psa: don’t mention commissions/patreon on AO3

transformativeworks:

softpunkbucky:

sinningsleepingandshitposting:

whalehuntingboyfriends:

whalehuntingboyfriends:

Hi guys! So I know we all don’t actually read the terms and conditions of things and just hit agree assuming there’s nothing important in there (I do it too oops) but if you take writing commissions or anything involving money, then there’s actually something in the AO3 terms and conditions to be aware of.

Linking to a personal website or blog/social network where you are taking donations, posting commissions or mentioning published works is permitted, but advertising it directly on the Archive is not, nor is using language which one might interpret as requesting financial contributions. For example, you can say something to the effect of “check out my Tumblr if you want to know more about me and my writing” and include the link to the site, but you cannot specifically state anything about donations, commissions or sales on the Archive.

Today someone reported one of my fics as violating this condition - presumably because I’d mentioned my patreon in the author’s note (I wasn’t actively requesting donations either… I’d literally just mentioned that it existed, and that the fic in question was written as a thank-you for hitting one of my goals).

I’ve written to AO3 to check whether just saying ‘thank you to those who support me on patreon’ is fine and I’ll let you guys know when they get back to me, but if it’s still going too far in terms of being a ‘commercial promotion’ then I’ll just avoid mentioning this in the future! :’)

As I said, someone did actually report my fic for this - so there are people out there who are noticing/reporting these situations. Please be aware of this if you take fic commissions, or use patreon or ko-fi, because your account could end up suspended, which of course no one wants!

<3 <3

UPDATE: AO3 got back to me - you’re not allowed to mention or link to patreon at all, regardless of how it’s phrased. Not sure if it’s the same for ko-fi but it might be better to be safe than sorry!

<3 @kahnah23 relevant to you and possibly some others~

That’s a fucking bullshit rule, I’m sorry. They shouldn’t deny you the opportunity to advertise your own work.

archive of our own is run by the organization for transformative works. ao3 and the other services that otw offers - including legal services for fan creators who get in legal trouble - are nonprofit organizations.

this isn’t just a self-determined descriptor; that’s a legal definition that requires adherence to specific rules and laws regarding income, profit, and donations.

this isn’t a “bullshit rule” just meant to prevent creators from advertising. in op’s post, the contact from ao3 offers a roundabout way to advertise. this rule ensures that ao3 and the organization for transformative works to stay a non-profit organization - this “bullshit rule” is essentially a way so that ao3 and the other services that the organization for transformative works can stay online.

Hey, folks! A bit of clarification on this point. Courtesy of the lovely people from our Legal and Abuse committees, here’s how things are:

What the TOS FAQ says is: “We want the Archive to remain a non-commercial space. That means that it isn’t the right place for offering merchandise, even fan-related merchandise. Linking to your personal page (not, for example, an Amazon author page) is fine, even if the personal page includes some items for sale, but the Archive is not advertising space.”

We made this rule to keep the Archive focused on its original mission of protecting noncommercial transformative works, and to avoid confusion about the relationship between the Archive and individual creators. Donations to individual creators are not donations to the Archive, so they don’t affect our status as a nonprofit as such, but we still need a rule that enables our small, hard-working abuse team to enforce an anti-commercialization rule as fairly as possible.

It is acceptable to mention something like “This work was commissioned by Mary Sue,” but creators should not link directly to their fundraising pages or solicit donations on the Archive. We do not want to suspend accounts over this, and creators are given notice if there’s a problem. We presume good faith, and if you think Abuse has made a mistake about your work, you can appeal any decision requiring the removal of a link.

finished writing my Destiel Harry Potter!verse fic tonight

it started as a 2k oneshot on October 9th, to go with an illustration I did to pass the time - and as of November 3rd, it’s 101,717 goddamn words long.

(how does this happen?? HOW DOES THIS HAPPEN??? HOW DO I LOSE CONTROL IN SUCH A BIG WAY? NOBODY HAS THIS PROBLEM EXCEPT ME. LITERALLY NOBODY STARTS WRITING A 2K FIC AND ENDS UP WITH 100K IN THREE WEEKS EXCEPT ME)

aside from a few days of tumblr blogging and a couple of days when I left the house (!!!), this has taken up 100% of my waking hours for the last 3.5 weeks, and I think I’m on the verge of crying because OH GOD I DON’T WANNA LEAVE THIS WORLD BEHIND

I still have a handful of scenes to add tomorrow, and editing to do, and illustrations to make, and after all that I gotta let my betas take a look at it, and I have a DCBB to post very soon (November 27th) so this SPN/HP fic probably won’t be posted until, like……..maybe late November, mid-December???

but other than that, it’s done, and I’m REALLY UPSET ABOUT THIS

I’M PROUD

BUT I’M ALSO SAD

it’s called How to Charm the Wizard of Your Dreams and it’s teacher!Team Free Will + Charlie, working at a wizarding school in Arizona, with Dean/Cas, and themes of autism, gender, sexuality and coming out - and also teaching magic. because it’s a wizarding school.

the whole thing is awesome and fun and cute, imo. you’ll probably enjoy it. ♥

_{also, as a side note, I’m considering maybe signing up to something like patreon because I have zero money and zero ways to get money because I’m sick and weak and unemployable?? please tell me your thoughts on this, the whole idea of this gives me anxiety so idk}