small_gifts | Entries tagged with 2007

Hope everyone's happily scribbling away at their small gift! It's just under two weeks to our deadline, so here are a few thoughts on the submission process for those of you who are new to the comm:

So you're finishing up with your small gift? Here's what to do:

1. If you're writing a ficlet, please have it beta-read.

Remember, all fics must be beta-read before posting! I'll create another post in a moment for those of you who either need a beta or would be willing to help out reading someone's fic. (Here we go. I'll also place a link to this friends-locked post on the comm's info page so you return if you discover you need beta help closer to the deadline.)

2. Format your small gift and submit it.

On or before December 10, you're going to submit your gift to the comm by posting directly to

rs_small_gifts, just as you'd post to any community. We're on "moderated" status, though, which means that instead of appearing immediately, your gift will go into a moderation queue. Once your fic or art goes into the moderation queue, it can't be edited until we "approve" it by posting it, so make sure you're done before submitting--or, if you need to tinker, send an e-mail to one of your mods who can reject the post so you can change what you need to change.

If your gift has formatting problems, one of the moderators will "reject" it so that you can fix it. Don't take it personally, folks!

When you format your art or fic, please:

1) Place both title and recipient in the subject line (Fic: Five Times Remus and Sirius Almost Forgot Peter's Birthday for Busaikko)
2) Make sure that your fic or art has a header that includes a clear rating. (R for sexual themes)
3) Place your fic or art under an lj-cut. Here's how to do that, if you have any questions.

A header textbox, for those of you who'd like one:

3. Watch the comm! Spread the joy!

Every day between December 10 and January 1, your mods will post a few gifts from the moderation queue. We'll have more than three weeks of R/S goodness!

As soon as your gift has appeared on

rs_small_gifts, you're free to crosspost to your own journal or wherever you'd like.

As soon as you've submitted your first small gift to the moderation queue, you can go back to the list of prompts, select another prompt, and work on another gift. The more the merrier!

Good luck finishing up, everyone!

Small Gifts is a year-end Remus/Sirius exchange community. Think of "small gifts" as stocking stuffers--the gifts can be short fic (500 to 3,000 words), art, icons, or whatever people can give. It's the thought that counts, really. Celebrating the season of lights, the solstice, birth and new beginnings, the promise of renewal. Snow and cheery fires, tinsel and mistletoe. Draw up a chair by that fire, settle in, and read....

How it works:

1. NOVEMBER 1 (Thursday) to NOVEMBER 9 (Friday): Participants leave prompts.

At any time between November 1 and November 9, you can join the exchange by responding to this post with a comment giving the following information:

Name
Age statement One of the following: "I am over 18 or over the legal age in my country (note here if you have a preference for rating)" OR "I am under 18 or the legal age in my country, and will neither ask for nor read anything with a rating over R." No age statement, or a falsified age statement, and you're out. Coal in the stocking and all that.
Three wishes Please give three prompts consisting of: one word; one sentence; one quote; one LINK to an image (no hotlinking!); see below for suggestions
Do not want to receive insert squicks and pet peeves here: "songfic", "deathfic", "Tonks", etc.
Am fond of insert favourite things here: "sexually-confident!Remus", "Lying-low-at-Lupin's", etc.

A text box, if you like that sort of thing:

Please do not suggest too much detail, give a plot outline, or ask for a novel -- these are small gifts!

Bad example: "Sirius and James have a Clever Plan, and there is pudding, and somehow the Prank happens, and I'd love to have Lily there too, and also it should all be a flashback during the Grimmauld Christmas party, with sex." You will get... coal. For true.

Good examples: "trimming the tree"; "first kiss"; "warming hands by a fire"; "umbrellas"; "Dawn, New Year's Day"; "art for anything I've written"; "a remix for something of mine"; "story or art - Splendid Wings (song by David Brown)"; "cute MWPP-era icons". Please do not ask only for art: in general, there are more writers than artists.

Note to writers and artists: please, no sexually explicit fic or art involving underage characters.

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2. NOVEMBER 10 (Saturday): Prompts open to claims at 10:00a Eastern Time. Please claim by responding to the comment with the request that you want ("I, busaikko, do hereby claim marysue's request #2"). Please, one claimant per request/participant. We would like everyone to get something! If you finish your first small gift, you are more than welcome to come back and claim again.

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3. DECEMBER 10 (Monday): Final submission deadline. Please submit your work BETA'D as a post to this community (you'll need to join, if you've not already). It will go into the moderation queue. We will post two or three gifts per day from mid-December on. Hopefully we'll have enough to post through the end of the year!

Thanks for participating, everyone!

Happy, happy holidays all around!