Fandom for Siken is an online charity auction of fanfiction and fanart, aiming to raise funds to support poet Richard Siken. All proceeds go directly to his stroke recovery fund.
You can now access the Fandom for Siken bidding form here!
You can keep track of current top bids throughout the bidding period with this spreadsheet link.
And in case you haven’t seen what’s up for grabs yet, you can access our contributor masterlist here.
The bidding period will run from July 10 to July 24, after which the form will be closed and winners will be notified via email. (Please also remember that donations will only be made to the Gofundme, and proof of donations emailed to us, after your win has been confirmed. Once you’ve done that, we’ll inform your chosen creator so they can start working on your request!)
The masterlist of participating artists and writers is now up! You can browse all contributor profiles here, and get ready to place your bids when the bidding period opens on July 10.
As always, reblogs and boosts would be much appreciated! Thank you so much for your support!
Fandom for Siken contributor signups are open until June 30!
Hi everyone, thank you so much for all the interest and help so far! We’re so happy to see that people have already applied to contribute fanart and fanfiction to the auction, but we’re looking forward to getting even more creators on board!
Just a reminder that contributor signups are open until June 30. Before you sign up, please be sure to read our Guidelines/FAQs page here.
Please also help us spread the word, either by reblogging our Tumblr posts, following and RTing us on Twitter at @fandomforsiken and using the #fandomforsiken hashtag, or just telling your friends! Every little bit helps.
Our primary channel of communication is email ([email protected]) as it’s the most streamlined way to keep track of correspondence. Please rest assured that we check it regularly and we’ll do our best to answer you in a timely manner.
You can also reach us through Twitter, and our Tumblr askbox is open.
Below is our working timetable for the auction. We’ll be updating it in the event of any necessary changes, so please do check back!
* Fandom for Siken will be operating on Coordinated Universal Time (UTC) for all deadlines/chedules.
June 11th to June 30th - Creator signups (form available here)
June 30th-July 6th - Confirm creator participation/last call for dropouts
July 7th - Release of final list of participants and offers
July 10th-24th - Bidding period
July 25th-31st - Liaisons period (i.e. winning bidders are notified, pay their donations, and issue their requests to their creators via the organizing team)
Fandom for Siken is an online charity auction aiming to raise funds to support poet Richard Siken as he recovers from a stroke he suffered on March 15th, 2019. You can read more about us at our About page.
What is the Richard Siken Stroke Recovery Fund?
The Richard Siken Stroke Recovery Fund is a Gofundme campaign run by friends of Richard, geared toward providing him with financial assistance over the course of his convalescence. It’s administered primarily by the editors at Copper Canyon Press, with whom we are in contact, and who have been gracious and welcoming of the project since its inception. All transactions through the Gofundme are conducted in USD.
When can I sign up to participate as a creator? When can I start bidding?
You can view the full calendar for the auction here.
Do all works created under the auction have to be Siken-related (e.g. directly based on or inspired by Siken poems)?
Not necessarily, as it’s important to us that the bidders and creators alike have as much creative freedom as we can manage. Hence, the incorporation of any nods to Siken big or small are the prerogative of the bidder, and/or of the creator in line with the bidder’s prompt/s.
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Questions for Creators
Where do I sign up to participate as a creator?
Thank you for your interest! The signup form for creators is here.
What types of fanwork can I offer?
Fandom for Siken is open to offers of both fanfic and fanart. Participating creators may sign up exclusively as writers, exclusively as artists, or make separate offers for fic and art if they’d like to do both.
What are your parameters for the fanworks on auction? Can I make multiple offers?
For creators, we’ve decided on three options for contribution
- OPTION A: 1-3 small pieces OR
- OPTION B: 1 big piece OR
- OPTION C: 1 small piece AND 1 big piece
where small and big pieces are defined as follows
- Small pieces: a simple illustration, clean and fully coloured (for artists), a work that ranges between 1,000-5,000 words (for writers)
- Big pieces: a more complex and detailed illustration or a comic up to 7 pages (for artists), a work that is upwards of 5,000 words (for writers)
Upon signup, you will be asked to choose an option to create for, and if you choose option A, how many pieces you are willing to offer. Bids will be set per piece—i.e. depending on their chosen option, a creator may be working on requests from 1-3 bidders over the course of the auction.
As mentioned above, you may sign up as an artist, as a writer, or as both if you are so inclined. In the case of the latter, please fill in the form once for writing and then again separately for art.
Given all the above, please do be mindful of how many offerings you can actually fulfill within the given timeframe, taking into consideration any other commitments you may have. We’d like for everyone to be able to complete the work they promise without overextending themselves in the process, so please do promise something that will be manageable for you. It’s totally okay, for example, to offer only one small piece—every little bit helps.
If I have a current work-in-progress that is similar to the bidder’s prompt, or if I’m planning to create a similar work for another challenge (e.g. big bangs, ship weeks, etc.), can I also use this work for the auction?
Unless your bidder explicitly agrees to this, then no, the work you produce must be an entirely new fanwork created exclusively for the purposes of this auction. This is to ensure, as much as possible, that your bidder’s wishes for the work are prioritized and executed in a timely fashion.
How many fandoms can I offer to create for? Can I make other specifications?
Upon signup, you will be asked to list a maximum of 5 fandoms you are willing to create for. This is less a hard limit than a guideline, in order to make it easier for prospective bidders to find your offer and get a clear sense of what you are definitely willing to create for.
You will also be asked to list things you are not willing to draw/write (e.g. NSFW, graphic violence, ships and/or tropes you aren’t comfortable with, detailed armor/mecha/animals for art, etc.).
Provided you are amenable to it, your bidder has the option to ask you to create a piece for a fandom that is not part of your listed fandoms, e.g. if they know you and are aware that you have created work for this fandom before. Your Will-Not-Writes/Draws, however, are non-negotiable and must be respected by all bidders.
In the event that you’d like to set out additional specifications (e.g. preferred characters, ships, tropes, etc.), you’ll be welcome to do so after the initial signup, when we contact you to confirm your participation and the terms of your offer.
What do I do if I have to drop out?
We will be confirming the participation of all creators during the first week of July; please inform us then if you’d like to withdraw your initial signup. Once the bidding period opens, we’ll assume all creators are committed to the project barring any unforeseen circumstances that might arise. In the event of the latter, please do communicate your need to drop out to us so we can cover for you accordingly.
Please understand that, as this auction is being conducted for charity, we're doing our best to ensure all participants will be able to deliver on what they’ve offered, and to minimize the possibility of dropouts. In line with this, please only sign up for the project if you're confident you can commit to it alongside other responsibilities you might have (including and especially those to yourself and your own well-being), particularly during the creation period.
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Questions for Bidders
How do I bid?
Tentatively we’ll be running all bids through a Google form, which will be circulated as soon as the auction opens. We’re testing that out right now and will confirm the bidding method ASAP.
How do I donate my winning bid?
Please donate your exact bid amount to the Richard Siken Stroke Recovery Fund, as this is the most straightforward way to ensure it goes directly to Richard and his most immediate representatives.
How do I provide proof of my donation?
You may email us either 1) a screenshot, or 2) a copy of your receipt. In turn, we will give your creator the go-signal to start working on your requested piece.
Are there any specifications or limitations for what I can request?
Once you win your auction, we will send you a form to fill out in which you’ll be asked to detail your request (e.g. fandom, featured character/s, any other specifications of trope or genre, etc.). You may be as general or as specific as you like, though it always helps to give your creator as clear an idea as possible of what you’re looking for.
You will also be asked to indicate your Do-Not-Wants (e.g. NSFW, graphic violence, ships and/or tropes you aren’t comfortable etc.). These are non-negotiable and must be respected by your creator.
In writing out your request, please do take into consideration the five listed fandoms your creator will have said they are definitely willing to make work for, as well as their list of Will-Not-Writes/Draws. You may elect to ask them for a fandom outside of this list, e.g. if you know them and are aware that they have created work for this fandom before, but it’s ultimately the creator’s call whether or not they’re willing to fill a request outside of their fandom list. However, the creator’s Will-Not-Writes/Draws are non-negotiable and must be respected by all bidders.
My creator has dropped out of the auction/is MIA or otherwise unable to fulfill my request. What do we do from here?
We’ll do our best to make sure this doesn’t happen, but in the event that things really can’t be helped, we will find you a willing pinch hitter from within our participating pool of creators. Please rest assured that, once your donation is made, we’re committed to making sure to the best of our ability that you get the gift you asked for, even in the event of unforeseen circumstances.
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Miscellaneous Questions
Will winning bidders and creators be corresponding directly over the course of the creation process?
We’ll be providing winning bidders with their creators’ emails after all bids are finalized, and vice versa. Winning bidders and creators may then correspond directly if they wish (e.g. to hash out the particulars of the bidder’s request, to provide updates, etc.). We only ask that you cc us in your emails for transparency purposes, so we can keep abreast of how you’re doing and help mediate as necessary should any concerns arise.
Is selling fanworks in this manner legal?
The legality of selling fanwork is a big grey area, basically; in short it depends on the nature of the work being sold and the details of the transaction. However, as this is a charity auction, we won’t be selling fanworks per se—instead, we’re asking people to donate directly to the attached cause, and our creators promise to create a gift work as a thank-you for this donation. Neither the creators nor the moderators will receive—or even handle—any of the money pledged over the course of the auction.
Who are the people behind Fandom for Siken?
We come from a variety of fandoms and backgrounds, from books to bandom to games and various animanga. Sometimes we pretend to be a rap crew. A little more about each of us below:
May writes about boy bands and friends who do musical theatre by day, and writes fic about boy bands and friends who do musical theatre by night. (Hashtag brand consistency!) Currently she is trying to write a cute quiet slow burn fic without having a conniption, and also she is very upset at Jordan Fisher for looking Like That.
Ewa is an occasional writer, artist, and fountain of strange, esoteric knowledge who is constantly tripping into new fandom hellholes. Has all of two (2) feelings, both of which are very fragile, occasionally moonlights as a police officer but is generally a very tired person.
Meg likes to write, to bike, and to do crimes (not necessarily in that order). She has a finger in every pie, but her primary fandoms as of this writing are Hypnosis Mic, Fire Emblem, and Kazetsuyo/Run with the Wind. Her tarot card is the Queen of Swords.
How do we contact you?
Our primary channel of communication is email ([email protected]) as it’s the most streamlined way to keep track of correspondence. Please rest assured that we check it regularly and we’ll do our best to answer you in a timely manner.
You can also reach us through Twitter or our Tumblr askbox.
The voice wants to be
a hand and the hand wants to do something
useful. What did you really want? Someone
to pass this with me.
- Richard Siken, “Unfinished Duet”
On March 15th, poet Richard Siken—author of Crush and War of the Foxes, and editor at Spork Press—suffered a stroke. Since then, Richard’s publishers, friends, and readers have mounted a fundraising campaign in order to support his financial needs and help him live as healthfully as possible while he recovers. You can find the campaign at Gofundme here (all transactions conducted in USD).
Richard is himself a ficwriter, and has written with great insight on the intriguing and transformative potentials of fanwork and fandom spaces. And for so many of us in fandom, Richard’s poetry has in various ways been a well of inspiration from which to draw—work that we value highly, that has in turn enabled us to create and motivated us to keep creating.
Given the above circumstances, we’d like to take the opportunity to give back. Fandom for Siken is an online fanworks auction designed to raise funds to supplement the Richard Siken Stroke Recovery Fund. In terms of operations, we’ll be working in a similar vein to Fandom Trumps Hate and the AO3 Charity Auction, following the below process:
Creators sign up to offer their work (i.e. fanfic, fanart) for auction.
The auction winner donates their winning bid amount directly to the abovementioned Gofundme campaign.
The auction winner sends the moderators proof of their donation (e.g. a screenshot or a copy of their receipt) for confirmation and documentation.
Once the moderators notify the creator that their bidder has paid, the creator may then work on the requested item.
Donations from all bidders will be coursed exclusively through Gofundme. We won’t be handling any of the money ourselves, to ensure that all proceeds of the auction and of the adjacent snail mail project go to Richard Siken.
Fandom for Siken is the brainchild of May, Ewa, and Meg. We come from various fandoms and backgrounds, but are united by the fact that our favorite poems stab us in the vitals on the regular.
Please check out our Guidelines and FAQs section for more details and other questions. If you have any further concerns that haven’t been addressed there, you can also email us at [email protected].
