2022 Fest Sched and Rules
All stories must feature a romantic/partnership relationship between two or more characters who are not canonically men. The primary ship should comprise characters from the original seven books. We welcome ace characters, poly ships, and trans or nonbinary interpretations of characters, but the intention of this fest is to celebrate wlw pairings, and to encourage the creation of longer, richer stories that these ships don’t often get. If you have a question or concern about this rule, you are welcome to contact the mods, but please respect the intentions of the fest.
The format we are using has changed slightly this year; we’ll still be doing writer sign-ups first, but this year artists will sign up a little later, once authors have fully completed their fics. Moderators will be pairing up artists with writers, however if an artist and a writer know they want to work together and would like to sign up as a team, that is fine.
And yes, we will have Hype Readers again this year! We know that wlw ships tend to get less attention than other ships. In an effort to provide a way for people to participate without writing or making art, and to make sure that our lovely creators get a good response, we are creating the position of Hype Readers – if you are interested in being a Hype Reader, you can sign up in August, and pledge to read and comment on at least two stories from the fest.
For writers: The word length requirement for this fest is minimum 25,000 words.
26 March-9 April: writer sign-ups
25 June: 80% check-in and summary due
9 July: deadline for submitting fic
16 July: writer and artist matches will be sent out by this date
1 September: posting begins
For artists: Minimum art requirement is 2 pieces of art that are more developed than a sketch.
25 June-8 July: artist sign-ups (based on writers’ 80% check-in and summary)
16 July: writer and artist matches will be sent out by this date
20 August: deadline for submitting art
1 September: posting begins
The check-in dates listed in the timeline are the date by which you MUST have sent us your work in progress/completed piece. We will send out reminder emails a week in advance of the check-in date, and if we have not heard from you by midnight EST on the date of the check-in, we will assume you are dropping the fest. Please note that we are always happy to work with creators to sort out extensions provided creators get in touch to request them BEFORE deadlines have passed. Because this is a matching fest, and the nature of a Big Bang results in the mod workload getting heavier closer to posting, it is imperative that all participants follow the check-in schedule. If we don’t hear from you by a check-in or extension date, especially for final submissions, we will have to make alternate plans, which are very time sensitive — we will not have time to follow up with you or hound you via email.
Collaboration and communication:
Because the purpose of this fest is to create written works that are minimum 25k, accompanied by 2 pieces of art, communication is extremely important. We don’t want any writers or artists to be left in a lurch, without a story or art to go with their creation. Moderators will communicate with participants via email, and if we require a response, that will be clearly indicated in the subject header. If you do not reply to one of these emails within three days you will be assumed to be dropping the fest. Please note that though we do our best to stay on top of communication Monday–Friday, all emails will be answered by the following weekend at the latest. If a weekend goes by and you don’t get a response, please reach out on discord, tumblr, or by follow up email–we are but human and may have missed it!
Please remember that artist/author matches will be sent out by 16 July. Once you have received your match, you will be expected to get in touch with your collaborator within three days. Please also be respectful of your collaborator by responding to their messages in a timely manner.
If you know you’re going to have unreliable internet access etc. at some point during the fest, please let mods and your collaborators know IN ADVANCE so that we can plan accordingly.
The mods are very understanding that, especially during these times, unexpected life events can throw a wrench into our fandom plans. However, if in a past year, you have signed up as an author or artist and then ghosted (failed to reply to mod emails and dropped out without communicating), you are not eligible to sign up for the HP WLW Big Bang this year. If you ghost this year, you will not be eligible to sign up for the fest in 2023.
Please note that this DOES NOT apply to authors or artists who communicated that they were dropping out in a previous year. We always do our best to accommodate creators who stay in touch with us about changes to their schedules and there’s never hard feelings toward any creator who has to drop. This rule ONLY applies to folks who stopped communicating without letting the mods know that they were dropping the fest in a previous year.
You must be 18+ to sign up as a writer or artist for HP WLW Big Bang. This does not mean your fic/art needs to be E rated, only that artists and authors must be 18 or older to sign up. Hype readers of all ages are welcome, provided they engage only with fics and art rated T or lower.
Please communicate with moderators if you encounter any issues, think you will need an extension, are having trouble finding an alpha or beta reader, etc. We want to help support you and make sure you are successful, but we can’t do that if we don’t know what’s going on.
Postscript: Want to squee with other HP WLW enthusiasts about the fest and our favourite women of the HP verse in general? Come hang out with us on the discord server.
And thanks again to @banana-ge-ge and @showknight for the fest banners!
Be sure to follow the fest if you aren’t already for further updates, reminders, and mod-posts!
