Before posting, read this!
How to Submit Stories
Submissions must be submitted via the Fan Fiction Submission Form. MAILED OR UPLOADED STORIES WILL BE DISCARDED.
Instructions on how to use the form are prominently displayed on the form itself; submitters are strongly recommended to read them.
Length Requirements
A Fan Fiction submission, unless it is poetry or a novelty item, must be a minimum length for acceptance. Items of less than 750 words will not be posted.
Basic Grammar Requirements
All stories submitted to HBO must meet some basic grammar standards. We're not asking for perfect prose - but you should at least run your story through a spellchecker before submitting it. Likewise, punctuation is required. If you can't be bothered to do this, we can't be bothered to post your story. You'll find fewer people willing to read and review your story if they can't understand your text.
Coding and Formatting
There is a special code for the fanfiction section of HBO, which includes bolds, italics, underlines, indents, and horizontal lines. We strongly advise you to learn this code and implement it into your story when you submit it, or use another method known as 'Block Paragraph.' Please read this to learn more about formatting and the code.
Please note that the Fan Fiction form accepts plain text only. Consequently, any rich text formatting done by computers or word processors will be removed, and any spacings at the beginning of a line will also be removed. Also note that HTML tags are no longer used in formatting submissions, and anglebrackets—and any text enclosed inside—will be removed by the system. You must use the code for rich text.
Any stories that are submitted with NO formatting - in other words, the entire story is viewed as a single block of text - will be rejected. You can use the special code above to make your piece more readable, or you can simply separate paragraphs with extra lines - but doing NOTHING will ensure that your entry is deleted.Language Requirements
All stories submitted to HBO must be in English. Apologies to non-English writers... but we just don't have the manpower to process fiction in languages other than English. This rule was actually put in place on May 11, 2003, but didn't make it onto this page until 2005.
HBO Submission Suggestions
Due to the high volume of stories that are submitted into HBO (and its commenting forum) we ask that you only submit one piece per update. This is not compulsory, but it can alleviate the system and help evenly distribute the submissions so that every author gets a chance in the 'spotlight.'
We also ask that you register at the HBOFF Commenting Forum to see the reader's side of this system. Here you will find your own commenting thread attached to your story, as well as discussion topics that can help you advance in your writing. Also, this is a great way to meet the community that will read your piece! More information about commenting and a link to HBOFF can be found here.
Name/Email Changes, Series Titles
We will not accept name changes once a story is submitted. (This applies to both submitter names and story names.) Choose wisely.
We will accept email changes, because often this is unavoidable.
DO A SEARCH for your story's title BEFORE YOU SUBMIT. If we find a story with the identical title as the one you've submitted, we will discard your entry.
(Added December 22, 2006) Please don't submit more than 3 pieces per week; we'll simply delete the extras. Rationale is here.
Why all the rules?
If you're wondering why we have so many rules and guidelines, it's because there are a lot of people who frequent HBO Fan Fiction, and these structures can help separate the signal from the noise. Often, people don't bother to follow the guidelines, much less look at them, so these rules have been established to make clear what we expect of you when you submit. There are certainly other websites for publishing your Halo fan fiction if you find them too strict.
