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What makes the Small Fandom Big Bang different from the bazillion other small fandom challenges out there?
There's a couple of things that set the SFBB apart. The most obvious is our word limit. Most small fandom challenges have a 1,000 word limit. The SFBB, on the other hand, has a 10,000 word limit for the qualifying round and a 30,000 word limit for the final challenge.
At least as important, however, is the support we provide our authors. We recognize that 30,000 (or even 10,000) words is a significant challenge and we do everything we can to help them achive that goal, from finding them cheerleaders and audience readers, to doing research, to finding them betas.
I want to write in fandom X. Why are there only five fandoms available for me to write in?
We're going to give all fandoms a shot! It's an experiment, and we can't promise that future challenges will be open to all fandoms, but we're going to give it a try and see if it works. There are some downsides (it's doubtful we'll have icons for each fandom, for example, and we won't be able to guarantee that we can find you a beta, though we will give it our best shot), but we're very excited at the prospect of epic fic in all sorts of tiny fandoms.
For the purposes of this challenge, a small fandom is any fandom with less than a 1,000 stories in any given archive and/or with less than 10 stories over 20,000 words. Any fandom that has hosted its own big bang challenge is automatically disqualified from this challenge. Examples of small fandoms: Die Hard 4, Samurai Champloo, Vorkosigan Universe, Psych. Examples of big fandoms: Supernatural, Stargate SG-1 or Atlantis, CSI. Please note that though Bones does not technically meet our definition of a small fandom, it is getting grandfathered in as it was allowed last round.
What about the limited pairings?
There are no more pairing restrictions for round two.
I want to write in fandom X. Will that be offered next year?
The final decision of next year's fandoms has not yet been made. When the current wave wraps up, we'll be taking suggestions for future fandoms. Keep an eye on our LJ comm for the post requesting potential fandoms.
Can I write a crossover?
Generally, crossovers are allowed, as long as all fandoms used in the crossover qualify as small fandoms. Please drop us an e-mail if you're unsure whether your fandoms qualify as small fandoms.
Why are there two rounds? If I enter the first round, do I have to enter the second?
There are elibility requirements to enter the 30,000 word challenge. We know not everyone can meet the elibility requirements, so the first, 10,000 word round is an opportunity for those who do not have eligible stories to have a chance to participate in the challenge. You do not have to participate in the second round if you participate in the first.
Speaking of...what are the eligibility requirements?
You are eligible for the second round if you've participated in the first round and have successfully completed the 10,000 word story. If you did not participate in the first round of the challenge, you must have published a complete, 15,000 word before the start of the challenge.
Can I use a story I started before?
Only if the story has not yet been published anywhere. Once any part of a story has been made available to the public, it is no longer eligible for the SFBB.
Who's this 'we', anyway? Who is running the SFBB challenge?
Jane Elliot -- Challenge Organizer
Meishali -- SFBB LJ Comm Mod
atlantisgrrrl -- Graphic Artist
Diana Williams -- Web Host and Database Administrator
Gryvon -- Web Designer
I want to help. What can I do?
If you're interested in volunteering for audience reader, cheerleader, or beta reader, you can either join the group at: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/sfbb_volunteers/ or, if you'd rather not get a yahoo! account, you can subscribe to the mailing list directly by sending an e-mail to: sfbb_volunteers-subscribe@yahoogroups.com.
When an author requests a volunteer, we'll send all of her story information to the group and the first person to request the assignment will get it. This way you don't have to limit yourself to a few fandoms and you can see some of the story details before you agree to get involved. Also, we've put some restrictions on who gets beta readers, which will hopefully help solve some of the problems we had the first time around (where volunteers were assigned to authors who never actually finished their stories).
Other big bang challenges include artwork, why doesn't yours?
Originally we had planned to have an artwork challenge, but there wasn't much interest. If you would like to see an SFBB artwork challenge, e-mail Jane at janethunder at gmail dot com. We'd love to see this a part of future challenges if we can find enough artists.
