Biggles exchange part 2: scheduling

[sholio]

It looks like there's definitely enough interest to have a Biggles exchange!

Before I get things all set up, there are a few questions that need working out, particularly the schedule one. (The exchange almost certainly will be run through AO3 unless this causes people to desert in droves, in which case I'm open to other options.)

Poll #27935

Open to: Registered Users, detailed results viewable to: All, participants: 10

View Respondents

Deadline preference?

View Answers

Due Dec. 28, reveal Jan. 1
1 (10.0%)

Due Jan. 1, reveal Jan. 4
3 (30.0%)

Either is equally fine
4 (40.0%)

A different schedule I will suggest in comments
2 (20.0%)

What's your preference for a minimum word count for gifts? (They'll need to be at least this much, but can be as long as you want.)

View Answers

300 words
1 (10.0%)

500 words
3 (30.0%)

Either is equally fine with me
6 (60.0%)

A different amount I will suggest in comments
0 (0.0%)

How do you feel about the exchange being run through AO3?

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I'm fine with participating in an AO3 exchange.
10 (100.0%)

AO3 is a dealbreaker but I'd participate in an exchange run off AO3.
0 (0.0%)

My answer is too complicated for radio buttons (see comments)
0 (0.0%)

Comments

[sheron]

What would be the alternative to AO3? I don't normally participate in non-AO3 exchanges, except maybe fandomtrees type thing where the fic can still be on AO3.

For schedule: have you considered making things due and revealing the same day as it's done for flash exchanges? Then it could be both Due and Anon Reveals on Jan 1st, Creator reveals on Jan 4th.

[sholio]

What would be the alternative to AO3?

Participant info would be collected via Google form or something similar, and assignments sent out by email. Fic could be posted on AO3, but it wouldn't be using the AO3 system for assignments and anonymity. Basically the way exchanges were done pre-AO3 (and the way Tumblr exchanges are still done!).

I've participated in and also run a few like that, but I have a strong preference for AO3 since it keeps everything in one place. If people want it done another way I can do it another way, though; Ao3 does also force everything into a particular mold, and non-AO3 exchanges are usually more flexible.

For schedule: have you considered making things due and revealing the same day as it's done for flash exchanges? Then it could be both Due and Anon Reveals on Jan 1st, Creator reveals on Jan 4th.

Same-day reveals are definitely a possibility, but I'm a little nervous about making the deadline and reveals day the same, because there's a high chance of delays if anyone misses the deadline. It works for flash exchanges because they don't guarantee a gift, so if someone blows a deadline they reveal anyway. But I'd like to hold it until everyone has something.

[philomytha]

Hurrah!

I voted for the longer word count because lately even when I try to write drabbles they get out of hand and I end up with thousands of words anyway...

[sheron]

I voted for "equally fine" because chances of me staying close to the 500 limit are slim anyway so why worry about either one :D

[sheron]

What if... one day between deadline and reveals?

I just really love same day reveals for flash exchanges XD

[sholio]

Yeah, 300 words feels a bit short to me; I think the only exchange I can think of off the top of my head that has it that short is Chocolate Box, where the *point* is bite-sized pieces of fic, and even there people often write long!

I've had the minimum set to 500 in my Agent Carter exchange for the last couple of years (dropped it from 1000) and this seemed to provide a nice compromise of less intimidating but also long enough that people usually write considerably more than the minimum anyway. :D

[sholio]

I love it too, but if someone doesn't make the deadline, the amount of time between the deadline and reveals is the amount of time that their pinch hitter has to write their gift. Let's face it, that person is probably going to be me - in the AC exchange, it usually is - and I'm fast but not necessarily THAT fast. XD

[sheron]

Yeah I could not pinch hit on Dec 31st in particular because I'm too busy with New Years.

[yhlee]

I'd honestly love a January 1 reveal to have something special to look forward to on New Year's, but I know this is probably not a majority opinion.

[sholio]

Well, so far no one's saying it *wouldn't* work for them, so let's see. :D

[yhlee]

To be fair, there's nothing wrong with January 4 either! Just, I figured that since this was my vote, I was going to express the completely frivolous preference I had. XD

[rachelmanija]

I voted the way I did to have it be separated completely from Yuletide, so I can enjoy the Yuletide author reveals and everyone's reveal posts on Jan 1 and have the Biggles reveal on a slightly later date.

[sholio]

Separating them out also generally makes sense to keep the Biggles fics from being lost in the Yuletide deluge, now that I'm thinking about it.

[genarti]

I voted for the "something else" because something even further out from Yuletide and the holidays would be useful for me -- a January 1 deadline still feels very hard on the heels of Yuletide writing and editing and betaing and reveals -- but January 1 is more doable to me than December 28!

Edit: Whoops, I was reading backwards through my friendslist, and just hit the earlier post about this being a December Secret Santa type of exchange specifically. Never mind, I see why the tight timeframe!

[genarti]

Ah! I was reading it as something about posting elsewhere, rather than about the way sign-ups and match-ups work. I have no particular preference either way. I do kind of like the flexibility to set up exchanges a different way when Google forms etc are used (and, as someone who hasn't run an exchange since she ran one on LJ and DW back in the pre-AO3 days, there's a certain nostalgia to it), but it's more work for the organizer(s), and I'm totally fine with the AO3 mold too.

[sholio]

Yeah, it's limited from that perspective; I wouldn't otherwise try to work it around the (very crowded!) December exchange calendar! It's probably going to be the Jan. 1 deadline, though I know that's awfully tight for some people.