Entry tags:

snupin santa 2008

Snupin Santa 2008 rules!
THIS IS NOT THE SIGN-UP POST. Do NOT post sign-up comments here. I'm just posting the rules and the sign-up template ahead of time so people will have plenty of time to decide whether they want to participate and think about what they want to ask for.

Also, I'd like to note that I won't be running Snupin Santa alone this year; I'm in the process of assembling a Mod Squad who will be in charge of handling the PR end of things; my job this year will be matching and mailing assignments, uploading gifts to the archive, and posting gift announcements. The members of M.E.S.S. (Mod Elves of Snupin Santa) will be announced later. Anyone who would like to volunteer to be a M.E.S.S. member may do so here.

SNUPIN SANTA 2008 RULES:

How This Works:
Snupin Santa 2008 is a winter holiday gift exchange, meaning if you sign up, you will receive a gift and you will be expected to give one in return. If you complete your assignment, you will get a gift in return, no matter what. I'll call on as many back-up volunteers as needed and do whatever I must myself to make certain everyone who gives will also receive. If you do not complete your assignment, you will not receive a gift.

To sign up, fill out the following template:

LJ/IJ name:
Email address:
3-5 gift requests in order of priority: (see below for details)
What medium you're willing to create: (stories, art, icons, vids, etc.)
What content you're willing to create/you'd like to receive: (kinks, secondary pairings, dark!fic, romance, etc.)
What content you aren't willing to create/don't want to receive: (squicks, secondary pairings you don't want to see, etc.)
Are you over 18?: yes/no
Have you participated in Snupin Santa before (this includes pinch hitters)? yes/no
If you're a returning participant, from whom have you received a gift in the past?

All requests must be Snape/Lupin-centric, although you may request threesomes (or moresomes) involving Snape/Lupin as well as any slash or het secondary pairings you'd like to see.

To give you an example of gift requests:
1) I'd like a set of icons featuring Person X and Person Y as Snape and Lupin.
2) I'd like art for my story, "Snape/Lupin Epic Romance".
3) I'd like a story in which Snape and Lupin go on holiday to Transylvania and meet other werewolves; submissive!Snape adored, orgy with werewolves optional but welcome.

Sign-ups will be open between August 15-22**. If you're going to be away during that week but you want to participate in the fest, please fill out the template and email it to me at snupin_santa @ yahoo.com asap. Do this ONLY if you are going to be unavailable between August 15-22.

There is no cap on the number of participants. If you sign up, you'll get to participate. This does not apply to anyone who tries to sign up after August 22, because once I start matching people and sending out assignments, it'll be too late for me to work someone else in. August 22 is the absolute last day to sign up, and any signs ups after that will not be accepted.

On August 23, I'll begin matching requests. You should receive an email containing your assignment, i.e. the person you'll be creating for and their requests, no later than August 30. You won't get to choose whom you create for, but if you absolutely can't fulfill any of your recipient's requests, let me know asap, and we'll work something out.

This is an anonymous exchange, so do not reveal whom your recipient is and do not post your gift yourself! When you've finished your gift, email it to me at snupin_santa @ yahoo.com. All gifts will be posted on the Snupin Santa archive, and gift announcements will be made on lupin_snape on IJ and LJ daily throughout December.

Do not post or archive your story/art/other gift elsewhere until after the master list of submissions has been posted and the names have all been revealed in January (date to be determined). After then, you can post/archive wherever you please, but until then, keep it a secret.

Gifts will be posted in random order. I will write down all recipients' names on a slip of paper and divide them according to whether their gift is a written or graphic medium. I'll draw one slip from each category per day so we'll have a roughly equal balance of stories and graphics being posted, assuming we have enough graphic medium gifts to allow it; if not, I'll draw from the story category twice.


For Sign-ups:
1. Do not write or draw any prompts that are not assigned to you. I realize reading through the sign-up comments will probably be tempting and inspiring, but if you take someone's request and start writing/drawing it without it having been assigned to you, it makes my job a lot harder, and it will screw things up for the Fest, so please don't do it.

2. Snupin Santa is not a smut-fest. If you want to write/draw something rated PG13 or under, that's perfectly all right. If you're under 18 and you'd like to participate, you are welcome to do so as long as you don't create or request any NC17 material.

3. Snupin Santa is a multi-media exchange, which means other media beyond stories and art are welcome! If you've been wanting a Snape/Lupin layout, this is the time to ask. If you have skills you want to share beyond writing and art, this is the place to do it. I'd like this to be a fest that a broad range of participants can share in and enjoy.

You may volunteer to create/ask to have created for you:
~a story based on a specific prompt
~artists may request a story based on one of their drawings
~art, either a new piece or one based on one of your stories or RPG scenes (you may request an illustration of the story in general or of a specific scene)
~a batch of icons (anyone volunteering to make icons should be willing to make at least 10 for their recipient's personal use)
~a LJ or website layout
~a fanvid
~an essay on the topic of your choice
~other types of graphics
~any other virtual creative endeavor you can think of

You may NOT request the following:
~art/graphics based on a story that you did not write
~art/graphics based on a RP you did not write
~a story based on art you did not create

In other words, if you didn't create it, it may not be used as a basis for a prompt.

4. Please prioritize what you want in numerical order, with #1 being your most desired choice. For example, if you want art the most, put that in the #1 slot and so on. I can't guarantee you'll get your first choice, but it will help me when trying to match requests if I know what you want most.

5. Please be specific with your requests! You don't have to outline an entire plot, but the more specific you are about what you like/don't like, the easier it will be for your writer/artist to create what you want.

6. Please only list skills that you are strong in and are prepared to use for someone else. For example, if you don't feel confident in your skills in making icons, don't say "well, I can make icons, but they'll be crappy" in your sign-up. It'll be easier for me to match people if I'm given concrete info on what they're willing and able to do.

7. If you're under 18, you must answer honestly in your sign-up comment, because I'll be checking. Underage participants are welcome, but I need to cover my own butt and make sure no one underage gives or receives NC17 material.


For Submissions:
1. Submission Format:

~Due November 1 for first time participants
~Due November 10 for return participants (including pinch hitters)
~Send story in .doc or .rtf format. NOT docx.
~Stories should be at least 1,000 words in length; there is no maximum length
~ Images and icons may be sent zipped or unzipped. All graphic gifts - art, icons, banners, etc - will be uploaded to the Snupin Santa website to preserve the anonymity of the creator
~All gifts should be sent to snupin_santa @ yahoo.com.

2. When submitting your gift, please identify your LJ name and your recipient in the email and include header info.

3. Header info should include the title of the story/art, rating, summary (if applicable), and any applicable warnings. Author notes are optional, but welcome. Please don't identify your beta readers in your header info since it might jeopardize your anonymity.

4. Tag your own HTML code for bold and italics. Do not simply bold or italicize in the document without using the code ( < i > and < b > without the spaces), because I'll send it back and ask you to include the code. I won't have time to go through the entire story and do it for you.

5. If you'd like to include an accompanying piece of music or soundtrack, feel free to send me the mp3 files or a download link to include in the post. If you send the mp3s rather than download links, you'll need to send them to scribbulusink @ gmail.com instead of the Fest address.

6. You may fulfill as many of your recipient's requests as you like, although fulfilling more than one is not required. For example, if you want to write a story and include some icons, that's perfectly fine. There is no limit on how much you can give. Artists are more than welcome to draw more than one piece.

7. If you absolutely can't finish your submission in the time between receiving your assignment and the allotted deadline, email me, and we'll work out a (short) extension. I will not give more than one extension, and I will not give lengthy extensions.

If I haven't received your submission or a request for an extension by the deadline, I'm not going to chase you down. On November 1 and November 11, I'll post a list of the participants whom I haven't heard from in lupin_snape. If I don't hear from you after I've posted the "Pointy Stick Post of Shame", you'll be dropped from the exchange, and your assignment will be given to a pinch hitter. I'll repeat if necessary with the extension deadline.

If you don't send in your assigned gift, you won't receive yours; it will be given to someone else, and you won't be allowed to participate next year. Yes, I will keep track.

8. All participants will be revealed after all gifts have been posted, including any late/back-up gifts. The master list of participants will be posted in January.


About the Archive:

In order to safeguard the stories and art from previous Snupin Santa fests, I moved to a separate archive last year. I plan to use the archive to host stories and art from the 2008 fest as well. I realize some people might not like this, but here are the benefits:

1. If you have an account at the archive, your story/art will be switched from the Snupin Santa account to your account at the end of the fest, which means you will have autonomy over your story/art at the archive, which LJ/IJ doesn't offer.

2. No comment rot.

3. After the story/art has been switched to your account, you can receive feedback notifications via email, so you'll know about comments left months after the fest is over.

4. All Snupin Santa gifts from 2005-2008 are in one place, neatly organized and easily searchable. (2006 isn't complete at the time of this posting, but I have someone working on it.)

5. Adult material automatically gets click-through warnings, so minors can't accidentally access the material.

6. The archive is protected with robot web crawler blocks, so the site itself can't be found through Googling. Links to stuff on the site are another matter, so please be careful about not linking in unprotected places. I had to turn off anonymous commenting because someone linked in an unprotected place to a piece of art on the archive, and the art got flooded with over 4000 anonymous spam comments.

7. You don't have to visit the archive to find out when new gifts have been posted in December because I will post announcements with links to the gifts on both LJ and IJ this year. You can click on the link and go straight to the new stuff.


Most importantly, let's have fun and make this a holiday season filled with Snape/Lupin-y goodness! :D

And one last thing: I would like to do what I've done at the end of the Fest both years, which was provide RL/SS icons for the exclusive use of the snupin_santa participants as a final gift for everyone involved. So if someone with icon-making ability would like to help me out, please email me at snupin_santa @ yahoo.com asap. Thanks!


Ho ho ho,
snupin_santa


**Yes, I originally said sign-ups would begin August 18, but I decided to push it up to give myself more time to do the assignment matching.