User:SOTO/Forum Archive/Inclusion debates/@comment-31010985-20190928203157/@comment-24894325-20191004231649

Scrooge MacDuck wrote: we do not currently have a policy that says commercial self-publishing isn't a mode of release we care about...

All our rules currently say about what counts as an "official release" is that something's officially released when it has been made available to the public in a commercial format. The 10,000 Dawns: The Book Club Collection mentioned by Borisashton and the preceding individual releases mentioned by Bwburke94 are not published commercially or in a commercial format. They are made available online for free. The rules cited support non-validity rather than validity. In fact, though I doubt it was Scrooge MacDuck's intention, his description suggests that these stories have not been "officially released".

It is important to distinguish between Arcbeatle books and the releases discussed in this thread:
 * Arcbeatle books are published commercially by various imprints of Amazon.
 * The discussed releases are distributed non-commercially by an entity that has not established itself professionally as a publisher.