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Becoming a Trusted Author
Posted by
Arithmancy_Wiz
,
18 February 2010
·
3,108 views
Okay, so it’s not exactly new territory, but since I know how long ten days can feel when you’re waiting for your chapter in the queue, here is a (pretty much) complete discussion on Trusted Authors from a staffer who helps make it happen.
What Is a Trusted Author?
Trusted Authors (or TAs) are authors who are allowed to post their stories directly to the site. In other words, they are able to bypass the validation process and the queue and have their chapters visible to readers immediately upon submission.
How Do I Become a Trusted Author?
Members are granted TA status on an individual basis, and it happens if and only if the staff feels an author has demonstrated a commitment to posting stories that comply with the site rules and terms of service (ToS). The staff consider several factors when evaluating an account, including:
-- Validation History: Has an author demonstrated an understanding of the site rules and terms of service by continually submitting chapters without rejection?
-- Story Content: Does an author have a propensity for submitting sensitive or borderline material (ie, rape, abuse, violence, sex) that might require closer staff monitoring?
-- Activity: Is the author currently active in posting stories and therefore more likely to be up-to-date on posting rules?
-- Willingness to Learn: If an author has received past rejections, was he/she cooperative in making the necessary edits and demonstrated though subsequent submissions a better understanding of the posting guidelines?
-- A Good Attitude: Has an author demonstrated a courteous attitude toward the staff and fellow site members, refraining from posting rude or abusive reviews, author’s notes, forum posts, ect?
How Long Does It Take To Become a Trusted Author?
No way around this one...There is NO set timeline on receiving trusted author status. It can take weeks, months, years, and for some, it might never happen. The length of time it takes depends on several factors including how often an author posts, how long they’ve been a member, how much time and how many new chapters posted since the last rejection, ect.
What’s The Deal With Validation Points?
Every so often, rumors about validation points pop up on the forums and authors start getting all antsy about what the points signify, just how many they have, and what it means for their chances of becoming a TA. While your time is much better spent focusing on submitting ToS compliant chapters, just to quell curiosity...YES, the archive does have a built-in point system wherein a validator can assign a certain number of points to a chapter as it passes through the queue, but NO, this number is not of vital importance. Compared to things like validation history and story content, the impact of how many points an author may or may not have is truly insignificant. I’ve bypassed many authors for TA status with 100 points or more while granting TA status to authors with less than 10.
Once Given Trusted Author Status, Can It Be Taken Away?
Absolutely! TA status can and often is revoked for a variety of reasons, including: submitting stories with content violations, rudeness to the staff or other site members, abusing the review system, spamming, plagiarism, ect. Being a Trusted Author is a privilege and accepting the status means promising to stay abreast of ALL site rules. Authors are welcome to decline the promotion at any time if they feel they cannot keep their stories compliant with current posting guidelines.
I’ve Been Waiting FOREVER To Become A Trusted Author. There Has To Be Something More I Can Do To Speed Up The Process, RIGHT!?!
Maybe...but then again, maybe not. TA status isn’t handed out lightly. This isn’t because the staff are mean or can’t think of anything better to do than hang out in the queue. We at HPFF take our commitment to hosting family-friendly content seriously and don’t hand over the responsibility of assuring the content stays that way very easily. In the end, it takes a lot more work to find and remove disallowed content than to reject it in the queue. Don’t be discouraged or take it personally. HPFF is home to nearly 30,000 authors...and less than 7% of them are TAs.
BUT...
If you REALLY want to cover all your bases, here are a few tips that certainly won’t hurt your chances of becoming a TA:
-- READ THE SITE RULES
-- Take advantage of the Staff Tutorials. The ones on language can be particularly useful. Don’t risk a silly rejection over a single word.
-- If you have questions about content, ASK A VALIDATOR. Even the staff ask for validation advice from one another. Better to get a second opinion before submitting questionable content. This applies to TAs too!
-- Take pride in your work. Show the staff you can take the time to use proper capitalization, punctuation and grammar.
-- Don’t delete rejected chapters. The archive system tracks all rejections, even deleted ones. Mistakes happen, but trying to skirt the system by getting rid of those mistakes is not only futile, it’s against the rules.
-- Be a frequent visitor. The same validator won’t review your stories every time they pass through the queue, so the more often you submit new chapters, the more likely you’ll catch a staffer’s eye...and a pretty banner and interesting content never hurts (hey, we’re only human).
-- And oh yeah, did I mention...READ THE SITE RULES
If you have more questions about being a TA or suggestions for other site-related blog posts, feel free to leave them in the comments.
What Is a Trusted Author?
Trusted Authors (or TAs) are authors who are allowed to post their stories directly to the site. In other words, they are able to bypass the validation process and the queue and have their chapters visible to readers immediately upon submission.
How Do I Become a Trusted Author?
Members are granted TA status on an individual basis, and it happens if and only if the staff feels an author has demonstrated a commitment to posting stories that comply with the site rules and terms of service (ToS). The staff consider several factors when evaluating an account, including:
-- Validation History: Has an author demonstrated an understanding of the site rules and terms of service by continually submitting chapters without rejection?
-- Story Content: Does an author have a propensity for submitting sensitive or borderline material (ie, rape, abuse, violence, sex) that might require closer staff monitoring?
-- Activity: Is the author currently active in posting stories and therefore more likely to be up-to-date on posting rules?
-- Willingness to Learn: If an author has received past rejections, was he/she cooperative in making the necessary edits and demonstrated though subsequent submissions a better understanding of the posting guidelines?
-- A Good Attitude: Has an author demonstrated a courteous attitude toward the staff and fellow site members, refraining from posting rude or abusive reviews, author’s notes, forum posts, ect?
How Long Does It Take To Become a Trusted Author?
No way around this one...There is NO set timeline on receiving trusted author status. It can take weeks, months, years, and for some, it might never happen. The length of time it takes depends on several factors including how often an author posts, how long they’ve been a member, how much time and how many new chapters posted since the last rejection, ect.
What’s The Deal With Validation Points?
Every so often, rumors about validation points pop up on the forums and authors start getting all antsy about what the points signify, just how many they have, and what it means for their chances of becoming a TA. While your time is much better spent focusing on submitting ToS compliant chapters, just to quell curiosity...YES, the archive does have a built-in point system wherein a validator can assign a certain number of points to a chapter as it passes through the queue, but NO, this number is not of vital importance. Compared to things like validation history and story content, the impact of how many points an author may or may not have is truly insignificant. I’ve bypassed many authors for TA status with 100 points or more while granting TA status to authors with less than 10.
Once Given Trusted Author Status, Can It Be Taken Away?
Absolutely! TA status can and often is revoked for a variety of reasons, including: submitting stories with content violations, rudeness to the staff or other site members, abusing the review system, spamming, plagiarism, ect. Being a Trusted Author is a privilege and accepting the status means promising to stay abreast of ALL site rules. Authors are welcome to decline the promotion at any time if they feel they cannot keep their stories compliant with current posting guidelines.
I’ve Been Waiting FOREVER To Become A Trusted Author. There Has To Be Something More I Can Do To Speed Up The Process, RIGHT!?!
Maybe...but then again, maybe not. TA status isn’t handed out lightly. This isn’t because the staff are mean or can’t think of anything better to do than hang out in the queue. We at HPFF take our commitment to hosting family-friendly content seriously and don’t hand over the responsibility of assuring the content stays that way very easily. In the end, it takes a lot more work to find and remove disallowed content than to reject it in the queue. Don’t be discouraged or take it personally. HPFF is home to nearly 30,000 authors...and less than 7% of them are TAs.
BUT...
If you REALLY want to cover all your bases, here are a few tips that certainly won’t hurt your chances of becoming a TA:
-- READ THE SITE RULES
-- Take advantage of the Staff Tutorials. The ones on language can be particularly useful. Don’t risk a silly rejection over a single word.
-- If you have questions about content, ASK A VALIDATOR. Even the staff ask for validation advice from one another. Better to get a second opinion before submitting questionable content. This applies to TAs too!
-- Take pride in your work. Show the staff you can take the time to use proper capitalization, punctuation and grammar.
-- Don’t delete rejected chapters. The archive system tracks all rejections, even deleted ones. Mistakes happen, but trying to skirt the system by getting rid of those mistakes is not only futile, it’s against the rules.
-- Be a frequent visitor. The same validator won’t review your stories every time they pass through the queue, so the more often you submit new chapters, the more likely you’ll catch a staffer’s eye...and a pretty banner and interesting content never hurts (hey, we’re only human).
-- And oh yeah, did I mention...READ THE SITE RULES
If you have more questions about being a TA or suggestions for other site-related blog posts, feel free to leave them in the comments.
for posting this, I have read it in the HPFF site itself, but this was a great reminder! 
