If I have a preference, it is an archive, preferably either one devoted to the fandom, or an all fandom archive like FFN where I can find all the writer's works in every fandom
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You make valid points all around. LJ isn't conducive to easy navigation unless the author spends a lot of time cross-linking their posts. Admittedly a pain in the butt ... I've done it before and can vouch for that! I know quite a few authors who have their own communities or fic journals, but a good many of them post to archives as well, so they seem to be mining the best of both options. You're right about the opportunity for dialogue, too. LJ does offer a give-and-take that a standard web archive can't.
I don't want to sound like some old geezer about the good old days, but for some reason browsing I came across one of the first fic I ever posted in Trek, and the whole damn discussion was so... intelligent. I don't think I've ever seen the like in HP, and I'm not sure why. Is it that the popularity of efiction means authors and readers aren't used to a back and forth
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I would like to add for the record, though, that as my own reading in a fandom (HP, for one example) dwindles, I find myself increasingly reluctant to register for (or even bother to remember) sign-in information for sites or archives, or to even join LJ communities, even though I obviously have an LJ. So, for me anyway, a place that's freely accessible without registering/signing in is really stellar.
I can understand that. I've registered for quite a few sites that I don't even visit anymore.
As a dwindling fandom reader, do you find yourself gravitating towards the multi-ship or even multi-fandom sites more than a ship-specific or even singular author location?
I find I seldom cross into multifandom territory, unless it's a specific author's site, where they happen to have written for several fandoms, or it's a multifandom fest. Nowadays for HP, I just have my handful of sites I check regularly--to keep an eye on a scant few on-going stories--and individual writers I keep up with, either regularly via LJ :) or by visiting wherever their fic is archived so I can reread an old favorite. And now that I've shifted into other fandoms, my reading still centers around sites/writers' journals/communities specific to a single fandom.
I like any and all of the above. I do like fic journals because of the ability to engage in back-and-forth dialogue, which very few archives support. (Usually you can comment, the author can reply, and that's it.) But anything that gives me an easy way to find out when an author I like has posted something new to check out or to read their previous work is cool.
Disappointingly, there aren't as many readers who care about the back-and-forth as I would like, or as there used to be (so it seems to me). I, too, enjoy engaging in a discussion with an author, but like you said, it really can't be done on a standard archive.
Don't some archives have the "Notify me" button for when an author posts something new?
Don't some archives have the "Notify me" button for when an author posts something new?
Most of them do, I think. That's what I meant: I like archives as well as fic journals for that function. They're better at that function, in fact, than fic journals, because if I get behind on my flist, I almost certainly end up missing things.
I didn't really vote, since like Harmony, I prefer an archive where I can find everything that an author has written, no matter what fandom. I'll read in other fandoms, particularly if it's an author that I enjoy.
LJ requires the author do a lot of extra coding if they use it as an archive, but I prefer the discussion capabilities here to most archives.
But typically if I find out about author's it isn't going to be on their websites, or their fanfic sites, they are goign to have to pimp on a community devoted to a ship...
So you don't care where they archive, you just usually hear about their work in the communities you frequent? Easier than checking archives, I would think.
Yep... although I do have some archives I regularly check too... so if someone is against pimping their work, i think posting it to a multi-author archives would be essential to getting it read...
Althouh I must say... when it comes to re-reading fic... something I really loved if it is in an archives that allows for favorites, etc. that is a plus
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You make valid points all around. LJ isn't conducive to easy navigation unless the author spends a lot of time cross-linking their posts. Admittedly a pain in the butt ... I've done it before and can vouch for that! I know quite a few authors who have their own communities or fic journals, but a good many of them post to archives as well, so they seem to be mining the best of both options. You're right about the opportunity for dialogue, too. LJ does offer a give-and-take that a standard web archive can't.
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As a dwindling fandom reader, do you find yourself gravitating towards the multi-ship or even multi-fandom sites more than a ship-specific or even singular author location?
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Don't some archives have the "Notify me" button for when an author posts something new?
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Most of them do, I think. That's what I meant: I like archives as well as fic journals for that function. They're better at that function, in fact, than fic journals, because if I get behind on my flist, I almost certainly end up missing things.
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LJ requires the author do a lot of extra coding if they use it as an archive, but I prefer the discussion capabilities here to most archives.
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Same here. That's one of the nice things about FFN, I suppose.
And yes, LJ does require a lot of effort to cross-post and link chapters, etc. I'm wondering if the effort is worth it.
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Althouh I must say... when it comes to re-reading fic... something I really loved if it is in an archives that allows for favorites, etc. that is a plus
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