jegbigbang - Tumblr blog

[jegbigbang]

Hello everyone!

We are so glad to see that so many of you are getting excited for the Jegulus Big Bang! 

It is now one week until Sign-Ups officially open up so we thought we’d share a little reminder of all of the important information about the fest in preparation for that!

As mentioned above Sign-Ups officially open on May 1st. You will be able to sign up as either an author, artist or beta reader!

The mod team has been working hard behind the scenes to prepare all of the sign-up forms, which will be available through Google Forms. For this you will need an email-address and we would recommend that you don’t use a personal one/one with personal information. The email-address will also be used for any future information that we might be sending out via email (like the link to our Discord server!). 

Speaking of Discord! We have worked hard on creating a space for everyone involved in the Jegulus Big Bang to have somewhere to talk, exchange ideas, hype each other up, do sprints with fellow creators etc. and we are so excited to be sharing it with you in the near future (spoiler alert: it’s pretty cool, if we do say so ourselves!)! 

As always we remind you that while joining the server is mandatory for signing up for the Big Bang, there is no pressure to be active within the server. 

Having all fest participants in one place will allow the mod team to make any important announcements and will make it easier for any queries to come straight to us. This will also allow for a clear line of communication between writers, betas and artists to collaborate once the pairings have been announced.

There’s nothing quite like a Big Bang to inspire you and we hope that all of the wonderful ideas floating around in your heads will be enough to convince you to join the fest and sign up next week because we cannot wait to see what you’ve come up with!

If you have any questions please feel free to check out the FAQ, send us an ask or email us at jegbigbang@gmail.com!

RULES | FAQ | CONTACT

— Mods Cass, Gabby, Rose, Maggie, Shan & Kat

[jegbigbang]

Can I sign up if I’ve never worked with a beta before?

Hello!

Yes, that’s perfectly fine! You can absolutely sign up!

— kat

[jegbigbang]

Are we allowed sign up without an idea?? Is there a place where we can brainstorm and chat ideas with other people doing the fest?

Hi!

Yes, you can sign up for the fest without an idea! After you sign up you'll be sent an invite to our discord server and you'll be able to talk to other writers in the fest and brainstorms some ideas. Sign ups last until July, and our 70% checkpoint isn't until September, so there's plenty of time to come up with an idea!

-gabby

[jegbigbang]

Hi! I would love to participate as a writer! Do you have a sign up sheet anywhere?

Cheers!

hello!

writer sign-ups open on May 1st, and a google forms document will be posted then! we’ll be making a reminder post tomorrow (1 week out) then will have another post when the form actually goes up!

so excited you want to join! thanks for asking!

— rose

[jegbigbang]

hi! asking anonymously, but I have a question about the sign up. if an author has an extensively long fanfic currently going- that surpasses 20k+ words and will be relatively... long. is there a hope to still sign up even when they are ongoing but incomplete?

I ask because I would love to join but I fear that won't be completed for a good long while. but it does greatly surpass a lengthy fic as an example for entry.

hi there!

unfortunately we're unable to accept authors who don't have a 5k completed work posted.

while some fests allow authors to post the first chapter or first few chapters of a work prior to the start of the fest, the jegulus big bang requires that authors complete an entire work within the timeframe outlined in our schedule. the goal of the big bang is to create novel-length completed works, so while a 20k+ wip is definitely impressive, we still require for it to be completed!

during our planning phase, the mod team considered multiple word counts, and came to the conclusion that a 5k completed work allowed for an author to demonstrate follow-through with a fic, without restricting writers with lower word count fics from joining. throughout the process of the fest, we will have plenty of support and encouragement for those who have never written a 20k fic prior to the big bang, including the 70% checkpoint.

that said, sign-ups open on may 1st, and close on july 15th. if you are an author who would like to join and do not currently have any 5k completed works on ao3, there is plenty of time to write a one-shot or complete an ongoing multi-chapter fic!

– maggie

[jegbigbang]

MOD ANNOUNCEMENT (RE: SIGN UPS AND DISCORD SERVER)

It marks a week since we announced the big bang! Are you all getting excited and thinking of ideas? I know we are! Our mod team has been working hard behind the scenes to get everything ready for sign ups opening on May 1st.

Once sign ups open, you’ll receive a welcome email within 24-48 hours (we recommend using an email that you check regularly, however, try to avoid one with any personal information in it). This will include the link to our discord server!

The discord server will be a place for writers, betas and artists to start getting excited for the fest as well as writer/beta specific channels to start brainstorming ideas!

While joining the server is mandatory for signing up for the Big Bang, there is no pressure to be active within the server. Having all fest participants in one place will allow the mod team to make any important announcements and will make it easier for any queries to come straight to us. This will also allow for a clear line of communication between writers, betas and artists to collaborate once the pairings have been announced.

If you have any questions, please feel free to reach out to us via ask or email!

SCHEDULE | RULES | FAQ | CONTACT

[jegbigbang]

hi! i just had a question when the fest starts are we allowed to switch betas if something comes up or if we're not compatible or can we just not have a beta at all and do it all on our own?

hello!!

so, I think this sounds like a very situational question, and for that it’s a little hard to answer. should someone sign up and be assigned a beta, the idea is that there will be ongoing communication throughout to relay expectations and guidance. if there are concerns with compatibility, we’d ask either the beta or author to come to the mods (this will be made easier by the discord) and relay those concerns to us! if this happens, we would work to reassign them and hopefully make a better fit. but, we’re hopeful this will not be the case.

everyone does have the option to sign up with a beta pre-chosen (perhaps a friend), should that make them more comfortable than having to work with someone they maybe don’t know. we get that not everyone has someone who can do this for them, though, so that’s why the assigned beta is there!

to answer your last question, every author will work with a beta. a major goal of this big bang is collaboration between writers, betas, and artists to create a long form, polished product, and we’d like everyone to be given the same means to do so <3

thank you for asking :)

-rose

[jegbigbang]

Mod Announcement (Re: Fic Ideas)

Hi everyone! We are so happy to hear that so many of you are excited to join us!

Even though some of us mods have been talking about this since last year, we didn’t factor in the fact that a lot of people weren’t expecting a Jegulus Big Bang and some questions regarding fic ideas have popped up. As is detailed in our FAQ, in order to maintain anonymity when we are doing artist and writer pairings, we require all fic ideas to be new.

That said, as this is our first year and we popped up without much warning, we have discussed within the mod team and have decided to allow people to submit ideas that they may have posted about or discussed in online spaces before, within reason.

If you have a fic idea and have briefly discussed it on Tumblr, you have until sign ups open on May 1st to scrub mentions of the idea from your blog. The sooner the better. Any works that have already had a chapter posted or been extensively promoted are still ineligible for the fest. However, if there’s an idea you made a couple of posts about you are free to delete and choose that idea for your big bang fic!

If the Jeg Big Bang continues in the future, we won’t be allowing this again—but there’s always going to be some teething issues on the first run! Once again we are so thankful for all the responses we’ve had, and are so excited to hear everyone’s ideas!

– Shan & Maggie

[jegbigbang]

Mod Announcement (Re: Fic Ideas)

Hi everyone! We are so happy to hear that so many of you are excited to join us!

Even though some of us mods have been talking about this since last year, we didn’t factor in the fact that a lot of people weren’t expecting a Jegulus Big Bang and some questions regarding fic ideas have popped up. As is detailed in our FAQ, in order to maintain anonymity when we are doing artist and writer pairings, we require all fic ideas to be new.

That said, as this is our first year and we popped up without much warning, we have discussed within the mod team and have decided to allow people to submit ideas that they may have posted about or discussed in online spaces before, within reason.

If you have a fic idea and have briefly discussed it on Tumblr, you have until sign ups open on May 1st to scrub mentions of the idea from your blog. The sooner the better. Any works that have already had a chapter posted or been extensively promoted are still ineligible for the fest. However, if there’s an idea you made a couple of posts about you are free to delete and choose that idea for your big bang fic!

If the Jeg Big Bang continues in the future, we won’t be allowing this again—but there’s always going to be some teething issues on the first run! Once again we are so thankful for all the responses we’ve had, and are so excited to hear everyone’s ideas!

– Shan & Maggie

[jegbigbang]

Hey just wanted to check in- I would love to jump in as an author and would even be keen on doing more than one fic. However I also get that realistically, multiple 20k+ fics is a decent commitment. SO my question is- Can you commit to more than one fic later on (of course within the proper timetable, whatever that frame looks like) or is it best to go ahead and apply for 2-3 and then should you change your mind communicate with staff to drop down later (again, within reasonable time)?

Thank you in advance and excited to see this project grow even more!

hello!

thank you for asking! so, the limit for this big bang is actually one work per author. we do this because there is no maximum word count, so some works might get quite long, and we’d like to ensure that we have a proper amount of artworks and betas for each author.

when looking at the section in our faq about pinch-hitters, it’s important to note that this is only an option for artists. this would be someone we reach out to later in the fest, should another artist drop or if we did not have enough, in order to bridge that gap. for writers, you can only sign up to contribute the one work and will check-in throughout based on your progress for that work.

thank you again!

— rose

[jegbigbang]

hi mods! i've noticed pretty much every big bang or fic/art fest is 18+, and i completely understand why. is there any way to have a fest or something similar that's available to minors?

Hi! Yes, it is absolutely possible to find and host fests that are open to minors as well. I unfortunately don't know of any that are running right now other than @marauderswithpalestineproject - and I believe they are still looking for people to donate and submit prompts.

Fests and their rules really come down to the mods' preferences and comfortability, so while it may be more common for them to be 18+, it is certainly not the only way they can be run. There are blogs such as @hpfests that you can follow to keep track of the fests they reblog, and you can also look at #hp fests and #hp events (which will be tagged on this ask).

And while it may seem daunting, you can always run your own fest! If you want to take this on, my biggest piece of advice would to be to look at a lot of different fest blogs and rules to figure out how you want to run things. You could also make it minors only; I've personally never seen this but it may be a good way to bring together that part of the community.

I hope this answer was helpful!

- Cass

[jegbigbang]

Hiya, this is probably a dumb question (sorry it's 3am), but while i know under 18s aren't allowed to write for the fest are we allowed to beta read?

Hello! No such thing as a dumb question :-)

Unfortunately all betas/writers/artists are required to be 18+ at the time of signing up, as everyone will be added into a discord server and we want to be able to ensure everyone's safety & comfortability. This rule is in place to protect you (as you are a minor), our participants, and us mods. If we do another run in the coming years, and you are 18 by that point, we'd love to have you then! And for now, we hope you enjoy all of the wonderful works that will be coming out in February.

- Shan & Cass

[jegbigbang]

What is a pinch hitter? I saw it mentioned in the FAQ

hi there!

a pinch hitter is an artist who we might reach out to later in the fest if another artist has dropped out and/or we don’t have enough artists to match with writers.

there is no pressure and no guarantee that you will be selected to create more if you sign up as a pinch hitter, but we do ask that if you choose to select it when sign-ups open, that you are able to work under a time constraint!

– maggie

[jegbigbang]

heyy mods!

you said anyone that participates must be 18. but when the sing up start im only 17, but before the sing up ends I'll turn 18. is that fine or should i wait for the next fest?

Hi!

Since the Big Bang is 18+ we ask you to wait until after your birthday to sign up. As long as you're eighteen when you sign up you're free to join!

-gabby

[jegbigbang]

heyy mods if we participate is it possible to request who we want to be our beta? like if theres someone we already have talked to or had as a beta before? tyy <3

hello!

yes, this is completely fine. we will have an option in our sign ups for this, you will just need to specify who your beta is and they will also be required to sign up for the fest! ☺️

- shan

[jegbigbang]

Hello everybody, and welcome to the Jegulus Big Bang!

We are so excited to be bringing this fest to jegulus, and hope you guys will come along for the ride.

A big bang fest is an almost two decade old tradition throughout fandom, with its aim to bring writers and artists together to collaborate to tell one story in multiple formats.

If you’re unfamiliar with the concept of a big bang, here’s a brief description! These fests usually run for several months, typically with the goal to write a novel length works. An author will write a fic, in our case with a minimum word count of 20k, and provide a summary anonymously to the artists who sign up. The artist will then choose a summary that speaks to them, and they will create a piece (or multiple) of fanart as a companion piece to the fic.

Our hope for this big bang is to not only encourage authors and artists to try something new, but to help the community as a whole to connect with each other in a way we might not have before!

The mods have been working on this for a long time, and we are so delighted to be bringing it to you all now. We can’t wait to see what you will create!

- mods Cass, Gabby, Rose, Maggie, Shan & Kat

RULES | FAQ | CONTACT

All deadlines close on the specified dates at Midnight EST!