Fic In A Box 2021 Schedule And Rules!

[fic_in_a_box_mod]

Schedule:

August 3-10: Nominations
August 11-13: Nominations Cleanup
August 14-21: Signups
August 24: Assignments Out By This Date
August 24-September 2: Assignment Swap Week
October 10: Assignments Due
October 20: First Rolling PH Deadline
October 27: Last Day To Submit Makeup Assignments
November 6: Work Reveals (Delayed to November 11)
November 20: Creator Reveals (Delayed to November 26)

All deadlines are at 11:59 PM EDT except for creator reveals, which will happen at 11:59 PM EST

Information

Fic In A Box is a 10k challenge where you have the option to split your 10k into as many works as you want! The minimum per work is 1k by default, but lower wordcount works will count if your recipient has opted into receiving them.

While this is primarily a fic focused exchange, there will be opt-ins for pretty much any medium, as long as we can agree on a clear and easily checked equivalent to 1k of written fic!

If you cannot complete 10k but have created one or more complete works, you can default on just the remaining wordcount. You will then be guaranteed (via pinch hit if necessary) a gift equivalent to the amount submitted (rounded down to the nearest 1k). There are also options to "earn back" guaranteed minimum amount by taking PHs or completing your original assignment.

Official Links:

• AO3 Collection
• Tagset

Post Links:

• Fandom Promo Post
• Fandom Transfer Post
• Medium Nomination Post
• Medium Rulesets
• Fandom/Relationships Slot Nomination Guidelines
• Posting Guidelines
• Changes from last year
• Screened Mod Contact Post
• Pinch Hitter Requests

Nominations

• Participants can nominate relationships (both / and &), single characters, worldbuilding tags, and optional opt-in mediums
• There are no fandom restrictions or rarity requirements for this exchange. Original works, crossover fandom, and RPF are all allowed.
• Please read the nomination guidelines before nominating (link)
• This year we are primarily doing nominations through a google form! Please check the above guidelines for a link to the form!
• The tagset is here (link). An AO3 account is required if you choose to nominate with this method.
• You may transfer fandoms from the 2020 tagset to the 2021 tagset on the Fandom Transfer post here (link)
• Two rules we would like to highlight:
  • Ships in Original Works should be nominated with all details you see as essential for the ship included. For example, if the gender of the character is important to you, make certain to include that in the tag. Anything not included in the tag will be considered optional details.
  • If you request an ambiguous group (eg: The [fandom] ensemble) we will assume that any member(s) of that group fulfill that request, rather than assuming that every member of the group must appear in your gift.

Signups

• Signups will be here (link). An AO3 account is required.
• You must be 18+ to sign up.
• You must have a minimum of 3 requests.
• You can request 1-10 fandoms, each with 1-20 relationships/characters, and 0-20 medium/length opt-ins (extra medium/length opt-ins may be requested using the "Optional Tags" field, these should be copy pasted exactly from the tagset!).
• You can offer 1-10 fandoms, each with 1-20 relationships/characters.
• You may request a fandom more than once, but your three requests must be substantially different (for example, involving three different relationships slot tags)
• You can opt in to as many mediums as you want; the first 20 can go into the "additional tags" field the rest in the "optional tags" field. Do not put anything besides medium opt-ins from the tagset into the optional tags field.
• You must use the medium/length tags we've provided to opt in to mediums besides fic.
• Anything you opt into has the potential to be your entire gift! While it is unlikely you will receive 100 drabbles if you choose "Length Opt-In: Drabbles", it is technically possible!
• Include anything you absolutely don't want to receive (Do Not Wants) in the Optional Details field in your AO3 signup. In the event that a DNW is included in your gift, only reasonable DNWs noted in your signup will be enforced. (Please bear in mind that DNWs cannot be used to box your creator into producing a very specific work.)
• You must include something in your optional details to indicate what you like or have an unlocked letter before signups close. This can be short (For example: "I really like h/c and fluff!") or long, but it needs to be present. If you're linking to a letter which already has publicly visible information to this effect, that is also acceptable.
• Dear Creator letters may be linked to in your signup in order to give your gifter further details on your likes and dislikes. These are optional.
• You may sign up with a maximum of one sock. (Two accounts per person).
• If you are requesting less than 3 fandoms with distinct lore, and are out as a pinch hit after October 10th you will be asked to add additional fandoms. If you are unable or unwilling to add additional fandoms, your pinch hit will stay up, but we won't hold up reveals for you. We will hold reveals until everyone who requests 3+ fandoms with distinct lore has a gift.

• If you would like to match on an opt-in medium, please contact us at ficinaboxmod@gmail.com or fill out the google form!
• If there is someone you do not want to be matched to as a recipient and/or creator, please contact us. We'll need their AO3 name(s) and how you would like us to handle it if you're their only possible assignment or they try to pick up your pinch hit.
• If you are unmatchable as a creator (i.e. no one is requesting anything you are willing to create), the mods will contact you when signups close and ask you to add more offers. If you do not reply within 24 hours, your signup will be deleted.
• If you are unmatchable as a recipient (i.e. no one is offering anything you are requesting), your requests will be posted to the Dreamwidth community for claiming as a pinch hit.

Assignments

• Assignments are only guaranteed to match on one fandom and one ship.
• Minimum requirements are 10k total works of fanfiction, which may be split into multiple works with a minimum of 1000 per work.
• Your 10k may be split between multiple requests as long as each work matches a fandom and ship combination that your recipient requested.
• We only round down for PH purposes! If you submit one fic that is 1,001 words and one fic that is 8,999 words then you have written 10k for your recip and completed your assignment.
• If your recipient has opted into other mediums or a minimum lower than 1000, those are also eligible with a requirement of 10k equivalent submitted to complete your assignment. Please see this post for equivalents (link)
• Your assignment must focus on one of your recipient's requested characters, ships or worldbuilding tags.
• Your assignment must avoid your recipient's DNWs.
• If your assignment does not match the fandoms/ships you offered, or if there are any other issues, contact the mod as soon as possible.

Posting

• For guides on how to post your assignment or treats in their various forms, please see this post (link)
• If there is anything you think may be easy to miss or that you think may make it easier to check your work, please add a note about it to the author's note at the top of your work. For example, if you have art embedded within a fic, let us know how many images. If you've posted a podfic, let us know how long the original fic was.
• If you are posting parts of your assignment from different accounts, you must let the mods know what your alts' names are for those works to be correctly counted towards your minimum.
• Works containing excessive spelling or grammar errors (enough to hinder comprehension) will not be accepted.
• As works should remain anonymous during the collection's anonymous period; do not post your work elsewhere before creator reveals. Some mediums have exceptions such as signatures or identification within recording, please check the rulesets for these.
• Saved drafts do not fulfill assignments. Please ensure that you post your gift!
• There will be a long editing period in this exchange during rolling pinch hits, but all assignments posted by October 10th should at least be complete and readable first drafts that could stand as assignments if revealed.

Defaulting

Part A: Defaulting

• If you cannot finish your gift, please default
• You will still be sent out to PH up until October 10th.
• If you have not finished any part of your assignment, default by navigating to your AO3 dashboard, clicking 'Assignments', locating your Fic In A Box Exchange assignment and clicking 'Default'.
• If you have completed part of your assignment, please contact the mods! You may also default the normal way, but are not required to.
• The only penalty for defaulting is not being guaranteed a gift (or, if you partially defaulted, only being guaranteed the total sum of the amount you completed rounded down to the nearest 1k increment) during this round. There is no year to year penalty.
• If you have completed more than 1k of your assignment or equivalent, you will still be guaranteed a gift in this exchange. The amount you are guaranteed is equal to the total you have submitted, rounded down to the nearest 1k.
• This means if you submit a 3.5k fic and a 1.6k fic for a total of 5.1k before defaulting, you will still be guaranteed at least 5k, which will go out according to the rules in the Pinch Hits section.
• We will attempt to send pinch hits out in chunks in an effort to avoid making any defaults obvious (without limiting time for writing too much either).
• If your full gift is not posted by October 10th, the mods will default you.

Part B: Earning back your minimum after defaulting

• You may earn back up to the amount that you defaulted, for a maximum owed amount of 10k. The amount you're guaranteed as a gift will be the total sum of what you have submitted to your original assignment before defaulting plus the total amount you submitted to the methods below, rounded down to the nearest 1k.
• There are four ways to earn back the minimum wordcount you are guaranteed to receive in this exchange!
• Earn your minimum back via completing pinch hits
  • Any pinch hits you pick up will immediately add however much you picked up to your minimum. (So if you defaulted after writing 5k, then pick up 1k, your new minimum is 6k)
  • The deadline for earning back your minimum by picking up pinch hits is November 3rd at 11:59PM EST.
• Earn your minimum back via completing your original assignment
  • If you need to default early on and then things change and you are able to complete your assignment, you may do so without penalty.
  • The last day to post your original assignment to earn back minimum is October 27th 11:59pm EDT.
• Earn your minimum back via completing a gift for a PHer request
  • If you post a completed gift for a PHer request (link) that will count towards your minimum amount.
• Earn your minimum back via posting a workskin and tutorial
  • Many works in the exchange will use AO3 workskin templates in order to display documents, social media sites, and a lot of other things! There are a lot already out there, but there's always more that are needed and an exchange like this is likely to expose some of those gaps.
  • You can earn back up to 2k by creating new workskins, writing tutorials for those templates, and posting them to the collection with no recipient. Each template will be worth 1k of your minimum.
  • These workskins will be revealed immediately (still anonymous until creator reveals) so that the rest of the participants may use them!

Pinch Hits

• Pinch hits will be posted to the Dreamwidth community.
• Pinch hits will not always be for 10k. If a pinch hit's original creator has partially submitted their assignment, the pinch hit will go out for 10k minus those submissions, rounded up to the nearest 1k. For example, if the original creator gave them 3.5k, the pinch hit will go out for 7k.
• Pinch hits can be claimed in increments of 1k. For Example: if a PH is out and needs 6k, you can offer to pick up 6k, or you can offer to pick up any amount of that in 1k increments (1k, 2k, ect).
• Please reply to the pinch hit post to claim, including your AO3 username. If you are not posting from a signed in account you will also need to include your email. If you are assigned the pinch hit, the mods will contact you.
• Since each recipient comes with limited AO3 assignments, not every PHer will be assigned through AO3. Everyone who doesn't get an AO3 assignment will be emailed and will still be getting officially assigned in our spreadsheet.
• You can claim a pinch hit even if you aren't signed up for the exchange, but you will need an AO3 account.
• If you submit more than the amount you claimed and that recipient is still out for pinch hit when you submit (or if they later need to go out again), the amount you submitted rounded down will be what is used to calculate how much they still need.
• If you have treated your recipient prior to picking up their pinch hit, any treats you have given them that meet the assignment requirements will be automatically counted towards your assignment! This is a side effect of how we're automating the tracking for this exchange. If you have given your recipient a treat that you do not want to count towards your assignment, please let us know when you post to the DW to claim the pinch hit.

Editing Period and Rolling Pinch Hits

• From October 10th to November 6th, we will be in an editing period. Due to the modular nature of everything in this exchange, we expect to get new PHs during this time period!
• If by some miracle every single assignment is complete and submitted on October 10th, we still will not be revealing until November 6th.
• Extensions will be possible during this period. Please contact the mods before October 10th if you need one!
• During this period we will be trying to avoid giving away information about recipients while also sending pinch hits out as fast as possible. Early in the editing period this may mean delaying shorter pinch hits to post in groups.

When your assignments will be checked

Due to the nature of this exchange, we are going to be checking the amounts for the assignments several times! These checks are going to be very basic "how long is this, what medium is it, did that recip opt in to that medium, does it hit one fandom and pairing" type checks.

1. All works, both assignments and treats, will be checked when initially submitted. This is why the collection is moderated! It will be recorded in our spreadsheet with all relevant information and a link to make it easy to check the work after this. We won't be checking for completion at this point.
2. All assignments will be checked after October 10th. All checks after this point will also check for completion.
3. If a recipient goes out to PH, all assignments gifted to them will be checked at that time. Only complete works that fulfill the basic request (fandom, pairing, fanfiction or other opted-into medium) will be counted.
4. If someone defaults, all assignments they submitted will be checked at that time. Only complete works that fulfill the basic request (fandom, pairing, fanfiction or other opted-into medium) will be counted.
5. If someone has defaulted, everything submitted to their original recipient will be checked after October 27th in case they have earned back minimum.
6. Every assignment in the collection will be checked in the days leading up to reveals. These will be very quick checks (basically just to make sure nothing was deleted).
7. If you make major changes to a fic and aren't sure we'll check them, or want us to know about them ahead of one of the above points in time, please let us know! Similarly, if you need to delete something please tell us!

We unfortunately won't be able to check every work for DNWs. We may spotcheck if something immediately looks off, but due to the amount of checking needed for this exchange please do not assume we will catch everything. If you shake a work and it's tagged with a DNW or in such a way you're worried about a DNW, please let us know and we will check it for you!

Comments

[thrillingdetectivetales]

Hi there! I apologize if this isn't the correct place for this, but I'm not sure where else to ask.

In regards to earning back a word count minimum, if a participant defaulted the year before, is their only option to earn their minimum back by claiming pinch hits? Or does the "complete your original assignment" also apply if said participant completes the assignment they were given the year prior? Additionally, does treating count towards earning back a minimum?

Thanks!

[fic_in_a_box_mod]

Each year starts on a clean slate, so if you defaulted last year you don't need to worry about making that up anymore! We will only be using this year's data to calculate your minimum and we don't have any year to year default penalties or makeup requirements.

All of the earn-back criteria is based on this year, so only this year's assignment (or swaps you were assigned) will count as "complete your original assignment". Treating doesn't count towards your minimum, except for treating Pinch Hitter requests from this year.

Hopefully that was clear, let me know if any of that is still confusing!

[thrillingdetectivetales]

Oh, wonderful! Thank you so much for the clarification!

[muccamukk]

All deadlines are at 11:59 PM EDT except for creator reveals, which will happen at 11:59 PM EST

Is the second time meant to be AM?

[fic_in_a_box_mod]

No, the only change is the time zone! Where I live the time zone changed from Eastern Daylight Time to Eastern Standard Time between the originally scheduled work reveals and creator reveals date, but not everywhere has a time change so I wanted to be specific. Creator Reveals will be at midnight my time :)