World of Slash Submission Guidelines
- Slash (male/male) pairings only.
- Stories must be submitted to the proper category. If there is an appropriate sub-category, please don't add your story to the main category.
- Titles and summaries must be appropriate for all ages. No exceptions.
- Authors who are not 'auto-validated' (if your stories are not posted right away, you aren't) may only submit TWO (2) chapters or stories at a time. As soon as those two are validated, you may submit a maximum of two more. If more than two chapters/stories are submitted, they will be deleted and the author will be asked to submit two at a time. The validation process is time consuming. Please respect those volunteers who are doing the job. Make sure you post the final version and not a pre-beta or draft version.
- Authors who are 'auto-validated' are still required to make any corrections that the administrators of this site request.
- "Please read", "Untitled", etc. are not acceptable titles or summaries.
- Every story must have the correct rating. If the rating changes during the course of the story, it should be adjusted accordingly and the readers warned.
- Each story must also have the correct and relevant warnings/genres listed. If your story contains violence, rape, incest, or dark themes, please include those warnings. Deception will not be tolerated and it is the author's responsibility to make sure that warnings are kept up to date as the story progresses. The site administrators also reserve the right to add any warnings and/or genres they feel are necessary.
- A number of authors have requested that fans refrain from writing fan fiction based on their work. Therefore submissions will not be accepted based on the works of P.N. Elrod, Raymond Feist, Terry Goodkind, Laurell K. Hamilton, Robin McKinley, Irene Radford, Anne Rice, and Nora Roberts/J.D. Robb.
- Correct grammar and spelling are expected of all stories submitted to this site. The site administrators are not grammar Nazis. However, the site administrators reserve the right to request corrections in submissions with a multitude of grammar and/or spelling errors. If such a request is ignored, the story will be deleted.
- All authors must keep the email account provided in their profile valid. If an administrator emails an author and the email is returned, we will post a request that you contact us in the news section on the front page of the site. If you haven't done so within six weeks, you run the risk of having both your story/stories removed and your account deleted.
- All authors are encouraged to obtain the assistance of another party to read and correct any errors before submission. The administrators of this site are not an editing service, so please do not treat them as such.
- Stories with multiple chapters should be archived as such and never as separate stories. Upload the first chapter of your story, then go to Manage Stories in your account to add additional chapters. If you have trouble with this, please contact the site administrator or ask a friend to help you.
- All submissions dealing with real life people (actors, musicians, etc) must contain a disclaimer. If a suitable disclaimer is not included, the site administrators reserve the right to add a disclaimer. Repeat offenders might be subject to further action up to and including removal of stories and account.
Sample Disclaimer: This story is fictional and is not meant to reflect upon or imply anything about the celebrity characters featured herein. - All submissions dealing with books, television programs, or movies must have the proper disclaimers. Repeat offenders might be subject to further action up to and including removal of stories and account.
Sample Disclaimer: All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc, are the property of their respective owners. The original characters and plot are the property of the author. No money is being made from this work. No copyright infringement is intended. - All stories must be written in English. If English is not your native language, please obtain the services of an editor to help you. Characters in a story can speak in a language other than English as long as an English translation is given.
- In order to post a story rated Adult 18+, you must be of legal age in the country you live in. That means that if you live in America, you must be at least 18 years old in order to post stories rated Adult 18+.
Please note that World of Slash also accepts pre-slash stories, as long as the author definitely plans on doing a slash sequel. Our only request is that if a pre-slash story contains het (M/F) or femslash (F/F) content, that it be mild. Implied or fade to black would be preferred, but mild and non-graphic het/femslash content is acceptable. The administrators reserve the right to reject any submission that they feel contains het and/or femslash that is too graphic to be posted on the site.
Note: Anne McCaffrey now allows fan fiction. However, you must be able to follow her rules in order to post it here. Please see the following Url.
Things we won't accept:
- Femslash (Female/Female Slash) - It may be in the background, a few kisses, etc. However, please no on camera sex. This may change if we get someone on staff that would be willing to read/edit any submissions, but for the moment, it is not allowed.
- Drabbles (100 words exactly) - We do not accept them at Word of Slash. In fact, each chapter of your story must be at least 750 words (not to exceed 48,000 words) to be accepted.
- Bestiality (Sex between a human and an animal, a dog for example) - This will never be accepted at this archive, so please don't submit any such stories. If you do, your account will be terminated and you will no longer be allowed to post on the site.
- Chanslash (Adult/child sex) - We define a child as anyone under the age of 12. Such stories will not be accepted. The age-related guidelines are as follows:
When the characters involved are the SAME age:
- Age 12 or younger: Not allowed. Period. No exceptions.
- Ages 13-15: Basic experimentation, touching, and kissing is allowed. No graphic descriptions of sexual activities at this age. No exceptions.
- Age 16+: No restrictions.
When the characters involved are DIFFERENT ages:
- Age 12 or younger: Not allowed. Period. No exceptions.
- Ages 13-14: Basic experimentation, touching, and kissing is allowed. No graphic descriptions of sexual activities at these ages. No exceptions.
- Ages 14-17: As long as both characters are within this age range, basic experimentation, touching, and kissing is allowed. No graphic descriptions of sexual activities please. Exceptions may be made in the sole discretion of the administrative staff.
- Age 15-17 with older: Provided that both characters in the couple are within 5 years of age with one another and got together before either of them turned 18, you may continue to follow the rules as stated in Rule #3 above.
- Age 16-17 with older: Provided that the older character is within 5 years of age with the underage character, and there’s no graphic sexual contact, the relationship can be romantic, including kissing, hugging, touching and basic experimentation. Anything more graphic should take place off-screen. This rule may seem identical to Rule #4 above, but this rule comes into effect if the relationship did not pre-exist the older character's 18th birthday.
- Age 18+ No restrictions.
Examples of Graphic Content: Blow jobs or anal penetration.
The Ratings Explained
1. All Ages - Stories with this rating are suitable for all ages. There should be no violence, no bad language, and no sexual content of any kind.
2. Teens 13+ - Stories with this rating may be inappropriate for people under the age of 13. Stories may contain mild language, mild violence, and implied sexual content.
3. Mature 16+ - Stories with this rating may be inappropriate for people under the age of 16. Stories may contain bad language, some violence and implied or mild sexual content.
4. Adult 18+ - Stories with the rating are inappropriate for people under the age of 18. Stories may contain foul language, violence and graphic sexual content.
Please note that the descriptions of the ratings are not meant as a definitive example of the content of any given story. A story can be rated Adult 18+, for example, and have no foul language, violence, or sex in it at all. Why not rate it All Ages then, instead of Adult 18+? Well, there's an obvious difference between writing for kids and writing for adults, and as the All Ages rating includes kids, it's possible that a story, while not containing foul language, violence or sex, still has phrasing and vocabulary that a young kid would most likely not understand. So, don't assume that you're about to read a story chock full of foul language, violence, and sex just because the story is rated Adult 18+. It could be rated that simply because the vocabulary in the story is beyond what a 6-year-old is likely to know compared to an 18-year-old.
Q: Why don't you use the more commonly known movie ratings on WoS?
A: Because we've heard of other sites getting slapped with lawsuits from the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) for using their ratings. So, we came up with our own rating system. However, if the MPAA ratings are a better guide for you as to which rating you should choose, this is how we view our ratings in comparison.
All Ages - Equivalent of a G rating.
Teens 13+ - Equivalent of a PG-13 rating.
Mature 16+ - Equivalent of an R rating.
Adult 18+ - Equivalent of an NC-17 rating.
A Few Final Remarks:
When submitting your story, you will see a list of characters, ratings, etc. If your story has a warning or something that is no listed in any of the boxes, please contact Jayson.
The site administrators reserve the right to amend and add to these guidelines as necessary. Any comments or inquires, please contact Jayson.
Failure to comply with these guidelines will result in removal of story and possibly (depending on the extent of the crime and repeated offenses) deletion of your account.
If you feel that your story can meet the above guidelines, please submit your story.
