Fanfic self-promotion policy - TV Tropes Forum (2024)

I want to figure out what conventions there are regarding self-promotion of one's own fan fiction. I tried to figure this out by reading talk pages, forum threads, and so forth, but what I read was years old and not entirely consistent. So, I wanted to straighten this out in advance, lest I inadvertently overstep any bounds.

Is it okay for me, as the author, to...

1. ...create a page for the fanfic, listing the tropes used therein?
2. ...list the work as an example (under the "Fan Fiction" category) on pages for tropes used in it?
3. ...list the work as an example for Subjective Tropes such as Crowning Moment Of Awesome?
4. ...recommend the fanfic on the "FanficRecs" page for the source work?
5. ...list the work on Fan Fics?
6. ...list the work on Fan Fic Recommendations?

edited 9th Aug '11 7:24:22 PM by Rvb39

You can do all but 4 and 6. That's simply advertising. We don't need that.

The other ones are perfectly fine to add as is. That's appropriate crosslinking. 4 has no purpose other than to promote yours(as in advertising). For 6, we don't need people saying their stuff is good. That doesn't add anything but egotism to the wiki. Completely unneeded.

Quest 64 thread

I'd say the same applies for 3 as it is not the author who must (or can) judge if a moment is Awesome, let alone Crowning, but don't quote me on that. 1, 2 and 5 are perfectly fine; actually I'd say that, due to some logistics of how the internet operates, 2 and 5 are somewhat expected to be done by the author, or a close reviewer.

Fanfic Recs orwellianretcon'd: cutlocked for committee or for Google?

I'm fairly certain 3 is also not allowed - you cannot add subjective tropes for your own work. I think you can make a note if you were trying to use them deliberately (for instance, that you wrote your Big Bad to be a Magnificent Bastard) but I'm not sure how that works. Outright adding subjective tropes for your own works is frowned upon, though.

Gaaaa, ninja.

edited 9th Aug '11 7:46:06 PM by nrjxll

It's perfectly fine to do 1, at which point 5 is a must. From there, you can move on to 2, though most people don't because it's a lot of work. Stay away from 3, since you're not in a position to determine whether or not your attempts to use the trope "worked". In terms of "advertising", stick to the cross-wicking of 2 (treating your work just like any other)—if you do have links to your fanfic page from other pages, people will find your fanfic and write a recommendation if it's worth reading.

edited 9th Aug '11 8:07:24 PM by Ironeye

I'm bad, and that's good. I will never be good, and that's not bad. There's no one I'd rather be than me.

I think part of the reason people are asking about 5 is that there's a group of tropers who nuke any mention of fics written by tropers on Fan Fic. I'm not sure why, but they seem to have some sort of weird self written agenda about the page.

Reality is that, which when you stop believing in it, doesn't go away.-Philip K. Dick

I think you can make a note if you were trying to use them deliberately (for instance, that you wrote your Big Bad to be a Magnificent Bastard) but I'm not sure how that works.

Though addressed, I should add that intent doesn't count for a lot in terms of tropability. That's why we have things like Informed Ability and Rooting for the Empire.

Is there currently a thread about changing this policy? I'm of the opinion that people should not create entries for their fanfics at all.

Unlike other works, it is very easy to abandon or even simply forget about a fanfic, and then we have a page that lacks a work to go with it.

I spread my wings and I learn how to fly....

If they keep doing it, bring it up on the Discussion page and in Ask The Tropers. We (as a site) don't care who the author is so long as the examples are accurate and verifiable. Adding the page to the FanFic.Fan Fics index should be encouraged if a page exists.

I'm bad, and that's good. I will never be good, and that's not bad. There's no one I'd rather be than me.

The problem with that is why shouldn't they be able to note something they worked on?

While there are guidelines, as mentioned above, there's no reason they can't make a works page. I agree that there should be help from readers, but why shouldn't be allowed to is my sole question.

Quest 64 thread

Perhaps this is just personal experience here, but most of the fanfics I've ever read have two things in common.

1. Readership in the dozens, if not lower.
2. Incompleteness. Either because it's not "done" yet, or it was abandoned, the former almost always becomes the latter.

By themselves, these things are excusable, but together I think they merit at least a possible revision of what we allow works pages on.

I know we're not into the whole "notability" thing, but I can easily see this becoming a problem, if it's not already.

edited 9th Aug '11 8:20:39 PM by SpainSun

I spread my wings and I learn how to fly....

There Is No Such Thing As Notability. That page even covers works that are left incomplete: yes, they're still notable enough for us to have a page on the content that was finished.

I'm bad, and that's good. I will never be good, and that's not bad. There's no one I'd rather be than me.

That's not just you, that's Sturgeon's Law in action.

edited 9th Aug '11 8:23:03 PM by billybobfred

she her hers hOI!!! i'm tempe

It shouldn't matter if you abandon or forget about your fanfic after making the page, so long as the page follows policy and only discusses the bits of it that are publicly available. A Dead Fic is still a perfectly tropeable work.

132 is the rudest number.

@Spain Sun: So it no longer exists, it shouldn't be bothered with? Just because a fiction stops, doesn't mean it didn't exist. If it gets taken down, we move it to Unpublished Works. Sounds fair to me. It was notable in the first place.

Quest 64 thread

For that matter, readership in the dozens judged how? Unless you have access to internal site statistics on hits you're not really in a position to judge that.

Nous restons ici.

I don't see why being abandoned would interfere with the mission. We've got series that ended on a cliff hanger and were canceled.

Fight smart, not fair.

Firefly is unfinished and it's troped all over the place.

Reality is that, which when you stop believing in it, doesn't go away.-Philip K. Dick

I'm just saying, it's clutter.

If no one else is bothered by it then I don't care enough to bother trying to convince everyone.

For that matter, readership in the dozens judged how? Unless you have access to internal site statistics on hits you're not really in a position to judge that.

Comments sections are generally fairly accurate.

I spread my wings and I learn how to fly....

Maybe one out of hundred people that read a fic actually comment on it.

Reality is that, which when you stop believing in it, doesn't go away.-Philip K. Dick

And that "clutter" is notable enough. The reason why that clutter hadn't cluttered up the wiki yet because no one wants to take the time to create this clutter.

Thumped: This post was thumped by the Stick of Off-Topic Thumping. Stay on topic, please.

Quest 64 thread

Thumped: This post was thumped by the Stick of Off-Topic Thumping. Stay on topic, please.

I spread my wings and I learn how to fly....