Buffyverse Big Bang 2009: rules and dates
A Big Bang ficathon is for big fic. Expanding universe fic. Fic that's much longer than usual. And in the grand tradition of Big Bang ficathons, it's fic that's illustrated.
sahiya and I have been longing for a Big Bang ficathon in the Buffy and Angel fandoms for a while now, and hey! Why not just do it? Announcing the Buffyverse Big Bang 2009!
Want to cut to the chase? Writers sign up here and artists over here.
March 2009 S M Tu W Ths F S 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31
April 2009 S M Tu W Ths F S 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30
May 2009 S M Tu W Ths F S 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31
Rules
Minimum word count: 30,000
Fandoms: BtVS and AtS; crossovers welcome
WIPs: Works in progress are welcome, but we ask that your contribution to this challenge include at least 15,000 words of new material.
Co-writers: Work together with another writer? Great! Sign up together.
Artists: Want to sign up as writer and as artist? Great!
Content: No restrictions; any pairing or gen, any rating welcome.
The goal of the challenge is to promote new longer-format Buffyverse stories. Any mostly-new story longer than 30K words that gets posted on the ficathon due date is a story that meets the challenge requirements.
Key Dates
All key dates are Sundays.
Now: Writer signups open; artist signups open
Feb 15: Writer checkpoint 1
Mar 15: Writer checkpoint 2
April 12: Writer signups close; illustration drafts due; artist matchups begin
April 26: Artist signups close; all art assignments out
May 3: Artist checkpoint.
May 24: Final due date. Final stories and art due.
May 31: Stories go live on the comm.
Signing up
Writers: Your signup must include a valid email address so we can contact you with reminders. You don't need to have an LJ account, though it's required if you want to read the friend-locked comm posts. We'd like it if your signup also includes a brief description of the story you intend to write.
You can start writing at any time. Right now if you like. In fact, you'll have an easier time meeting the challenge if you start thinking about your story now.
If you're nervous about commitment, you can write on your own and wait to sign up until the very day artist matchups begin.
Writers sign up here now.
Artists: Since we'll be matching you up with a story, we need to know a little more about you. In your signup, we'll ask you about what you'd prefer to illustrate, what you'd prefer not to, and what you absolutely can't do. We'll do our best to pair you up with a story that's simpatico.
Artists sign up here now.
The Challenge Comm
The challenge community buffy_bigbang will be open for friends-locked posts throughout the duration of the challenge. You are welcome to post asking for moral support, story help, commiseration, or whatever challenge-related discussion you'd find helpful.
Writer Checkpoints
We'll ask you for a progress report two times through the main writing period. At the second checkpoint, we'll ask you for your status and current wordcount. We'll also ask for a brief story summary. Here are good goals to shoot for at each checkpoint:
checkpoint 1: 10,000 words
checkpoint 2: 20,000 words
But if your process works differently and word counts are silly, don't worry about it. Just check in and say things are going well.
If you know you're going to miss a checkpoint because of travel or some other reason, let us know in advance so we'll know not to worry about your participation in the challenge.
Illustration Draft
April 12 is when we start lining up artists for your stories.
By April 12, your story must be at least 25,000 words long, or most of the minimum challenge requirement. You should have enough of your story in place that you can hand it over to an artist or artists for illustration. The story doesn't need to be finished, but the major elements should be in place. You can't change key aspects such as main pairings or setting after this. To go with your illustration draft, you should write a brief story description for your artists, suggesting some scenes you think might be good to illustrate. (The artists can do something different if they like, though!)
This is the do or die date. You must have enough story that an artist can begin work.
Information for Artists
You can respond to the story any way you like. Photo manipulation, collage, drawing, painting, vidding: all visual media are acceptable responses.
Artist Checkpoint
We'll ask you to check in with us and tell us how you're doing. If there are any problems with your story assignment, we want to hear about them as soon as possible so we can fix things.
Final Due Date
Submit final story text and final art by this date.
We'll work out the details for valid submission formats for art when the dates get closer.