Guidelines

 

Guidelines for the Library**

Please note, the Library and the Forums share the same home page; however, each site requires a separate registration.  The same user name and password may be used for both.

All comments are routed through a moderation approval process.  Any comments that the Brandsters or an author construes as ‘trolling’ or ‘harassing’ will be immediately deleted.  Harassment will not be tolerated and the individual will be dealt with as the Brandsters deem appropriate.

Comments which reveal details or twists of the story may be modified by the Brandsters or Author.

Quality

Bonanza Brand desires to maintain a high-quality library where fans can enjoy a wide variety of stories. These guidelines are designed to provide readers and writers with the opportunity to share their passion for the Cartwrights and the other characters created by the vision of David Dortort. To this end, the Brandsters reserve the right to limit or remove stories, at our discretion, which are not consistent with this aim.

All Active Authors:

All active authors have a responsibility to keep up to date with posts made in the “Virginia City Literary Society” Forum “Authors Library Information“.  This is where announcements related to features, guidelines, and information on how challenges might affect their Publishing stories are posted.

New Authors:

Please understand that this Library is for Bonanza stories.  Readers come to explore stories about the Cartwrights, their family and friends, and the supporting characters that have come in and out of their lives.  Readers do enjoy original characters and how they interact with the Cartwrights; however, these original characters should not be the main focus of the story, essentially leaving the Cartwrights on the periphery.

Writers wishing to publish a story in the Library must become a member of the Discussion Forums and have 100 posts before submitting their story for approval.  Once their story is approved, author status will be granted. An exemption to this rule is given to those established authors invited to join the Bonanza Brand Library by the Brandsters.

Any writer wishing to receive author status must read and abide by these Library Guidelines.

First stories should be sent to the Brandsters at the following email:  brandsters2020@gmail.com

Brand encourages new authors to work with a Beta reader to help ensure the story meets the Library standards.  The Librarians may return the story for further editing, if necessary.

Author Guidelines:

Bonanza Brand does not accept any plagiarized works. If a plagiarized work is found, it and all other works by the offending party will be removed from Brand, this includes the Library and the Discussion Forums.

Brand does NOT accept stories containing slash or stories that could be construed as Child Pornography (i.e., adults having sex with minors).

The stories within are the property of the person(s) who created them.

Stories:

1: Correct spelling, grammar, and punctuation are expected of all stories submitted. Stories with multiple errors will be returned to draft. If requests to correct are ignored, the story will be deleted.

2: Titles and summaries must be appropriate for general audiences. No exceptions. “Please read” is not an acceptable summary or title.

  • Summaries must include the plot, rating (MA/R-Rated reason, if applicable), and word count.

3: All stories must be rated.

  • K/G – Intended for general audience 5 years and older. Content should be free of any coarse language, violence, and adult themes.
  • K+/G – Suitable for more mature children, 9 years and older, with minor action violence without serious injury. May contain mild coarse language. Should not contain any adult themes.
  • T/PG-13 – Suitable for teens, 13 years and older, with some violence, minor coarse language, and minor suggestive adult themes.
  • MA/R – Content is only suitable for readers 18 years of age and older.  May contain explicit language and/or adult themes – including sex and/or graphic violence.

Note:  If your story is MA/R Rated please indicate reason: language, sexual themes, and/or violence AND turn on Age Gate feature.

4:  Stories are allowed to be posted in multiple categories.

5: It is preferred that .jpg (jpeg) images may be uploaded to the media library. Acceptable file size is 1MB or less, otherwise the system will use its “Smush” program to minimize the amount of memory used for these images.

6: Any stories in the Library must meet a 500-word minimum, excluding title, summary, rating, word count, author notes, disclaimers, etc.

  • Stories with 500 – 999 words should be included in the Short Stories category.

Note:  Submissions in the Poetry category are exempt from meeting this requirement.

7: All stories posted must be complete.  Works in progress (aka WIP) may be posted in The Reading Room sub-forum of the Virginia City Literary Society located in the Bonanza Brand Discussion Forums. Any incomplete work found in the Library will be returned to draft mode.

8:  Any story not published within one year of uploading as a Draft in the Library Dashboard will be deleted.

9: Authors are permitted to post one new story per week (7-days), with the caveat that only one story per author is allowed on the front page at any time. The older of multiples stories by the same author will be backdated off the front page.

10: Crossover stories are permitted.  An author must have a completed Bonanza story in our Library before a crossover story may be posted and a one-to-one ratio between Bonanza / Bonanza Crossovers must be maintained.

Posting Stories in the Library:

A copy of step-by-step directions on how to upload a story in the proper format and layout is available to all authors in the Bonanza Brand Forums under the Virginia City Literary Society Room.

Any images obtained from the series and used as a ‘featured image’ must be free of any copyright violations, this includes manipulations.

Questions:

If you have any questions about the Library or this website, please contact the Cheaux and Bluewindfarm by email at brandsters2020@gmail.com or PM within the Brand Forums.

Thank you for your cooperation and enjoy the Library!

 

Updated:  December, 2022 (Additional description under New Authors)

 

**The Brandsters reserve the right to modify these guidelines without advance notice.

 

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