I'm going to run a fic exchange this holiday season! The minimum fic length will be 1000 words. Sign ups are now through October 6th, assignments will go out October 13th, and completed fics will be due December 15th. If all goes according to plan, the reveal will be December 22nd.

For those who don't know, a fic exchange works like this: You fill out the form here with three story ideas you'd like for someone to write for you, and a list of things you're willing to write for someone else. You PM me a link to a google doc with that form, or you can PM it directly to me. Then I match your stories to someone who can write one, and I send you someone else's list of stories to write.

You have two months to write your person a story that's at least 1000 words, based on one of the ideas from their list. Everyone keeps it a secret who they're writing for and doesn't publish their story yet, then on December 22nd, when all of the stories are done, I will reveal who was writing for whom, with links to the stories. You'll have a story that was written from one of your ideas, and you will have made someone else happy with a story of their own! (After that you're free to publish it on the site or not, whatever you want.)

Question and Answer time!

Bookplayer, are you crazy? It's not even October and you're talking about a Holiday exchange?

I'm not crazy, blue words. The holidays get rushed, and a lot of people have finals then. Also some people write slowly, or want to have time to run their story by a prereader or twenty. Two months to write gives people plenty of time, so more people can join in. Sign ups start now to give people time to decide if they can commit to this, and to give me time to do the matching up.

Do you know what you're doing?

I've done this once before, in a smaller fandom. I'm a little concerned that this one is going to be much bigger, so I might be begging for help in a few weeks. But I know how it's supposed to work.

I'm an awful writer/have never written anything! Should I bother to sign up?

Yes, but you might want to get to work right away when you get your assignment and make use of the various prereading services offered in places like the Author Support group.

What if I write an amazing masterpiece and an awful writer gets my story requests?

That can happen. All I can do is try to encourage everyone to get prereaders and do their very best.

What happens if I or the person writing for me has to drop out?

I step in. Or I go begging to other writers I know to step in. But if you write something, you'll get something. I promise that.

What kind of story can I request?

Well, you have to make three requests, and at least one of them has to be rated teen or below and not involve shipping. Also, don't request anything with your OC, other writers probably don't know how to write them. But other than that, they can be whatever you want! Shipping, NO shipping, clop, cute fuzzy stories, dark fic, ANYTHING!

I don't write (clop, shipping, non-shipping, whatever.) What if I only get requests for those stories?

I make sure you get at least one idea that you told me on the form you can write. That is my job. You don't have to use that one, you can use any of the three. But if you tell me you don't write something, you won't have to write it.

Is there anything else I should know?

Read the directions before you ask a question. I love to help, but I'll be a busy little fic exchange mod! Also, when I send you your assignment I'll be including the instructions for posting the story as a google doc or an unpublished story here on the site, so it can stay secret until the reveal.

Also, you can comment below and ask anything I didn't cover here.

Click here for the sign up form! (in case you missed the first two links.)