Send your secret to DeviantArtSecretSubmit@gmail.com
You are invited to anonymously contribute your secrets to DeviantArtSecret.
Each secret can be a regret, hope, funny experience, unseen kindness, fantasy, belief, fear, betrayal, erotic desire, feeling, confession or childhood humiliation.
Reveal anything – as long as it is true and you have never shared it with anyone before.
For help or assistance, visit the INTERNATIONAL SUICIDE PREVENTION WIKI.
One Secret at a Time per Person
Due to the size of DAS, it is necessary to limit submissions to one secret at a time per person.
DO NOT send in more than one secret at a time.
Always wait for your current secret to be submitted to DAS before sending in your next secret. This will also ensure that your secret is submitted in the order of when it was received. DAS submits secrets in the order that they are sent, as long as they abide by DAS and dA submission rules.
Common Points to Remember
Please ensure that secrets are no more than 900 x 900 pixels, as not all of our watchers have large screens.
Secrets must also be in a .jpg, .bmp, or .png file format.
Secrets must be in a clear, easy to read text and be in English. Unfortunately we cannot accept non English secrets with an English translation in the artist's comments.
Secrets should be short and to the point - we do not need to know everything that led up to the secret or what happened after, just the secret itself. If your secret appears to be too long, you will get an email advising you of this with the request to shorten the secret and resubmit it.
If you send an email or a note to DAS with simply the secret typed in, it will not be submitted. Your secret must be in an image format and must be emailed to the address above for DAS to submit your secret. If your secret is not sent in as an image, it will not be submitted.
Although your secret may follow all the rules. if it is not "creative" enough, it may still not be accepted into the Club. Please be creative to get your secret submitted.
We would like to ask you to add or amend our email address to your contacts in your email. Once you have done that, any reply that we may need to send you hopefully won't end up in your spam or junk mail.
Repetitive Secrets
We realize that everyone wants to get their secrets out, but remember that a lot of secrets are about similar things. Before you send your secret in, have a look through other secrets and see if someone else has sent in a secret similar to your own. If there is a secret like your own, please read through the comments left in that secret and see if there is one that helps you in one way or another.
DAS will be coming down much harder on these. We get a LOT of secrets saying they are gay but dont know what to do, or that they cut themselves. Although we would love to accept all secrets, We can not add these types of secrets all the time. Be a little more creative in your word choice if you really want it added and its a repetitive.
Spelling and Grammar
As we have members from all over the globe, we DO NOT judge a secret on its spelling or the grammar. If it is a basic typo type of boo boo, we may reply letting you know, like if you type "of" instead of "off" . Those basic ones.
Artist Comment
You can add an artist comment to your secrets, but keep the comment to one or two short sentences. The artist comment should only be used to clarify a point made in the secret.
Always make it obvious in the email you send to DAS that the comment is to be added with the secret. The best way to do this is to lead the comment with "Artist Comment:" and then list the comment you want added. That way there is no confusion to the Helper submitting your secret that you wanted a comment added as well.
You can also have your secret link back to an older one, if your secret is responding to a specific one. If you want to link back to an older secret, please provide the link to that secret so the Helper can add it in the artist comment.
Do you have another idea for your secret that is not listed here? Just email DAS your idea to discuss it.
Too Long
A Secret needs to be short and to the point. From this point on a secret needs to be a max of 10 lines long or 55 words which ever comes first.
After seeing some of the secrets already sent in I will be looking into this, to see how it goes. I "may" up the lines/words. But for now, the 10 lines or 55 words max stays.
Copyright Photos
We will now only be accepting stock images from the stock accounts that are listed in the Club.
We will no longer be accepting stock images from any dA stock accounts. MUST be listed in the Club. These are the ONLY photos we will accept.
Screen-Shots
We will no longer be accepting screen-shots. This also includes those secrets sent in from iPads which are a yellow note paper type of BG. You have an iPad, use it to be creative.
Creativeness
Let's get a little more creative. The following are changes that need to be used in your secret.. ( as well as the others that have been mentioned)
When you make a secret there MUST BE ...
(Although you may follow all of the below rules, if it is still not very creative it will not be accepted into the Club. As much as we would like to accept all secrets. We have been forced to come down harder on this)
a change in font type, size, or colour (not all of the text is exactly the same; variations in the text)
a non-solid background colour
a picture/drawing needs to be in it
Poems
We will now be accepting secrets in a text format. This means you can send in a secret via email as just text ( no image needed). The poem will need to be a max of 65 words. (Yes it will be counted )
After seeing some of the secrets sent in, in a poem format, I may change the word count to a little more. DAS is still trailing how this works out.
When you send it in, please make it VERY clear it is a poem secret, Otherwise it will be declined due to not being an image. Some poems do not "look" like a poem, which is why it needs to be very clear it is.
It is best if you send these in via a file, like wordpress or something else like that, but for the time being ( no time limit on this) we will accept it sent in just in the email. But this will change in the future.
The poem needs to be your own, you can not use someone else's poem.
Replying To Emails / Not Accepted Secrets
If your secret is not accepted because the wrong format or something else very basic, we will let you know.
Other then that, we will no longer be replying to "declined" secrets.
When will your Secret be Submitted?
DAS is growing bigger and bigger every day. More and more members are joining, which means more and more secrets are emailed to us. Because of the amount of secrets being sent in, it may take a month (maybe longer depending on hw many secrets we have )for your secret to be submitted.
What to do if you can't see your Secret
1. Don't do anything unless it's been over a month.
2. Keep an eye on your email inbox in case we have replied to your email.
3. Double check our gallery to be 100% sure that your secret hasn't been submitted.
4. Check your emails again to make sure we haven't replied, making sure you also check your spam or junk mail folder.
5. If you are 100% sure that your secret has not been submitted and we haven't replied to your secret, you then need to send us an email from the account you sent the secret in from, not from a different email address.
In this email DO NOT resend your secret. Simply ask about your secret like "I sent my secret in a month ago, but it hasn't been submitted. Did you get my secret?" We will then reply to your email. Don't send in any notes telling us your email address asking to see what's going on. We never need to know your dA ID. Don't resend your secret even if you think we didn't get it. Just send an email without an attachment in it asking if we got it.
If you send in an email asking about your secret and you have attached the secret, the email will be added to the list without being looked at with all the other emails with secrets in. If you send the email without an attachment, we can clearly see that it's not an email with a secret in it, so it will be read and responded to right away.
If you send the same secret in again because you don't think we got it the first time, chances are we have already got it and will likely soon submit it. If you resend your secret, this could mean that a duplicate submission occurs, as we may not realise that it has already been submitted.
Comments
Comments will always be turned off unless the Secret Teller requests them to be turned on.
Which once again, you need to make very clear when emailing your secret in. The best way to do this is to just add at the top of your email "comments turned on please" We will then turn comments on for your secret. How ever, every once in a while we may come across a secret that asks to have the comments left on, but for some reason, we feel it is better to leave them off. This is not very common, but it does happen sometimes.
Once your secret has been added, please do not email us asking for the comments to be turned on. Once a secret has been added, it will not be edited.
Members leaving comments.
Comments should only be made to support or help a Secret Teller. There are many ways a person can do this. Please find a way to do so within our rules.
DAS is not a place to attack a Secret Tellers art skill. It is not a place to attack a Secret Teller for spilling their heart and soul. Comments like "You suck / You need to be shot / WTF kinda heartless bitch are you" are neither wanted nor needed and will be hidden and repeat offenders blocked. We have people of all ages sending secrets in from countries all over the world, all from different backgrounds. In secrets, spelling or grammar that isn't perfect is not a problem. DAS is about getting a Secret Teller's secret out, not to make them feel stupid or dumb because their spelling or grammar isn't up to your standards. You are more than welcome to comment about a person's secret, however please refrain from correcting someone's spelling or grammar.
Don't use DAS as a place to argue or chat about things unrelated to the secret. If you feel the need to discuss something unrelated to the secret with someone, note that person or leave a message on that person's page. DON'T discuss it on DAS. Let's try to keep it relevant to the Secret Teller and their secret.
If any of you come across ANY comments you feel shouldn't be there for whatever reason, please send us a note with a link to the comment you are talking about.
FAQ #14: How do I create a link to a specific comment?
Tips on giving good Comments
Read the secret, then read the secret again.
Read the artist comment (if there is one).
Stop and think about the secret.
Put yourself in the Secret Tellers shoes.
Read the secret again.
Think about what you would like to say.
Type out your comment, then read the secret again.
Read your comment again.
Would this comment upset you or make you feel bad if it was said to you? If so backspace and think more about what you would like to say.
How to comment on your own secrets
Do not leave a comment replying to people from your own account if you send the secret in.
~Secret-Teller is an account that you can use to comment on your own secrets. Please remember to read all the rules the account has. If this account is abused again it will be blacklisted from DAS.
Inspiration
Inspiration for this project was from PostSecret - the ongoing community art project where people mail in their secrets anonymously on one side of a home made postcard.
We are in no way affiliated with PostSecret but prefer to call DeviantArtSecret a spin-off project that was inspired by it. You can check out the PostSecret website here.
DAS does not reply to comments
Remember that DAS does not reply to comments, unless in exceptional circumstances. Most, if not all, communication from DAS is made through journals posted to the group.
If you have any queries or questions, please feel free to either note us or send us an email..
Questions about the new rules.
I understand a lot of you will have questions, suggestions, complaints about the new rules. As these rules are only new, we ( the DAS team) are still getting a grip of them ourselves. Some things are being trailed to see how it works out. Any questions you do have about the new rules. Please do not ask them in here, please do to THIS JOURNAL to ask them, where I will answer them as best I can.
Send your secret to DeviantArtSecretSubmit@gmail.com