Despatch Reader

There are several criteria the editor of despatches uses to judge whether a work is suitable for inclusion in Despatches.

~ Length. Drabbles of 100 words are too short to be included on their own. One post with several 100-word drabbles all focussing on the Age of Sail is better than several posts with one 100-word drabble each. For the same reason, icon posts with fewer than 10 Age of Sail icons will generally not be included. Mixed fandom icon posts with more than 10 AoS icons are suitable for inclusion.

~ No Rating. Fics must include some sort of rating. It does not matter whether the writer uses the British or American rating system, so long as the rating is clear. Some people may not want to read works rated R or 18, others may be looking specifically for that rating and will not want to read anything else.

~ Not Being Followed. Have you requested that despatch_reader follow you? Post a comment to the post here to be included in Despatches. Or drop a comment in the latest Despatches post to alert the Editor to your comm or journal.

~ Alternative Universe/Crossovers. Crossovers between different AoS canons will fall under Despatches' remit. Crossovers between an AoS canon and another canon will only appear on Despatches if the story takes place during the Age of Sail. AU stories taking place in the modern world or any other non-AoS universe will not be included here.

~ Posted Elsewhere Than Dreamwidth. The reader does follow a few feeds from blogs and Livejournal accounts, but the Editor has made the decision not to link to works Livejournal accounts outside of the Rec of the Week slot or for major challenges such as perfect_duet's annual Advent Calender as despatches is primarily to encourage fandom to grow here on DW, and there is an excellent version of Despatches on LJ (the LJ version is the original, which was the inspiration for the DW version).

It would also be appreciated if you could include some sort of summary for fics - it doesn't have to be long. And say what character/s it focusses on, as this will help people find fics for characters and pairings that they like.

A few things to note:

This is the reader for the Age of Sail newsletter Despatches - which will try to mirror what Despatches on LJ does. It will not mirror content unless that same content is posted here.

This journal will subscribe to you, or watch your comm. You should not grant access to this journal, so that I do not link to anything posted locked. (There is nothing more annoying than following a link and finding that you don't have access to the entry linked to.)

Single drabbles or icon batches containing fewer than 10 icons will not be linked to vis Despatches. This may seem harsh, especially in the first days, but there has to be some sort of cut-off point.

I hope to do as fine a job as all the editors for the LJ version have done. I do not wish to step on any toes by creating this DW edition - I am doing it because I want to see more AoS content produced here on DW, and I feel there is, or will be, a need for a newsletter of the calibre of Despatches.