What if my story has a co-author?

[Melrick]

“My friend and I are co-writing a story that we'd like to upload to AFF's archive. Is there anything special we need to do?”

I'm glad you asked, because yes, there is. We come across stories in the archive all the time that have apparently been written by more than one person, with no proof that it is genuinely a co-written story. This forces us to try and chase up both people to ensure that it is truly a co-written story and not just a bit of plagiarising going on, which does happen. So here's what you can do:

If the co-author of the story has an AFF profile, then – after making sure you're logged into the archive – insert their AFF profile user ID in the appropriate field in the “Story Details” section of the archive. The user ID is the number at the end of your profile URL. For example: http://members.adult-fanfiction.org/profile.php?no=000000. To edit the details in an existing story, go to your archive profile, click on “My Control Panel” in the top right, scroll down through the 'Story Manager' on the left of screen for the appropriate subdomain and find the co-authored story. Select “Edit Story Info” and add their user ID to the field for “First Co-Author”.

“But what if the co-author doesn't have an AFF profile? What do we do then?”

If that's the case then you need to send us the co-author's email address so we can have it on file and verify it with the co-author if needed. You should send the email here. Just make sure you include the full details in the body of the email, including user ID's of everyone involved, full story titles and emails. This all means that it's vital you provide us with a valid email address that the co-author actually uses. A fake email or an email that they never actually check is useless and will only ensure the story gets taken down.

“So can the co-author actually make any changes to the story directly in the AFF archives?”

They can, to a limit. They can edit the story, add or delete chapters, and edit story details, but they can't delete the story entirely; only the posting author can do that.

Also, remember when you went into the “Edit Story Info” section and you looked right down the bottom and saw the “Allow Contributions” option? If you select 'Yes' on that then any registered AFF archive member can add a chapter, edit that chapter, or delete the chapter. They can't edit or delete any chapter they didn't add, and they can't change story details.

And finally, you might be wondering why we're so particular about all this. That's because we're very strict on plagiarism, and don't tolerate it at all. Ever.