It’s the news post you’ve all been waiting for! The Mod Team is here to answer your burning questions about next month’s event. First things first:

What is the Secret Santa Gift Exchange again?

Our final event of the year! Members sign up (this year, forty-one writers and artists) and agree to both give and receive fanwork during the month of December. Sign-ups went out at the end of last week and all participating creators have their assignments.

Reminder: all works created for the event but be COMPLETE at ONE chapter. This means the word count maximum is 15,000 using the site’s word count.

How and when do I post my gift?

Starting as soon as the clock ticks over into December 1st (site time, which is Eastern time (ET)—it's listed under the ShoutBox), you'll see a checkbox on the page where you add a new story. It’ll look like so:

How do I let my giftee know I posted?

Great question! You should clearly state your giftee’s name in either the story summary or story notes section. We also recommend you reach out using EF’s Private Message system.

I got my gift! Now what?

Just one thing. Please thank your gifter when they publish the gift they make for you. Sometimes we get gifts that don’t live up to our expectations, but they were still made with enthusiasm, love, and a love of our community.

We take this very seriously. Bad behavior toward your gifter or giftee, in regards to either the gift you receive or the gift you deliver, will result in a permanent ban from this event for all future years. If there is an issue, let the Mods know.

Can I find fanworks in the Exchange?

Want to keep up with the gift-giving fun? All Secret Santa works will have a little red tree icon in the byline, as seen in the example below: 

 

And you can find all of the Secret Santa works as they are added by visiting the event page.

Does my work need to be Holiday-themed?

No! 

So long as your work complies with your assignment, and doesn’t break any of EF’s rules or Terms of Service, you’re golden.

Anything else I need to know about my work?

You must include at least one of your giftee’s desired categories AND one of their desired genres. Their freeform prompt, if applicable, is entirely optional, but the requirement of a genre and a category is not.

Written works must be at least 100 words long and no more than 15,000 words as counted by the site software. There is no minimum word count for artwork-only pieces or narrative artwork (i.e. works that consist of both words and pictures, such as a comic), however narrative artwork pieces must adhere to the maximum word count of 15,000. All works must be posted as a single chapter.

Please remember that EF has a strict no-AI policy.

What happens if I don’t post my work within the time window?

If you don’t post your fanwork by the end of day on the 31st of December, site time, you will be ineligible to participate in the 2025 Elysian Fields Secret Santa Gift Exchange, but remain eligible for future fic exchanges in 2026 and beyond.

If, by December 15th, you find yourself unable to create a gift in time, PLEASE reach out to EllieRose101 or email the site at elysianfieldsarchive@gmail.com. You will still be unable to participate next year, but this will allow a rescue writer time to ensure your giftee has something under the tree.

What happens if I don’t drop out before December 15 but something comes up afterward?

So it’s December 19 and you were on track to complete and publish your gift well ahead of schedule. But then life decides to Life and despite your best efforts, you know that you will not be able to post in time. What happens then?

Contact us immediately. We need to know if we need a rescue writer/artist to step in or if you still want to complete your work. Our concern at that point is making sure your giftee isn’t empty-handed. If you want to complete your work outside the deadline, this is what you need to know: Secret Santa works may be posted up to January 15 with the understanding that they are not considered event works, that you will be prohibited from participating next year, and you will be ineligible for any event awards.

The key here is communication. We have to know what to expect so we know what to tell your giftee and/or if we need to make alternative plans for them.

Should you decide not to drop out, failure to meet the extended deadline, may result in a permanent ban from future Secret Santa events. The Mods will evaluate each incident on a case-by-case basis. Again, communication is key.

What about beta readers and sensitivity readers?

We love beta and sensitivity readers and have a shiny Beta award they can win! Use EF’s credit system to mark their contribution or else they won’t get the award—and they deserve all the accolades for their hard work!

Can I work with someone else on my event response?

Not this time, sorry. Since everyone who signs up creates and receives one fanwork is matched with another person, we do not allow co-authored works for this event. 

How do I get the art award?

You can get the art award by creating a banner (for yourself or someone else), by posting a work that fits within our Artwork or Narrative Artwork categories, or creating an illustration to accompany a gift fic written by you or another Secret Santa writer. We’ve seen images, manips, gifs, videos, fan vids, comics, playlists, and more get posted, and can’t wait to see what y’all will come up with next!

If someone has created art for your work, make sure you credit them using EF’s credit system—otherwise we won’t know to give them an award! And DON’T FORGET to credit yourself as the artist if you created your own banner or other artwork.

Are there rules for banner creation?

Banners should be no more than 920x300 pixels and include a variation of the text ‘Designed/Created/Written for the 2024 Elysian Fields Secret Santa Gift Exchange’ somewhere on them. Example:

If you don’t have a custom banner for your work, the amazing MillennialCryBaby has created a banner for the event that any participant can use (as seen below. You can find the link here). If you do use her banner, PLEASE remember to credit her!

Now that I have a gorgeous banner/other artwork, how do I add it to my work?

To add the banner to your fanwork, you can upload the banner to your account in “Your Images” under “Account Info.” Banner images must be a gif, jpg, jpeg, or png file type, and under 1 MB in file size. Banners should be no more than 920x300 pixels. Images posted within chapters can be up to 1500x1500 px. (Note: make sure you add images to the chapter itself; any images in the Chapter Notes or End Notes won’t be added to ePubs when people download them!) You can also host your banner on an image-sharing site or your own site, especially if the file size is too big for us to host on our site.

You then enter the URL from Elysian Fields or the image-sharing site in the Banner URL field on the Add Story page, or click the Insert/Edit Image icon in the toolbar for the Story Text box.

NOTE: The URL you add MUST end in a valid image file extension (.gif, .jpg, .jpeg, or .png) or else the URL will not be saved. Make sure there are no spaces after the final character in the file extension. If you are having issues with a specific image-sharing site, please reach out to us via email or try asking for help in our Discord server.

You said we could add videos? How do I do that?

You will need to get the embed link from YouTube, Vimeo, or another site (which can be a little tricky on mobile, but not impossible—google for directions if you don’t have access to desktop) and insert the html into the Source Code. You can find the Source Code by clicking the Source Code button in the toolbar. Reach out via email or Discord if you’re having any issues with embedding videos.

Is there an event skin?

Yes. The December event skin is now live if you want to make it your default. Scroll down to the skins on the main page or in the footer and select the one labeled “secretsanta” to switch. If you want to keep it, make sure you change the selection on your preferences page. (Otherwise it will change back to your saved skin the next time you access the site.)

And if you haven't seen it yet, the skin looks like this:

The banner was made by our very own MillennialCryBaby.

Will you be featuring regular works while the event is going on?

The first two weeks, yes. For the second half of December, instead of our normal mod-selected featured works, we will be highlighting fanworks posted for the Secret Santa Gift Exchange. Starting on the sixteenth of the month, each day will highlight a random assortment of works posted during the event.

The Gift Exchange challenges authors and artists. What about the readers? Won’t you think of the readers?

Obviously, readers deserve all the love. If during the month of December you write at least 15 comments of at least 15 words on any fanworks on the site, you'll meet the requirements of the commenter challenge and earn a Commenter award! There will be a link to the comment challenge leaderboard on the homepage under the Members of the Month along with the All Star Commenter list.

How about those awards?

Shinies for the Gift Exchange have been lovingly made by MillennialCryBaby. Look at them!

Life happened and I can’t finish my work. What do I do?

We understand life happens. As soon as you know you can’t finish, please email the mods at elysianfieldsarchive@gmail.com. All participants who have yet to post their gifts will receive an email on or around December 15 to confirm their intent to complete. If you must drop out, please make your best effort to inform the Mods before this date. This will give enough our Rescue Writers/Artists time to swoop in and create something before the 12/31 deadline.

Dropping out DOES mean you won’t be able to participate next year, but we’d rather know so we can make contingencies than have someone go giftless. If you do not communicate with us at all regarding dropping out, you will be banned from participating in all future Secret Santa exchanges.

I haven’t received my gift yet. What do I do?

Many of our writers and artists will be working on their gifts throughout the whole month of December, and may not be able to post before the deadline. If you haven’t received your gift once the event ends, please reach out to the mods at elysianfieldsarchive@gmail.com.

I’m a rescue writer/artist. Now what?

Sit tight and wait to see if we need your services! Hopefully we won’t have to tap you, but if we do, then you’ll get an email from the Mods to confirm you’re still available to help out.

You’ve mentioned that it’s possible to be banned from this event. How does that happen so I know how to avoid it?

Excellent question.

While the Mods take all archive events seriously, this one has more than just awards at stake. Participants sign up to both give and RECEIVE a gift, and nothing dampens the spirit of the season more than not getting something you were told to expect, especially after you worked so hard to make sure that another member didn’t go without.

This is why we restrict members from signing up the following year if they don’t make the deadline. When you sign up for Secret Santa, it’s not the Mods you’re creating for, or readers on the site; it’s your giftee.

We DO understand that things happen, which is why we have rescue writers/artists, and why any member that doesn’t meet the deadline isn’t penalized beyond one year.

That said, there are a few ways you can be permanently restricted from participating in this event in the future.

• Repeated failure to deliver. If you’ve previously been prohibited from participating because you signed up but dropped out and/or didn’t deliver your gift, a second consecutive time will result in a permanent ban. We don’t like doing this and hope we never have to, but dropouts put pressure on everyone, and if it’s happened twice consecutively, we will consider that a pattern and act accordingly. 
• Failure to meet an extended deadline. If you know you will not have your gift published prior to 12/31 but still wish to complete it for your giftee, you will be granted until January 15, 2025 to see that it is published on the site. You will not be eligible for awards, your gift will not be considered an official event work, and you will be prohibited from participating in the 2025 event. If the extended deadline is not met, you may be barred from all future Secret Santa events. The Mods will evaluate this on a case-by-case basis.
• Noncommunication. As we’ve said, dropouts happen. It is your responsibility to let us know AS SOON AS POSSIBLE if you know you will not be able to deliver. If you fail to let us know you won’t be able to make the 12/31 deadline and simply do not post your gift, you will be barred from participating in future Secret Santa events. We cannot make accommodations for your giftee if we do not know not to expect your contribution, and that is not fair to them.
• Bad behavior toward your giftee. Please refer to the guidelines you received with your assignment details. If they listed a trope you like as one of their hard nopes, don’t include it; likewise, make sure to include at least one of their requested genres and one of their requested categories. In all cases, we have done all we can to pair compatible people, but everyone is different. Including content your giftee specifically didn’t want is unacceptable. If you’re uncertain about the definitions of tropes/categories/genres/warnings, please refer to our definitions page, and/or reach out to the Mods. You will not be penalized if you make a good-faith effort with your gift.
• Bad behavior toward your gifter. As we’ve said, sometimes the gifts we receive don’t meet our expectations. This is not an excuse to lash out at a gifter who did everything they could to give you something you would enjoy. Be grateful, be respectful, and be kind.

I’m So Excited!

We are too!

Anything else?

If there are any additional questions, please comment on this post or email us at elysianfieldsarchive@gmail.com. And get ready for some amazing new works!

--Holly and the Mods on November 30, 2024 07:14pm 0 Comments