Hi everyone. It's nearly at that time for banner claiming - less than five hours and counting. Yay! o/ 

First of all, important dates to remember: 
Banner creation: 17th of July - 6th of August 
Banner claiming: 7th - 13th of August
Banner confirmations: 14th – 15th of August
Writing time (but no posting of fics): 16th August - 30th September
Posting of fics to begin: from the 1st of October (and of course authors can continue to write/post throughout the month and beyond)

Now that we've got that out of the way... if you are someone who has been ogling admiring the pretties over the last few weeks (and there was just another massive upload of another 18 banners/challenges, so make sure you check them out) then here's what you need to do.

Firstly, you need to follow the rules and regs of the challenge. I'm reposting them in case anyone has forgotten. By signing up for a banner, you are agreeing to comply with the rules and regs, and write a fic with the following specifics:

• Length: Minimum length 1,500 words, maximum completely up to you!
• Characters: Buffy, Spike, any other characters shown in the banner.
• Content Specifications: Must abide by the Must and Can’t Haves specified by the artist. Obviously the Can Haves is voluntary! All fic MUST follow the guidelines set by the banner artist, unless changes are agreed upon by both parties.
• Dates: no posting of the fic on the archive (or anywhere else) until the 1st of October.
• Banner claims are for new fic only, not to be attached to an existing story. 
• The banner must accompany the fic when it is posted on the archive. Modification of the banner with fic title and author name should be discussed with artist once the first part/chapter is ready for publishing. Authors, the mods will put you in contact with the artist when we confirm your banner selection.

Another reminder, each banner will ONLY be allocated once, and it will be first come, first serve. So make sure you are ready to hit send on the email when sign ups commence (very shortly). Sign ups will be for your top three banner choices, in case your first or second is chosen. If you want to list more preferences than that, have at it. But understand you will only be allocated one banner to begin with. Secondary signups for unclaimed banners will happen later on (dates to be confirmed).

If you think you can follow these specifics, and would like to claim one of the gorgeous artworks just begging to accompany a fic, then here is the last piece of information you need. When you can grab your pretty. 

Susan, our resident tech guru, has the banner claim page set up to automatically switch to banner claiming OPEN at midnight SITE TIME.

So make sure you have the site open. When the message at the top of the page switches you need to email me at angelic.amy.fic@gmail.com with the following information:
     Author penname:
     Email address: (so contact can be set up with the artist for text additions)
     Banner request: List your banner choice(s) by title (number) and artist name, in order of preference. 

And that's it...

E-mails will be sent to authors to confirm their choice of banner, and then your Elysian Fields ID will be linked with the banner on the master list, which is why providing your penname is essential. Early email claims will not be accepted. So don't start writing until you receive your confirmation. 

Any questions? Comment here.

And when the time comes... happy claiming!