Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)
From Fan History Services
[edit] General questions
[edit] Are you trying to profit off fandom? Are you going to get the rest of fandom in trouble trying to profit off fandom?
Fan History is trying to make enough money to fund projects we wish to do work on, including doing a better job at documenting the history, documenting trends in entertainment, providing statistical data about fandom to the public, improving our fandom directory, etc. This means that we need to be able to pay developers, pay for our hosting, and compensate people for their time. To meet some of these goals, it also means being able to increase our visibility. To do this, we need to be able to reserve space at conventions, pay to publish some materials and buy advertising. It would be awesome to make a big profit but that isn't our end goal.
Our actions are not going to cause trouble for anyone in trouble in terms of bringing the powers that be down on fandom. Fan History's admins are very aware of the history of fandom, the relationship between fans and creators, the history of trying to make money inside of fandom, how other businesses operating in this type of space behave and have talked to a number of professionals in social media, in fandom and in entertainment related business before launching this service. If we thought there was a reasonable risk in causing problems for the whole of fandom by doing this, we would not be doing it.
[edit] Aren’t you charging too much for these services?
The price points that Fan History chose were done after contacting several people who do contract work for creating content on-line, and looking at similar services which offer paid article placement. Fan History tried to make our price point as low as we could and below those the price points of others. We did this because we understand that this type of service is not the norm in fandom, where people aren’t expected to pay for a service like this. We also did it because we believe that those who are doing paid work for Fan History should be fairly compensated.
[edit] Can I pay for an article about some one other than myself?
Yes, you can. There are special rules regarding this. Please see the Person articles section of this FAQ for additional details regarding this article type.
[edit] Doesn’t charging for articles mean that Fan History is complicit in engaging in historical revisionism?
No, it does not mean that. Fan History does not allow paid articles to be locked and people who hire us to write them are aware of that specifically to prevent possible historical revisionism. If a person does something that should be documented, then it can still be integrated in to that article by other contributors. The only thing that people need to remember is that new edits to inform people of things a person a paid article is about still need to comply with Fan History's privacy rules and bias guidelines. If people feel that historical revisionism is going on despite efforts to prevent them, there are a couple of steps that they can take: They can comment on the talk page. They can edit the article themselves. They can e-mail a Fan History admin, bringing the article to our attention so we can attempt to take appropriate action such as putting a neutral point of view disclaimer on top of the article.
[edit] How does Fan History optimize articles for search engines with the paid services?
There are two main ways to optimize articles: Optimizing the article's back end and link building. Fan History optimizes articles for search engines through link building.
[edit] What are the benefits of a monitored article?
You can monitor an article yourself by registering on Fan History, verifying your e-mail address and watching a page. If you pay us to monitor the article about you, we’ll send you an e-mail about the changes that were made with advice on how to handle it. If the edit is in violation of the rules or violates your privacy, we’ll delete the content immediately from the history so that people can’t use that to find the info. If you didn’t pay for that, you’d have to spot the change on your own and then ask for it to be removed if we didn’t catch it in the course of our normal patrolling.
[edit] What if I want a paid article service you're not offering?
If you want an article not covered by our existing categories, please contact us at services@fanhistory.com with what you are looking for and we will provide you with a quote.
[edit] Who will write my paid article and will they be paid?
Fan History has a few people who have volunteered to write paid articles. These individuals generally are professional authors. They have been published but don't earn enough from their writing to quit their day jobs. Some are are involved professionally with web related services. All Fan History's paid article writers are members of fandom and have been for a few years. These individuals are paid a to write the article about you as a means of quality control and to insure the timeliness of the article being completed.
[edit] Why are you charging to monitor articles?
Fan History has limited staff. Because of that, we have to place a priority on certain activities. By charging to monitor, we’ll prioritize in your direction in order to help us compensate our staff whom have to take time away from other activities to work on the site. We’re also charging for this service so that we can continue to expand.
[edit] Why is Fan History offering these services?
Fan History wants to continue to expand and to improve. We want to change our look, improve our content, continue to add analytic information, reward contributors, cover our hosting costs, be able to be represented at convention, pay our staff and more. In order to do that, we need to have a funding source as these goals require money.
[edit] Basic person articles
[edit] Did you create an article about me with the hope I’d pay you to improve it?
No, we don’t create articles with that purpose in mind. We create articles in our effort to document the history of fandom and to create a directory of fans and things of interests to fans. We don’t expect most fans to use this service so we certainly can’t bank on you coming to Fan History and wanting a paid article about yourself.
[edit] Why do I need to pay for this service? Can’t I do the same thing on my own?
You don’t need this service, and yes, you could do what we’re doing on your own. Anyone can edit Fan History so long as they follow the rules. You may want this service if you aren’t familiar with wikis and but want the benefit of having a well-written article that promotes your presence in fandom. You may want this service if you’re not certain about how to go about optimizing your article and on-line presence to have the most desirable search results appear first on Google. You may want this service if you don’t want to have to worry about checking Fan History regularly to see if you’ve been mentioned in an unfavorable way. You may want this service because Fan History administrators and staff are the best at what we do on the site; we can best help you have a great presence on Fan History.
[edit] With the plus service, can you promise that bad content about me will be moved off the front page of Google and Yahoo!Search?
No, Fan History cannot promise that. Search engine optimization, which our plus service is, has very few guarantees. While it might be possible for that to theoretically happen, it is highly unlikely.
[edit] Person articles
[edit] Can I get an article about myself that some one else paid for deleted?
Yes, if there is a paid article about you by some one else, it can still be deleted provided that you follow the article deletion guidelines.
[edit] How will you prevent people from paying for articles just for the sake of grudge wank?
Fan History prevents this by charging more to write these articles. The extra cost is intended to dissuade people from buying articles just to attack a person and to compensate the writer more for the extra time and effort going into writing the article to make sure it is free of bias issues and doesn't violate our privacy policy. In addition to the extra cost, all paid articles will still have to be compliant with our bias guidelines and our privacy policy. Fan History also reserves the right to refuse to accept work for certain paid articles if we the staff has concerns about why the article was requested. If that becomes the case at any time before the completion of the article, Fan History will refund any payments submitted in regards to that article.
None of these issues prevent some one from writing an article on their own for the sake of grudge wanking.
[edit] Will my payment be refunded if the person I bought an article about submits a properly completed Article Deletion Request?
No, your payment will not be refunded. That is a risk that you are taking when you buy this particular article type.
[edit] Will you eventually charge for deleting articles about people?
Fan History will never charge for deleting articles. We will honor our deletion policy and so long as people follow the rules regarding deletion requests, we’ll delete all properly submitted articles about people.
[edit] Dealer articles
[edit] Can I list prices for what I am selling on my article?
Yes, you can. If you change the prices after the article has been created, you will need to manually edit the article to reflect that. We won't change them for you at a later date. We will only update regarding what conventions you will be attending.
[edit] Can I link to individual items I am selling on my article?
Yes, you can. If you change the links after the article has been created, you will need to manually edit the article to reflect that. We won't change them for you at a later date. We will only update regarding what conventions you will be attending.
[edit] Can people write negative things about my business in the dealer article?
Yes, people can do that as Fan History is a wiki. If they do that, the edits need to be in compliance with Fan History's bias guidelines. Any negative edits that aren't compliant and aren't properly cited may be flagged as being biased and uncited. Depending on the nature of the edit, the content may also be removed. The timeliness of these fixes depends on our staff who patrol and if you opted for a plus article or not.
[edit] Can pictures be included in the article?
If you have pictures related to your business that you want included in the article, they can be included. You just need to e-mail the pictures to us, or provide us with URLs for pictures which we have permission to host on our server. You retain the copyright to any pictures you submit. If at any time, you want them to be removed from our server, we will happily do so. Pictures can be of your merchandise, of yourself, related to conventions you've attended, graphs and charts related to your business, etc.
[edit] How will you know what conventions I am appearing at to update my article?
Some one will be assigned to update your article. You will be given their contact information. You will need to e-mail that person to update them about any conventions you will be appearing at. They will then edit the article to reflect that.
[edit] What if an article about the convention I will be at doesn't exist?
If no article exists, then an article about the convention will be created.
[edit] Will you include positive reviews of my business?
If you notify us of them when you contract us for the article, we will happy link to them. Depending on the nature of the article, we may also integrate quotes from those positive reviews into the article.
[edit] Fandom article
[edit] Can I request specific people to be involved with writing the history of the fandom? Does the person need to come from inside Fan History and its current staff?
Yes, you can. If you have some one in mind that you would like to be involved with writing the article, we will be happy to ask them. If they accept is another matter. Some people may not have the time.
If there is an individual who is not affiliated with Fan History, you can request that they be involved in writing the article. Fan History will contact them, explain the situation and give details regarding how much they would be paid for their involvement in writing their fandom's history. If they want to be involved, it is totally up to them.
[edit] Can multiple people pay for an article?
Because of the cost of a fandom article and category are so expensive, we realize that it prices out the service for most people who do not want to edit the articles or do the research. Given that, if multiple people want to go in together and pay for an article, we are willing to accept payments from multiple parties so long as the total cost is covered. If you are wanting to do pay for an article that way, we encourage you to organize that yourself.
[edit] How long will it take to write the article?
It depends. An article about a small, Internet based fandom may take a week. An article about a larger fandom that is based both on-line and off may take up to two months.
[edit] How many people will be involved in the writing of the fandom article?
In order to prevent bias and a single view point, to insure multiple perspective, at least two people involved in writing the article. The total amount may be more. As Fan History attempts to monitor changes to the wiki, other non-paid administrators may be involved in order to insure that the article is properly categorized and formatted, that it is unbiased, that no privacy guidelines are violated, etc. Because Fan History is a wiki and anyone can edit, as paid article writers are writing the article, other people may also contribute.
[edit] Is a fandom article really constrained to one article?
No, if it is warranted, an article about a fandom may be spread across several articles. For example, if there is a large fan fiction community, information about the fan fiction may be moved to a subarticle. If LiveJournal creation dates take up too much space on an article, that timeline may be moved to its own article. The nature of a fandom will dictate how many subarticles will be written as part of the main fandom article.
[edit] Where would I leave feedback regarding the progress of the article/category?
Ideally, you would leave feedback on the talk page for the article. This leaves a public record for all to see and can help in the case of disputes regarding the completion of the service. You may also e-mail the authors involved in writing your article. When doing that, we highly suggest you also send those e-mails cc of services@fanhistory.com so we have an official record in case of potential disputes.
[edit] Why are you charging so much for a fandom article?
Unlike people and convention articles where we are provided most of the information that will be included in the article, we have to do a lot of research for the article. This means a larger time commitment. We also aren't doing a one shot with one set of revisions for the article. Fandom articles can have multiple revisions and multiple instances where your feedback will be integrated into the article.
[edit] Why are you charging so much for a fandom category?
In addition to doing the additional work for a fandom article, we also will be creating between 10 and 250 articles related to your fandoms. Sub-articles will not be fully comprehensive. Many will involve creating the framework for outling the fandom's history. This includes creating articles about fanzines, LiveJournal communities, fansites, conventions, members of the fandom, etc. This takes a lot of time, a fair amount of planning and additional research.
