Frequently Asked Questions

I really don't think I have enough readers that this would even qualify as a "frequent" questions page, but there really is nothing else to call it. And so here I seek to inform you with general information about this site - its past, present, and future.

How come the archive has been dormant for so long?!
    A myriad of reasons. I was too busy, I lost interest in the fandom and fan fiction, I lost interest in the show, it became complicated to update... I realized the site needed a redesign, and I even started one, but it was too massive a project to start while I was in college (from which I recently graduated), so I just left it as it was.

Why redesign it now? Why keep it up?
   Mine was the first major archive out there, and I'm proud of that. I know it's not any more, and I don't care, but I'd like to keep what I have intact. There are a lot of great stories here by a lot of long-ago-moved-on authors, and as a remembrance of "the good ole days", I like to think of this as kind of a vault. I needed to move servers anyway, and took that opportunity to give it a much-needed face lift. It was indeed a big project, bigger than I expected.

Are you going to update the site now? Will you reopen in the future?
   Perhaps. I would definitely like to keep the Links section updated. The archive is noweasier to update, but I don't really want to change "the vault" very much. See below for more. I may reopen it if I find I enjoy the show so much I feel the urge to read fics. That's not very likely, but I'll keep it open as a possibility.

Will you add my new story, set after Season 3?
   Most likely no, especially not for new authors, perhaps for present authors. Send me an email with 1) Title, author, number of chapters and 2) category, summary, and 3) first chapter (pasted into body of plan-text email, no attachments) and I'll take a look anyway.

Will you add my new story, set during/before Season 3?
   If you are a new author, probably not. If you are a present author, more likely. Send me an email with the three things listed above.

I'm a present author with an unfinished story or series, but I've worked on it. Will you update it?
   Yes, I think I will, though I would prefer to keep updates to stories about actual West Wing characters rather than new characters. It's never fun to have unfinished work floating around on the web, so I will update those that were "to be continued." However, if you have a fic that goes on for 10 more chapters or a series that goes on for 5 more stories, I'd rather just provide a link at the end that says "For more, click here" and link to another site instead.

I sent you my story / beta reader info years ago! You haven't put it up!
   Yeah, I didn't do anything of value with those emails. If you really want your beta reader listing up, send it again. If you really want your story up, read above, let me know when you first emailed me about it, and I'll consider it.

I used to be listed on your archive, but it disappeared!
   Sorry; that''s an honest mistake. Email me with as much information as you can and I'll work at it.

You used to have Jo March & Ryo Sen's stories. Where did they go?
   Jo and Ryo have their own very thorough and very clean website for all their fan fictions, I felt silly duplicating their work here. You can read them at Fanfic With Footnotes.

Can you please take down my story / beta reader info?
   Your beta reader info, absolutely. Please reconsider removing your stories, though. I'd really like to keep them up on the website for legacy's sake. Believe it or not, but the site still gets a few hits, so people are reading the old fics, and the more I have, the merrier. But if you insist, sure; send me an email.

Can I link your website? Can you link to my website?
   You can freely link to my main page, sure. Do not link to individual stories without permission. I would like to keep my site up to date with links, so go ahead and send me your site link and I'll try and add it. Send an email to westwingfanfic<@>jen-m.com.

The link to <insert story title/chapter/verse/site here> is broken.
   Yes, there are bound to be a lot of broken links. If it is on the "Alpha Title Listing" page, you can tell me about it by providing the category of the fic and a link to its first chapter, and I'll see if I get to it. If it's elsewhere, send me the author, title, and page where the broken link exists and what is is supposed to link to. Your help is essential to me fixing these broken links!

**A Note About Formatting**

I used to take great care in formatting stories consistently, but now, I don't have the time or inclination. Your story will be formatted exactly how you send it! (If you have multiple chapters, I will link them together, not dump them in one file.) If you send it in a plain text document, I will just copy and paste the text. If it's in a Word document with little emphasis, I'll just copy and paste the text. If it's in Word with lots of special formatting, I will use Word's "Save as HTML" feature. However, I don't guarantee any of those will look to your liking. I recommend, if formatting is particularly important, that you fix the HTML yourself. If you send HTML files, which you are absolutely encoraged to do, you must put it/them (yes, even one file!) into a zip file. Both Windows and Macintosh have easy ways of zipping files; right click on your file or selected collection of files to see the options.

Please feel free to email me if you have any other questions or requests! westwingfanfic<@>jen-m.com