What a perfect time to receive this video. Always been on wattpad, posting things there is such a beginner friendly process, it can be a bit overwhelming to hop on ao3 and see so many boxes to fill out. Thanks again :D
No problem! It's been aaaaages since I've read or posted on Wattpad (I had a short-lived original story but think the website features for fanfiction in particular are lacking) but it is at least easier for beginners to post there, as you say. AO3 is very rewarding once you figure out how it works and why all those boxes are there :)
@@CoraMaria yesss, at the end of the day, the posting process being a bit longer just helps people find exactly what they wanna read. On wattpad it's up to luck because you depend on the author giving a trigger warning or a summary that actually tells you something about the story
@@CoraMaria and i stuck with it for so long because of the asthetics, not being able to put a cover on your story is what was wild to me, hence why i steered clear of ao3 at first
I've posted fics on Ao3 before, but decided to watch this video anyway. The idea about contextualizing your tags is so smart?! I write a lot of stories with multiple plotlines, so that's going to be super helpful for me! Great video!
I’m still quite new to AO3 and have often found it a bit confusing. Thank you SO MUCH for sharing that you can view it in dark mode (Reversi skin)!! I normally only have time to read in bed in a dark room next to my snoring fiancé, so this will be much nicer for my eyes and won’t need to worry about the blinding screen disturbing him 😅 Also, thank you for such an in depth tutorial on AO3, I’m sure I’ll be coming back to this vid many times for reminders lol.
I didn't even know you could change the banners. Never got looking into that side of thing. You're page is so colourful. Know how to upload already but watching anyway. I often use my notes to list when I originally wrote a story, when I have updated and story and where the story is cross posted to. I have had issues with formatting before even using the rich text option (also been a long time since I last updated anything so that I have updated anything) I copy and paste into the likes of notes first to strip all the formatting and then into AO3 when its not formatting correctly.
What do you mean by "likes of notes"? Yeah site skins can be fun! Here's the one I used if you're interested: archiveofourown.org/works/31689215/chapters/78427925 Thanks for watching and commenting! The watch time and engagement is very helpful 💖
Going to repost the fanfic on ao3 tonight. I just ... I didn't feel confident with how it was written at first, deleted that fic, trying again and I rewrote them and the flow feels a lot better. I'm watching this video to relearn this. Wish me luck. I'm gonna need it.
Firstly- amazing video! Ao3 does definitely have a barrier to entry and posting is certainly more complicated than just hitting paste and posting, so thank you for making such a detailed guide. Second- Finding your videos helped me get through a chronic illness flare up that really impacted my ability to keep writing my current fic and planning for my next one. Thank you for encouraging passion, not word count, we need more positivity like yours in the writing community! ❤🎉
Thank-you! Making this tutorial was a lot of work. AO3's posting system may take some work to understand, but I definitely feel like all the features are there for a reason. Some are lot as intuitive as they could be, though
omg thank you so much! I for the life of me couldn't figure out how to get images form IA to work on AO3, didn't even think about opening it in a new tab
THANK YOU SO MUCH! your video is truly helpful, since my usual hos-image-website is error and I cant use it anymore, now I'm gonna try your trick! thank you again :')
Thank you very much! ❤ All the time I was a little scared to publish work on AO3, because the site where I usually publish my work is very different from this one. But thanks to your video, everything became a hu-undred times easier. Thanks again! ❤
Thanks for the tutorial! As a person considering starting the AO3 grind, this has helped me get motivated! (Also, if you want your video bookmarks to show in your video and not just description, you can display them as "00:00-01:58 [CHAPTER NAME]" in the description! TH-cam does the coding for you, and voila!)
Thanks for giving this amazing tutorial! I’m currently in the process of writing a fan fiction cross over trilogy and this help me know everything I need to know like AO3 delete drafted work in 30 days. That really helpful to know. Thanks and have a great day! 😁
Yep, DO NOT trust the AO3 draft feature to hold your fics for you! I'm glad that you got to know this before you experienced the panic of your fic being deleted 💖
I did not realize that you could change it too rich text when you're posting a chapter. I haven't posted anything on Ao3 in like a year but I just thought that fanfiction writers memorized the HTML codes 😭
I followed your steps to upload an image to the Internet Archive, but I must have made a mistake with the HTML code. I was able to upload it from the archive after opening it in a new tab. I have images for the next three chapter of this four-part story, so I'll see what happens next. Thanks for the info. Very helpful.
Yep, opening the image from the archive in a new tab is key! I get tripped up on that moment too. Glad you figured it out and hoping the next three work out, too!
And that's okay~! Sometimes I put a lot of work into a fic's summary when I really want to draw in readers and hear from them, and sometimes I post a silly little crackfic where I don't care as much about getting a response
Thank you. Ao3 loves switching my characters & additional tags around. I've tried to fix it, but I've given up lol. I do say in the tags that if it's a background relationship. I will check to see if it's where it belongs, in additional tags. Also, I have some very popular relationships that don't happen until later chapters, so I let the reader know that in additional tags as well. Thank you for your help. This video is going to need several viewings. There's so much important information in here. Thank you. Can you tell I'm writing a longfic? Also, I will need to ask if any of my beta readers would like any credit. I've only asked one so far.
Glad the video helped! And hello longfic gang I'm sure most people won't mind if your popular ships don't happen for a while as long as the characters are still interacting and you label them as a slowburn, or make it clear that it'll take them a while to meet. Regarding the out-of-order tags, someone in my server had a similar issue. They found that if they deleted all the tags, published the fic, then re-added all the tags, they stay in order. Maybe try that if you haven't already?
Hello! Your video was so informative, thank you! Just today I posted a story on ao3 and I wanted to add a book cover that I made for it on canva but I was unsuccessful. So on your video you showed how to fix that by uploading the image on the Internet, could you guide me on how to do that please?
Thanks for the video but I have a tiny question How do you tag or mention somebody in your author's note As in when you click on their username it takes you to their account
AO3 doesn't have a system for tagging particular users unless you list them as a co-author or gift them a fic. For everything else, you'd have to use HTML for hyperlinked text and ensure it links to their profile. The HTML code should be in the google doc I linked in the description
Hey, I know I’m supposed to watch this but I have question, I’m not sure if I’m only one but I have a problem, when I copy my work that has front, dots, and few others, but when I pasted it on ao3, everything wasn’t same as the work I made, all fronts are normal not what it’s supposed to be, and few others like dots or lines, massed up my work a bit. I did use Rich box to paste. I also used Google Docs but I have this issue lately since, when I first writing my fanfic, it wasn’t a problem with my first few fanfics but now yeah- Sorry, I’m not good at explaining. (Btw I use phone) What supposed I do? Thank you
I've never encountered this problem before so idk if I'll be much help. I've never used my phone to post on AO3, so I can only recommend you try using phone or tablet. You could also try changing your font in Google Docs to Monserrat like I use. It could be that AO3 is having a hard time interpreting your font and needs something more familiar. I also don't know if you use the GD app or browser on mobile, but whichever one you use, you could try the other and see if that works. If all that fails, then you can try contacting AO3's support team here: archiveofourown.org/support
Do you mean you post each chapter one-after-the-other with no breaks in between? I'd recommend against that, especially if you care about reader interaction, because in the fanfic community it's normal to post serially (maybe once every few days at least) so if we see a fully completed story with no comments or little-to-no kudos then we'll often assume others didn't find it interesting enough to be worth reading. Of course, if you just want to preserve your story on the archive, then uploading each chapter separately on the same day is perfectly fine. It just might cost you community.
Hey the video is amazing and I tried to post my image but it doesn't work, also since the image is actually a 18+ content I've to use google drive to post it but anyway even with HTML or the rich text function to add the image it doesn't work and I don't know how to solve this... :')
I've never used Google Drive to embed images before. It's possible that it's just not compatible, especially since it's not searchable. Since Archive.org is a not-for-profit organisation, you should be fine posting your 18+ images there. They don't have to worry about being "advertiser friendly". Definitely check their policies to be sure, but I recommend you follow my instructions to the letter rather than try to use Google drive.
@@CoraMaria I actually tried even another site which I don’t remember the name but eventually once i’ll be home from work I eventually give a shot to this other site! Thanks anyway!
Why don't you want to use html? Also, do I go back and cut and paste each chapter I've done so far in rich text or do I just use rich text in the future?
Do you mean the HTML text box? I don't recommend it because I'm wary of formatting issues, plus it doesn't offer formatting options like Rich Text does. Basically, it's better to use the right tool designed for the job. On the published fic, I'd recommend you check any instance of using italics, bolding, and stuff like that since simply pasting in the HTML box won't necessarily carry that over. If you notice no issue, you're probably fine, then be sure to use Rich Text in future 🙂
What a perfect time to receive this video. Always been on wattpad, posting things there is such a beginner friendly process, it can be a bit overwhelming to hop on ao3 and see so many boxes to fill out. Thanks again :D
No problem! It's been aaaaages since I've read or posted on Wattpad (I had a short-lived original story but think the website features for fanfiction in particular are lacking) but it is at least easier for beginners to post there, as you say. AO3 is very rewarding once you figure out how it works and why all those boxes are there :)
@@CoraMaria yesss, at the end of the day, the posting process being a bit longer just helps people find exactly what they wanna read. On wattpad it's up to luck because you depend on the author giving a trigger warning or a summary that actually tells you something about the story
@@hal8686The fact that all fanfiction is lumped together under the same genre with no categorisation by fandom at the MINIMUM is so wild to me 💀
@@CoraMaria and i stuck with it for so long because of the asthetics, not being able to put a cover on your story is what was wild to me, hence why i steered clear of ao3 at first
@@hal8686 I mean, you CAN put a cover on AO3 if you use HTML, but no one will see it when they're just browsing for fics.
I've posted fics on Ao3 before, but decided to watch this video anyway. The idea about contextualizing your tags is so smart?! I write a lot of stories with multiple plotlines, so that's going to be super helpful for me! Great video!
also i don't know anything about legend of zelda but this fic sounds INCREDIBLE and i might have to read it now
@@windowsillcatsAhh thank-you! I did just have another reader from my TH-cam audience binge the whole thing in less than two weeks and they loved it 💖
I’m still quite new to AO3 and have often found it a bit confusing. Thank you SO MUCH for sharing that you can view it in dark mode (Reversi skin)!! I normally only have time to read in bed in a dark room next to my snoring fiancé, so this will be much nicer for my eyes and won’t need to worry about the blinding screen disturbing him 😅
Also, thank you for such an in depth tutorial on AO3, I’m sure I’ll be coming back to this vid many times for reminders lol.
I'm glad I could help!
I didn't even know you could change the banners. Never got looking into that side of thing. You're page is so colourful. Know how to upload already but watching anyway. I often use my notes to list when I originally wrote a story, when I have updated and story and where the story is cross posted to. I have had issues with formatting before even using the rich text option (also been a long time since I last updated anything so that I have updated anything) I copy and paste into the likes of notes first to strip all the formatting and then into AO3 when its not formatting correctly.
What do you mean by "likes of notes"?
Yeah site skins can be fun! Here's the one I used if you're interested: archiveofourown.org/works/31689215/chapters/78427925
Thanks for watching and commenting! The watch time and engagement is very helpful 💖
@@CoraMaria Notes app on Apple devices. I also use notepad on windows for the same purpose.
The part about moving author’s notes from story notes to chapter 1 notes is so helpful 😭😭 Thank you sm
Of course! I remember it confusing the heck out of me too at first
Going to repost the fanfic on ao3 tonight. I just ... I didn't feel confident with how it was written at first, deleted that fic, trying again and I rewrote them and the flow feels a lot better. I'm watching this video to relearn this. Wish me luck. I'm gonna need it.
Gooooood luck, mate!
Firstly- amazing video! Ao3 does definitely have a barrier to entry and posting is certainly more complicated than just hitting paste and posting, so thank you for making such a detailed guide.
Second- Finding your videos helped me get through a chronic illness flare up that really impacted my ability to keep writing my current fic and planning for my next one. Thank you for encouraging passion, not word count, we need more positivity like yours in the writing community! ❤🎉
Thank-you! Making this tutorial was a lot of work. AO3's posting system may take some work to understand, but I definitely feel like all the features are there for a reason. Some are lot as intuitive as they could be, though
I have looked through 3 videos before hitting yours. And finally, I was able to embed an image. Thank you very much for the useful tutorial.
You're welcome! Adding images can be tricky so I'm glad I could help
This is such a fantastic resource to both newbies and oldies! 🎉 Thank you for sharing!
Thank-you for watching 💖
omg thank you so much! I for the life of me couldn't figure out how to get images form IA to work on AO3, didn't even think about opening it in a new tab
It's such a headache for me too (beyond the chronic headaches I'm already dealing with lol) so I'm glad this video finally helped you fix it!
THANK YOU SO MUCH! your video is truly helpful, since my usual hos-image-website is error and I cant use it anymore, now I'm gonna try your trick! thank you again :')
No problem! Let me know if it works 💖
@@CoraMaria AND IT TOTALLY WORKSS AAAAH I LOVE YOU, thank you again! 🥰🥰🥰
Thank you very much! ❤ All the time I was a little scared to publish work on AO3, because the site where I usually publish my work is very different from this one. But thanks to your video, everything became a hu-undred times easier. Thanks again! ❤
Yay I'm so glad! It's my first time making a tutorial so I'm happy it's clear for you and makes the process seem less intimidating ☺
Thanks for the tutorial! As a person considering starting the AO3 grind, this has helped me get motivated! (Also, if you want your video bookmarks to show in your video and not just description, you can display them as "00:00-01:58 [CHAPTER NAME]" in the description! TH-cam does the coding for you, and voila!)
What a great timing! I currently post the chapters from my google doc on AO3! ❤
Yayyy I'm glad this video found you just as you might need it 💖
Thanks for giving this amazing tutorial! I’m currently in the process of writing a fan fiction cross over trilogy and this help me know everything I need to know like AO3 delete drafted work in 30 days. That really helpful to know.
Thanks and have a great day! 😁
Yep, DO NOT trust the AO3 draft feature to hold your fics for you! I'm glad that you got to know this before you experienced the panic of your fic being deleted 💖
@@CoraMaria Yeah that would of complete suck! Glad I know now. 😁
Thank you 😊
Fantastic, thorough tutorial! ❤️ Oh man, I wish I’d had this when I was first figuring out how to post on AO3!🙏
Thank-you~!
Oh my GODDD. THANK YOU SO MUCH IVE WATCHED SO MANY VIDEOS AND READ SO MANY GUIDE AND NONE HAVE WORKED UNTIL NOW
I'm so glad I could help! This is my first ever tutorial video as well. Which part were you stuck with until now?
Thank you so much for doing all of this work! I appreciate it so much!
You're welcome! Making this video cost so much of my sanity 😭
I did not realize that you could change it too rich text when you're posting a chapter. I haven't posted anything on Ao3 in like a year but I just thought that fanfiction writers memorized the HTML codes 😭
I followed your steps to upload an image to the Internet Archive, but I must have made a mistake with the HTML code. I was able to upload it from the archive after opening it in a new tab. I have images for the next three chapter of this four-part story, so I'll see what happens next. Thanks for the info. Very helpful.
Yep, opening the image from the archive in a new tab is key! I get tripped up on that moment too. Glad you figured it out and hoping the next three work out, too!
I was wondering why my Chapter One notes were showing up on every chapter. I even deleted a story and reposted it. Thanks for the info.
my summary is just one sentence bc im not treating this fanfic seriously, or at least giving it a throughline. im just doing whatever i want atp
And that's okay~! Sometimes I put a lot of work into a fic's summary when I really want to draw in readers and hear from them, and sometimes I post a silly little crackfic where I don't care as much about getting a response
THIS VIDEO IS EVERYTHINGGGG THANK YOU SO MUCH! 🙏🥺
WOOOOO YOU'RE SO WELCOME!!!!! This video was so much work lmao so I'm glad it's so useful to you 💖
Super useful! Thanks so much 💖💖
Thank you. Ao3 loves switching my characters & additional tags around. I've tried to fix it, but I've given up lol. I do say in the tags that if it's a background relationship. I will check to see if it's where it belongs, in additional tags. Also, I have some very popular relationships that don't happen until later chapters, so I let the reader know that in additional tags as well. Thank you for your help. This video is going to need several viewings. There's so much important information in here. Thank you. Can you tell I'm writing a longfic? Also, I will need to ask if any of my beta readers would like any credit. I've only asked one so far.
Glad the video helped! And hello longfic gang
I'm sure most people won't mind if your popular ships don't happen for a while as long as the characters are still interacting and you label them as a slowburn, or make it clear that it'll take them a while to meet.
Regarding the out-of-order tags, someone in my server had a similar issue. They found that if they deleted all the tags, published the fic, then re-added all the tags, they stay in order. Maybe try that if you haven't already?
@@CoraMaria I think I did, but I will try again. I don't know if I deleted all of the tags or just to where it was messed up.
I love you this was so helpful
Thank you for this!! ❤️
You're welcome~!!
Omg she's so cute 💞.
You are a ✨lifesaver✨ 😁
You're welcome 😊
Is there a way to text in my works change, I want the inner thought to be slightly smaller than other text so it's easier to differentiate.
Hey, I posted a fic with 4 chapters. But for some reason, when I'm not logged in, i can't click past 1st chapter.
Hello! Your video was so informative, thank you! Just today I posted a story on ao3 and I wanted to add a book cover that I made for it on canva but I was unsuccessful. So on your video you showed how to fix that by uploading the image on the Internet, could you guide me on how to do that please?
Thanks for the video but I have a tiny question
How do you tag or mention somebody in your author's note
As in when you click on their username it takes you to their account
AO3 doesn't have a system for tagging particular users unless you list them as a co-author or gift them a fic. For everything else, you'd have to use HTML for hyperlinked text and ensure it links to their profile. The HTML code should be in the google doc I linked in the description
Thank you so much!! ❤
You're very welcome! 💖
Hey, I know I’m supposed to watch this but I have question, I’m not sure if I’m only one but
I have a problem, when I copy my work that has front, dots, and few others, but when I pasted it on ao3, everything wasn’t same as the work I made, all fronts are normal not what it’s supposed to be, and few others like dots or lines, massed up my work a bit.
I did use Rich box to paste. I also used Google Docs but I have this issue lately since, when I first writing my fanfic, it wasn’t a problem with my first few fanfics but now yeah-
Sorry, I’m not good at explaining.
(Btw I use phone)
What supposed I do?
Thank you
I've never encountered this problem before so idk if I'll be much help. I've never used my phone to post on AO3, so I can only recommend you try using phone or tablet. You could also try changing your font in Google Docs to Monserrat like I use. It could be that AO3 is having a hard time interpreting your font and needs something more familiar.
I also don't know if you use the GD app or browser on mobile, but whichever one you use, you could try the other and see if that works.
If all that fails, then you can try contacting AO3's support team here: archiveofourown.org/support
Thank you, master :>
Love this video!❤
I'm glad 💖
Commenting as second kudos.
Woo thank-you~!
Will the new chapter be visible only to those who subscribed to the story?
Hey I had a question, can I post just one chapter and then post the rest chapter by chapter?
Do you mean you post each chapter one-after-the-other with no breaks in between? I'd recommend against that, especially if you care about reader interaction, because in the fanfic community it's normal to post serially (maybe once every few days at least) so if we see a fully completed story with no comments or little-to-no kudos then we'll often assume others didn't find it interesting enough to be worth reading.
Of course, if you just want to preserve your story on the archive, then uploading each chapter separately on the same day is perfectly fine. It just might cost you community.
Embedding the image through the html way didn't work for me. I had to do it through the rich text way.
Hey the video is amazing and I tried to post my image but it doesn't work, also since the image is actually a 18+ content I've to use google drive to post it but anyway even with HTML or the rich text function to add the image it doesn't work and I don't know how to solve this... :')
I've never used Google Drive to embed images before. It's possible that it's just not compatible, especially since it's not searchable. Since Archive.org is a not-for-profit organisation, you should be fine posting your 18+ images there. They don't have to worry about being "advertiser friendly". Definitely check their policies to be sure, but I recommend you follow my instructions to the letter rather than try to use Google drive.
@@CoraMaria I actually tried even another site which I don’t remember the name but eventually once i’ll be home from work I eventually give a shot to this other site! Thanks anyway!
Why don't you want to use html? Also, do I go back and cut and paste each chapter I've done so far in rich text or do I just use rich text in the future?
Do you mean the HTML text box? I don't recommend it because I'm wary of formatting issues, plus it doesn't offer formatting options like Rich Text does. Basically, it's better to use the right tool designed for the job. On the published fic, I'd recommend you check any instance of using italics, bolding, and stuff like that since simply pasting in the HTML box won't necessarily carry that over. If you notice no issue, you're probably fine, then be sure to use Rich Text in future 🙂
@@CoraMaria Yes, I do mean the HTML text box. Thank you! I will check!
Hey, your discord invite is invalid... 🙁
I think it expires after a while. Here you go: discord.gg/aARrfzNaQE
@@CoraMaria
Thank you! 🌺