Last week, the venerable TG fiction website Fictionmania went offline for a few days. Server problems, I hear. Accordingly, this blog received a major surge of traffic, a phenomenon I’m going to call the “Fictionmania bump”.
The Fictionmania Bump
Obviously, there were a whole bunch of frustrated TG fans out there, deprived of their usual fix, desperately scouring the web for TG fiction. (Imagine a herd of rampant Wildebeest, sweeping majestically across the Serengeti and trampling anyone and anything so unwise as to get in its way. That’s not a burn, by the way; I like Wildebeest. Magnificent critters.)
So I’d like to welcome all those who discovered my work for the first time as a result of the “Fictionmania bump”. I hope that what you found here was to your liking. I do things a little differently than elsewhere (infrequent updates, PDF files) but I think the results speak for themselves.
Some of you may be wondering why I don’t post my work on Fictionmania itself. Good question. After all, a few of my stories do appear on the TG Storytime website. Part of the answer is that I don’t like the format. I like having complete control over how my work is published, in particular the integration of text with pictures. PDF files give me that control. Of course, that still leaves the question of why TG Storytime and not Fictionmania. I do think TG Storytime is a better designed and better run website, but that’s only part of it.
The real problem with Fictionmania (sorry if this offends anybody) is that I got tired of wading through all the drek. Too many serials that never end, too many kinks I don’t share, too much poor writing in general. I know we’re talking about amateur authors, and I really do admire the enthusiasm they bring to the subject, but I didn’t want my work getting lost in all that.
I don’t claim to be a pro myself, but I am trying. I’ve read books on writing, I’ve taken courses, and most importantly I’ve read a lot of professional fiction. I’m at the point now where I can’t stand seeing the same basic errors over and over again. (Passive voice, beginning the story with an info-dump, poor editing, the list goes on…) For a long time I’d skim stories looking for the good bits, now I don’t even bother doing that. Of course, I haven’t read everything Fictionmania has to offer (God help anyone who has), so if someone wants to point me to a sterling example of good writing I’d be happy to help give it the exposure it deserves.
Anyway, I’ve rambled on long enough. Y’all come back now, y’hear!
Amanda
Amanda's Reading Room 
I usually refer to Fictionmania as the Wal-Mart of TG Fiction. It’s almost always open, confident, and you’ll find what you need, but it’s cumbersome and most stuff is bland!
Can’t argue with that! I agree with regards to Fictionmania, and Wal-Mart too…
I have been unable to access Fictionmania.tv for many many months. I get a Connection error every time. Others tell me they have no problem getting there and reading stories. How frustrating.
I’m sure it is. I noticed a thread over at TGComics saying that some people were having trouble connecting, but the problem seemed to go away for them (might have been a temporary server issue). I tried just now and had no trouble. All I can suggest is that you try clearing your browser cache, and perhaps your browsing history as well. If that doesn’t work, then I don’t know what the problem might be. I’m no expert.
I enjoy your stories. I also host a site for readers called http://www.tgladies.com. I also got a big jump in readers last week and it looks like it is still going. Would you be interested in posting your stories on my site or at the least exchange links?
Thanks
Jackie
Thanks, Jackie. Your website looks terrific; very ambitious, lots going on. Maybe a bit too busy, as it seems to load and respond rather slowly. I’ll certainly exchange links with you (I just updated my own list).
One issue I see is that the formatting on some of the stories was poor. I saw text cut off in some places, hard-to-read fonts, and (what I really hate) some huge blocks of text not divided into paragraphs. I know that formatting is the author’s responsibility, but anything that affects readability is going to reduce the number of people who read the story (and increase skimming and even giving up). Maybe you could provide some guidelines on proper formatting to your authors.
I also looked for (and didn’t find) an introduction as to who you are and what you want to accomplish with the website, so maybe you could make that info easier to find.
Amanda