Discussion Post

[zulu.livejournal.com]

Hi, everybody!

We're quickly closing in on December and the third month of the challenge. At this point, there are a few issues your hard-working mods would like to bring to your attention.

How the stories will be posted.

Originally, the plan was to post all stories at once in a single archive. However, with so many epic stories available at once, the danger is reading burnout, even for the most dedicated fans. So, we would like to ask: would you prefer that we reveal the stories over a period of time, perhaps one a day until they've all been posted? Or do you still want the archive set-up?

Whether the stories go up all at once, or one at a time, all stories will have a post here in the community that links to the text itself, with the story details, summary, links to artwork, and a small excerpt to entice in readers. This will also be the link for feedback, unless the author and/or artist specifies another link they'd like to use.

How the archive will look.

Do we have any site designers in the house? We're hoping to have a banner or background that will go well with the text of the stories. There will be an index page with all the stories linked. Each story will have its own "title page", where the artists' contributions as well as the story will be linked.

If anyone is interested in volunteering their time to design our site, then please comment to this post! We realize it's a busy time of year, but there will be no commitment necessary until January or February, so if you'd like to simply indicate interest, that's fine.

If you can't complete the challenge.

Don't worry! There are no consequences! However, if you find that you probably won't be submitting your story, please let the mods know at housebigbangmods@gmail.com. We'd like to keep our contact details up to date, and this, of course, will also have an effect on the artists' portion of the challenge.

The artists' portion of the challenge.

In February, authors' summaries and completed drafts are due. At this point, authors will submit their draft to the mods as a word doc or RTF file, with all the story details (title, pairing, rating, summary, etc.) and a short excerpt included. The story details, summaries, and excerpt will be posted without the author's name attached, for our artists to choose which story they'd like to illustrate. Choices are first come, first served. After every story has an artist, artists can choose to do a second piece of art for a story that has already been chosen. Artists are then sent the full text of the story, for inspiration. Artists and authors can also choose to contact each other to discuss what kind of art the author would like; however, the final choice is up to the artist. Every story that is finished and submitted by the due date will have artwork to go with it. When the artists have made their submissions, the stories go live!

I'm an artist, but I haven't signed up! What's going on? Can I?

Definitely! The artists' sign-up post is here, and there's still time to participate! Writers can also be artists, if they wish, but please SIGN UP AS AN ARTIST, even if you've already signed up as a writer. Thanks!

Questions? Queries? Points of order?

Discuss in comments!

Comments

[theyreforrachel.livejournal.com]

I can defiantly help with the archive. I know basic formatting and can photoshop at will. :) Tell me if you need any help.

[zulu.livejournal.com]

Great! You're on my helpers-out list. Thanks.

[theyreforrachel.livejournal.com]

AWESOME.

[lookfar.livejournal.com]

I'm just a reader, not a writer, but I'd like them One a Day, like the vitamin.

[zulu.livejournal.com]

Readers' opinions are crucial in matters such as this. Duly noted!

[ignazwisdom.livejournal.com]

One a day sounds good, with the addendum that you can modify that as needed based on the number of stories that are completed. If there are a lot, posting one a day could make the posting period go on for ages; if there are less, you could even extend the time between new stories if you wanted.

[zulu.livejournal.com]

This is wise! We want to give each story the showcase-time it deserves, but we also don't want to leave authors and artists hanging forever.

[jaybee65.livejournal.com]

Posting them in stages (one a day, or maybe a few a day, depending on how many there are to go through) is a really good idea! It would certainly make it easier for me to sample them all. *g*

[zulu.livejournal.com]

I think a lot of it would really depend on the number of stories we eventually get, true. That, and how fast I and my minions can code.

[namasteyoga.livejournal.com]

How about another option? I'm writing mine in chapters, so what's wrong with posting chapters of multiple fics per day, rather than all of one fic?

[zulu.livejournal.com]

Hm, on this point I'm kind of with christ_chexx_4u, below, who says that the "big bang" point is to have all the epic, all at once. Personally, I find WIPs like that frustrating. However, that may be a minority opinion. We shall see.

[namasteyoga.livejournal.com]

I get the "big bang" concept, but with my fic, it'll still have to be chaptered, since each chapter is a different POV, and I'm writing it with the intention it'll be read that way.

I have a different question though ... is it intended that the fics will only be in the archive first? I prefer to keep mine all in one (or two, if you include ff.net) place so I can easier track comments and the like. I don't mind posting a copy in the archive, but why can't it link to our LJs as well?

[zulu.livejournal.com]

Chaptering is not a problem at all! Sections and scene breaks and such are all fine. We'd just like the whole story to be available at once.

As far as archiving goes, you will be totally free to do whatever you like with your story, post it wherever you want--your lj, ff.net, everywhere and anywhere--but we will ask that you hold off until one week after the archive goes live. The archive will be the primary place where all the stories can be together for that initial period, and we'll encourage everyone to link to the archive when it goes live, so that everyone can see the challenge stories as parts of a whole.

ETA: And the archive will link back to your lj as author, as well.

[christ-chexx-4u.livejournal.com]

i think that posting one a day kind of defeats the purpose of it being a 'big bang'. i mean even if you post one a day, its doubtful that anyones going to have the time to read 20k words a day. for me, i would love to just have this big honking archive suddenly pop up out of nowhere, and know that its there for my perusal for as much or as little time as i want to spend there.

i can also help out with the archive - i can photoshop pretty well, and i have basic html skills.

[zulu.livejournal.com]

This is a good point. We are trying to have an explosion of epics, here.

And: html skills are important! You're listed.

[oldblue.livejournal.com]

Although I love long stories, I tend to lose interest in chaptered stories that are served up over the course of weeks. I think I'd prefer to just have the whole archive at once. As far as posting only a few at time, there's the issue with stories posted during the first few days getting more attention (or less!) than those at the tail end. I can see that any differences in how 'well' a story does might potentially lead to hurt feelings if an author thought they had a bad place in line.

I don't think there's a good solution to the problem of some stories getting more attention than others because it's going to happen no matter what. Honestly, it wouldn't bother me at all if my story got no attention. I'm more excited to see the other entries.

[zulu.livejournal.com]

I agree that the stories should be posted in their entirety. And reception is a big thing. I'm wondering if I can't come up with another way to showcase each story individually, while still putting up the archive all at once. This might make for a happy medium.

[oldblue.livejournal.com]

This might end up being too much work for the coding people/graphic artists, but... Is there some way to make an eye-catching header for each story? One that incorporated some aspect of the artwork along with story details, etc? Or maybe a smaller thing, like an icon?

[oldblue.livejournal.com]

Arrgg. I always post before I'm ready.

These could by clickable, so we could have them instead of a list of story titles and artworks. Or something.

[zulu.livejournal.com]

Well, hm. That does sound like a lot of work. Right now the coding team is...*looks around hopefully*...Parrot and me. And I'm not even that skilled. If we have an archive where all the links work, I'll be pretty pleased. However! Should there be a sudden influx of volunteers, that would definitely be a way to go.

I was thinking more of putting up all the stories at once, then afterwards have a showcase day maybe once a week that talks up the merits and awesomeness of a single story.

[hwshipper.livejournal.com]

Just to say I'm in favour of all fics going up at once, and I think your idea of then subsequently showcasing individual fics is excellent. I recall there were 66 people signed up? - and even if you get half, that would still take a month if they were posted one day at a time. Also stuff will happen along the way if they're posted one at a time - if the writers strike ends we may even have new eps by then to discuss, which may disadvantage fics being put up on busier days of the week.

[zulu.livejournal.com]

Very good points, all. I am leaning towards this solution, but it's good to know where the membership stands.

[avidreadergirl.livejournal.com]

I like the idea of the whole archive going live at once, but I agree that there are going to be some brain explosions with all that lovely long fic suddenly available to read (my brain for one).

So far the idea that seems most fair is go live and than start featuring a few stories every week. You might also want to spread the joy so that you aren't featuring all Hameron or Huddy or Hilson or etc on one particular day and making people who ship specific parings brains explode and boring those who don't ship that pair/trio/whatever.

[zulu.livejournal.com]

This does seem to be the way we're leaning at this point. Thanks for your input!

[earlwyn.livejournal.com]

*wanders in, late as usual*

If you still need/want help with any of the archiving, I know basic HTML and CSS. I can't do anything very fancy with coding, but if it's more man power or making sure the page looks pretty with everything spaced and bolded and italicised in the right way, I can do that. I can also whip up things pretty quickly in Photoshop if there's a need for pretty graphics somewhere.

Also, two quick questions:

For feedback, could I set up a post on my lj to recieve comments, and then link it back to my story here/on the archive? Or is there some game of keeping authors anonymous even after artists have chosen a story?

How long should the exerpt be? Do I select it or will you/someone else at a later date?

[zulu.livejournal.com]

1. Feedback: there will be a post on the community for receiving comments, as well as your contact information--lj and/or email address--on the story on the archive. We're going to ask that people leave their story posted only to the archive for one week after it goes live; then you can crosspost wherever you like--to your journal, to other communities, to your website--as you see fit.

The anonymous part is mostly so that the artists can choose stories. The artists will then have the option of contacting the authors of the story they've chosen, in order to discuss the type of art. During that month--February 15 through March 15--the stories won't be available to the public, only to the artist. There is then a week for coders (which, thank you for volunteering--you're on the list!) to ensure that all links are working, all stories look right, etc. After this, the archive goes live.

2. Excerpt: It should be between 200 and 500 words. You choose it; it can be from any part of your story, but it should be an exciting or well-written piece, since it will be used for artist selection and also to draw in readers. Often excerpts make the most sense if they come from near the beginning of the story.

I hope this makes sense--please ask clarifying questions if not.