Dissolving Doubts
So I noticed there are some reoccurring questions and doubts written in the applications and since I've got some free time I thought why not help to ease some minds?
Do you have to see my ideas?
Yes and no. Of course we will have to have an idea of what you're gonna do for the zine once we accepted you, but since we're still in the application period it's okay if you keep it to yourself and work on it in silence. Also not everyone has an idea yet and we don't want to pressure them into thinking up something random on the spot when nothing is cut and dried.
'Reference'? Did you mean 'example context'?
Yes, that's what we meant! A selection of your favourite or 'best' works, so we don't have to go through your whole linked blog to get an idea of what your art/writing looks like when you aren't doing simple drabbles/sketches/answering asks!
The ‘where would you like to be featured’ question is a bit weird?
Yes, we were actually going to make it a single option question with "Physical Copy", "PDF" and "Both", but by allowing you to choose both options the "Both" becomes unnecessary and by giving you a third open option you can add any additional thoughts you have, like "I’d prefer to be in the Physical Copy, but if there are too many applications I'd be fine with only appearing in the PDF as well" or "I don't feel comfortable with being featured in a PDF, so I'd like to be in the Physical Copy only". I'm sorry for the confusion the third option might have caused!
The fear that there will be a lack of communication post being accepted
I'm pretty sure we mentioned that somewhere, but let me say it again anyway. We have a Discord chat where we'll invite every participant into. Mainly to check up on things and allow a better exchange of matters, but also to decide on things like “What merch will we do?” "Who does what merch?" and "Who will collab with who?" We hope that this will make communication with e.o. easier!
Will the participants receive a Physical Copy?
Let's say we have different opinions about this. One of us would like that, the other isn't sure if we can calculate the zine prices correctly if we do, since we don't know how many people will truly buy the zine when it's time, so that mod prefers it if they buy their own version. We decided to postpone that choice and talk about it with the participants first, along with the question whether we will be profit or non-profit.
Ship hate / drama
If we select you as a participant and there's a ship you hate and you can't stand that and you can’t hide your dislike either. Then leave. Both of us mods are multi-shippers with respect to other's ships even if we don't ship them. If you can't contain your dislike for a ship within the discord chat, we might have to ask you to leave so we can give your spot to someone else. We all want to have fun while creating this zine and create a supportive environment. If you can't do that, then you can't be a part of our project. (If you have any kind of critic, pls come to us directly and don't bring it into the group chat!)
That people laugh at/hate my art
There are so many of you who mentioned this and let me tell you: we want to hug every single one of you; you guys are adorable and we already love you so much! It's gonna be okay guys! I know we can't protect you from bad feedback and evil anonymous pests, but you aren't alone. Anyone who says anything bad about you should 1. Make it better before they dare to say anything bad and 2. Only says that because they arent even half as courageous as you are. It's not them who ignored their fears and applied but you, and that alone holds such higher value! We wouldn't choose you if we wouldn't trust or like you and your abilities, either! Even if we don't choose you, that doesn't mean it's because we don't like your style! We have to limit the number of participants to make the price for the zine affordable, though, so we have no choice but to make some kind of decision.
Mods disappearing without a word / Zine not being made for some reason
Yeah, I'm feeling you on that. The weight of all the things that are still undecided can be really heavy at times, so I can understand that, when it gets too much, the people in charge just end up disappearing without a word. Being anonymous online makes that really easy. We would like to promise you that won't happen with us but we can't look into the future so we'd rather not make promises we can't keep. BUT! we can and will promise you that we will not disappear without a word. If things turn out wrong, we will leave a message and/or postpone the date of publishing/shipping till after new year when the pressure of the holidays is gone and things are less stressful.
