Severus Big Bang Birthday Bash

Please use the following headers when you send us your stories. They should be in the document of your story and with the email you send us. Artists, please include your name in the filename. Writers, please include the header in your attached document. We accept most formats, but prefer docx, doc or rtf.

You can just cut and paste the following headers, please insert your information where we wrote 'insert...'.
If you have questions, don't hesitate to ask. If you need an extension or have problems of any other kind, we'd prefer it if you sent us a mail.

Please note the warnings! For clarification of the underage kissing a reminder of the rules: we don't permit sexual situations for underage characters, but will allow a kiss that isn't graphic: no groping, frotting, dirty talk or similar. If that applies to your story, please tone it down accordingly. You can always post another version later on your own journal.

You don't need to insert a disclaimer, we will insert our community disclaimer.

Please send your submission to severusbigbang AT googlemail DOT com

Header for text-based entries:

( Read more... )
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Header for art, crafts or multimedia-based entries:

( Read more... )

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Warnings:

Warnings are a courtesy to readers and a simple, but efficient thing to avoid triggering and distress in readers. This fest insists on warnings, and if you do not provide an appropriate warning for your fic, we will do it instead.

Please chose a warning:
none, underage kissing, adult content, dubious consent, non-consensual, graphic sexuality, incest, infanticide, violence, torture, self-mutilation, main character death, suicide/attempt, bestiality.

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Ratings:

(we use the American movie rating, since most people are more or less familiar with it):

G, PG, PG-13, R, NC-17, see details on the Motion Picture Association of America site.

As a reminder: participants and readers have to be over 18, however, as a courtesy for readers who don't like to read explicit material, please chose an appropriate rating
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Genre:

You can chose this freely. As a courtesy to readers, we ask you to insert Gen, Het, Slash or Femmeslash before you detail whether it's Romance, PWP, Adventure, Action or whatever.

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Formatting:

All entries will be posted on a livejournal or insanejournal account. Writers, please format your entries accordingly.
***We will not format for you other than make a bold title/chapter title***
( Common html Effects )

Time flies and Severus' birthday isn't that far away.

• Final versions of your fic and art are due on November 15 unless you have good reasons for an extension. Don't panic, speak to us instead.

• Please watch this space before you send us your final versions. We'll post a header for fic and art, instructions about warnings and a short information on how to format your stories. This instructions post will come within the next days.

• We have a change of rules: Rule #8 has been changed. It stated that fic and art should not be posted on archives or elsewhere until February 15. We understand that that is far too long. We've changed that to January 20th. Please don't post your fic and art on archives/elsewhere until January 20, 2010 to give us some time to celebrate.

• Att. Beta readers: if you still have capacity, we'd appreciate it if you dropped us a note under severusbigbang AT googlmail DOT com or sylvanawood AT googlemail DOT com. This is the time where we will likely need emergency beta readers.

• After November 15, we'll offer all the participants including beta readers and cheerleaders the opportunity to introduce themselves in a participants' showcase post. You can tell us where you normally post, what you normally write or draw, and what is of special interest to you in the fandom. Watch this space for more information.

• We will very likely have some kind of contest for reviewers, with prizes if we can organize it.

The Masque, our helpful friends, are having a contest going on, I've posted about that already. That contest ends on Halloween! Hurry if you didn't upload chapters and art there yet and want to participate.

You'll find all the details here.

We have a new affiliate: The Lupin Big Bang.


Lupin Big Bang

Check it out. :)

You all know The Masque. They are the wonderful people who gave us our forum where many of you chat, find help, and have a good time.

And now, The Masque is having an extraordinary contest:

The Masque Forums


The Masque has something exquisite and unique and, well, quite awesome to offer its members this month. We have an autographed copy of an anthology of scary stories, featuring our own friend, member, and published author, April Grey. April is a long time author of Harry Potter fanfic.


Northern Haunts (http://www.amazon.com/Northern-Haunts-Terrifying-England-Tales/dp/0980187052/ref=sr_oe_2_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1255126937&sr=1-2) is a compilation of what has been said to be the best of the best for scary stories. Set in New England, this anthology has 100 short stories filled with campfire tales that are sure to send a chill or two up and down your spine.


Now, here’s the easy part, all you have to do is upload your photos, drawings, stories, poems, recipes in any and all parts of the site, including The Masque, The WIKtT Archives and associated galleries. New chapters to existing stories, new stories and added chapters, a new poem and a drawing, everything and anything counts. You absolutely can’t beat that. Now there is one catch. All work has to be uploaded BY Midnight on All Hallows’ Eve- so that’s 11:59 p.m. Pacific Time so there’s no confusion.


Story validation will be turned on for the duration of this contest for counting purposes only; all works will be validated as soon as the counts are made (this means that your story will not show up until an admin lets it through). Counts/validation will be done several times per day at the discretion of the admins. Several of the newly uploaded stories will be Featured.


Odds of winning are completely and entirely dependent upon the number of works uploaded. The Masque, all volunteers, and authors are not responsible for any works not uploaded, but claimed to be. If you’re having trouble, contact the administrator.


Good Luck!

To unsubscribe from these announcements, login to the forum and uncheck "Receive forum announcements and important notifications by email." in your profile.

You can view the full announcement by following this link:

http://www.themasque.net/forums/index.php?topic=271.0

Regards,
The The Masque Forums Team.


I always found April Grey's fanfic to be among the best. This is a great contest, and what better way to say thank you to The Masque forum team than to go there, upload art and fic, and have a chance to win a great book? Hurry!

You haven't sent them yet?

Don't panic!

Talk to us instead. We may still accept it. Or we may talk you out of it. We're not so many here that we can't deal with you on an individual basis.
So, if you haven't seen the posts, forgot about the deadline, or didn't know where to send it: talk to us.
And, if you hear from someone that they couldn't make it because they missed the deadline: tell them to talk to us.

We're not having an exchange, we want to celebrate. The deadlines are set to make life for your mods a bit easier. If you send something to us on January 8th, we won't take it. ;)

Send your drafts to severusbigbang@googlemail.com

...and I'm very excited, this will be a fun fest!

If you still haven't sent your draft in, or contacted us, and want to participate, please either hand it in to:

severusbigbang@googlemail.com
or any of the mail accounts listed on our contacts page.

Each of you who handed something in should have received a confirmation, or receive one within the next two days. If that hasn't happened, please contact us.

And now it's off to finishing and refining.
If you need help, you know where to find us.

We are in the fortunate position to have more cheerleader signups than requests for cheerleading, so, if you need help, someone to boost the morale, help with plot consistency and the like: tell us, please.

And if we can't match all the cheerleaders with artists and writers: there's more to come where we'd like you to help, but that will be the subject of a later post.

Thank you to all of you who handed the draft in already!

The drafts are due October 1st.

However, no need to panic, these only need to be rough drafts and don't need to be polished or beta-read yet. If you have questions, doubts, problems: talk to us. By now you all should know that we don't bite.

Apropos beta-reading: we've tried to match those of you who wanted to be matched with a potential beta reader and cheerleader. If you haven't been matched for some reason and want to be matched, or if you need help: mail us.

And finally, a request: When you send us your drafts, please put the word 'draft' somewhere into the subject line of your mail. That helps us with the filtering. It will also be helpful if you can give us a short header with genre and potential warnings for your art and fic, but that's not a must.

Please send your draft to: severusbigbang@googlemail.com

Are we excited yet? I'm looking forward to your entries. Time flies... :D

But the fest is just beginning.

Thank you all, for signing up.

Watch this space, there's more to come.

In the meantime, have fun creating, everyone.

We have something to look forward to, in January!

Myspace Countdowns, Capricorn Countdowns at WishAFriend.com

Go there to sign up.

Latecomer sing ups have started and run from August 7 to August 14, 2009
(next Friday night around midnight my time (CET)).

The sign up posts can be found here:

For fic:

Writer sign up page

For art and crafts:

Artist and artisan sign up page

For betas and cheerleaders:

Beta and cheerleader sign up page

If you have questions or comments, don't hesitate to ask by commenting here or through email.

For all those who missed it, were busy with other things, were undecided: here's antother opportunity to be a part of the Severus Big Bang Birthday Bash.


Myspace Countdowns, Capricorn Countdowns at WishAFriend.com

Spread the word!

In-between the first and second sign-up period, we will try to match up people who offered to beta or cheerlead with participants who asked for betas or cheerleaders.
Many of you found their way to our help forum on The Masque where some participants have paired up already. Others haven't activated their registration there yet, and they will get a mail from me within the next two or three days, just to confirm that they have everything they need and are fine, and that the communication is working.
Everyone else who asked for it will get mails with beta/cheerleader and writer/artist suggestions.
And if there is anything else you need or want to talk about: write to us, don't be shy.

Thank you, thank you all, for your enthusiasm and your overwhelming response to our fest. The mod squad and I are still squeeing.

But, and there is always a but, we aren't quite done yet. ;)

We always need more beta readers and cheerleaders. So, if you want to help, edit, motivate, please sign up here!

And, (yes, there's also an 'and'),


We've learned that some people only now learned about our fest. And other people are overwhelmed with preparations for Azkatraz and other meetings, or other things. There should still be enough time to do a short entry, and if you can make it a long one, even better.

Myspace Countdowns, Capricorn Countdowns at WishAFriend.com

Go here to chose where to sign up!

It is very exciting to see you all sign up. Thank you so much for all the kind comments.

There is half a month left for sign ups, time enough to spread the word and invite your friends.

Sign ups are open for writers, artists/crafters and betas/cheerleaders.
This isn't a traditional big bang, we are open to almost anything. We want for our birthday boy to have a resounding bang of your creativity as a gift, no matter which genre or ship you prefer.

So, please read the Rules and our steadily growing FAQ, and sign up.

The sign up posts can be found here:

For fic: Writer sign up page

For art and crafts: Artist and artisan sign up page

For betas and cheerleaders: Beta and cheerleader sign up page

Finally, reward yourself with a prefect badge (banners for participants only), and display it proudly.

Here are the five painless steps to signing up for Severus's Big Bash:

1. Read the Rules!

Writers, be sure to read the general rules section and the writer's rules section.

2. Please have a look at the categories and timeline.

3. Snag the sign up form!

For Writers:
<b>Name:</b> username(s) you go by (the most) at LJ, IJ, Deviant, Myspace, or archives <b>Email:</b> Not a "@lj.com" address <b>Are you over 18/of legal age in your country?:</b> Yes/No <b>Secret phrase:</b> If you don't know it - you need to read the rules. You are agreeing to abide by the rules when you sign up. ~*~*~*~*~*~ What are you currently planning for your SBB fic? We understand if this changes--just answer as best you can for now. Stuck for ideas? Visit our handy prompt table(link below) <b>Big Bang</b>(Long Fic/Serial Drabbles) or <b>Bang</b>(Drabbles/Short Fic)<b>?</b> <b>Gen fic? If not, what pairing are you considering?</b> <b>Canon through which book? Epilogue compliant, EWE or AU?</b> <b>Genre(if known):</b> <b>If it's a crossover, what fandom(s)?</b> <b>Do you have your own beta(s)? If not, will you need to utilize a volunteer beta?</b> <b>Other Comments:</b>

Handy Prompt Table


4. Post your filled out form as a comment to this post OR to this entry at LJ!

5. You will receive a confirmation email, with access to the SBB help forums within 2 days. Please contact us if you did not receive confirmation.

Voila! That was easy, right?

Questions? Go here for contact info! or read the FAQ!

Psst, you! Snag an icon ~ Tell a friend!

Here are the five painless steps to signing up for Severus's Big Bash:

1. Read the Rules!

Artists, be sure to read the general rules section and the artist's rules section.

2. Please have a look at the categories and timeline.

3. Snag the sign up form!

For Artists:
<b>Name:</b> username(s) you go by (the most) at LJ, IJ, Deviant, Myspace, or archives <b>Email:</b> Not a "@lj.com" address <b>Are you over 18/of legal age in your country?:</b> Yes/No <b>Secret phrase:</b> If you don't know it - you need to read the rules. You are agreeing to abide by the rules when you sign up. ~*~*~*~*~*~ What are you currently planning for your SBB art? We understand if this changes--just answer as best you can for now. Stuck for ideas? Visit our handy prompt table(link below) <b>Big Bang</b> (a series of images, a craft, music or film piece) or <b>Bang</b> (one image or a few sketches)<b>?</b> <b>Type:</b> Traditional art, digital art, crafts, video, and/or music <b>Gen art? If not, what pairing?</b> <b>If it's a crossover, what fandom(s)?</b> <b>Other comments:</b>

Handy Prompt Table


4. Post your filled out form as a comment to this post OR to this entry at LJ!

5. You will receive a confirmation email, with access to the SBB help forums within 2 days. Please contact us if you did not receive confirmation.

Voila! That was easy, right?

Questions? Go here for contact info! or read the FAQ!

Psst, you! Snag an icon ~ Tell a friend!

Here are the five painless steps to signing up for Severus's Big Bash:

1. Read the Rules!

Please be sure to read all sections. In order to provide good support for the writers and artists, you should be familiar with the rules they will be following.

2. Please have a look at the categories and timeline.

3. Snag the sign up form!

For Cheerleaders:
<b>Name:</b> username(s) you go by (the most) at LJ, IJ, Deviant, Myspace, or archives <b>Email:</b> Not a "@lj.com" address <b>Are you over 18?:</b> Yes/No <b>Secret phrase:</b> If you don't know it - you need to read the rules. You are agreeing to abide by the rules when you sign up. ~*~*~*~*~*~ Tell us a little bit about what you're most interested in cheerleading. We'll have authors writing a variety of genres, ships/threesomes, and ratings. <b>What ship(s) are you most interested in cheerleading? Does it matter?</b> <b>What genre are you most interested in cheerleading? Does it matter?</b> <b>What's the maximum rating that you'd be willing to cheerlead?</b> <b>Not willing to cheerlead (squicks):</b> <b>Do you want to cheerlead just one author? If not, how many are you willing to cheerlead?</b> <b>Are you also participating in the Big Bang? If so, what have you signed up to do?</b> <b>What is the most important part of being a Big Bang cheerleader to you?</b> <b>Other remarks (availability, notice needed, etc.):</b>


For Betas:
<b>Name:</b> username(s) you go by (the most) at LJ, IJ, Deviant, Myspace, or archives <b>Email:</b> Not a "@lj.com" address <b>Are you over 18?:</b> Yes/No <b>Secret phrase:</b> If you don't know it - you need to read the rules. You are agreeing to abide by the rules when you sign up. ~*~*~*~*~*~ Tell us a little bit about your specialties and abilities. Let us know what you're willing and able to beta. <b>Willing to beta (pairings, ratings, genres, het/slash/gen…):</b> <b>Not willing to beta (pairings, ratings, genres, squicks...):</b> <b>Specialties (SPAG, canon, characterization, constructive criticism, britpicking, art, other…):</b> <b>How many authors/artists are you willing to beta?</b> <b>When would you be available to be assigned as a beta?</b> <b>Are you familiar with any other fandoms (for possible crossover entries)?</b> <b>Other remarks (availability, notice needed, etc.):</b>

4. Post your filled out form as a comment to this post OR to this entry at LJ!

5. You will receive a confirmation email, with access to the SBB help forums within 2 days. Please contact us if you did not receive confirmation.

Voila! That was easy, right?

Questions? Go here for contact info! or read the FAQ!

Psst, you! Snag an icon ~ Tell a friend!