Hi guys! I wanted to give you an update and suggestions about that Secret Santa project we talked about - I was really overwhelmed and incredibly excited when I saw your feedback. I went through the comments you left, did the counting - there are 33 people interested in participation (OMG!!! YOU GUYS! THIS IS SO AWESOME!!!!) many have offered to help in any way they can, and few have said they'd like to participate, but it depends on how busy they'll be. I hope we can set this up in a way everyone can have fun in some way. Uh! Anyway!


There were several suggestions regarding organization, so I'll line them up here:

*that we should include graphics in the gift offering – aka, if you don't write or don't feel like writing longer fics you can offer graphics or a basket type of gift (drabble, icons, banner, wallpaper, a video, fanmix, something else? All put together in exchange for another gift.) I like this suggestion! I think it's awesome and can be arranged. This okay, guys?

*putting your gift wishes in order of your preference (for example fic, icons, fanmix, gift basket...etc.)

*an early sign up – we can start with this early, so we can have enough time for writing/making graphics and other stuff

*late sign ups for abandoned prompts

*beta readers and other kind of support and help (yes please! I doubt I can do it all alone :) - and so many have already offered help! Let's see what all of us can do?


Here is what I'm suggesting. We could start with posting requests and offers on September 20th. There should be a request post, and you can put your requests and offers in comments there, for next two weeks. Requesting would end on 4th October. After that the requests would be matched with what other people have offered to do (and this is where I'll definitely need help, since I would like to participate in the exchange, and I don't want to know who my secret santa will be. *G* Basically, someone should take a look at all requests, all offers and match requests with the people participating, then send out assignments). This usually takes several days, but I believe it should be done, and requests could probably be sent by 10th October, which is when you can start writing/making graphics/creating your awesome secret santa presents. The gifts, I think, should be turned in by 20th December. I think we all will have a long enough period to complete the assignments sent to us, right?

If you're writing fanfiction, the stories should be beta read, edited and completed. Other type of work doesn't really require beta reading, but a second pair of eyes is always useful I guess.

The posting could begin on December 24th and continue during next ten days/two weeks, depending how many participants and gifts are there, but I expect we should have several gifts posted every day on the comm. Since this is an anonymous exchange (until all gifts are posted – after that there should be a big author reveal), we'll also need someone to handle the gift posting, and the reveal later.

To sum it up:

*requesting: 20th September – 4th October
*assignments matching 4th October – 10th October
*assignments due 20th December
*gift posting 24th December – 7th January

How does that sound? :) :)


Also, if for some reason you won't be able to finish your assignment, you should let santa's awesome helpers know about that at least two weeks before the gifts are due. We can have a late sign up for abandoned assignments. ALSO. I think there should be minimum word count for this (there usually was one when I signed up for this kind of stuff before, and I think it's okay), and I wouldn't go below 1000 words (is that okay, guys?). Overachieving is always welcome, of course, but please let me know how you feel about word count.

PHEW. Is that clear or did I just made one messy explanation? If anything isn't clear just ask. Also, suggestions are always welcome.

Finally, a suggestion on how to post your requests!

Livejournal name:

My request: basically your prompt, or rather three or four different prompts for the author to choose from.

Gift preference: as explained above, what do you prefer to receive as a gift.

What I'm willing to do/what I don't want to do: I find this very useful, because people can point out what they're good at and if there's something they feel uncomfortable with, or just don't want to write or create.

I don't want to receive: nobody wants to get a present they don't like, so I think we should have a chance to say what kind of present falls under that category.

Beta reader for someone else? We'll definitely need beta readers! This is to let everyone know if they can ask you to beta read for them. (also, I think we can have beta reader sign up.)

Adopting abandoned prompts? Also an important thing, because holiday season can be unpredictable and I believe there will be people who won't be able to finish their assignments on time. Which is why back up is a great thing to have. :)


That should be it. Um. Okay. Anything else? *squishes everyone*