artists_beware | Entries tagged with !mod post

kayla-la.livejournal.com

Artists Beware FAQ

Rules

Artists Beware Beware Template

What To Do If Posted to Artists Beware

Moderators/Maintainers:
(Please feel free to contact all of us, but please make sure your PM settings will allow us to reply to you!)

celestinaketzia
Send PMs through LiveJournal -OR- celestinaketzia(at)gmail.com
24 hour response time

oceandezignz
Send PMs through LiveJournal -OR- xaidezignzNOSPAM@NOSPAMgmail.com
24 hour response time

dergish
Send PMs through Livejournal

bearprince
Send PMs through Livejournal

whoop_zi
Send PMs through Livejournal

kayla_la - Lead Moderator
Send PMs through LiveJournal - WARNING, may be slow to reply, very busy

kayla-la.livejournal.com

Before posting, please consider taking a look through our existing posts to get a better idea of how a post should look.

LJ-cut FAQ for long posts

WHO: List the aliases or business name of the person (Artist or Customer) this post is regarding. Censor all legal names, emails, paypal emails, addresses, or phone numbers.

WHERE: URL where they base their business out of. In case your beware is regarding something that occurred at an event (example: a con), you may list that too.

WHAT: Was it traditional art, digital art, sculpture, fursuit, jewelry, etc.?

WHEN: A rough time line of the situation from initial conversation, to 1st payment (or agreement of trade) to signs of trouble.

EXPLAIN: Tell your side here. What happened, what went wrong, where did it go wrong, have you attempted to fix the issue(s), ask for updates, refunds/legal warnings, etc. Post any additional screencaps here that correspond with your explanation. Be as clear, concise, and to the point (no additional drama, try not to ramble, no third parties/proxy writing) as possible.

PROOF: Feel free to place your screencaptures here, including albums, but please note the above about including them alongside claims in the EXPLAIN section, so as to make it easier to follow. Make sure you censor out unrelated third parties in your caps!

kayla-la.livejournal.com

Q: What kind of identifying/sensitive information may I include in my post?

A: As a general rule, sensitive information such as legal names, addresses, phone numbers, email addresses, paypal addresses, etc may not be included in your beware and must be either cropped out or censored. We may make exceptions on a case by case basis for instances where transactions only occurred via mediums such as Facebook.

Q: Do you have a template for posting?

A: Yes! You can find our template here: http://artists-beware.livejournal.com/948608.html
Note that using the template isn't a requirement to post, as long as you include all the relevant information, but it does make things easier.

Q: How do I post to Artists_Beware? When I try, LJ tells me I cannot post here!

A: At the top of every LJ community page is a navigation bar that will tell you your membership status in a community, as well as give you shortcut links to doing various things within said community. You MUST be a member of Artists_Beware to be able to put a post into the queue, so if the nav bar is giving you a link to JOIN A_B, click it and follow the steps.

Q: How do I join/post to AB on desktop Livejournal?

Q: How do I join/post to AB on mobile Livejournal?

Q: I submitted a post, why didnt it show up?

A: We are a moderated community. All posts are reviewed by at least 2 moderators before being approved or rejected. Because it is manual and we all work full-time jobs, posts can take 1-5 days to be handled.

Q: What happens if a post is rejected?

A: A rejection notice will be sent to either your Livejournal messages or your email attached to your Livejournal account, according to your settings. Make sure your email address is current, and check your spam folder before contacting us about your post.

Q: What is an LJ-cut?

A: http://www.livejournal.com/support/faq/75.html

Q: What do I do if I want to give positive feedback about a transaction?

A: We have monthly positive review posts! Go here and make sure you use the current month's post to leave your review!

Q: If I want to know the name of a subject from an advice post, may I ask?

A: No. Advice posts are to remain anonymous, as they are not reviewed and vetted with the same scrutiny beware posts are. Do not ask, reveal, or hint at the identity of someone being posted about in an advice post.

Q: What if I found/know of [bewared person]s alternate account?

A: You may share this information in the relevant post for that person, provided you can provide solid proof that they are the same person. "I think they're the same", "Their art looks similar", "I heard from a friend, "Their writing style is similar" and other 'probably's and 'maybes' are not considered solid proof.

Q: Can I submit a general warning/post on behalf of someone else?

A: No. We are a transaction-based community for individual experiences, and you are not allowed to make either 'general scam warning' posts or post for somebody else. Individuals may only post about their own experiences.

Q: Why do I need to censor the names of third parties in my bewares?

A: As a general rule, if someone is unrelated to the case at hand, we would rather respect their privacy and not have them included in a post without their consent.

Q: Is there an easy list for the main tags to browse?

A: Easy Access to Main Tags: Mod Posts, Beware, Advice for Artists, Advice for Commissioners, Discussion, Monthly Positive Feedback

Q: I have a question that isn't answered here! What do I do?

A: Please see our profile page for information on how to reach a moderator!

kayla-la.livejournal.com

After an intense period of training, you can now welcome your new moderators! Welcome

bearprince,

whoop_zi and

dergish to our team! They're awesome.

I for one am happy to have them and I hope you'll all welcome them too!

kayla-la.livejournal.com

Hello folks,

arphalia has left our team, and we thank him for his work with us!

This means that Artists_Beware is opening for moderator applications.

What we need:

Discord is a must (there is both a desktop and in-browser version, so it’s quite accessible). All of our communication takes place on the A_B mod chat. We also require Skype as a back up. This is not negotiable. It must be easy to reach you.

Based in the US or availability during US time zones. Our most active hours are between 1 pm central to 9 pm central.

Moderators work in pairs for reviewing bewares, never alone, so you need to be able to be around at a time that lets you work with another moderator.

You will need to be able to calmly and professionally handle harassment and disagreements.

There will be an interview and a training period before you are fully brought on to help discern if you are a good fit.

You must keep your Livejournal password and email password secure and separated. It might be best to make a separate private email just for A_B business.

Notes:

You can opt to do queue work only, thus not moderating comments.

If you choose to do comment moderation, be prepared to receive a lot of A_B related email. Every comment and edit is emailed to comment moderators.

Queue only moderators can opt out of fielding user questions.

The queue and any A_B related content are to remain confidential.

To apply fill out the following form:

Length in A_B: (How long have you been a member)
Hours of Availability (in Central time): (The hours you will best be able to do queue work.)
Previous Experience: (Have you moderated a community before? It doesn't have to be specific to Livejournal, but knowing Livejournal's moderator interface would be helpful.)
Other Items to Know: (Are you a commission artist? Fursuit maker? Fluent in another language besides English?)
Why would you like to moderate A_B?:
Best way to contact you?: (LJ PM, email, etc.)

Comments on this post are screened, do not unscreen them.

celestinaketzia.livejournal.com

For an artist, be you a hobbyist or pro; it is positively critical to have a good, solid Terms of Service (T.O.S.). One that includes both your rights as the artist and the customer's rights in relation to your services. Not only does this educate your customers on how the process works and what to expect from it, but it protects both of you in case something goes wrong.

In our first official T.O.S. discussion post, we discussed what to include in a Terms of Service, what constituted good terms, and what were questionable, shady, or downright illegal terms.

Now, once again; here's your chance to post your T.O.S. for critique. Don't know how to word a particular point you're trying to convey? Want to make sure your T.O.S. is fair for you and your customers? Need to make sure you didn't leave any gigantic loopholes? Link your T.O.S. here, and members can give you their advice.

This post can also be used to discuss any other questions that you have on your mind regarding how to build a T.O.S., maintain a good T.O.S. and how to make sure your clients read and agree to your T.O.S.

Before you post, please read through the previous T.O.S. discussions; apply what you learn there to your T.O.S., and then link your revised T.O.S. here for help polishing up.

Please do not post a half-finished T.O.S. and ask folks to rewrite it for you. Be prepared for honest critique!

A good 'break down' for a T.O.S.:
Intro
Artist's Rights
-Payment
-Process
-Preferences
-Publishing
Client's Rights
-Fixes/Redraws
-Publishing
-Behavior
Communication
Refunds
Shipping & Handling

-When it comes to an artist's preferences for what they will or will not draw; simple is often better. You -may- list what you are not willing to draw, but it can get lengthy. If you're not willing to list, or find your list getting longer than your own T.O.S.; but do not might getting ideas pitched at you to pick from, a good solid "Commission themes are to be approved at artist's discretion at all times. Artist reserves the right to decline any commission, without reason." will help you out.

-When talking payment, the community majority is in favor of using Paypal INVOICES. Invoices give the artist control over how much money they're getting, when they get it, and the content of the invoice (in case you're afraid of what a client may write in your place).

-Fixes/Redraws need to have a firm hard limit set to them, as well as some suggestions to go along with them. Detail WHAT part of the process a client may (or may not) ask for fixes on, how many they get and if they go over that limit; what you will charge additionally for it. Also suggest the client wait a minimum of 24-48 hours (if you can afford that wait) to really find out what they want fixed or what they can live with, to the satisfaction of you and themselves.

-Tell your clients in the T.O.S. what you will not tolerate from them from the get-go. If you do not appreciate sexual advances/role-play/commentary; state it in the T.O.S. that you don't play those games and such behavior will not be tolerated during the commission process.

-Communication: State to potential clients how often you'll be in contact with them, or your comfort level in them contacting you for status updates, or where to look for updates if you use a service like Trello or keep a queue maintained on your blog/art site/etc.

-Remind your clients of your rights as the artist, that you own the artwork created due to copyright law. You have full publication/printing rights, but will out of respect to them ask if you can print their commissions for other purposes. If you give re-posting rights to your clients; state here and now where they can or cannot post to, if they have to use a watermarked copy you provide, etc.
-PRIVACY: State your policies (and applicable fees) on privacy of commissions, if you require permissions of secondary characters involved in said private commissions and the possible longevity of how long a private commission may stay private.

-Include refunding options, when a client is a allowed to back out, deposit fees (if building tangible art), etc. Just don't say 'no refunds, what so ever'.

Remember; the tips in the above cut are only the tip of the iceberg for a T.O.S. they're there to get your brain going on what to do. The Mods or even long time comm members will be absolutely glad to offer their two-cents on any other questions or topics you have come to mind, on top of the critique.

If you feel your T.O.S. is quite solid feel free to post it so others can use it as an example.

kayla-la.livejournal.com

This is an announcement that we are tweaking two rules, outlined below:

1. From this announcement forward, tracing and art theft posts will fall under our usual 'no proxy' blanket rule. This means an involved party will need to be the person who posts the beware, whether it be a purchaser or the artist whose work was stolen/copied. Be aware that the 'must be transaction related' rule still applies to art theft posts, and that you can always take your proxy art theft posts to

art_theft.

2. All Paypal addresses and real life names should be censored when you submit screencaptures, pending our best judgment in specific cases. Previously, we manually checked to see if this information was publicly available, but we have decided censoring them from the start would be a better direction.

Thank you for reading!

oceandezignz.livejournal.com

Remember; the tips in the above cut are only the tip of the iceberg for a T.O.S. they're there to get your brain going on what to do. The Mods or even long time comm members will be absolutely glad to offer their two-cents on any other questions or topics you have come to mind, on top of the critique.

If you feel your T.O.S. is quite solid (honed in the fires of discussion posts past) feel free to share it here so folks have an example to look at!

kayla-la.livejournal.com

Everyone welcome

celestinaketzia to the moderator team! She is currently in training, so please don't PM her with AB questions just yet. When she is settled in, she will be added onto the profile page, and I'm sure she'll do an amazing job!

kerstin-orion.livejournal.com

I've come to the tough decision that, due to increasing time-constraints over the past several months, it is time for me to step down as owner and moderator of Artists_Beware.

I am passing the 'owner' torch to

kayla_la, who has worked hard for this community for the past five years. Since I have been so unavailable, Kayla-la and the other mods have stepped up and kept the community going smoothly. Thanks to all of them, my 'retirement' shouldn't have a measurable effect on the operations around here.

Thank you to all of my moderators, both past and present, for helping guide this community and all your ideas to make it better. I could never have done it without all of you, and I'm proud to have worked with you.

To the community as a whole: Thank you. You have made me proud over and over again with your great advice and professional attitudes. I smile at every resolved post, and am constantly impressed by the advice and input given here.

Take care, everyone, and happy arting!
-Kerstin