Monday, March 26, 2012

Donation request for March

HASA is currently at -$125 for February, and the $150 for March bill will be due the 27th. HASA depends on donations to meet hosting costs. While this means that we come 'begging' about once a month, the good news is that a little can make a great difference! Thanks to our seven monthly subscribers who pay for almost one third of our monthly costs, you’re much appreciated. Thanks also for individual donations.

HASA is in its tenth year of providing ad-free, fee-free JRRT fanfiction that is owned and operated by the fandom, not corporate interests. Your contact information is not for sale to marketeers. There are no tests to take to join, all genres, characters, ratings and story lengths are welcome, and we get hundreds of readers a day. If you are one of our regular visitors, please consider setting up a subscription. $5 = one day of hosting. Or, if you cannot commit to a regular donation, give an individual donation.

Economic times are tough, but every little bit helps. If you can't spare money, then please give something just as valuable – your time. There are stories that need reviews, a story comment can really make an author's day, we have forums for discussing any topic and of course you can post your own works for the enjoyment of everyone.

Thanks for enjoying HASA!

Julie

Sunday, March 25, 2012

HASA News - Challenges

Birthday Cards

There is still a week to go in the March Birthday Cards, so there’s plenty of time to write or request a drabble...

Not sure what the birthday cards are about? Have a look at some older stories written as birthday cards.

Prospective Challenges, Oliphaunts and Nuzgûl

Challenges are born from Prospective Challenges, and the Prospective Challenges Forum is where you’ll find out what other people would like to spring on unsuspecting authors... If you have any ideas you want to share, head over to the Challenges Forum; or be inspired by what is already there and pick up an older idea instead.

Older ideas can also be found in the Oliphaunt Pen and the Nuzgûl Hutch… Why not take on an Oliphaunt or let a Nuzgûl bite you?

Nuzgûl of the Month

Just as Challenges come from Prospective Challenges, Prospective Challenges come from Nuzgûl, and Nuzgûl need attention to grow from tiny ideas into big stories. Step into the Nuzgûl hutch. The bunnies don’t bite (much). And who knows what ideas you may come out with?

The Nuzgûl of the Month!

The march Nuzgûl, Death, can be found here, and will run until the end of the month.

Come on over to the Nuzgûl of the Month Workshop and join in the fun. If you’ve written a story for any of the previous months, don’t forget to add it to the Playlist!

Thank you for reading at HASA. Have fun!

Sunday, March 18, 2012

HASA How-toes - March 2012

How do I...

... use My Stuff?

This month we look at My Stuff and what is in it.

How to use My Stuff at HASA

What is My Stuff for?

Like the name says, it is where you will find your own stuff.

You manage your profile, add and update stories here, see reviews, send alerts, and other activities. There are links here to take you to other sections of the site, in Forums, Challenges, Playlists and Workshop, where you have things to manage.

The home of My Stuff is customizable to hold information most important to you.

How does this area work?

When you sign up as a member on HASA, you automatically get a My Stuff section. You have to be logged in to see your information.

Your HASA profile has several parts: Member, Author and Reviewer. You use My Profile to manage the information in them.

Next, there is My Stories and all of the related activities. My Stories is where you create and manage your stories. You may add as many stories as you like to the database. In the reviews section, authors who submit stories for review and members who perform reviews can see the reviews given and received.

The links to Forums, Playlists, Workshops and Challenges all go to pages where you can take care of things in those areas.

My Stuff is like your dashboard for keeping track of everything you do on HASA. The My Stuff main menu is very long. To prevent it from taking up too much vertical space, it is folded up by default. Click the Main Menu title bar on any page to unfold and refold the menu. You can also mouse over the "My Stuff" button in the top navigation bar for a fly out menu of My Stuff sections.

You can customize the My Stuff home page

  1. Log in.
  2. Go to My Stuff home.
  3. Click on the "Customize Page" link in the navigation column.
  4. You now see a page where you can select one or more pods for the main column and the side column of the My Stuff home page. Detailed instructions for adding the pods are on the page.
  5. After you add pods, you can set an order to them.
  6. Return to the home page and do final adjustments for how many records to show in each pod.

If there is any topic you'd like to see in the how-to, please let us know!

Sunday, March 11, 2012

HASA News - Reviews

As I type this, there are 13 stories waiting for your review (remember to log in before you follow the link).

Member participation is crucial for reviews. The more people are involved in reviewing, the more different opinions are represented. Having more people involved also means that stories pass through review more quickly – which is good for everyone. If you are an active reviewer, why not go and check out a story?

Or, if you are a writer, take the plunge and submit a story for review; and when you do, please remember: Put one in, take one out.

By submitting a story for review, you are asking nine other members to read and evaluate it. So why not do for the other authors who have a story in review what you'd like other reviewers to do for you: check out one of the stories already in review and give it a read.

Becoming a reviewer

If you're not an active reviewer, but think you can spare a bit of time... – even if you just review one or two stories in a month, every review is welcome. If you are logged in, you can sign up here if you've been a member of HASA for thirty days or more.

Daunted by the idea of reviewing? Don’t be, reviewing at its simplest comes down to asking yourself: “Would I recommend this story to someone?” Then, whether the answer is 'yes' or 'no', you can make a choice from the capsule reasons to clarify your decision. If you want to, you can add a few more words to convey what you (dis)liked about the story, but just the capsule reason is perfectly fine as well.

And remember: even if you think you're too critical or not critical enough: your review is only one of nine, and all points of view are welcome. Not every reviewer has to review every story and in the end it does all level out to a balanced judgement.

Reviewed story spotlight

These stories have passed through review since the previous bulletin. Congratulations to all authors; well done!

Ice and Tears by Adonnen Estenniel
Rating:General
Genre: Romance

Era: 3rd Age - Post-Ring War
Summary: Not all marriages are based on love. An unconventional glimpse into the union between Rohan and Dol Amroth. Told in 400 words. MEFA 2011 1st Place; Romance: General

Voice in the Night by Linda Hoyland

Rating: General
Genre: Drama
Era: 3rd Age - The Stewards
Summary: One night at an inn changes a young soldier's life forever. With thanks to Virtuella.

Hobbit Stew by Kara’s Aunty

Rating: General
Genre: Humor
Era: 3rd Age - The Stewards
Summary: Summary: A very hungry Bilbo Baggins spots something very tasty after a week of near-abstinence in the Elvenking's Halls; but getting his hands on it will not be as easy as he thinks ...

 

Make an author’s day, review a story or post a comment.

Sunday, March 4, 2012

HASA news - Birthdays, Nuzgûl of the Month, Stories

March birthdays, the Nuzgûl of the Month and links to the stories written or updated in February.

March Birthday Challenge

Is your birthday in March, and would you like a drabble about your favourite character or topic? You can request it here.

Not sure what the birthday cards are about? Have a look at stories written for previous requests.

Nuzgûl of the Month

Just as Challenges come from Prospective Challenges, Prospective Challenges come from Nuzgûl, and Nuzgûl need attention to grow from tiny ideas into big stories. Step into the Nuzgûl hutch. The bunnies don’t bite (much). And who knows what ideas you may come out with?

The Nuzgûl of the Month!

The March Nuzgûl, Death, can be found here, and will run until the end of the month.

Come on over to the Nuzgûl of the Month Workshop and join in the fun. If you’ve written a story for any of the previous months, don’t forget to add it to the Playlist!

February Stories

All of us writers love feedback. It is the lembas and miruvor that sustains us as we write our story, and leaving a few words about a story you read is always a nice thing to do, whether the story is new or old.

Every fifteen minutes HASA highlights a story chosen at random from the Reviewed and General stories in the archive. Read the currently featured story on our front page.

Many talented writers are publishing every day. In February:

--- 5 Reviewed Stories were published or updated.

--- 40 General Stories were published or updated.

--- 2 Beta Stories were updated.

(Please note, you need to be logged in to view beta stories.)

Thank you for reading at HASA. Enjoy!