Focus: The Sentinel Fanfiction Review

Recommendation Website
Name:	Focus: The Sentinel Fanfiction Review
Reccer(s):	Maeg
Dates:	July 1999-?
Focus:
Fandom:	The Sentinel
URL:	Focus: The Sentinel Fanfiction Review (offline, archived)
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Focus: The Sentinel Fanfiction Review was a fansite created by Maeg and had it's focus on slash fic, but also welcomed gen.

The site was very short-lived, and there was only a handful of reviews: Sentry Post #5, The Nature Series, All My Roads, and Love's Austere and Lonely Offices. The reviewers were Marmoset, Angie T, Cindy R, KS Langley, and Maeg.

Site Announcement

"Focus: The Sentinel Fanfiction Review"

http://www.mcs.net/~chaomath/Focus

I have long thought of doing a site like this -- ever since the fanfic began piling up in my mailbox. We need a place to find inspiration, a place to celebrate, a place to stimulate and elevate our thinking. Sentineldom is a rich and complex place, and it is my hope that this site will encourage discussion and participation among Senners as well as help people find senfic that they will appreciate.

Despite the currently limited content, I invite you all to come visit and send me your feedback. It would be really great if this could evolve into a rich resource, but this can only happen if people contribute.

I'm looking for anyone, whether you want to become a regular reviewer or only submit a single piece. I'd like someone to review genfic, since I've never read any -- but I'm desperate for anything!

So if you've ever written a detailed LOC or recommended a piece of fanfic, please consider submitting a review. (Procedures, etc. are outlined in the charter. And you can always ask me.)

[This message has been posted to SENAD, The Raft, Sense, and alt.tv.sentinel. Please post it where you think it will be appreciated. Thank you.]

Maeg

About

From the site's owner:

What Focus is.

This site is a place to find and post reviews of fan-written fiction based on the television show The Sentinel (senfic). It covers work currently in publication, be it archived, on a website, or in a zine. Mailing-list or usenet-only fiction is not covered because there is no reliable way to retrieve it.

The intention is to provide a weekly overview of senfic, though the rate of publication will depend upon the reviewers. It is mostly stuff we like, but not exclusively.

One hope is to bring people back into the fold who stopped reading fanfic because they felt overwhelmed by the quantity.

Another goal is to provide a starting point for people new to the concept of fanfic and new to The Sentinel.

What Focus is not.

This site cannot review every piece of published fanfic; the quantity is too large. It also cannot easily return to previously published pieces, though doubtless some older pieces will eventually get written up.

We are not out to grind our own axes, though we have definite literary tastes and this site can’t help but reflect them.

The point is not to create a huge archive of reviews; that is beyond the scope of my current capabilities. In the future this might be possible (I will be saving the reviews) but for now it will be a lean, mean operation.

To some extent we’re cherry-picking stories that stand out from the rest—which isn’t to suggest that we universally love everything we review. This is not a feel-good, self-congratulatory venture; we pull no punches. But we also aren’t interested in wasting our (and your) time.

Who Focus is.

I (Maeg) started this site in July 1999 by asking for volunteers on SENAD. I got two, Heather and Angie T. See contact & bios and news.

I’m hosting the site. It is my responsibility. I own it. I own the way it is organized, the concepts that distinguish it from other sites, the artwork, the design. The authors of the reviews own their words, but as I am responsible for making it possible for you to view them, blame me for what they write.

How it works.

Anyone who wants to write a review and submit a bio may be considered for Focus.

This is an edited site, not a bulletin board, so your reviews will be edited by me (and possibly others). We are not heavy editors, preferring to focus on clarity and writing that has a point—we don’t want to challenge your personal voice (and I don’t have the time). But we want this to be a quality site; a poor review is a waste. Further details are given in Notes on writing reviews.

I won’t publish anything that will open myself up to possible legal action (libel, slander, cease-and-desist, etc.), contains extremely destructive ad hominem remarks, or would create great difficultly between me and my ISP (e.g., a 27-page review). I reserve the right to publish whatever I feel is consistent with the mission of the site.

No one has time to help you do tedious editing; make sure your grammar is correct and your spelling accurate. If that means you have to send it to a few friends beforehand, please do so. Bios are mandatory but may be as short as a single sentence if it conveys something of your personality.

We do have regular reviewers, people who agree to consistently submit reviews. They are the core of this site and we always need more.

Finally, at the risk of stating the obvious, authors may not “review” their own pieces. That isn’t review; that’s promotion.

Considerations for authors.

If an author chooses to publish their work (e.g., in the archive, on a public website, in a zine), we consider it fair game for review. We will not ask permission. Nor will we remove a review at the request of an author if the piece is still being published.

Authors who wish to write a rebuttal of a review of their work, or have serious comments (beyond a mere “thanks,” for example) may do so on Focus. Note: a rebuttal is not subject to editing. I will make available their words without alteration. Unless, of course, doing so would open myself up to possible legal action (libel, slander, cease-and-desist, etc.), would create great difficultly between me and my ISP (e.g., a 42-page rebuttal), or would seriously damage the open spirit and free exchange of ideas that is the best of Sentineldom.

Readers who wish to write a rebuttal may do so in the form of their own review. Such reviews are subject to the same policies as the original review. I will not be posting tons of rants and raves; this is not a discussion forum. That belongs on alt.tv.sentinel or private mailing lists.

Focus needs you.

We need your feedback. Let us know if you like the site, why you visited, if you found what you were looking for, etc. If you’ve got suggestions for pieces to review, please tell us. We can’t promise to review requests, but we’re always looking for pointers. Better yet, write your own review.

If you are considering writing a review, please check out Notes on writing reviews.

We’re slashers, so the site currently is slash-heavy. We’d like to remedy this, but need your help. If you’ve got favorite gen stories, you need to fire up the word-processor and write a review!

Likewise with zines; none of us read them regularly but we’d love to have reviews.

Also, we’re still working on the structure of the site. If you’ve got suggestions for organization, or would like to see certain features, please drop me (Maeg at [email protected]) a line.