And the first round is over! So, what did you think?

[jane_elliot]

The first round of the Small Fandom Big Bang Challenge has come to a close, with eight stories posted, clocking in at over 100,000 words total!  Thank you to all of the authors who participated in the challenge and to all of the volunteers for their fabulous assists!

As you are all aware, this is the first challenge for myself and the SFBB team,

Comments

[megyal]

I'm a bigbang noob, so every point within that first comment is one I don't agree with. I didn't expect art, although it would have been nice. I'm not sure if you would have found enough artists in smaller fandoms, unless you dragged some of your artist friends away and harassed them for it

[jane_elliot]

Thank you for your positive comments! I have to admit, I really needed them:)

The artwork has been and continues to be a challenge for the, uh, challenge. We're looking into options for the next round, but I think it's safe to say that we're probably not going to have artists assigned to each author, though we might give that a try next year. We will keep the check-ins, though to what degree we aren't sure. Lots of learning this time around:)

Finally, I'm thrilled that you were happy with your beta! I'm so pleased with the volunteers we had this time around and I know that they appreciate your kind words.

Thanks again for the comments!

[megyal]

I really didn't expect art, like I said, so if you include it or not the next round, it would be the same thing to me. I was thinking it would be kind of elitist to expect it, to be honest. I'm guessing that other Big Bangs have established that, as if it were some sort of prize for writing, hooray, and This Is The Way All Big Bangs Should Be. And I didn't have that impression at the start at all, that art would be submitted, but I could be wrong, I hardly pay attention to a lot of things.

Just consider that at least you have one person who was delighted with the challenge. And if you've lost at least one writer, you've kept at least one. Simple maths.

[megyal]

I don't think it's "elitist" to expect art from a big bang.

My understanding is that the term was coined to describe challenges that involve lengthy fics + art work.

It's possible my understanding is incorrect and it just means lengthy fic, but every other big bang I've seen incorporates both, which is why I assumed this one would as well.

[megyal]

It just came across as such to me in previous comments

[jane_elliot]

Whoops! I thought I replied to this earlier (too many e-mails in one day!)

We mentioned art at the beginning as something we'd like to do (though the artwork was always going to be separate from the stories -- to have them be connected would mean the authors would have to have prompts and we wouldn't even be able to start the challenge without as many artists as there were authors), but an interest poll only showed a couple of people who were thinking of participating and even they were only interested in a later challenge. So, it fell by the wayside. Someday we hope to have an art challenge, but I very much doubt it would ever be connected to the writing challenge. It just isn't logistically possible with a large number of fandoms.

Also, I like your maths:) Thank you!