"What the Hell was I Thinking?": A Guide to Running a Fiction/Art Exchange--
A little while ago, a friend asked for some advice about how to start up/run a fiction writing exchange, and in the course of answering her, I realized that I had constructed a perfectly good guide. Now, I've seen guides for participants before, but not for those people who want to take the plunge and actually run one.
As far as my track record goes, I've been helping out with the planning and execution of lotr_sesa for the past couple years, and both myself and savageseraph run the annual sons_of_gondor Halloween exchange -- look for signups starting in July, ladies and gents! ^_~
I've also (successfully) participated in a number of holiday writing exchanges, last year being the busiest, with four exchanges completed over the course of 3 months (2 of which I was either running or helping to run), in which I wrote 9 stories. (I did 5 stocking stuffers for yuletide in addition to my main story. ^_^)
The guide I've put together here assumes a few things: that the stories are going to be hosted on LJ or another journaling service; that you, as a mod, are planning to participate; and that the exchange is in the beginning stages, and is not yet at yuletide levels in terms of participation. Little changes if you're posting the stories to a website or aren't planning to write yourself, but even so, you should be aware that's where I'm coming from here. Additionally, the larger an exchange is, the more time you need to build in to deal with defaulters and possible problems, and the more you need to crack down and hold to hard-and-fast rules. Oh, and while I use "write" primarily throughout this post, that doesn't preclude this applying to art exchanges, or writing exchanges that also incorporate artistic requests/submissions. (In fact, the sons_of_gondor exchange is open to both fiction and art. *G*)
I'm also giving you the cynical version of everything that I've encountered that has gone wrong or can go wrong, but obviously there must be something to get out of hosting an exchange, or otherwise the sons_of_gondor exchange would never have made it through the first year, and I wouldn't keep volunteering to help out at lotr_sesa. Additionally, while this guide is written very much in a do/don't do step-by-step way, that doesn't mean you can't throw all or part of it out the window. This is very much opinion- and experience-based, and does not preclude the possibilities of other approaches being as effective. Anyway...
An exchange is a really lovely thing to pull off, but at least some of the time you'll wonder why you ever wanted to do it in the first place. You should be aware that it is no picnic being on the organizational end. Yes, it's a lot of fun (in theory and sometimes in practise) to run one, but it will also be work. There are ways to mitigate that workload, but you have to be prepared to do so; it is possible to put it together and run it on your own, but you might be better off with someone(s) reliable to help, or at least someone you can vent to if/when things go wrong.
If you're extremely lucky, no one will default. If you're reasonably lucky, only one or two will, and they'll give you enough warning that you can get pinch hitters on the job in time.
PRE-EXCHANGE ORGANIZATION:
This, of course, is the fiddly bit. Typically, the longer your min. wordcount is for exchange stories, the smaller your exchange will be. Most run between 500-1000 words. More than that, and people start dropping like flies. The first year we ran the sons_of_gondor exchange, we dropped the min. wordcount from 1000 to 500 words when we realized that nobody was signing up. (There are a lot of drabblers and short-form writers in the community that seemed to be uncomfortable attempting something longer.) The funny thing is, if you set your wordcount between 500-1000, while some people will just squeak by with that, you'll get a bunch of people writing longer stories. We've had sons_of_gondor submissions that were upwards of 3000, and we probably wouldn't have managed to snag those people if we'd pushed the min. wordcount any higher. The trick is to set the bar at a level that people look at and think, "Yeah, I can do that."
Additionally, be familiar with when other similar exchanges run, on and off LJ. It's a good idea to try not to overlap other exchanges that may impact the number of people participating. That's why sons_of_gondor holds the exchange over Halloween, and why (as I understand it) slashababy recently moved their dates to have the reveal over New Year's instead of the Dec. holidays. The sons_of_gondor exchange is set up to attract a pool of writers/artists that overlap with those who participate in lotr_sesa, slashababy and a few other LotR FPF and RPF exchanges that take place around the same time of year, as well as yuletide, because the sheer size of it guarantees that a lot of our "regulars" are probably involved in it too. Therefore, it is in our best interests to set the exchange a little earlier in the year, and while that means we have to deal with Northern Hemisphere summer vacations (and thus the possibility that people won't be home when signups open), it also means that we can catch some of the same audience that will be participating in other exchanges over the winter holidays.
I would say you want to give your participants a solid month minimum for writing. 6 to 8 weeks is better. There isn't much to add to that. It's about making sure that participants have enough time to write something decent, head potential scheduling problems off at the pass, and still not so long that participants completely forget they've signed up to write at all.
Make sure you have clear rules about things like requesting, submitting, defaulting and commenting. People will still blatantly screw up, but it helps in the discussions that follow to be able to point at the guidelines and say, "It's right there in b&w." Additionally, some exchanges screen the requests, and some do not. I figure screening makes it easier to hide who is writing for whom, since nobody sees the requests but the mods (which may be an advantage in an exchange in which everyone knows everyone else), but it also has the side-effect of not allowing those requesting to get a good sense of how to fill out a request form, because they have nothing to refer to. It might be a good idea, if you go the screened route, to have an example of how to fill out the form in the signup post.
My suggestion, as far as structuring requests goes, is to make sure you're guiding people towards providing a little bit of structure for their requests, but not so much that the writer has no room to breathe. ("Anything," is an incredibly hard request to write to, but so is, "And I want Legolas/Aragorn, set during the Feast of the Leaves, where Legolas proposes to Aragorn under the mallorn trees, and then they run away and have babies with eyes of blue-green." [Sidenote: There is nothing wrong with enjoying that pairing or premise, but it doesn't leave much room for a writer to construct a story. It crosses the line from "request" to "paint-by-numbers."] Instead, you want to guide requesters towards something along the lines of preferred pairings, kinks, general tone, and maybe small prompts, like, "I've always enjoyed Pre-Quest stories," or "Stories set in Gondor or Rohan make me happy," or really any guidance that isn't step-by-step write-me-this-story.)
Don't allow people to focus on what they don't like, as that'll bog down requests and cause writers to freeze up when they see the list of 'don't's is longer than the list of 'do's'. However, it's a good idea to have some sense of what people won't write/draw, as much as what they will. This'll allow you to pair a writer with a request that is more likely to fit them and less likely to turn into a gigantic mess. This is also the time to gather your pinch-hitters. Don't wait until later; make sure that people are signing up to help out should something go wrong alongside signing up to write. Also make sure you require a valid email address, as you'll need more than just LJ commenting to get in touch with your writers, especially if they don't cough up their story on time.
Have a good timeline in place that, above all else, works for you. Since you are doing the lion's share of work, you need to make sure you're building in enough room for you to deal with anything that might come up without your back ending up against the wall. I talk about it later in this post, but building in a good 7 days (minimum) between story submission and story reveal is probably very wise, because you'll need the time to complete the last leg of the exchange without killing yourself over it. You have to be prepared for the worst (fandom-wise) to happen, and that's what that week is for.
Advertise your exchange. Check with various community mods that it's ok not only to post once with a signup notice, but a couple times afterward with updates. Don't just send in the initial announcement to newsletters like middleearthnews; send in updates, notices that the deadline is looming, etc. People remember best when repetition is involved.
Remind people on a regular basis that the exchange is coming up. That signups are open. That they're about to close. That the deadline is coming. That it has passed. Do this in both friendly comms (where you have obtained permission to do so) and your own journal, the latter because you can post more often to your LJ than you can to all the other comms/newsletters. I guarantee there's a Friend of yours somewhere who is dithering on signing up, then forgets entirely, and will need the constant/final reminder. You'll start to feel like a nag, but unless you're doing it every single day, you're well within the bounds of making sure word gets out. (Me, I remind people I know might be interested individually, too. If you do this, however, you must be prepared to gracefully accept 'no's as well; you have to be careful not to push or make your Friends uncomfortable.)
Most of your signups will be in the last 48-24 hours. Do not panic. If you haven't received any signups by the midpoint, then it might be time for more reminders, but I guarantee, the bulk of your participants will show up around the same time that you're worrying you don't have enough people to make this work. If in the end you have three people, then that's enough to run.
Frankly, most of the pre-exchange work is simply having a good, clear set of guidelines, and sending out a lot of reminders. The largest problem at this stage will be pairing up writers with requests. This can be as complicated or simple as you like. Both of the exchanges I help out with, however, slide towards complicated.
It's easiest to not worry about anything past the requests themselves, and to simply ignore all other factors. You then find the best writer/request fit, and that's that. Send out the emails, and have done with it. However (and OMG, I am using "however" far too much in this post), the sons_of_gondor exchange takes into account a couple other factors:
As a result, I'm going to defer to her here and share (with permission) the advice on matchups she provided to the same friend I mentioned at the beginning of this post:
DURING THE EXCHANGE:
As people get their assignments, everything will settle right down. There will be a period of blissful silence in which, at most, you'll be called on to answer the odd question or two, usually about formatting, or the possibility of a beta. Do send out confirmations to the writers that you have received their stories as they come in. This'll keep your own records up to date, and reassure everyone that they have completed their end of the bargain.
This lovely lull in activity will trick you into believing the hardest part is over. It's a great feeling. However, as the deadline approaches and the stories start to roll in, the stress level will rise as you start to worry about...
Defaulting:
Your biggest potential problem as the deadline approaches is defaulters. The smaller the exchange is, and the more people you actually personally know that are involved, the less likely you'll have defaulters at all; it's much easier to default if you don't actually know the organizers. (On the same token, as nice as it is to be assured of the reliability of people, you still want those numbers up, and you want to make sure you have a pool to draw from and some variety.) However, you have to be prepared for the eventuality that you will get defaulters right up until the last moment, and that there will be no one to pinch hit for you. You have to be ready for the possibility that you will have to step in and write. Chances are that won't happen, but still, the last thing you want happening is someone being left without a story when the reveal happens.
Your best bet, in order to give yourself some breathing space, to make sure you're sitting in a reasonably comfortable position and, if you need to, to make sure you have the time to format the stories before posting (depending on your choices re: posting) is to factor in about 7 days between deadline and story reveal. (More for bigger exchanges or reveal dates that coincide with your own personal/offline obligations.) Any less, and you're going to be crunched up against a wall. A couple things may happen at this point:
Formatting:
No matter how many times you explain to people what sort of file format you need, someone will send you something else. This is why it might be simpler to set the comm to moderate new posts, and let the writers post their own stories. If you decide to go the other route of submission by email, decide in advance whether incorrect formatting and files will be sent back with instructions as to how to properly submit, or if you, yourself, will muddle through fixing the formatting. (The latter is what sons_of_gondor did last year, and as the formatting go-to-girl, it caused me a great deal of pain and frustration.) My suggestion is to insist on txt files, no SmartQuotes, no fancy formatting, and as much of the basic html already in place as possible. (Do make it clear that participants do not need to put in html line or paragraph breaks, however, because LJ will both put in the breaks itself and follow the html prompts, resulting in a lot of space between paragraphs.)
Additionally, if you do go the moderated-comm route, be aware that if you are listed as maintainer/moderator, your posts will go right through the queue without being held, so you're going to have to post your own story for the first time at the same time that you're approving all the posts that actually have been held.
THE REVEAL:
Once the stories are posted, everything settles down again. You might want to keep an eye on the stories themselves, however, and you may need to post a reminder that all participants need to make sure they thank their writer. Likewise, you might want to remind the writers, if the stories are currently anonymous, not to reply to feedback until after the name reveal. It's also a good idea, if you're posting for participants, to suggest they use the LJ tagging function (the thumbtack at the top of posts) to track their story and receive comments from it.
If you go the route in which the stories are anonymous for a short period of time, you might want to encourage people to guess in the comments to a post in the comm. This is simply to generate buzz, and I've found it has variable results. Lots of people will go, "Umm... no idea," and leave it at that. It's a superfluous step, so it's really at your discretion. Skipping this step doesn't change anything about the exchange.
Do make sure to post to the comm announcing that the stories have been posted/authors have been revealed. There will be a sudden flurry of activity as people filter back in and crow about knowing who wrote what, or in which the writers will start answering comments.
Do make sure to announce in other arenas that the stories have been posted, for those people who weren't quite following along. Typically, we announce the reveal in sons_of_gondor, in our LJs, and in middleearthnews, providing not only the announcement that the reveal has happened, but also a list of stories with ratings/pairings/summaries. Usually we don't post the list until after the writers' names have been announced, however, since that makes the whole thing a little easier than having to go back and edit one more thing. Followup ensures that you're setting down the structure for the next exchange, since people who passed on it this year may read the stories, think, "Oh, that looks like fun," and then may consider actually signing up the next time around.
THE AFTERMATH:
Give yourself a couple days break before you rehash the details of the exchange, whether it was a success/failure (and really, as long as some people exchanged stories, enjoyed themselves, and nothing blew up, it's a success), whether you want to do it again, and what you might want to do differently. You'll need this time to relax, unwind, and get some perspective, as you may find yourself (physically/emotionally/mentally) exhausted immediately post-exchange. This is why it's important to have someone you can vent to with impunity, and someone who is also invested in running the exchange. I can't even conceive of doing it alone.
During the sons_of_gondor exchange, savageseraph's there to do the parts I can't -- she answers emails, sends out confirmations, and does the bulk of the matchups (because I get confused and flail and waste hours and hours on something that takes her far less time; instead, she walks me through it, I bring up a couple concerns, and she shuffles people around a little more until it all makes sense) -- while I take care of a lot of the "face-time" and formatting -- I untangle the files, communicate with the defaulters/those who want extensions, and advertise the exchange across communities. Make note of what you, personally, did well/had trouble with/enjoyed most about the process so that you can fine-tune it and reduce your stress levels the next time.
Some people will also have the presence of mind to thank you for running the exchange. They will be gold, and will make a lot of the work you put into the whole thing worth it. Focus on them instead of on anyone who takes issue with how the exchange runs. (Constructive, polite criticism is more than reasonable, rudeness and whining when things don't go someone's way/there is a miscommunication is not.) Be aware that if you run an exchange often enough, eventually someone will take issue with something about it. It's simply the law of averages at work; don't take it personally.
Anyway, that's everything I can think of at this point. There's probably more, but I'm out of ideas just now, so... happy exchange-running, and good luck! ^_^
As far as my track record goes, I've been helping out with the planning and execution of lotr_sesa for the past couple years, and both myself and savageseraph run the annual sons_of_gondor Halloween exchange -- look for signups starting in July, ladies and gents! ^_~
I've also (successfully) participated in a number of holiday writing exchanges, last year being the busiest, with four exchanges completed over the course of 3 months (2 of which I was either running or helping to run), in which I wrote 9 stories. (I did 5 stocking stuffers for yuletide in addition to my main story. ^_^)
The guide I've put together here assumes a few things: that the stories are going to be hosted on LJ or another journaling service; that you, as a mod, are planning to participate; and that the exchange is in the beginning stages, and is not yet at yuletide levels in terms of participation. Little changes if you're posting the stories to a website or aren't planning to write yourself, but even so, you should be aware that's where I'm coming from here. Additionally, the larger an exchange is, the more time you need to build in to deal with defaulters and possible problems, and the more you need to crack down and hold to hard-and-fast rules. Oh, and while I use "write" primarily throughout this post, that doesn't preclude this applying to art exchanges, or writing exchanges that also incorporate artistic requests/submissions. (In fact, the sons_of_gondor exchange is open to both fiction and art. *G*)
I'm also giving you the cynical version of everything that I've encountered that has gone wrong or can go wrong, but obviously there must be something to get out of hosting an exchange, or otherwise the sons_of_gondor exchange would never have made it through the first year, and I wouldn't keep volunteering to help out at lotr_sesa. Additionally, while this guide is written very much in a do/don't do step-by-step way, that doesn't mean you can't throw all or part of it out the window. This is very much opinion- and experience-based, and does not preclude the possibilities of other approaches being as effective. Anyway...
An exchange is a really lovely thing to pull off, but at least some of the time you'll wonder why you ever wanted to do it in the first place. You should be aware that it is no picnic being on the organizational end. Yes, it's a lot of fun (in theory and sometimes in practise) to run one, but it will also be work. There are ways to mitigate that workload, but you have to be prepared to do so; it is possible to put it together and run it on your own, but you might be better off with someone(s) reliable to help, or at least someone you can vent to if/when things go wrong.
If you're extremely lucky, no one will default. If you're reasonably lucky, only one or two will, and they'll give you enough warning that you can get pinch hitters on the job in time.
PRE-EXCHANGE ORGANIZATION:
This, of course, is the fiddly bit. Typically, the longer your min. wordcount is for exchange stories, the smaller your exchange will be. Most run between 500-1000 words. More than that, and people start dropping like flies. The first year we ran the sons_of_gondor exchange, we dropped the min. wordcount from 1000 to 500 words when we realized that nobody was signing up. (There are a lot of drabblers and short-form writers in the community that seemed to be uncomfortable attempting something longer.) The funny thing is, if you set your wordcount between 500-1000, while some people will just squeak by with that, you'll get a bunch of people writing longer stories. We've had sons_of_gondor submissions that were upwards of 3000, and we probably wouldn't have managed to snag those people if we'd pushed the min. wordcount any higher. The trick is to set the bar at a level that people look at and think, "Yeah, I can do that."
Additionally, be familiar with when other similar exchanges run, on and off LJ. It's a good idea to try not to overlap other exchanges that may impact the number of people participating. That's why sons_of_gondor holds the exchange over Halloween, and why (as I understand it) slashababy recently moved their dates to have the reveal over New Year's instead of the Dec. holidays. The sons_of_gondor exchange is set up to attract a pool of writers/artists that overlap with those who participate in lotr_sesa, slashababy and a few other LotR FPF and RPF exchanges that take place around the same time of year, as well as yuletide, because the sheer size of it guarantees that a lot of our "regulars" are probably involved in it too. Therefore, it is in our best interests to set the exchange a little earlier in the year, and while that means we have to deal with Northern Hemisphere summer vacations (and thus the possibility that people won't be home when signups open), it also means that we can catch some of the same audience that will be participating in other exchanges over the winter holidays.
I would say you want to give your participants a solid month minimum for writing. 6 to 8 weeks is better. There isn't much to add to that. It's about making sure that participants have enough time to write something decent, head potential scheduling problems off at the pass, and still not so long that participants completely forget they've signed up to write at all.
Make sure you have clear rules about things like requesting, submitting, defaulting and commenting. People will still blatantly screw up, but it helps in the discussions that follow to be able to point at the guidelines and say, "It's right there in b&w." Additionally, some exchanges screen the requests, and some do not. I figure screening makes it easier to hide who is writing for whom, since nobody sees the requests but the mods (which may be an advantage in an exchange in which everyone knows everyone else), but it also has the side-effect of not allowing those requesting to get a good sense of how to fill out a request form, because they have nothing to refer to. It might be a good idea, if you go the screened route, to have an example of how to fill out the form in the signup post.
My suggestion, as far as structuring requests goes, is to make sure you're guiding people towards providing a little bit of structure for their requests, but not so much that the writer has no room to breathe. ("Anything," is an incredibly hard request to write to, but so is, "And I want Legolas/Aragorn, set during the Feast of the Leaves, where Legolas proposes to Aragorn under the mallorn trees, and then they run away and have babies with eyes of blue-green." [Sidenote: There is nothing wrong with enjoying that pairing or premise, but it doesn't leave much room for a writer to construct a story. It crosses the line from "request" to "paint-by-numbers."] Instead, you want to guide requesters towards something along the lines of preferred pairings, kinks, general tone, and maybe small prompts, like, "I've always enjoyed Pre-Quest stories," or "Stories set in Gondor or Rohan make me happy," or really any guidance that isn't step-by-step write-me-this-story.)
Don't allow people to focus on what they don't like, as that'll bog down requests and cause writers to freeze up when they see the list of 'don't's is longer than the list of 'do's'. However, it's a good idea to have some sense of what people won't write/draw, as much as what they will. This'll allow you to pair a writer with a request that is more likely to fit them and less likely to turn into a gigantic mess. This is also the time to gather your pinch-hitters. Don't wait until later; make sure that people are signing up to help out should something go wrong alongside signing up to write. Also make sure you require a valid email address, as you'll need more than just LJ commenting to get in touch with your writers, especially if they don't cough up their story on time.
Have a good timeline in place that, above all else, works for you. Since you are doing the lion's share of work, you need to make sure you're building in enough room for you to deal with anything that might come up without your back ending up against the wall. I talk about it later in this post, but building in a good 7 days (minimum) between story submission and story reveal is probably very wise, because you'll need the time to complete the last leg of the exchange without killing yourself over it. You have to be prepared for the worst (fandom-wise) to happen, and that's what that week is for.
Advertise your exchange. Check with various community mods that it's ok not only to post once with a signup notice, but a couple times afterward with updates. Don't just send in the initial announcement to newsletters like middleearthnews; send in updates, notices that the deadline is looming, etc. People remember best when repetition is involved.
Remind people on a regular basis that the exchange is coming up. That signups are open. That they're about to close. That the deadline is coming. That it has passed. Do this in both friendly comms (where you have obtained permission to do so) and your own journal, the latter because you can post more often to your LJ than you can to all the other comms/newsletters. I guarantee there's a Friend of yours somewhere who is dithering on signing up, then forgets entirely, and will need the constant/final reminder. You'll start to feel like a nag, but unless you're doing it every single day, you're well within the bounds of making sure word gets out. (Me, I remind people I know might be interested individually, too. If you do this, however, you must be prepared to gracefully accept 'no's as well; you have to be careful not to push or make your Friends uncomfortable.)
Most of your signups will be in the last 48-24 hours. Do not panic. If you haven't received any signups by the midpoint, then it might be time for more reminders, but I guarantee, the bulk of your participants will show up around the same time that you're worrying you don't have enough people to make this work. If in the end you have three people, then that's enough to run.
Frankly, most of the pre-exchange work is simply having a good, clear set of guidelines, and sending out a lot of reminders. The largest problem at this stage will be pairing up writers with requests. This can be as complicated or simple as you like. Both of the exchanges I help out with, however, slide towards complicated.
It's easiest to not worry about anything past the requests themselves, and to simply ignore all other factors. You then find the best writer/request fit, and that's that. Send out the emails, and have done with it. However (and OMG, I am using "however" far too much in this post), the sons_of_gondor exchange takes into account a couple other factors:
- 1. We try to avoid cross-matching, where Person A and Person B simply end up writing for each other. If there's no other reasonable matches, then sometimes you have to do that, but 9 times out of 10, the reason A and B have such close-matching requests is because they know each other, and are, in fact, fast friends. The reason we avoid this scenario is because there's less surprise/excitement in a 1-to-1 swap. A and B become a closed-system instead of involved in a larger exchange.
2. We try to avoid pairing up known quantities, where friends are writing for each other. That means if we know C and D are fast friends, then we try to get C writing for E and D writing for F. This is tough to pull off in a close community, because everyone knows everyone else, so in this situation it's more making sure co-writers aren't writing for each other, or betas aren't writing for the people they beta, etc., etc. This is a hit-and-miss game, since sometimes you just can't know who knows who, and you have to simply go on your best guess. You will not be right 100% of the time. The point of doing this is basically that C and D are probably writing for each other all the time/on a regular basis, so setting them up to write for someone else allows them to do something new and different than they'd usually be exposed to. Sometimes, you simply will not be able to avoid this scenario, no matter how hard you try.
3. Additionally, the mods are always taking hits for the team. If there's a request that nobody else can write, it usually goes to a mod. Be prepared to write to requests that are far beyond your usual purview. (I wrote Faramir/Gimli two years ago as a result, and it was a fascinating exercise, and in the end, a rather fun challenge.)
4. Alongside the other factors that complicate the process for us at sons_of_gondor is that we try not to give repeat participants requests from the same people they wrote for the year before. I imagine this is a finite thing, because somewhere down the line, if you have enough repeat participants, someone is going to get the same person over again, but I think it's better to not have back-to-back exchanges in which people get the same recipients as the previous year. In fact, I'd say this consideration trumps the rest, including the "best friends" guideline.
As a result, I'm going to defer to her here and share (with permission) the advice on matchups she provided to the same friend I mentioned at the beginning of this post:
- "It's always a nice idea to suggest that people include several requests when they apply. That makes it much easier to match up than if they are more restrictive.
"First off, you will not make everyone happy or find great fits for everyone. Accept this before you even start. It's just not possible to pull off, so don't worry about trying. Honestly, most people will fall in line if you're reasonably close. After all, part of the fun of the exchanges is the challenge and improvising on a theme.
"Second, if you are lucky enough to have people who will write 'anything', make note of them. You might need them for some of the 'odder' requests. Start with those odd requests...They will be the hardest to match up.
"Once you have those people settled, just move through the list one at a time, and make preliminary assignments. It's best to take the advice they give you when taking a psychological or personality test: don't over think and agonize over each choice. Just match people up. Get the whole list done. Then, go back, make any changes you feel necessary, and then you're done."
DURING THE EXCHANGE:
As people get their assignments, everything will settle right down. There will be a period of blissful silence in which, at most, you'll be called on to answer the odd question or two, usually about formatting, or the possibility of a beta. Do send out confirmations to the writers that you have received their stories as they come in. This'll keep your own records up to date, and reassure everyone that they have completed their end of the bargain.
This lovely lull in activity will trick you into believing the hardest part is over. It's a great feeling. However, as the deadline approaches and the stories start to roll in, the stress level will rise as you start to worry about...
Defaulting:
Your biggest potential problem as the deadline approaches is defaulters. The smaller the exchange is, and the more people you actually personally know that are involved, the less likely you'll have defaulters at all; it's much easier to default if you don't actually know the organizers. (On the same token, as nice as it is to be assured of the reliability of people, you still want those numbers up, and you want to make sure you have a pool to draw from and some variety.) However, you have to be prepared for the eventuality that you will get defaulters right up until the last moment, and that there will be no one to pinch hit for you. You have to be ready for the possibility that you will have to step in and write. Chances are that won't happen, but still, the last thing you want happening is someone being left without a story when the reveal happens.
Your best bet, in order to give yourself some breathing space, to make sure you're sitting in a reasonably comfortable position and, if you need to, to make sure you have the time to format the stories before posting (depending on your choices re: posting) is to factor in about 7 days between deadline and story reveal. (More for bigger exchanges or reveal dates that coincide with your own personal/offline obligations.) Any less, and you're going to be crunched up against a wall. A couple things may happen at this point:
- 1. Everyone will submit by deadline, or a couple minutes after deadline. Count your lucky stars, because this is never a sure thing.
2. Someone will ask for an extension. This is tricky, because now you're faced with having to consider a few things:
- - If you're running with a very strict deadline policy (yuletide, for instance, is a "No Extensions for Any Reason" exchange, which is fair, given how large they are) then there will be no room for extensions, and you'll have to inform the person who asked that they have defaulted. You'll need to state this clearly and loudly upfront if there are no extensions; someone, however, will ask anyway. In every step of the process, you need to be firm on your decisions, and firm in communicating them. I'm not advocating being abrupt, short or gruff, just make it clear that when a decision has been made by a mod, there's no room for debate. This'll cut down on the amount of potential arguing you have to do.
- If you are comfortable giving an extension, DO NOT give them the full 7 days. Tell them they can have anywhere from 3-4 days at most. It's imperative that you maintain that extra time pre-story reveal, because the more extensions they ask for, the less likely it is they'll deliver.
- There are two types of people that ask for extensions: those that actually will deliver, and those that are simply delaying the inevitable. Know the difference. This will make it easier to predict a particular outcome and recover. A lot of this will be based on personal experience. People you do not personally know will always be at more danger of pulling out silently than those you do know; this is because you have the weight of friendship behind you to both motivate your friends to finish successfully, and to make it easier to remind them/hold them to their word. At the same time, friendship is rife for exploitation; some friends may simply think that because they know the organizers, they can push the deadline with no ill-effects, the ulcers they are giving to the organizers be damned. Be aware of this possibility up front, and be ready to firmly but calmly put your foot down.
4. Someone will default but not bother to tell you. This is why you need a hard and fast deadline. When the deadline for submission is past, you need to start sending out emails to the defaulters informing them that you have not received any communication from them regarding their story, and therefore you must consider them defaulters. Include a clear explanation of what consequences come with defaulting. (For sons_of_gondor, there are a few consequences: if you have had a story written for you by someone else, your name will be stripped from the story, and we decide on a case-by-case basis whether you will be barred from future exchanges.) It is possible that suddenly some of these defaulters will answer their notification, insisting that they have already submitted, at which point you can ask them to resubmit, if you are so inclined. Give them a firm, short deadline for that as well, as there is the faint possibility that this is a bid to gain an extension without asking for one.
Formatting:
No matter how many times you explain to people what sort of file format you need, someone will send you something else. This is why it might be simpler to set the comm to moderate new posts, and let the writers post their own stories. If you decide to go the other route of submission by email, decide in advance whether incorrect formatting and files will be sent back with instructions as to how to properly submit, or if you, yourself, will muddle through fixing the formatting. (The latter is what sons_of_gondor did last year, and as the formatting go-to-girl, it caused me a great deal of pain and frustration.) My suggestion is to insist on txt files, no SmartQuotes, no fancy formatting, and as much of the basic html already in place as possible. (Do make it clear that participants do not need to put in html line or paragraph breaks, however, because LJ will both put in the breaks itself and follow the html prompts, resulting in a lot of space between paragraphs.)
Additionally, if you do go the moderated-comm route, be aware that if you are listed as maintainer/moderator, your posts will go right through the queue without being held, so you're going to have to post your own story for the first time at the same time that you're approving all the posts that actually have been held.
THE REVEAL:
Once the stories are posted, everything settles down again. You might want to keep an eye on the stories themselves, however, and you may need to post a reminder that all participants need to make sure they thank their writer. Likewise, you might want to remind the writers, if the stories are currently anonymous, not to reply to feedback until after the name reveal. It's also a good idea, if you're posting for participants, to suggest they use the LJ tagging function (the thumbtack at the top of posts) to track their story and receive comments from it.
If you go the route in which the stories are anonymous for a short period of time, you might want to encourage people to guess in the comments to a post in the comm. This is simply to generate buzz, and I've found it has variable results. Lots of people will go, "Umm... no idea," and leave it at that. It's a superfluous step, so it's really at your discretion. Skipping this step doesn't change anything about the exchange.
Do make sure to post to the comm announcing that the stories have been posted/authors have been revealed. There will be a sudden flurry of activity as people filter back in and crow about knowing who wrote what, or in which the writers will start answering comments.
Do make sure to announce in other arenas that the stories have been posted, for those people who weren't quite following along. Typically, we announce the reveal in sons_of_gondor, in our LJs, and in middleearthnews, providing not only the announcement that the reveal has happened, but also a list of stories with ratings/pairings/summaries. Usually we don't post the list until after the writers' names have been announced, however, since that makes the whole thing a little easier than having to go back and edit one more thing. Followup ensures that you're setting down the structure for the next exchange, since people who passed on it this year may read the stories, think, "Oh, that looks like fun," and then may consider actually signing up the next time around.
THE AFTERMATH:
Give yourself a couple days break before you rehash the details of the exchange, whether it was a success/failure (and really, as long as some people exchanged stories, enjoyed themselves, and nothing blew up, it's a success), whether you want to do it again, and what you might want to do differently. You'll need this time to relax, unwind, and get some perspective, as you may find yourself (physically/emotionally/mentally) exhausted immediately post-exchange. This is why it's important to have someone you can vent to with impunity, and someone who is also invested in running the exchange. I can't even conceive of doing it alone.
During the sons_of_gondor exchange, savageseraph's there to do the parts I can't -- she answers emails, sends out confirmations, and does the bulk of the matchups (because I get confused and flail and waste hours and hours on something that takes her far less time; instead, she walks me through it, I bring up a couple concerns, and she shuffles people around a little more until it all makes sense) -- while I take care of a lot of the "face-time" and formatting -- I untangle the files, communicate with the defaulters/those who want extensions, and advertise the exchange across communities. Make note of what you, personally, did well/had trouble with/enjoyed most about the process so that you can fine-tune it and reduce your stress levels the next time.
Some people will also have the presence of mind to thank you for running the exchange. They will be gold, and will make a lot of the work you put into the whole thing worth it. Focus on them instead of on anyone who takes issue with how the exchange runs. (Constructive, polite criticism is more than reasonable, rudeness and whining when things don't go someone's way/there is a miscommunication is not.) Be aware that if you run an exchange often enough, eventually someone will take issue with something about it. It's simply the law of averages at work; don't take it personally.
Anyway, that's everything I can think of at this point. There's probably more, but I'm out of ideas just now, so... happy exchange-running, and good luck! ^_^