Submitting your story and what happens next

[sage]

Hey there, you wonderful people!

How to submit your story

When your story is ready to submit, please check the following:

1. The story ends with the word "END". That way we know we've received the whole thing.
2. The story is LJ-ready. (see clarification of "LJ-ready" below)
3. The story is in a plain text or MS Word file. Do NOT paste your story directly into an email.
4. You have completed the following header details. (Headers will be standardised to this template. Author name will be suppressed until Reveal Day.)

Title:
Author:
Team:
Prompt:
Pairing(s):
Rating:
Warnings:
Summary:

Note: If the story is too long to post to LJ in one post, we'll put it up on my site in a standard format. After the reveal we'll change the links to point to your own sites if you prefer.

WHEN THE STORY AND HEADER ARE COMPLETE send your story as an attachment directly to me (sageness@livejournal.com). In the subject line, put "ds_match story Team Angst". Make sure the email includes your LJ username, just to make sure I don't get confused.

I'll acknowledge receipt of your story. Then you can relax, sit back and enjoy the show! \o/ \o/ \o/

*cheers and blows trumpets of excitement and yay*


What happens next

After the deadline, China and I will take a couple of days to sort ourselves out, and then we'll begin posting the stories, two a day: China will post the Romance story for prompt A and I'll post the Angst story for the same prompt A on the same day.

Stories will be posted to ds_flashfiction. (We decided to keep them there because a) DS Match is a special ds_flashfiction special event, and b) the comm is already read by lots of people and we want as many people as possible to read and enjoy and vote on your stories.)

Stories are posted anonymously to keep the voting fair. (See mcshep_match to see this in action, in the SGA version of this challenge.)

Encouraging, bribing and exhorting your flists -- within the bounds of fair play and good sportspersonship -- to vote for your team's story is entirely acceptable and encouraged.

Once all the stories are posted, China and I will take another couple of days (during which any previously unposted challenge fic will be released) to tally the scores, and then we'll have Reveal Day, on which author's names are revealed and the scores are announced. \o/ \o/ \o/


Finally, in response to a question from Team Angst about the dialogue prompts: prompts can be said or thought by one of the characters in the story. This is a slight variation from the original rules. Apologies for any inconvenience.

And finally finally -- yay for all of you! This challenge is ROCKING!!! Go Team Angst!!!

Comments

[isiscolo.livejournal.com]

What does "LJ-ready" mean? Does that mean that it can have html special characters in it? (I want to code em-dashes and section breaks.)

[sage]

I would recommend you post PRIVATELY in your own journal (making sure it's in default style, not your journal's style), look at all the formatting, and change whatever doesn't look like you want it to.

If your story is too long for one LJ entry, you should definitely code in your emdashes, section breaks, and such. (We have an html conversion macro, but this way gives you total control over it.)

[sage]

P.S. In order to preserve everyone's anonymity (for fair voting), it would be best NOT to use any signature flourishes.

For example, if you *always* use section breaks like this:

~*~*~*~

we would ask you to use plain old boring generic asterisks instead. :)

Thanks!

[sage]

*screens to de-identify you*

Here's a solution, thanks to China, who has the brilliant. :D

Let's let Team Angst vote on a team-wide standard for section breaks. That way it'll be universal during voting, and everyone can reformat to their hearts' content when posting in your own journals after the reveal.

[simplystars.livejournal.com]

Thank you for clarifying the dialogue question! :)

[sage]

\o/

[brigantine.livejournal.com]

I would recommend you post PRIVATELY in your own journal (making sure it's in default style, not your journal's style), look at all the formatting, and change whatever doesn't look like you want it to.

So, just to be clear, when we e-mail you our story file, we send you a version that shows all the code, like when we're editing and coding something to be posted in our journal?

I'm guessing that, 'cause it looks like you'll have to copy/paste all our entries (Aagh, lots of work!) and it seems like it'd be easier for you to manage if we send you a version showing the html codes, and you can just pop it whole into the posting window. Yes? No?

Sorry if I'm asking an idiotic question, but Y'hello, Luddite here. I don't even know what an emdash is, let alone how to code one, or whether I should. I don't think so, my story fits one LJ post. But you see my point. Technomoron, me. *embarrassed sigh*

[sage]

hee! For long fics, we have a macro that will change MS Word formatting into html, so we won't need to ask people to code their own. It's automatic and zippy. :)

As long as we have everyone's .txt or .doc file on hand, copying and pasting should be a piece of cake. :D

Also, an emdash is like this: "Oh, god. Just like—did you remember—please, more—to let Dief out?"

(If you look up "dash" on wikipedia, you'll learn more than you ever wanted about emdashes, endashes, and double hyphens. :P)

[keerawa.livejournal.com]

Please to share macro? Because I've always done it by hand.

[sage]

um. It's in astolat's journal -- she posted it a couple of months back? I'm sure it's there if you scroll down a little.

Grab the zip file & follow the instructions. Easy as pie. :)

[sage]

Gah! Hopefully I have my words straight this time. Here's what I mean to say.

Yes, LJ-ready means text formatting (like < i > and < b > tags) should be included just like when you're editing and coding something to post in your journal. Exactly! :)

Okay, I hope this clarifies everything. I'm about as clear as mud today, so just ask if you have any more questions. :D