Dresden Fanwork Exchange -- Rules and Sign-ups
Rules | FAQ
Welcome to dresdenficathon, an annual fanwork exchange for the Dresden Files fandom. This is the rules and sign-up post; please review this post very closely as the structure and moderation of this ficathon has changed.
Important dates:
Signups start Monday, September 26th, and will run through Friday, October 14th at midnight US Pacific time.
Assignments will go out by Tuesday, October 18th.
The Secret Santa letter post will go up Tuesday, October 18th.
Fanworks are due on Friday, December 16th, at midnight US Pacific time.
Fanworks will be made public by dresden_mod on Wednesday, December 21st, and names will be revealed Wednesday, December 28th.
For further information, please watch this comm. Posting is only available to the mods, but it is possible to join the comm, though all information and stories will be public.
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Rules:
- You don't need a livejournal to sign up. You're welcome to sign up from DW or elsewhere using OpenID, but please be aware that all aspects of this fic exchange are being run through Livejournal and adjust your watch-list accordingly.
-When you sign up, you are agreeing to write or illustrate at least one of the requests in your assignment. The more things you are willing to write, the more options you will have in your assignment.
- Stories must be a minimum of 1000 words, but there is no upward limit; stories must be betaed prior to submission. Art must be fully completed--no drafts--and should be betaed priort to submission. Art should at minimum be 400 by 600 pixels in dimension, submitted as a GIF, JPG, TIFF, or PNG. Anything that has been drawn, illustrated, photoshopped, or manipulated would be an appropriate submission for this challenge. Icons, headers, banners, and similar items would not be accepted for this challenge. Please ask if you require clarification.
- You are welcome to produce additional fanworks for your recipient, but they are only encouraged, not required. You are only required to produce one story or piece of art for your recipient.
- You are required to indicate whether you are willing to write or illustrate television canon, book canon, or either canon. For more information on what these canons include, visit the FAQ.
-You are required to indicate whether you are willing to write or illustrate gen, het, femslash, slash, or all of the above.
- You are required to make at least two requests, and you may make up to four requests. Your request should indicate the character, characters, or pairing of interest followed by a short prompt. Please do not offer long or detailed prompts. An example would be:
[Ex.] Book canon, gen, Harry Dresden and Thomas Raith, “going shopping for curtains at Ikea.”
[Ex.] Television canon, slash, Harry Dresden/Bob the Skull, “highway to the danger zone.”
[Ex.] Book canon, het, Sigrun Gard/Hendricks, “strip poker.”
- You may not get a story or piece of art tailored to an exact prompt; it is the author or illustrator's prerogative to write to their ability. The prompt is there for inspiration, not adherence, so use them if they're helpful but don't feel obligated to if they're not.
- Alternate universes are okay, but please be cognizant of the fact that you are writing or illustrating for your recipient and not yourself.
- You may request one wildcard, i.e., one crossover or fusion scenario. This can be anything--if you want Harry Dresden to meet Eric Northman (True Blood) for a beer, ask for it. If you want Karrin Murphy and Sarah Connor (Terminator) to be sparring partners, make that optional request. However, the author/illustrator has no obligation to write the wildcard, but can choose to do so if he/she wishes. You can ask but you may not receive.
- You do not need to write or illustrate a holiday-themed story. You are not even particularly encouraged to write or illustrate a holiday-themed story, unless your recipient requests it in a Secret Santa letter, and even then, you don't have to.
- Stories MUST be at least 1000 words long. We are really serious about this; submitting a story that's under the minimum word count is disrespectful and disappointing for your recipient. If the story that you post does not meet the word count, we will consider you a dropout and assign a backup for your recipient. (Though lack of wordiness does not seem to be a problem for this fandom.) Art must be fully completed--no drafts-- and at minimum should be 400 by 600 pixels in dimension. Art should be submitted as a GIF, JPG, TIFF, or PNG. Anything that has been drawn, illustrated, photoshopped, or manipulated would be an appropriate submission for this challenge.
- Fic and art should be betaed prior to submission. Please visit the FAQ for information about beta services.
- You will be matched with at least one prompt from the items you indicated you could write or illustrate: that is, book or television canon, and whatever combination of gen, het, slash or femslash you selected. You are not guaranteed characters or pairings--remember, this is an exchange. You are writing for someone else, and the characters or pairings they have requested. Be mindful of this when you indicate what you are willing to write.
-If you absolutely cannot write/illustrate the assignment you have given, or if you need to drop out for any reason, please e-mail the mod IMMEDIATELY at dresdenmod@gmail.com so we can find a backup. To borrow from femslash09: "No-shows are frustrating for the writer/artist (who's stressing out), the reader (who doesn't get a fanwork on time, or at all), and the mod (who has to find someone else to produce the fanwork or guiltily let it go). So please, seriously, if you think you might end up flaking out (busy RL, multiple challenges, whatever), just don't sign up in the first place."
- Recipients are encouraged (but not required) to write a Secret Santa letter to their author, fleshing out their hopes and dreams and favorite things in Dresden fandom, including tropes and genres. You may also include things you do not like in your Secret Santa letter. This is an excellent tool for the authors/artists, but the authors/artists are not required to adhere to requests made in the Secret Santa letter. The author/artist only has to fulfill the assignment as they are given from the mods.
- Submission guidelines may be found at the FAQ.
- Comments and questions should be sent to dresdenmod@gmail.com or left on the FAQ post. This email account and the FAQ post are checked regularly and either is the best way to get in touch. Please read the FAQ first, to see if your question is answered there.
To sign up, fill out this form. If you have a problem with this form, please let us know immediately!
Here's a sample signup to work from:
Handle: StarsandStones
Email: starsandstones@macsbrew.com
LJ/DW/Other URL: starsandstones.livejournal.com
I will be submitting: fic.
I am willing to write in: television and book canons.
I am willing to write: gen, het, slash, femslash.
Request 1 (required): Television canon, gen, Donald Morgan, “how he got his sword.”
Request 2 (required): Book canon, slash, Harry Dresden/John Marcone, “snowed in.”
Request 3 (optional): Book canon, het, Michael Carpenter/Charity Carpenter, “testing the chain mail.”
Wildcard Request (optional): Veronica Mars, Molly Carpenter/Veronica Mars, “trading apprentice stories.”
Can you pinch hit? No.
Have you read the rules? Yes.
If you need to change your signup, please fill out the form again and leave a comment here so we know you’ve completed the form twice. You have until Friday, the 21st of October to sign up. You may also sign up here as a pinch-hitter. Pinch-hitters will be contacted via email on an as-needed basis to fill assignments as they come up.
For instructions on how to submit your story, please visit the FAQ post.
Because we're doing sign-ups through Google Forms this year, we're providing the sign-up spreadsheet responses in lieu of trawling through the comments section. Please let us know if you have any technical issues with it, or the forms themselves. Click here to see who has signed up for the 2011 Dresden Ficathon.