rarepair_shorts | Mod Post: Winter Exchange Fest 2016/2017

Hello everyone!

It’s that time of year again and we’re hope that you are excited for another round of the Winter Exchange fest.

This year is going to be slightly different as I am posting the signup sheet before the post. This is to allow people time to think of what gift they want to receive/give before signing up. We have also decided to add an extra two weeks writing time to help writers who are extremely busy during this time. Extensions will still be granted but on a case by case basis only.

As you know the Winter Exchange is an anonymous exchange where the mods match up requests with another participant, who then writes the requested fic. All participants receive a fic based on their request/prompt. The authors are anonymous until all the stories have been posted.

This year's timeline and basic rules:

23rd October November 2016: Sign-ups open
30th October 2016: Sign-ups close
2nd November 2016: Assignments sent out
21 December 2016: Assignments due
24 December 2016: Posting begins

As per the comm rules, only rare pairs (please see this post for excluded pairings) and fics with a rating no higher than R are allowed. Minimum word count is 500, maximum 2500 words.

Please read through this post carefully before asking questions. There is a lot of information to sift through, because everything you need to know is in this post. Be sure to read everything!

GENERAL RULES

01. Fics must be at least 500 words and no more than 2500 words pertaining to your assignment. You also have the option of breaking it down into drabble or ficlet form - you may write as many drabbles or ficlets as you wish, but the combined total number of words must be at least 500 words as well (and again, no more than 2500). Fics should be completed and should not be sequels to or continuations of a pre-existing work.

02. Fics must not be rated higher than R. Remember to please be tasteful and mindful of your recipient's wishes.

03. You may only request/write about rare pairs. What counts as a rare pair? Anything not on this list.

04. While the use of a beta is not required, it is encouraged. Please review your fics for spelling, grammar, etc.

05. Upon receiving your assignment, please reply to the email to confirm that you have received it. If at any time you find yourself struggling with your assignment, PLEASE CONTACT US! We will help sort out any problems.

06. Upon completion, send in your fics to rarepair.shorts.mod[AT]gmail.com with subject line "RPS Fic Exchange (your username)". Fics will be due by 21 December 2016.

07. Fics should be in either .doc or .rtf format, and should include all the html tags. Also include the below header:

If you've decided to go with the multiple drabble approach, then be sure to do one of these headers for each drabble, excluding the Author and Recipient lines.

08. If you need an extension, CONTACT US IMMEDIATELY. This year, we have decided that we will grant extensions that only last one week after the deadline has passed. So please keep this in mind when deciding whether or not to sign up!

09. As far as dropping out goes... we really hope that you don't, though we understand if real life gets in the way. Please don't sign up if you know you won't have the time to write a fic for your recipient. If you do drop out of the exchange, you will not receive your gift - it will be posted to the community as a gift for everyone. Additionally, if the deadline passes and we don't hear from you within two days, we will automatically assume you've dropped out, unless you've previously contacted us.

10. This is an anonymous exchange, and it will remain as such until the time of the big reveal. So, please don't post your fic anywhere until after the masterlist is posted.

SIGNING UP
This is the sheet you will use to sign up with. Please DO NOT reply to this post. The sign up post will be put up on the 23rd October 2016.

You
Name:
Email Address:
LJ name of someone you trust (and can keep a secret) that the person creating your gift can contact with questions about your preferences:
Are you willing to be a pinch-hitter if need be?:

Receiving
Top five (or so) pairings you'd like to receive:
Desired rating of your gift (up to R):
Situations, genres, prompts, things, etc., you want: Be specific!
Situations, genres, things, etc., you DON'T want: Again, it only helps to give as many details as you can. Include squicks.

Giving
Femmeslash, Het, Slash. Which of these are you willing to write?:
Highest rating you will write (up to R):
Characters and genres you can or would like to write:
Situations, ships, characters, genres, etc., you CANNOT or would NOT like to write: Include squicks.
Any additional writing strengths: (optional)

Copy the form here:

If you have any questions either reply to this post, or send us an email at rarepair.shorts.mod[AT]gmail.com and we will get back to you as soon as we can.

Anyone is welcome to join us, whether you've participated here before or not. So please spread the word to all your friends; the more, the merrier! I have also made some promo banners for the fest this year if you wanted to help promote the fest at all.