This is probably a stupid question, but as someone relatively new to this type of event, how does one officially sign up to participate?
Not a stupid question at all! This type of event (bangs) can vary a lot from event to event, and aufest itself was different last year, so there's a lot that may not be clear immediately, don't worry about it.
We only keep an official list of participants from the halfway mark of the event. Once artist-writer teams are assigned, if you intend to drop we will need to know, and we will do our best to get a pinch hitter for your teammate. Before that, you are a participant if you say you are but we don't keep any form of list.
To be assigned onto a team (which would be our signup process), the writers will need to submit information about their story and a half-draft in June, and artists will need to submit a list of stories that they'd be willing to work with. Mods will match to make sure everyone is covered, and teams are assigned— that is our formal signup process, and the point we start keeping track of assignments, hosting check-ins, and getting pinch hits if people have to drop.
Before that point, nobody is locked in to anything. You can signup for a beta, realize that you're not going to be able to get a draft done, and just not sign up with your half draft— the only thing you'd need to do would be inform your beta. You can be unsure about if you're joining the event, just join the discord to hangout and then only do the signup process if you have a half draft/if you see stories you're interested in. The point where you get locked in as a Participant is if you throw your hat in the ring and say "match me to an artist"/"match me to a writer".
So feel free to join the server and hang out if you want, or leave that until later, and we'll see you during the writer signup/artist claim process! :D
