SUBMISSION GUIDELINES
Hello, Merlin fans! This is the Submission Guidelines post.
Don't worry, there's still plenty of time left to get your submissions finished, and we hope everyone is getting on well with their writing/art. But we've already had one fic submitted so we thought it was best to post this sooner rather than later. And here it is:
Merlin Prompt Fest's Submission Guidelines
Anybody planning to submit fic/art to the fest must read this post carefully.
General Submission Guidelines:
• All fiction and art must be new and written/drawn specifically for this fest. It should also be a stand-alone and must not be part of another series or a sequel/prequel/coda to an existing fic/piece of artwork. It must also be completed; WIPs are not permitted in this fest.
• As this is an anonymous fest, submissions should not be posted anywhere else until after the reveal post has gone up at the end of the fest (which should be approximately one week after the last submission is posted to the comm).
• The submission deadline is the 18th September. This is the same for everyone, regardless of the date on which you claimed your prompt.
• Appropriate warnings are required in the header info for all submission. Feel free to white-out spoilery warnings, if you prefer.
• Whilst this is not an exchange fest and the fic/art will not exactly be "gifts" for the original prompter, please try to treat them as such and remember to take note of any squicks/preferences the prompter may have specified. I'm sure you can understand how disappointing it would be have one of your prompts claimed only to find that the fic/art produced from it contained one or more of your squicks.
• Please remember to read the general Info/Rules post.
Fic Specific Guidelines:
• Stories should be a minimum of 1000 words, not including the header. There is no upper-word limit.
• All submissions must be beta read. We also encourage you to get your stories brit-picked, if necessary, but this is entirely optional. The name of the beta(s) and/or brit-picker(s) should be included in the header of your submission.
• If you need help finding a beta, please see our Beta Post here.
• As all fics should be beta'd, the mods will not be checking submissions for errors. Please double check your fics before submitting, as they will be posted as they are received. Only fics with formatting errors will be returned to authors (e.g. if an italic tag has not been closed and the mods are not sure where the author intended for the italics to end).
• Your finished story must be supplied as a Word document in .doc or .txt formatting. It must come complete with all LJ (HTML) coding, such as bold, italic, centred. If you just use italics, bold, etc. without coding, this won't show up when your story is posted. Check out LJ's FAQ on changing the appearance of text if you're not sure what formatting you can use. Alternatively, please feel free to contact a mod with any questions you may have regarding coding.
• Remember that LiveJournal has (approximately) a 10,000-word limit per post. If your story is longer than this, you should either supply two or more documents split at the appropriate points or clearly indicate within the text where it should be split. If we have to divide it, we might not pick the point you would want this to be.
Art Specific Guidelines:
• Art should be a stand-alone piece, but can be in any form, including a comic or a photo manipulation (manip).
• Artists have no minimum requirement, but your work should represent a certain standard, in terms of time and effort put in. We're not excepting masterpieces, but it should be more complex than a simple sketch.
• Art should be supplied as an attachment rather than as a link to your site. It will be uploaded to the merlin_muses mod account so that the URL won't trace back to the artist.
• Artwork should be submitted in .jpg, .png or .gif format.
• Make sure that your art is supplied at a suitable size. Remember that if it's too small, the viewer might not be able to see the detail or read any wording, but if it's too big, they will have to scroll about to see it.
• If your art is in the form of several separate images make sure you indicate what order they are supposed to go in so they can be posted in the correct order.
Fic/Art Header:
• When submitting your story or art, the following header must be included:
Author/Artist:
Title:
Pairing(s)/Character(s):
Rating:
Summary:
Warnings (if any):
Total word count:
Original prompt number:
Disclaimer: This story/artwork is based on characters and situations created and owned by the BBC and Shine TV. No money is being made and no copyright or trademark infringement is intended.
Author's/artist's notes (if any):
Beta(s):
• For fic, please copy and paste this code into the top of your document. For art, please copy and paste it into the body of your submission email or into a separate word document.
• Your name will be removed from the header before posting but will be put back in after the reveals have been posted.
How To Submit:
• To submit your fic/art please email it as an attachment to merlinmusesmod@gmail.com on or before the 18th of September.
• When submitting, please include your LJ name and the number of the original prompt you claimed in the subject line of your email. This makes life much easier for the mods when it comes to sorting out who has/hasn't submitted their work.
• The title of the document or image file containing your submission is entirely up to you, but it should also include your LJ name. E.g.: "Title" by merlinmusesmod.
Deadlines and Problems:
• Whilst deadlines are not completely set in stone, please try to keep to them. This is not an exchange fest, so we won't set the Great Dragon on you if you cannot manage the deadline or have to drop out of the fest. But please let us know as soon as possible, so we can re-arrange the posting schedule and/or offer the prompt up to a pinch hitter. Also keep in mind that prompters love to see their prompts come to life in a story or work of art.
• If you are having problems getting your submission finished in time, please contact us sooner rather than later. We will do our very best to help.
• If you do need to email us to request an extension/drop out of the fest, please remember to include your LJ name, either in the subject line or in the body of the email.
Remember:
• This is an anonymous fest; Please do not let anyone, other than your beta(s), know which prompt you have claimed (or which prompts you may have submitted).
• Claiming will remain open until the 4th of September.
• Once you have submitted your first claim you are more than welcome to make another, if you would like. To do so simply post a new comment to the Claiming Post and a mod will send you a new claim confirmation email.
Questions/Comments:
• As always, if you have any questions/comments, regarding submissions or anything else, please do not hesitate to contact a mod via email at merlinmusesmod@gmail.com, by PM, or by leaving a comment on the Ask The Mods post.
Don't worry, there's still plenty of time left to get your submissions finished, and we hope everyone is getting on well with their writing/art. But we've already had one fic submitted so we thought it was best to post this sooner rather than later. And here it is:
Merlin Prompt Fest's Submission Guidelines
Anybody planning to submit fic/art to the fest must read this post carefully.
General Submission Guidelines:
• All fiction and art must be new and written/drawn specifically for this fest. It should also be a stand-alone and must not be part of another series or a sequel/prequel/coda to an existing fic/piece of artwork. It must also be completed; WIPs are not permitted in this fest.
• As this is an anonymous fest, submissions should not be posted anywhere else until after the reveal post has gone up at the end of the fest (which should be approximately one week after the last submission is posted to the comm).
• The submission deadline is the 18th September. This is the same for everyone, regardless of the date on which you claimed your prompt.
• Appropriate warnings are required in the header info for all submission. Feel free to white-out spoilery warnings, if you prefer.
• Whilst this is not an exchange fest and the fic/art will not exactly be "gifts" for the original prompter, please try to treat them as such and remember to take note of any squicks/preferences the prompter may have specified. I'm sure you can understand how disappointing it would be have one of your prompts claimed only to find that the fic/art produced from it contained one or more of your squicks.
• Please remember to read the general Info/Rules post.
Fic Specific Guidelines:
• Stories should be a minimum of 1000 words, not including the header. There is no upper-word limit.
• All submissions must be beta read. We also encourage you to get your stories brit-picked, if necessary, but this is entirely optional. The name of the beta(s) and/or brit-picker(s) should be included in the header of your submission.
• If you need help finding a beta, please see our Beta Post here.
• As all fics should be beta'd, the mods will not be checking submissions for errors. Please double check your fics before submitting, as they will be posted as they are received. Only fics with formatting errors will be returned to authors (e.g. if an italic tag has not been closed and the mods are not sure where the author intended for the italics to end).
• Your finished story must be supplied as a Word document in .doc or .txt formatting. It must come complete with all LJ (HTML) coding, such as bold, italic, centred. If you just use italics, bold, etc. without coding, this won't show up when your story is posted. Check out LJ's FAQ on changing the appearance of text if you're not sure what formatting you can use. Alternatively, please feel free to contact a mod with any questions you may have regarding coding.
• Remember that LiveJournal has (approximately) a 10,000-word limit per post. If your story is longer than this, you should either supply two or more documents split at the appropriate points or clearly indicate within the text where it should be split. If we have to divide it, we might not pick the point you would want this to be.
Art Specific Guidelines:
• Art should be a stand-alone piece, but can be in any form, including a comic or a photo manipulation (manip).
• Artists have no minimum requirement, but your work should represent a certain standard, in terms of time and effort put in. We're not excepting masterpieces, but it should be more complex than a simple sketch.
• Art should be supplied as an attachment rather than as a link to your site. It will be uploaded to the merlin_muses mod account so that the URL won't trace back to the artist.
• Artwork should be submitted in .jpg, .png or .gif format.
• Make sure that your art is supplied at a suitable size. Remember that if it's too small, the viewer might not be able to see the detail or read any wording, but if it's too big, they will have to scroll about to see it.
• If your art is in the form of several separate images make sure you indicate what order they are supposed to go in so they can be posted in the correct order.
Fic/Art Header:
• When submitting your story or art, the following header must be included:
Author/Artist:
Title:
Pairing(s)/Character(s):
Rating:
Summary:
Warnings (if any):
Total word count:
Original prompt number:
Disclaimer: This story/artwork is based on characters and situations created and owned by the BBC and Shine TV. No money is being made and no copyright or trademark infringement is intended.
Author's/artist's notes (if any):
Beta(s):
• For fic, please copy and paste this code into the top of your document. For art, please copy and paste it into the body of your submission email or into a separate word document.
• Your name will be removed from the header before posting but will be put back in after the reveals have been posted.
How To Submit:
• To submit your fic/art please email it as an attachment to merlinmusesmod@gmail.com on or before the 18th of September.
• When submitting, please include your LJ name and the number of the original prompt you claimed in the subject line of your email. This makes life much easier for the mods when it comes to sorting out who has/hasn't submitted their work.
• The title of the document or image file containing your submission is entirely up to you, but it should also include your LJ name. E.g.: "Title" by merlinmusesmod.
Deadlines and Problems:
• Whilst deadlines are not completely set in stone, please try to keep to them. This is not an exchange fest, so we won't set the Great Dragon on you if you cannot manage the deadline or have to drop out of the fest. But please let us know as soon as possible, so we can re-arrange the posting schedule and/or offer the prompt up to a pinch hitter. Also keep in mind that prompters love to see their prompts come to life in a story or work of art.
• If you are having problems getting your submission finished in time, please contact us sooner rather than later. We will do our very best to help.
• If you do need to email us to request an extension/drop out of the fest, please remember to include your LJ name, either in the subject line or in the body of the email.
Remember:
• This is an anonymous fest; Please do not let anyone, other than your beta(s), know which prompt you have claimed (or which prompts you may have submitted).
• Claiming will remain open until the 4th of September.
• Once you have submitted your first claim you are more than welcome to make another, if you would like. To do so simply post a new comment to the Claiming Post and a mod will send you a new claim confirmation email.
Questions/Comments:
• As always, if you have any questions/comments, regarding submissions or anything else, please do not hesitate to contact a mod via email at merlinmusesmod@gmail.com, by PM, or by leaving a comment on the Ask The Mods post.