Dark Fantasy Handbook

Questions and Answers

Readers,

You are welcome to ask any question related to the Dark Fantasy subgenre, related dark and fantastic genres, or the workings of the Dark Fantasy Community in the comments section of this chapter.

Frequently asked questions may be answered on this page for quick reference, but those questions which are less common and/or require detailed answers may be answered in articles within later chapters of this handbook.

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Question: How can I submit a work to the reading lists?

Answer: The "DFC Reading Lists" chapter of this handbook covers both the list descriptions and submission process.

Question: What happens behind the scenes when I recommend or submit a work for the reading lists? How are works added? Do the works really get read?

Answer: Those submitting their own work or recommending an other's work for the reading lists fill out a Google form and submit it.

The DFC Admin have access to a Google drive folder where both the submitted forms and a spread sheet are saved. The drive and document settings allow Admin to have the data from the forms populated directly to the spreadsheet. An email notification goes to at least one Admin alerting them of a new submission.

On Wattpad, an Admin adds the submitted work to the DFC profile's Library (the private/hidden reading list).

On the spreadsheet, Admin see the order in which forms were submitted. The works are generally reviewed in the order received. Occasionally, a submission is "on hold" while we wait for another opinion or reply to a PM, but typically they are fully processed in order.

The submitted work is read, though not necessarily in its entirety. Admin read an amount sufficient to know if the work fits the community and on which list within the community it might fit best.The amount of chapter/parts read can range depending on overall length of the work, style, plot or other variables.

As the Admin review the work/submission they comment on the spreadsheet to note whether the criteria (found at the top of the submission form as well as on the Reading Lists page of the Handbook) have been met and on which particular list the work may fit.

After reading, the submission is marked on the spreadsheet with a color code to show it has been reviewed and whether the resulting decision was to add or not. Accepted works are marked green. And "maybe later" works are marked amber.

An admin then adds those greenlit works to the appropriate DFC reading list on Wattpad. We do have a policy that a work cannot be on more than two (2) of the regular DFC reading lists (A work that won an award could, for example, be on the Award Winners list as well as two other lists if it had crossover appeal.) Most works are only one one list.

Those works that are either on hold or coded as amber may be followed up with PMs to the author/recommender if Admin feel that a clarification about level of quality, completion, or "dark" content could be enough to swing the decision toward green. Admin may sometimes add works that are incomplete or have technical errors if the work is otherwise a strong example of Dark Fantasy and the author has provided some information about how/when the work will be complete and/or edited.

It is the DFC's goal to serve readers by recommending complete, high quality Dark Fantasy works, but we would like to also serve authors to the extent possible by featuring their complete and best written DF works.

Question:

Can I submit a work [to public reading lists] if is not in English?

Answer: The short answer is "yes"; the work can be submitted. But, those sending their submission forms should be advised that depending on the specific language, it may take us longer to review the work as it can take time to recruit additional readers and/or to get translations.

Question:

Do you require a particular number of chapters for submissions [to the public reading lists]?

Answer: There is not a numerical minimum number of chapters, but we are looking for works to be 'reasonably complete', because readers on Wattpad generally look for completed works to start reading.

When filling-out the submission form there is a section with questions on whether work is complete and when/how we may expect it to be complete. DFC is more likely to accept works that are fully complete; have complete seasons, volumes, or books; or have a set date or timeline for completion which is within a few months or less.