Reference Post

[liroa15]

What Is It?

Netcord is a biannual challenge focussing on the creation of quality fanfiction and fanart in the tennis RPF fandom. Each volume will have an optional theme that will (hopefully) inspire writers to create works of at least 500 words. Images must be between 600x400 pixels and 1024x768 pixels.

How Does It Work?

Netcord has been designed to closely resemble cornerflag, which, in turn, is based upon bb_shousetsu and imaginarybeasts. Take a look at any of those challenges, especially cornerflag, to get a feel for what Netcord aspires to be.

Rules

1. Each player is limited to two (2) stories of any genre, plus an extra space for a gen fic. The availability of players is first come, first served.
2. Each player is also limited to two (2) pieces of art of any genre, plus an extra space for gen art. As with fic, the availability of players is fire come, first served.
3. The editor(s) reserve the right to ask you to change your sign-up if one of the players you wish to write has already been selected by two other writers.
4. Writers and artists can contribute a maximum of two (2) stories, two pieces of art, or a piece of art and a story to each volume. Any author or artist wishing to contribute a second story or piece of art cannot sign up until his or her first story or piece of art has been submitted. Just like the first submission, player availibility may vary.
   
5. Stories and art containing slash (m/m and f/f), het, and gen of any rating are fine. Passing mentions of players’ families, coaches, and partners/significant others are also fine, but the editor(s) will not accept stories focussing on these people.
6. Your story must be in English, it must be at least 500 words long, and it must stand alone; that is, it cannot be a sequel to another story or part of a series.
7. Images must be between 600x400 pixels and 1024x768 pixels.
8. Your story or artwork must not have appeared anywhere else beforehand. Once the volume is published, however, you’re free to publish it anywhere you wish.
9. All of the volume themes are optional. However, if your story or piece of artwork answers the theme of the volume, please indicate that in your submission email.
10. Sign-ups will be accepted until two weeks before the publication date of the issue. After that time, sign-ups will no longer be accepted.
11. Bad spelling and grammar are not okay. The editor(s) aren't going to be editing the stories for spelling and grammar mistakes, so if a story contains a copious amount of errors, the author will be asked to take another look at it. If the author wishes, the editor(s) will try to help in dealing with any issues they've highlighted. However, the the edtitor(s)' time is still valuable, so it's preferred that authors try and address these issues before submitting their stories.

How to Submit Your Story

1. We accept word (.doc), rich text (.rtf), and plain text (.txt) files. Your submission must be ready for posting when it is received. That means all formatting tags, e.g., italics (< i>) and bold (< b>), must be part of the text. This also includes your < lj-cut> line. Also, please turn off smart quotes because they can cause problems while posting. This post shows you how to do that if you’re unaware.
2. When it comes to submitting artwork, we ask that you upload the piece of art to an outside server, and submit the length along with any information you wish to include with the piece.
3. Bad spelling and grammar are not okay. The editor(s) don’t have time to edit every story submitted for spelling and grammar mistakes. Each story submitted should not take up more than 30 minutes, not counting reading time. Should a story take more than 30 minutes editing time, it will not be included in the volume, even if it is the only story about a particular player submitted.
4. Please email your story as an attachment to chair_umpire1@yahoo.ca. The filename should include both your lj username and the name of the story. Including the names of your players is appreciated but not necessary. Therefore, your story title should appear like this: your lj username - story title (players optional).
5. If your story includes artwork or photo manipulations of any kind, please upload them to your own server and put the appropriate HTML in the text of your story.
6. All of the volume themes are optional. However, if your story answers the theme of the volume, please indicate that in your submission email.
7. A beta reader is an essential part of the writing process. If you cannot find a beta reader from amongst your friends, please contact the editor(s). Hopefully, we can find someone to beta your story together.
8. You may find some of the following links useful (with many thanks to cornerflag for compiling some of these links previously):
• Things to Look Out For was written for bb_shousetsu, but it makes my editor’s heart practically skip in glee.
• How to Write a Sex Scene includes a lot of helpful hints about writing sex scenes.
• ATP website, which includes a lot of helpful information about the male players.
• WTA website, which includes a lot of helpful information about the female players.
• ITF website, which includes information on some of the smaller tournaments and the Davis and Fed cups.
• Entry Lists for many of the smaller, challenger events. The website is actually in Italian, but it’s fairly easy to use nonetheless.
• Common Grammar Errors is an insightful site about common errors made in grammar. It can be a little tedious to navigate, however.
• The Tameri Guide for Writers also has a page of common grammar errors.
• Turkey City Lexicon focusses on the Science Fiction genre primarily but contains useful information nonetheless.

Thanks

Many thanks to lemongrasstea at cornerflag for both inspiring us and for letting us borrow the idea for this challenge.