read RACC via e-mail?

    Everything that shows up in RACC also shows up in its associated mailing
    list (and vice versa), so if you want to be sure not to miss anything, or
    if you just prefer e-mail to Usenet, you can subscribe to that mailing
    list.

    To do that, go to:

    <https://lists.eyrie.org/mailman/listinfo/racc>

    and fill out the form to subscribe. Alternately, you can subscribe via
    e-mail by sending mail to racc-request@lists.eyrie.org with the word:

    subscribe

    in the subject of the message. You then can read and reply to posts just
    as if the newsgroup were a mailing list. It's all the same to us.

    ------------------------------

    Subject: 2. Writing for RACC (How do I get involved?)

    Write a story. Post it. You're involved.

    This assumes you want to create your own universe to write in. If you
    want to join a pre-existing shared universe, it's a little more involved.

    Many of the imprints have FAQs of their own (OMEGA, Superguy, LNH,
    Crossroads to name a few). These get posted periodically. The first
    thing you should do is read these documents to get a feel for what these specific universes are like.

    The next thing you should do is _read_ the universe in question. This
    includes tapping the archives for back issues. No one would suggest you
    read the entire Superguy or LNH archives before writing, but definitely
    try to sample a large cross-section.

    Lastly, email some of the creators you see writing under a specific
    imprint. They will be able to tell you if your concept fits with their universe or not, and perhaps refer you to a more appropriate universe if necessary.

    THEN write a story and post it.

    ------------------------------

    Subject: 2.1. Cool! Okay, how do I post?

    RACC is a moderated newsgroup, which means that every post goes to the moderators first. If your site correctly has the group marked as
    moderated, you should be able to post just like you post to any other
    group and your news server will take care of the rest. If you have a Unix shell account, you can check if the group is correctly marked as moderated
    by typing:

    nntplist active | grep rec.arts.comics.creative

    If the last character on the resulting line is an "m," congratulations,
    you have a good news administrator. If it's a "y," send mail to your
    local computing support people and ask them to convert the group to
    moderated like it should be.

    If you don't have a Unix shell account, some newsreaders will also tell
    you if the group is moderated.

    If, for any reason, you have trouble posting or your site *doesn't* have
    the group marked as moderated, you can mail your post to racc@eyrie.org
    instead and it will be posted for you.

    Because the group is moderated, it can be up to a day after you post
    before your article is actually posted, and it can take a few more days
    for the article to propagate back to you. So don't be surprised if it
    doesn't show up right away.

    Many readers of rec.arts.comics.creative use Google Groups to read and
    post. While this works, and I know it's convenient, Google Groups also
    deletes anything enclosed in square brackets ([]) at the beginning of
    Subject lines in replies. If you use Google Groups, please try to
    remember to put back the imprint tags when you reply to posts; otherwise,
    I have to add them as the moderator.

    ------------------------------

    Subject: 2.2. Format! I'm nothing without format!

    Formatting is pretty loose. Since this is a comics newsgroup, you will
    hear people refer to their stories as "issues." Postings tend to run in numerical order just like comic books, and many people write continuing
    series. For example there are 25 "issues" in Drizzt's _Continuity Champ
    and the Drizzt's Defenders_ series.

    Stories don't have to be series though. One-shots, mini-series,
    maxi-series, crossovers -- all of these have been done before and will be
    done again.

    The subjects of postings should follow the convention of naming the
    imprint the title and the number. For example:

    LNH: System Corruptors #15, The Bard's Tale
    imprint --^ ^ ^ ^
    title --------------| | |
    number -------------------------| |
    subtitle/comment/etc [optional] -------|

    Since the archive mechanism relies heavily on this format (not to mention
    the format-accustomed eyes of this group's readers), please follow this strictly, including the use of the #-sign. Subtitles, alternate titles,
    and title comments should follow the number if they are used at all. If
    you want to, you can use [TAG] instead of TAG: at the beginning of the
    subject; it's all the same to the archiver. (TAG: causes a few fewer
    problems than [TAG] with Google Groups.)

    Occasionally, instead of (or in addition to) a number you will see "TEB."
    This stands for "Trade EtherBack." It means the posting is actually a collection of previously posted issues -- usually cleaned up and relating
    to a single story arc.

    Inside your story do what you will. Some folks run fake ads, others use
    cheesy ASCII graphics, some just use text. A word of advice: On
    older/more primitive newsreaders your text is MUCH easier to read if you
    space between paragraphs. On the other hand, some newer newsreader
    readers find the spaces jarring. The moral? You can't please all the
    people all the time. In general spaces seem to be more preferred.

    ------------------------------

    Subject: 2.3. How 'bout them imprints? What's up with that?

    In order to accommodate a near-infinite number of different potential universes, RACC has adopted the reasonable convention of flagging fiction.
    This allows uninterested parties to skip some genres, and others to
    quickly find their niches of interest. The flag goes before the title of
    story issues, related FAQs or universe-specific discussions. Many flags
    refer to existing shared-universes. New ones will come up all the time.
    For the current list, see section 5 of this FAQ.

    Once you pick an imprint name, stick with it. The Archive and your legion
    of new fans will both be happier if you don't make marketing name changes.

    Regardless of flags all SEXUALLY EXPLICIT or PROFANITY-RICH stories should
    have huge warning labels at the beginning of text. Last thing we need is
    a Florida DA bringing us all up on charges. ;] Besides, it's only common courtesy. Note that if a story could reasonably be posted on
    alt.sex.stories, you've probably strayed a bit far from this group's
    interests.

    Some sort of flag, either an imprint name or a more general tag, is
    required on all posts and one will be added by the moderator if you don't provide one. Leaving one off requires the moderator to edit your post,
    though, which takes time and means your post will be delayed. So please
    save them the trouble and remember to add the tag yourself.

    ------------------------------

    Subject: 2.4. How do I archive my stories for posterity?

    Good news! It's already being done for you! (Or at least it will be if
    Russ ever catches up with the archiving.)

    In theory, every story posted to rec.arts.comics.creative is archived at <https://archives.eyrie.org/racc/>. Most imprints have their own
    directories, with the stories stored in directories under that (depending
    on the size of the imprint, the directories could be very structured or
    just one directory for each series). Some imprints may be collected in
    the misc directory.

    Unfortunately, this archive is substantially out of date. Russ hopes to eventually find time to update it.

    The exception is Superguy, which has its own archiving mechanism. The
    Superguy archives are at <https://archives.eyrie.org/superguy/>, but one
    of the best ways to access them is through the Autocollector at:

    <https://archives.eyrie.org/cgi-bin/superguy>

    ------------------------------

    Subject: 2.5. What do Copyright laws I pay taxes for do for me?

    I don't even play a lawyer on TV, but there are some things you should
    know about Copyright laws.

    Anything you write is copyrighted immediately, whether you flag it with a copyright notice or not. Furthermore, the copyright protection is international under the Berne Copyright Convention, which has been signed
    by nearly every country with access to Usenet.

    If you label your text as copyrighted, it preempts a possible
    "unintentional infringement" defense from plagarizers. The copyright
    notice is considered legal notice that you intend to retain your rights.
    The legal format for such a notice requires three things: Your name, the
    year, and one or more of the following: "Copyright," "Copr.," and/or the c-in-circle symbol. Note that there is no firm legal precedence for (C)
    or (c) as having any special copyright meaning. Example notice:

    Copyright 1994 Jeff J McCoskey

    The only way to get full legal protection (at least in the United States)
    is to register your work with the government (forms are free, filing fees apply). This *guarantees* an archived, dated copy should future legal
    action be necessary. Other forms of dating, like mailing yourself a copy
    or archiving (to get a date stamp), are of dubious and unproven legal
    value.

    An excellent resource for Copyright information is misc.legal, where a FAQ
    is posted monthly.

    Another excellent resource is the U.S. Copyright Office home page at:

    <https://www.copyright.gov/>

    ------------------------------

    Subject: 3. Netiquette for RACC

    As a rule of thumb, everything you've heard elsewhere about good
    netiquette applies here. We hate spammers (more in a minute), expect
    smilies when joking (except in stories of course), and in general expect
    you to conduct yourselves as good net.citizens. There are three things
    you need to know after you've mastered Basic Netiquette:

    1. The only times flames are accepted on RACC are when they are both
    morally defensible and amusing. Flames are not welcome if they do not
    meet the above criteria. Here on RACC there is one organization that
    acts as moral compass for acceptable flames: the Order of St. Doomas.

    The Order has defined one activity that is worthy of flame: spamming.
    One member of the Order (usually the first to his/her keyboard) will
    have the honors. Repetitive flaming by multiple members is frowned
    upon by the Order.

    To join this righteous crusade, all you need do is select a
    net.persona and flame. Incorrect flaming (i.e. at non-sanctioned
    targets, or with unamusing effect) will result in ostracization and
    excommunication. Watch the Order in action before joining and all
    will be clear.

    Now that the group has been moderated, most opportunities for flames
    are gone. But watch carefully; new ones may arise.

    2. Reviews of stories (even negative ones) are one of the most
    sought-after commodities on RACC. You will instantly win friends and
    influence people if you post reviews. But especially in the case of
    negative reviews, ensure you confine your review to the story and not
    the writer. Keep in mind as you write "that SUCKS" that someone
    worked long and hard on the text. They might want to know what worked
    and what didn't in their narrative but it's doubtful they want to hear
    how clever you can be in ripping them up.

    It's certain the rest of us don't.

    3. One of the best features of a shared universe is the opportunity to
    have your characters interact with others in that universe. This is
    a privilege, not a right. All characters on RACC (and their
    distinctive text-likenesses) are the full and exclusive property of
    their creators. This is not as dogmatic as it sounds, and we're all
    adults (or pretending to be). Cameos (non-speaking/non-plot affecting
    roles) do not typically require permission unless the creator desires
    it. Speaking roles should be previewed through email and approved by
    the creator before being posted.

    ------------------------------

    Subject: 4. Glossary

    These are terms you will see come up on RACC that have special meaning
    here. (For general net.terms and abbreviations, see the META RAC FAQ.)

    Acraphobe RACC's version of adult warning label. Yes, with an "a."
    Don't ask.

    Arc A multi-issue storyline.

    Archive ftp.eyrie.org, where nearly ALL the back issues live.

    Crossover A storyline that involves several titles and/or authors. Also
    the bane of all mankind.

    Elsewhirls An imaginary story. (Yeah yeah, we know they're ALL
    imaginary. How about "out-of-continuity"?)

    Fanfiction Fiction about established, trademarked universes and
    or fanfic characters that the author did not create -- in short, the
    sort of stories RACC *wasn't* designed for. There's a good
    list of newsgroups at the end of this FAQ that should help in
    finding a better group if this is what you want to write.

    Imprint The shared universe your story takes place in or subject your
    posting relates to (we have many to chose from). This is
    usually an all-caps prefix on the title of the posting.

    LNH The Legion of Net.Heroes. The immediate father of this group
    and the oldest of the Usenet-based writing universes (see
    Superguy).

    RAC* The rec.arts.comics.* hierarchy of newsgroups.

    RACC rec.arts.comics.creative. You're soaking in it!

    rACCIES The annual RACC fanfiction awards, as voted on by the readers
    or RACCies of this newsgroup.

    Repost Story has been posted before, natch.

    Superguy A mailing list that predates all other Internet comics-fiction
    forums. There is a good-natured rivalry between the LNH and
    this group.

    TEB Trade EtherBack. This is a collection of previously posted
    material, usually cleaned up and relating to a single story
    arc.

    Title A numerically increasing, continuing series. Usually
    involving one character, cast, city, or unifying concept.

    ------------------------------

    Subject: 5. List of Current Tags

    When choosing a tag to put at the beginning of your post, this list should
    be a canonical reference. If you see a need for a new tag, send mail to
    the FAQ maintainer so that it can be added.

    First, the general tags:

    ADMIN Administrative matters affecting everyone on RACC.

    FAQ FAQs of note for the entire RAC* hierarchy. These will tend
    to be crossposted here.

    META Discussion about the newsgroup itself. This includes
    or CHAT everything from general discussion of on-line fiction and RACC
    in particular to recommendations on how long posts should be.

    PRECOG Announcements of upcoming series, planned stories, and the
    or PROMO like.

    WWW Announcement of a web page related to RACC or a free strip.

    Now, all of the writing imprints. Note that new ones of these pop up all
    the time. Entries marked with (*) are in danger of being retired due to
    lack of activity. If you have any changes, please mail eagle@eyrie.org.

    8FOLD A closed universe that encompasses serious superheroes, comedy,
    memoir, and just about anything else: high-quality fiction of
    any stripe is welcome.

    ACRAPHOBE Mature stories that may or may not fit into other universes'
    or ACRA continuity. Using this flag in conjunction with another is
    not unheard of. (For example, Scav's _501 Blues_ is
    LNH/ACRAPHOBE.) Think a meta-Vertigo.

    ASH Academy of Super-Heroes. Dave Van Domelen's RPG-based future-
    history stories. See <https://www.eyrie.org/~dvandom/ASH>.

    ELSEWHIRLS LNH stories that do not fit into LNH continuity. Think DC's
    or EW Elseworlds.

    HCC The High Concept Challenge, a continuous series of writing
    contests. Each round, the winner, chosen by reader vote, gets
    to pick the next round's concept.

    LNH Legion of Net.Heroes, "The Friendliest Shared Universe
    Going!(TM)" A mostly parody universe, though it does have its
    serious side.

    LNH20 On the LNH's 20th anniversary, a group of writers took it upon
    themselves to create a new world, based in everything they
    loved about the LNH, in the best spirit of comic book reboots!
    LNH20 is just as friendly as the original, but easier to get
    into! Hop right in, the adventure's fine!

    LNHY An Imprint involving an alternate LNH universe called
    Looniverse Y. The big difference between this and the Classic
    LNH is that writers are allowed to have only one character of
    theirs in this Looniverse's LNH.

    RACCCafe A continuity-free outpust where RACC characters can unwind
    after a hard day of being mangled by their writers. Anything
    can happen, as long as it's funny, and there are no
    consequences!

    SG Superguy. From Space Moose to the Bomb. Comedy superhero
    writing with a far different background than LNH. Note that
    only a small slice of Superguy stuff appears here; to see the
    rest, go to <https://lists.eyrie.org/mailman/listinfo/superguy>.

    STARFALL Lightly serious and seriously light superheroics, and better
    because of it. ;)

    NTB Net.Trenchcoat.Brigade. A bunch of Vertigo-like characters
    that own stock in London Fog. Not tremendously active, but
    they do have a considerable history. Implied Acraphobe.

    OMEGA A serious psi-based shared super-world and once upon a time
    RACC's third largest universe, now inactive. Created by the
    legendary Matt Rossi.

    OSD The Order of Saint Doomas. Items relating to RACC's anti-spam
    cult. (See Section 3 above.) No posts have been seen from
    this imprint in quite some time, but that doesn't mean they're
    gone....

    SW10 SW stands for Superhuman World. 10 is an annual tag. The
    comic has proceeded to 2011, but the tag has frozen at 2010
    because that's when the series really interacted with RACC.
    Scott Eiler has written the story of this universe since
    before 1991, but 1991 is when the modern heroes of this series
    start. His sources include adolescent male power fantasy,
    superhero role-playing, comic-book satire, and dreams. See
    <http://www.eilertech.com/stories/>.

    MISC Stories not in the above categories or in their own universes
    (authors are encouraged to make up their own headers as well).
    To limit the number of imprints, and to keep this FAQ to
    reasonable lengths, let's adopt this convention: One-shot
    stories or series should use the MISC flag. Series that set
    up shared universes should create their own, new imprint.

    ------------------------------

    Subject: 6. People to Ask for Help

    The major header contacts are listed below, who will be glad to answer
    email question. Also keep your eyes peeled for FAQs specific to
    particular imprints. The FAQs are also often in the archive in a
    directory named "FAQs" under the imprint directory.

    Imprint Contact Email
    ------------ -------------------- ---------------------------------
    8FOLD Jamie Rosen jamie.rosen@sunlife.com
    8FOLD Tom Russell joltcity@gmail.com
    + ASH Dave Van Domelen dvandom@eyrie.org
    + LNH Andrew Perron pwerdna@gmail.com
    LNH20 Andrew Perron pwerdna@gmail.com
    + LNHY Arthur Spitzer arspitzer@earthlink.net
    + NTB Arthur Spitzer arspitzer@earthlink.net
    + RACChallenge Sean MacDonald mcdonald@vorteb.math.uab.edu
    + StarFall Ted Brock phantom_belcher@yahoo.com
    + Superguy Eric Burns eaburns@annotations.com
    SW10 Scott Eiler seiler@eilertech.com

    The Archive Russ Allbery eagle@eyrie.org
    Moderation RACC Moderation Team racc-request@eyrie.org

    + indicates separate FAQs are available for these imprints.

    If you need to contact the moderator directly, the contact information is:

    Russ Allbery <eagle@eyrie.org>

    If none of the above people help, or your questions are too general or specific, just email anyone you see posting here that seems to know what they're doing. (WARNING: This is rarely the case.)

    --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
    * Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)
  • From Russ Allbery@21:1/5 to All on Tue Aug 1 07:01:03 2023
    Last-modified: 2018-07-16
    Posted-by: postfaq 1.17 (Perl 5.28.1)
    Archive-name: comics/creative/faq
    URL: https://www.eyrie.org/~eagle/faqs/racc.html
    Posting-frequency: monthly

    ==========================================================================
    rec.arts.comics.creative Frequently Asked Questions
    Maintained by Russ Allbery <eagle@eyrie.org>
    Original by Jeff McCoskey ==========================================================================

    If you're reading this on Usenet, this FAQ is formatted as a minimal
    digest. If your newsreader has digest handling capabilities you can use
    them to navigate between sections. In rn variants, you can use Ctrl-G to
    skip to the next section; in Gnus, press Ctrl-D to break each section into
    a separate article. For other newsreaders, see the documentation.

    The latest version of this FAQ is available on the web at:

    <https://www.eyrie.org/~eagle/faqs/racc.html>

    Please send any comments, suggestions, or updates to eagle@eyrie.org.

    ------------------------------

    Subject: Contents

    1. Welcome to rec.arts.comics.creative!
    1.1. What is RACC for?
    1.2. What isn't RACC for?
    1.3. What is the RACC official charter?
    1.4. Where are the stories about Wolverine(tm)?
    1.5. Where are the old stories?
    1.6. How can I read RACC via e-mail?

    2. Writing for RACC (How do I get involved?)
    2.1. Cool! Okay, how do I post?
    2.2. Format! I'm nothing without format!
    2.3. How 'bout them imprints? What's up with that?
    2.4. How do I archive my stories for posterity?
    2.5. What do copyright laws I pay taxes for do for me?

    3. Netiquette for RACC

    4. Glossary

    5. List of current imprints

    6. People to ask for help

    ------------------------------

    Subject: 1. Welcome to rec.arts.comics.creative!

    Welcome to rec.arts.comics.creative, the newsgroup which could have been
    named rec.prose.shared-universe but wasn't, the newsgroup which has, to
    date, produced well over 30MB of entirely free original fiction (and
    that's compressed!), the newsgroup which has nearly nothing to do with
    your favorite comic books at all!

    You're about to go insane. Don't worry, it's fun.

    rec.arts.comics.creative (henceforth RACC) is a moderated newsgroup for comics-related original fiction and discussion of same, originally created unmoderated by Martin Phipps and a cast of thousands (well, dozens at
    least) and later converted to moderated to keep out the spam. Don't
    worry, even though it's a moderated group, it's still friendly, chatty,
    and not at all formal, and we go out of our way to keep it that way.

    The first group of this sort on the Internet was the Superguy mailing
    list, which is still in operation to this day (you'll see posts from it on
    this group from time to time). Later, the Legion of Net.Heroes (LNH)
    sprung out of a free-form thread on rec.arts.comics and spawned another newsgroup (alt.comics.lnh). They were quickly followed by a wide variety
    of other comics-based shared universes, including the Patrol, the Net.Trenchcoat.Brigade, and Omega. All of these organizations, in
    parallel, gathered together authors in shared universes and strongly
    influenced the nature of RACC.

    First and foremost, RACC is a site for people to post comics-related
    fiction. Stories about long-underwear vigilantes, anthropomorphic
    animals, SF, westerns, even Kleen Teens if anyone is so moved. As long as
    it relates to comics it's okay. So whether you're a reader, a writer, or
    that fabled creature the critic, or even all three -- welcome to RACC:
    it's all the story, none of the art! (yet)

    ------------------------------

    Subject: 1.1. What is RACC for?

    For the official charter, see section 1.3. Here's the long, readable
    version.

    One term that you'll see a lot is "shared universe." This is a shared
    story background, co-created by multiple authors and used as the
    "universe" in which multiple different stories are set. This is a
    trademark characteristic of most comic books (seen in its clearest form in
    the ubiquitous crossover, a story written by multiple authors at once and involving multiple characters who all have their own stories), as well as appearing in some other published fiction (such as Wild Cards, or Larry
    Niven's Man-Kzin Wars). Most (but not all) of the stories posted here
    take place in one of the established shared universes (there's a list
    later on in this FAQ), to the point where this style of writing is nearly characteristic of the group.

    Another term you'll see is "comics-related." Nearly all of the authors
    writing here drew their original (if not primary) inspiration from comic
    books. As a result, nearly all of the stories are on-going (published a chapter at a time), divided up into "issues" and given numbers, and
    organized into "imprints." Many people also describe covers or design
    ASCII graphic logos.

    There is no restriction on types of fiction. (That'd kinda take the
    creative out of RACC, wouldn't it?) You'll see stories run the gamut from slapstick comedy to grim'n'gritty Real Life Supers (TM). As long as it's
    about comics, set your pen free. (You'll see a lot of superhero fiction,
    but that just means that those of us who like reading other things as well
    are anxiously awaiting your non-superhero stories.)

    RACC is also for discussion of stories, both specific ones and in general.
    The critic and reader is one of the most sought-after types of people
    around here; if you give us feedback on our stories, good or bad, we'll
    love you forever.

    Finally, if you want to announce your free web strip here, we welcome
    those posts too. If you're trying to sell it, though, please try rec.arts.comics.marketplace or rec.arts.comics.strips instead. (And rec.arts.comics.strips may be a better group in general, as RACC readers
    are mostly interested in text fiction.)

    ------------------------------

    Subject: 1.2. What isn't RACC for?

    A lot of things. We're not for wars of attrition, Third World starvation,
    45 mph speed limits, and brussel sprout toothpaste. Closer to home, RACC
    is not for any of the following:

    * Discussion of existing, "professional" books (except as they relate
    to our fiction)

    * Marketplace-type I-wanna-buy/I-wanna-sell postings

    * Flames and personality conflicts. Critiques, yes. Flames, no.

    * Fiction about established, trademarked characters and universes,
    unless you created them or have written permission.

    * Erotica, no matter how much spandex you put in. There are other
    groups for that.

    ------------------------------

    Subject: 1.3. What is the RACC official charter?

    This newsgroup welcomes any form of comics-related original fiction and discussion of the same, including but not limited to stories in the many established shared universes. Discussion of on-line fiction as a whole is
    also welcome provided that it is related to the stories on the newsgroup.
    If they choose to write in an existing shared universe, writers are
    strongly encouranged to follow the existing continuity and rules of that universe. "Comics-related" will be interpreted very broadly, as has been traditional on the newsgroup.

    Each posting to rec.arts.comics.creative should include a keyword on the subject line either designating which shared universe the posting refers
    to or marking the general subject of the post (ADMIN, META, MISC, etc.).
    If a submitted post does not have a keyword, the moderator will add an appropriate keyword, but posters are encouraged to add keywords themselves
    to save moderation work.

    Large binaries, such as artwork, will not be allowed on the newsgroup.
    Instead, binaries can be made available in the newsgroup archive (subject
    to the discretion of the archivist) and a pointer posted to the newsgroup. Pointers to Web pages are also welcome, provided the content of the page
    is related to the purpose of the group.

    Stories using copyrighted or trademarked characters are explicitly not
    within the charter of this group and may be rejected unless the author
    owns the copyrights and trademarks or has written permission from the
    owner. Networking posts (artists seeking writers or writers seeking
    artists) are inappropriate in this group and should be sent to appropriate mailing lists or other groups in the rec.arts.comics.* hierarchy (rec.arts.comics.misc if there is no other more appropriate group).

    ------------------------------

    Subject: 1.4. Where are the stories about Wolverine(tm)?

    This is very important, so I'm going to yell it. RACC IS NOT THE PLACE
    FOR FICTION ABOUT ESTABLISHED, TRADEMARKED CHARACTERS. This includes all Marvel, Image, DC, what-have-you characters. RACC's charter expressly
    FORBIDS such fiction.

    The reason for this is the ongoing legislative battles about intellectual property and the Net. rec.* groups are picked up worldwide, and sysadmins
    do not want to draw lawsuits because someone wrote a story that violated trademark laws. Note that fanfic stories may or may not be lawful and/or prosecutable, WE JUST DON'T KNOW. They're still writing the laws.

    To forestall any confusion or debates, and to protect sysadmins from inadvertently becoming the test case, this provision was adopted as a key requirement for RACC's creation. If you really must write about existing, trademarked characters, there is alt.comics.fan-fiction waiting to receive
    you. alt.* groups get picked up by sysadmins voluntarily, so they
    presumedly know what risks they're taking.

    Nothing will draw this group's ire faster than violating this requirement.

    ------------------------------

    Subject: 1.5. Where are the old stories?

    Thanks to the tireless efforts and bottomless disk space of Russ Allbery,
    all stories posted to rec.arts.comics.creative are archived! This means stories will be preserved for future generations of readers, providing a
    link to the past. It is difficult to over-praise this contribution.

    (Note: Lest you think I would be so crass as to praise myself, I want to
    make sure you know that Jeff wrote that last paragraph. 'course, I didn't delete it either.)

    Older stories are sorted by universe and series and are available at:

    <https://archives.eyrie.org/racc/>

    All of the stories are compressed using gzip, but most browsers can automatically decompress them for you. This archive unfortunately hasn't
    been updated recently, but it does have all of the older stories.

    Every message to rec.arts.comics.creative, story or not, is archived at:

    <https://lists.eyrie.org/pipermail/racc/>

    in the form of a more traditional mailing list archive, so you can also
    look there if a story hasn't been saved in the story archive. This is the
    best way to find anything posted in the last few years. You can search
    the archive by prepending "site:lists.eyrie.org" to a regular Google
    search.

    Please note that stories will be removed from both the list archive and
    the story archive at the author's request if the author wants to take them down. This has happened in the past, sometimes because the author wanted
    to sell the stories to a professional venue.

    ------------------------------

    Subject: 1.6. How can I read RACC via e-mail?

    Everything that shows up in RACC also shows up in its associated mailing
    list (and vice versa), so if you want to be sure not to miss anything, or
    if you just prefer e-mail to Usenet, you can subscribe to that mailing
    list.

    To do that, go to:

    <https://lists.eyrie.org/mailman/listinfo/racc>

    and fill out the form to subscribe. Alternately, you can subscribe via
    e-mail by sending mail to racc-request@lists.eyrie.org with the word:

    subscribe

    in the subject of the message. You then can read and reply to posts just
    as if the newsgroup were a mailing list. It's all the same to us.

    ------------------------------

    Subject: 2. Writing for RACC (How do I get involved?)

    Write a story. Post it. You're involved.

    This assumes you want to create your own universe to write in. If you
    want to join a pre-existing shared universe, it's a little more involved.

    Many of the imprints have FAQs of their own (OMEGA, Superguy, LNH,
    Crossroads to name a few). These get posted periodically. The first
    thing you should do is read these documents to get a feel for what these specific universes are like.

    The next thing you should do is _read_ the universe in question. This
    includes tapping the archives for back issues. No one would suggest you
    read the entire Superguy or LNH archives before writing, but definitely
    try to sample a large cross-section.

    Lastly, email some of the creators you see writing under a specific
    imprint. They will be able to tell you if your concept fits with their universe or not, and perhaps refer you to a more appropriate universe if necessary.

    THEN write a story and post it.

    ------------------------------

    Subject: 2.1. Cool! Okay, how do I post?

    RACC is a moderated newsgroup, which means that every post goes to the moderators first. If your site correctly has the group marked as
    moderated, you should be able to post just like you post to any other
    group and your news server will take care of the rest. If you have a Unix shell account, you can check if the group is correctly marked as moderated
    by typing:

    nntplist active | grep rec.arts.comics.creative

    If the last character on the resulting line is an "m," congratulations,
    you have a good news administrator. If it's a "y," send mail to your
    local computing support people and ask them to convert the group to
    moderated like it should be.

    If you don't have a Unix shell account, some newsreaders will also tell
    you if the group is moderated.

    If, for any reason, you have trouble posting or your site *doesn't* have
    the group marked as moderated, you can mail your post to racc@eyrie.org
    instead and it will be posted for you.

    Because the group is moderated, it can be up to a day after you post
    before your article is actually posted, and it can take a few more days
    for the article to propagate back to you. So don't be surprised if it
    doesn't show up right away.

    Many readers of rec.arts.comics.creative use Google Groups to read and
    post. While this works, and I know it's convenient, Google Groups also
    deletes anything enclosed in square brackets ([]) at the beginning of
    Subject lines in replies. If you use Google Groups, please try to
    remember to put back the imprint tags when you reply to posts; otherwise,
    I have to add them as the moderator.

    ------------------------------

    Subject: 2.2. Format! I'm nothing without format!

    Formatting is pretty loose. Since this is a comics newsgroup, you will
    hear people refer to their stories as "issues." Postings tend to run in numerical order just like comic books, and many people write continuing
    series. For example there are 25 "issues" in Drizzt's _Continuity Champ
    and the Drizzt's Defenders_ series.

    Stories don't have to be series though. One-shots, mini-series,
    maxi-series, crossovers -- all of these have been done before and will be
    done again.

    The subjects of postings should follow the convention of naming the
    imprint the title and the number. For example:

    LNH: System Corruptors #15, The Bard's Tale
    imprint --^ ^ ^ ^
    title --------------| | |
    number -------------------------| |
    subtitle/comment/etc [optional] -------|

    Since the archive mechanism relies heavily on this format (not to mention
    the format-accustomed eyes of this group's readers), please follow this strictly, including the use of the #-sign. Subtitles, alternate titles,
    and title comments should follow the number if they are used at all. If
    you want to, you can use [TAG] instead of TAG: at the beginning of the
    subject; it's all the same to the archiver. (TAG: causes a few fewer
    problems than [TAG] with Google Groups.)

    Occasionally, instead of (or in addition to) a number you will see "TEB."
    This stands for "Trade EtherBack." It means the posting is actually a collection of previously posted issues -- usually cleaned up and relating
    to a single story arc.

    Inside your story do what you will. Some folks run fake ads, others use
    cheesy ASCII graphics, some just use text. A word of advice: On
    older/more primitive newsreaders your text is MUCH easier to read if you
    space between paragraphs. On the other hand, some newer newsreader
    readers find the spaces jarring. The moral? You can't please all the
    people all the time. In general spaces seem to be more preferred.

    ------------------------------

    Subject: 2.3. How 'bout them imprints? What's up with that?

    In order to accommodate a near-infinite number of different potential universes, RACC has adopted the reasonable convention of flagging fiction.
    This allows uninterested parties to skip some genres, and others to
    quickly find their niches of interest. The flag goes before the title of
    story issues, related FAQs or universe-specific discussions. Many flags
    refer to existing shared-universes. New ones will come up all the time.
    For the current list, see section 5 of this FAQ.

    Once you pick an imprint name, stick with it. The Archive and your legion
    of new fans will both be happier if you don't make marketing name changes.

    Regardless of flags all SEXUALLY EXPLICIT or PROFANITY-RICH stories should
    have huge warning labels at the beginning of text. Last thing we need is
    a Florida DA bringing us all up on charges. ;] Besides, it's only common courtesy. Note that if a story could reasonably be posted on
    alt.sex.stories, you've probably strayed a bit far from this group's
    interests.

    Some sort of flag, either an imprint name or a more general tag, is
    required on all posts and one will be added by the moderator if you don't provide one. Leaving one off requires the moderator to edit your post,
    though, which takes time and means your post will be delayed. So please
    save them the trouble and remember to add the tag yourself.

    ------------------------------

    Subject: 2.4. How do I archive my stories for posterity?

    Good news! It's already being done for you! (Or at least it will be if
    Russ ever catches up with the archiving.)

    In theory, every story posted to rec.arts.comics.creative is archived at <https://archives.eyrie.org/racc/>. Most imprints have their own
    directories, with the stories stored in directories under that (depending
    on the size of the imprint, the directories could be very structured or
    just one directory for each series). Some imprints may be collected in
    the misc directory.

    Unfortunately, this archive is substantially out of date. Russ hopes to eventually find time to update it.

    The exception is Superguy, which has its own archiving mechanism. The
    Superguy archives are at <https://archives.eyrie.org/superguy/>, but one
    of the best ways to access them is through the Autocollector at:

    <https://archives.eyrie.org/cgi-bin/superguy>

    ------------------------------

    Subject: 2.5. What do Copyright laws I pay taxes for do for me?

    I don't even play a lawyer on TV, but there are some things you should
    know about Copyright laws.

    Anything you write is copyrighted immediately, whether you flag it with a copyright notice or not. Furthermore, the copyright protection is international under the Berne Copyright Convention, which has been signed
    by nearly every country with access to Usenet.

    If you label your text as copyrighted, it preempts a possible
    "unintentional infringement" defense from plagarizers. The copyright
    notice is considered legal notice that you intend to retain your rights.
    The legal format for such a notice requires three things: Your name, the
    year, and one or more of the following: "Copyright," "Copr.," and/or the c-in-circle symbol. Note that there is no firm legal precedence for (C)
    or (c) as having any special copyright meaning. Example notice:

    Copyright 1994 Jeff J McCoskey

    The only way to get full legal protection (at least in the United States)
    is to register your work with the government (forms are free, filing fees apply). This *guarantees* an archived, dated copy should future legal
    action be necessary. Other forms of dating, like mailing yourself a copy
    or archiving (to get a date stamp), are of dubious and unproven legal
    value.

    An excellent resource for Copyright information is misc.legal, where a FAQ
    is posted monthly.

    Another excellent resource is the U.S. Copyright Office home page at:

    <https://www.copyright.gov/>

    ------------------------------

    Subject: 3. Netiquette for RACC

    As a rule of thumb, everything you've heard elsewhere about good
    netiquette applies here. We hate spammers (more in a minute), expect
    smilies when joking (except in stories of course), and in general expect
    you to conduct yourselves as good net.citizens. There are three things
    you need to know after you've mastered Basic Netiquette:

    1. The only times flames are accepted on RACC are when they are both
    morally defensible and amusing. Flames are not welcome if they do not
    meet the above criteria. Here on RACC there is one organization that
    acts as moral compass for acceptable flames: the Order of St. Doomas.

    The Order has defined one activity that is worthy of flame: spamming.
    One member of the Order (usually the first to his/her keyboard) will
    have the honors. Repetitive flaming by multiple members is frowned
    upon by the Order.

    To join this righteous crusade, all you need do is select a
    net.persona and flame. Incorrect flaming (i.e. at non-sanctioned
    targets, or with unamusing effect) will result in ostracization and
    excommunication. Watch the Order in action before joining and all
    will be clear.

    Now that the group has been moderated, most opportunities for flames
    are gone. But watch carefully; new ones may arise.

    2. Reviews of stories (even negative ones) are one of the most
    sought-after commodities on RACC. You will instantly win friends and
    influence people if you post reviews. But especially in the case of
    negative reviews, ensure you confine your review to the story and not
    the writer. Keep in mind as you write "that SUCKS" that someone
    worked long and hard on the text. They might want to know what worked
    and what didn't in their narrative but it's doubtful they want to hear
    how clever you can be in ripping them up.

    It's certain the rest of us don't.

    3. One of the best features of a shared universe is the opportunity to
    have your characters interact with others in that universe. This is
    a privilege, not a right. All characters on RACC (and their
    distinctive text-likenesses) are the full and exclusive property of
    their creators. This is not as dogmatic as it sounds, and we're all
    adults (or pretending to be). Cameos (non-speaking/non-plot affecting
    roles) do not typically require permission unless the creator desires
    it. Speaking roles should be previewed through email and approved by
    the creator before being posted.

    ------------------------------

    Subject: 4. Glossary

    These are terms you will see come up on RACC that have special meaning
    here. (For general net.terms and abbreviations, see the META RAC FAQ.)

    Acraphobe RACC's version of adult warning label. Yes, with an "a."
    Don't ask.

    Arc A multi-issue storyline.

    Archive ftp.eyrie.org, where nearly ALL the back issues live.

    Crossover A storyline that involves several titles and/or authors. Also
    the bane of all mankind.

    Elsewhirls An imaginary story. (Yeah yeah, we know they're ALL
    imaginary. How about "out-of-continuity"?)

    Fanfiction Fiction about established, trademarked universes and
    or fanfic characters that the author did not create -- in short, the
    sort of stories RACC *wasn't* designed for. There's a good
    list of newsgroups at the end of this FAQ that should help in
    finding a better group if this is what you want to write.

    Imprint The shared universe your story takes place in or subject your
    posting relates to (we have many to chose from). This is
    usually an all-caps prefix on the title of the posting.

    LNH The Legion of Net.Heroes. The immediate father of this group
    and the oldest of the Usenet-based writing universes (see
    Superguy).

    RAC* The rec.arts.comics.* hierarchy of newsgroups.

    RACC rec.arts.comics.creative. You're soaking in it!

    rACCIES The annual RACC fanfiction awards, as voted on by the readers
    or RACCies of this newsgroup.

    Repost Story has been posted before, natch.

    Superguy A mailing list that predates all other Internet comics-fiction
    forums. There is a good-natured rivalry between the LNH and
    this group.

    TEB Trade EtherBack. This is a collection of previously posted
    material, usually cleaned up and relating to a single story
    arc.

    Title A numerically increasing, continuing series. Usually
    involving one character, cast, city, or unifying concept.

    ------------------------------

    Subject: 5. List of Current Tags

    When choosing a tag to put at the beginning of your post, this list should
    be a canonical reference. If you see a need for a new tag, send mail to
    the FAQ maintainer so that it can be added.

    First, the general tags:

    ADMIN Administrative matters affecting everyone on RACC.

    FAQ FAQs of note for the entire RAC* hierarchy. These will tend
    to be crossposted here.

    META Discussion about the newsgroup itself. This includes
    or CHAT everything from general discussion of on-line fiction and RACC
    in particular to recommendations on how long posts should be.

    PRECOG Announcements of upcoming series, planned stories, and the
    or PROMO like.

    WWW Announcement of a web page related to RACC or a free strip.

    Now, all of the writing imprints. Note that new ones of these pop up all
    the time. Entries marked with (*) are in danger of being retired due to
    lack of activity. If you have any changes, please mail eagle@eyrie.org.

    8FOLD A closed universe that encompasses serious superheroes, comedy,
    memoir, and just about anything else: high-quality fiction of
    any stripe is welcome.

    ACRAPHOBE Mature stories that may or may not fit into other universes'
    or ACRA continuity. Using this flag in conjunction with another is
    not unheard of. (For example, Scav's _501 Blues_ is
    LNH/ACRAPHOBE.) Think a meta-Vertigo.

    ASH Academy of Super-Heroes. Dave Van Domelen's RPG-based future-
    history stories. See <https://www.eyrie.org/~dvandom/ASH>.

    ELSEWHIRLS LNH stories that do not fit into LNH continuity. Think DC's
    or EW Elseworlds.

    HCC The High Concept Challenge, a continuous series of writing
    contests. Each round, the winner, chosen by reader vote, gets
    to pick the next round's concept.

    LNH Legion of Net.Heroes, "The Friendliest Shared Universe
    Going!(TM)" A mostly parody universe, though it does have its
    serious side.

    LNH20 On the LNH's 20th anniversary, a group of writers took it upon
    themselves to create a new world, based in everything they
    loved about the LNH, in the best spirit of comic book reboots!
    LNH20 is just as friendly as the original, but easier to get
    into! Hop right in, the adventure's fine!

    LNHY An Imprint involving an alternate LNH universe called
    Looniverse Y. The big difference between this and the Classic
    LNH is that writers are allowed to have only one character of
    theirs in this Looniverse's LNH.

    RACCCafe A continuity-free outpust where RACC characters can unwind
    after a hard day of being mangled by their writers. Anything
    can happen, as long as it's funny, and there are no
    consequences!

    SG Superguy. From Space Moose to the Bomb. Comedy superhero
    writing with a far different background than LNH. Note that
    only a small slice of Superguy stuff appears here; to see the
    rest, go to <https://lists.eyrie.org/mailman/listinfo/superguy>.

    STARFALL Lightly serious and seriously light superheroics, and better
    because of it. ;)

    NTB Net.Trenchcoat.Brigade. A bunch of Vertigo-like characters
    that own stock in London Fog. Not tremendously active, but
    they do have a considerable history. Implied Acraphobe.

    OMEGA A serious psi-based shared super-world and once upon a time
    RACC's third largest universe, now inactive. Created by the
    legendary Matt Rossi.

    OSD The Order of Saint Doomas. Items relating to RACC's anti-spam
    cult. (See Section 3 above.) No posts have been seen from
    this imprint in quite some time, but that doesn't mean they're
    gone....

    SW10 SW stands for Superhuman World. 10 is an annual tag. The
    comic has proceeded to 2011, but the tag has frozen at 2010
    because that's when the series really interacted with RACC.
    Scott Eiler has written the story of this universe since
    before 1991, but 1991 is when the modern heroes of this series
    start. His sources include adolescent male power fantasy,
    superhero role-playing, comic-book satire, and dreams. See
    <http://www.eilertech.com/stories/>.

    MISC Stories not in the above categories or in their own universes
    (authors are encouraged to make up their own headers as well).
    To limit the number of imprints, and to keep this FAQ to
    reasonable lengths, let's adopt this convention: One-shot
    stories or series should use the MISC flag. Series that set
    up shared universes should create their own, new imprint.

    ------------------------------

    Subject: 6. People to Ask for Help

    The major header contacts are listed below, who will be glad to answer
    email question. Also keep your eyes peeled for FAQs specific to
    particular imprints. The FAQs are also often in the archive in a
    directory named "FAQs" under the imprint directory.

    Imprint Contact Email
    ------------ -------------------- ---------------------------------
    8FOLD Jamie Rosen jamie.rosen@sunlife.com
    8FOLD Tom Russell joltcity@gmail.com
    + ASH Dave Van Domelen dvandom@eyrie.org
    + LNH Andrew Perron pwerdna@gmail.com
    LNH20 Andrew Perron pwerdna@gmail.com
    + LNHY Arthur Spitzer arspitzer@earthlink.net
    + NTB Arthur Spitzer arspitzer@earthlink.net
    + RACChallenge Sean MacDonald mcdonald@vorteb.math.uab.edu
    + StarFall Ted Brock phantom_belcher@yahoo.com
    + Superguy Eric Burns eaburns@annotations.com
    SW10 Scott Eiler seiler@eilertech.com

    The Archive Russ Allbery eagle@eyrie.org
    Moderation RACC Moderation Team racc-request@eyrie.org

    + indicates separate FAQs are available for these imprints.

    If you need to contact the moderator directly, the contact information is:

    Russ Allbery <eagle@eyrie.org>

    If none of the above people help, or your questions are too general or specific, just email anyone you see posting here that seems to know what they're doing. (WARNING: This is rarely the case.)

    --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
    * Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)
  • From Russ Allbery@21:1/5 to All on Fri Sep 1 07:01:02 2023
    Last-modified: 2018-07-16
    Posted-by: postfaq 1.17 (Perl 5.28.1)
    Archive-name: comics/creative/faq
    URL: https://www.eyrie.org/~eagle/faqs/racc.html
    Posting-frequency: monthly

    ==========================================================================
    rec.arts.comics.creative Frequently Asked Questions
    Maintained by Russ Allbery <eagle@eyrie.org>
    Original by Jeff McCoskey ==========================================================================

    If you're reading this on Usenet, this FAQ is formatted as a minimal
    digest. If your newsreader has digest handling capabilities you can use
    them to navigate between sections. In rn variants, you can use Ctrl-G to
    skip to the next section; in Gnus, press Ctrl-D to break each section into
    a separate article. For other newsreaders, see the documentation.

    The latest version of this FAQ is available on the web at:

    <https://www.eyrie.org/~eagle/faqs/racc.html>

    Please send any comments, suggestions, or updates to eagle@eyrie.org.

    ------------------------------

    Subject: Contents

    1. Welcome to rec.arts.comics.creative!
    1.1. What is RACC for?
    1.2. What isn't RACC for?
    1.3. What is the RACC official charter?
    1.4. Where are the stories about Wolverine(tm)?
    1.5. Where are the old stories?
    1.6. How can I read RACC via e-mail?

    2. Writing for RACC (How do I get involved?)
    2.1. Cool! Okay, how do I post?
    2.2. Format! I'm nothing without format!
    2.3. How 'bout them imprints? What's up with that?
    2.4. How do I archive my stories for posterity?
    2.5. What do copyright laws I pay taxes for do for me?

    3. Netiquette for RACC

    4. Glossary

    5. List of current imprints

    6. People to ask for help

    ------------------------------

    Subject: 1. Welcome to rec.arts.comics.creative!

    Welcome to rec.arts.comics.creative, the newsgroup which could have been
    named rec.prose.shared-universe but wasn't, the newsgroup which has, to
    date, produced well over 30MB of entirely free original fiction (and
    that's compressed!), the newsgroup which has nearly nothing to do with
    your favorite comic books at all!

    You're about to go insane. Don't worry, it's fun.

    rec.arts.comics.creative (henceforth RACC) is a moderated newsgroup for comics-related original fiction and discussion of same, originally created unmoderated by Martin Phipps and a cast of thousands (well, dozens at
    least) and later converted to moderated to keep out the spam. Don't
    worry, even though it's a moderated group, it's still friendly, chatty,
    and not at all formal, and we go out of our way to keep it that way.

    The first group of this sort on the Internet was the Superguy mailing
    list, which is still in operation to this day (you'll see posts from it on
    this group from time to time). Later, the Legion of Net.Heroes (LNH)
    sprung out of a free-form thread on rec.arts.comics and spawned another newsgroup (alt.comics.lnh). They were quickly followed by a wide variety
    of other comics-based shared universes, including the Patrol, the Net.Trenchcoat.Brigade, and Omega. All of these organizations, in
    parallel, gathered together authors in shared universes and strongly
    influenced the nature of RACC.

    First and foremost, RACC is a site for people to post comics-related
    fiction. Stories about long-underwear vigilantes, anthropomorphic
    animals, SF, westerns, even Kleen Teens if anyone is so moved. As long as
    it relates to comics it's okay. So whether you're a reader, a writer, or
    that fabled creature the critic, or even all three -- welcome to RACC:
    it's all the story, none of the art! (yet)

    ------------------------------

    Subject: 1.1. What is RACC for?

    For the official charter, see section 1.3. Here's the long, readable
    version.

    One term that you'll see a lot is "shared universe." This is a shared
    story background, co-created by multiple authors and used as the
    "universe" in which multiple different stories are set. This is a
    trademark characteristic of most comic books (seen in its clearest form in
    the ubiquitous crossover, a story written by multiple authors at once and involving multiple characters who all have their own stories), as well as appearing in some other published fiction (such as Wild Cards, or Larry
    Niven's Man-Kzin Wars). Most (but not all) of the stories posted here
    take place in one of the established shared universes (there's a list
    later on in this FAQ), to the point where this style of writing is nearly characteristic of the group.

    Another term you'll see is "comics-related." Nearly all of the authors
    writing here drew their original (if not primary) inspiration from comic
    books. As a result, nearly all of the stories are on-going (published a chapter at a time), divided up into "issues" and given numbers, and
    organized into "imprints." Many people also describe covers or design
    ASCII graphic logos.

    There is no restriction on types of fiction. (That'd kinda take the
    creative out of RACC, wouldn't it?) You'll see stories run the gamut from slapstick comedy to grim'n'gritty Real Life Supers (TM). As long as it's
    about comics, set your pen free. (You'll see a lot of superhero fiction,
    but that just means that those of us who like reading other things as well
    are anxiously awaiting your non-superhero stories.)

    RACC is also for discussion of stories, both specific ones and in general.
    The critic and reader is one of the most sought-after types of people
    around here; if you give us feedback on our stories, good or bad, we'll
    love you forever.

    Finally, if you want to announce your free web strip here, we welcome
    those posts too. If you're trying to sell it, though, please try rec.arts.comics.marketplace or rec.arts.comics.strips instead. (And rec.arts.comics.strips may be a better group in general, as RACC readers
    are mostly interested in text fiction.)

    ------------------------------

    Subject: 1.2. What isn't RACC for?

    A lot of things. We're not for wars of attrition, Third World starvation,
    45 mph speed limits, and brussel sprout toothpaste. Closer to home, RACC
    is not for any of the following:

    * Discussion of existing, "professional" books (except as they relate
    to our fiction)

    * Marketplace-type I-wanna-buy/I-wanna-sell postings

    * Flames and personality conflicts. Critiques, yes. Flames, no.

    * Fiction about established, trademarked characters and universes,
    unless you created them or have written permission.

    * Erotica, no matter how much spandex you put in. There are other
    groups for that.

    ------------------------------

    Subject: 1.3. What is the RACC official charter?

    This newsgroup welcomes any form of comics-related original fiction and discussion of the same, including but not limited to stories in the many established shared universes. Discussion of on-line fiction as a whole is
    also welcome provided that it is related to the stories on the newsgroup.
    If they choose to write in an existing shared universe, writers are
    strongly encouranged to follow the existing continuity and rules of that universe. "Comics-related" will be interpreted very broadly, as has been traditional on the newsgroup.

    Each posting to rec.arts.comics.creative should include a keyword on the subject line either designating which shared universe the posting refers
    to or marking the general subject of the post (ADMIN, META, MISC, etc.).
    If a submitted post does not have a keyword, the moderator will add an appropriate keyword, but posters are encouraged to add keywords themselves
    to save moderation work.

    Large binaries, such as artwork, will not be allowed on the newsgroup.
    Instead, binaries can be made available in the newsgroup archive (subject
    to the discretion of the archivist) and a pointer posted to the newsgroup. Pointers to Web pages are also welcome, provided the content of the page
    is related to the purpose of the group.

    Stories using copyrighted or trademarked characters are explicitly not
    within the charter of this group and may be rejected unless the author
    owns the copyrights and trademarks or has written permission from the
    owner. Networking posts (artists seeking writers or writers seeking
    artists) are inappropriate in this group and should be sent to appropriate mailing lists or other groups in the rec.arts.comics.* hierarchy (rec.arts.comics.misc if there is no other more appropriate group).

    ------------------------------

    Subject: 1.4. Where are the stories about Wolverine(tm)?

    This is very important, so I'm going to yell it. RACC IS NOT THE PLACE
    FOR FICTION ABOUT ESTABLISHED, TRADEMARKED CHARACTERS. This includes all Marvel, Image, DC, what-have-you characters. RACC's charter expressly
    FORBIDS such fiction.

    The reason for this is the ongoing legislative battles about intellectual property and the Net. rec.* groups are picked up worldwide, and sysadmins
    do not want to draw lawsuits because someone wrote a story that violated trademark laws. Note that fanfic stories may or may not be lawful and/or prosecutable, WE JUST DON'T KNOW. They're still writing the laws.

    To forestall any confusion or debates, and to protect sysadmins from inadvertently becoming the test case, this provision was adopted as a key requirement for RACC's creation. If you really must write about existing, trademarked characters, there is alt.comics.fan-fiction waiting to receive
    you. alt.* groups get picked up by sysadmins voluntarily, so they
    presumedly know what risks they're taking.

    Nothing will draw this group's ire faster than violating this requirement.

    ------------------------------

    Subject: 1.5. Where are the old stories?

    Thanks to the tireless efforts and bottomless disk space of Russ Allbery,
    all stories posted to rec.arts.comics.creative are archived! This means stories will be preserved for future generations of readers, providing a
    link to the past. It is difficult to over-praise this contribution.

    (Note: Lest you think I would be so crass as to praise myself, I want to
    make sure you know that Jeff wrote that last paragraph. 'course, I didn't delete it either.)

    Older stories are sorted by universe and series and are available at:

    <https://archives.eyrie.org/racc/>

    All of the stories are compressed using gzip, but most browsers can automatically decompress them for you. This archive unfortunately hasn't
    been updated recently, but it does have all of the older stories.

    Every message to rec.arts.comics.creative, story or not, is archived at:

    <https://lists.eyrie.org/pipermail/racc/>

    in the form of a more traditional mailing list archive, so you can also
    look there if a story hasn't been saved in the story archive. This is the
    best way to find anything posted in the last few years. You can search
    the archive by prepending "site:lists.eyrie.org" to a regular Google
    search.

    Please note that stories will be removed from both the list archive and
    the story archive at the author's request if the author wants to take them down. This has happened in the past, sometimes because the author wanted
    to sell the stories to a professional venue.

    ------------------------------

    Subject: 1.6. How can I read RACC via e-mail?

    Everything that shows up in RACC also shows up in its associated mailing
    list (and vice versa), so if you want to be sure not to miss anything, or
    if you just prefer e-mail to Usenet, you can subscribe to that mailing
    list.

    To do that, go to:

    <https://lists.eyrie.org/mailman/listinfo/racc>

    and fill out the form to subscribe. Alternately, you can subscribe via
    e-mail by sending mail to racc-request@lists.eyrie.org with the word:

    subscribe

    in the subject of the message. You then can read and reply to posts just
    as if the newsgroup were a mailing list. It's all the same to us.

    ------------------------------

    Subject: 2. Writing for RACC (How do I get involved?)

    Write a story. Post it. You're involved.

    This assumes you want to create your own universe to write in. If you
    want to join a pre-existing shared universe, it's a little more involved.

    Many of the imprints have FAQs of their own (OMEGA, Superguy, LNH,
    Crossroads to name a few). These get posted periodically. The first
    thing you should do is read these documents to get a feel for what these specific universes are like.

    The next thing you should do is _read_ the universe in question. This
    includes tapping the archives for back issues. No one would suggest you
    read the entire Superguy or LNH archives before writing, but definitely
    try to sample a large cross-section.

    Lastly, email some of the creators you see writing under a specific
    imprint. They will be able to tell you if your concept fits with their universe or not, and perhaps refer you to a more appropriate universe if necessary.

    THEN write a story and post it.

    ------------------------------

    Subject: 2.1. Cool! Okay, how do I post?

    RACC is a moderated newsgroup, which means that every post goes to the moderators first. If your site correctly has the group marked as
    moderated, you should be able to post just like you post to any other
    group and your news server will take care of the rest. If you have a Unix shell account, you can check if the group is correctly marked as moderated
    by typing:

    nntplist active | grep rec.arts.comics.creative

    If the last character on the resulting line is an "m," congratulations,
    you have a good news administrator. If it's a "y," send mail to your
    local computing support people and ask them to convert the group to
    moderated like it should be.

    If you don't have a Unix shell account, some newsreaders will also tell
    you if the group is moderated.

    If, for any reason, you have trouble posting or your site *doesn't* have
    the group marked as moderated, you can mail your post to racc@eyrie.org
    instead and it will be posted for you.

    Because the group is moderated, it can be up to a day after you post
    before your article is actually posted, and it can take a few more days
    for the article to propagate back to you. So don't be surprised if it
    doesn't show up right away.

    Many readers of rec.arts.comics.creative use Google Groups to read and
    post. While this works, and I know it's convenient, Google Groups also
    deletes anything enclosed in square brackets ([]) at the beginning of
    Subject lines in replies. If you use Google Groups, please try to
    remember to put back the imprint tags when you reply to posts; otherwise,
    I have to add them as the moderator.

    ------------------------------

    Subject: 2.2. Format! I'm nothing without format!

    Formatting is pretty loose. Since this is a comics newsgroup, you will
    hear people refer to their stories as "issues." Postings tend to run in numerical order just like comic books, and many people write continuing
    series. For example there are 25 "issues" in Drizzt's _Continuity Champ
    and the Drizzt's Defenders_ series.

    Stories don't have to be series though. One-shots, mini-series,
    maxi-series, crossovers -- all of these have been done before and will be
    done again.

    The subjects of postings should follow the convention of naming the
    imprint the title and the number. For example:

    LNH: System Corruptors #15, The Bard's Tale
    imprint --^ ^ ^ ^
    title --------------| | |
    number -------------------------| |
    subtitle/comment/etc [optional] -------|

    Since the archive mechanism relies heavily on this format (not to mention
    the format-accustomed eyes of this group's readers), please follow this strictly, including the use of the #-sign. Subtitles, alternate titles,
    and title comments should follow the number if they are used at all. If
    you want to, you can use [TAG] instead of TAG: at the beginning of the
    subject; it's all the same to the archiver. (TAG: causes a few fewer
    problems than [TAG] with Google Groups.)

    Occasionally, instead of (or in addition to) a number you will see "TEB."
    This stands for "Trade EtherBack." It means the posting is actually a collection of previously posted issues -- usually cleaned up and relating
    to a single story arc.

    Inside your story do what you will. Some folks run fake ads, others use
    cheesy ASCII graphics, some just use text. A word of advice: On
    older/more primitive newsreaders your text is MUCH easier to read if you
    space between paragraphs. On the other hand, some newer newsreader
    readers find the spaces jarring. The moral? You can't please all the
    people all the time. In general spaces seem to be more preferred.

    ------------------------------

    Subject: 2.3. How 'bout them imprints? What's up with that?

    In order to accommodate a near-infinite number of different potential universes, RACC has adopted the reasonable convention of flagging fiction.
    This allows uninterested parties to skip some genres, and others to
    quickly find their niches of interest. The flag goes before the title of
    story issues, related FAQs or universe-specific discussions. Many flags
    refer to existing shared-universes. New ones will come up all the time.
    For the current list, see section 5 of this FAQ.

    Once you pick an imprint name, stick with it. The Archive and your legion
    of new fans will both be happier if you don't make marketing name changes.

    Regardless of flags all SEXUALLY EXPLICIT or PROFANITY-RICH stories should
    have huge warning labels at the beginning of text. Last thing we need is
    a Florida DA bringing us all up on charges. ;] Besides, it's only common courtesy. Note that if a story could reasonably be posted on
    alt.sex.stories, you've probably strayed a bit far from this group's
    interests.

    Some sort of flag, either an imprint name or a more general tag, is
    required on all posts and one will be added by the moderator if you don't provide one. Leaving one off requires the moderator to edit your post,
    though, which takes time and means your post will be delayed. So please
    save them the trouble and remember to add the tag yourself.

    ------------------------------

    Subject: 2.4. How do I archive my stories for posterity?

    Good news! It's already being done for you! (Or at least it will be if
    Russ ever catches up with the archiving.)

    In theory, every story posted to rec.arts.comics.creative is archived at <https://archives.eyrie.org/racc/>. Most imprints have their own
    directories, with the stories stored in directories under that (depending
    on the size of the imprint, the directories could be very structured or
    just one directory for each series). Some imprints may be collected in
    the misc directory.

    Unfortunately, this archive is substantially out of date. Russ hopes to eventually find time to update it.

    The exception is Superguy, which has its own archiving mechanism. The
    Superguy archives are at <https://archives.eyrie.org/superguy/>, but one
    of the best ways to access them is through the Autocollector at:

    <https://archives.eyrie.org/cgi-bin/superguy>

    ------------------------------

    Subject: 2.5. What do Copyright laws I pay taxes for do for me?

    I don't even play a lawyer on TV, but there are some things you should
    know about Copyright laws.

    Anything you write is copyrighted immediately, whether you flag it with a copyright notice or not. Furthermore, the copyright protection is international under the Berne Copyright Convention, which has been signed
    by nearly every country with access to Usenet.

    If you label your text as copyrighted, it preempts a possible
    "unintentional infringement" defense from plagarizers. The copyright
    notice is considered legal notice that you intend to retain your rights.
    The legal format for such a notice requires three things: Your name, the
    year, and one or more of the following: "Copyright," "Copr.," and/or the c-in-circle symbol. Note that there is no firm legal precedence for (C)
    or (c) as having any special copyright meaning. Example notice:

    Copyright 1994 Jeff J McCoskey

    The only way to get full legal protection (at least in the United States)
    is to register your work with the government (forms are free, filing fees apply). This *guarantees* an archived, dated copy should future legal
    action be necessary. Other forms of dating, like mailing yourself a copy
    or archiving (to get a date stamp), are of dubious and unproven legal
    value.

    An excellent resource for Copyright information is misc.legal, where a FAQ
    is posted monthly.

    Another excellent resource is the U.S. Copyright Office home page at:

    <https://www.copyright.gov/>

    ------------------------------

    Subject: 3. Netiquette for RACC

    As a rule of thumb, everything you've heard elsewhere about good
    netiquette applies here. We hate spammers (more in a minute), expect
    smilies when joking (except in stories of course), and in general expect
    you to conduct yourselves as good net.citizens. There are three things
    you need to know after you've mastered Basic Netiquette:

    1. The only times flames are accepted on RACC are when they are both
    morally defensible and amusing. Flames are not welcome if they do not
    meet the above criteria. Here on RACC there is one organization that
    acts as moral compass for acceptable flames: the Order of St. Doomas.

    The Order has defined one activity that is worthy of flame: spamming.
    One member of the Order (usually the first to his/her keyboard) will
    have the honors. Repetitive flaming by multiple members is frowned
    upon by the Order.

    To join this righteous crusade, all you need do is select a
    net.persona and flame. Incorrect flaming (i.e. at non-sanctioned
    targets, or with unamusing effect) will result in ostracization and
    excommunication. Watch the Order in action before joining and all
    will be clear.

    Now that the group has been moderated, most opportunities for flames
    are gone. But watch carefully; new ones may arise.

    2. Reviews of stories (even negative ones) are one of the most
    sought-after commodities on RACC. You will instantly win friends and
    influence people if you post reviews. But especially in the case of
    negative reviews, ensure you confine your review to the story and not
    the writer. Keep in mind as you write "that SUCKS" that someone
    worked long and hard on the text. They might want to know what worked
    and what didn't in their narrative but it's doubtful they want to hear
    how clever you can be in ripping them up.

    It's certain the rest of us don't.

    3. One of the best features of a shared universe is the opportunity to
    have your characters interact with others in that universe. This is
    a privilege, not a right. All characters on RACC (and their
    distinctive text-likenesses) are the full and exclusive property of
    their creators. This is not as dogmatic as it sounds, and we're all
    adults (or pretending to be). Cameos (non-speaking/non-plot affecting
    roles) do not typically require permission unless the creator desires
    it. Speaking roles should be previewed through email and approved by
    the creator before being posted.

    ------------------------------

    Subject: 4. Glossary

    These are terms you will see come up on RACC that have special meaning
    here. (For general net.terms and abbreviations, see the META RAC FAQ.)

    Acraphobe RACC's version of adult warning label. Yes, with an "a."
    Don't ask.

    Arc A multi-issue storyline.

    Archive ftp.eyrie.org, where nearly ALL the back issues live.

    Crossover A storyline that involves several titles and/or authors. Also
    the bane of all mankind.

    Elsewhirls An imaginary story. (Yeah yeah, we know they're ALL
    imaginary. How about "out-of-continuity"?)

    Fanfiction Fiction about established, trademarked universes and
    or fanfic characters that the author did not create -- in short, the
    sort of stories RACC *wasn't* designed for. There's a good
    list of newsgroups at the end of this FAQ that should help in
    finding a better group if this is what you want to write.

    Imprint The shared universe your story takes place in or subject your
    posting relates to (we have many to chose from). This is
    usually an all-caps prefix on the title of the posting.

    LNH The Legion of Net.Heroes. The immediate father of this group
    and the oldest of the Usenet-based writing universes (see
    Superguy).

    RAC* The rec.arts.comics.* hierarchy of newsgroups.

    RACC rec.arts.comics.creative. You're soaking in it!

    rACCIES The annual RACC fanfiction awards, as voted on by the readers
    or RACCies of this newsgroup.

    Repost Story has been posted before, natch.

    Superguy A mailing list that predates all other Internet comics-fiction
    forums. There is a good-natured rivalry between the LNH and
    this group.

    TEB Trade EtherBack. This is a collection of previously posted
    material, usually cleaned up and relating to a single story
    arc.

    Title A numerically increasing, continuing series. Usually
    involving one character, cast, city, or unifying concept.

    ------------------------------

    Subject: 5. List of Current Tags

    When choosing a tag to put at the beginning of your post, this list should
    be a canonical reference. If you see a need for a new tag, send mail to
    the FAQ maintainer so that it can be added.

    First, the general tags:

    ADMIN Administrative matters affecting everyone on RACC.

    FAQ FAQs of note for the entire RAC* hierarchy. These will tend
    to be crossposted here.

    META Discussion about the newsgroup itself. This includes
    or CHAT everything from general discussion of on-line fiction and RACC
    in particular to recommendations on how long posts should be.

    PRECOG Announcements of upcoming series, planned stories, and the
    or PROMO like.

    WWW Announcement of a web page related to RACC or a free strip.

    Now, all of the writing imprints. Note that new ones of these pop up all
    the time. Entries marked with (*) are in danger of being retired due to
    lack of activity. If you have any changes, please mail eagle@eyrie.org.

    8FOLD A closed universe that encompasses serious superheroes, comedy,
    memoir, and just about anything else: high-quality fiction of
    any stripe is welcome.

    ACRAPHOBE Mature stories that may or may not fit into other universes'
    or ACRA continuity. Using this flag in conjunction with another is
    not unheard of. (For example, Scav's _501 Blues_ is
    LNH/ACRAPHOBE.) Think a meta-Vertigo.

    ASH Academy of Super-Heroes. Dave Van Domelen's RPG-based future-
    history stories. See <https://www.eyrie.org/~dvandom/ASH>.

    ELSEWHIRLS LNH stories that do not fit into LNH continuity. Think DC's
    or EW Elseworlds.

    HCC The High Concept Challenge, a continuous series of writing
    contests. Each round, the winner, chosen by reader vote, gets
    to pick the next round's concept.

    LNH Legion of Net.Heroes, "The Friendliest Shared Universe
    Going!(TM)" A mostly parody universe, though it does have its
    serious side.

    LNH20 On the LNH's 20th anniversary, a group of writers took it upon
    themselves to create a new world, based in everything they
    loved about the LNH, in the best spirit of comic book reboots!
    LNH20 is just as friendly as the original, but easier to get
    into! Hop right in, the adventure's fine!

    LNHY An Imprint involving an alternate LNH universe called
    Looniverse Y. The big difference between this and the Classic
    LNH is that writers are allowed to have only one character of
    theirs in this Looniverse's LNH.

    RACCCafe A continuity-free outpust where RACC characters can unwind
    after a hard day of being mangled by their writers. Anything
    can happen, as long as it's funny, and there are no
    consequences!

    SG Superguy. From Space Moose to the Bomb. Comedy superhero
    writing with a far different background than LNH. Note that
    only a small slice of Superguy stuff appears here; to see the
    rest, go to <https://lists.eyrie.org/mailman/listinfo/superguy>.

    STARFALL Lightly serious and seriously light superheroics, and better
    because of it. ;)

    NTB Net.Trenchcoat.Brigade. A bunch of Vertigo-like characters
    that own stock in London Fog. Not tremendously active, but
    they do have a considerable history. Implied Acraphobe.

    OMEGA A serious psi-based shared super-world and once upon a time
    RACC's third largest universe, now inactive. Created by the
    legendary Matt Rossi.

    OSD The Order of Saint Doomas. Items relating to RACC's anti-spam
    cult. (See Section 3 above.) No posts have been seen from
    this imprint in quite some time, but that doesn't mean they're
    gone....

    SW10 SW stands for Superhuman World. 10 is an annual tag. The
    comic has proceeded to 2011, but the tag has frozen at 2010
    because that's when the series really interacted with RACC.
    Scott Eiler has written the story of this universe since
    before 1991, but 1991 is when the modern heroes of this series
    start. His sources include adolescent male power fantasy,
    superhero role-playing, comic-book satire, and dreams. See
    <http://www.eilertech.com/stories/>.

    MISC Stories not in the above categories or in their own universes
    (authors are encouraged to make up their own headers as well).
    To limit the number of imprints, and to keep this FAQ to
    reasonable lengths, let's adopt this convention: One-shot
    stories or series should use the MISC flag. Series that set
    up shared universes should create their own, new imprint.

    ------------------------------

    Subject: 6. People to Ask for Help

    The major header contacts are listed below, who will be glad to answer
    email question. Also keep your eyes peeled for FAQs specific to
    particular imprints. The FAQs are also often in the archive in a
    directory named "FAQs" under the imprint directory.

    Imprint Contact Email
    ------------ -------------------- ---------------------------------
    8FOLD Jamie Rosen jamie.rosen@sunlife.com
    8FOLD Tom Russell joltcity@gmail.com
    + ASH Dave Van Domelen dvandom@eyrie.org
    + LNH Andrew Perron pwerdna@gmail.com
    LNH20 Andrew Perron pwerdna@gmail.com
    + LNHY Arthur Spitzer arspitzer@earthlink.net
    + NTB Arthur Spitzer arspitzer@earthlink.net
    + RACChallenge Sean MacDonald mcdonald@vorteb.math.uab.edu
    + StarFall Ted Brock phantom_belcher@yahoo.com
    + Superguy Eric Burns eaburns@annotations.com
    SW10 Scott Eiler seiler@eilertech.com

    The Archive Russ Allbery eagle@eyrie.org
    Moderation RACC Moderation Team racc-request@eyrie.org

    + indicates separate FAQs are available for these imprints.

    If you need to contact the moderator directly, the contact information is:

    Russ Allbery <eagle@eyrie.org>

    If none of the above people help, or your questions are too general or specific, just email anyone you see posting here that seems to know what they're doing. (WARNING: This is rarely the case.)

    --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
    * Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)
  • From Russ Allbery@21:1/5 to All on Sun Oct 1 07:01:02 2023
    Last-modified: 2018-07-16
    Posted-by: postfaq 1.17 (Perl 5.28.1)
    Archive-name: comics/creative/faq
    URL: https://www.eyrie.org/~eagle/faqs/racc.html
    Posting-frequency: monthly

    ==========================================================================
    rec.arts.comics.creative Frequently Asked Questions
    Maintained by Russ Allbery <eagle@eyrie.org>
    Original by Jeff McCoskey ==========================================================================

    If you're reading this on Usenet, this FAQ is formatted as a minimal
    digest. If your newsreader has digest handling capabilities you can use
    them to navigate between sections. In rn variants, you can use Ctrl-G to
    skip to the next section; in Gnus, press Ctrl-D to break each section into
    a separate article. For other newsreaders, see the documentation.

    The latest version of this FAQ is available on the web at:

    <https://www.eyrie.org/~eagle/faqs/racc.html>

    Please send any comments, suggestions, or updates to eagle@eyrie.org.

    ------------------------------

    Subject: Contents

    1. Welcome to rec.arts.comics.creative!
    1.1. What is RACC for?
    1.2. What isn't RACC for?
    1.3. What is the RACC official charter?
    1.4. Where are the stories about Wolverine(tm)?
    1.5. Where are the old stories?
    1.6. How can I read RACC via e-mail?

    2. Writing for RACC (How do I get involved?)
    2.1. Cool! Okay, how do I post?
    2.2. Format! I'm nothing without format!
    2.3. How 'bout them imprints? What's up with that?
    2.4. How do I archive my stories for posterity?
    2.5. What do copyright laws I pay taxes for do for me?

    3. Netiquette for RACC

    4. Glossary

    5. List of current imprints

    6. People to ask for help

    ------------------------------

    Subject: 1. Welcome to rec.arts.comics.creative!

    Welcome to rec.arts.comics.creative, the newsgroup which could have been
    named rec.prose.shared-universe but wasn't, the newsgroup which has, to
    date, produced well over 30MB of entirely free original fiction (and
    that's compressed!), the newsgroup which has nearly nothing to do with
    your favorite comic books at all!

    You're about to go insane. Don't worry, it's fun.

    rec.arts.comics.creative (henceforth RACC) is a moderated newsgroup for comics-related original fiction and discussion of same, originally created unmoderated by Martin Phipps and a cast of thousands (well, dozens at
    least) and later converted to moderated to keep out the spam. Don't
    worry, even though it's a moderated group, it's still friendly, chatty,
    and not at all formal, and we go out of our way to keep it that way.

    The first group of this sort on the Internet was the Superguy mailing
    list, which is still in operation to this day (you'll see posts from it on
    this group from time to time). Later, the Legion of Net.Heroes (LNH)
    sprung out of a free-form thread on rec.arts.comics and spawned another newsgroup (alt.comics.lnh). They were quickly followed by a wide variety
    of other comics-based shared universes, including the Patrol, the Net.Trenchcoat.Brigade, and Omega. All of these organizations, in
    parallel, gathered together authors in shared universes and strongly
    influenced the nature of RACC.

    First and foremost, RACC is a site for people to post comics-related
    fiction. Stories about long-underwear vigilantes, anthropomorphic
    animals, SF, westerns, even Kleen Teens if anyone is so moved. As long as
    it relates to comics it's okay. So whether you're a reader, a writer, or
    that fabled creature the critic, or even all three -- welcome to RACC:
    it's all the story, none of the art! (yet)

    ------------------------------

    Subject: 1.1. What is RACC for?

    For the official charter, see section 1.3. Here's the long, readable
    version.

    One term that you'll see a lot is "shared universe." This is a shared
    story background, co-created by multiple authors and used as the
    "universe" in which multiple different stories are set. This is a
    trademark characteristic of most comic books (seen in its clearest form in
    the ubiquitous crossover, a story written by multiple authors at once and involving multiple characters who all have their own stories), as well as appearing in some other published fiction (such as Wild Cards, or Larry
    Niven's Man-Kzin Wars). Most (but not all) of the stories posted here
    take place in one of the established shared universes (there's a list
    later on in this FAQ), to the point where this style of writing is nearly characteristic of the group.

    Another term you'll see is "comics-related." Nearly all of the authors
    writing here drew their original (if not primary) inspiration from comic
    books. As a result, nearly all of the stories are on-going (published a chapter at a time), divided up into "issues" and given numbers, and
    organized into "imprints." Many people also describe covers or design
    ASCII graphic logos.

    There is no restriction on types of fiction. (That'd kinda take the
    creative out of RACC, wouldn't it?) You'll see stories run the gamut from slapstick comedy to grim'n'gritty Real Life Supers (TM). As long as it's
    about comics, set your pen free. (You'll see a lot of superhero fiction,
    but that just means that those of us who like reading other things as well
    are anxiously awaiting your non-superhero stories.)

    RACC is also for discussion of stories, both specific ones and in general.
    The critic and reader is one of the most sought-after types of people
    around here; if you give us feedback on our stories, good or bad, we'll
    love you forever.

    Finally, if you want to announce your free web strip here, we welcome
    those posts too. If you're trying to sell it, though, please try rec.arts.comics.marketplace or rec.arts.comics.strips instead. (And rec.arts.comics.strips may be a better group in general, as RACC readers
    are mostly interested in text fiction.)

    ------------------------------

    Subject: 1.2. What isn't RACC for?

    A lot of things. We're not for wars of attrition, Third World starvation,
    45 mph speed limits, and brussel sprout toothpaste. Closer to home, RACC
    is not for any of the following:

    * Discussion of existing, "professional" books (except as they relate
    to our fiction)

    * Marketplace-type I-wanna-buy/I-wanna-sell postings

    * Flames and personality conflicts. Critiques, yes. Flames, no.

    * Fiction about established, trademarked characters and universes,
    unless you created them or have written permission.

    * Erotica, no matter how much spandex you put in. There are other
    groups for that.

    ------------------------------

    Subject: 1.3. What is the RACC official charter?

    This newsgroup welcomes any form of comics-related original fiction and discussion of the same, including but not limited to stories in the many established shared universes. Discussion of on-line fiction as a whole is
    also welcome provided that it is related to the stories on the newsgroup.
    If they choose to write in an existing shared universe, writers are
    strongly encouranged to follow the existing continuity and rules of that universe. "Comics-related" will be interpreted very broadly, as has been traditional on the newsgroup.

    Each posting to rec.arts.comics.creative should include a keyword on the subject line either designating which shared universe the posting refers
    to or marking the general subject of the post (ADMIN, META, MISC, etc.).
    If a submitted post does not have a keyword, the moderator will add an appropriate keyword, but posters are encouraged to add keywords themselves
    to save moderation work.

    Large binaries, such as artwork, will not be allowed on the newsgroup.
    Instead, binaries can be made available in the newsgroup archive (subject
    to the discretion of the archivist) and a pointer posted to the newsgroup. Pointers to Web pages are also welcome, provided the content of the page
    is related to the purpose of the group.

    Stories using copyrighted or trademarked characters are explicitly not
    within the charter of this group and may be rejected unless the author
    owns the copyrights and trademarks or has written permission from the
    owner. Networking posts (artists seeking writers or writers seeking
    artists) are inappropriate in this group and should be sent to appropriate mailing lists or other groups in the rec.arts.comics.* hierarchy (rec.arts.comics.misc if there is no other more appropriate group).

    ------------------------------

    Subject: 1.4. Where are the stories about Wolverine(tm)?

    This is very important, so I'm going to yell it. RACC IS NOT THE PLACE
    FOR FICTION ABOUT ESTABLISHED, TRADEMARKED CHARACTERS. This includes all Marvel, Image, DC, what-have-you characters. RACC's charter expressly
    FORBIDS such fiction.

    The reason for this is the ongoing legislative battles about intellectual property and the Net. rec.* groups are picked up worldwide, and sysadmins
    do not want to draw lawsuits because someone wrote a story that violated trademark laws. Note that fanfic stories may or may not be lawful and/or prosecutable, WE JUST DON'T KNOW. They're still writing the laws.

    To forestall any confusion or debates, and to protect sysadmins from inadvertently becoming the test case, this provision was adopted as a key requirement for RACC's creation. If you really must write about existing, trademarked characters, there is alt.comics.fan-fiction waiting to receive
    you. alt.* groups get picked up by sysadmins voluntarily, so they
    presumedly know what risks they're taking.

    Nothing will draw this group's ire faster than violating this requirement.

    ------------------------------

    Subject: 1.5. Where are the old stories?

    Thanks to the tireless efforts and bottomless disk space of Russ Allbery,
    all stories posted to rec.arts.comics.creative are archived! This means stories will be preserved for future generations of readers, providing a
    link to the past. It is difficult to over-praise this contribution.

    (Note: Lest you think I would be so crass as to praise myself, I want to
    make sure you know that Jeff wrote that last paragraph. 'course, I didn't delete it either.)

    Older stories are sorted by universe and series and are available at:

    <https://archives.eyrie.org/racc/>

    All of the stories are compressed using gzip, but most browsers can automatically decompress them for you. This archive unfortunately hasn't
    been updated recently, but it does have all of the older stories.

    Every message to rec.arts.comics.creative, story or not, is archived at:

    <https://lists.eyrie.org/pipermail/racc/>

    in the form of a more traditional mailing list archive, so you can also
    look there if a story hasn't been saved in the story archive. This is the
    best way to find anything posted in the last few years. You can search
    the archive by prepending "site:lists.eyrie.org" to a regular Google
    search.

    Please note that stories will be removed from both the list archive and
    the story archive at the author's request if the author wants to take them down. This has happened in the past, sometimes because the author wanted
    to sell the stories to a professional venue.

    ------------------------------

    Subject: 1.6. How can I read RACC via e-mail?

    Everything that shows up in RACC also shows up in its associated mailing
    list (and vice versa), so if you want to be sure not to miss anything, or
    if you just prefer e-mail to Usenet, you can subscribe to that mailing
    list.

    To do that, go to:

    <https://lists.eyrie.org/mailman/listinfo/racc>

    and fill out the form to subscribe. Alternately, you can subscribe via
    e-mail by sending mail to racc-request@lists.eyrie.org with the word:

    subscribe

    in the subject of the message. You then can read and reply to posts just
    as if the newsgroup were a mailing list. It's all the same to us.

    ------------------------------

    Subject: 2. Writing for RACC (How do I get involved?)

    Write a story. Post it. You're involved.

    This assumes you want to create your own universe to write in. If you
    want to join a pre-existing shared universe, it's a little more involved.

    Many of the imprints have FAQs of their own (OMEGA, Superguy, LNH,
    Crossroads to name a few). These get posted periodically. The first
    thing you should do is read these documents to get a feel for what these specific universes are like.

    The next thing you should do is _read_ the universe in question. This
    includes tapping the archives for back issues. No one would suggest you
    read the entire Superguy or LNH archives before writing, but definitely
    try to sample a large cross-section.

    Lastly, email some of the creators you see writing under a specific
    imprint. They will be able to tell you if your concept fits with their universe or not, and perhaps refer you to a more appropriate universe if necessary.

    THEN write a story and post it.

    ------------------------------

    Subject: 2.1. Cool! Okay, how do I post?

    RACC is a moderated newsgroup, which means that every post goes to the moderators first. If your site correctly has the group marked as
    moderated, you should be able to post just like you post to any other
    group and your news server will take care of the rest. If you have a Unix shell account, you can check if the group is correctly marked as moderated
    by typing:

    nntplist active | grep rec.arts.comics.creative

    If the last character on the resulting line is an "m," congratulations,
    you have a good news administrator. If it's a "y," send mail to your
    local computing support people and ask them to convert the group to
    moderated like it should be.

    If you don't have a Unix shell account, some newsreaders will also tell
    you if the group is moderated.

    If, for any reason, you have trouble posting or your site *doesn't* have
    the group marked as moderated, you can mail your post to racc@eyrie.org
    instead and it will be posted for you.

    Because the group is moderated, it can be up to a day after you post
    before your article is actually posted, and it can take a few more days
    for the article to propagate back to you. So don't be surprised if it
    doesn't show up right away.

    Many readers of rec.arts.comics.creative use Google Groups to read and
    post. While this works, and I know it's convenient, Google Groups also
    deletes anything enclosed in square brackets ([]) at the beginning of
    Subject lines in replies. If you use Google Groups, please try to
    remember to put back the imprint tags when you reply to posts; otherwise,
    I have to add them as the moderator.

    ------------------------------

    Subject: 2.2. Format! I'm nothing without format!

    Formatting is pretty loose. Since this is a comics newsgroup, you will
    hear people refer to their stories as "issues." Postings tend to run in numerical order just like comic books, and many people write continuing
    series. For example there are 25 "issues" in Drizzt's _Continuity Champ
    and the Drizzt's Defenders_ series.

    Stories don't have to be series though. One-shots, mini-series,
    maxi-series, crossovers -- all of these have been done before and will be
    done again.

    The subjects of postings should follow the convention of naming the
    imprint the title and the number. For example:

    LNH: System Corruptors #15, The Bard's Tale
    imprint --^ ^ ^ ^
    title --------------| | |
    number -------------------------| |
    subtitle/comment/etc [optional] -------|

    Since the archive mechanism relies heavily on this format (not to mention
    the format-accustomed eyes of this group's readers), please follow this strictly, including the use of the #-sign. Subtitles, alternate titles,
    and title comments should follow the number if they are used at all. If
    you want to, you can use [TAG] instead of TAG: at the beginning of the
    subject; it's all the same to the archiver. (TAG: causes a few fewer
    problems than [TAG] with Google Groups.)

    Occasionally, instead of (or in addition to) a number you will see "TEB."
    This stands for "Trade EtherBack." It means the posting is actually a collection of previously posted issues -- usually cleaned up and relating
    to a single story arc.

    Inside your story do what you will. Some folks run fake ads, others use
    cheesy ASCII graphics, some just use text. A word of advice: On
    older/more primitive newsreaders your text is MUCH easier to read if you
    space between paragraphs. On the other hand, some newer newsreader
    readers find the spaces jarring. The moral? You can't please all the
    people all the time. In general spaces seem to be more preferred.

    ------------------------------

    Subject: 2.3. How 'bout them imprints? What's up with that?

    In order to accommodate a near-infinite number of different potential universes, RACC has adopted the reasonable convention of flagging fiction.
    This allows uninterested parties to skip some genres, and others to
    quickly find their niches of interest. The flag goes before the title of
    story issues, related FAQs or universe-specific discussions. Many flags
    refer to existing shared-universes. New ones will come up all the time.
    For the current list, see section 5 of this FAQ.

    Once you pick an imprint name, stick with it. The Archive and your legion
    of new fans will both be happier if you don't make marketing name changes.

    Regardless of flags all SEXUALLY EXPLICIT or PROFANITY-RICH stories should
    have huge warning labels at the beginning of text. Last thing we need is
    a Florida DA bringing us all up on charges. ;] Besides, it's only common courtesy. Note that if a story could reasonably be posted on
    alt.sex.stories, you've probably strayed a bit far from this group's
    interests.

    Some sort of flag, either an imprint name or a more general tag, is
    required on all posts and one will be added by the moderator if you don't provide one. Leaving one off requires the moderator to edit your post,
    though, which takes time and means your post will be delayed. So please
    save them the trouble and remember to add the tag yourself.

    ------------------------------

    Subject: 2.4. How do I archive my stories for posterity?

    Good news! It's already being done for you! (Or at least it will be if
    Russ ever catches up with the archiving.)

    In theory, every story posted to rec.arts.comics.creative is archived at <https://archives.eyrie.org/racc/>. Most imprints have their own
    directories, with the stories stored in directories under that (depending
    on the size of the imprint, the directories could be very structured or
    just one directory for each series). Some imprints may be collected in
    the misc directory.

    Unfortunately, this archive is substantially out of date. Russ hopes to eventually find time to update it.

    The exception is Superguy, which has its own archiving mechanism. The
    Superguy archives are at <https://archives.eyrie.org/superguy/>, but one
    of the best ways to access them is through the Autocollector at:

    <https://archives.eyrie.org/cgi-bin/superguy>

    ------------------------------

    Subject: 2.5. What do Copyright laws I pay taxes for do for me?

    I don't even play a lawyer on TV, but there are some things you should
    know about Copyright laws.

    Anything you write is copyrighted immediately, whether you flag it with a copyright notice or not. Furthermore, the copyright protection is international under the Berne Copyright Convention, which has been signed
    by nearly every country with access to Usenet.

    If you label your text as copyrighted, it preempts a possible
    "unintentional infringement" defense from plagarizers. The copyright
    notice is considered legal notice that you intend to retain your rights.
    The legal format for such a notice requires three things: Your name, the
    year, and one or more of the following: "Copyright," "Copr.," and/or the c-in-circle symbol. Note that there is no firm legal precedence for (C)
    or (c) as having any special copyright meaning. Example notice:

    Copyright 1994 Jeff J McCoskey

    The only way to get full legal protection (at least in the United States)
    is to register your work with the government (forms are free, filing fees apply). This *guarantees* an archived, dated copy should future legal
    action be necessary. Other forms of dating, like mailing yourself a copy
    or archiving (to get a date stamp), are of dubious and unproven legal
    value.

    An excellent resource for Copyright information is misc.legal, where a FAQ
    is posted monthly.

    Another excellent resource is the U.S. Copyright Office home page at:

    <https://www.copyright.gov/>

    ------------------------------

    Subject: 3. Netiquette for RACC

    As a rule of thumb, everything you've heard elsewhere about good
    netiquette applies here. We hate spammers (more in a minute), expect
    smilies when joking (except in stories of course), and in general expect
    you to conduct yourselves as good net.citizens. There are three things
    you need to know after you've mastered Basic Netiquette:

    1. The only times flames are accepted on RACC are when they are both
    morally defensible and amusing. Flames are not welcome if they do not
    meet the above criteria. Here on RACC there is one organization that
    acts as moral compass for acceptable flames: the Order of St. Doomas.

    The Order has defined one activity that is worthy of flame: spamming.
    One member of the Order (usually the first to his/her keyboard) will
    have the honors. Repetitive flaming by multiple members is frowned
    upon by the Order.

    To join this righteous crusade, all you need do is select a
    net.persona and flame. Incorrect flaming (i.e. at non-sanctioned
    targets, or with unamusing effect) will result in ostracization and
    excommunication. Watch the Order in action before joining and all
    will be clear.

    Now that the group has been moderated, most opportunities for flames
    are gone. But watch carefully; new ones may arise.

    2. Reviews of stories (even negative ones) are one of the most
    sought-after commodities on RACC. You will instantly win friends and
    influence people if you post reviews. But especially in the case of
    negative reviews, ensure you confine your review to the story and not
    the writer. Keep in mind as you write "that SUCKS" that someone
    worked long and hard on the text. They might want to know what worked
    and what didn't in their narrative but it's doubtful they want to hear
    how clever you can be in ripping them up.

    It's certain the rest of us don't.

    3. One of the best features of a shared universe is the opportunity to
    have your characters interact with others in that universe. This is
    a privilege, not a right. All characters on RACC (and their
    distinctive text-likenesses) are the full and exclusive property of
    their creators. This is not as dogmatic as it sounds, and we're all
    adults (or pretending to be). Cameos (non-speaking/non-plot affecting
    roles) do not typically require permission unless the creator desires
    it. Speaking roles should be previewed through email and approved by
    the creator before being posted.

    ------------------------------

    Subject: 4. Glossary

    These are terms you will see come up on RACC that have special meaning
    here. (For general net.terms and abbreviations, see the META RAC FAQ.)

    Acraphobe RACC's version of adult warning label. Yes, with an "a."
    Don't ask.

    Arc A multi-issue storyline.

    Archive ftp.eyrie.org, where nearly ALL the back issues live.

    Crossover A storyline that involves several titles and/or authors. Also
    the bane of all mankind.

    Elsewhirls An imaginary story. (Yeah yeah, we know they're ALL
    imaginary. How about "out-of-continuity"?)

    Fanfiction Fiction about established, trademarked universes and
    or fanfic characters that the author did not create -- in short, the
    sort of stories RACC *wasn't* designed for. There's a good
    list of newsgroups at the end of this FAQ that should help in
    finding a better group if this is what you want to write.

    Imprint The shared universe your story takes place in or subject your
    posting relates to (we have many to chose from). This is
    usually an all-caps prefix on the title of the posting.

    LNH The Legion of Net.Heroes. The immediate father of this group
    and the oldest of the Usenet-based writing universes (see
    Superguy).

    RAC* The rec.arts.comics.* hierarchy of newsgroups.

    RACC rec.arts.comics.creative. You're soaking in it!

    rACCIES The annual RACC fanfiction awards, as voted on by the readers
    or RACCies of this newsgroup.

    Repost Story has been posted before, natch.

    Superguy A mailing list that predates all other Internet comics-fiction
    forums. There is a good-natured rivalry between the LNH and
    this group.

    TEB Trade EtherBack. This is a collection of previously posted
    material, usually cleaned up and relating to a single story
    arc.

    Title A numerically increasing, continuing series. Usually
    involving one character, cast, city, or unifying concept.

    ------------------------------

    Subject: 5. List of Current Tags

    When choosing a tag to put at the beginning of your post, this list should
    be a canonical reference. If you see a need for a new tag, send mail to
    the FAQ maintainer so that it can be added.

    First, the general tags:

    ADMIN Administrative matters affecting everyone on RACC.

    FAQ FAQs of note for the entire RAC* hierarchy. These will tend
    to be crossposted here.

    META Discussion about the newsgroup itself. This includes
    or CHAT everything from general discussion of on-line fiction and RACC
    in particular to recommendations on how long posts should be.

    PRECOG Announcements of upcoming series, planned stories, and the
    or PROMO like.

    WWW Announcement of a web page related to RACC or a free strip.

    Now, all of the writing imprints. Note that new ones of these pop up all
    the time. Entries marked with (*) are in danger of being retired due to
    lack of activity. If you have any changes, please mail eagle@eyrie.org.

    8FOLD A closed universe that encompasses serious superheroes, comedy,
    memoir, and just about anything else: high-quality fiction of
    any stripe is welcome.

    ACRAPHOBE Mature stories that may or may not fit into other universes'
    or ACRA continuity. Using this flag in conjunction with another is
    not unheard of. (For example, Scav's _501 Blues_ is
    LNH/ACRAPHOBE.) Think a meta-Vertigo.

    ASH Academy of Super-Heroes. Dave Van Domelen's RPG-based future-
    history stories. See <https://www.eyrie.org/~dvandom/ASH>.

    ELSEWHIRLS LNH stories that do not fit into LNH continuity. Think DC's
    or EW Elseworlds.

    HCC The High Concept Challenge, a continuous series of writing
    contests. Each round, the winner, chosen by reader vote, gets
    to pick the next round's concept.

    LNH Legion of Net.Heroes, "The Friendliest Shared Universe
    Going!(TM)" A mostly parody universe, though it does have its
    serious side.

    LNH20 On the LNH's 20th anniversary, a group of writers took it upon
    themselves to create a new world, based in everything they
    loved about the LNH, in the best spirit of comic book reboots!
    LNH20 is just as friendly as the original, but easier to get
    into! Hop right in, the adventure's fine!

    LNHY An Imprint involving an alternate LNH universe called
    Looniverse Y. The big difference between this and the Classic
    LNH is that writers are allowed to have only one character of
    theirs in this Looniverse's LNH.

    RACCCafe A continuity-free outpust where RACC characters can unwind
    after a hard day of being mangled by their writers. Anything
    can happen, as long as it's funny, and there are no
    consequences!

    SG Superguy. From Space Moose to the Bomb. Comedy superhero
    writing with a far different background than LNH. Note that
    only a small slice of Superguy stuff appears here; to see the
    rest, go to <https://lists.eyrie.org/mailman/listinfo/superguy>.

    STARFALL Lightly serious and seriously light superheroics, and better
    because of it. ;)

    NTB Net.Trenchcoat.Brigade. A bunch of Vertigo-like characters
    that own stock in London Fog. Not tremendously active, but
    they do have a considerable history. Implied Acraphobe.

    OMEGA A serious psi-based shared super-world and once upon a time
    RACC's third largest universe, now inactive. Created by the
    legendary Matt Rossi.

    OSD The Order of Saint Doomas. Items relating to RACC's anti-spam
    cult. (See Section 3 above.) No posts have been seen from
    this imprint in quite some time, but that doesn't mean they're
    gone....

    SW10 SW stands for Superhuman World. 10 is an annual tag. The
    comic has proceeded to 2011, but the tag has frozen at 2010
    because that's when the series really interacted with RACC.
    Scott Eiler has written the story of this universe since
    before 1991, but 1991 is when the modern heroes of this series
    start. His sources include adolescent male power fantasy,
    superhero role-playing, comic-book satire, and dreams. See
    <http://www.eilertech.com/stories/>.

    MISC Stories not in the above categories or in their own universes
    (authors are encouraged to make up their own headers as well).
    To limit the number of imprints, and to keep this FAQ to
    reasonable lengths, let's adopt this convention: One-shot
    stories or series should use the MISC flag. Series that set
    up shared universes should create their own, new imprint.

    ------------------------------

    Subject: 6. People to Ask for Help

    The major header contacts are listed below, who will be glad to answer
    email question. Also keep your eyes peeled for FAQs specific to
    particular imprints. The FAQs are also often in the archive in a
    directory named "FAQs" under the imprint directory.

    Imprint Contact Email
    ------------ -------------------- ---------------------------------
    8FOLD Jamie Rosen jamie.rosen@sunlife.com
    8FOLD Tom Russell joltcity@gmail.com
    + ASH Dave Van Domelen dvandom@eyrie.org
    + LNH Andrew Perron pwerdna@gmail.com
    LNH20 Andrew Perron pwerdna@gmail.com
    + LNHY Arthur Spitzer arspitzer@earthlink.net
    + NTB Arthur Spitzer arspitzer@earthlink.net
    + RACChallenge Sean MacDonald mcdonald@vorteb.math.uab.edu
    + StarFall Ted Brock phantom_belcher@yahoo.com
    + Superguy Eric Burns eaburns@annotations.com
    SW10 Scott Eiler seiler@eilertech.com

    The Archive Russ Allbery eagle@eyrie.org
    Moderation RACC Moderation Team racc-request@eyrie.org

    + indicates separate FAQs are available for these imprints.

    If you need to contact the moderator directly, the contact information is:

    Russ Allbery <eagle@eyrie.org>

    If none of the above people help, or your questions are too general or specific, just email anyone you see posting here that seems to know what they're doing. (WARNING: This is rarely the case.)

    --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
    * Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)
  • From Russ Allbery@21:1/5 to All on Wed Nov 1 07:01:03 2023
    Last-modified: 2018-07-16
    Posted-by: postfaq 1.17 (Perl 5.28.1)
    Archive-name: comics/creative/faq
    URL: https://www.eyrie.org/~eagle/faqs/racc.html
    Posting-frequency: monthly

    ==========================================================================
    rec.arts.comics.creative Frequently Asked Questions
    Maintained by Russ Allbery <eagle@eyrie.org>
    Original by Jeff McCoskey ==========================================================================

    If you're reading this on Usenet, this FAQ is formatted as a minimal
    digest. If your newsreader has digest handling capabilities you can use
    them to navigate between sections. In rn variants, you can use Ctrl-G to
    skip to the next section; in Gnus, press Ctrl-D to break each section into
    a separate article. For other newsreaders, see the documentation.

    The latest version of this FAQ is available on the web at:

    <https://www.eyrie.org/~eagle/faqs/racc.html>

    Please send any comments, suggestions, or updates to eagle@eyrie.org.

    ------------------------------

    Subject: Contents

    1. Welcome to rec.arts.comics.creative!
    1.1. What is RACC for?
    1.2. What isn't RACC for?
    1.3. What is the RACC official charter?
    1.4. Where are the stories about Wolverine(tm)?
    1.5. Where are the old stories?
    1.6. How can I read RACC via e-mail?

    2. Writing for RACC (How do I get involved?)
    2.1. Cool! Okay, how do I post?
    2.2. Format! I'm nothing without format!
    2.3. How 'bout them imprints? What's up with that?
    2.4. How do I archive my stories for posterity?
    2.5. What do copyright laws I pay taxes for do for me?

    3. Netiquette for RACC

    4. Glossary

    5. List of current imprints

    6. People to ask for help

    ------------------------------

    Subject: 1. Welcome to rec.arts.comics.creative!

    Welcome to rec.arts.comics.creative, the newsgroup which could have been
    named rec.prose.shared-universe but wasn't, the newsgroup which has, to
    date, produced well over 30MB of entirely free original fiction (and
    that's compressed!), the newsgroup which has nearly nothing to do with
    your favorite comic books at all!

    You're about to go insane. Don't worry, it's fun.

    rec.arts.comics.creative (henceforth RACC) is a moderated newsgroup for comics-related original fiction and discussion of same, originally created unmoderated by Martin Phipps and a cast of thousands (well, dozens at
    least) and later converted to moderated to keep out the spam. Don't
    worry, even though it's a moderated group, it's still friendly, chatty,
    and not at all formal, and we go out of our way to keep it that way.

    The first group of this sort on the Internet was the Superguy mailing
    list, which is still in operation to this day (you'll see posts from it on
    this group from time to time). Later, the Legion of Net.Heroes (LNH)
    sprung out of a free-form thread on rec.arts.comics and spawned another newsgroup (alt.comics.lnh). They were quickly followed by a wide variety
    of other comics-based shared universes, including the Patrol, the Net.Trenchcoat.Brigade, and Omega. All of these organizations, in
    parallel, gathered together authors in shared universes and strongly
    influenced the nature of RACC.

    First and foremost, RACC is a site for people to post comics-related
    fiction. Stories about long-underwear vigilantes, anthropomorphic
    animals, SF, westerns, even Kleen Teens if anyone is so moved. As long as
    it relates to comics it's okay. So whether you're a reader, a writer, or
    that fabled creature the critic, or even all three -- welcome to RACC:
    it's all the story, none of the art! (yet)

    ------------------------------

    Subject: 1.1. What is RACC for?

    For the official charter, see section 1.3. Here's the long, readable
    version.

    One term that you'll see a lot is "shared universe." This is a shared
    story background, co-created by multiple authors and used as the
    "universe" in which multiple different stories are set. This is a
    trademark characteristic of most comic books (seen in its clearest form in
    the ubiquitous crossover, a story written by multiple authors at once and involving multiple characters who all have their own stories), as well as appearing in some other published fiction (such as Wild Cards, or Larry
    Niven's Man-Kzin Wars). Most (but not all) of the stories posted here
    take place in one of the established shared universes (there's a list
    later on in this FAQ), to the point where this style of writing is nearly characteristic of the group.

    Another term you'll see is "comics-related." Nearly all of the authors
    writing here drew their original (if not primary) inspiration from comic
    books. As a result, nearly all of the stories are on-going (published a chapter at a time), divided up into "issues" and given numbers, and
    organized into "imprints." Many people also describe covers or design
    ASCII graphic logos.

    There is no restriction on types of fiction. (That'd kinda take the
    creative out of RACC, wouldn't it?) You'll see stories run the gamut from slapstick comedy to grim'n'gritty Real Life Supers (TM). As long as it's
    about comics, set your pen free. (You'll see a lot of superhero fiction,
    but that just means that those of us who like reading other things as well
    are anxiously awaiting your non-superhero stories.)

    RACC is also for discussion of stories, both specific ones and in general.
    The critic and reader is one of the most sought-after types of people
    around here; if you give us feedback on our stories, good or bad, we'll
    love you forever.

    Finally, if you want to announce your free web strip here, we welcome
    those posts too. If you're trying to sell it, though, please try rec.arts.comics.marketplace or rec.arts.comics.strips instead. (And rec.arts.comics.strips may be a better group in general, as RACC readers
    are mostly interested in text fiction.)

    ------------------------------

    Subject: 1.2. What isn't RACC for?

    A lot of things. We're not for wars of attrition, Third World starvation,
    45 mph speed limits, and brussel sprout toothpaste. Closer to home, RACC
    is not for any of the following:

    * Discussion of existing, "professional" books (except as they relate
    to our fiction)

    * Marketplace-type I-wanna-buy/I-wanna-sell postings

    * Flames and personality conflicts. Critiques, yes. Flames, no.

    * Fiction about established, trademarked characters and universes,
    unless you created them or have written permission.

    * Erotica, no matter how much spandex you put in. There are other
    groups for that.

    ------------------------------

    Subject: 1.3. What is the RACC official charter?

    This newsgroup welcomes any form of comics-related original fiction and discussion of the same, including but not limited to stories in the many established shared universes. Discussion of on-line fiction as a whole is
    also welcome provided that it is related to the stories on the newsgroup.
    If they choose to write in an existing shared universe, writers are
    strongly encouranged to follow the existing continuity and rules of that universe. "Comics-related" will be interpreted very broadly, as has been traditional on the newsgroup.

    Each posting to rec.arts.comics.creative should include a keyword on the subject line either designating which shared universe the posting refers
    to or marking the general subject of the post (ADMIN, META, MISC, etc.).
    If a submitted post does not have a keyword, the moderator will add an appropriate keyword, but posters are encouraged to add keywords themselves
    to save moderation work.

    Large binaries, such as artwork, will not be allowed on the newsgroup.
    Instead, binaries can be made available in the newsgroup archive (subject
    to the discretion of the archivist) and a pointer posted to the newsgroup. Pointers to Web pages are also welcome, provided the content of the page
    is related to the purpose of the group.

    Stories using copyrighted or trademarked characters are explicitly not
    within the charter of this group and may be rejected unless the author
    owns the copyrights and trademarks or has written permission from the
    owner. Networking posts (artists seeking writers or writers seeking
    artists) are inappropriate in this group and should be sent to appropriate mailing lists or other groups in the rec.arts.comics.* hierarchy (rec.arts.comics.misc if there is no other more appropriate group).

    ------------------------------

    Subject: 1.4. Where are the stories about Wolverine(tm)?

    This is very important, so I'm going to yell it. RACC IS NOT THE PLACE
    FOR FICTION ABOUT ESTABLISHED, TRADEMARKED CHARACTERS. This includes all Marvel, Image, DC, what-have-you characters. RACC's charter expressly
    FORBIDS such fiction.

    The reason for this is the ongoing legislative battles about intellectual property and the Net. rec.* groups are picked up worldwide, and sysadmins
    do not want to draw lawsuits because someone wrote a story that violated trademark laws. Note that fanfic stories may or may not be lawful and/or prosecutable, WE JUST DON'T KNOW. They're still writing the laws.

    To forestall any confusion or debates, and to protect sysadmins from inadvertently becoming the test case, this provision was adopted as a key requirement for RACC's creation. If you really must write about existing, trademarked characters, there is alt.comics.fan-fiction waiting to receive
    you. alt.* groups get picked up by sysadmins voluntarily, so they
    presumedly know what risks they're taking.

    Nothing will draw this group's ire faster than violating this requirement.

    ------------------------------

    Subject: 1.5. Where are the old stories?

    Thanks to the tireless efforts and bottomless disk space of Russ Allbery,
    all stories posted to rec.arts.comics.creative are archived! This means stories will be preserved for future generations of readers, providing a
    link to the past. It is difficult to over-praise this contribution.

    (Note: Lest you think I would be so crass as to praise myself, I want to
    make sure you know that Jeff wrote that last paragraph. 'course, I didn't delete it either.)

    Older stories are sorted by universe and series and are available at:

    <https://archives.eyrie.org/racc/>

    All of the stories are compressed using gzip, but most browsers can automatically decompress them for you. This archive unfortunately hasn't
    been updated recently, but it does have all of the older stories.

    Every message to rec.arts.comics.creative, story or not, is archived at:

    <https://lists.eyrie.org/pipermail/racc/>

    in the form of a more traditional mailing list archive, so you can also
    look there if a story hasn't been saved in the story archive. This is the
    best way to find anything posted in the last few years. You can search
    the archive by prepending "site:lists.eyrie.org" to a regular Google
    search.

    Please note that stories will be removed from both the list archive and
    the story archive at the author's request if the author wants to take them down. This has happened in the past, sometimes because the author wanted
    to sell the stories to a professional venue.

    ------------------------------

    Subject: 1.6. How can I read RACC via e-mail?

    Everything that shows up in RACC also shows up in its associated mailing
    list (and vice versa), so if you want to be sure not to miss anything, or
    if you just prefer e-mail to Usenet, you can subscribe to that mailing
    list.

    To do that, go to:

    <https://lists.eyrie.org/mailman/listinfo/racc>

    and fill out the form to subscribe. Alternately, you can subscribe via
    e-mail by sending mail to racc-request@lists.eyrie.org with the word:

    subscribe

    in the subject of the message. You then can read and reply to posts just
    as if the newsgroup were a mailing list. It's all the same to us.

    ------------------------------

    Subject: 2. Writing for RACC (How do I get involved?)

    Write a story. Post it. You're involved.

    This assumes you want to create your own universe to write in. If you
    want to join a pre-existing shared universe, it's a little more involved.

    Many of the imprints have FAQs of their own (OMEGA, Superguy, LNH,
    Crossroads to name a few). These get posted periodically. The first
    thing you should do is read these documents to get a feel for what these specific universes are like.

    The next thing you should do is _read_ the universe in question. This
    includes tapping the archives for back issues. No one would suggest you
    read the entire Superguy or LNH archives before writing, but definitely
    try to sample a large cross-section.

    Lastly, email some of the creators you see writing under a specific
    imprint. They will be able to tell you if your concept fits with their universe or not, and perhaps refer you to a more appropriate universe if necessary.

    THEN write a story and post it.

    ------------------------------

    Subject: 2.1. Cool! Okay, how do I post?

    RACC is a moderated newsgroup, which means that every post goes to the moderators first. If your site correctly has the group marked as
    moderated, you should be able to post just like you post to any other
    group and your news server will take care of the rest. If you have a Unix shell account, you can check if the group is correctly marked as moderated
    by typing:

    nntplist active | grep rec.arts.comics.creative

    If the last character on the resulting line is an "m," congratulations,
    you have a good news administrator. If it's a "y," send mail to your
    local computing support people and ask them to convert the group to
    moderated like it should be.

    If you don't have a Unix shell account, some newsreaders will also tell
    you if the group is moderated.

    If, for any reason, you have trouble posting or your site *doesn't* have
    the group marked as moderated, you can mail your post to racc@eyrie.org
    instead and it will be posted for you.

    Because the group is moderated, it can be up to a day after you post
    before your article is actually posted, and it can take a few more days
    for the article to propagate back to you. So don't be surprised if it
    doesn't show up right away.

    Many readers of rec.arts.comics.creative use Google Groups to read and
    post. While this works, and I know it's convenient, Google Groups also
    deletes anything enclosed in square brackets ([]) at the beginning of
    Subject lines in replies. If you use Google Groups, please try to
    remember to put back the imprint tags when you reply to posts; otherwise,
    I have to add them as the moderator.

    ------------------------------

    Subject: 2.2. Format! I'm nothing without format!

    Formatting is pretty loose. Since this is a comics newsgroup, you will
    hear people refer to their stories as "issues." Postings tend to run in numerical order just like comic books, and many people write continuing
    series. For example there are 25 "issues" in Drizzt's _Continuity Champ
    and the Drizzt's Defenders_ series.

    Stories don't have to be series though. One-shots, mini-series,
    maxi-series, crossovers -- all of these have been done before and will be
    done again.

    The subjects of postings should follow the convention of naming the
    imprint the title and the number. For example:

    LNH: System Corruptors #15, The Bard's Tale
    imprint --^ ^ ^ ^
    title --------------| | |
    number -------------------------| |
    subtitle/comment/etc [optional] -------|

    Since the archive mechanism relies heavily on this format (not to mention
    the format-accustomed eyes of this group's readers), please follow this strictly, including the use of the #-sign. Subtitles, alternate titles,
    and title comments should follow the number if they are used at all. If
    you want to, you can use [TAG] instead of TAG: at the beginning of the
    subject; it's all the same to the archiver. (TAG: causes a few fewer
    problems than [TAG] with Google Groups.)

    Occasionally, instead of (or in addition to) a number you will see "TEB."
    This stands for "Trade EtherBack." It means the posting is actually a collection of previously posted issues -- usually cleaned up and relating
    to a single story arc.

    Inside your story do what you will. Some folks run fake ads, others use
    cheesy ASCII graphics, some just use text. A word of advice: On
    older/more primitive newsreaders your text is MUCH easier to read if you
    space between paragraphs. On the other hand, some newer newsreader
    readers find the spaces jarring. The moral? You can't please all the
    people all the time. In general spaces seem to be more preferred.

    ------------------------------

    Subject: 2.3. How 'bout them imprints? What's up with that?

    In order to accommodate a near-infinite number of different potential universes, RACC has adopted the reasonable convention of flagging fiction.
    This allows uninterested parties to skip some genres, and others to
    quickly find their niches of interest. The flag goes before the title of
    story issues, related FAQs or universe-specific discussions. Many flags
    refer to existing shared-universes. New ones will come up all the time.
    For the current list, see section 5 of this FAQ.

    Once you pick an imprint name, stick with it. The Archive and your legion
    of new fans will both be happier if you don't make marketing name changes.

    Regardless of flags all SEXUALLY EXPLICIT or PROFANITY-RICH stories should
    have huge warning labels at the beginning of text. Last thing we need is
    a Florida DA bringing us all up on charges. ;] Besides, it's only common courtesy. Note that if a story could reasonably be posted on
    alt.sex.stories, you've probably strayed a bit far from this group's
    interests.

    Some sort of flag, either an imprint name or a more general tag, is
    required on all posts and one will be added by the moderator if you don't provide one. Leaving one off requires the moderator to edit your post,
    though, which takes time and means your post will be delayed. So please
    save them the trouble and remember to add the tag yourself.

    ------------------------------

    Subject: 2.4. How do I archive my stories for posterity?

    Good news! It's already being done for you! (Or at least it will be if
    Russ ever catches up with the archiving.)

    In theory, every story posted to rec.arts.comics.creative is archived at <https://archives.eyrie.org/racc/>. Most imprints have their own
    directories, with the stories stored in directories under that (depending
    on the size of the imprint, the directories could be very structured or
    just one directory for each series). Some imprints may be collected in
    the misc directory.

    Unfortunately, this archive is substantially out of date. Russ hopes to eventually find time to update it.

    The exception is Superguy, which has its own archiving mechanism. The
    Superguy archives are at <https://archives.eyrie.org/superguy/>, but one
    of the best ways to access them is through the Autocollector at:

    <https://archives.eyrie.org/cgi-bin/superguy>

    ------------------------------

    Subject: 2.5. What do Copyright laws I pay taxes for do for me?

    I don't even play a lawyer on TV, but there are some things you should
    know about Copyright laws.

    Anything you write is copyrighted immediately, whether you flag it with a copyright notice or not. Furthermore, the copyright protection is international under the Berne Copyright Convention, which has been signed
    by nearly every country with access to Usenet.

    If you label your text as copyrighted, it preempts a possible
    "unintentional infringement" defense from plagarizers. The copyright
    notice is considered legal notice that you intend to retain your rights.
    The legal format for such a notice requires three things: Your name, the
    year, and one or more of the following: "Copyright," "Copr.," and/or the c-in-circle symbol. Note that there is no firm legal precedence for (C)
    or (c) as having any special copyright meaning. Example notice:

    Copyright 1994 Jeff J McCoskey

    The only way to get full legal protection (at least in the United States)
    is to register your work with the government (forms are free, filing fees apply). This *guarantees* an archived, dated copy should future legal
    action be necessary. Other forms of dating, like mailing yourself a copy
    or archiving (to get a date stamp), are of dubious and unproven legal
    value.

    An excellent resource for Copyright information is misc.legal, where a FAQ
    is posted monthly.

    Another excellent resource is the U.S. Copyright Office home page at:

    <https://www.copyright.gov/>

    ------------------------------

    Subject: 3. Netiquette for RACC

    As a rule of thumb, everything you've heard elsewhere about good
    netiquette applies here. We hate spammers (more in a minute), expect
    smilies when joking (except in stories of course), and in general expect
    you to conduct yourselves as good net.citizens. There are three things
    you need to know after you've mastered Basic Netiquette:

    1. The only times flames are accepted on RACC are when they are both
    morally defensible and amusing. Flames are not welcome if they do not
    meet the above criteria. Here on RACC there is one organization that
    acts as moral compass for acceptable flames: the Order of St. Doomas.

    The Order has defined one activity that is worthy of flame: spamming.
    One member of the Order (usually the first to his/her keyboard) will
    have the honors. Repetitive flaming by multiple members is frowned
    upon by the Order.

    To join this righteous crusade, all you need do is select a
    net.persona and flame. Incorrect flaming (i.e. at non-sanctioned
    targets, or with unamusing effect) will result in ostracization and
    excommunication. Watch the Order in action before joining and all
    will be clear.

    Now that the group has been moderated, most opportunities for flames
    are gone. But watch carefully; new ones may arise.

    2. Reviews of stories (even negative ones) are one of the most
    sought-after commodities on RACC. You will instantly win friends and
    influence people if you post reviews. But especially in the case of
    negative reviews, ensure you confine your review to the story and not
    the writer. Keep in mind as you write "that SUCKS" that someone
    worked long and hard on the text. They might want to know what worked
    and what didn't in their narrative but it's doubtful they want to hear
    how clever you can be in ripping them up.

    It's certain the rest of us don't.

    3. One of the best features of a shared universe is the opportunity to
    have your characters interact with others in that universe. This is
    a privilege, not a right. All characters on RACC (and their
    distinctive text-likenesses) are the full and exclusive property of
    their creators. This is not as dogmatic as it sounds, and we're all
    adults (or pretending to be). Cameos (non-speaking/non-plot affecting
    roles) do not typically require permission unless the creator desires
    it. Speaking roles should be previewed through email and approved by
    the creator before being posted.

    ------------------------------

    Subject: 4. Glossary

    These are terms you will see come up on RACC that have special meaning
    here. (For general net.terms and abbreviations, see the META RAC FAQ.)

    Acraphobe RACC's version of adult warning label. Yes, with an "a."
    Don't ask.

    Arc A multi-issue storyline.

    Archive ftp.eyrie.org, where nearly ALL the back issues live.

    Crossover A storyline that involves several titles and/or authors. Also
    the bane of all mankind.

    Elsewhirls An imaginary story. (Yeah yeah, we know they're ALL
    imaginary. How about "out-of-continuity"?)

    Fanfiction Fiction about established, trademarked universes and
    or fanfic characters that the author did not create -- in short, the
    sort of stories RACC *wasn't* designed for. There's a good
    list of newsgroups at the end of this FAQ that should help in
    finding a better group if this is what you want to write.

    Imprint The shared universe your story takes place in or subject your
    posting relates to (we have many to chose from). This is
    usually an all-caps prefix on the title of the posting.

    LNH The Legion of Net.Heroes. The immediate father of this group
    and the oldest of the Usenet-based writing universes (see
    Superguy).

    RAC* The rec.arts.comics.* hierarchy of newsgroups.

    RACC rec.arts.comics.creative. You're soaking in it!

    rACCIES The annual RACC fanfiction awards, as voted on by the readers
    or RACCies of this newsgroup.

    Repost Story has been posted before, natch.

    Superguy A mailing list that predates all other Internet comics-fiction
    forums. There is a good-natured rivalry between the LNH and
    this group.

    TEB Trade EtherBack. This is a collection of previously posted
    material, usually cleaned up and relating to a single story
    arc.

    Title A numerically increasing, continuing series. Usually
    involving one character, cast, city, or unifying concept.

    ------------------------------

    Subject: 5. List of Current Tags

    When choosing a tag to put at the beginning of your post, this list should
    be a canonical reference. If you see a need for a new tag, send mail to
    the FAQ maintainer so that it can be added.

    First, the general tags:

    ADMIN Administrative matters affecting everyone on RACC.

    FAQ FAQs of note for the entire RAC* hierarchy. These will tend
    to be crossposted here.

    META Discussion about the newsgroup itself. This includes
    or CHAT everything from general discussion of on-line fiction and RACC
    in particular to recommendations on how long posts should be.

    PRECOG Announcements of upcoming series, planned stories, and the
    or PROMO like.

    WWW Announcement of a web page related to RACC or a free strip.

    Now, all of the writing imprints. Note that new ones of these pop up all
    the time. Entries marked with (*) are in danger of being retired due to
    lack of activity. If you have any changes, please mail eagle@eyrie.org.

    8FOLD A closed universe that encompasses serious superheroes, comedy,
    memoir, and just about anything else: high-quality fiction of
    any stripe is welcome.

    ACRAPHOBE Mature stories that may or may not fit into other universes'
    or ACRA continuity. Using this flag in conjunction with another is
    not unheard of. (For example, Scav's _501 Blues_ is
    LNH/ACRAPHOBE.) Think a meta-Vertigo.

    ASH Academy of Super-Heroes. Dave Van Domelen's RPG-based future-
    history stories. See <https://www.eyrie.org/~dvandom/ASH>.

    ELSEWHIRLS LNH stories that do not fit into LNH continuity. Think DC's
    or EW Elseworlds.

    HCC The High Concept Challenge, a continuous series of writing
    contests. Each round, the winner, chosen by reader vote, gets
    to pick the next round's concept.

    LNH Legion of Net.Heroes, "The Friendliest Shared Universe
    Going!(TM)" A mostly parody universe, though it does have its
    serious side.

    LNH20 On the LNH's 20th anniversary, a group of writers took it upon
    themselves to create a new world, based in everything they
    loved about the LNH, in the best spirit of comic book reboots!
    LNH20 is just as friendly as the original, but easier to get
    into! Hop right in, the adventure's fine!

    LNHY An Imprint involving an alternate LNH universe called
    Looniverse Y. The big difference between this and the Classic
    LNH is that writers are allowed to have only one character of
    theirs in this Looniverse's LNH.

    RACCCafe A continuity-free outpust where RACC characters can unwind
    after a hard day of being mangled by their writers. Anything
    can happen, as long as it's funny, and there are no
    consequences!

    SG Superguy. From Space Moose to the Bomb. Comedy superhero
    writing with a far different background than LNH. Note that
    only a small slice of Superguy stuff appears here; to see the
    rest, go to <https://lists.eyrie.org/mailman/listinfo/superguy>.

    STARFALL Lightly serious and seriously light superheroics, and better
    because of it. ;)

    NTB Net.Trenchcoat.Brigade. A bunch of Vertigo-like characters
    that own stock in London Fog. Not tremendously active, but
    they do have a considerable history. Implied Acraphobe.

    OMEGA A serious psi-based shared super-world and once upon a time
    RACC's third largest universe, now inactive. Created by the
    legendary Matt Rossi.

    OSD The Order of Saint Doomas. Items relating to RACC's anti-spam
    cult. (See Section 3 above.) No posts have been seen from
    this imprint in quite some time, but that doesn't mean they're
    gone....

    SW10 SW stands for Superhuman World. 10 is an annual tag. The
    comic has proceeded to 2011, but the tag has frozen at 2010
    because that's when the series really interacted with RACC.
    Scott Eiler has written the story of this universe since
    before 1991, but 1991 is when the modern heroes of this series
    start. His sources include adolescent male power fantasy,
    superhero role-playing, comic-book satire, and dreams. See
    <http://www.eilertech.com/stories/>.

    MISC Stories not in the above categories or in their own universes
    (authors are encouraged to make up their own headers as well).
    To limit the number of imprints, and to keep this FAQ to
    reasonable lengths, let's adopt this convention: One-shot
    stories or series should use the MISC flag. Series that set
    up shared universes should create their own, new imprint.

    ------------------------------

    Subject: 6. People to Ask for Help

    The major header contacts are listed below, who will be glad to answer
    email question. Also keep your eyes peeled for FAQs specific to
    particular imprints. The FAQs are also often in the archive in a
    directory named "FAQs" under the imprint directory.

    Imprint Contact Email
    ------------ -------------------- ---------------------------------
    8FOLD Jamie Rosen jamie.rosen@sunlife.com
    8FOLD Tom Russell joltcity@gmail.com
    + ASH Dave Van Domelen dvandom@eyrie.org
    + LNH Andrew Perron pwerdna@gmail.com
    LNH20 Andrew Perron pwerdna@gmail.com
    + LNHY Arthur Spitzer arspitzer@earthlink.net
    + NTB Arthur Spitzer arspitzer@earthlink.net
    + RACChallenge Sean MacDonald mcdonald@vorteb.math.uab.edu
    + StarFall Ted Brock phantom_belcher@yahoo.com
    + Superguy Eric Burns eaburns@annotations.com
    SW10 Scott Eiler seiler@eilertech.com

    The Archive Russ Allbery eagle@eyrie.org
    Moderation RACC Moderation Team racc-request@eyrie.org

    + indicates separate FAQs are available for these imprints.

    If you need to contact the moderator directly, the contact information is:

    Russ Allbery <eagle@eyrie.org>

    If none of the above people help, or your questions are too general or specific, just email anyone you see posting here that seems to know what they're doing. (WARNING: This is rarely the case.)

    --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
    * Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)
  • From Russ Allbery@21:1/5 to All on Fri Dec 1 08:01:04 2023
    Last-modified: 2018-07-16
    Posted-by: postfaq 1.17 (Perl 5.28.1)
    Archive-name: comics/creative/faq
    URL: https://www.eyrie.org/~eagle/faqs/racc.html
    Posting-frequency: monthly

    ==========================================================================
    rec.arts.comics.creative Frequently Asked Questions
    Maintained by Russ Allbery <eagle@eyrie.org>
    Original by Jeff McCoskey ==========================================================================

    If you're reading this on Usenet, this FAQ is formatted as a minimal
    digest. If your newsreader has digest handling capabilities you can use
    them to navigate between sections. In rn variants, you can use Ctrl-G to
    skip to the next section; in Gnus, press Ctrl-D to break each section into
    a separate article. For other newsreaders, see the documentation.

    The latest version of this FAQ is available on the web at:

    <https://www.eyrie.org/~eagle/faqs/racc.html>

    Please send any comments, suggestions, or updates to eagle@eyrie.org.

    ------------------------------

    Subject: Contents

    1. Welcome to rec.arts.comics.creative!
    1.1. What is RACC for?
    1.2. What isn't RACC for?
    1.3. What is the RACC official charter?
    1.4. Where are the stories about Wolverine(tm)?
    1.5. Where are the old stories?
    1.6. How can I read RACC via e-mail?

    2. Writing for RACC (How do I get involved?)
    2.1. Cool! Okay, how do I post?
    2.2. Format! I'm nothing without format!
    2.3. How 'bout them imprints? What's up with that?
    2.4. How do I archive my stories for posterity?
    2.5. What do copyright laws I pay taxes for do for me?

    3. Netiquette for RACC

    4. Glossary

    5. List of current imprints

    6. People to ask for help

    ------------------------------

    Subject: 1. Welcome to rec.arts.comics.creative!

    Welcome to rec.arts.comics.creative, the newsgroup which could have been
    named rec.prose.shared-universe but wasn't, the newsgroup which has, to
    date, produced well over 30MB of entirely free original fiction (and
    that's compressed!), the newsgroup which has nearly nothing to do with
    your favorite comic books at all!

    You're about to go insane. Don't worry, it's fun.

    rec.arts.comics.creative (henceforth RACC) is a moderated newsgroup for comics-related original fiction and discussion of same, originally created unmoderated by Martin Phipps and a cast of thousands (well, dozens at
    least) and later converted to moderated to keep out the spam. Don't
    worry, even though it's a moderated group, it's still friendly, chatty,
    and not at all formal, and we go out of our way to keep it that way.

    The first group of this sort on the Internet was the Superguy mailing
    list, which is still in operation to this day (you'll see posts from it on
    this group from time to time). Later, the Legion of Net.Heroes (LNH)
    sprung out of a free-form thread on rec.arts.comics and spawned another newsgroup (alt.comics.lnh). They were quickly followed by a wide variety
    of other comics-based shared universes, including the Patrol, the Net.Trenchcoat.Brigade, and Omega. All of these organizations, in
    parallel, gathered together authors in shared universes and strongly
    influenced the nature of RACC.

    First and foremost, RACC is a site for people to post comics-related
    fiction. Stories about long-underwear vigilantes, anthropomorphic
    animals, SF, westerns, even Kleen Teens if anyone is so moved. As long as
    it relates to comics it's okay. So whether you're a reader, a writer, or
    that fabled creature the critic, or even all three -- welcome to RACC:
    it's all the story, none of the art! (yet)

    ------------------------------

    Subject: 1.1. What is RACC for?

    For the official charter, see section 1.3. Here's the long, readable
    version.

    One term that you'll see a lot is "shared universe." This is a shared
    story background, co-created by multiple authors and used as the
    "universe" in which multiple different stories are set. This is a
    trademark characteristic of most comic books (seen in its clearest form in
    the ubiquitous crossover, a story written by multiple authors at once and involving multiple characters who all have their own stories), as well as appearing in some other published fiction (such as Wild Cards, or Larry
    Niven's Man-Kzin Wars). Most (but not all) of the stories posted here
    take place in one of the established shared universes (there's a list
    later on in this FAQ), to the point where this style of writing is nearly characteristic of the group.

    Another term you'll see is "comics-related." Nearly all of the authors
    writing here drew their original (if not primary) inspiration from comic
    books. As a result, nearly all of the stories are on-going (published a chapter at a time), divided up into "issues" and given numbers, and
    organized into "imprints." Many people also describe covers or design
    ASCII graphic logos.

    There is no restriction on types of fiction. (That'd kinda take the
    creative out of RACC, wouldn't it?) You'll see stories run the gamut from slapstick comedy to grim'n'gritty Real Life Supers (TM). As long as it's
    about comics, set your pen free. (You'll see a lot of superhero fiction,
    but that just means that those of us who like reading other things as well
    are anxiously awaiting your non-superhero stories.)

    RACC is also for discussion of stories, both specific ones and in general.
    The critic and reader is one of the most sought-after types of people
    around here; if you give us feedback on our stories, good or bad, we'll
    love you forever.

    Finally, if you want to announce your free web strip here, we welcome
    those posts too. If you're trying to sell it, though, please try rec.arts.comics.marketplace or rec.arts.comics.strips instead. (And rec.arts.comics.strips may be a better group in general, as RACC readers
    are mostly interested in text fiction.)

    ------------------------------

    Subject: 1.2. What isn't RACC for?

    A lot of things. We're not for wars of attrition, Third World starvation,
    45 mph speed limits, and brussel sprout toothpaste. Closer to home, RACC
    is not for any of the following:

    * Discussion of existing, "professional" books (except as they relate
    to our fiction)

    * Marketplace-type I-wanna-buy/I-wanna-sell postings

    * Flames and personality conflicts. Critiques, yes. Flames, no.

    * Fiction about established, trademarked characters and universes,
    unless you created them or have written permission.

    * Erotica, no matter how much spandex you put in. There are other
    groups for that.

    ------------------------------

    Subject: 1.3. What is the RACC official charter?

    This newsgroup welcomes any form of comics-related original fiction and discussion of the same, including but not limited to stories in the many established shared universes. Discussion of on-line fiction as a whole is
    also welcome provided that it is related to the stories on the newsgroup.
    If they choose to write in an existing shared universe, writers are
    strongly encouranged to follow the existing continuity and rules of that universe. "Comics-related" will be interpreted very broadly, as has been traditional on the newsgroup.

    Each posting to rec.arts.comics.creative should include a keyword on the subject line either designating which shared universe the posting refers
    to or marking the general subject of the post (ADMIN, META, MISC, etc.).
    If a submitted post does not have a keyword, the moderator will add an appropriate keyword, but posters are encouraged to add keywords themselves
    to save moderation work.

    Large binaries, such as artwork, will not be allowed on the newsgroup.
    Instead, binaries can be made available in the newsgroup archive (subject
    to the discretion of the archivist) and a pointer posted to the newsgroup. Pointers to Web pages are also welcome, provided the content of the page
    is related to the purpose of the group.

    Stories using copyrighted or trademarked characters are explicitly not
    within the charter of this group and may be rejected unless the author
    owns the copyrights and trademarks or has written permission from the
    owner. Networking posts (artists seeking writers or writers seeking
    artists) are inappropriate in this group and should be sent to appropriate mailing lists or other groups in the rec.arts.comics.* hierarchy (rec.arts.comics.misc if there is no other more appropriate group).

    ------------------------------

    Subject: 1.4. Where are the stories about Wolverine(tm)?

    This is very important, so I'm going to yell it. RACC IS NOT THE PLACE
    FOR FICTION ABOUT ESTABLISHED, TRADEMARKED CHARACTERS. This includes all Marvel, Image, DC, what-have-you characters. RACC's charter expressly
    FORBIDS such fiction.

    The reason for this is the ongoing legislative battles about intellectual property and the Net. rec.* groups are picked up worldwide, and sysadmins
    do not want to draw lawsuits because someone wrote a story that violated trademark laws. Note that fanfic stories may or may not be lawful and/or prosecutable, WE JUST DON'T KNOW. They're still writing the laws.

    To forestall any confusion or debates, and to protect sysadmins from inadvertently becoming the test case, this provision was adopted as a key requirement for RACC's creation. If you really must write about existing, trademarked characters, there is alt.comics.fan-fiction waiting to receive
    you. alt.* groups get picked up by sysadmins voluntarily, so they
    presumedly know what risks they're taking.

    Nothing will draw this group's ire faster than violating this requirement.

    ------------------------------

    Subject: 1.5. Where are the old stories?

    Thanks to the tireless efforts and bottomless disk space of Russ Allbery,
    all stories posted to rec.arts.comics.creative are archived! This means stories will be preserved for future generations of readers, providing a
    link to the past. It is difficult to over-praise this contribution.

    (Note: Lest you think I would be so crass as to praise myself, I want to
    make sure you know that Jeff wrote that last paragraph. 'course, I didn't delete it either.)

    Older stories are sorted by universe and series and are available at:

    <https://archives.eyrie.org/racc/>

    All of the stories are compressed using gzip, but most browsers can automatically decompress them for you. This archive unfortunately hasn't
    been updated recently, but it does have all of the older stories.

    Every message to rec.arts.comics.creative, story or not, is archived at:

    <https://lists.eyrie.org/pipermail/racc/>

    in the form of a more traditional mailing list archive, so you can also
    look there if a story hasn't been saved in the story archive. This is the
    best way to find anything posted in the last few years. You can search
    the archive by prepending "site:lists.eyrie.org" to a regular Google
    search.

    Please note that stories will be removed from both the list archive and
    the story archive at the author's request if the author wants to take them down. This has happened in the past, sometimes because the author wanted
    to sell the stories to a professional venue.

    ------------------------------

    Subject: 1.6. How can I read RACC via e-mail?

    Everything that shows up in RACC also shows up in its associated mailing
    list (and vice versa), so if you want to be sure not to miss anything, or
    if you just prefer e-mail to Usenet, you can subscribe to that mailing
    list.

    To do that, go to:

    <https://lists.eyrie.org/mailman/listinfo/racc>

    and fill out the form to subscribe. Alternately, you can subscribe via
    e-mail by sending mail to racc-request@lists.eyrie.org with the word:

    subscribe

    in the subject of the message. You then can read and reply to posts just
    as if the newsgroup were a mailing list. It's all the same to us.

    ------------------------------

    Subject: 2. Writing for RACC (How do I get involved?)

    Write a story. Post it. You're involved.

    This assumes you want to create your own universe to write in. If you
    want to join a pre-existing shared universe, it's a little more involved.

    Many of the imprints have FAQs of their own (OMEGA, Superguy, LNH,
    Crossroads to name a few). These get posted periodically. The first
    thing you should do is read these documents to get a feel for what these specific universes are like.

    The next thing you should do is _read_ the universe in question. This
    includes tapping the archives for back issues. No one would suggest you
    read the entire Superguy or LNH archives before writing, but definitely
    try to sample a large cross-section.

    Lastly, email some of the creators you see writing under a specific
    imprint. They will be able to tell you if your concept fits with their universe or not, and perhaps refer you to a more appropriate universe if necessary.

    THEN write a story and post it.

    ------------------------------

    Subject: 2.1. Cool! Okay, how do I post?

    RACC is a moderated newsgroup, which means that every post goes to the moderators first. If your site correctly has the group marked as
    moderated, you should be able to post just like you post to any other
    group and your news server will take care of the rest. If you have a Unix shell account, you can check if the group is correctly marked as moderated
    by typing:

    nntplist active | grep rec.arts.comics.creative

    If the last character on the resulting line is an "m," congratulations,
    you have a good news administrator. If it's a "y," send mail to your
    local computing support people and ask them to convert the group to
    moderated like it should be.

    If you don't have a Unix shell account, some newsreaders will also tell
    you if the group is moderated.

    If, for any reason, you have trouble posting or your site *doesn't* have
    the group marked as moderated, you can mail your post to racc@eyrie.org
    instead and it will be posted for you.

    Because the group is moderated, it can be up to a day after you post
    before your article is actually posted, and it can take a few more days
    for the article to propagate back to you. So don't be surprised if it
    doesn't show up right away.

    Many readers of rec.arts.comics.creative use Google Groups to read and
    post. While this works, and I know it's convenient, Google Groups also
    deletes anything enclosed in square brackets ([]) at the beginning of
    Subject lines in replies. If you use Google Groups, please try to
    remember to put back the imprint tags when you reply to posts; otherwise,
    I have to add them as the moderator.

    ------------------------------

    Subject: 2.2. Format! I'm nothing without format!

    Formatting is pretty loose. Since this is a comics newsgroup, you will
    hear people refer to their stories as "issues." Postings tend to run in numerical order just like comic books, and many people write continuing
    series. For example there are 25 "issues" in Drizzt's _Continuity Champ
    and the Drizzt's Defenders_ series.

    Stories don't have to be series though. One-shots, mini-series,
    maxi-series, crossovers -- all of these have been done before and will be
    done again.

    The subjects of postings should follow the convention of naming the
    imprint the title and the number. For example:

    LNH: System Corruptors #15, The Bard's Tale
    imprint --^ ^ ^ ^
    title --------------| | |
    number -------------------------| |
    subtitle/comment/etc [optional] -------|

    Since the archive mechanism relies heavily on this format (not to mention
    the format-accustomed eyes of this group's readers), please follow this strictly, including the use of the #-sign. Subtitles, alternate titles,
    and title comments should follow the number if they are used at all. If
    you want to, you can use [TAG] instead of TAG: at the beginning of the
    subject; it's all the same to the archiver. (TAG: causes a few fewer
    problems than [TAG] with Google Groups.)

    Occasionally, instead of (or in addition to) a number you will see "TEB."
    This stands for "Trade EtherBack." It means the posting is actually a collection of previously posted issues -- usually cleaned up and relating
    to a single story arc.

    Inside your story do what you will. Some folks run fake ads, others use
    cheesy ASCII graphics, some just use text. A word of advice: On
    older/more primitive newsreaders your text is MUCH easier to read if you
    space between paragraphs. On the other hand, some newer newsreader
    readers find the spaces jarring. The moral? You can't please all the
    people all the time. In general spaces seem to be more preferred.

    ------------------------------

    Subject: 2.3. How 'bout them imprints? What's up with that?

    In order to accommodate a near-infinite number of different potential universes, RACC has adopted the reasonable convention of flagging fiction.
    This allows uninterested parties to skip some genres, and others to
    quickly find their niches of interest. The flag goes before the title of
    story issues, related FAQs or universe-specific discussions. Many flags
    refer to existing shared-universes. New ones will come up all the time.
    For the current list, see section 5 of this FAQ.

    Once you pick an imprint name, stick with it. The Archive and your legion
    of new fans will both be happier if you don't make marketing name changes.

    Regardless of flags all SEXUALLY EXPLICIT or PROFANITY-RICH stories should
    have huge warning labels at the beginning of text. Last thing we need is
    a Florida DA bringing us all up on charges. ;] Besides, it's only common courtesy. Note that if a story could reasonably be posted on
    alt.sex.stories, you've probably strayed a bit far from this group's
    interests.

    Some sort of flag, either an imprint name or a more general tag, is
    required on all posts and one will be added by the moderator if you don't provide one. Leaving one off requires the moderator to edit your post,
    though, which takes time and means your post will be delayed. So please
    save them the trouble and remember to add the tag yourself.

    ------------------------------

    Subject: 2.4. How do I archive my stories for posterity?

    Good news! It's already being done for you! (Or at least it will be if
    Russ ever catches up with the archiving.)

    In theory, every story posted to rec.arts.comics.creative is archived at <https://archives.eyrie.org/racc/>. Most imprints have their own
    directories, with the stories stored in directories under that (depending
    on the size of the imprint, the directories could be very structured or
    just one directory for each series). Some imprints may be collected in
    the misc directory.

    Unfortunately, this archive is substantially out of date. Russ hopes to eventually find time to update it.

    The exception is Superguy, which has its own archiving mechanism. The
    Superguy archives are at <https://archives.eyrie.org/superguy/>, but one
    of the best ways to access them is through the Autocollector at:

    <https://archives.eyrie.org/cgi-bin/superguy>

    ------------------------------

    Subject: 2.5. What do Copyright laws I pay taxes for do for me?

    I don't even play a lawyer on TV, but there are some things you should
    know about Copyright laws.

    Anything you write is copyrighted immediately, whether you flag it with a copyright notice or not. Furthermore, the copyright protection is international under the Berne Copyright Convention, which has been signed
    by nearly every country with access to Usenet.

    If you label your text as copyrighted, it preempts a possible
    "unintentional infringement" defense from plagarizers. The copyright
    notice is considered legal notice that you intend to retain your rights.
    The legal format for such a notice requires three things: Your name, the
    year, and one or more of the following: "Copyright," "Copr.," and/or the c-in-circle symbol. Note that there is no firm legal precedence for (C)
    or (c) as having any special copyright meaning. Example notice:

    Copyright 1994 Jeff J McCoskey

    The only way to get full legal protection (at least in the United States)
    is to register your work with the government (forms are free, filing fees apply). This *guarantees* an archived, dated copy should future legal
    action be necessary. Other forms of dating, like mailing yourself a copy
    or archiving (to get a date stamp), are of dubious and unproven legal
    value.

    An excellent resource for Copyright information is misc.legal, where a FAQ
    is posted monthly.

    Another excellent resource is the U.S. Copyright Office home page at:

    <https://www.copyright.gov/>

    ------------------------------

    Subject: 3. Netiquette for RACC

    As a rule of thumb, everything you've heard elsewhere about good
    netiquette applies here. We hate spammers (more in a minute), expect
    smilies when joking (except in stories of course), and in general expect
    you to conduct yourselves as good net.citizens. There are three things
    you need to know after you've mastered Basic Netiquette:

    1. The only times flames are accepted on RACC are when they are both
    morally defensible and amusing. Flames are not welcome if they do not
    meet the above criteria. Here on RACC there is one organization that
    acts as moral compass for acceptable flames: the Order of St. Doomas.

    The Order has defined one activity that is worthy of flame: spamming.
    One member of the Order (usually the first to his/her keyboard) will
    have the honors. Repetitive flaming by multiple members is frowned
    upon by the Order.

    To join this righteous crusade, all you need do is select a
    net.persona and flame. Incorrect flaming (i.e. at non-sanctioned
    targets, or with unamusing effect) will result in ostracization and
    excommunication. Watch the Order in action before joining and all
    will be clear.

    Now that the group has been moderated, most opportunities for flames
    are gone. But watch carefully; new ones may arise.

    2. Reviews of stories (even negative ones) are one of the most
    sought-after commodities on RACC. You will instantly win friends and
    influence people if you post reviews. But especially in the case of
    negative reviews, ensure you confine your review to the story and not
    the writer. Keep in mind as you write "that SUCKS" that someone
    worked long and hard on the text. They might want to know what worked
    and what didn't in their narrative but it's doubtful they want to hear
    how clever you can be in ripping them up.

    It's certain the rest of us don't.

    3. One of the best features of a shared universe is the opportunity to
    have your characters interact with others in that universe. This is
    a privilege, not a right. All characters on RACC (and their
    distinctive text-likenesses) are the full and exclusive property of
    their creators. This is not as dogmatic as it sounds, and we're all
    adults (or pretending to be). Cameos (non-speaking/non-plot affecting
    roles) do not typically require permission unless the creator desires
    it. Speaking roles should be previewed through email and approved by
    the creator before being posted.

    ------------------------------

    Subject: 4. Glossary

    These are terms you will see come up on RACC that have special meaning
    here. (For general net.terms and abbreviations, see the META RAC FAQ.)

    Acraphobe RACC's version of adult warning label. Yes, with an "a."
    Don't ask.

    Arc A multi-issue storyline.

    Archive ftp.eyrie.org, where nearly ALL the back issues live.

    Crossover A storyline that involves several titles and/or authors. Also
    the bane of all mankind.

    Elsewhirls An imaginary story. (Yeah yeah, we know they're ALL
    imaginary. How about "out-of-continuity"?)

    Fanfiction Fiction about established, trademarked universes and
    or fanfic characters that the author did not create -- in short, the
    sort of stories RACC *wasn't* designed for. There's a good
    list of newsgroups at the end of this FAQ that should help in
    finding a better group if this is what you want to write.

    Imprint The shared universe your story takes place in or subject your
    posting relates to (we have many to chose from). This is
    usually an all-caps prefix on the title of the posting.

    LNH The Legion of Net.Heroes. The immediate father of this group
    and the oldest of the Usenet-based writing universes (see
    Superguy).

    RAC* The rec.arts.comics.* hierarchy of newsgroups.

    RACC rec.arts.comics.creative. You're soaking in it!

    rACCIES The annual RACC fanfiction awards, as voted on by the readers
    or RACCies of this newsgroup.

    Repost Story has been posted before, natch.

    Superguy A mailing list that predates all other Internet comics-fiction
    forums. There is a good-natured rivalry between the LNH and
    this group.

    TEB Trade EtherBack. This is a collection of previously posted
    material, usually cleaned up and relating to a single story
    arc.

    Title A numerically increasing, continuing series. Usually
    involving one character, cast, city, or unifying concept.

    ------------------------------

    Subject: 5. List of Current Tags

    When choosing a tag to put at the beginning of your post, this list should
    be a canonical reference. If you see a need for a new tag, send mail to
    the FAQ maintainer so that it can be added.

    First, the general tags:

    ADMIN Administrative matters affecting everyone on RACC.

    FAQ FAQs of note for the entire RAC* hierarchy. These will tend
    to be crossposted here.

    META Discussion about the newsgroup itself. This includes
    or CHAT everything from general discussion of on-line fiction and RACC
    in particular to recommendations on how long posts should be.

    PRECOG Announcements of upcoming series, planned stories, and the
    or PROMO like.

    WWW Announcement of a web page related to RACC or a free strip.

    Now, all of the writing imprints. Note that new ones of these pop up all
    the time. Entries marked with (*) are in danger of being retired due to
    lack of activity. If you have any changes, please mail eagle@eyrie.org.

    8FOLD A closed universe that encompasses serious superheroes, comedy,
    memoir, and just about anything else: high-quality fiction of
    any stripe is welcome.

    ACRAPHOBE Mature stories that may or may not fit into other universes'
    or ACRA continuity. Using this flag in conjunction with another is
    not unheard of. (For example, Scav's _501 Blues_ is
    LNH/ACRAPHOBE.) Think a meta-Vertigo.

    ASH Academy of Super-Heroes. Dave Van Domelen's RPG-based future-
    history stories. See <https://www.eyrie.org/~dvandom/ASH>.

    ELSEWHIRLS LNH stories that do not fit into LNH continuity. Think DC's
    or EW Elseworlds.

    HCC The High Concept Challenge, a continuous series of writing
    contests. Each round, the winner, chosen by reader vote, gets
    to pick the next round's concept.

    LNH Legion of Net.Heroes, "The Friendliest Shared Universe
    Going!(TM)" A mostly parody universe, though it does have its
    serious side.

    LNH20 On the LNH's 20th anniversary, a group of writers took it upon
    themselves to create a new world, based in everything they
    loved about the LNH, in the best spirit of comic book reboots!
    LNH20 is just as friendly as the original, but easier to get
    into! Hop right in, the adventure's fine!

    LNHY An Imprint involving an alternate LNH universe called
    Looniverse Y. The big difference between this and the Classic
    LNH is that writers are allowed to have only one character of
    theirs in this Looniverse's LNH.

    RACCCafe A continuity-free outpust where RACC characters can unwind
    after a hard day of being mangled by their writers. Anything
    can happen, as long as it's funny, and there are no
    consequences!

    SG Superguy. From Space Moose to the Bomb. Comedy superhero
    writing with a far different background than LNH. Note that
    only a small slice of Superguy stuff appears here; to see the
    rest, go to <https://lists.eyrie.org/mailman/listinfo/superguy>.

    STARFALL Lightly serious and seriously light superheroics, and better
    because of it. ;)

    NTB Net.Trenchcoat.Brigade. A bunch of Vertigo-like characters
    that own stock in London Fog. Not tremendously active, but
    they do have a considerable history. Implied Acraphobe.

    OMEGA A serious psi-based shared super-world and once upon a time
    RACC's third largest universe, now inactive. Created by the
    legendary Matt Rossi.

    OSD The Order of Saint Doomas. Items relating to RACC's anti-spam
    cult. (See Section 3 above.) No posts have been seen from
    this imprint in quite some time, but that doesn't mean they're
    gone....

    SW10 SW stands for Superhuman World. 10 is an annual tag. The
    comic has proceeded to 2011, but the tag has frozen at 2010
    because that's when the series really interacted with RACC.
    Scott Eiler has written the story of this universe since
    before 1991, but 1991 is when the modern heroes of this series
    start. His sources include adolescent male power fantasy,
    superhero role-playing, comic-book satire, and dreams. See
    <http://www.eilertech.com/stories/>.

    MISC Stories not in the above categories or in their own universes
    (authors are encouraged to make up their own headers as well).
    To limit the number of imprints, and to keep this FAQ to
    reasonable lengths, let's adopt this convention: One-shot
    stories or series should use the MISC flag. Series that set
    up shared universes should create their own, new imprint.

    ------------------------------

    Subject: 6. People to Ask for Help

    The major header contacts are listed below, who will be glad to answer
    email question. Also keep your eyes peeled for FAQs specific to
    particular imprints. The FAQs are also often in the archive in a
    directory named "FAQs" under the imprint directory.

    Imprint Contact Email
    ------------ -------------------- ---------------------------------
    8FOLD Jamie Rosen jamie.rosen@sunlife.com
    8FOLD Tom Russell joltcity@gmail.com
    + ASH Dave Van Domelen dvandom@eyrie.org
    + LNH Andrew Perron pwerdna@gmail.com
    LNH20 Andrew Perron pwerdna@gmail.com
    + LNHY Arthur Spitzer arspitzer@earthlink.net
    + NTB Arthur Spitzer arspitzer@earthlink.net
    + RACChallenge Sean MacDonald mcdonald@vorteb.math.uab.edu
    + StarFall Ted Brock phantom_belcher@yahoo.com
    + Superguy Eric Burns eaburns@annotations.com
    SW10 Scott Eiler seiler@eilertech.com

    The Archive Russ Allbery eagle@eyrie.org
    Moderation RACC Moderation Team racc-request@eyrie.org

    + indicates separate FAQs are available for these imprints.

    If you need to contact the moderator directly, the contact information is:

    Russ Allbery <eagle@eyrie.org>

    If none of the above people help, or your questions are too general or specific, just email anyone you see posting here that seems to know what they're doing. (WARNING: This is rarely the case.)

    --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
    * Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)
  • From Russ Allbery@21:1/5 to All on Mon Jan 1 08:01:01 2024
    Last-modified: 2018-07-16
    Posted-by: postfaq 1.17 (Perl 5.28.1)
    Archive-name: comics/creative/faq
    URL: https://www.eyrie.org/~eagle/faqs/racc.html
    Posting-frequency: monthly

    ==========================================================================
    rec.arts.comics.creative Frequently Asked Questions
    Maintained by Russ Allbery <eagle@eyrie.org>
    Original by Jeff McCoskey ==========================================================================

    If you're reading this on Usenet, this FAQ is formatted as a minimal
    digest. If your newsreader has digest handling capabilities you can use
    them to navigate between sections. In rn variants, you can use Ctrl-G to
    skip to the next section; in Gnus, press Ctrl-D to break each section into
    a separate article. For other newsreaders, see the documentation.

    The latest version of this FAQ is available on the web at:

    <https://www.eyrie.org/~eagle/faqs/racc.html>

    Please send any comments, suggestions, or updates to eagle@eyrie.org.

    ------------------------------

    Subject: Contents

    1. Welcome to rec.arts.comics.creative!
    1.1. What is RACC for?
    1.2. What isn't RACC for?
    1.3. What is the RACC official charter?
    1.4. Where are the stories about Wolverine(tm)?
    1.5. Where are the old stories?
    1.6. How can I read RACC via e-mail?

    2. Writing for RACC (How do I get involved?)
    2.1. Cool! Okay, how do I post?
    2.2. Format! I'm nothing without format!
    2.3. How 'bout them imprints? What's up with that?
    2.4. How do I archive my stories for posterity?
    2.5. What do copyright laws I pay taxes for do for me?

    3. Netiquette for RACC

    4. Glossary

    5. List of current imprints

    6. People to ask for help

    ------------------------------

    Subject: 1. Welcome to rec.arts.comics.creative!

    Welcome to rec.arts.comics.creative, the newsgroup which could have been
    named rec.prose.shared-universe but wasn't, the newsgroup which has, to
    date, produced well over 30MB of entirely free original fiction (and
    that's compressed!), the newsgroup which has nearly nothing to do with
    your favorite comic books at all!

    You're about to go insane. Don't worry, it's fun.

    rec.arts.comics.creative (henceforth RACC) is a moderated newsgroup for comics-related original fiction and discussion of same, originally created unmoderated by Martin Phipps and a cast of thousands (well, dozens at
    least) and later converted to moderated to keep out the spam. Don't
    worry, even though it's a moderated group, it's still friendly, chatty,
    and not at all formal, and we go out of our way to keep it that way.

    The first group of this sort on the Internet was the Superguy mailing
    list, which is still in operation to this day (you'll see posts from it on
    this group from time to time). Later, the Legion of Net.Heroes (LNH)
    sprung out of a free-form thread on rec.arts.comics and spawned another newsgroup (alt.comics.lnh). They were quickly followed by a wide variety
    of other comics-based shared universes, including the Patrol, the Net.Trenchcoat.Brigade, and Omega. All of these organizations, in
    parallel, gathered together authors in shared universes and strongly
    influenced the nature of RACC.

    First and foremost, RACC is a site for people to post comics-related
    fiction. Stories about long-underwear vigilantes, anthropomorphic
    animals, SF, westerns, even Kleen Teens if anyone is so moved. As long as
    it relates to comics it's okay. So whether you're a reader, a writer, or
    that fabled creature the critic, or even all three -- welcome to RACC:
    it's all the story, none of the art! (yet)

    ------------------------------

    Subject: 1.1. What is RACC for?

    For the official charter, see section 1.3. Here's the long, readable
    version.

    One term that you'll see a lot is "shared universe." This is a shared
    story background, co-created by multiple authors and used as the
    "universe" in which multiple different stories are set. This is a
    trademark characteristic of most comic books (seen in its clearest form in
    the ubiquitous crossover, a story written by multiple authors at once and involving multiple characters who all have their own stories), as well as appearing in some other published fiction (such as Wild Cards, or Larry
    Niven's Man-Kzin Wars). Most (but not all) of the stories posted here
    take place in one of the established shared universes (there's a list
    later on in this FAQ), to the point where this style of writing is nearly characteristic of the group.

    Another term you'll see is "comics-related." Nearly all of the authors
    writing here drew their original (if not primary) inspiration from comic
    books. As a result, nearly all of the stories are on-going (published a chapter at a time), divided up into "issues" and given numbers, and
    organized into "imprints." Many people also describe covers or design
    ASCII graphic logos.

    There is no restriction on types of fiction. (That'd kinda take the
    creative out of RACC, wouldn't it?) You'll see stories run the gamut from slapstick comedy to grim'n'gritty Real Life Supers (TM). As long as it's
    about comics, set your pen free. (You'll see a lot of superhero fiction,
    but that just means that those of us who like reading other things as well
    are anxiously awaiting your non-superhero stories.)

    RACC is also for discussion of stories, both specific ones and in general.
    The critic and reader is one of the most sought-after types of people
    around here; if you give us feedback on our stories, good or bad, we'll
    love you forever.

    Finally, if you want to announce your free web strip here, we welcome
    those posts too. If you're trying to sell it, though, please try rec.arts.comics.marketplace or rec.arts.comics.strips instead. (And rec.arts.comics.strips may be a better group in general, as RACC readers
    are mostly interested in text fiction.)

    ------------------------------

    Subject: 1.2. What isn't RACC for?

    A lot of things. We're not for wars of attrition, Third World starvation,
    45 mph speed limits, and brussel sprout toothpaste. Closer to home, RACC
    is not for any of the following:

    * Discussion of existing, "professional" books (except as they relate
    to our fiction)

    * Marketplace-type I-wanna-buy/I-wanna-sell postings

    * Flames and personality conflicts. Critiques, yes. Flames, no.

    * Fiction about established, trademarked characters and universes,
    unless you created them or have written permission.

    * Erotica, no matter how much spandex you put in. There are other
    groups for that.

    ------------------------------

    Subject: 1.3. What is the RACC official charter?

    This newsgroup welcomes any form of comics-related original fiction and discussion of the same, including but not limited to stories in the many established shared universes. Discussion of on-line fiction as a whole is
    also welcome provided that it is related to the stories on the newsgroup.
    If they choose to write in an existing shared universe, writers are
    strongly encouranged to follow the existing continuity and rules of that universe. "Comics-related" will be interpreted very broadly, as has been traditional on the newsgroup.

    Each posting to rec.arts.comics.creative should include a keyword on the subject line either designating which shared universe the posting refers
    to or marking the general subject of the post (ADMIN, META, MISC, etc.).
    If a submitted post does not have a keyword, the moderator will add an appropriate keyword, but posters are encouraged to add keywords themselves
    to save moderation work.

    Large binaries, such as artwork, will not be allowed on the newsgroup.
    Instead, binaries can be made available in the newsgroup archive (subject
    to the discretion of the archivist) and a pointer posted to the newsgroup. Pointers to Web pages are also welcome, provided the content of the page
    is related to the purpose of the group.

    Stories using copyrighted or trademarked characters are explicitly not
    within the charter of this group and may be rejected unless the author
    owns the copyrights and trademarks or has written permission from the
    owner. Networking posts (artists seeking writers or writers seeking
    artists) are inappropriate in this group and should be sent to appropriate mailing lists or other groups in the rec.arts.comics.* hierarchy (rec.arts.comics.misc if there is no other more appropriate group).

    ------------------------------

    Subject: 1.4. Where are the stories about Wolverine(tm)?

    This is very important, so I'm going to yell it. RACC IS NOT THE PLACE
    FOR FICTION ABOUT ESTABLISHED, TRADEMARKED CHARACTERS. This includes all Marvel, Image, DC, what-have-you characters. RACC's charter expressly
    FORBIDS such fiction.

    The reason for this is the ongoing legislative battles about intellectual property and the Net. rec.* groups are picked up worldwide, and sysadmins
    do not want to draw lawsuits because someone wrote a story that violated trademark laws. Note that fanfic stories may or may not be lawful and/or prosecutable, WE JUST DON'T KNOW. They're still writing the laws.

    To forestall any confusion or debates, and to protect sysadmins from inadvertently becoming the test case, this provision was adopted as a key requirement for RACC's creation. If you really must write about existing, trademarked characters, there is alt.comics.fan-fiction waiting to receive
    you. alt.* groups get picked up by sysadmins voluntarily, so they
    presumedly know what risks they're taking.

    Nothing will draw this group's ire faster than violating this requirement.

    ------------------------------

    Subject: 1.5. Where are the old stories?

    Thanks to the tireless efforts and bottomless disk space of Russ Allbery,
    all stories posted to rec.arts.comics.creative are archived! This means stories will be preserved for future generations of readers, providing a
    link to the past. It is difficult to over-praise this contribution.

    (Note: Lest you think I would be so crass as to praise myself, I want to
    make sure you know that Jeff wrote that last paragraph. 'course, I didn't delete it either.)

    Older stories are sorted by universe and series and are available at:

    <https://archives.eyrie.org/racc/>

    All of the stories are compressed using gzip, but most browsers can automatically decompress them for you. This archive unfortunately hasn't
    been updated recently, but it does have all of the older stories.

    Every message to rec.arts.comics.creative, story or not, is archived at:

    <https://lists.eyrie.org/pipermail/racc/>

    in the form of a more traditional mailing list archive, so you can also
    look there if a story hasn't been saved in the story archive. This is the
    best way to find anything posted in the last few years. You can search
    the archive by prepending "site:lists.eyrie.org" to a regular Google
    search.

    Please note that stories will be removed from both the list archive and
    the story archive at the author's request if the author wants to take them down. This has happened in the past, sometimes because the author wanted
    to sell the stories to a professional venue.

    ------------------------------

    Subject: 1.6. How can I read RACC via e-mail?

    Everything that shows up in RACC also shows up in its associated mailing
    list (and vice versa), so if you want to be sure not to miss anything, or
    if you just prefer e-mail to Usenet, you can subscribe to that mailing
    list.

    To do that, go to:

    <https://lists.eyrie.org/mailman/listinfo/racc>

    and fill out the form to subscribe. Alternately, you can subscribe via
    e-mail by sending mail to racc-request@lists.eyrie.org with the word:

    subscribe

    in the subject of the message. You then can read and reply to posts just
    as if the newsgroup were a mailing list. It's all the same to us.

    ------------------------------

    Subject: 2. Writing for RACC (How do I get involved?)

    Write a story. Post it. You're involved.

    This assumes you want to create your own universe to write in. If you
    want to join a pre-existing shared universe, it's a little more involved.

    Many of the imprints have FAQs of their own (OMEGA, Superguy, LNH,
    Crossroads to name a few). These get posted periodically. The first
    thing you should do is read these documents to get a feel for what these specific universes are like.

    The next thing you should do is _read_ the universe in question. This
    includes tapping the archives for back issues. No one would suggest you
    read the entire Superguy or LNH archives before writing, but definitely
    try to sample a large cross-section.

    Lastly, email some of the creators you see writing under a specific
    imprint. They will be able to tell you if your concept fits with their universe or not, and perhaps refer you to a more appropriate universe if necessary.

    THEN write a story and post it.

    ------------------------------

    Subject: 2.1. Cool! Okay, how do I post?

    RACC is a moderated newsgroup, which means that every post goes to the moderators first. If your site correctly has the group marked as
    moderated, you should be able to post just like you post to any other
    group and your news server will take care of the rest. If you have a Unix shell account, you can check if the group is correctly marked as moderated
    by typing:

    nntplist active | grep rec.arts.comics.creative

    If the last character on the resulting line is an "m," congratulations,
    you have a good news administrator. If it's a "y," send mail to your
    local computing support people and ask them to convert the group to
    moderated like it should be.

    If you don't have a Unix shell account, some newsreaders will also tell
    you if the group is moderated.

    If, for any reason, you have trouble posting or your site *doesn't* have
    the group marked as moderated, you can mail your post to racc@eyrie.org
    instead and it will be posted for you.

    Because the group is moderated, it can be up to a day after you post
    before your article is actually posted, and it can take a few more days
    for the article to propagate back to you. So don't be surprised if it
    doesn't show up right away.

    Many readers of rec.arts.comics.creative use Google Groups to read and
    post. While this works, and I know it's convenient, Google Groups also
    deletes anything enclosed in square brackets ([]) at the beginning of
    Subject lines in replies. If you use Google Groups, please try to
    remember to put back the imprint tags when you reply to posts; otherwise,
    I have to add them as the moderator.

    ------------------------------

    Subject: 2.2. Format! I'm nothing without format!

    Formatting is pretty loose. Since this is a comics newsgroup, you will
    hear people refer to their stories as "issues." Postings tend to run in numerical order just like comic books, and many people write continuing
    series. For example there are 25 "issues" in Drizzt's _Continuity Champ
    and the Drizzt's Defenders_ series.

    Stories don't have to be series though. One-shots, mini-series,
    maxi-series, crossovers -- all of these have been done before and will be
    done again.

    The subjects of postings should follow the convention of naming the
    imprint the title and the number. For example:

    LNH: System Corruptors #15, The Bard's Tale
    imprint --^ ^ ^ ^
    title --------------| | |
    number -------------------------| |
    subtitle/comment/etc [optional] -------|

    Since the archive mechanism relies heavily on this format (not to mention
    the format-accustomed eyes of this group's readers), please follow this strictly, including the use of the #-sign. Subtitles, alternate titles,
    and title comments should follow the number if they are used at all. If
    you want to, you can use [TAG] instead of TAG: at the beginning of the
    subject; it's all the same to the archiver. (TAG: causes a few fewer
    problems than [TAG] with Google Groups.)

    Occasionally, instead of (or in addition to) a number you will see "TEB."
    This stands for "Trade EtherBack." It means the posting is actually a collection of previously posted issues -- usually cleaned up and relating
    to a single story arc.

    Inside your story do what you will. Some folks run fake ads, others use
    cheesy ASCII graphics, some just use text. A word of advice: On
    older/more primitive newsreaders your text is MUCH easier to read if you
    space between paragraphs. On the other hand, some newer newsreader
    readers find the spaces jarring. The moral? You can't please all the
    people all the time. In general spaces seem to be more preferred.

    ------------------------------

    Subject: 2.3. How 'bout them imprints? What's up with that?

    In order to accommodate a near-infinite number of different potential universes, RACC has adopted the reasonable convention of flagging fiction.
    This allows uninterested parties to skip some genres, and others to
    quickly find their niches of interest. The flag goes before the title of
    story issues, related FAQs or universe-specific discussions. Many flags
    refer to existing shared-universes. New ones will come up all the time.
    For the current list, see section 5 of this FAQ.

    Once you pick an imprint name, stick with it. The Archive and your legion
    of new fans will both be happier if you don't make marketing name changes.

    Regardless of flags all SEXUALLY EXPLICIT or PROFANITY-RICH stories should
    have huge warning labels at the beginning of text. Last thing we need is
    a Florida DA bringing us all up on charges. ;] Besides, it's only common courtesy. Note that if a story could reasonably be posted on
    alt.sex.stories, you've probably strayed a bit far from this group's
    interests.

    Some sort of flag, either an imprint name or a more general tag, is
    required on all posts and one will be added by the moderator if you don't provide one. Leaving one off requires the moderator to edit your post,
    though, which takes time and means your post will be delayed. So please
    save them the trouble and remember to add the tag yourself.

    ------------------------------

    Subject: 2.4. How do I archive my stories for posterity?

    Good news! It's already being done for you! (Or at least it will be if
    Russ ever catches up with the archiving.)

    In theory, every story posted to rec.arts.comics.creative is archived at <https://archives.eyrie.org/racc/>. Most imprints have their own
    directories, with the stories stored in directories under that (depending
    on the size of the imprint, the directories could be very structured or
    just one directory for each series). Some imprints may be collected in
    the misc directory.

    Unfortunately, this archive is substantially out of date. Russ hopes to eventually find time to update it.

    The exception is Superguy, which has its own archiving mechanism. The
    Superguy archives are at <https://archives.eyrie.org/superguy/>, but one
    of the best ways to access them is through the Autocollector at:

    <https://archives.eyrie.org/cgi-bin/superguy>

    ------------------------------

    Subject: 2.5. What do Copyright laws I pay taxes for do for me?

    I don't even play a lawyer on TV, but there are some things you should
    know about Copyright laws.

    Anything you write is copyrighted immediately, whether you flag it with a copyright notice or not. Furthermore, the copyright protection is international under the Berne Copyright Convention, which has been signed
    by nearly every country with access to Usenet.

    If you label your text as copyrighted, it preempts a possible
    "unintentional infringement" defense from plagarizers. The copyright
    notice is considered legal notice that you intend to retain your rights.
    The legal format for such a notice requires three things: Your name, the
    year, and one or more of the following: "Copyright," "Copr.," and/or the c-in-circle symbol. Note that there is no firm legal precedence for (C)
    or (c) as having any special copyright meaning. Example notice:

    Copyright 1994 Jeff J McCoskey

    The only way to get full legal protection (at least in the United States)
    is to register your work with the government (forms are free, filing fees apply). This *guarantees* an archived, dated copy should future legal
    action be necessary. Other forms of dating, like mailing yourself a copy
    or archiving (to get a date stamp), are of dubious and unproven legal
    value.

    An excellent resource for Copyright information is misc.legal, where a FAQ
    is posted monthly.

    Another excellent resource is the U.S. Copyright Office home page at:

    <https://www.copyright.gov/>

    ------------------------------

    Subject: 3. Netiquette for RACC

    As a rule of thumb, everything you've heard elsewhere about good
    netiquette applies here. We hate spammers (more in a minute), expect
    smilies when joking (except in stories of course), and in general expect
    you to conduct yourselves as good net.citizens. There are three things
    you need to know after you've mastered Basic Netiquette:

    1. The only times flames are accepted on RACC are when they are both
    morally defensible and amusing. Flames are not welcome if they do not
    meet the above criteria. Here on RACC there is one organization that
    acts as moral compass for acceptable flames: the Order of St. Doomas.

    The Order has defined one activity that is worthy of flame: spamming.
    One member of the Order (usually the first to his/her keyboard) will
    have the honors. Repetitive flaming by multiple members is frowned
    upon by the Order.

    To join this righteous crusade, all you need do is select a
    net.persona and flame. Incorrect flaming (i.e. at non-sanctioned
    targets, or with unamusing effect) will result in ostracization and
    excommunication. Watch the Order in action before joining and all
    will be clear.

    Now that the group has been moderated, most opportunities for flames
    are gone. But watch carefully; new ones may arise.

    2. Reviews of stories (even negative ones) are one of the most
    sought-after commodities on RACC. You will instantly win friends and
    influence people if you post reviews. But especially in the case of
    negative reviews, ensure you confine your review to the story and not
    the writer. Keep in mind as you write "that SUCKS" that someone
    worked long and hard on the text. They might want to know what worked
    and what didn't in their narrative but it's doubtful they want to hear
    how clever you can be in ripping them up.

    It's certain the rest of us don't.

    3. One of the best features of a shared universe is the opportunity to
    have your characters interact with others in that universe. This is
    a privilege, not a right. All characters on RACC (and their
    distinctive text-likenesses) are the full and exclusive property of
    their creators. This is not as dogmatic as it sounds, and we're all
    adults (or pretending to be). Cameos (non-speaking/non-plot affecting
    roles) do not typically require permission unless the creator desires
    it. Speaking roles should be previewed through email and approved by
    the creator before being posted.

    ------------------------------

    Subject: 4. Glossary

    These are terms you will see come up on RACC that have special meaning
    here. (For general net.terms and abbreviations, see the META RAC FAQ.)

    Acraphobe RACC's version of adult warning label. Yes, with an "a."
    Don't ask.

    Arc A multi-issue storyline.

    Archive ftp.eyrie.org, where nearly ALL the back issues live.

    Crossover A storyline that involves several titles and/or authors. Also
    the bane of all mankind.

    Elsewhirls An imaginary story. (Yeah yeah, we know they're ALL
    imaginary. How about "out-of-continuity"?)

    Fanfiction Fiction about established, trademarked universes and
    or fanfic characters that the author did not create -- in short, the
    sort of stories RACC *wasn't* designed for. There's a good
    list of newsgroups at the end of this FAQ that should help in
    finding a better group if this is what you want to write.

    Imprint The shared universe your story takes place in or subject your
    posting relates to (we have many to chose from). This is
    usually an all-caps prefix on the title of the posting.

    LNH The Legion of Net.Heroes. The immediate father of this group
    and the oldest of the Usenet-based writing universes (see
    Superguy).

    RAC* The rec.arts.comics.* hierarchy of newsgroups.

    RACC rec.arts.comics.creative. You're soaking in it!

    rACCIES The annual RACC fanfiction awards, as voted on by the readers
    or RACCies of this newsgroup.

    Repost Story has been posted before, natch.

    Superguy A mailing list that predates all other Internet comics-fiction
    forums. There is a good-natured rivalry between the LNH and
    this group.

    TEB Trade EtherBack. This is a collection of previously posted
    material, usually cleaned up and relating to a single story
    arc.

    Title A numerically increasing, continuing series. Usually
    involving one character, cast, city, or unifying concept.

    ------------------------------

    Subject: 5. List of Current Tags

    When choosing a tag to put at the beginning of your post, this list should
    be a canonical reference. If you see a need for a new tag, send mail to
    the FAQ maintainer so that it can be added.

    First, the general tags:

    ADMIN Administrative matters affecting everyone on RACC.

    FAQ FAQs of note for the entire RAC* hierarchy. These will tend
    to be crossposted here.

    META Discussion about the newsgroup itself. This includes
    or CHAT everything from general discussion of on-line fiction and RACC
    in particular to recommendations on how long posts should be.

    PRECOG Announcements of upcoming series, planned stories, and the
    or PROMO like.

    WWW Announcement of a web page related to RACC or a free strip.

    Now, all of the writing imprints. Note that new ones of these pop up all
    the time. Entries marked with (*) are in danger of being retired due to
    lack of activity. If you have any changes, please mail eagle@eyrie.org.

    8FOLD A closed universe that encompasses serious superheroes, comedy,
    memoir, and just about anything else: high-quality fiction of
    any stripe is welcome.

    ACRAPHOBE Mature stories that may or may not fit into other universes'
    or ACRA continuity. Using this flag in conjunction with another is
    not unheard of. (For example, Scav's _501 Blues_ is
    LNH/ACRAPHOBE.) Think a meta-Vertigo.

    ASH Academy of Super-Heroes. Dave Van Domelen's RPG-based future-
    history stories. See <https://www.eyrie.org/~dvandom/ASH>.

    ELSEWHIRLS LNH stories that do not fit into LNH continuity. Think DC's
    or EW Elseworlds.

    HCC The High Concept Challenge, a continuous series of writing
    contests. Each round, the winner, chosen by reader vote, gets
    to pick the next round's concept.

    LNH Legion of Net.Heroes, "The Friendliest Shared Universe
    Going!(TM)" A mostly parody universe, though it does have its
    serious side.

    LNH20 On the LNH's 20th anniversary, a group of writers took it upon
    themselves to create a new world, based in everything they
    loved about the LNH, in the best spirit of comic book reboots!
    LNH20 is just as friendly as the original, but easier to get
    into! Hop right in, the adventure's fine!

    LNHY An Imprint involving an alternate LNH universe called
    Looniverse Y. The big difference between this and the Classic
    LNH is that writers are allowed to have only one character of
    theirs in this Looniverse's LNH.

    RACCCafe A continuity-free outpust where RACC characters can unwind
    after a hard day of being mangled by their writers. Anything
    can happen, as long as it's funny, and there are no
    consequences!

    SG Superguy. From Space Moose to the Bomb. Comedy superhero
    writing with a far different background than LNH. Note that
    only a small slice of Superguy stuff appears here; to see the
    rest, go to <https://lists.eyrie.org/mailman/listinfo/superguy>.

    STARFALL Lightly serious and seriously light superheroics, and better
    because of it. ;)

    NTB Net.Trenchcoat.Brigade. A bunch of Vertigo-like characters
    that own stock in London Fog. Not tremendously active, but
    they do have a considerable history. Implied Acraphobe.

    OMEGA A serious psi-based shared super-world and once upon a time
    RACC's third largest universe, now inactive. Created by the
    legendary Matt Rossi.

    OSD The Order of Saint Doomas. Items relating to RACC's anti-spam
    cult. (See Section 3 above.) No posts have been seen from
    this imprint in quite some time, but that doesn't mean they're
    gone....

    SW10 SW stands for Superhuman World. 10 is an annual tag. The
    comic has proceeded to 2011, but the tag has frozen at 2010
    because that's when the series really interacted with RACC.
    Scott Eiler has written the story of this universe since
    before 1991, but 1991 is when the modern heroes of this series
    start. His sources include adolescent male power fantasy,
    superhero role-playing, comic-book satire, and dreams. See
    <http://www.eilertech.com/stories/>.

    MISC Stories not in the above categories or in their own universes
    (authors are encouraged to make up their own headers as well).
    To limit the number of imprints, and to keep this FAQ to
    reasonable lengths, let's adopt this convention: One-shot
    stories or series should use the MISC flag. Series that set
    up shared universes should create their own, new imprint.

    ------------------------------

    Subject: 6. People to Ask for Help

    The major header contacts are listed below, who will be glad to answer
    email question. Also keep your eyes peeled for FAQs specific to
    particular imprints. The FAQs are also often in the archive in a
    directory named "FAQs" under the imprint directory.

    Imprint Contact Email
    ------------ -------------------- ---------------------------------
    8FOLD Jamie Rosen jamie.rosen@sunlife.com
    8FOLD Tom Russell joltcity@gmail.com
    + ASH Dave Van Domelen dvandom@eyrie.org
    + LNH Andrew Perron pwerdna@gmail.com
    LNH20 Andrew Perron pwerdna@gmail.com
    + LNHY Arthur Spitzer arspitzer@earthlink.net
    + NTB Arthur Spitzer arspitzer@earthlink.net
    + RACChallenge Sean MacDonald mcdonald@vorteb.math.uab.edu
    + StarFall Ted Brock phantom_belcher@yahoo.com
    + Superguy Eric Burns eaburns@annotations.com
    SW10 Scott Eiler seiler@eilertech.com

    The Archive Russ Allbery eagle@eyrie.org
    Moderation RACC Moderation Team racc-request@eyrie.org

    + indicates separate FAQs are available for these imprints.

    If you need to contact the moderator directly, the contact information is:

    Russ Allbery <eagle@eyrie.org>

    If none of the above people help, or your questions are too general or specific, just email anyone you see posting here that seems to know what they're doing. (WARNING: This is rarely the case.)

    --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
    * Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)
  • From Russ Allbery@21:1/5 to All on Mon Apr 1 07:01:04 2024
    Last-modified: 2024-03-03
    Posted-by: postfaq 1.17 (Perl 5.36.0)
    Archive-name: comics/creative/faq
    URL: https://www.eyrie.org/~eagle/faqs/racc.html
    Posting-frequency: monthly

    ==========================================================================
    rec.arts.comics.creative Frequently Asked Questions
    Maintained by Russ Allbery <eagle@eyrie.org>
    Original by Jeff McCoskey ==========================================================================

    If you're reading this on Usenet, this FAQ is formatted as a minimal
    digest. If your newsreader has digest handling capabilities you can use
    them to navigate between sections. In rn variants, you can use Ctrl-G to
    skip to the next section; in Gnus, press Ctrl-D to break each section into
    a separate article. For other newsreaders, see the documentation.

    The latest version of this FAQ is available on the web at:

    <https://www.eyrie.org/~eagle/faqs/racc.html>

    Please send any comments, suggestions, or updates to eagle@eyrie.org.

    ------------------------------

    Subject: Contents

    1. Welcome to rec.arts.comics.creative!
    1.1. What is RACC for?
    1.2. What isn't RACC for?
    1.3. What is the RACC official charter?
    1.4. Where are the stories about Wolverine(tm)?
    1.5. Where are the old stories?
    1.6. How can I read RACC via e-mail?

    2. Writing for RACC (How do I get involved?)
    2.1. Cool! Okay, how do I post?
    2.2. Format! I'm nothing without format!
    2.3. How 'bout them imprints? What's up with that?
    2.4. How do I archive my stories for posterity?
    2.5. What do copyright laws I pay taxes for do for me?

    3. Netiquette for RACC

    4. Glossary

    5. List of current imprints

    6. People to ask for help

    ------------------------------

    Subject: 1. Welcome to rec.arts.comics.creative!

    Welcome to rec.arts.comics.creative, the newsgroup which could have been
    named rec.prose.shared-universe but wasn't, the newsgroup which has, to
    date, produced well over 30MB of entirely free original fiction (and
    that's compressed!), the newsgroup which has nearly nothing to do with
    your favorite comic books at all!

    You're about to go insane. Don't worry, it's fun.

    rec.arts.comics.creative (henceforth RACC) is a moderated newsgroup for comics-related original fiction and discussion of same, originally created unmoderated by Martin Phipps and a cast of thousands (well, dozens at
    least) and later converted to moderated to keep out the spam. Don't
    worry, even though it's a moderated group, it's still friendly, chatty,
    and not at all formal, and we go out of our way to keep it that way.

    The first group of this sort on the Internet was the Superguy mailing
    list, which is still in operation to this day (you'll see posts from it on
    this group from time to time). Later, the Legion of Net.Heroes (LNH)
    sprung out of a free-form thread on rec.arts.comics and spawned another newsgroup (alt.comics.lnh). They were quickly followed by a wide variety
    of other comics-based shared universes, including the Patrol, the Net.Trenchcoat.Brigade, and Omega. All of these organizations, in
    parallel, gathered together authors in shared universes and strongly
    influenced the nature of RACC.

    First and foremost, RACC is a site for people to post comics-related
    fiction. Stories about long-underwear vigilantes, anthropomorphic
    animals, SF, westerns, even Kleen Teens if anyone is so moved. As long as
    it relates to comics it's okay. So whether you're a reader, a writer, or
    that fabled creature the critic, or even all three -- welcome to RACC:
    it's all the story, none of the art! (yet)

    ------------------------------

    Subject: 1.1. What is RACC for?

    For the official charter, see section 1.3. Here's the long, readable
    version.

    One term that you'll see a lot is "shared universe." This is a shared
    story background, co-created by multiple authors and used as the
    "universe" in which multiple different stories are set. This is a
    trademark characteristic of most comic books (seen in its clearest form in
    the ubiquitous crossover, a story written by multiple authors at once and involving multiple characters who all have their own stories), as well as appearing in some other published fiction (such as Wild Cards, or Larry
    Niven's Man-Kzin Wars). Most (but not all) of the stories posted here
    take place in one of the established shared universes (there's a list
    later on in this FAQ), to the point where this style of writing is nearly characteristic of the group.

    Another term you'll see is "comics-related." Nearly all of the authors
    writing here drew their original (if not primary) inspiration from comic
    books. As a result, nearly all of the stories are on-going (published a chapter at a time), divided up into "issues" and given numbers, and
    organized into "imprints." Many people also describe covers or design
    ASCII graphic logos.

    There is no restriction on types of fiction. (That'd kinda take the
    creative out of RACC, wouldn't it?) You'll see stories run the gamut from slapstick comedy to grim'n'gritty Real Life Supers (TM). As long as it's
    about comics, set your pen free. (You'll see a lot of superhero fiction,
    but that just means that those of us who like reading other things as well
    are anxiously awaiting your non-superhero stories.)

    RACC is also for discussion of stories, both specific ones and in general.
    The critic and reader is one of the most sought-after types of people
    around here; if you give us feedback on our stories, good or bad, we'll
    love you forever.

    Finally, if you want to announce your free web strip here, we welcome
    those posts too. If you're trying to sell it, though, please try rec.arts.comics.marketplace or rec.arts.comics.strips instead. (And rec.arts.comics.strips may be a better group in general, as RACC readers
    are mostly interested in text fiction.)

    ------------------------------

    Subject: 1.2. What isn't RACC for?

    A lot of things. We're not for wars of attrition, Third World starvation,
    45 mph speed limits, and brussel sprout toothpaste. Closer to home, RACC
    is not for any of the following:

    * Discussion of existing, "professional" books (except as they relate
    to our fiction)

    * Marketplace-type I-wanna-buy/I-wanna-sell postings

    * Flames and personality conflicts. Critiques, yes. Flames, no.

    * Fiction about established, trademarked characters and universes,
    unless you created them or have written permission.

    * Erotica, no matter how much spandex you put in. There are other
    groups for that.

    ------------------------------

    Subject: 1.3. What is the RACC official charter?

    This newsgroup welcomes any form of comics-related original fiction and discussion of the same, including but not limited to stories in the many established shared universes. Discussion of on-line fiction as a whole is
    also welcome provided that it is related to the stories on the newsgroup.
    If they choose to write in an existing shared universe, writers are
    strongly encouranged to follow the existing continuity and rules of that universe. "Comics-related" will be interpreted very broadly, as has been traditional on the newsgroup.

    Each posting to rec.arts.comics.creative should include a keyword on the subject line either designating which shared universe the posting refers
    to or marking the general subject of the post (ADMIN, META, MISC, etc.).
    If a submitted post does not have a keyword, the moderator will add an appropriate keyword, but posters are encouraged to add keywords themselves
    to save moderation work.

    Large binaries, such as artwork, will not be allowed on the newsgroup.
    Instead, binaries can be made available in the newsgroup archive (subject
    to the discretion of the archivist) and a pointer posted to the newsgroup. Pointers to Web pages are also welcome, provided the content of the page
    is related to the purpose of the group.

    Stories using copyrighted or trademarked characters are explicitly not
    within the charter of this group and may be rejected unless the author
    owns the copyrights and trademarks or has written permission from the
    owner. Networking posts (artists seeking writers or writers seeking
    artists) are inappropriate in this group and should be sent to appropriate mailing lists or other groups in the rec.arts.comics.* hierarchy (rec.arts.comics.misc if there is no other more appropriate group).

    ------------------------------

    Subject: 1.4. Where are the stories about Wolverine(tm)?

    This is very important, so I'm going to yell it. RACC IS NOT THE PLACE
    FOR FICTION ABOUT ESTABLISHED, TRADEMARKED CHARACTERS. This includes all Marvel, Image, DC, what-have-you characters. RACC's charter expressly
    FORBIDS such fiction.

    The reason for this is the ongoing legislative battles about intellectual property and the Net. rec.* groups are picked up worldwide, and sysadmins
    do not want to draw lawsuits because someone wrote a story that violated trademark laws. Note that fanfic stories may or may not be lawful and/or prosecutable, WE JUST DON'T KNOW. They're still writing the laws.

    To forestall any confusion or debates, and to protect sysadmins from inadvertently becoming the test case, this provision was adopted as a key requirement for RACC's creation. If you really must write about existing, trademarked characters, there is alt.comics.fan-fiction waiting to receive
    you. alt.* groups get picked up by sysadmins voluntarily, so they
    presumedly know what risks they're taking.

    Nothing will draw this group's ire faster than violating this requirement.

    ------------------------------

    Subject: 1.5. Where are the old stories?

    Thanks to the tireless efforts and bottomless disk space of Russ Allbery,
    all stories posted to rec.arts.comics.creative are archived! This means stories will be preserved for future generations of readers, providing a
    link to the past. It is difficult to over-praise this contribution.

    (Note: Lest you think I would be so crass as to praise myself, I want to
    make sure you know that Jeff wrote that last paragraph. 'course, I didn't delete it either.)

    Older stories are sorted by universe and series and are available at:

    <https://archives.eyrie.org/racc/>

    All of the stories are compressed using gzip, but most browsers can automatically decompress them for you. This archive unfortunately hasn't
    been updated recently, but it does have all of the older stories.

    Every message to rec.arts.comics.creative, story or not, is archived at:

    <https://lists.eyrie.org/pipermail/racc/>

    in the form of a more traditional mailing list archive, so you can also
    look there if a story hasn't been saved in the story archive. This is the
    best way to find anything posted in the last few years. You can search
    the archive by prepending "site:lists.eyrie.org" to a regular Google
    search.

    Please note that stories will be removed from both the list archive and
    the story archive at the author's request if the author wants to take them down. This has happened in the past, sometimes because the author wanted
    to sell the stories to a professional venue.

    ------------------------------

    Subject: 1.6. How can I read RACC via e-mail?

    Everything that shows up in RACC also shows up in its associated mailing
    list (and vice versa), so if you want to be sure not to miss anything, or
    if you just prefer e-mail to Usenet, you can subscribe to that mailing
    list.

    To do that, go to:

    <https://lists.eyrie.org/mailman/listinfo/racc>

    and fill out the form to subscribe. Alternately, you can subscribe via
    e-mail by sending mail to racc-request@lists.eyrie.org with the word:

    subscribe

    in the subject of the message. You then can read and reply to posts just
    as if the newsgroup were a mailing list. It's all the same to us.

    ------------------------------

    Subject: 2. Writing for RACC (How do I get involved?)

    Write a story. Post it. You're involved.

    This assumes you want to create your own universe to write in. If you
    want to join a pre-existing shared universe, it's a little more involved.

    Many of the imprints have FAQs of their own (OMEGA, Superguy, LNH,
    Crossroads to name a few). These get posted periodically. The first
    thing you should do is read these documents to get a feel for what these specific universes are like.

    The next thing you should do is _read_ the universe in question. This
    includes tapping the archives for back issues. No one would suggest you
    read the entire Superguy or LNH archives before writing, but definitely
    try to sample a large cross-section.

    Lastly, email some of the creators you see writing under a specific
    imprint. They will be able to tell you if your concept fits with their universe or not, and perhaps refer you to a more appropriate universe if necessary.

    THEN write a story and post it.

    ------------------------------

    Subject: 2.1. Cool! Okay, how do I post?

    RACC is a moderated newsgroup, which means that every post goes to the moderators first. If your site correctly has the group marked as
    moderated, you should be able to post just like you post to any other
    group and your news server will take care of the rest. If you have a Unix shell account, you can check if the group is correctly marked as moderated
    by typing:

    nntplist active | grep rec.arts.comics.creative

    If the last character on the resulting line is an "m," congratulations,
    you have a good news administrator. If it's a "y," send mail to your
    local computing support people and ask them to convert the group to
    moderated like it should be.

    If you don't have a Unix shell account, some newsreaders will also tell
    you if the group is moderated.

    If, for any reason, you have trouble posting or your site *doesn't* have
    the group marked as moderated, you can mail your post to racc@eyrie.org
    instead and it will be posted for you.

    Because the group is moderated, it can be up to a day after you post
    before your article is actually posted, and it can take a few more days
    for the article to propagate back to you. So don't be surprised if it
    doesn't show up right away.

    ------------------------------

    Subject: 2.2. Format! I'm nothing without format!

    Formatting is pretty loose. Since this is a comics newsgroup, you will
    hear people refer to their stories as "issues." Postings tend to run in numerical order just like comic books, and many people write continuing
    series. For example there are 25 "issues" in Drizzt's _Continuity Champ
    and the Drizzt's Defenders_ series.

    Stories don't have to be series though. One-shots, mini-series,
    maxi-series, crossovers -- all of these have been done before and will be
    done again.

    The subjects of postings should follow the convention of naming the
    imprint the title and the number. For example:

    LNH: System Corruptors #15, The Bard's Tale
    imprint --^ ^ ^ ^
    title --------------| | |
    number -------------------------| |
    subtitle/comment/etc [optional] -------|

    Since the archive mechanism relies heavily on this format (not to mention
    the format-accustomed eyes of this group's readers), please follow this strictly, including the use of the #-sign. Subtitles, alternate titles,
    and title comments should follow the number if they are used at all. If
    you want to, you can use [TAG] instead of TAG: at the beginning of the
    subject; it's all the same to the archiver. (TAG: causes a few fewer
    problems than [TAG] with Google Groups.)

    Occasionally, instead of (or in addition to) a number you will see "TEB."
    This stands for "Trade EtherBack." It means the posting is actually a collection of previously posted issues -- usually cleaned up and relating
    to a single story arc.

    Inside your story do what you will. Some folks run fake ads, others use
    cheesy ASCII graphics, some just use text. A word of advice: On
    older/more primitive newsreaders your text is MUCH easier to read if you
    space between paragraphs. On the other hand, some newer newsreader
    readers find the spaces jarring. The moral? You can't please all the
    people all the time. In general spaces seem to be more preferred.

    ------------------------------

    Subject: 2.3. How 'bout them imprints? What's up with that?

    In order to accommodate a near-infinite number of different potential universes, RACC has adopted the reasonable convention of flagging fiction.
    This allows uninterested parties to skip some genres, and others to
    quickly find their niches of interest. The flag goes before the title of
    story issues, related FAQs or universe-specific discussions. Many flags
    refer to existing shared-universes. New ones will come up all the time.
    For the current list, see section 5 of this FAQ.

    Once you pick an imprint name, stick with it. The Archive and your legion
    of new fans will both be happier if you don't make marketing name changes.

    Regardless of flags all SEXUALLY EXPLICIT or PROFANITY-RICH stories should
    have huge warning labels at the beginning of text. Last thing we need is
    a Florida DA bringing us all up on charges. ;] Besides, it's only common courtesy. Note that if a story could reasonably be posted on
    alt.sex.stories, you've probably strayed a bit far from this group's
    interests.

    Some sort of flag, either an imprint name or a more general tag, is
    required on all posts and one will be added by the moderator if you don't provide one. Leaving one off requires the moderator to edit your post,
    though, which takes time and means your post will be delayed. So please
    save them the trouble and remember to add the tag yourself.

    ------------------------------

    Subject: 2.4. How do I archive my stories for posterity?

    Good news! It's already being done for you! (Or at least it will be if
    Russ ever catches up with the archiving.)

    In theory, every story posted to rec.arts.comics.creative is archived at <https://archives.eyrie.org/racc/>. Most imprints have their own
    directories, with the stories stored in directories under that (depending
    on the size of the imprint, the directories could be very structured or
    just one directory for each series). Some imprints may be collected in
    the misc directory.

    Unfortunately, this archive is substantially out of date. Russ hopes to eventually find time to update it.

    The exception is Superguy, which has its own archiving mechanism. The
    Superguy archives are at <https://archives.eyrie.org/superguy/>, but one
    of the best ways to access them is through the Autocollector at:

    <https://archives.eyrie.org/cgi-bin/superguy>

    ------------------------------

    Subject: 2.5. What do Copyright laws I pay taxes for do for me?

    I don't even play a lawyer on TV, but there are some things you should
    know about Copyright laws.

    Anything you write is copyrighted immediately, whether you flag it with a copyright notice or not. Furthermore, the copyright protection is international under the Berne Copyright Convention, which has been signed
    by nearly every country with access to Usenet.

    If you label your text as copyrighted, it preempts a possible
    "unintentional infringement" defense from plagarizers. The copyright
    notice is considered legal notice that you intend to retain your rights.
    The legal format for such a notice requires three things: Your name, the
    year, and one or more of the following: "Copyright," "Copr.," and/or the c-in-circle symbol. Note that there is no firm legal precedence for (C)
    or (c) as having any special copyright meaning. Example notice:

    Copyright 1994 Jeff J McCoskey

    The only way to get full legal protection (at least in the United States)
    is to register your work with the government (forms are free, filing fees apply). This *guarantees* an archived, dated copy should future legal
    action be necessary. Other forms of dating, like mailing yourself a copy
    or archiving (to get a date stamp), are of dubious and unproven legal
    value.

    An excellent resource for Copyright information is misc.legal, where a FAQ
    is posted monthly.

    Another excellent resource is the U.S. Copyright Office home page at:

    <https://www.copyright.gov/>

    ------------------------------

    Subject: 3. Netiquette for RACC

    As a rule of thumb, everything you've heard elsewhere about good
    netiquette applies here. We hate spammers (more in a minute), expect
    smilies when joking (except in stories of course), and in general expect
    you to conduct yourselves as good net.citizens. There are three things
    you need to know after you've mastered Basic Netiquette:

    1. The only times flames are accepted on RACC are when they are both
    morally defensible and amusing. Flames are not welcome if they do not
    meet the above criteria. Here on RACC there is one organization that
    acts as moral compass for acceptable flames: the Order of St. Doomas.

    The Order has defined one activity that is worthy of flame: spamming.
    One member of the Order (usually the first to his/her keyboard) will
    have the honors. Repetitive flaming by multiple members is frowned
    upon by the Order.

    To join this righteous crusade, all you need do is select a
    net.persona and flame. Incorrect flaming (i.e. at non-sanctioned
    targets, or with unamusing effect) will result in ostracization and
    excommunication. Watch the Order in action before joining and all
    will be clear.

    Now that the group has been moderated, most opportunities for flames
    are gone. But watch carefully; new ones may arise.

    2. Reviews of stories (even negative ones) are one of the most
    sought-after commodities on RACC. You will instantly win friends and
    influence people if you post reviews. But especially in the case of
    negative reviews, ensure you confine your review to the story and not
    the writer. Keep in mind as you write "that SUCKS" that someone
    worked long and hard on the text. They might want to know what worked
    and what didn't in their narrative but it's doubtful they want to hear
    how clever you can be in ripping them up.

    It's certain the rest of us don't.

    3. One of the best features of a shared universe is the opportunity to
    have your characters interact with others in that universe. This is
    a privilege, not a right. All characters on RACC (and their
    distinctive text-likenesses) are the full and exclusive property of
    their creators. This is not as dogmatic as it sounds, and we're all
    adults (or pretending to be). Cameos (non-speaking/non-plot affecting
    roles) do not typically require permission unless the creator desires
    it. Speaking roles should be previewed through email and approved by
    the creator before being posted.

    ------------------------------

    Subject: 4. Glossary

    These are terms you will see come up on RACC that have special meaning
    here. (For general net.terms and abbreviations, see the META RAC FAQ.)

    Acraphobe RACC's version of adult warning label. Yes, with an "a."
    Don't ask.

    Arc A multi-issue storyline.

    Archive ftp.eyrie.org, where nearly ALL the back issues live.

    Crossover A storyline that involves several titles and/or authors. Also
    the bane of all mankind.

    Elsewhirls An imaginary story. (Yeah yeah, we know they're ALL
    imaginary. How about "out-of-continuity"?)

    Fanfiction Fiction about established, trademarked universes and
    or fanfic characters that the author did not create -- in short, the
    sort of stories RACC *wasn't* designed for. There's a good
    list of newsgroups at the end of this FAQ that should help in
    finding a better group if this is what you want to write.

    Imprint The shared universe your story takes place in or subject your
    posting relates to (we have many to chose from). This is
    usually an all-caps prefix on the title of the posting.

    LNH The Legion of Net.Heroes. The immediate father of this group
    and the oldest of the Usenet-based writing universes (see
    Superguy).

    RAC* The rec.arts.comics.* hierarchy of newsgroups.

    RACC rec.arts.comics.creative. You're soaking in it!

    rACCIES The annual RACC fanfiction awards, as voted on by the readers
    or RACCies of this newsgroup.

    Repost Story has been posted before, natch.

    Superguy A mailing list that predates all other Internet comics-fiction
    forums. There is a good-natured rivalry between the LNH and
    this group.

    TEB Trade EtherBack. This is a collection of previously posted
    material, usually cleaned up and relating to a single story
    arc.

    Title A numerically increasing, continuing series. Usually
    involving one character, cast, city, or unifying concept.

    ------------------------------

    Subject: 5. List of Current Tags

    Here are some of the tags that you may see. This is not a complete list; people can, and do, start new tags any time they start a new writing
    imprint or comic series. However, if a tag from this list matches the
    topic of your post, it's usually best to stick with that tag for
    consistency.

    If you see a need for a new tag, send mail to the FAQ maintainer so that
    it can be added.

    First, the general tags:

    ADMIN Administrative matters affecting everyone on RACC.

    FAQ FAQs of note for the entire RAC* hierarchy. These will tend
    to be crossposted here.

    META Discussion about the newsgroup itself. This includes
    or CHAT everything from general discussion of on-line fiction and RACC
    in particular to recommendations on how long posts should be.

    PRECOG Announcements of upcoming series, planned stories, and the
    or PROMO like.

    WWW Announcement of a web page related to RACC or a free strip.

    Now, all of the writing imprints. Note that new ones of these pop up all
    the time. Entries marked with (*) are in danger of being retired due to
    lack of activity. If you have any changes, please mail eagle@eyrie.org.

    8FOLD A closed universe that encompasses serious superheroes, comedy,
    memoir, and just about anything else: high-quality fiction of
    any stripe is welcome.

    ACRAPHOBE Mature stories that may or may not fit into other universes'
    or ACRA continuity. Using this flag in conjunction with another is
    not unheard of. (For example, Scav's _501 Blues_ is
    LNH/ACRAPHOBE.) Think a meta-Vertigo.

    ASH Academy of Super-Heroes. Dave Van Domelen's RPG-based future-
    history stories. See <https://www.eyrie.org/~dvandom/ASH>.

    ELSEWHIRLS LNH stories that do not fit into LNH continuity. Think DC's
    or EW Elseworlds.

    HCC The High Concept Challenge, a continuous series of writing
    contests. Each round, the winner, chosen by reader vote, gets
    to pick the next round's concept.

    LNH Legion of Net.Heroes, "The Friendliest Shared Universe
    Going!(TM)" A mostly parody universe, though it does have its
    serious side.

    LNH20 On the LNH's 20th anniversary, a group of writers took it upon
    themselves to create a new world, based in everything they
    loved about the LNH, in the best spirit of comic book reboots!
    LNH20 is just as friendly as the original, but easier to get
    into! Hop right in, the adventure's fine!

    LNHY An Imprint involving an alternate LNH universe called
    Looniverse Y. The big difference between this and the Classic
    LNH is that writers are allowed to have only one character of
    theirs in this Looniverse's LNH.

    NTB Net.Trenchcoat.Brigade. A bunch of Vertigo-like characters
    that own stock in London Fog. Not tremendously active, but
    they do have a considerable history. Implied Acraphobe.

    OMEGA A serious psi-based shared super-world and once upon a time
    RACC's third largest universe, now inactive. Created by the
    legendary Matt Rossi.

    OSD The Order of Saint Doomas. Items relating to RACC's anti-spam
    cult. (See Section 3 above.) No posts have been seen from
    this imprint in quite some time, but that doesn't mean they're
    gone....

    RACCCafe A continuity-free outpust where RACC characters can unwind
    after a hard day of being mangled by their writers. Anything
    can happen, as long as it's funny, and there are no
    consequences!

    SG Superguy. From Space Moose to the Bomb. Comedy superhero
    writing with a far different background than LNH. Note that
    only a small slice of Superguy stuff appears here; to see the
    rest, go to <https://lists.eyrie.org/mailman/listinfo/superguy>.

    SLIME A simple slice-of-life story focused on a group of slimes and
    their friends. Main story told through daily comics.

    STARFALL Lightly serious and seriously light superheroics, and better
    because of it. ;)

    SW10 SW stands for Superhuman World. 10 is an annual tag. The
    comic has proceeded to 2011, but the tag has frozen at 2010
    because that's when the series really interacted with RACC.
    Scott Eiler has written the story of this universe since
    before 1991, but 1991 is when the modern heroes of this series
    start. His sources include adolescent male power fantasy,
    superhero role-playing, comic-book satire, and dreams. See
    <http://www.eilertech.com/stories/>.

    MISC Stories not in the above categories or in their own universes
    (authors are encouraged to make up their own headers as well).
    To limit the number of imprints, and to keep this FAQ to
    reasonable lengths, let's adopt this convention: One-shot
    stories or series should use the MISC flag. Series that set
    up shared universes should create their own, new imprint.

    ------------------------------

    Subject: 6. People to Ask for Help

    The major header contacts are listed below, who will be glad to answer
    email question. Also keep your eyes peeled for FAQs specific to
    particular imprints. The FAQs are also often in the archive in a
    directory named "FAQs" under the imprint directory.

    Imprint Contact Email
    ------------ -------------------- ---------------------------------
    8FOLD Jamie Rosen jamie.rosen@sunlife.com
    8FOLD Tom Russell joltcity@gmail.com
    + ASH Dave Van Domelen dvandom@eyrie.org
    + LNH Andrew Perron pwerdna@gmail.com
    LNH20 Andrew Perron pwerdna@gmail.com
    + LNHY Arthur Spitzer arspitzer@earthlink.net
    + NTB Arthur Spitzer arspitzer@earthlink.net
    + RACChallenge Sean MacDonald mcdonald@vorteb.math.uab.edu
    + StarFall Ted Brock phantom_belcher@yahoo.com
    + Superguy Eric Burns eaburns@annotations.com
    SW10 Scott Eiler seiler@eilertech.com

    The Archive Russ Allbery eagle@eyrie.org
    Moderation RACC Moderation Team racc-request@eyrie.org

    + indicates separate FAQs are available for these imprints.

    If you need to contact the moderator directly, the contact information is:

    Russ Allbery <eagle@eyrie.org>

    If none of the above people help, or your questions are too general or specific, just email anyone you see posting here that seems to know what they're doing. (WARNING: This is rarely the case.)

    --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
    * Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)