ROUND 6: INFO & FAQ
Though it's been over five years since the movie came out, there are some things we just can't get over. So for anyone still out there, still invested, or just wants an excuse to work on something for the next twenty weeks or so, welcome to:
thesocialbbang round 6!
*cue fireworks*
Big thank you to the previous mod teams for being so wonderful in the past. Banner & promotional information is here.
SIGNUPS: AUTHORS | BETAS | ARTISTS
FULL SPECS
SCHEDULE | INFO | WALKTHROUGH | F.A.Q. | CODE OF CONDUCT
SCHEDULE
Dates are flexible if necessary; countdowns will be released the event progresses.
April 17 - May 15 23:59 EST: All signups (countdown)
June 10 - June 24 23:59 EST: Check-in #1
July 14: Beta claims open
July 29 - August 12 23:59 EST: Check in #2 AND fic rough drafts (75% minimum)
August 13 - August 14: Art claims
September 10 - September 24: Check #3 AND fic final drafts AND art final drafts
September 25 - October 1: Posting schedule and posting
All check-ins are mandatory. Failure to respond to a check-in will result in an assumed dropout. If the time limit provided for a particular check-in does not work for you, please let us know and we will be happy to work it out with you.
INFORMATION
AUTHORS
The minimum word count is 10,000 words. There is no upper word limit.
Co-authorship is allowed; if so, please sign up in ONE COMMENT containing signup information with all collaborating authors.
If you have a work in progress that you would like to finish and submit for this round, the only thing we ask of you is to write 10,000 words of that work for this event, no matter how long the fic is prior to it.
Works must center around any characters or actors in The Social Network (at the very least, must be told from their point of view.) Crossovers are allowed, AUs are allowed, fusions are allowed, any and all genres are allowed - just as long as it can comfortably fit under the label of being a Social Network fanfiction.
Authors are welcome to write a maximum of two stories (both at least 10k words long) for this year’s Big Bang.
All works must be beta read. If an author does not have a beta reader or would like to be assigned one, they will be able to do so by submitting their fic information during the first check-in. ( See below for more info.)
As adapted from round 5: Be good to your beta and appreciate them! Your beta is working with you, not for you. (If, of course, you have an issue with an assigned beta for any reason, please let us know and we will be happy to mediate.)
BETAS
As a general rule, as beta you check a fic for grammar, typos, half-finished sentences, plot holes, point out where characters are out of character, and so on. The beta process is different for every author/beta team, and depends on your author's needs, but, basically, you could act as your author's sounding board, quality control, and the benevolently looming presence breathing down their neck and reminding them once a week that they promised you an update. Please note that the bulk of your work as a beta will probably take place towards the end of the Bang. (adapted from Round 5)
Betas and writers are expected to discuss and make their own arrangements.
In a change from previous rounds, beta readers will not be hand-assigned; instead, they will have an opportunity to claim, much like the artists.
The beta claiming post is scheduled go up on June 25th. ( See below for more info.)
If a beta has any sort of issue, please contact us and we will do our best to work it out. If a beta must drop out, we would appreciate if they let both us and their author know. (If they cannot contact their author for whatever reason, they can let us know and we’ll inform them for them.)
ARTISTS
Any sort of art is allowed: digital, traditional (scanned), paintings (scanned, etc.), manips, fanmixes, ficmixes, collages, fanvids, and so on. If what you have in mind is not listed, feel free to contact the mod team at tsnbigbang2012@gmail.com to let us know and we’ll discuss it (and likely say yes.)
Artists may collaborate; if so, please sign up in ONE COMMENT containing signup information with all collaborating artists.
Art claims are currently scheduled to go up August 13th. ( See below for more info.)
Artists may submit multiple pieces/mediums of fanart for one fic assignment.
WALKTHROUGH
SIGN-UPS
What you'll need:
You are welcome to sign up as all three (or two, or one.)
CHECK-INS
All check-ins are mandatory and screened (not visible to the public eye.) If the time limit provided for any particular check-in does not work for you, please contact us immediately (at tsnbigbang2012@gmail.com) and we will do our best to work with your timetable.
The first check-in is for AUTHORS. It is to make sure the authors are on board and to see where they are at. We won’t require a word count or a draft, but we do hope that you have an idea for your fic by this point. This is also when the beta claiming post (for any author who needs a beta) goes up. Failure to respond to this check-in will not give you a beta, if needed.
The second check-in is for AUTHORS. It comes with a required first draft submission. It does not have to be completed, but it does have to be approximately 75% done, as the art claim post goes up as soon as this check-in is over. Failure to respond to this check-in will not give you an artist.
The third check-in is for AUTHORS and ARTISTS. It comes with a required final draft submission from authors AND artists. This is so we know the participants are finished, and we can give them a posting date. Failure to respond to this check-in will not give you a posting date.
If any author or artist does not respond to a check-in, we will assume that they have dropped out.
CLAIMING
For both rounds of claiming, authors will submit their information (the extent of which depending on the round of claiming); all will be compiled in a single post, numbered and anonymous; and the beta/artist will claim the work they would like in the comments. All comments will be screened.
Multiple rounds of claiming will occur until each fic, artist, or beta, has been assigned at least once; so a fic may have multiple artists, an artist may have multiple fics, a beta may have multiple authors, and so on. Due to this, claiming may last longer than the dates posted.
Claims are first come, first serve. If you cannot be online soon enough when claims go up, you may use a proxy. ( See here for more info.)
BETA CLAIMING: During the first check-in, authors have the option to sign up to be beta claimed, in the case that they would like to be assigned to a beta. In this, they will submit their fic information in their check-in, as well as additional information for what they may look for in a beta (American-picking, spelling/grammar/punctuation, flow, etc.) Once beta claiming is over, both author and beta will receive an email with the other’s contact information and so forth.
Please note that ALL INITIAL SIGNUPS ARE PUBLIC. If any signed up author/beta knows that they would not like to work with any signed up beta/author, please be sure to let us know via e-mail or private message (and so on) and we will factor it in come assignments. (As claims are screened, the reason for any beta not getting their first choice author will not be visibly conclusive.)
If an author does not submit their fic info, we will assume they already have a beta.
ART CLAIMING: After the second check-in, authors will have submitted their rough draft and summary of their story, as well as additional metadata necessary for artists to claim a fic. In the art claim post, artists will post a comment and list the top three stories they would like to create for. The LJ entry will be edited continuously to mark fic as claimed so artists will know which ones are available and taken.
As soon as claiming period is over, artists will be emailed confirming their assignment(s), as well as the contact information for their author. Authors will receive the same information. Authors are expected to send a draft of their fic to their artist as soon as they can, so their artist can start working.
DROPPING OUT
(adapted from Round 5)
If you, for whichever reason, find that you have to bow out, that's okay. We understand, we've all been in that position, we won't ask why or judge.
If you are an author, we'd very much appreciate it if you'd send us an email to let us know that you are dropping out so we can take you off the mailing list and won't try to contact you at the next check-in.
If you are an artist[/beta] and, come artist[/beta] claim, you find you don't want to/can't participate, simply don't claim anything. If something comes up after you've claimed a fic, we'd again very much appreciate it if you'd send us an email to let us know that you are dropping out so we can try and arrange for a pitch-hitter if needed.
SUBMITTING DRAFTS
During the second and third check-in, we require all necessary participants to submit a draft of their work.
Authors, please email your work to us as an attachment (in .rtf, .txt, .doc, .docx) during each submission period.
Artists, please email your work to us (attached .jpg or .png or .gif; track listing in message body; fanvids may be uploaded and linked to us at this time; if you are working with any other art medium, let us know and we can talk it out) during each submission time.
You will receive a confirmation email within 24 hours when we have received your submission.
POSTING
During final draft submissions, we will ask each author/artist team what dates they can/cannot post, and will assign thusly. This must be a day when both author/artist can be online.
If a team does not send us any information, we will assign assign them a posting time around other participants.
On the assigned posting date, the author or any of the artist(s) will create a masterpost for the collaboration and post it to this community. It will link to the fic and all art, wherever they are posted; if one member of team is not online at the moment, the links may be added later. A masterpost template will be given prior to posting.
Please make sure no part of the collaborative work is published before the team’s posting date. Works may be hosted anywhere - AO3, Tumblr, LJ, 8tracks, Dreamwidth, Imgur, Mediafire, Tinypic, and so on, as long as they are linked to from the masterpost.
F.A.Q.
(adapted from Round 5)
What is a Big Bang?
A Big Bang is a collaborative project between authors and artists (and, in our case, betas). Authors sign up to write long fanfiction within a predetermined time frame, and artists sign up to create art based on these stories once the drafts are done. The concept originated from the Harry/Draco Big Bang, Baby Challenge, and has since become a cross fandom phenomenon (you can read more about Big Bangs on fanlore here).
I've never written fic before, can I still participate?
Yes, but before you sign up you should think about whether or not this is the right place for you to get started. If you've never written fic before you'll have a harder time knowing your abilities and limits, and a Big Bang, even one with a minimum word count as low as ours, is still a big challenge even for experienced authors: plot and write a fic of a certain length, after a schedule, and at a quality that an artist will appreciate (because your artist is supposed to get as much out of this as you; they don't just exist to give you custom-made fanwork, they are your partner).
I won't be able to come online for [claiming], can I have someone else claim fic for me?
Yes, you can have someone act as your proxy for claiming. Please sent us an email beforehand, so we know they have the authority to claim in your name, and have them preface their claims comment with 'Claims list of [your username]' for easier assignment. Choose your proxy wisely, since there are no take-backs. We allow multiple claiming, so you stand a good chance of claiming the fic of your choice even if you can't be around the moment the claims post open for comments.
I haven't heard from my [author/artist/beta] yet.
Your [author/artist/beta] might take some time to contact you because they are not online. We understand that you want to get started as soon as possible, but give your author some time to get back to you. Try again, maybe using another platform (e.g. Tumblr) if possible. If you haven't heard anything from your [author/artist/beta] a week after claims have closed, though, please let us know, and we'll see if we can track them down.
My author found someone else to beta or dropped out.
If you'd be willing to let us reassign you to another author if their beta falls through, please let us know.
I have existing art that perfectly fits the story I claimed. May I submit it?
Sadly, no. All art must be created specifically for this challenge and this fic. It must be original and must not have been posted anywhere else.
I have a problem (with the schedule, my fic/art, my artist/author/beta/another participant, etc)!
Again, contact us. We are here to help, and we'll do everything we can to try and make this new round of the TSN Big Bang a positive experience for everybody.
I have a question that is not answered in the FAQ or schedule!
Contact us, and we'll get back to you as soon as possible!
CODE OF CONDUCT
Please be civil and respectful in your interactions! Don't call people names. Don't use hate speech. If certain themes feature in your story, that's okay (you are expected to warn for it, though), but don't use sexist, homophobic, misogynist, racist, etc. comments when talking to each other. This includes use of a certain fetishizing ship portmanteau ending with -corn that is popular with some Real Person Shippers in the TSN fandom. We understand that you use the term fondly and mean no offense, but it is given nonetheless, so please use non-problematic ship descriptors. (adapted from Round 5)
And, as is standard: Do not plagiarize or claim any aspect of anyone else's work as your own. We hope to make this round of thesocialbbang a fun enjoyable experience, for both us and you :)
thesocialbbang round 6!
*cue fireworks*
Big thank you to the previous mod teams for being so wonderful in the past. Banner & promotional information is here.
SIGNUPS: AUTHORS | BETAS | ARTISTS
FULL SPECS
- Writers will have approximately 20 weeks to write 10,000 words (or more), centered around characters or actors from The Social Network.
- Betas will have approximately 15 weeks to beta and work with their writer: cheerleading, beta-reading, and whatever else their writer might need from them. Beta claims will open roughly 5 weeks after signups close. (Betas sign up at the same time as authors.)
- Artists will have approximately 5 weeks to create any sort of art (traditional, digital, graphics, edits, fanmixes, fanvids, whatever else you can think of!) for a fic that they claim. Art claims open roughly 15 weeks after signups close. (Artists sign up at the same time as authors.)
- Subsequent check-ins are all mandatory.
- All works will eventually be posted by their creators to a posting schedule once all final drafts are submitted.
- The mod team can be contacted at tsnbigbang2012@gmail.com.
SCHEDULE | INFO | WALKTHROUGH | F.A.Q. | CODE OF CONDUCT
SCHEDULE
Dates are flexible if necessary; countdowns will be released the event progresses.
April 17 - May 15 23:59 EST: All signups (countdown)
June 10 - June 24 23:59 EST: Check-in #1
July 14: Beta claims open
July 29 - August 12 23:59 EST: Check in #2 AND fic rough drafts (75% minimum)
August 13 - August 14: Art claims
September 10 - September 24: Check #3 AND fic final drafts AND art final drafts
September 25 - October 1: Posting schedule and posting
All check-ins are mandatory. Failure to respond to a check-in will result in an assumed dropout. If the time limit provided for a particular check-in does not work for you, please let us know and we will be happy to work it out with you.
INFORMATION
AUTHORS
The minimum word count is 10,000 words. There is no upper word limit.
Co-authorship is allowed; if so, please sign up in ONE COMMENT containing signup information with all collaborating authors.
If you have a work in progress that you would like to finish and submit for this round, the only thing we ask of you is to write 10,000 words of that work for this event, no matter how long the fic is prior to it.
Works must center around any characters or actors in The Social Network (at the very least, must be told from their point of view.) Crossovers are allowed, AUs are allowed, fusions are allowed, any and all genres are allowed - just as long as it can comfortably fit under the label of being a Social Network fanfiction.
Authors are welcome to write a maximum of two stories (both at least 10k words long) for this year’s Big Bang.
All works must be beta read. If an author does not have a beta reader or would like to be assigned one, they will be able to do so by submitting their fic information during the first check-in. ( See below for more info.)
As adapted from round 5: Be good to your beta and appreciate them! Your beta is working with you, not for you. (If, of course, you have an issue with an assigned beta for any reason, please let us know and we will be happy to mediate.)
BETAS
As a general rule, as beta you check a fic for grammar, typos, half-finished sentences, plot holes, point out where characters are out of character, and so on. The beta process is different for every author/beta team, and depends on your author's needs, but, basically, you could act as your author's sounding board, quality control, and the benevolently looming presence breathing down their neck and reminding them once a week that they promised you an update. Please note that the bulk of your work as a beta will probably take place towards the end of the Bang. (adapted from Round 5)
Betas and writers are expected to discuss and make their own arrangements.
In a change from previous rounds, beta readers will not be hand-assigned; instead, they will have an opportunity to claim, much like the artists.
The beta claiming post is scheduled go up on June 25th. ( See below for more info.)
If a beta has any sort of issue, please contact us and we will do our best to work it out. If a beta must drop out, we would appreciate if they let both us and their author know. (If they cannot contact their author for whatever reason, they can let us know and we’ll inform them for them.)
ARTISTS
Any sort of art is allowed: digital, traditional (scanned), paintings (scanned, etc.), manips, fanmixes, ficmixes, collages, fanvids, and so on. If what you have in mind is not listed, feel free to contact the mod team at tsnbigbang2012@gmail.com to let us know and we’ll discuss it (and likely say yes.)
Artists may collaborate; if so, please sign up in ONE COMMENT containing signup information with all collaborating artists.
Art claims are currently scheduled to go up August 13th. ( See below for more info.)
Artists may submit multiple pieces/mediums of fanart for one fic assignment.
WALKTHROUGH
SIGN-UPS
What you'll need:
- A LiveJournal account
- A working e-mail address
- Ambition and time to tackle this! - maybe not as much as Mark Zuckerberg, but, you know, enough
- Optional (not required), but useful: Tumblr, Twitter, somewhere you can be poked!
You are welcome to sign up as all three (or two, or one.)
CHECK-INS
All check-ins are mandatory and screened (not visible to the public eye.) If the time limit provided for any particular check-in does not work for you, please contact us immediately (at tsnbigbang2012@gmail.com) and we will do our best to work with your timetable.
The first check-in is for AUTHORS. It is to make sure the authors are on board and to see where they are at. We won’t require a word count or a draft, but we do hope that you have an idea for your fic by this point. This is also when the beta claiming post (for any author who needs a beta) goes up. Failure to respond to this check-in will not give you a beta, if needed.
The second check-in is for AUTHORS. It comes with a required first draft submission. It does not have to be completed, but it does have to be approximately 75% done, as the art claim post goes up as soon as this check-in is over. Failure to respond to this check-in will not give you an artist.
The third check-in is for AUTHORS and ARTISTS. It comes with a required final draft submission from authors AND artists. This is so we know the participants are finished, and we can give them a posting date. Failure to respond to this check-in will not give you a posting date.
If any author or artist does not respond to a check-in, we will assume that they have dropped out.
CLAIMING
For both rounds of claiming, authors will submit their information (the extent of which depending on the round of claiming); all will be compiled in a single post, numbered and anonymous; and the beta/artist will claim the work they would like in the comments. All comments will be screened.
Multiple rounds of claiming will occur until each fic, artist, or beta, has been assigned at least once; so a fic may have multiple artists, an artist may have multiple fics, a beta may have multiple authors, and so on. Due to this, claiming may last longer than the dates posted.
Claims are first come, first serve. If you cannot be online soon enough when claims go up, you may use a proxy. ( See here for more info.)
BETA CLAIMING: During the first check-in, authors have the option to sign up to be beta claimed, in the case that they would like to be assigned to a beta. In this, they will submit their fic information in their check-in, as well as additional information for what they may look for in a beta (American-picking, spelling/grammar/punctuation, flow, etc.) Once beta claiming is over, both author and beta will receive an email with the other’s contact information and so forth.
Please note that ALL INITIAL SIGNUPS ARE PUBLIC. If any signed up author/beta knows that they would not like to work with any signed up beta/author, please be sure to let us know via e-mail or private message (and so on) and we will factor it in come assignments. (As claims are screened, the reason for any beta not getting their first choice author will not be visibly conclusive.)
If an author does not submit their fic info, we will assume they already have a beta.
ART CLAIMING: After the second check-in, authors will have submitted their rough draft and summary of their story, as well as additional metadata necessary for artists to claim a fic. In the art claim post, artists will post a comment and list the top three stories they would like to create for. The LJ entry will be edited continuously to mark fic as claimed so artists will know which ones are available and taken.
As soon as claiming period is over, artists will be emailed confirming their assignment(s), as well as the contact information for their author. Authors will receive the same information. Authors are expected to send a draft of their fic to their artist as soon as they can, so their artist can start working.
DROPPING OUT
(adapted from Round 5)
If you, for whichever reason, find that you have to bow out, that's okay. We understand, we've all been in that position, we won't ask why or judge.
If you are an author, we'd very much appreciate it if you'd send us an email to let us know that you are dropping out so we can take you off the mailing list and won't try to contact you at the next check-in.
If you are an artist[/beta] and, come artist[/beta] claim, you find you don't want to/can't participate, simply don't claim anything. If something comes up after you've claimed a fic, we'd again very much appreciate it if you'd send us an email to let us know that you are dropping out so we can try and arrange for a pitch-hitter if needed.
SUBMITTING DRAFTS
During the second and third check-in, we require all necessary participants to submit a draft of their work.
Authors, please email your work to us as an attachment (in .rtf, .txt, .doc, .docx) during each submission period.
Artists, please email your work to us (attached .jpg or .png or .gif; track listing in message body; fanvids may be uploaded and linked to us at this time; if you are working with any other art medium, let us know and we can talk it out) during each submission time.
You will receive a confirmation email within 24 hours when we have received your submission.
POSTING
During final draft submissions, we will ask each author/artist team what dates they can/cannot post, and will assign thusly. This must be a day when both author/artist can be online.
If a team does not send us any information, we will assign assign them a posting time around other participants.
On the assigned posting date, the author or any of the artist(s) will create a masterpost for the collaboration and post it to this community. It will link to the fic and all art, wherever they are posted; if one member of team is not online at the moment, the links may be added later. A masterpost template will be given prior to posting.
Please make sure no part of the collaborative work is published before the team’s posting date. Works may be hosted anywhere - AO3, Tumblr, LJ, 8tracks, Dreamwidth, Imgur, Mediafire, Tinypic, and so on, as long as they are linked to from the masterpost.
F.A.Q.
(adapted from Round 5)
What is a Big Bang?
A Big Bang is a collaborative project between authors and artists (and, in our case, betas). Authors sign up to write long fanfiction within a predetermined time frame, and artists sign up to create art based on these stories once the drafts are done. The concept originated from the Harry/Draco Big Bang, Baby Challenge, and has since become a cross fandom phenomenon (you can read more about Big Bangs on fanlore here).
I've never written fic before, can I still participate?
Yes, but before you sign up you should think about whether or not this is the right place for you to get started. If you've never written fic before you'll have a harder time knowing your abilities and limits, and a Big Bang, even one with a minimum word count as low as ours, is still a big challenge even for experienced authors: plot and write a fic of a certain length, after a schedule, and at a quality that an artist will appreciate (because your artist is supposed to get as much out of this as you; they don't just exist to give you custom-made fanwork, they are your partner).
I won't be able to come online for [claiming], can I have someone else claim fic for me?
Yes, you can have someone act as your proxy for claiming. Please sent us an email beforehand, so we know they have the authority to claim in your name, and have them preface their claims comment with 'Claims list of [your username]' for easier assignment. Choose your proxy wisely, since there are no take-backs. We allow multiple claiming, so you stand a good chance of claiming the fic of your choice even if you can't be around the moment the claims post open for comments.
I haven't heard from my [author/artist/beta] yet.
Your [author/artist/beta] might take some time to contact you because they are not online. We understand that you want to get started as soon as possible, but give your author some time to get back to you. Try again, maybe using another platform (e.g. Tumblr) if possible. If you haven't heard anything from your [author/artist/beta] a week after claims have closed, though, please let us know, and we'll see if we can track them down.
My author found someone else to beta or dropped out.
If you'd be willing to let us reassign you to another author if their beta falls through, please let us know.
I have existing art that perfectly fits the story I claimed. May I submit it?
Sadly, no. All art must be created specifically for this challenge and this fic. It must be original and must not have been posted anywhere else.
I have a problem (with the schedule, my fic/art, my artist/author/beta/another participant, etc)!
Again, contact us. We are here to help, and we'll do everything we can to try and make this new round of the TSN Big Bang a positive experience for everybody.
I have a question that is not answered in the FAQ or schedule!
Contact us, and we'll get back to you as soon as possible!
CODE OF CONDUCT
Please be civil and respectful in your interactions! Don't call people names. Don't use hate speech. If certain themes feature in your story, that's okay (you are expected to warn for it, though), but don't use sexist, homophobic, misogynist, racist, etc. comments when talking to each other. This includes use of a certain fetishizing ship portmanteau ending with -corn that is popular with some Real Person Shippers in the TSN fandom. We understand that you use the term fondly and mean no offense, but it is given nonetheless, so please use non-problematic ship descriptors. (adapted from Round 5)
And, as is standard: Do not plagiarize or claim any aspect of anyone else's work as your own. We hope to make this round of thesocialbbang a fun enjoyable experience, for both us and you :)