GEN-L Discussion List

The Game Editorial Network email discussion list, or GEN-L, is a classic email discussion list running on Mailman, an open-source alternative to Listserv. It's modeled after the eminent (and excellent) Copyediting-L list, or CEL, which has been serving freelance editors across industries since 1992.

GEN-L is a place for editors and editorial support professionals in the game industry to discuss any and all aspects of their work, craft, and careers: editorial skills, usage, software and tools, finding work, freelancing and business questions, negotiating contracts, working with clients, industry news and trends, events and networking, professional development, and more.

Subscribing to the list

Subscribe

Join the Game Editorial Network

Fill out the membership application form to join GEN and be added to the GEN-L email list.

Your request will be reviewed and approved by a list administrator, and you will receive an email with a confirmation link. Confirm your subscription by either clicking the link or replying to the message.

Unsubscribe

Email gen-l-request@gameeditoral.net  from the address you want to remove with the subject unsubscribe. 

Manage your subscription

Visit the subscriber settings page to change your password, subscriber information, digest settings, and followed topics.

You can also email gen-l-request@gameeditoral.net from the subscribed address with commands in the subject line to manage your subscription. View the full list of Mailman subscriber commands.

Contact list owners

Email gen-l-owner@gameeditoral.net with questions and support requests.

List policies and guidelines

Code of conduct

Conduct yourself professionally and treat listmates with courtesy, collegiality, and respect. Remember that we all have different backgrounds, opinions, and life experiences. When disagreements arise, assume good faith and proceed with empathy and compassion for the colleague on the other side of the screen. 

Moderators may step in and ask that a discussion topic be dropped or taken offlist if it appears to no longer be productive, constructive, or relevant to the purposes of the list. 

Personal attacks, hateful speech, trolling, and obvious spam and advertisements (with limited exceptions in the PROMO tag category) are strictly forbidden and may result in a warning or immediate removal from the list. List owners reserve the right to restrict access or remove anyone from the list at any time.

Professional name and signature policy

Messages to the list must include a signature with the full name you are known by and use professionally. This does not need to be your legal name, but it should be sufficient to identify yourself to colleagues. Your sig may optionally include other customary info like website, business name, social links, etc.

Privacy and sensitive information

Do not post private, highly sensitive, or confidential information to the list. Although messages are distributed only to subscribers, GEN-L should be considered a public forum.

Treat posts to GEN-L like water-cooler conversations near an open window—potentially overheard by anyone, but aimed at a trusted circle of colleagues. Honor listmates' privacy, particularly when discussing potentially sensitive topics like business practices and rates. Do not repeat names, personal or business information, comments, or discussions from the list publicly (i.e., in other groups or on social media) without first asking permission, unless the message is tagged PROMO or the poster has otherwise indicated it's ok for wider distribution.

Moderation and support requests

Do not post complaints or support requests to the entire list. If you have a question or a problem with the list, your subscription, a listmate's behavior, or anything else that should be brought to the owners' attention, contact us privately at gen-l-owner@gameeditoral.net.

Using the list

Posting

To post to the list, send an email to gen-l@gameeditorial.net.

List etiquette

Post thoughtfully and sparingly. Keep messages concise and focused on a particular topic, question, or issue of substance. ​To spare listmates' inboxes, avoid chatty, single-line emails​ or multiple successive replies before others have had a chance to weigh in. 

Short expressions of thanks, personal followups, and off-topic tangents should be taken off-list by replying privately to the sender.

Subject lines and tags

All posts to the list must include a descriptive subject line that includes one or more approved topic tags. GEN-L uses ​these tags to label topic categories and allow members to select which topics to follow. You can adjust followed topics in your subscriber settings.

Tags are written in all caps at the start of the subject and followed by a colon, with a space separating multiple tags, like so:

RESOURCES: Recs for screenwriting software that handles branching dialogue?
INDUSTRY: Great LinkedIn post about the role of game editors
BIZ: Advice on setting rates for narrative consulting—Hourly? Day? Per project?
INDUSTRY BIZ: Do you have an editing portfolio? What do you put in it?
EVENTS OPS: Seeking volunteers for NarraScope
PROMO: The game I translated launched today!
CHAT: Favorite music for editing?

One tag per message is preferred, so see if one alone fits the bill before doubling up. 

List of topic tags

  • ADMIN: Used exclusively by administrators to communicate about the list. Change the tag if you reply publicly to an ADMIN post.
  • BIZ: For discussions of finding and working with clients, rates, payment, business structures, and other aspects of contracting/consulting/freelancing.
  • CHAT: For off-topic discussions of a social nature (e.g., pets, currently playing, recipe swap.) The usual rules about conciseness and post frequency still apply. CHAT may not be combined with other tags.
  • EVENTS: For discussions of conferences, meetups, and other relevant professional events.
  • GEN: For discussion of the GEN group or GEN-L list itself (not a "general" tag!). Consider whether it should be sent privately to  gen-l-owner@gameeditoral.net rather than the whole list. 
  • INDUSTRY: For discussions of industry news, job-seeking, working with employers, labor issues, and topics related to traditional employment and the game industry at large.
  • JOBS: For sharing paid jobs and professional work opportunities. Volunteer, rev-share, for-credit internships (whether or not paid) and other unpaid opportunities should be tagged OPS.
  • MISC: For anything that defies categorization. Use sparingly!
  • OPS: For sharing all professional development opportunities that are not paying jobs (e.g., grants, contests, awards, for-credit internships, collab and volunteer opportunities, and unpaid gigs).
  • PROMO: For sharing occasional news about professional achievements and accomplishments (e.g., game launches, awards, talks, interviews). Do not use solely to promote your business/services or post excessively or repetitively. Posts tagged PROMO can be considered safe for public (re)distribution.
  • QUERY: For posing questions that arise in your work not related to USAGE.
  • RESOURCES: For sharing and discussing books, software, equipment, websites, reference materials, online courses, talks, tools, or anything useful in your work.  Shared resources may be compiled and added to the GEN Resource Library page.
  • USAGE: For discussing any and all English-language grammar and style questions.