I'm not exactly sure if this is the right place to put this, but:

I have an idea! Not too many months ago, I was on a vacation trip where I found myself stuck with my laptop, but no access to the internet in order to read fanfiction. Since coming back from the trip, I have been gathering together my favorite fanfics and putting it together in a single document to save to my laptop in case this happens again.

I was wondering if fanfiction writers on here would be willing to help me start a "Collection Post" in which authors can post up files of their fanfics (completed works - although incomplete can also be posted) for fans to have and save upon their laptop. This could also help us (the writers) save our works in case something tragic happens, such as a computer crash or something of the like.

Please tell me your thoughts on the subject! And again, if this is posted in the wrong place, then I apologize!

If I am able to get enough people who want to do this, I will add another thread in a matter of days!

Thanks!
~Elenna~

Well, it could be a great idea indeed, and I myself found myself glad a few times that someone had saved up a document of a loss story, but problem is, many people can't be trusted.

Let's say there's a 50+ chapters, if you put it in one file, it's so easy for someone to just take it and "steal it" the whole job is just done for them.

But that's just my own personal opinion, since I've seen people take other's story so often.

Madison wrote:
Well, it could be a great idea indeed, and I myself found myself glad a few times that someone had saved up a document of a loss story, but problem is, many people can't be trusted.

Let's say there's a 50+ chapters, if you put it in one file, it's so easy for someone to just take it and "steal it" the whole job is just done for them.

But that's just my own personal opinion, since I've seen people take other's story so often.

True.

I considered that.

What I was thinking was not posting up the actual link to a file in the thread. I was thinking of it as more of a "request" thread where readers can request a story and then it can be up to the writer of the particular fanfic to pm them and send them the link.

I've been a victim of "theft" recently and it was a horrible experience. But if we keep this controlled, it shouldn't be too much of a problem.

Thank you so much for sharing your opinion! ^^

The answer for me would be a resounding no on this for many reasons.

First, I'm fairly anal about where my stuff ends up posted. I've yanked my stuff from all kinds of places over the years for various reasons and don't post on fairly new sites since they are the ones that tend to go down a lot, not succeeding. Once they go down, if the archive is still there, I have no way to yank anything, something that I don't like.

Second, since I've had so much plagiarized over the years, the thought of tossing them in a collection somewhere so that anyone can get their hands on them easily in a format that is simple to reupload elsewhere, without much supervision, gives me the shudders. I've had plenty of epic battles with webmasters about getting things removed and one that is ongoing at this point so I've had to deal with this nightmare before. It's not fun and I'm careful where I post for that very reason.

Third, there is the content of what I post. I've very wary of putting them anywhere that wouldn't have safeguards against kids getting a hold of them.

However, there is a way around this.

First of all, there are plenty of authors in fan fiction that have yahoo groups where they house their entire collection in a downloadable format. All you need do is ask about that to see if they have one.

Then there are fan fiction downloaders...

I have one that grabs the whole story and puts it in one file with all the chapters in the same document (if that's the way you want it set up). Most are very simple and easy to use as well as safe. The one i have takes all of maybe 30 seconds to set up and run and grabs the fic quickly, allowing you to save it in a multitude of formats even for e-book readers.

Those are alternatives to a giant, downloadable site.

I agree with Danyealle-sama, the answer would be/should be no.

If you want your favorite stories and what not there are places such as Fanfiction.net and on here to save your favorite authors and stories...just because you have no laptop access or computer access doesn't mean that authors should freely give away their work. Which in truth they would be...

The key is is that this is the internet, you can't trust someone just because they say they are trustworthy.

I have seen to many authors have their stories ripped off by people.

Miss Anna S wrote:
I agree with Danyealle-sama, the answer would be/should be no.

If you want your favorite stories and what not there are places such as Fanfiction.net and on here to save your favorite authors and stories...just because you have no laptop access or computer access doesn't mean that authors should freely give away their work. Which in truth they would be...

The key is is that this is the internet, you can't trust someone just because they say they are trustworthy.

I have seen to many authors have their stories ripped off by people.

Truth be told, once it's on the internet, it's out there for anyone to take. It's called copy and paste, and anyone can do it. What she's asking doesn't suddenly make it possible for plagiarizers to do their thing, and the only objection here is that it would just be easier for them to grab the story instead of having to go chapter by chapter and highlighting the text.

Once you post a story, you're trusting every anonymous reader not to take your work, because you are freely giving it away. I actually expected that the objection would be that it would deprive authors of hits and reviews as those who hadn't read the story might download the fic rather than read it online.

At any rate, Dany has a good idea about a fanfiction downloader. That is most likely your best option.