Round #4 - Winner post #1
Still waiting on one judge, but for the below categories the winner is clear.
Winner post #1
Nomination details are posted depending on the posting option selected by the nominator.
Nominators are asked to consider how much they and the nominee would be comfortable being posted at the time of nomination.
However, if there is something in this post you'd rather wasn't here - please contact mentalme85 directly by PM or email mentalme85@livejournal.com and it will be removed ASAP.
[Special mentions - where there was a clear runner-up]
Best Beta winner
Brknhalo241
Nominator selected: POST ALL
Testimonial: "She is the best of the best. She doesn't just proof-read, though she is dynamite at that. She gives chapter by chapter analysis and then a summary analysis including recommendations of what needs to be added, where to cut and how the story flows, the characterization and more. Frankly, she is one of the best editors I have ever found. She knows just how to tell you what she liked before telling you what to change in a way that makes authors eager to revise rather than disappointed that it wasn't perfect. She is phenomenal. And did I mention fast and reliable? She has beta’d nearly two million words of fiction in a year and a half!
Then there is her "beside manor" is above and beyond. She can talk an author down from a panic and lift spirits when the ego has taken a hit. She even manages to gracefully handle the dynamics of working with the very different styles and personalities of co-authors. She has also been instrumental in encouraging us to write original fiction, and editing that as well. She is part of the reason we now have a contract for an erotic fantasy novel and several more in the works. There is no way my co-authors and I would have managed to do as much or as well without her."
Reference links: She has beta'd nearly everything on my site. In a year and half of working together, she has edited 15 novels, and nearly 30 shorter works. The list of published fics can be found here on our Master List of fiction: http://slashpervert.livejournal.com/
We know she has also beta'd for other authors including fbowden and softlysweetly. Unfortunately, fbowden's fics are friends-locked.
- - -
Best Beta Special mention: snowpuppies
Contribution to Fandom winner
Beautifulfic
Nominator selected: POST ALL
Testimonial: "Asli is the most amazing person I know, and there is not a single doubt in my mind as I write that. The single link says it all; Asli is the founder and administrator of Perfect Imagination. Since its conception in 2003, Perfect Imagination has grown to be the most well-respected beta reader directory not only in the Harry Potter fandom, but more recently in all areas of writing, both fanfiction and original. Its name is synonymous with beta reading of the highest quality. Some of the largest fanfiction archives on the internet, including the likes of FictionAlley and Mugglenet Fanfiction, recommend Perfect Imagination beta readers above all else.
Asli has a truly amazing passion for producing quality fanfiction that I dare anyone to rival. As I have become more involved in the site, it has slowly dawned on me exactly how much work it takes to process the hundreds of applications and keep such a huge site running. Maintaining Perfect Imagination is a mammoth task that consumes hours upon hours of time - and still, Asli’s only wish is to continue its growth. She withstands the torture of deliberately butchering pieces for the purposes of testing, marking some truly horrendous tests, dealing with the multitudes of disgruntled failed applicants and helping them improve their skills until they eventually pass, all to reach the goal of matching authors with beta readers of the highest quality. Even with the birth of her son this year, she has continued to show an outstanding dedication to improving the world’s fiction, one "punctuation of dialogue" error at a time.
Since this nomination is for the Contribution to Fandom award, I suppose I should clearly spell out exactly what her contribution is. Asli single-handedly revolutionised beta reading in the Harry Potter fandom, and then opened the sites doors to all fandoms. She relentlessly pursued people who could tell the difference between "to" and "too" with a dogged determination that puts the rest of us to shame. She established a standard for beta reading that all submission-based archives now maintain with force. She is the ultimate queen of beta readers - and she did it all with real life and a baby. Asli deserves every single word of recognition she receives, as long as all the commas are in the right places. (I’m sorry if they’re not, As!)"
Reference links: http://www.perfectimagination.co.uk/
Marvelous Mod winner
_pinkchocolate
Nominator selected: POST ALL
Testimonial: "Annie has demonstrated exactly what it takes to be an extraordinary moderator. While I do not know her on a personal level, it is hard not to admire the effort she puts in to ensuring that everyone gains as much as possible from every community she runs. This year she has preformed two moderating duties, and these are the ldws comm and the hp_nextgen_fest fic exchange. (First and second links.)
LDWS (Last Drabble Writer Standing) is an American-Idol style drabble writing competition where authors write a weekly drabble and the least popular drabble is voted off. In previous rounds the mods had allowed the community to fall apart and the competition didn't progress beyond week three. Annie took control of the community for round four and single-handedly rescued a wonderful concept, bringing it up to scratch. With our wonderful new moderator and the organisation she brought with her, round four saw a marked change in the attitudes of everyone involved. There is a certain feeling that comes along with belonging to a great community, and Annie was most definitely the one who brought it to LDWS. To make sure that everyone kept to the spirit of the competition she enforced a more stringent set of rules, but no one ever resented her in the slightest for it; conversely, every participant truly adored her for what she had done for us.
The sheer amount of time that she put into running the competition for us staggers the mind. Every week like clockwork she posted up everything we needed - the challenge was always there exactly when promised, posts reminding us that drabbles were due, voting posts and eagerly awaited results. Not only that, but every week there were banners for the most popular drabble and the participant who had been voted off. (An example is in the third link.) Just a little thing like a banner can make a participant feel a whole new world of appreciation, and Annie went out of her way to create them every week.
The second community I wish to write of is the hp_nextgen_fest. It is your typical fic exchange in format, but once again Annie proved that the mod truly does make the entire community. Like in LDWS, she brought a sense of calm control and enthusiasm that drove everyone to put a real effort into getting their fics in on time. Most people who have ever participated in an exchange fest will understand the sheer difficulty of ensuring that everyone adheres to rules and deadlines - while maintaining your cool the entire time. But once again, Annie has proved that she is nothing short of a miracle worker, keeping the friendly face that we all love while moderating an exchange that has no loose threads.
While all of this in of itself is nothing short of amazing, the one fact we have to bear in mind beyond all else is that Annie very, very rarely receives anything in return for all the work that she puts into the two communities. I had never truly considered before writing this nomination exactly how imbalanced the give-and-take of the situation is. She is a university student, itself an extremely trying task, and yet to give so continuously and selflessly… There are very few people like Annie out there. The Harry Potter fandom is endlessly blessed by her presence."
Reference links: http://community.livejournal.com/ldws/
http://community.livejournal.com/hp_nextgen_fest/
http://community.livejournal.com/ldws/31463.html
- - -
Marvelous Mod Special mention: dr_is_in
Congratulations all :D
Winner post #1
Nomination details are posted depending on the posting option selected by the nominator.
Nominators are asked to consider how much they and the nominee would be comfortable being posted at the time of nomination.
However, if there is something in this post you'd rather wasn't here - please contact mentalme85 directly by PM or email mentalme85@livejournal.com and it will be removed ASAP.
[Special mentions - where there was a clear runner-up]
Best Beta winner
Brknhalo241
Nominator selected: POST ALL
Testimonial: "She is the best of the best. She doesn't just proof-read, though she is dynamite at that. She gives chapter by chapter analysis and then a summary analysis including recommendations of what needs to be added, where to cut and how the story flows, the characterization and more. Frankly, she is one of the best editors I have ever found. She knows just how to tell you what she liked before telling you what to change in a way that makes authors eager to revise rather than disappointed that it wasn't perfect. She is phenomenal. And did I mention fast and reliable? She has beta’d nearly two million words of fiction in a year and a half!
Then there is her "beside manor" is above and beyond. She can talk an author down from a panic and lift spirits when the ego has taken a hit. She even manages to gracefully handle the dynamics of working with the very different styles and personalities of co-authors. She has also been instrumental in encouraging us to write original fiction, and editing that as well. She is part of the reason we now have a contract for an erotic fantasy novel and several more in the works. There is no way my co-authors and I would have managed to do as much or as well without her."
Reference links: She has beta'd nearly everything on my site. In a year and half of working together, she has edited 15 novels, and nearly 30 shorter works. The list of published fics can be found here on our Master List of fiction: http://slashpervert.livejournal.com/
We know she has also beta'd for other authors including fbowden and softlysweetly. Unfortunately, fbowden's fics are friends-locked.
- - -
Best Beta Special mention: snowpuppies
Contribution to Fandom winner
Beautifulfic
Nominator selected: POST ALL
Testimonial: "Asli is the most amazing person I know, and there is not a single doubt in my mind as I write that. The single link says it all; Asli is the founder and administrator of Perfect Imagination. Since its conception in 2003, Perfect Imagination has grown to be the most well-respected beta reader directory not only in the Harry Potter fandom, but more recently in all areas of writing, both fanfiction and original. Its name is synonymous with beta reading of the highest quality. Some of the largest fanfiction archives on the internet, including the likes of FictionAlley and Mugglenet Fanfiction, recommend Perfect Imagination beta readers above all else.
Asli has a truly amazing passion for producing quality fanfiction that I dare anyone to rival. As I have become more involved in the site, it has slowly dawned on me exactly how much work it takes to process the hundreds of applications and keep such a huge site running. Maintaining Perfect Imagination is a mammoth task that consumes hours upon hours of time - and still, Asli’s only wish is to continue its growth. She withstands the torture of deliberately butchering pieces for the purposes of testing, marking some truly horrendous tests, dealing with the multitudes of disgruntled failed applicants and helping them improve their skills until they eventually pass, all to reach the goal of matching authors with beta readers of the highest quality. Even with the birth of her son this year, she has continued to show an outstanding dedication to improving the world’s fiction, one "punctuation of dialogue" error at a time.
Since this nomination is for the Contribution to Fandom award, I suppose I should clearly spell out exactly what her contribution is. Asli single-handedly revolutionised beta reading in the Harry Potter fandom, and then opened the sites doors to all fandoms. She relentlessly pursued people who could tell the difference between "to" and "too" with a dogged determination that puts the rest of us to shame. She established a standard for beta reading that all submission-based archives now maintain with force. She is the ultimate queen of beta readers - and she did it all with real life and a baby. Asli deserves every single word of recognition she receives, as long as all the commas are in the right places. (I’m sorry if they’re not, As!)"
Reference links: http://www.perfectimagination.co.uk/
Marvelous Mod winner
_pinkchocolate
Nominator selected: POST ALL
Testimonial: "Annie has demonstrated exactly what it takes to be an extraordinary moderator. While I do not know her on a personal level, it is hard not to admire the effort she puts in to ensuring that everyone gains as much as possible from every community she runs. This year she has preformed two moderating duties, and these are the ldws comm and the hp_nextgen_fest fic exchange. (First and second links.)
LDWS (Last Drabble Writer Standing) is an American-Idol style drabble writing competition where authors write a weekly drabble and the least popular drabble is voted off. In previous rounds the mods had allowed the community to fall apart and the competition didn't progress beyond week three. Annie took control of the community for round four and single-handedly rescued a wonderful concept, bringing it up to scratch. With our wonderful new moderator and the organisation she brought with her, round four saw a marked change in the attitudes of everyone involved. There is a certain feeling that comes along with belonging to a great community, and Annie was most definitely the one who brought it to LDWS. To make sure that everyone kept to the spirit of the competition she enforced a more stringent set of rules, but no one ever resented her in the slightest for it; conversely, every participant truly adored her for what she had done for us.
The sheer amount of time that she put into running the competition for us staggers the mind. Every week like clockwork she posted up everything we needed - the challenge was always there exactly when promised, posts reminding us that drabbles were due, voting posts and eagerly awaited results. Not only that, but every week there were banners for the most popular drabble and the participant who had been voted off. (An example is in the third link.) Just a little thing like a banner can make a participant feel a whole new world of appreciation, and Annie went out of her way to create them every week.
The second community I wish to write of is the hp_nextgen_fest. It is your typical fic exchange in format, but once again Annie proved that the mod truly does make the entire community. Like in LDWS, she brought a sense of calm control and enthusiasm that drove everyone to put a real effort into getting their fics in on time. Most people who have ever participated in an exchange fest will understand the sheer difficulty of ensuring that everyone adheres to rules and deadlines - while maintaining your cool the entire time. But once again, Annie has proved that she is nothing short of a miracle worker, keeping the friendly face that we all love while moderating an exchange that has no loose threads.
While all of this in of itself is nothing short of amazing, the one fact we have to bear in mind beyond all else is that Annie very, very rarely receives anything in return for all the work that she puts into the two communities. I had never truly considered before writing this nomination exactly how imbalanced the give-and-take of the situation is. She is a university student, itself an extremely trying task, and yet to give so continuously and selflessly… There are very few people like Annie out there. The Harry Potter fandom is endlessly blessed by her presence."
Reference links: http://community.livejournal.com/ldws/
http://community.livejournal.com/hp_nextgen_fest/
http://community.livejournal.com/ldws/31463.html
- - -
Marvelous Mod Special mention: dr_is_in
Congratulations all :D