‡ Sugar Quill ‡

• http://www.sugarquill.net/
  
• Ratings: G to R.
• Authors' review by Michelle Ravel, moderator.
• Reader review by Amaterasu and Michelle Ravel, moderator.

‡ Authors' Review ‡

• Are the rules and terms of submission easy to find?
  Yes, they are. Everything is explained in the "ask Madam Pince" section, and mods are always around the message boards to explain any questions you might have. However, first-time authors on the site can only submit at a predetermined time once a month, due to previous submitting crowding. SQ authors can submit at any time, of course.
• Do you supply a beta reader for authors?
  Yes, and all beta-readers are very good ones. Their bios are in the "Staff Room."
• Are you polite about rejecting fics?
  They don't reject fics (as long as the fics fit into their guidelines... more about that later); however, fics they really like are put into the "Professor's Bookshelf."
• Do you remove author's notes or copyright notices without asking the author first?
  No.
• Do you ever archive fics without permission?
  No. They have too many fics to archive already!
• Are you prompt about removing fics at an author's request?
  Yes.
• What is your plagiarism policy...do you investigate or do you take a complainant at their word?
  They investigate as best they can.
• Do you update at least once a month?
  Update the site? It's always being updated.
• Do you make it possible for readers to leave feedback?
  Yes, there is a review function, and the author's emails are provided if the author wishes.
• Is your location stable, or do you move frequently?
  www.sugarquill.net It's always that.

:: Back to top ::
:: Back to the Archive Review ::

‡ Reader review ‡

• Is the site attractive?
  "The site was redone this past summer; it's no longer 'orange' (there's a link on the front page, so you can see what I'm talking about). It has a very attractive gold-and-burgundy color scheme, which works well for the box-and-bar layout."
  -Amaterasu
• Is the site easy to navigate? (can you get to all the main sections from every page, or do they rely on the 'back' button an awful lot?)
  "Easy as pie. In fact, a reader can get to the recent fic updates from the front page! The sidebar is always there to redirect you around the site. No back-bar needed."
  -Michelle Ravel
• How selective is the archive? (Are you likely to find a good story?)
  "Yes. Because of the beta-reading and the Professor's Bookshelp, you always expect good quality from SQ. It IS selective, however, by ship. See below."
  -Michelle Ravel
• Are they a specialty (ship or genre centric) or general (only ratings restrictions) archive?
  "The Sugarquill does not accept stories which counter the R/H pairing. This does not mean that one cannot find Snape adventure stories on the Quill, or other stories which have nothing to do with romance. There are plenty of non-romantic stories on the Quill. The rule is simply that the story cannot go AGAINST the R/H pairing, so one could not find an H/H story on the Sugarquill, for instance, or a Snape adventure story where Hermione and Seamus are married. For more info, please see the FAQ and SPEW sections of the Quill."
  -Michelle Ravel
• Is it easy to navigate within multi-chaptered stories?
  "Yes, there is a pull-down chapter menu in each story, in addition to a "next chapter" button (>>)."
  -Amaterasu
• Are there search engines? Are they easy to use?
  "There is a Search engine under "Search our stories!" It is possible to search under Story Title, Author, Summary, or keyword."
  -Michelle Ravel
• Are the indexes (author, title listings) clearly laid out?
  "Professor's Bookshelf ("Stories from our Professors as well as our Professors' favorite stories") and the Library ("Stories submitted to Madam Pince, our place for technical story-editing and gentle suggestions"). There is also an alphabetical listing of stories available for each."
  -Amaterasu
• Are stories appropriately labelled if they require warnings?
  "Normally, yes. Last night, I came across one story where there wasn't a warning (for language)."
  -Amaterasu
• How many pages do you have to search through to get to the first story?
  "Depends. There is a list of recently updated authors on the very first page (each author has their own page of story listings). Otherwise, go to 'Flourish & Blotts' to go through the authors/listings (see #7 above).
  To get to Lockhart's Office fics, go to the forums, and navigate from there."
  -Amaterasu
• Is it easy to leave feedback?
  "There is a form to submit a review at the end of each story/chapter."
  -Amaterasu

:: Back to top ::
:: Back to the Archive Review ::