Summer Mixer FAQ
frequently asked questions
1. What is a Summer Mixer exchange?
It is the same as a secret santa exchange. A Secret Santa is "a Western Christmas tradition, in which members of a group or community are randomly assigned a person to whom they anonymously give a gift." (Thanks, Wikipedia!) So, basically, you will be assigned a participant, and you will be writing a gift fic for that person. That way, everyone writes a fic, and everyone receives a fic. (If you have never participated in a fic exchange before, here is a handy dandy guide!)
2. So about the anonymous thing...
Secret Santas are fun because you have no idea who is writing for you! However, you will know who you'll be writing for. In order to keep this fun, you can't tell anyone who your recipient is (...especially not the recipient him/herself!) Please do not share your fic with anyone-- this means posting it, or parts of it, to your journal, tumblr, twitter, blog, any memes, etc. Comments on both the sign-up post and this post will be screened. Feel free to leave any questions you have for either the mods or your recipient here on this post, and we'll get you a reply!
3. Betas?
A beta is someone who proofreads your work-- you can discuss ideas with them, and they can give you constructive criticism about your plot, characterization, and your grammar/mechanics. However, since the fandom is so small, when you ask someone to beta your fic for this exchange, PLEASE make sure they're not participating in the exchange themselves! Betas are encouraged, but not required.
4. What are pinch-hitters?
A pinch-hitter is an awesome person who writes an "extra" fic for the exchange-- meaning, if someone drops out, a pinch-hitter will (put their own time aside on short notice) and step in to write the fic for that person's recipient. On the sign-up form, there is a question asking whether or not you'd like to sign up as a pinch-hitter as well as a writer. Please consider this, if you think you'll have some spare time in December! You can also sign up as only a pinch-hitter, but this means you may not necessarily be receiving a fic.
5. What if I drop out?
If you are considering dropping out, please do it before the drop-out deadline! This makes it easier on the mods to find pinch-hitters, and this makes it easier on the pinch-hitters themselves, who will have more time to write a fic.
If you drop out after the deadline, then you will be banned from participating in future B1A4 fic exchanges.
6. What if the person writing for me drops out?
Mods will find a pinch-hitter to write for you instead. :)
7. What if the person I'm writing for drops out?
Continue writing your fic! However, your fic will be labeled as "for everyone" rather than for the original recipient. It isn't fair for someone to drop out and not write a fic, yet receive a fic anyway!
8. Will there be a minimum word count?
Yes. We want everyone participating in this exchange to receive a full-fledged fic. The minimum word count will be 1500 words.
9. Check-ins? What?
We will have two check-ins: Saturday, May 31st and Saturday, June 21st. The first check-in is basically to make sure you haven't disappeared off the face of the planet. There will be a post to this community, and we just want everyone to reply with an, "I'm here!" If we don't get a response from you, we'll shoot you an email. If we don't get a response within one week, we will assume that you have dropped out. (If you're going to be away from the computer at that time, just email us or let us know.)
The June 21st check-in will require you to send in a 600-word draft of your fic. If we don't get this draft BY June 22nd we will assume you have dropped out. Treat this 2nd check in very seriously. Because this is when we will have to find pinch hitters and will mercilessly drop you if you do not check in. We'll post and email you when that check-in gets closer.
We will be annoying. ): We apologize in advance about this, but we want to make this exchange run as smoothly as possible!
10. So I want to participate. How exactly does this work?
That's great! First, you'll have to sign up in the sign-up post! Remember, all the comments on this post will be screened. The sign up deadline will be October 18, so please sign up before then. Mods will always contact you by email. We will send you an email with your recipient by October 21. Please start thinking about/writing your fic as soon as possible; no one likes to be rushed because of procrastination (...but we all procrastinate anyway). The, you start plotting, planning, and writing!
If you are considering dropping out, PLEASE tell us by JUNE 20th to avoid being banned from future exchanges!
PLEASE WATCH/JOIN THE COMMUNITY. This will be crucial for check-ins and updates!
You will then be sending us your finished fic by July 3rd, then, we will be posting the fics anonymously from the 4th through a TBA date (determined upon # of entries). We will make a post revealing who wrote which fic on July 11th! Before the reveals, you are still not allowed to post your fic or tell people which fic you wrote. After reveals, though, feel free to post your fic to your journal and to other communities!
11. tl;dr:
JOIN AND WATCH THE COMMUNITY. Sign up by May 15th, receive assignment by May 17th, reply to the check-in posts, 600 word draft by June 21st, send fic by July 3rd, read fic, have fun!
12. I have a different question...
Feel free to ask questions here! Comments are screened. :)
1. What is a Summer Mixer exchange?
It is the same as a secret santa exchange. A Secret Santa is "a Western Christmas tradition, in which members of a group or community are randomly assigned a person to whom they anonymously give a gift." (Thanks, Wikipedia!) So, basically, you will be assigned a participant, and you will be writing a gift fic for that person. That way, everyone writes a fic, and everyone receives a fic. (If you have never participated in a fic exchange before, here is a handy dandy guide!)
2. So about the anonymous thing...
Secret Santas are fun because you have no idea who is writing for you! However, you will know who you'll be writing for. In order to keep this fun, you can't tell anyone who your recipient is (...especially not the recipient him/herself!) Please do not share your fic with anyone-- this means posting it, or parts of it, to your journal, tumblr, twitter, blog, any memes, etc. Comments on both the sign-up post and this post will be screened. Feel free to leave any questions you have for either the mods or your recipient here on this post, and we'll get you a reply!
3. Betas?
A beta is someone who proofreads your work-- you can discuss ideas with them, and they can give you constructive criticism about your plot, characterization, and your grammar/mechanics. However, since the fandom is so small, when you ask someone to beta your fic for this exchange, PLEASE make sure they're not participating in the exchange themselves! Betas are encouraged, but not required.
4. What are pinch-hitters?
A pinch-hitter is an awesome person who writes an "extra" fic for the exchange-- meaning, if someone drops out, a pinch-hitter will (put their own time aside on short notice) and step in to write the fic for that person's recipient. On the sign-up form, there is a question asking whether or not you'd like to sign up as a pinch-hitter as well as a writer. Please consider this, if you think you'll have some spare time in December! You can also sign up as only a pinch-hitter, but this means you may not necessarily be receiving a fic.
5. What if I drop out?
If you are considering dropping out, please do it before the drop-out deadline! This makes it easier on the mods to find pinch-hitters, and this makes it easier on the pinch-hitters themselves, who will have more time to write a fic.
If you drop out after the deadline, then you will be banned from participating in future B1A4 fic exchanges.
6. What if the person writing for me drops out?
Mods will find a pinch-hitter to write for you instead. :)
7. What if the person I'm writing for drops out?
Continue writing your fic! However, your fic will be labeled as "for everyone" rather than for the original recipient. It isn't fair for someone to drop out and not write a fic, yet receive a fic anyway!
8. Will there be a minimum word count?
Yes. We want everyone participating in this exchange to receive a full-fledged fic. The minimum word count will be 1500 words.
9. Check-ins? What?
We will have two check-ins: Saturday, May 31st and Saturday, June 21st. The first check-in is basically to make sure you haven't disappeared off the face of the planet. There will be a post to this community, and we just want everyone to reply with an, "I'm here!" If we don't get a response from you, we'll shoot you an email. If we don't get a response within one week, we will assume that you have dropped out. (If you're going to be away from the computer at that time, just email us or let us know.)
The June 21st check-in will require you to send in a 600-word draft of your fic. If we don't get this draft BY June 22nd we will assume you have dropped out. Treat this 2nd check in very seriously. Because this is when we will have to find pinch hitters and will mercilessly drop you if you do not check in. We'll post and email you when that check-in gets closer.
We will be annoying. ): We apologize in advance about this, but we want to make this exchange run as smoothly as possible!
10. So I want to participate. How exactly does this work?
That's great! First, you'll have to sign up in the sign-up post! Remember, all the comments on this post will be screened. The sign up deadline will be October 18, so please sign up before then. Mods will always contact you by email. We will send you an email with your recipient by October 21. Please start thinking about/writing your fic as soon as possible; no one likes to be rushed because of procrastination (...but we all procrastinate anyway). The, you start plotting, planning, and writing!
If you are considering dropping out, PLEASE tell us by JUNE 20th to avoid being banned from future exchanges!
PLEASE WATCH/JOIN THE COMMUNITY. This will be crucial for check-ins and updates!
You will then be sending us your finished fic by July 3rd, then, we will be posting the fics anonymously from the 4th through a TBA date (determined upon # of entries). We will make a post revealing who wrote which fic on July 11th! Before the reveals, you are still not allowed to post your fic or tell people which fic you wrote. After reveals, though, feel free to post your fic to your journal and to other communities!
11. tl;dr:
JOIN AND WATCH THE COMMUNITY. Sign up by May 15th, receive assignment by May 17th, reply to the check-in posts, 600 word draft by June 21st, send fic by July 3rd, read fic, have fun!
12. I have a different question...
Feel free to ask questions here! Comments are screened. :)