Why do some authors write for years on the open site then suddenly switch to Premier Membership??
Why do some authors write for years on the open site then suddenly switch to Premier Membership??
Part of that is site policies. If an author has been inactive and not logged on to SOL for a given period, (I think it it 2 years) the site makes them Premier access only.
If you mean dotB, I believe him to be either departed or on a home where he has no access to the internet (a fate close to death for someone like him). His stories are presumably being uploaded from his own site which means someone was able to give permission for this (hopefully he himself).
I last saw a communication from him in September 2020, subsequent attempts by me and others to reach him have not been successful. He has my email address and knows I'm not "part of the problem", the problem being aggressive and malicious spamming.
I was as surprised as anyone when https://storiesonline.net/n/57366/beyond-the-mirror suddenly went premier only when the last two chapters were being posted, presumably technical reasons and only Lazeez could say what happened.
If this is not about dotB, who is it about?
Oh, and the last time I looked it was four years inactivity before authors went "premier only", although Lazeez did state years ago that he was planning to make it three years eventually.
Edit: I see that the story is now back to "normal", "Blame Charlie" is also "normal" but the other (older) stories are all premier only.
the last time I looked it was four years inactivity before authors went "premier only", although Lazeez did state years ago that he was planning to make it three years eventually.
I couldn't use the internet for ten years, not by choice, and once I got it back one of the first things I did was check to see if my IDs and stories were still around. When Lazeez was kind enough to reactivate my account, I was somewhat amazed to see that not only were they still there, but readers had been downloading them all during my time away. Since I couldn't check, I don't know if my stuff ever went into "premier only" status.
Judging by what happened to https://storiesonline.net/a/Moghal when he was away from the site for some considerable time,
- his "email" was deactivated (as it is now, he's either gone dark again or it is deliberate)
- all of his stories were premier-only, including the one he was posting (in May 2021).
I managed to get hold of him eventually, either via BeyondTheFarHorizon or via an email address I had before SOL introduced its own system. He fixed the premier-only part and I can't remember if he reactivated his email. Actually, maybe I contacted Lazeez, remembering such details 5 years on would be a bit much.
The point of that was that nothing happened automatically back then. Either he or Lazeez had to fix things.
I don't know when you resurfaced but I also don't know when "archiving" stories of inactive authors started. The Forum/Announcements probably says but I'm heading off now.
Oh, and the last time I looked it was four years inactivity before authors went "premier only", although Lazeez did state years ago that he was planning to make it three years eventually.
It's now 10 years (but that may change, we'll see).
Too many stories were going behind the paywall.
I was as surprised as anyone when https://storiesonline.net/n/57366/beyond-the-mirror suddenly went premier only when the last two chapters were being posted, presumably technical reasons and only Lazeez could say what happened.
Funnily enough, I came here to see what was up; glad to see I'm not the only one caught out on this story ! It's very annoying that they can head behind the paywall at (what appears to be) no notice :( Had there been any, I'd have switched into speed-reading mode !
@Lazeez - would it be possible to put some kind of notice flag on stories heading that way, assuming there isn't a need for them to immediately go behind the paywall ? I know the "Archived Stories" area gives notice - but this seems to be only some of the DotB stories, not all ?
(edit: typos)
@Lazeez - would it be possible to put some kind of notice flag on stories heading that way, assuming there isn't a need for them to immediately go behind the paywall ?
It doesn't happen enough to justify the work needed to do that.
thought that'd likely be the answer ... oh well. No point making unnecessary work !
Cheers :)
This is Major League weird, it went premier-only around the time the last two chapters were posted, then it went "normal", now it's premier-only again.
Given that dotB was around less than 10 years ago, that last flip of the switch should not have happened. btw, his last blog entry here was 9 years 10 months ago so he was definitely appearing on this site.
Looks like a bug to me.
Now the same thing has happened to https://storiesonline.net/n/61121/operation-georgia by https://storiesonline.net/a/Prince_von_Vlox and it's definitely new coding because it did not happen to https://storiesonline.net/n/56739/setosha-the-beating-heart when it finished posting around 7 weeks ago.
DotB's Beyond the Mirror went premium again, and it was last updated 5 days ago.
DotB's Beyond the Mirror went premium again, and it was last updated 5 days ago.
Perhaps it was from Gina Marie Wylie's site, while permission lasted, and not dotB's doing.
AJ
Perhaps it was from Gina Marie Wylie's site, while permission lasted, and not dotB's doing.
No, he used to post stories there but eventually came in for some politically motivated heavy trolling by someone he thought was GMW under another 'nym. I frequented the site at the time and he was probably correct. He reacted by removing all his stories from the site, something which really upset GMW.
"Beyond the Mirror" was written a few years later and - afaik - only ever posted to his own site, a site he created after leaving BtFH (I think). Some of the stories he'd removed from BtFH were eventually posted to his site (Huntsman's Omen for instance).
I found the author Tanstaafl searching the authors on the site. He has one short story (1,457 words) posted 11/7/2001 that is Premier only.
If that's the author (and I assume it is based on the name of the thread), what happened to his other stories?
If you don't know the acronym TANSTAFL, feed it into the search engine of your choice - it has apparently been in use since the 1930s. TANSTAAFL is also used, along with a couple of variants. I know it from Larry Niven Science Fiction books.
My guess is that the author of that name vanished more than 5 years ago so his (?) story/stories becoming premier only would not be a recent development.
- do you have knowledge which contradicts that?
- what makes you think (s)he had other stories?
- what makes you think (s)he had other stories?
The OP says: "Why do some authors write for years…"
I had no idea that was an acronym so I thought it was an author name. My bad.
The blog entry https://storiesonline.net/blogentry/66506 looks to be a clue - Megumi Kashuahara accidentally made a story premier-only.
Heinlein used it in his stories too. That's where I first encountered it.
Indeed, I remember reading Larry Niven acknowledging that he picked it up from Robert Heinlein, who is acknowledged as having popularized the phrase/acronym. I don't remember where - it could have been his website or the glue text in a collection sticking the short stories together. I encountered it first in Niven's work, and didn't read Heinlein until much later.
Indeed, I remember reading Larry Niven acknowledging that he picked it up from Robert Heinlein
That's a relief. I was once in a forum that worshipped Heinlein and every other post seemed to mention that initialism. I can't remember which book or books it was supposed to come from, even though I've probably read them.
AJ
I was once in a forum that worshipped Heinlein
Not the Church of the Latter Day Heinlein?
Or is it news:alt.fan.heinlein ? (mostly posts by one person after someone else stopped posting mid October 2025)
I don't think it was either of those (if they were both serious suggestions). I'm trying to remember the name. It may have been a newsgroup but I don't think it included 'Heinlein' in the title.
AJ
The Moon is a Harsh Mistress
I think that was the first time he wrote an AI (Mike) as a character in one of his novels too.
The Moon is a Harsh Mistress
Thank you. I know I've read it but I can't remember anything about it :-(
AJ
If you don't know the acronym TANSTAFL, feed it into the search engine of your choice
I didn't. So to save anyone else 20 seconds of their life Googling;
There Aint No Such Thing As A Free Leprechaun.
No need to thank me.
In some cases, especially when only a few of the author's stories become premier, it might be done to support the site.
SOL's time limit of no contact might be not time certain. Some authors seem not to posted a story or a blog for over ten years and still free. Not naming them in case they were missed. They might log in to the site that we don't see. Authors do have the option to add their stories to premier tier as all stories or single stories. Lubrican has a brunch of his stories as premier even if posting still.
Some authors seem not to posted a story or a blog for over ten years and still free.
I believe it's the number of years not logging in that triggers it.
I believe management uses its discretion to let some authors' work remain available to free readers in order to promote the site - I believe Jay Cantrell is one such author.
AJ