Proper etiquette when working with contributors

Odysseus

Odysseus

Virgin
Are there any unspoken rules when working new contributors? Awhile ago, someone out of the blue submitted a chapter to my story which I thought was well written (albeit slightly different than my usual style) that I accepted. That was a year ago, I haven't heard anything from her since.
Is it the duty of the owner of stories to reach out to contributors? When someone contributes to a story, do they want the owner or editor to message them with follow up?

Further, to what extent should a owner edit contributors's chapters if they don't want to seem like a control freak? Obviously, if something is poorly written it will need to be edited, however should I make changes when the changes are just minor nitpicks or would the contributors be happier if I just let them write how they want to.

I know there isn't a single answer to these questions as all contributors are different, but could someone who contributes to a lot of stories share their experience so that I might learn how to be a better owner.
 
In my experience, the following are general guidelines.

Follow up: If someone submits a chapter and then there is no follow-up, message them once, gently and politely, not asking them to contribute further, but instead asking how they are doing and if there is a specific reason you haven't heard from them up to this point.

Editing: Again, in my experience, editing should be restricted to grammar, punctuation, and spelling errors: anything that this little program called "Grammarly" which I use wouldn't catch should be left alone. Each writer has their own style, and you should respect that.

That said, you do have another option, though it's a risk. If what the person is writing doesn't fit within the TOU or the rules you've established for your story, you not only can but must reject the chapter. Don't worry, they can go back to it through their "my chapters" page and re-do it. Doing this is a risk, however, as it can permanently discourage them from adding to your story...
 
Speaking as both an owner and contributor I understand the predicament.

What I’ve found in my experience is that I give my contributors full reign, I’ll message about particular chapters I’ve really enjoyed and although this may depend on the contributor in question – I’ve been eager to find out what happens next in their mind, where do they see it going and show genuine interest.

As a contributor though, I find it hard to submit a follow up if the previous hasn’t quite hit my mark or expectations of “Likes” and such.
 
Getting a message from the owner of a story is always nice.
I have no problem with someone editing my work. I personally would like to know what they did and why, so I can avoid the same mistakes in the future. But I may be in the minority on this.
 
Nemo of Utopia said:
This is something I've noticed as well. If a new chapter doesn't get a few likes in the first hour or two after I post I often feel discouraged and have trouble continuing...
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I feel you. Several of my chapters vanish from the front page too fast, don't get any likes. Such is life.
 
Nemo of Utopia said:
anything that this little program called "Grammarly" which I use wouldn't catch should be left alone.
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If you use that rule, editing isn't necessary at all.
And I think that Grammarly - which is really a great tool - doesn't catch all grammar, punctuation and spelling errors - think of wrong tense or different meaning due to missing commas. I also assume that it sometimes mark false negatives, though I'm not good enough at English to say for sure (e.g. some commas in my text are marked as wrong but when replacing a certain word with a synonym.

Odysseus said:
Is it the duty of the owner of stories to reach out to contributors?
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Nemo of Utopia said:
Follow up: If someone submits a chapter and then there is no follow-up, message them once, gently and politely, not asking them to contribute further, but instead asking how they are doing and if there is a specific reason you haven't heard from them up to this point.
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I don't think that you need to get in touch with a contributor, though it could be helpful if you appreciate contributions.
If you message them, you could tell them what you think about their chapter, ask if they plan on continuing their branch and offer to help out with ideas if they need some (and you have some, of course)

If a chapter doesn't fit the story or established characters (changes (like sluttification) happened too fast or the writer got carried away), I would consider some editing by you or the contributor.
In my experience, writers don't enjoy editing their own stuff...
If you think that editing is necessary, you can ask them if they would like to change it regarding your points, would "allow" you to change it or don't want any changes at all.
Editing feels pretty bad if there are big changes

If every choice of your story creates another parallel universe, editing may not be necessary.
On the other hand, if a choice should keep it logical, you have to be more strict about it.
e.g. if an existing chapter choice is "You don't move" and the sun is still shining, another option "You spin around once" shouldn't result in an instant rain (except it is a rain dance...)

Doadventures.10 said:
As a contributor though, I find it hard to submit a follow up if the previous hasn’t quite hit my mark or expectations of “Likes” and such.
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Well, there can be many reasons for this and maybe it was just bad luck, publishing the chapter at the wrong time.
So... rather keep going, even if it is hard to stay motivated.
Besides... write for yourself ;)
 
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gene.sis said:
If you use that rule, editing isn't necessary at all.
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You would THINK so, as would I, about this time last year, but no: often, even if I say in the submission guidelines to use Grammarly, it still needs editing.

gene.sis said:
I don't think that you need to get in touch with a contributor, though it could be helpful if you appreciate contributions.
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I do, I appreciate all submissions, and it is helpful to me to get more of them because they often inspire new ideas of my own for the story. This is why I will typically message a contributor one time if they unexpectedly fall silent.

And, with respect to most of the rest of the Post I quoted parts of above: "Here-here: well said old bean!"
 
While I'm not the most active Writer I just got back into reviewing contributions, so I feel like my input might help.
The way I personally handle it is to edit the most obvious mistakes (grammar, tense and syntax) note down what I change (in a word doc most of the time) with a few comments on my general opinion on the chapter and send it as a PM to the writer.
 
I know I'm guilty of doing this (I may, in fact, be the contributor Odessyus is talking about) either way there are a few reasons why I don't always follow up on a chapter. Sometimes I find I don't have the inspiration to continue. Or the idea I have for continuing turns out to be too similar to chapters that have already been added. Or I'll just get distracted and end up forgetting about the whole thing.
In any case, I find a gentle nudge via pm will usually bring me back to it.
 
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