Is fanstory.com Safe?

I found FS to be expensive, and I had many instances where an error called "Apache" appeared and caused me to be unable to log on. There are nice people there, but many who are far too worried about ranks. Also people call each other or email outside the site to get votes for contests. These are some of the reasons I gave it up.

At first, I thought this would be a good site. I had read good reviews of it and had hoped that it would help me get constructive criticism and feedback. However, I soon realised that although it was free to sign up, you had to pay to post ANYTHING online. As other people have also mentioned, you also have to pay to get your work recognised. My advice to other writers is to go for a site such as Fictionpress.net. It does not have content such as contests but is free, easy to use and popular. I wouldn't recommend ***** to anyone who is not willing to pay out quite a bit of cash.

Here's the good and the bad about FanStory. FS is a great place to post your poetry, short stories, novels, and scripts, and receive feedback from other members on the site. It also has numerous contests, both site-sponsored and member-sponsored, and these can be fun to enter. The cost to be a member allowed to post your writing is not prohibitive. So what's the downside? In order to have your writing reviewed, it needs to be "promoted". All your postings will have a free initial certificate which expires after two reviews. To give your work visibility, you must buy a certificate which will cost you between six and ten dollars. But wait! That will only get you a place far down on the list, where you might only get one or two more reviews. To move your work higher, you need to buy "pump" certificates that pump your work up the list. This costs another $3, but you may need several to move you piece up where it will get a lot of visibility. You can either whip out your credit card to purchase certificates and pumps, or earn member dollars by reviewing the work of other writers. In order to avoid spending "real" money to promote their work, other writers review, review, review. Of course, the volume of reviews they need to do results in some reviews being virtually worthless "fluff". But here's the real danger to serious writers, and a well-kept secret that the owner doesn't want potential (or current) members to know. Many publications consider a work posted on FanStory as having been published online, which disqualifies it from being considered for publication elsewhere. FanStory will tell you that by making your profile "private" and setting "content sharing" to off, your work is only visible to members, and therefore that rule does not apply. This is not true in all cases, and reputable submission services may refuse to consider any work that has been posted on FanStory because it is considered "previously published". If you are looking for a supportive writing community, recognition within that community, and fun contests that will inspire you to write, FanStory is a fine place to go. If you are a serious writer looking to be published, DO NOT put your work in jeapordy by posting it on FS and opening up the possibility that your opportunity to be published will be lost.

When I found ***** I thought, is it a scam? It isn't! ***** is fantastic. I'm so glad I became a member of FanStory and shared my poetry. ***** has helped me learn and grow as a writer. To get feedback on your writing is wonderful. The community of writers on ***** really want to help you. It's wonderful, as a writer, to have a place to go where other writers are eager to help you (and not just praise you but help you improve). The contests are fantastic. FanStory isn't a scam - it's fantastic. A wonderful way to share your writing, learn and grow. Because of FanStory I finished a book of poetry and sent it to be published. I'm now a published author and couldn't be happier. I also continue to use ***** to improve as a writer.

Good writers' site, I have subscribed for three years. It is not intended as a child-oriented site and there are sexual or violent pieces included (noted by the authors). Please don't use it as a child-minding site, that isn't its purpose. As to reviewing - yes, it does expect civility in reviews. One is not permitted to flame writers. Finding something to encourage/praise in a work is a recognised reviewing technique (and one more likely to get the reviewer listened to) than simply slating a work. FanStory is a community, and certain rules of behaviour are required. No, it's not perfect, far from it, and yes, unfortunately "fluff" reviews are too common. But it has more pluses than minuses, in my experience, and serious writers HAVE gone on to be published (NB merit published, not self-published) after polishing their work there. Privacy-wise, I get tracking cookies from it, but have never had a bug or infection.

Subscription site, purports to be an objective writer review workshop but is about making money and punishes objective critics. Demands that critics find something to like in every item reviewed, suspends overly tough reviewers of bad writing, encourages cult-like loyalties and "positive attitudes."