The minimum requirements for the exchange are in the rules post. Please make sure you've read them and understand before you submit your work. All submissions will be checked and we reserve the right to reject any submission which fails to meet the requirements. Authors: get your fics beta'd! Stories riddled with errors will be rejected.

Art

• Art must be submitted in electronic format - .gif, .png or jpg files.
• Please don't send .png files with transparency - not all web browsers display them correctly. If you've got any transparency in your images, use .gif format only.
• For any piece of art larger than icons, please include a thumbnail image no larger than 200 x 200 pixels.
• Do not include a signature or anything that identifies you as the artist in the image.*

Fiction

• Fiction can be submitted in most common, electronic formats. .txt or HTML (.htm or .html) is preferred, but .doc and .rtf are also acceptable. (Please do not use Word's new .docx format!)
• You must format your story ready for posting on LJ, that is with any bold, italic, centring etc already coded in.
• You should include the header (below) in the story file, as well as in your email.
• Do not include any fancy font formatting (that is, no coded-in colours or font styles. Heading tags are okay).

Vids

• You must supply vids in a downloadable format. A link to YouTube or similar is not acceptable.
• Preferred formats are .avi, .mov, and Mpeg (.mpg). .wmv is acceptable but we really would prefer the other three (yes, there is a reason).
• You should use a file share service such as megaupload to submit your vid to us.
• Do not include your name in the vid as an end-credit, or anything else that will identify you as the vidder.*

Header Info for ALL Submissions:

In each case, you should email your submission to summergen09 @ gmail.com (without the spaces). Include in your email the following header information:

Type of Submission: (Art, Fiction, Vid)
Title:
Author: (We'll remove this before your work is posted, but we still need you to include it.)
Recipient:
Rating:
Warnings: (not optional - see note below)
Author's Notes: (optional)
Summary: (required for fics, optional for art, vidders should state the song used here)

On warnings: Vidders and artists - here's where you let us know if your piece is safe for work. I know this is Summergen so there's not going to be any sex, but just in case anyone is using a non-worksafe song or particularly violent imagery, please do include the information. Authors, warnings are at your discretion. You are more than welcome to put "Warnings: Choose not to warn" or something similar if you prefer not to include this information. But please do include the field in your template. If your fic has nothing you feel the need to warn about, just put "none" in that field.

The summary could state the prompt you've used or could be a quote from the work if you don't like to use a regular summary. But please do include something here.

You may add additional fields to the header if you wish (e.g. fic writers may wish to include spoiler warnings), but you must include everything in the header as given above.

* No signatures on art/vids: this rule is essential as this is an anonymous gift exchange. However, once the authors/artists are revealed, if you would like us to replace your submission with a signed version, this can be arranged.

ETA: Just in case you need the reminder - submissions are due on AUGUST 1ST. If you need an extension, or if you feel unable to complete your assignment please let us know sooner rather than later, so we can arrange for a pinch-hitter. See the rules post for how to let us know.

Just in case anyone missed it last week, all prompts for spn_summergen '09 have gone out. All prompts were sent via email.

If you did not receive your prompts, or you have any problems/questions regarding them, please see pinkfinity's post here:

http://community.livejournal.com/spn_summergen/43737.html

and let us know as soon as possible.

Comments disabled on this post - please comment on the post linked above.

I've finally finished sending out all 80+ emails so please check your in-box for something from summergen09 @ gmail.com (without the spaces). At least four emails bounced, so if you did not get an email and you've checked your spam folder and still can't find it, please email us or post a comment here.

If you haven't yet read our advice for when you receive your prompts or our recommendations if you need more help check them out now.

And please, please do not email the person who you've been assigned! That would impact the anonymity of the 'fest. Feel free to read their LJ, their profile page, their fics, etc. - but if you have a question, contact us at summergen09 @ gmail.com and we will contact the recipient on your behalf, and pass her answer back to you. Yes, it's a bit awkward to do it that way, but it preserves the anonymity of the exchange. Be prepared to wait a day or two for a response.

Thanks in advance for participating! We can't wait to see the amazing creativity that will be generated by this summer's spn_summergen!

Are we excited yet???

Assignments for spn_summergen are due to go out on 1st June. So far, we're on schedule, and assignments will be emailed to you by pinkfinity on (or maybe even before - depends on your time zone) Monday. A post will be made in this community once all assignments have gone out.

We've got 85 participants this year, and with the inclusion of art and vids in the mix matching everything had its complications.

For those who signed up to offer ONLY art or ONLY vids, you're not going to have a lot of choice in your assignments because almost everyone who included an art or vid prompt only gave one. So if you are given an assignment you absolutely cannot do, you need to contact us ASAP and we'll do our best to work something out.

Everyone who offered art AND fic or vid AND fic, we have tried to match you with requests for both, so you'll have a choice. However, there were more requests for vids than offers, and more offers of art than requests, so it wasn't possible to match everyone up as perfectly as we'd like.

There are also some people taking part this year who haven't done so before (welcome!). Maybe some of you haven't done an exchange like this before. I know that, while we're all excited to receive our assignments, sometimes when we finally open that email, our first reaction is something along the lines of OMG I can't do any of these!. And then we panic. So I want to offer some tips for how to handle it if your assignment isn't as perfect and wonderful as you're hoping for :-)

( Some advice for when you receive your prompts )

( If you need more help... )

Pinch-Hitters

The Willing To Pinch-Hit post is up and will remain open until the challenge is over. If you are willing and able to pinch-hit, head on over there and sign up. You can sign up early (now!) or wait until later if you prefer. We'll post a reminder as the deadline approaches.

Essential Links:

• The Rules Post


• The FAQ


• Willing To Beta Post

I know, assignments haven't even gone out yet! But several people have said they want to pinch-hit rather than sign up in the normal way. This post is for those who want to join our pinch-hitters list.

What is a pinch-hitter? We want everyone who signed up to get a fic, art or vid in return. But sometimes people can't make their assignments. RL gets in the way, or other problems can happen, or maybe the assignment is just taking too long to complete. When that happens, we need someone to take over the assignment for the person who has had to withdraw.

Pinch-hitters are the folks who take over. They are heroes! It means being able to write or create to very tight deadlines, although we'll give you as long as we possibly can for pinch-hit requests. Pinch-hitters are the people who make sure no one goes away from this challenge disappointed. It's a lot of fun if you have the right temperament for it.

Are you willing? Sign-up below!

Note: there is absolutely no obligation when you comment here. When we have a request that needs a pinch-hitter, we'll send out a message or an email and you can claim it, or not. Signing up just gets you on the list. You can quit at any time.

To sign-up as a pinch-hitter, just comment with the following information:

Name:
How would you prefer to be contacted? email address or LJ message*
What kind of pinch-hitting can you offer? Art / Fic / Vids
What characters/genres do you prefer?

Note: If you select LJ message as a contact method please, please, please make sure your LJ settings allow messages from non-friends! Or that you have pinkfinity and myself friended. We can't PM you if you've blocked us!

And here's a handy copy/paste version:

<b>Name: </b> <b>How would you prefer to be contacted? </b>email address or LJ message <b>What kind of pinch-hitting can you offer? </b> Art / Fic / Vids <b>What characters/genres do you prefer? </b> </form></form>

One of the rules of spn_summergen is fics must be beta-read. There are lots of places you can find a beta: spn_betas is a great community, and a request for help from your friends list is also a good place to start.

But just in case an alternative is needed, this post will collect details for anyone who wants to volunteer as a beta for spn_summergen stories.

Writers, if you think you might need a beta I recommend you bookmark or track this post so you can come back here when you need to.

If you are willing to beta, please comment with the following information:

Name:
How would you prefer to be contacted? e.g. email address, LJ message, comment - your call.
What kind of help can you offer? e.g. grammar/spelling, characterisation, Brit-picking, etc.
What characters/genres do you prefer?
Any restrictions: Anything you can't or won't look at (e.g. will not read death fics)

Copy/paste from the box below into a comment:

<b>Name: </b> <b>How would you prefer to be contacted? </b> <b>What kind of help can you offer? </b> <b>What characters/genres do you prefer? </b> <b>Any restrictions: </b>

We wanted to give everyone a little more time to watch, re-watch and process the S4 finale and edit or tweak their posts - or be inspired by something from the finale and sign up. So now, you have until noon (US Eastern Daylight time) on Saturday, May 16 to sign up and/or edit your prompt.


And we'd really appreciate it if you plugged the fic exchange today and tomorrow! Let us know if there's a comm that we've missed and we'll post about it there, too.

Thanks to everyone who's signed up so far! We realized that we hadn't made the I will make art/I will make a vid portion of the offering explicit, so we went back this morning and did so.

If you've already commented on the sign-up post, please edit your post to add in the answers to the art/vidding questions, or comment to your original post (or delete your original post and make a new one). If you haven't signed up yet - and we know a lot of you are waiting for 4.22 to air first! - then just include it when you sign up, please.

Thanks so much!

ETA: Signups are now going to close on Saturday, at noon East Coast US time, to give you a little more time to process the finale.


To sign-up, leave a comment to this post using the guidelines and format below. If you don't sign up using these guidelines and this format, we're going to take it as a sign that you haven't read the rules and mock you gleefully because of it. If you'd love to write or receive a story about particular characters who are not Sam & Dean, make sure that's clear from your sign-up prompts.

About the prompts: You must provide at least three (3) story prompts, and you can provide as many as six (6) if you want to give the person you're matched with more options. At least three prompts must be for fic, but up to three additional prompts can be for vids or art.

This should go without saying, but remember all of your prompts should be shipless; requesting a pairing story for a gen fic exchange is pretty damn silly, and we will point and laugh. You may request crossovers, but please limit yourself to only one (1) crossover prompt, as those are much harder to match with willing authors.

The prompts can be as general or specific as you like, but do try to leave some leeway. Authors/artists/vidders are not required to follow the letter of the prompts to the last detail; there is always room for flexibility and interpretation, and we're certainly not going to stop somebody who has a brilliant idea from running with it. The prompts give the author ideas for what stories and topics you love, or information that will help him or her create fantastic art or graphics or a vid, so keep that in mind when you're writing them.

About the preferences: This should also go without saying, but just in case: when specifying what you prefer to write and receive, make sure those preferences are informative for this exchange. In other words, specifying that you prefer not to receive "het, rimming, incest, mpreg, BDSM and bestiality" is completely useless, because this is a gen fic exchange and nobody is going to write those things anyway, especially not when they're writing from your prompts. The idea is to give both the mods making the assignments and the author writing for you an idea what kind of story best fits you within the contest of this exchange, not within the context of every fanfic squick you've ever had.

Here's how you sign up:

Name: pinkfinity
Email: pinkfinity @ livejournal.com
Three to six prompts:
1. Pre-series story about the boys battling something evil while John is away.
2. Monsters under the bed
3. Graphics featuring the Impala
4. The boys and/or various characters swapping stories at the roadhouse.
5. The Annual Angels versus Demons softball game.
6. Smith & Wesson crossover with Bones

Scenarios and stories you'd rather not receive: Darkness and woe and bleak hopelessness. Also, stories about pickles, demon-POV stories, and plotless character studies, deathfic, extreme violence, any kind of character bashing.

Scenarios and stories you'd prefer to write: Humor, case-stories, plot-oriented stories, brotherly banter and bonding, happy endings, crack, zombies

Any crossovers you're willing to write? Dukes of Hazzard, The A-Team, My Little Ponies

Are you willing to do art? No, alas my artistic talents are minimal

Are you willing to do a vid? Yes, definitely!

See? Easy as pie. If you have any questions after reading the rules and the FAQ, drop us a line here or email us at summergen09 @ gmail.com (without the spaces). Remember, if you have a Dreamwidth account, you can comment here using OpenID and participate from that account rather than a LiveJournal account.

Have fun!

If you have any questions about this year's summergen, please comment here, and not on the sign-up post when it goes up.

We'll edit this post as needed to answer any questions/issues that come up.

( Q and A )

It's almost time! The sign-up post for this year's SPN Summergen will go up some time tomorrow.

For now, here's the boring slightly less exciting part: the obligatory rules post. If you plan to sign up, please do read this post, as things are a little different this year.

( General Rules )

( What you can create/offer )

( What you can request )

( Minimum requirements )

( If you need to withdraw )

( Schedule )

Hi, everyone! It's almost time to get rolling on another year's spn_summergen! Sign ups will open in May.

pinkfinity and myself are taking over as mods this year, and we've been talking about ways to make this year's gen-a-thon even better.

One idea we came up with was to include graphics and vids as possible offerings in the exchange. spn_summergen has always been a fic exchange, and it will remain primarily a fic-based exchange. What we're suggesting is that those who want to could request graphics (gen manips, art, icons etc.) or a vid as one or two of their prompts, and you could also offer those as your part of the exchange. There would be a minimum requirement for graphics and vids, just as there's a minimum word count for stories offered.

So, here's where we need to know what you think of this notion? Please fill out the poll and let us know. And feel free to add any further opinions in comments!

Poll #1388021 summergen09
This poll is closed.
Open to: All, detailed results viewable to: All

Would you like the option to receive graphics and/or a vid as your gift in this year's summergen?

If the option were available, would you offer graphics and/or vids for this year's summergen?

The spn_summergen fic exchange is looking for new moderators.

Both mahoni and I have moved on from the Supernatural fandom, and we will not be running the spn_summergen exchange this year. Because the challenge has produced so many excellent stories in the past, we would like to turn the community over to new moderators who are enthusiastic about continuing.

As the challenge is currently run, it's definitely a job for at least two people during the summer months. In the past we've opened sign-ups in May, so there are still a few months before anything would have to be done this year. We're happy to pass along everything we learned about facilitating the challenge (including examples of our awe-inspiring spreadsheets), as well as answer any questions you might have about the community.

Please let us know in this post (comments are screened) or send me a message at ignipes @ gmail.com if you are interested.

The author list for the 2008 spn_summergen fic exchange is available. Stories are listed in the order they were posted.

We had 68 stories this year! Thanks so much to everyone who participated, and to the pinch hitters who saved our butts.

( The list: )

Sorry for the lateness; also, I've been putting the list together in bits and pieces when I've had time, so if I missed something or made a mistake, please let me know!

The 2008 Supernatural Summer Genfic Challenge is now over. The authors' names will go up later today, and we'll also post a master list of all the stories.

Special thanks to pinkfinity for helping out with the moderating duties throughout the challenge, and also to everybody who helped out as a pinch-hitter or beta-reader. We couldn't have done it without you guys.

ETA: The names are all revealed now, so feel free to repost or pimp your story in your journal or in fic communities. Let me know if I've made any mistakes filling in the names.

Title: The World Can Always Use More Smiles
Author: ignipes
Recipient: littlealex
Rating: PG-13
Warnings: Clowns
Notes: For the prompt: Fic that takes place entirely in the Impala - can be one scene or a series thereof.
Summary: They never picked up hitchhikers. Especially not dead ones with fake rubber noses.

( 'So,' Dean said. He cleared his throat and glanced in the rear view mirror. 'You from somewhere around here?' )

Title: To Him Ascribe All Sin

Author: diva5256

Recipient: pdragon76

Rating: PG-13

Author’s Notes: I wrote for the prompts ‘Dean!whump with a side of Savior!Sam’ and ‘Do-over! Give me your rewrite of the amulet backstory’. I hope you enjoy. AU in which Bella never stole the Colt.

Disclaimer: They are Kripke’s creation – I’m just playing. One of the quotes that pervades the story comes from the same verse of the Bible as the epitaph.

Notes: A massive thanks to my truly amazing beta E. for her excellent help.

( It happens like a dream, disconnected and fast. )

Title: Drifting Off
Author: stare_at_walls
Recipient: demonphoenix
Rating: PG-13
Author's Notes: Written for spn_summergen. Prompt: The way John taught Sam and Dean to swim was by throwing them into the lake and waiting for them to start swimming, with Dean it worked, with Sam not so much.
Summary: Hunting a witch leads Dean and Sam back to their hometown. Memories lingering at the back of their heads flicker into life. They remember a whole series of things, remember how far they are from each other despite their daily physical nearness.

( The distance between Lawrence, Kansas to Tempe, Arizona takes 1858 kilometers to 2019 kilometers by road. )

Title: There Is Only This Day

Author: wellew

Recipient: silverweave

Rating: strictly PG

Author's Notes: Takes place just after Route 666

Summary: Dean and Sam stop for the night and can't seem to get themselves going again

( It's something like the mortal smell of smoke. )

Title: You Can't Stop Yourself From Falling
Author: gayeld
Recipient: kaethe
Word Count: 6500+
Prompt: A case involving a literary or mythological character.
Disclaimer: Mine. No, seriously, mine. Prove otherwise. Unless you’re Eric Kripke or, you know, the CW, Warner Bros, then, uh, my bad.
Summary: Takes place between ELAC and Bloodlust. Sam and Dean hunt a monster, have misunderstandings, drive a rental.

( Sam stood in the dusty junkyard, listening more to the sounds that weren’t there than the ones that were. )