Manifesto

Our guiding star for making editorial decisions, and our community guidelines to ensure this remains a safe space for all creators.

Our mission

The Society of Ink Slingers exists to support, connect and champion writers of genre fiction to help grow the indie community. The genre writing community is small but it is mighty; we want to help elevate it and its members to ever greater heights.

We want a happy, productive and agile community and to foster collaboration. We gain strength from our diversity.

This space is co-created by community members. There is no false hierarchy; we are all equals here, whether you’ve published 100 books or none.

As such, this is a community of respect. It’s a safe space for all writers of genre fiction. We will not tolerate personal attacks, hate speech or bullying. Any comments made by members, however, are the views of the individual and not the community.

For the record, by “genre fiction” we mean science fiction, fantasy, and horror in all its permutations and combinations. We might even let the odd crime and thriller writer through the door…

By joining this community and taking part in its activities, you are considered to be in agreement with these terms and conditions.

We want to build a place where…

We can come together to share knowledge and contribute to the growth of the indie writing community.
We engage with each other and with our content, making this a lively community full of vitality.
You can go to ask questions in the knowledge there are no stupid questions; where you can seek advice and guidance from those who’ve been there before or might be going through the same thing now.
Success is celebrated, but so is failure - for by failing, we learn and grow. We’ll help each other to try again with the community’s support.

But with none of this.

No hate speech of any kind.
No homophobia, transphobia, misogyny, misandry, racism, classism or ableism.
No sexual harassment or unwelcome sexual attention, whether in the open or in DM.
No stalking, whether cyber or IRL.
No spreading of misinformation.
No electioneering or political debates. This doesn’t mean we always have to agree, but we discuss topics in a calm and rational manner without resorting to insults.
No personal attacks on other community members.
No defamatory remarks or making of false statements against others.
No bullying or ganging up.
No keyboard warriors or trolling.
Nothing illegal (obviously).
No spam.
Generally, don’t be that guy. You know that guy? Yeah, don’t be him.

Guidelines for a strong community

Treat others online as you would treat them in real life.
Treat others as you would like to be treated.
Be tolerant towards others’ views, and if you disagree then do so respectfully.
Respect the privacy and personal information of other members.
Don’t slide into DMs unless invited; if mods hear of any harassment anywhere, it will result in an automatic ban for the harasser.
Use this platform responsibly. Only promote your work in the designated places. Don’t use the community as a sales tool - you’re here to support and get support.
Parts of this community may be behind a log-in screen, but it’s still publicly accessible. Do not post or make any comments that you would not want others to know. Remember, social media is forever.

Moderation and raising a grievance

While articles submitted to the Society’s publication will go through the editing process, posts on the community platform are not pre-moderated. Our policy is to keep intervention to a minimum and let the conversation flow. However, if you see something you don’t think belongs, please raise it with the moderators or Society founder Lauren McMenemy, and we’ll review it.

If we find a post to be against these community guidelines, we will remove it. If the poster is a repeat offender, we will remove them: three strikes and you’re out.

The main thing?

Connect. Share. Grow. Creating is fun!

These guidelines written in April 2023; they will be reviewed in April 2024.