Welcome to Bandom Big Bang 2014

[bbb_mod]

Welcome to Bandom Big Bang 2014!

Please give a round of applause for your newest mod team: akamine_chan, glitteryv, romantical, dapatty, chimneythunder, happilyappled and wenchpixie.

Hello everyone! We hope you are ready for this round of Bandom Big Bang.

This year we're not focusing on making any big changes, but instead we're trying to find ways to increase participation in all aspects of the challenge. So please help us out by spreading the word (we have some nifty banners for signal boosting). We want to make this an awesome year for Bandom Big Bang.

Much of this post is cribbed from last year (thanks, awesome past mods!), but there are some new things we've brought for this year's round. Please read the entire post if you are interested in participating in Bandom Big Bang 2014.


The bandombigbang Challenge

Create long fics paired with artwork and/or a fanmix! (We would love to guarantee both art and mixes for all stories, but that is wholly dependant on the participation of artists and mixers. We do guarantee that every story will have either art or a mix.)

Alternatively, record and upload a podfic of a Bandom story longer than 10k words that fits the rules of our challenge, or a 2012 or 2013 bandombigbang fic for the listening public's enjoyment! Podfics will be paired with either cover art or a mix - again, we cannot guarantee both.

There will be minimum requirements for all participants and all types of media. Some mediums also have maximum limits; please read the relevant section for details.

The Bands

The list of bands is based on:

• a survey of the bands written about in fics submitted for the previous years of Bandom Big Bang;
• a survey of bands currently being written about in fics submitted to places like bandslashmania, angelsandkings, no_tags and bandom_meme;
• bands that might be new to the scene but have strong connections to other listed bands and a growing presence in fandom.

Please note: we are not defining what qualifies as bandom. We are defining what this challenge encompasses, so that we can try to ensure that summaries will get claimed for mixes, art, or podfic.

Therefore, without further ado: the core focus of your fic must be someone who currently is or was at any point in one of the bandom bands listed below.

My Chemical Romance, Fall Out Boy, Panic! At The Disco, The Academy Is..., Cobra Starship, The Like, Mindless Self Indulgence, The Used, Gym Class Heroes, Empires, Death Spells, or the video universes, spouses, significant others, or close associates of any of these bands.

That means that the focus of your fic (i.e., your POV character and/or 50% of your pairing) should come from one of these bands, their videos, their significant others, or their close associates (i.e., tour managers, BFFs, buddies that star in their music videos, etc.). In addition, as this is an RPF fandom, we will not permit original characters as the focus of a fic or in the primary pairing. So Gabe/Ke$ha and Gabe/Pete/Ke$ha would be allowed, but Gabe/OFC would not be allowed.

Please be aware that writing rare pairings may mean that your summary is claimed later in the process. Artists and mixers have a limited amount of time to create work based on your story, and that process is easier if they are already familiar with the characters.

If you are still confused or have questions about what bands qualify for the challenge, please e-mail the mods at bandombigbang@gmail.com. Comments on this post should be reserved for questions about the other rules of the challenge.


Warnings

bandombigbang is dedicated to inclusiveness, and part of that is community-wide, required warnings for all submitted pieces, posts, and comments. This is not optional or up for discussion. You will receive one warning and a chance to edit or delete the material in dispute before you will be disqualified from the challenge.

The list of mandatory warnings includes but is not limited to: rape/non-con, dub-con, incest, character death, suicide, self-harm, graphic violence, sexual content with a child (defined for our purposes as any person under 16 years old), eating disorders, addiction, abuse (including child and domestic).

The mods reserve the right to require more warnings should the need arise. Also, please do not feel limited by this selection of warnings; more detailed and nuanced warnings will always be appreciated by your mods and your potential readers.

(Of course, you may choose to do without warnings in your own space, such as on a journaling site or AO3. We merely require warnings in all community spaces.)

Timeline

Wave One: Fic, 20,000 words
Signups for writers, art, and mixes open: January 31st
Signups for writers close: April 16th
(Signups for artists and mixers will remain open until the final draft date)
Draft due: May 16th June 16th
Summaries for artist and mixer claims go up: May 17th June 17th
Check-in for artists and mixers: June 10th July 10th
Final fics, art, and mixes due: June 20th July 20th
Posting: June 23rd - June 28th July 23rd - July 28th

Wave Two: Podfic
Poll for podfic permission goes up: January 25th
Signups for podfic open: January 31st
(Signups for artists and mixers will remain open until the final draft date)
Tentative podfic choice due : February 26
Final podfic choice due: March 12
Check-in for podficcers: May 30th
Podfics eligible for art or mixing go up: May 31st
Check-in for art and mixers: July 15th
Final recordings, art, and mixes due: July 25th
Posting: July 28th - August 2nd

Wave Three: Fic, 10,000 words
Signups for writers, art, and mixes open: January 31st
Signups for writers close: June 25th
(Signups for artists and mixers will remain open until the final draft date)
Draft due: July 25th
Summaries for artist and mixer claims go up: July 26th
Check-in for artists and mixers: August 19th
Final fics, art, and mixes due: August 29th
Posting: September 1st - September 6th

(Note: the timeline is also on Google Calendar and can be accessed via HTML, iCal, and XML.)

Information for Writers

1. At draft time, stories must meet the minimum word requirement for your wave. Stories may be a rough draft, but must have a complete beginning, middle, and end, with at least an outline or sketch of all the intermittent scenes. That is, your mixer and artist should have enough material to work with to create works for you! (Please note: we will be using Microsoft Word to check.) Drafts that do not meet the word count or are too incomplete to create art and mixes from will be disqualified.
2. All drafts must have the required warnings. We will be checking, and any reports from artists or mixers of missing warnings will be taken seriously.
3. Stories must be created for this challenge. If you have a question about a fic that has already been partially not!ficced or comment ficced, please e-mail bandombigbang@gmail.com with details so we may discuss it with you.
4. Drafts must be turned in with a summary for the artist and mixer claim posts. This is not necessarily the summary that will be posted with your fic; rather, it is your only chance to entice artists and mixers to claim your fic. Therefore, summaries for claiming should be longer and more detailed than posting summaries--for example, they often give away plot elements. Short, uninformative summaries are often picked last or not at all. For ideas, please see previous claims posts.
5. During sign-ups, writers will be asked if they are open to collaborating with their mixers/artists. This is opt-in and in no way guarantees that your mixer or artist will want to collaborate.
6. Closer to the final draft due date, we will put up a call for posting date blackouts. If you have an issue with certain posting dates, that will be the time to leave a comment or e-mail us about it.

Information for Mixers

1. Mixes must include 12-20 songs.
2. Mixes must be turned in with a track list. The track list can be either in the body of your e-mail or attached as a text file. (You may also zip it along with your mix.)
3. Mixes must be uploaded either as a .zip or .rar file. If you want to also upload individual tracks, that's fine, but there must be a compressed archive.
4. Mixes should be uploaded to a site that will host the mix for the duration of the challenge. Acceptable sites include mediafire.com, dropbox.com, sendspace.com, box.com, mega.co.nz, mirrorcreator.com, and localhostr.com, but feel free to use another public or private site. Additionally, you may choose to upload your mix and make it available as a stream at sites like 8tracks.com.
5. Your mix should be diverse--we want to encourage musical exploration! Therefore, bandom songs will be restricted to 2 bandom songs per mix, preferably not singles.
6. You may only claim another summary for mixing a) when your first mix has been submitted to and approved by the mods and b) more than 48 hours after the opening of claims. We want to give people a chance to claim a fic!
7. Double and triple claiming of summaries will only happen after EVERY summary has been claimed once. We want to ensure that all fics have one mix before others have two. It’s okay to step out of your comfort zone! You may end up finding a story you love.
8. This year claims will be limited to five summaries per person. We appreciate that you are all excited to create mixes for our writers, but we don't want you to rush!

Information for Artists

1. Art is impossible to quantify, but we do ask that any submitted work is of equivalent effort to the other contributions to the challenge.
2. Art is a broad and varied category, but we want to be able to see your work! If you don't use a digital medium, please submit high quality photographs or scans so your writer can display it with the fic. Previous works have included crafts, drawings, paintings, digital art, and sculpture, but don't let that limit you!
3. You may only claim another summary for art a) when your first art piece has been submitted and approved by the mods and b) more than 48 hours after the opening of claims. We want to give people a chance to claim a summary!
4. Double and triple claiming of summaries will only happen after EVERY fic has been claimed once. We want to ensure that all fics have at least one piece of art before others have two. It’s okay to step out of your comfort zone! You may end up finding a story you love.
5. This year claims will be limited to five summaries per person. We appreciate that you are all excited to create art for our writers, but we don't want you to rush!

Information for Podficcers

1. Any Bandom fic longer than 10k words that meets the story requirements will be eligible to be podficced. When sign-ups open, we will make available a list of authors from the 2012 and 2013 rounds of Bandom Big Bang who either have a blanket permission to podfic statement or have answered "yes to podfic" in our poll. If a podficcer chooses a story that wasn't part of the 2012 or 2013 rounds of Bandom Big Bang, they will be responsible for obtaining permission from the author if they are not on the blanket permission list.
2. Podfics must be created specifically for this challenge.
3. If a podfic is uploaded in more than one file (e.g., 3 mp3s), it must be in a .zip or .rar file.
4. Podfics should be uploaded to a site that will host the file for the duration of the challenge. Acceptable sites include mediafire.com, dropbox.com, box.com, sendspace.com, mega.co.nz, mirrorcreator.com, and localhostr.com, but feel free to use another public or private site.
5. You may only claim another fic for recording after a) at least a rough draft of your podfic is submitted and approved by the mods and b) more than 48 hours after the opening of claims. (A screencap of the exported file in iTunes or the raw file in your recording software will be sufficient as proof of a rough draft.)
6. Feel free to make your primary post at any publicly accessible site, including but not limited to AO3, Dreamwidth, or Livejournal. You will simply post a header and link to the main challenge comm.
7. Podfics are required to follow the previously stated mandatory warning rule. We also recommend podficcers consider additional warnings for audio triggers (e.g., sudden loud or high pitched noises). Please feel free to e-mail us at bandombigbang@gmail.com if you have a question on this issue.
8. Podfics that are at least 50% done or 1 hour completed by May 30th, will be eligible for claiming for art and mixing. Podfics ineligible for mix/art claiming are still welcome to post in July.

Community Support

The mods will be hosting encouragement and venting sessions throughout the creation period. Brainstorming, productivity sprinting, and other forms of accountability will be available for those who need it. Additionally, there will also be a "beta needed/available" post after each wave's writer signups close.

Frequently Asked Questions

But wait, I don't have a Dreamwidth account!
No problem, friend! Dreamwidth supports OpenID. Check out What is an OpenID account? and How do I comment using OpenID? for more information on leaving comments for signups and claims. However, to post to the community you must either have a DW account or email the mods your post and we will gladly post for you. (If you do want to switch to DW, check out A guide to Dreamwidth for LiveJournal users!)

Okay, but how do I keep up with the challenge?
We are not cross-posting anything to LiveJournal. There is a RSS feed that you can follow from LJ. Just friend the account bbb_dreamwidth and anything posted to the bandombigbang community will show up on your LiveJournal friends page. Remember, we also have a Twitter bandombigbang and a Tumblr bandombb that we use for announcements.

HELP HELP, $DueDate IS THE SAME DAY AS MY WEDDING/MY DAY IN COURT/THREE FINAL EXAMS/FAMILY ROAD TRIP
You can turn things in early! Otherwise, e-mail us at bandombigbang@gmail.com as soon as you know that you have a conflict so we can talk to you.

Can I participate in more than one area of the challenge?
Certainly! However, you may not claim your own fic for mixing or illustrating. Also, please be careful not to overextend yourself! Pinch-hitters are difficult to find!

Can I write with a co-writer?
Absolutely. The word count minimum is still the same for each fic submitted.

Can I write more than one Big Bang?
Sure, brave soul! You may sign up as many times as you like, for both or either wave, with or without co-authors. For the sake of the mods’ stress levels, please sign up in separate comments for every fic you plan to submit.

Can I write a sequel to a previously posted Big Bang?
Yes! As long as it is one of your own Big Bangs and the sequel is not posted elsewhere. (That is, please do not write a sequel to somebody else's story.)

Can I write a sequel to a non-challenge fic?
Sequels/prequels/companion fics to a non-challenge fic is acceptable under the following conditions:

• the original/inspirational fic is your own
• the original/inspirational fic is bandom-centric
• the fic submitted for Bandom Big Bang 2014 stands on its own (no cliffhangers, "to be continued," or "the thrilling conclusion of this trilogy will be posted later"!)
• there is a link to the original/inspiration fic in the header of your final draft post.

Do I get confirmation that I have been accepted into the challenge?
No. If your sign up comment shows on the sign up post, you are signed up! You will, however, receive a confirmation e-mail when we receive your fic draft.

Can I opt out of receiving art or a mix for my story?
No, you may not, as that is a central premise of Bandom Big Bang.

Can I opt out of my story being podficced?
Yes, you may. Podfics are opt-in.

Can I post my own graphics with my story? / My friend made me some art/a mix/a podfic to go with my story! Can I post that with my fic to the comm?
Please don't. We want to make sure our Bandom Big Bang participants receive their moment in the spotlight. Please don't include links to non-challenge extras in posts made to the community. We also request that you wait at least a week before posting non-challenge extras to your own journal.

Can my art be included in the body of the fic? Can I contact my writer to collaborate with them on my art/mix?
If your writer is comfortable with it, yes. The fic summaries will indicate whether or not the writer is interested in collaborating. We will hook the two of you up if that's what you want. We ask that art still get a separate post for art feedback, however, because everyone loves feedback. :)

I claimed a fic but haven't gotten my e-mail yet! How long will it take before I get my draft and get to work?
We're working on it. Claiming time is a very intense and fast process but we want to work carefully and make sure everyone gets the draft they signed up for! We will comment to confirm your claim (or, sadly, ask you to pick another) or if there is a problem with your e-mail address. Otherwise, please wait at least 24 hours before e-mailing us to ask about your claimed draft.

WHERE IS MY MIX/ART/POSTING DATE???
Deep breaths! There are dozens of writers, mixers, and artists, and we don’t want to confuse everyone. We are also trying to ensure that authors are scheduled to post at a time when they are actually capable of posting. In general, posting e-mails go out in order of posting dates. Please add bandombigbang@gmail.com to your spam white list and watch the community for updates. We will tell you when posting dates have all been sent out. Then and only then, you may e-mail us if your posting e-mail is still missing.

Can I post my Big Bang friends-locked?
No. All Big Bangs must be accessible to the general public. Headers must be posted at the bandombigbang community and link back to the fic.

Can I host my Bandom Big Bang off DW?
Yes, you may! So long as the fic, art, mix, and any other materials are not behind some sort of wall. Headers must be posted at the bandombigbang community and link back to the fic. (For ideas on how to use AO3 for the Bandom Big Bang challenge, check the AO3 Big Bang Challenge tag! We highly recommend tagging fics there with bandombigbang, so people can find them easily. :) )

Who posts the mix(es) and art piece(s) created for each fic?
This year we are leaving it up to the creators to figure out how they want to post their fanworks. You may choose to have the writer post all of the materials on their account, or each creator may post their fanwork to their personal space. Our only requirements are that there be a master list of links posted to community on your assigned day, that none of the entries are locked, and there are links from the art/mixes to the story and vice versa.

My question isn't answered here. How do I contact you IMMEDIATELY??
First of all, please make sure bandombigbang@gmail.com is on your spam whitelist before the challenge begins! This will help make things run more smoothly. :) If you are waiting on an e-mail from us, please double check your spam folder before contacting us. If you still need to contact us, we will only reply to e-mails sent to bandombigbang@gmail.com. Please do not contact mods at their personal journals, tumblrs, or twitters for official business.

Remember, mods are people too. Though we've made every effort to ensure the e-mail account is being monitored at all times, life happens. Also note that abusive e-mails and messages will only get you gleefully banned from Bandom Big Bang 2014. :)

$DisastrousLifeEvent or $Writer'sBlock has occurred and I need to drop out :(
We're very sorry to hear that! We understand, though. C'est la vie and all that. We won't be mad, but please e-mail us ASAP. Pinch hitters are difficult to find and it takes time to create the art or mixes that authors deserve! We truly promise that all we want is for participants to communicate with us.

• If you have not yet submitted a draft: don't. Authors that do not submit drafts are, by default, drop outs (but they are free to participate in other/later challenges).
• If you submitted a draft and your story is as yet UNCLAIMED and you must drop out: no harm, no foul. E-mail us and we will remove your summary from the claims post.
• If you submitted a draft and your story is CLAIMED: assuming your mixer and artist have finished or want to finish, their work will be posted by the mods during the posting period without your fic.
• If you are on our list of people that have left previous mod teams in the lurch, you will not be eligible to claim a summary until double claiming opens.

---

Okay! This is all the information we have for you at this time. If you have any questions, comments, or concerns about the challenge, please leave a comment! We'll do our best to answer as quickly as possible.

Sign-ups open next week. See you then!

Comments

[ailis_fictive]

The bit that is baffling me slightly is the tentative-choice Feb 26th, final-choice March 12th part of this year's dates and how it plays in to "at lest a rough draft of your [first?] podfic" before you can claim a second story--I need a rough draft on one in by March 12th in order to have two official choices/claims? Or if I finish one draft before May 30th I can start on a second? Just trying to play by the rules while taking advantage of the fact that I am much more productive when I have actual deadlines.

Thanks!

[bbb_mod]

No, you need to have a rough draft of your podfic done by May 30th before you can start on a second podfic. The tentative-choice and final-choice deadlines are just early check-in points for those who aren't comfortable with repods. \o/