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Fanbook Process
This entry doesn't have much to do with the pairing of the group, but I agreed to post it for anyone else attempting to make a fanbook for Valkyrie Profile.
So here are some things you need before you make the book.
Funds: this was big issue for me, as I believed that the books would pay for themselves and I could break even. WRONG. I would say have at least $100 saved up and expendable for this project. If all goes well, you may make all your money back. If not, you don't want to find yourself in the hole and the project grinding to a halt. At the very least have enough to cover the set-up costs for your book which will vary depending on the service you choose and the size of your book. For our fan book, the set-up cost was about $30.
Interest: I can't stress enough how important this is. I think only about a third of the people who said they would submit actually ended up submitting, and for some of those it was like pulling teeth to get it out of them. As a result, more than half the book is my own work. Since I can both write fanfiction draw fanart and comics myself it was no problem, but if you lack these skills then make sure you have someone reliable who can submit for you and give your book content. I would suggest having this content completed before you even open the book to submissions just so that you will know that the book has something in it even if no one else enters. Get people to commit seriously to he book before you even start the project and keep in mind that a good percentage of them will inevitably drop out. You need a good platform like a dedicated community in order to gain interest for your book. I've advertised for this fan book on deviantart and several forms, but the only submissions I received were from people in this group.
About making your book:
Topic: The broader your topic the better. For this book I allowed people to do work featuring one character or the other, not specifically the pairing in a romantic fashion. I also encouraged stories about other characters that might involve the pairing but not completely focus on them. As a result, there's a good variety of images and a large response. You don't have to be a total RuAli freak to like this book (but it helps). Like I said before, make sure you have an audience interested in the book before you start to make it.
Guidelines: I thought it would be best to be open with my time line and rules for this book, and I was woefully wrong. I was lenient with the time schedule, so damn near everybody was late, haha. Some people didn't even start until AFTER the deadline. I also allotted way too much space for submissions. I thought it would be a good idea to let fanfiction be as long as possible because a bigger book the better, but when I got five fics about 3 pages or less in length and then one massive upwards of 20-page fic, it became an issue because the book became unbalanced. What I suggest is making some rules and sticking with them. Give people time extensions if they show honest intent to finish, but don't wait around for "if" and "maybe" submissions.
About publishing your book:
Technical specs: If you don't understand the technical aspect about how to layout your book, if you don't understand DPI or what margin and bleed areas are, then study up on printing before you start your book, and feel free to email me if you want some one-on-one help. You also need to relay the information to your artists in a way they can understand.
Publishing Company: It pays to find a company that looks the other way with fan art even if it costs more because they will then handle the shipping services themselves. The service I went with allowed me to print these books, but I can't put them in their stores for people across the world to order. I have to order them myself and then send them out from my house. This is not terrible for orders inside the Unites States, but when I send books to a foreign country, the charges are crazy. Since several of our members are from outside the US/Canada, it ended up costing me a lot more than I anticipated.
Accepting Orders: #1 advice I have was something that didn't occur to me until it was actually too late. You need to ask people for their username in addition to their real name in you are going to handle the orders yourself. I have been confused all this time trying to figure out which address goes with which person. orz It's not fun.
Shipping: Make sure that you have extra cash in your bank when you go to ship the books in case it turns out to be more than you anticipated. Right now I am kind of stuck because I have no more money to ship the books until my next pay day. ^^; OH. And, international shipments need a phone number as well. I'm not sure why, but they were very specific about it when I went to the UPS.
Okay, so learn from my mistakes and go make more fanbooks! Yay!
This entry doesn't have much to do with the pairing of the group, but I agreed to post it for anyone else attempting to make a fanbook for Valkyrie Profile.
So here are some things you need before you make the book.
Funds: this was big issue for me, as I believed that the books would pay for themselves and I could break even. WRONG. I would say have at least $100 saved up and expendable for this project. If all goes well, you may make all your money back. If not, you don't want to find yourself in the hole and the project grinding to a halt. At the very least have enough to cover the set-up costs for your book which will vary depending on the service you choose and the size of your book. For our fan book, the set-up cost was about $30.
Interest: I can't stress enough how important this is. I think only about a third of the people who said they would submit actually ended up submitting, and for some of those it was like pulling teeth to get it out of them. As a result, more than half the book is my own work. Since I can both write fanfiction draw fanart and comics myself it was no problem, but if you lack these skills then make sure you have someone reliable who can submit for you and give your book content. I would suggest having this content completed before you even open the book to submissions just so that you will know that the book has something in it even if no one else enters. Get people to commit seriously to he book before you even start the project and keep in mind that a good percentage of them will inevitably drop out. You need a good platform like a dedicated community in order to gain interest for your book. I've advertised for this fan book on deviantart and several forms, but the only submissions I received were from people in this group.
About making your book:
Topic: The broader your topic the better. For this book I allowed people to do work featuring one character or the other, not specifically the pairing in a romantic fashion. I also encouraged stories about other characters that might involve the pairing but not completely focus on them. As a result, there's a good variety of images and a large response. You don't have to be a total RuAli freak to like this book (but it helps). Like I said before, make sure you have an audience interested in the book before you start to make it.
Guidelines: I thought it would be best to be open with my time line and rules for this book, and I was woefully wrong. I was lenient with the time schedule, so damn near everybody was late, haha. Some people didn't even start until AFTER the deadline. I also allotted way too much space for submissions. I thought it would be a good idea to let fanfiction be as long as possible because a bigger book the better, but when I got five fics about 3 pages or less in length and then one massive upwards of 20-page fic, it became an issue because the book became unbalanced. What I suggest is making some rules and sticking with them. Give people time extensions if they show honest intent to finish, but don't wait around for "if" and "maybe" submissions.
About publishing your book:
Technical specs: If you don't understand the technical aspect about how to layout your book, if you don't understand DPI or what margin and bleed areas are, then study up on printing before you start your book, and feel free to email me if you want some one-on-one help. You also need to relay the information to your artists in a way they can understand.
Publishing Company: It pays to find a company that looks the other way with fan art even if it costs more because they will then handle the shipping services themselves. The service I went with allowed me to print these books, but I can't put them in their stores for people across the world to order. I have to order them myself and then send them out from my house. This is not terrible for orders inside the Unites States, but when I send books to a foreign country, the charges are crazy. Since several of our members are from outside the US/Canada, it ended up costing me a lot more than I anticipated.
Accepting Orders: #1 advice I have was something that didn't occur to me until it was actually too late. You need to ask people for their username in addition to their real name in you are going to handle the orders yourself. I have been confused all this time trying to figure out which address goes with which person. orz It's not fun.
Shipping: Make sure that you have extra cash in your bank when you go to ship the books in case it turns out to be more than you anticipated. Right now I am kind of stuck because I have no more money to ship the books until my next pay day. ^^; OH. And, international shipments need a phone number as well. I'm not sure why, but they were very specific about it when I went to the UPS.
Okay, so learn from my mistakes and go make more fanbooks! Yay!
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