2025 Schedule + Rules
Apr. 2nd, 2025 08:48 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
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earlybirdgetsthewordEarly Bird Gets The Word is a fic and art exchange inspired by nightonficmountain for small and inactive fandoms.
Signups: May 3rd 20:00 to May 14th 20:00 EDT
Assignments: Out by May 18th 08:00 EDT
Deadline: June 22nd 23:00 EDT
Collection opens: July 2nd 20:00 EDT
Creator reveals: July 9th 20:00 EDT
Tagset | Signups | Collection
What is Early Bird Gets The Word?
Early Bird Gets The Word is a fic and art exchange inspired by Night On Fic Mountain for small and inactive fandoms. Participants sign up to write a story of at least 1,000 words or create art in a fandom someone else has requested. In return, they will receive a story of at least 1,000 words or art in a fandom they have requested.
Participants must be over 18 years of age.
When does this take place?
The challenge takes place as spring transitions to summer. Please refer to the year’s schedule for details.
Why is this exchange called Early Bird Gets The Word?
We wanted something to do with awakening sleepy-headed fandoms, so we were thinking of phrases that had to do with the morning and waking up. “The early bird gets the worm” was suggested, albeit with a massive typo (because the mod was sleep deprived, ironically--or perhaps unironically), and the name stuck.
Nominations
Inactive fandoms (that are sleepy that you want to rouse!!!) qualify if they have 50 or fewer new stories in English with over 1k words on AO3 since 1st January 2025, excluding any stories posted to Yuletide collections at the time that Nominations open. Crossover fandoms will be accepted if both fandoms are eligible under the 50 rule.
Please refer to this year's nomination guidelines.
You may nominate solo characters (Solo: Character name), platonic relationships (&), and romantic relationships (/).
All nominations must be disambiguated.
How did you come up with the qualifying number 50?
We used advanced rocket science to make this calculation.
Requests
You are allowed between three (3) and ten (10) fandom requests, with up to ten (10) characters/relationships in each. You will receive a gift featuring one (1) of the characters/relationships you requested. If you would like to receive a gift featuring any of the nominated characters/relationships in a fandom, click the "Any" box.
For both requests and offers, you are required to choose one (1) or two (2) of the following freeform tags: *Fanart, Fanfiction*. This is the medium in which you are requesting to receive your gift as well as offering to create a gift.
If you request 'Any' characters/relationships for a fandom, your creator is allowed to write or draw about any of the nominated characters or relationships in the tagset for the fandom they matched with you on.
Offers
You are allowed between four (4) and ten (10) fandom offers, with between two (2) and ten (10) characters/relationships in each. If a fandom you want to offer has only 1 character/relationship in the tagset, click the "Any" box. If you would like to create a gift featuring any of the nominated characters/relationships in a fandom, click the "Any" box as well.
For both requests and offers, you are required to choose one (1) or two (2) of the following freeform tags: *Fanart, Fanfiction*. This is the medium in which you are requesting to receive your gift as well as offering to create a gift.
Matching
Assignment matching will be done on AO3. Participants will match on one (1) fandom AND one (1) relationship tag AND one (1) additional tag (Fanfic or Fanart). Requests will be visible during the signup period, so please ensure that your offers are able to match with at least one other person who has signed up to the exchange. Unmatchable participants will be sent an email, after which they will have twenty-four hours (24) to add or edit their offers. If you are sent one of these emails and you do not respond to add/edit your offers within twenty-four hours, your signup will be deleted.
This exchange honours Do Not Match requests. Please send an email to the mod email with your AO3 username, as well as the AO3 username you do not want to match with. You do not need to give a reason for your DNM request - we will not be asking you for one, either.
Assignments
Fic
Gifts must be at least 1000 words in one of the requester's fandoms, featuring one or more of the characters or relationships they requested.
Art
Gifts must be an original (traditional or digital) piece created entirely by the artist. It should be detailed lineart at a minimum. It should not be drawn on lined paper. Minimum size should be 500 000 pixels (for example 710 pixels x 710 pixels or 500 pixels x 1000 pixels). It should be in one of the requester's fandoms, featuring one or more of the characters or relationships they requested.
All gifts must adhere to the recipient’s DNWs. If a DNW is included, the creator of that gift may be banned from future participation, and the participant will qualify for an Emergency Pinch Hit.
Pinch Hits
Pinch Hits will be posted here on the Dreamwidth community. Comments on the Pinch Hit post will be screened; to claim a PH, reply to the post with your AO3 username, the PH number you want to claim along with the AO3 username for the PH you are claiming. Anonymous comments will be enabled, and no dreamwidth account will be required for claiming. You do not need to be signed up with the exchange either, however your gift must adhere to the recipient's DNWs.
nightonficmountain for small and inactive fandoms.Schedule:
Nominations: April 20th 21:00 to April 30th 21:00 EDTSignups: May 3rd 20:00 to May 14th 20:00 EDT
Assignments: Out by May 18th 08:00 EDT
Deadline: June 22nd 23:00 EDT
Collection opens: July 2nd 20:00 EDT
Creator reveals: July 9th 20:00 EDT
Tagset | Signups | Collection
What is Early Bird Gets The Word?
Early Bird Gets The Word is a fic and art exchange inspired by Night On Fic Mountain for small and inactive fandoms. Participants sign up to write a story of at least 1,000 words or create art in a fandom someone else has requested. In return, they will receive a story of at least 1,000 words or art in a fandom they have requested.
Participants must be over 18 years of age.
When does this take place?
The challenge takes place as spring transitions to summer. Please refer to the year’s schedule for details.
Why is this exchange called Early Bird Gets The Word?
We wanted something to do with awakening sleepy-headed fandoms, so we were thinking of phrases that had to do with the morning and waking up. “The early bird gets the worm” was suggested, albeit with a massive typo (because the mod was sleep deprived, ironically--or perhaps unironically), and the name stuck.
Nominations
Inactive fandoms (that are sleepy that you want to rouse!!!) qualify if they have 50 or fewer new stories in English with over 1k words on AO3 since 1st January 2025, excluding any stories posted to Yuletide collections at the time that Nominations open. Crossover fandoms will be accepted if both fandoms are eligible under the 50 rule.
Please refer to this year's nomination guidelines.
You may nominate solo characters (Solo: Character name), platonic relationships (&), and romantic relationships (/).
All nominations must be disambiguated.
How did you come up with the qualifying number 50?
We used advanced rocket science to make this calculation.
Requests
You are allowed between three (3) and ten (10) fandom requests, with up to ten (10) characters/relationships in each. You will receive a gift featuring one (1) of the characters/relationships you requested. If you would like to receive a gift featuring any of the nominated characters/relationships in a fandom, click the "Any" box.
For both requests and offers, you are required to choose one (1) or two (2) of the following freeform tags: *Fanart, Fanfiction*. This is the medium in which you are requesting to receive your gift as well as offering to create a gift.
If you request 'Any' characters/relationships for a fandom, your creator is allowed to write or draw about any of the nominated characters or relationships in the tagset for the fandom they matched with you on.
Offers
You are allowed between four (4) and ten (10) fandom offers, with between two (2) and ten (10) characters/relationships in each. If a fandom you want to offer has only 1 character/relationship in the tagset, click the "Any" box. If you would like to create a gift featuring any of the nominated characters/relationships in a fandom, click the "Any" box as well.
For both requests and offers, you are required to choose one (1) or two (2) of the following freeform tags: *Fanart, Fanfiction*. This is the medium in which you are requesting to receive your gift as well as offering to create a gift.
Matching
Assignment matching will be done on AO3. Participants will match on one (1) fandom AND one (1) relationship tag AND one (1) additional tag (Fanfic or Fanart). Requests will be visible during the signup period, so please ensure that your offers are able to match with at least one other person who has signed up to the exchange. Unmatchable participants will be sent an email, after which they will have twenty-four hours (24) to add or edit their offers. If you are sent one of these emails and you do not respond to add/edit your offers within twenty-four hours, your signup will be deleted.
This exchange honours Do Not Match requests. Please send an email to the mod email with your AO3 username, as well as the AO3 username you do not want to match with. You do not need to give a reason for your DNM request - we will not be asking you for one, either.
Assignments
Fic
Gifts must be at least 1000 words in one of the requester's fandoms, featuring one or more of the characters or relationships they requested.
Art
Gifts must be an original (traditional or digital) piece created entirely by the artist. It should be detailed lineart at a minimum. It should not be drawn on lined paper. Minimum size should be 500 000 pixels (for example 710 pixels x 710 pixels or 500 pixels x 1000 pixels). It should be in one of the requester's fandoms, featuring one or more of the characters or relationships they requested.
All gifts must adhere to the recipient’s DNWs. If a DNW is included, the creator of that gift may be banned from future participation, and the participant will qualify for an Emergency Pinch Hit.
Pinch Hits
Pinch Hits will be posted here on the Dreamwidth community. Comments on the Pinch Hit post will be screened; to claim a PH, reply to the post with your AO3 username, the PH number you want to claim along with the AO3 username for the PH you are claiming. Anonymous comments will be enabled, and no dreamwidth account will be required for claiming. You do not need to be signed up with the exchange either, however your gift must adhere to the recipient's DNWs.
All questions can be directed to sleepymod@mailfence.com. Alternatively, you may send us questions over Dreamwidth PM or as a reply to any of the posts in this community.
