Posting Guidelines

[fic_in_a_box_mod]

Due to all the mediums options in the exchange, some of them will require you to add some information to your top author's note to ensure that we don't miss anything when tallying your amount!

All requested information should be posted in the top author's note, except for sourced images which can go in either author's note. You can remove everything but image sources from the note shortly before reveals if desired, but please don't do so until we give the all clear in an announcement.

For the ones where we ask you to self report amounts, we will still check to make sure it seems about right.

Mixed Media

• If you are mixing multiple medium tags and/or fic within the same work, put what mediums and the amounts per medium if relevant.

Multiple Works in the Same Work on AO3

• If you have multiple fics/other in the same work, please put a list of the works including wordcount or medium in the top author's note of the first chapter.
• (We'd prefer you only post connected fills together, except in cases like drabble collections)
• Do not gift anything to multiple recips.

Any submission that includes CC images, images from your canon, or art you did not draw yourself

• Please source any not-made-by-you images that you use (these won't count towards minimums but can be used as supplementary media).

Spoken Audio formats

• For any spoken audio formats that have a wordcount equivalent, we need to verify the wordcount!
• For audio works based on pre-existing text (eg, podfic of the recip's fic) please provide a link to the source.
• For audio works not based on pre-existing text (eg, you wrote something new or created it without a script) please provide a transcript, along with wordcount if the information isn't on AO3. (That is, if you're just pasting the transcript into AO3 under your embedded or linked audio, that's fine; if you're giving us a link to a pastebin then please tell us how many words exactly. We will spot-check in the later case.)

Images containing words that are counted for wordcount

• If you've posted an image containing words that count for wordcount and haven't posted a text-only version of those words to go with it, please provide the wordcount.

Works that include Photos/Manips

• Photos and manips will not count towards your wordcount in any cases, but can be used as supplementary material to enhance the main submission.
• All media (including photos) must be created by the person posting the work, be part of a collaboration we were informed of, be from the official canon, be properly credited images used with permission, or be properly credited CC licensed images. You should credit these in one of the authors notes on your work.

Poetry

• Please state in your author's note or a tag what style of poem you wrote.

Music that follows poetry rules

• Please either provide lyrics or let us know in the authors note how many lines you used and/or what style of poetry

Twine

• Put in your author's note the wordcount of the fic you wrote. (We will still eyeball this to make sure it seems right)
• Separately, you can report complicated code for + 500. We're considering anything beyond basic forward movement on branching paths to be "complicated".

Animatics

• Please let us know how many "frames" are in the animatic (with frames being loosely defined as images that may or may not share the same background/scene but have differing foreground positions)

AO3 Based Fanfic Exchange

• You will have to post something to fulfill the assignment on the back end and provide a jumping-off point for your recip; if you're uncertain what you should/can post while complying with the AO3 ToS, please feel free to drop us a line!
• Report wordcount for anything written.
• Please note that if there are any gifts made for the fake exchange, they will only count towards your wordcount if they also fill a recip's request by themselves. (This is to prevent a rather large fandom/pairing requirement loohole.)
• If there are any gifts on AO3 that need to be revealed, you'll need to either briefly make one of the FIAB mods a mod of the account to reveal it concurrently (we can remove ourselves immediately afterwards to preserve the fourth wall) or give us the password to the mod account.You can DM us password information instead of putting it in the top of your AO3 gift work if you would prefer.

Conspiracy Board

• If making a board with detailed parts, remember that any parts you want to also count individually need to be posted as per that medium's guidelines (they can be within the same work).

Creators Choice of 3+ In-Universe Mediums Per Work

• If filling this tag, you need 3 different In-Universe mediums within the same work.
• If your recip also requested individual In-Universe medium tags, then you can still post single fills for those tags without having to follow this tag.
• If filling the "That Fit The Canon Setting" variation of this tag it has to be something that makes sense In-Universe without an AU.

Comments

[(Anonymous)]

When posting a remix of the recip's fic, should we use ao3's feature to link the new work to the pre-existing fic when posting/during the anon period, or after reveals?

[fic_in_a_box_mod]

I would link it during the anon period ideally, but doing so when posting shouldn't break anon (just tip your recip off slightly as to what you're gifting them).

It looks like the last time I had a related work done of mine before work reveals the related works email told me the title of the work, which isn't that bad but might tip them off a little early as to what they're getting. The email (and the related works page) listed the author as "anonymous author", so it shouldn't deanon you!

[(Anonymous)]

Hi,

I'm a little confused about this:

If there are any gifts on AO3 that need to be revealed, you'll need to either briefly make one of the FIAB mods a mod of the account to reveal it concurrently (we can remove ourselves immediately afterwards to preserve the fourth wall) or give us the password to the mod account.You can DM us password information instead of putting it in the top of your AO3 gift work if you would prefer.

Would you mind explaining it to me please? Is this relevent to everything posted or just something specific? Sorry if it's my brain not working or I've missed this somewhere else.

Also what is the fake exchange please?

[fic_in_a_box_mod]

That only applies to the medium opt in "Medium Opt-In: In-Universe AO3 Based Fanfic Exchange"! If your recipient didn't request that medium and/or if you aren't creating that medium, then nothing in that section will apply :)

Basically it's a very meta "What if the characters you're writing for participated in their own fanfic exchange" type medium. Depending on how someone makes that, they could create "gifts" between the characters participating in the In-Universe exchange. The drawback is that since those gifts wouldn't be in the real exchange (Fic In A Box), revealing them at the same time might be difficult if the mods of the real exchange can't concurrently reveal the fake exchange.

It's a little confusing because it's very looped, but hopefully that makes it a little more clear?

[(Anonymous)]

Thank you, that definitely makes it more clear :) I was concerned I'd gotten myself all in a muddle!

[hiddencait]

I have a question about how to go about posting multiple fills for our assignment. Do we just use whatever the first one is to the "Fulfill Assignment" button and then add the rest to the collection manually and mark it as a gift to our recipient? (And obviously add the note if it's a non-written amount that has an associated 1k.)

[fic_in_a_box_mod]

Yes! That's exactly how to do it.

You can easily post directly to the collection by going to the profile (https://archiveofourown.org/collections/Fic_In_A_Box_2023/profile) and clicking 'Post to Collection', and then while posting you can manually add your recipient on the 'Gift this work to' line.