If you're following over from the news posting on this matter, odds are you've already gotten the jist of our new update but, on the off chance that you're hearing it here first, the HPFF staff has elected to make a small ammendment to the written rules regarding the kind of content we consider "stories."

While stories that feature a reality tv-esque plotline have always been rejectionable content, the recent trend toward publishing them has made it apparent that it's time to include them in our expressly rejected content. Thus, they move out of the obscurity of etc and on to comma worthy items of their own.

From now on

The "etc..." here is a bit expansive. Submissions that are considered not to contain enough plotting or content to be considered a story will be rejected, this can include stories that take the form of letter exchanges, diary entires, reality tv series, game shows etc... If you have specific questions regarding your story or your type of story, please feel free to contact a staff member

What Does That Mean?
Basing a story on an existing TV show like Survivor or American Idol has always been expressly disallowed under our copyright rules but, for those of you who have tried to work around those rules, using different show titles and varying the concepts slightly - those stories will no longer slip through the cracks. Stories that are based entirely around a characters progress through a reality TV show or a game show are also expressly disallowed from this point forward.

What Is Allowed?
Walk with me, into the plotline of an imaginary story - it could be any story but, for this story, lets say its about Remus and Tonks. Tonks, huge Weird Sisters fan that she is, opens the Daily Prophet to find that her favorite radio host is offering a contest to fans just like her. They're even given away a chance to meet the band and spend a day back stage! Except...oh no! In order to participate, she'll need a partner. Somehow and through means unknown to me but covered in said story, she pursuades Remus to participate. Through a series of trivia questions and a small gauntlet of phsyical tasks, Lupin and Tonks manage to win and Tonks chronicles her day with the Weird Sisters and the story carries on. i.e.,

- the game show must be original.
- the game show can only take up part of the story and not be the stories entire goal.

What Does That Mean For My Existing Reality TV Show Story?
If your story already has been posted and contains a reality TV show that is not compliant with the above guidelines it will need to be edited. If and when staff find stories already posted on the archive that violate this rule, the stories will be hidden and a note will be left in the first chapter's validator notes (as is customary.) That person will have three months to update their story and contact a staff member to have it un-hidden before the story falls off of the archive. To avoid that risk, it's really best to edit your story on your own before being contacted by the staff.

If you have a question about your particular story or a plotline you plan to write you are of course welcome to contact any member of the staff and ask. :)