i'm shining like fireworks over your sad empty town

[chicafrom3]

Question of the day: I know several people on my flist have AO3 accounts, so tell me, do you think it'd be worth it for me to sign up to get one?

I have been posting fic exclusively to LJ for so long that it seems weird to be considering joining an archive of this sort.

[Poll #1728775]


In other news, there is no other news. Sorry.

Comments

[allfireburns.livejournal.com]

I really, really love AO3. It's kind of a pain and a half uploading all your fic to start out with if you have a lot of it (I... still have barely made a dent in my RENTfic), but the importer makes it... not as big a deal as it could be. And the archive itself is really, really shiny. :D

[chicafrom3.livejournal.com]

I am...not exactly the most prolific author around [/understatement] so I'm not too worried about that end of things. I take it the importer is easy to use?

I enjoy AO3 from a reader's perspective because of the tags (which are AWESOME \o/). I just sometimes wish there was more there. Which there won't be until more people sign up, I know, I know. ;)

[allfireburns.livejournal.com]

The importer is super easy to use - you plug in a URL, and it does the rest for you. If it's from LJ or DW, you usually have to clean up some weird HTML left behind by things like tags, but it's not difficult or confusing at all.

And yes, AO3 has... definitely become the first place I go looking for fic to read. There's just... yeah. Not enough. XD

[ascendant-angel.livejournal.com]

I aware this may be against the grain but I'm familiar with A03, but I still prefer LJ. I do see a few fic post though that say read it on AO3 here or LJ here, so you could do both.

[chicafrom3.livejournal.com]

If I do it, I'll definitely do both; I'm not moving from LJ any time soon. LJ is home!

That last sentence may be slightly sad, IDK.

[brandy-took.livejournal.com]

I joined AO3 because of Yuletide, and I keep meaning to archive the rest of my stuff there, and then failing to do so. I feel like fic gets more attention in archives, and is easier to find. I'm still getting notices on my Yuletide fics months after the fact, where, at LJ, within a week, there are no more comments. (Maybe this has something to do with the fic being part of an exchange, maybe I've rambled enough already.)

[chicafrom3.livejournal.com]

I do think there's a difference between LJ and archives -- the format and culture of LJ sort of encourages the idea that once something drops off the front page it's no longer relevant, while archives make it easier to find old fic (while possibly not realizing that it's old). If that makes sense.

[franzeska]

*wanders by from blogsearching*

I'm a firm believer in setting up accounts on everything ever, especially if it has a waitlist. Right now, the AO3 queue is probably somewhere in the 24-72 hour range, but during times like yuletide or major panics about FFN or LJ, it's been known to rise to a couple of weeks. And unlike DW, AO3 hasn't handed out very many invite codes. I think I've gotten around 3, and I had an account during closed beta. Better to have an account you don't really use than to suddenly want one and have to wait.

I got an LJ invite from a RL friend and didn't use my account for ages. Then, suddenly, I noticed how much fandom activity there was and *poof* I was using it all the time, and I was glad I didn't have to go looking for someone with codes. (At the time, fandom people I knew were mostly still on lists.)

It's not like it will hurt AO3 for people to have inactive accounts. :) I say, sign up, and if you don't end up liking it much, c'est la vie. (Also, there are some reader features like signed kudos instead of "X # of guests left kudos" that might be worth having if you ever do any reading there.)