Summer 2025 Submission Guidelines
May. 7th, 2025 03:14 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
holmesticemods posting in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png){kind=small}
holmesticeReminder that works are due on Saturday, May 24th!
You can submit your works via AO3 or email (holmesticemods@gmail.com). For works submitted via AO3, we will post an announcement here with a link to your work at AO3. For works submitted via email, we will post the entire work here at DW. Works emailed to us must be properly tagged and formatted; see below for full instructions.
For all works, you must email a header to us. If you're submitting via AO3, this is in ADDITION to the header you will fill out on AO3. (The emailed header is for us to use in the community announcement post.)
Headers
Please include a header in the body of your e-mail (or in the story document if you're submitting a story by email). Copy and paste the code, and fill in your work information outside the bold tags. Correctly formatted headers look like:
Stories:
Art, Graphics, and Vids:
Podfic:
AO3 Submissions - All work types
Reminder: you MUST submit a header via email to the mods, as per above.
To submit your work via AO3:
After you have posted the work, it will enter our collection's moderation queue, where it will be anonymous and unrevealed (i.e., invisible to everyone but you and the mods). During the posting period we will reveal a few works each day and announce each one on Dreamwidth as we do; sometime during that period your work will be made visible. When the posting period is over, there will be a short interval during which all works are visible but anonymous; people may use that period to guess who made what, and creators may reply to commenters on AO3. (AO3 will preserve your anonymity by labeling your comments as from "Anonymous Creator.") When the guessing period is over, we will de-anonymize all works, and from that point forward your story will behave like any other story in your AO3 account. That is, it will be part of your list of works, notification emails will be sent to your subscribers, any comments you make will now be from your username, etc.
Emailed Submissions - Stories
Submit your story in one the following file formats: .txt, .doc, .docx, .rtf, or submitted directly in the body of the email. Submissions MUST include a header and all works MUST be appropriately tagged.
Tag your story for html and add line breaks after paragraphs. That means adding the relevant tags for italics, bold, or whatever other formatting you may need, as well as an extra blank line at the end of paragraphs. (The blank line should be created with a double-return; do not use the format-menu option of automatically adding extra whitespace at the end of paragraphs.) If you don't know how to html-tag for DW/LJ (which uses a stripped-down, 'lite' version of html), here's a brief guide from the Dreamwidth FAQ. (Note: <p> tags are not necessary if you're using a double-return at the end of each paragraph.) A properly-formatted story will look something like this:
An alternate method of tagging is to use the Rich Text Editor to post your story PRIVATELY to your own Dreamwidth account, then click over to the HTML Editor, copy what you find there, and send that output to us. If you choose to do this, make absolutely sure that you have set the post to PRIVATE so that you don't accidentally leak your story to your followers. (Please note, we can't guarantee that doing this on LJ will post correctly on DW.)
If you need additional help with html tagging, please contact us and we'll be happy to assist you.
Stories that haven't been tagged will be posted without italics and related formatting changes
Emailed Submissions - Podfics, Artwork, and Vids
Artists, podficcers, and vidders must submit an anonymous/unsigned version of your work. If you wish, you may also send us a signed/watermarked version, and we will swap URLs/embeds for you after reveals.
If you wish, we can host your work for you. We will host art and graphics on our Squidge.org account, vids in our Youtube account, and podfics in one of our filesharing accounts (mediafire or googledocs). If you choose this option, please email us your ready-to-publish files along with the appropriate header.
You are also welcome to host your own content; however, it MUST NOT be via an account that can be tied to your identity, fandom or otherwise. Furthermore, the URL should not be browsable from other parts of the hosting site. (E.g., if you host a vid on youtube, it should be set to 'Unlisted'.) If you choose to host your own work, please send the URL or embed code to us by email, along with the appropriate header.
Last notes: if you need a beta or Britpicker -- or wish to volunteer to provide either! -- please check out the Beta Volunteer Post. If you might enjoy making another gift and would like to help out if we suddenly find ourselves short, you may also volunteer to pinch-hit. And if you are bursting with eagerness about all those other oh-so-tempting prompts, go ahead and fill another prompt and submit it as treat, following the same directions above! Holmestice always welcomes treats!
Happy creating, and we're looking forward to your fanworks! If you have any questions, please ask -- we're always happy to help!
You can submit your works via AO3 or email (holmesticemods@gmail.com). For works submitted via AO3, we will post an announcement here with a link to your work at AO3. For works submitted via email, we will post the entire work here at DW. Works emailed to us must be properly tagged and formatted; see below for full instructions.
For all works, you must email a header to us. If you're submitting via AO3, this is in ADDITION to the header you will fill out on AO3. (The emailed header is for us to use in the community announcement post.)
Headers
Please include a header in the body of your e-mail (or in the story document if you're submitting a story by email). Copy and paste the code, and fill in your work information outside the bold tags. Correctly formatted headers look like:
<b>Title:</b> Your Title Goes Here, Outside the HTML Tags
<b>Recipient:</b> @your-recipient
...
Stories:
Art, Graphics, and Vids:
Podfic:
AO3 Submissions - All work types
Reminder: you MUST submit a header via email to the mods, as per above.
To submit your work via AO3:
- Go to the Holmestice Exchange - Summer 2025 collection.
- Click "Post to Collection."
- Fill out the Post New Work form as usual. Do not include any identifying information in the notes, body, or off-site links. (This includes no watermarks or signatures in art, graphics, or vids, nor recognizable usernames in hosting sites such as YouTube.)
- Include your recpient's AO3 name in the "gift to" field (if they have an AO3 username).
- Do not select "show this work only to registered users" (since not all participants may be registered users of AO3).
- Select "Preview", and then on the next screen "Save Without Posting".
- Check your byline, right underneath the title: it should say "Anonymous [your_username]". If it does, all is well, go ahead to the next step. (If it does not say "Anonymous [your_username]", stop here and email us so we can fix the anonymity bug at our end.)
- Once you've confirmed that your byline says "Anonymous [your_username]", post the work.
After you have posted the work, it will enter our collection's moderation queue, where it will be anonymous and unrevealed (i.e., invisible to everyone but you and the mods). During the posting period we will reveal a few works each day and announce each one on Dreamwidth as we do; sometime during that period your work will be made visible. When the posting period is over, there will be a short interval during which all works are visible but anonymous; people may use that period to guess who made what, and creators may reply to commenters on AO3. (AO3 will preserve your anonymity by labeling your comments as from "Anonymous Creator.") When the guessing period is over, we will de-anonymize all works, and from that point forward your story will behave like any other story in your AO3 account. That is, it will be part of your list of works, notification emails will be sent to your subscribers, any comments you make will now be from your username, etc.
Emailed Submissions - Stories
Submit your story in one the following file formats: .txt, .doc, .docx, .rtf, or submitted directly in the body of the email. Submissions MUST include a header and all works MUST be appropriately tagged.
Tag your story for html and add line breaks after paragraphs. That means adding the relevant tags for italics, bold, or whatever other formatting you may need, as well as an extra blank line at the end of paragraphs. (The blank line should be created with a double-return; do not use the format-menu option of automatically adding extra whitespace at the end of paragraphs.) If you don't know how to html-tag for DW/LJ (which uses a stripped-down, 'lite' version of html), here's a brief guide from the Dreamwidth FAQ. (Note: <p> tags are not necessary if you're using a double-return at the end of each paragraph.) A properly-formatted story will look something like this:
"It's quite elementary," deduces Holmes. To indicate the end of the paragraph, the author presses the return/enter key two times.
<i>"Wonderful!"</i> Watson ejaculates in italics. We're at the end of another paragraph, and so the author once again hits return/enter twice.
"Curses, foiled again!" complains Moriarty. The author triumphantly ends the paragraph by hitting return two times.An alternate method of tagging is to use the Rich Text Editor to post your story PRIVATELY to your own Dreamwidth account, then click over to the HTML Editor, copy what you find there, and send that output to us. If you choose to do this, make absolutely sure that you have set the post to PRIVATE so that you don't accidentally leak your story to your followers. (Please note, we can't guarantee that doing this on LJ will post correctly on DW.)
If you need additional help with html tagging, please contact us and we'll be happy to assist you.
Stories that haven't been tagged will be posted without italics and related formatting changes
Emailed Submissions - Podfics, Artwork, and Vids
Artists, podficcers, and vidders must submit an anonymous/unsigned version of your work. If you wish, you may also send us a signed/watermarked version, and we will swap URLs/embeds for you after reveals.
If you wish, we can host your work for you. We will host art and graphics on our Squidge.org account, vids in our Youtube account, and podfics in one of our filesharing accounts (mediafire or googledocs). If you choose this option, please email us your ready-to-publish files along with the appropriate header.
You are also welcome to host your own content; however, it MUST NOT be via an account that can be tied to your identity, fandom or otherwise. Furthermore, the URL should not be browsable from other parts of the hosting site. (E.g., if you host a vid on youtube, it should be set to 'Unlisted'.) If you choose to host your own work, please send the URL or embed code to us by email, along with the appropriate header.
Last notes: if you need a beta or Britpicker -- or wish to volunteer to provide either! -- please check out the Beta Volunteer Post. If you might enjoy making another gift and would like to help out if we suddenly find ourselves short, you may also volunteer to pinch-hit. And if you are bursting with eagerness about all those other oh-so-tempting prompts, go ahead and fill another prompt and submit it as treat, following the same directions above! Holmestice always welcomes treats!
Happy creating, and we're looking forward to your fanworks! If you have any questions, please ask -- we're always happy to help!
