Awards 2017 Fanfic Awards | The Guide and Announcements Thread | See you next year!

2017 FAN FICTION AWARDS – THE GUIDE AND ANNOUNCEMENTS THREAD​

Welcome to the Guide & Announcements Thread for the 2017 Fanfic Awards! This thread should serve as your guide to dates, eligibility, rules, and a place to ask any questions. It’s likely to be long, but the Complete Rule Book is much longer! We don’t seriously believe that everyone will bother to read all 9,205 words of the Complete Rule Book but we do expect everyone who chooses to participate in the awards as an author, a nominator/voter or a cheerleader to abide by those rules.​

Like in previous years, there will be individual threads for each phase of the awards (Nominations, Excerpts and Voting) along with instructions about how to proceed for that phase.

Unlike in previous years, the 2017 awards are NOT broken down by era. All stories and authors will be competing against each other, with the exception of some specific categories. We expanded the list of categories to compensate for this and there are provisions in the rules to ensure that no era is completely sidelined.

Last year was a bit strange as some things had to be altered half way through the awards process. We have learned from last year and made a few changes, so we hope things will go smoothly this time around. If we have to change anything, we will let you all know as soon as we can. You can read the details of the process we will follow to make any changes that can’t be avoided here.

Before we start, the usual reminder that the JCF’s Terms of Service and the rules spelled out in the Fanfic FAQ apply to the awards process like they apply to everything else.

If you are an author and would like one or more of your stories not to be eligible for the awards in one or more categories, please PM The Golden Yoda to let us know.

Please note that campaigning for nominations and votes is not allowed. See this post for what counts and doesn’t count as campaigning.


AWARDS CALENDAR

Saturday 25 February – Friday 03 March: Q&A about the Awards Guide thread, the Complete Rule Book and the List of Eligible Stories.

Saturday 04 March – Sunday 19 March 2017: Nominations are open.

Monday 20 March – Friday 24 March: Short break to PM nominated authors for excerpts and synopses.

Saturday 25 March – Sunday 09 April: Excerpts are posted.

Monday 10 April – Sunday 23 April: Voting is open.

Tuesday 25 April: The Awards Ceremony begins and will be hosted by Raissa Baiard.


ELIGIBILITY

Eligible stories are stories that were started or updated at least once by the author in 2016.

Stories or reposts of stories that won awards in the past are not eligible in the categories they won, but they can compete normally in all other categories. The same goes for authors who won Best Author in a specific era since 2012; these authors can however still compete for Best Author in other eras.

If you started your story before the move and it is still truncated, it is HIGHLY recommended that you either fix it or have a link to another site with the story by the time voting starts. If there is a link, the version of the story on that site MUST be compliant with the Jedi Council TOS.

There is a long list of eligibility criteria for particular cases of authors and stories in this post of the Complete Rule Book. There are also particular eligibility criteria for some categories in this post.

All eligible stories and authors are listed in the List of Eligible Stories. You can see the list here; it includes details about the timeframe/era labels attributed to each story.

If you believe that a story or author is missing from the List of Eligible Stories, or that a story has been attributed the wrong era label, please PM The Golden Yoda before nominations begin and I will look into it as soon as possible.

NOMINATIONS

Who can nominate? The short answer is: everyone, whether reader, writer, or lurker. The longer answer is that you cannot nominate with a sock, and that authors cannot nominate themselves. The even longer and very detailed answer is here.

How to nominate?

• Nominations must be sent by PM only. Details will be provided in the nominations thread.

• You may nominate up to two stories in every category (or authors/reviewers in their respective categories). This means zero, one or two.

• You may not nominate the same story in more than three categories.

• In the timeframe categories, your two nominations should be by different authors. In all other story categories, your two nominations cover two of the following eras: Before, PT, OT, ST and Beyond. In the Best New Author and Most Versatile Author categories, your two nominations should also cover two of the following eras: Before, Saga and Beyond.

The List of Eligible Stories indicates which stories are eligible in which eras, which authors are eligible in which eras and which authors are eligible for Best New Author. For the purpose of the awards we will follow the era labels attributed to stories in the List of Eligible Stories, NOT the era tags used on the boards.

To read the full details of the nomination rules and see examples, please go to this post of the Complete Rulebook.

Nominations coordinator: Chyntuck
Nominations assistants: A Blind Prophet, Kahara and yahiko


NOMINEES GOING TO THE VOTING ROUND

The list of nominees going to the voting round will be established on the basis of the following criteria:

• There should be 5 stories going to the voting round in each category (or authors/reviewers, for the author/reviewer categories).

• No story should compete in more than three categories in the voting round.

• We should avoid a situation where two stories by the same author or two elements from the same story (e.g. characters, relationships) are competing against each other in the same category. This also goes for two series by the same author in the Best Series category.

There is a detailed description of the veeeeeery long and complicated process to apply these principles, as well as several examples of how it works, in this post.


EXCERPTS AND SYNOPSES

After nominations close, the authors who qualify for the voting round will be PMed with the list of their stories for which excerpts are needed. These authors will then PM back the volunteer who contacted them with an excerpt OR a synopsis that the volunteers will post in the Excerpts Thread.

Rules for Excerpts/Synopses:

• For the timeframe categories and the author categories, as well as the Best Epic and Best Series categories, the excepts/synopses should be 600 words at most.

• For all other categories, the maximum word count is 300.

• As not every processor counts word the same way, we will use THIS online word counter.

• Authors who choose to provide an excerpt may preface it with a very short introduction. The maximum word count for this introduction is 50 words in addition to the excerpt’s maximum word count.

• Excerpts may be one continuous passage from a story or several fragments. In the author categories, they may also be fragments from different works.

You can read more about excerpts and synopses here.

Excerpts and synopses coordinator: Findswoman
Excerpts and synopses assistants: divapilot and RX_Sith


VOTING

Who can vote? The short answer is: everyone, whether reader, writer, or lurker. The longer answer is that you cannot vote with a sock, and that authors cannot vote for themselves. The even longer (but not much longer) answer is here.

How to vote? ONLY by PM, of course. Details about where to send your votes will come in the voting thread.

Nominations coordinator: Chyntuck
Nominations assistants: A Blind Prophet, Kahara and yahiko


COLOURS FOR NOMINATIONS AND COLOURS FOR VOTES

As a nominator and a voter, you could win colours! In order to encourage users to nominate and vote in as many categories as possible, we will be giving one week of colours to the two users who send in the largest number of nominations across all categories, and to the two users who vote in the largest number of categories. In case of a tie between three or more participants, two names will be drawn at random.


PRIZES

We hope that, like in previous years, fanfic readers and writers will volunteer to provide prizes for the winners. Prizes can be cover art, drawings, e-books, colours, advertisement space, fic-gifts, anything else you would like to provide. If you want to contribute, please PM Fanfic Prizes with your ideas or anything you would like to do to help with prizes.

Offering prizes is an entirely voluntary process and we all know that creating them takes time, energy and battles with Darth Real Life. Those eligible for a prize understand that they may not receive their prize overnight and those offering a prize commit to delivering it within a reasonable timeframe.

There’s a convoluted procedure to distribute prizes about which you can read here. If you win multiple categories, it is possible you may not be given multiple prizes, depending on the number of prizes we have available. Thanks to the amazing Raissa Baiard, all winners will get a winner badge and printable certificate.

Prize assistants: Anedon and divapilot.


HOW CAN YOU HELP?

There are two ways in which you can help:

First of all, WE NEED PRIZES! If you want to offer a prize for the winners, please make sure you PM Fanfic Prizes. Prizes can be anything that is listed above, and then some more – any idea you come up with is most welcome!

Second, WE NEED YOU TO PARTICIPATE! The more nominations and votes we get, the more successful the awards will be. So look at the categories below, think of the stories you read last year and start thinking of those nominations straight away!

QUESTION TIME!​

The Complete Rule Book should answer pretty much any question you may have, but since it’s quite long feel free to ask your questions here and we’ll point you in the right direction (or give you the short version of the answer ) Please make sure that you read the FAQ at the end of the Rule Book as many of the most common questions should be answered there.

 

CATEGORIES FOR THE 2017 AWARDS

You can see detailed definitions for these categories here.

Timeframe categories

Best Story in Before
Best Story in PT
Best Story in OT
Best Story in ST
Best Story in Beyond

Storyline categories

Best Continuity-Compliant Story (this is the category that used to be called ‘Best Canon’ in previous years, we re-named it to avoid confusion with the New Canon)
Best Alternate Universe
Best Legends Story
Best New Canon Story
Best New Canon/Legends Mash-Up

Length categories

Best One-Shot
Best Multi-Chapter Short Story
Best Epic
Best Series

Genre categories

Best Action/Adventure
Best Drama
Best Humour
Best Romance

Character categories

Best Interpretation of a Movie Character
Best Interpretation of an EU Character
Best Development of a Game Character
Best Original Character
Best Villain/Antagonist

Relationship categories

Best Established Relationship
Best Original Relationship

Other categories

Most Headsplode Moment
Best All-Around (this is a category for which no nominations and votes are submitted; the winner is determined mathematically by the total number of nominations and votes across all eras).

Author categories

Best Author in Before
Best Author in Saga
Best Author in Beyond
Best New Author
Most Versatile Author

Reviewer categories

Best Reviewer in Before
Best Reviewer in Saga
Best Reviewer in Beyond

 

FIRST.

All of this looks fantastic, great job by the whole team. Hope the process goes smoothly and fun!

 

I would second Ewok's comment.

 

It has been brought to our attention that a group of Imperial sympathisers is seeking to subvert the 2017 Fan Fiction Awards process.

We urge all JCF users to remain calm and to head over to the nominations thread in order to protect justice and democracy in the Fanfic Forum.

Nominations are now open!​

 

(Evil Emperor Palpatine voice) Witness the power of this FULLY OPERATIONAL FANFIC PRIZE THREAD! I offer you the prize of UNLIMITED POWAH!!!!!! BWA HA HA!



You have seen what a SITH can offer for prizes. Now show me what you Jedi can offer. Do it. PM @Fanfic Prizes AND DO IT NOW.

(Evil cackle cackle cackle)

 

I want to win that and become Uncle Fester.

 

I want to win that and never have to pay my hydro bill again.

 

War! The awards are crumbling under attacks by the ruthless The Golden Palpatine. There are writers on both sides. The lack of nominations is everywhere.

In a stunning move, the cunning awards leader, The Golden Yoda, has swept into the fanfic banners and reinstated the awards’ proper name.

As The Golden Palpatine attempts to flee the besieged banner slot to return and fight another day, more nominators lead a desperate mission to restore peace and democracy to the Fanfic Boards...

We need more nominations.​

Please send yours as early as possible!​

 

Nominate your favorite fanfictions and change the face of the Galaxy... or not...



Even if you are not used to French bureaucracy, you can make it! ==> DETAILS HERE.

 

I promise I will do it, the moment I have enough time to sit here and not be drowsy...unless somebody could put up with my making a mistake for the second time.

 

The "somebody" in question has already put up with multiple mistakes by multiple people, so I'm sure she'll manage to put up with yours if you make more

 

I was honestly not sure if others help you handle this or not - because everybody can and should use help with such concentration-wrecking stuff. And the comment was about my own stupidity. One has to be real distracted to accidentally nominate something from the wrong year, but yeah, that's me. *le shrug*

I will do it by the deadline, I promise. <3

 

Oh, I do get a LOT of help! There are three pairs of eyes going over each set of nominations we receive before we PM nominators for anything that may need to be fixed.

Which is why you (generic you) shouldn't wait until the last moment to send nominations, because once the clock strikes midnight on Sunday we won't be able to ask for corrections

 

Ewok Poet and anyone else who needs to correct anything: I had to send my nominations in *mumble* some-embarrasing-number *mumble* times and had 7 mistakes. Don't be discouraged, just keep going and you'll get it done in the end!

 

I had only *mumble* four, but 3. was stupid. *blush*

Послато са SM-J510FN уз помоћ Тапатока

 

WHY DOES THE BANNER NOT SAY:
"For excerpts, standing by"?

Raissa Baiard - YOU, I DID NOT EMPLOY...BUT FIRED, YOU ARE...JETSON.









Sorry, I just discovered black coffee.

 

I think the banner is great!

 

Funspoiler.

Послато са SM-J510FN уз помоћ Тапатока

 

Nominations now closed are.

The list of stories going to the voting round, generated following this process has been.

For excerpts, please stand by.

 

Wow, just checked out the indexes and full version of rules ! Way to go keeping everything maintained and up to date! Round of applause for attention to detail!

 

Hi there! Divapilot here, with a message from the EVIL EMPIRE.


Have you heard the tragedy of Darth Prizes the Wise?
No.
I thought not. It's not a story the Jedi would tell you. It's a SITH LEGEND.


Don't be like Darth Prizes and keep the good stuff to yourself. Donate to the PRIZE COLLECTION!


Not sure what to offer as a prize? Here is last year's list for ideas and inspiration. PM Fanfic Prizes to add your booty to the looty!

Spoiler

Prizes offered in previous years:
FICS

3. A fic-gift in Saga (Legends or New Canon) or Beyond by JadeLotus
4. An OC-centric fic-gift in any era (Legends or New Canon) by Chyntuck
5. A fic-gift in Saga (mostly Legends) or Before (mostly KotOR) by Findwoman
6. A fic-gift in Saga or Beyond (Legends) by WarmNyota_SweetAyesha (a.k.a. Nyota's Heart)
7. A one-shot fic-gift in any era, centered on a character of your choice, by Lady_Misty
8. A multi-post fic in Before or Saga by Lady_Misty, based on one of two plot bunnies she already has
9. A fic-gift in Before (excluding KotOR), Saga (New Canon or Legends) or Beyond (non-Legends) by Ewok Poet
10. A parody of your fic by Ewok Poet in the style of MESA JAR JAR or of her two crack!journalists in The Galactic Correspondent (Pollo Dorks or Yilda Lami)

ART

11. A My Little Star Wars drawing by Raissa Baiard
12. Cover art for your fic based on existing images by Ewok Poet
13. Cover art for your fic based on existing images by Goodwood
14. An animated gif based on existing images/videos to illustrate your fic by Sith-I-5
15. A greyscale drawing of the character (canon or OC) of your choosing by Thumper09

OTHER
16. A downloadable version of your longfic in e-book format by Ewok Poet
17. A Star Wars themed booklet of writer's block breakers, designed to suit your personal preferences, by Annia Piet

 

Oh man, I needed a good laugh.

 

Well, you could've posted the gif sample here then linked to it, rather than opening up my entire library in one go, but that boat has sailed. Thanks.

So yeah, I can do GIF prizes. The one I did for last year's awards, having to hunt around for material that isn't in SW, eg. Natalie Portman looking mean, took waaaaay too long, so I may have to curtail the winners' wish list a bit. We'll have to see.