Submission Guidelines

NEXT ISSUE: The 2006 K/S Advent Calendar! Deadline: November 30. First story unpeeled December 1.

Years ago, Kira set up a Slash Advent Calendar that she is passing along to someone else because it has become so successful and popular that it can no longer be handled by one person. In those early years, K/S played a big role in the calendar's offerings. We hope to recreate that with this new project, which was the idea of Kira herself. Please email me at blueberrysnail (at) yahoo dot com if you are interested in participating. rself. Please email me at blueberrysnail (at) yahoo dot com if you are interested in participating. The email list for CONTRIBUTORS ONLY (as stories will not be posted on this list and joining indicates that you wish to participate) is at http://groups.yahoo.com/group/KirkSpockFest.

Note: Challenges will be invented and posted in the coming days, so Watch This Space.

FAQ--mostly a combination of things I thought people might want to know and things actually asked by my own personal Spock prototype. I'm sure you'll be able to tell where Hypatia wandered in briefly.

What is K/S?

You know Captain Kirk, and Mr. Spock, from Star Trek? K/S is the fabulously sweet idea that they're in love with each other.

No, they weren't.

They're imaginary, so they can be anything we want them to be.

Oh, okay. Well, what's an advent calendar?

Apparently, the four weeks before Christmas (the Christian holiday celebrating the birth of Jesus) are called Advent, and there's a tradition where each day celebrants peel back the paper on their advent calendars to release fun treats hiding inside. They start with December 1. With a fanfic calendar, the peeling back is virtual, and the treats are literary. The peeling back will be done on this end--one story will "go live" each day. The few days before Christmas will probably all go live at the same time in case I'm away from the computer during that weekend.

Oh, so this is a Christian thing.

That's not a question. And no, this is not a Christian thing--we've just borrowed the idea. While the K/S Advent Calendar will most likely contain many Christmas-themed stories, we'd also like Chanukah stories, New Year's stories, Eid stories, Kwanzaa stories (if you can find a way to pull that off with two white guys, or a white guy and a green guy... etc.) or anything else having to do with celebrating December and the initial bits of January. You atheists out there (yes, you in the better bathrobe) write me something romantic about kissing in the snow or something.

*fake smack*

That isn't a question either.

What about the solstice? That's the reason for the season, isn't it?

That's a good idea, too!

You forgot [insert the question-asker's holiday here]!

I am but one square of lettuce in a large bag of salad mix. I apologize. Educate us with your story :-)

How long does my story have to be?

2500 words at least, or around five pages. If you have already turned in a full-length story, you can start turning in drabbles or other shorter ficlets.

What ratings are allowed?

Everything!

What kinks/fetishes are not allowed?

Anything with underage sexual content (underage slash is okay as long as they don't do anything beyond some little closed-mouth kiss. Think 'My Girl' with two boys. Without the "Aaaa, I'm covered in bees!" part.) Also, please stay away from bestiality (defined by the alien in question not being able to communicate intelligently and PLEASE don't split hairs with me about this. Horta, yes; dog from Enemy Within, no) and no incest. Those are actually Kira's rules, not that I don't agree with them. I guess everything else is allowed if you warn for it.

Is K/S/Mc or K/S/Ch, K/S/U, K/S/Trelane, etc. allowed?

Yes, in moderation. In the unlikely but amusing possibility that we get something like ten K/S/Mc submissions, they will all be put on the same day or weekend.

Is S/Mc, K/Mc, or other non-K/S pairings containing either Kirk or Spock allowed?

Only in retrospect. "Oh, that reminds me of the time Areel Shaw stuck her tongue in my elbow!"

Are other pairings allowed if they don't interfere with K/S?

Yes, but in moderation and in the background such that people aren't going to be reading a lengthy scene about Janice Rand and Tonia Barrows under Sulu's helm console while looking for a K/S story. K/S=about Kirk and Spock.

Is gen allowed?

Yes, as long as it follows all of the above rules about pairings because we will all be reading it with our K/S goggles on. Besides, just because they don't kiss doesn't make a story gen for me.

When is my story due?

Oscar Wilde died in 1900 on November 30. The calendar, coincidentally, opens on December 1. Seems like a good idea to honor poor Wilde and save my sanity by turning in all your stories before the calendar goes live--eh?

Can I hand in something that's already been on the internet?

No.

Can I hand in something that was printed in a printzine and has now passed the posting quarantine?

YES! Please do!

My story is five million pages long.

That's cool :-) Splitting it into chapters would be nice of you, but no story is too long.

Can I turn in multiple copies of my story as I edit and hone its perfection?

Please don't. Please continue to edit your story until it is finished and then hand in one amazing copy to blueberrysnail (at) yahoo dot com before the deadline.

What about art?

It would be nice to have art on some of the days, yes. Please keep it down to under 200K.

So when can I post my story to ASCEM/thyla.com/my own site/LiveJournal?

December 30. This lets the calendar stories be exclusive when they first come out but also allows ASCEM folk to get in under the deadline for 2006 Golden O's.

In what formats can stories be submitted?

.doc, .rtf, .txt, and .html.

And now, Kira's usual submission guidelines, coding intact.

Submissions that are accepted include but are not limited to:

ART, STORIES, POETRY, VIGNETTES, DRABBLES and FILKS are most welcome
ESSAYS about K/S or how you became a K/S-er.
CHALLENGES: Writing challenges you would like to see realized can also be submitted to Side By Side.
RECOMMENDATIONS for stories available in printed fanzines and stories that can be found online.
NOTE: for recommendations, please provide information about the fanzine - what zine the story appears in, which publisher and whether it's still available for purchase) and links to stories online. If you can provide a cover image that would be even better. These recs will eventually end up in the K/S Zine Review Site.

Here follows guidelines for submitting your work to Side by Side.