Is there a policy around proper formatting?

[Deadman]

This is more of an issue for me on the reader side of things. There was a story I was curious about which I kinda wanted to read but the formatting of the first couple chapters is off.

I looked at some of the later chapters and they seem to fix it later but I’m a little put off by the first several chapters.

Would it be considered bad of me to point this out to the author? I feel it’s probably better to do one on one but I’m not sure how to go about doing that. Rather than get a moderator or admin involved in it directly. I could write a review but that feels too public and somewhat mean.

[GeorgeGlass]

If the author has a forum account as well as an archive account, you could PM them.

Otherwise, unless they've put an email address or something in their profile, a review might be your only recourse. If it were me, I'd be glad for someone to point out a problem like that, even in a review. Remember, the author can always delete the review if they take offense -- or after they have fixed the problem you pointed out.

[Deadman]

On 5/30/2025 at 9:49 PM, GeorgeGlass said:

If the author has a forum account as well as an archive account, you could PM them.

Otherwise, unless they've put an email address or something in their profile, a review might be your only recourse. If it were me, I'd be glad for someone to point out a problem like that, even in a review. Remember, the author can always delete the review if they take offense -- or after they have fixed the problem you pointed out.

I may just consider it. If it were consistent across chapters I feel like it would be a choice. The fact that they corrected it in future chapter makes me think it wasn’t.

[Guest Mable Milton]

While I understand your hesitation, perhaps gently mentioning the formatting issues in early chapters might be helpful to the author? Constructive feedback, even if critical, can be valuable for improvement. Assuming later chapters are fine, it could just need a quick fix. Ignoring potential improvements might be considered a form of bad parenting