this is a little out of nowhere but do you know if there are any primers for running a fic exchange? I saw you mentioned bring back a caps exchange like a month ago (which would be so cool). it kind of inspired me with another fandom, but I can't find any good guides and was hoping you might have some recs.
(Sorry for the long delay in reply. Clearly when I say I will get to something in a day or so, I-- uh, will not. Life's been a lot. Very sorry!)
With the proviso that @weaglerock did most of the actual hard work of the ALLCAPS Exchange and my role was mainly to make shitty promo manips (actually I still like this one) and nag people to turn stuff in and occasionally pinch hit--
Honestly, AO3 actually has some of the best resources for you, if you're planning to be like most exchanges and run your exchange through/post there. They've put together FAQs and tutorials and I think they're pretty straightforward and easy to understand.
Tutorial: Running a Gift Exchange on AO3
Archive FAQ: Gift Exchange
Challenges tutorial: creating and running a gift exchange
Signing up for a gift exchange
Reddit is also handy, and I've found a number of their posts with good advice: here, here (more from the user POV rather than the runner POV but good to think about, and this post were ones I referred to.
I find if you have a random question and you can't figure out how to make shit work with AO3 or something, Fail Fandom Anon is a decent way to ask for help. Every post has a thread related to various Bangs/Exchanges going on, and you can post an anonymous request or question. Quality and quantity of response can vary based on when you post it (if the post is almost at comment limit and about to move to the next, you might not get much; just try again with a newly opened post), but usually someone will respond.
Most of the exchanges I've helped with were done before discord got huge, so I haven't utilized it as an organizer as much, but I've been in exchanges as an author where it originated from a fandom discord, and it did streamline communication to have a dedicated channel/discord for the participants. But mostly we used tumblr, gmail, and a googledoc for notifications and tracking.
Always assume some people are simply going to dip, for legitimate or other reasons. Shit will happen. It's super frustrating to delay opening an exchange because you're scrambling to make sure everyone gets something and that it's of decent quality so I'd advise definitely lining up multiple pinch hitters (and assume some of THEM will also bolt randomly) in advance, or be ready to do it yourself, or build in an extra time period of complete works being due before going live, or optimally, all of those things. Having more than one organizer/moderator is helpful!
Highly encourage people to include detailed author letters to accompany their requests. Have regular timeline check ins and reminders. Also, it's easiest to assume everyone's a newbie and err on the side of over-explaining. Have templates and formatted examples on hand for transparency; this includes examples of how you want people to make their requests and examples of an author letter.
Anyway, honestly my best piece of advice is to find a moderator who's already done this before and is good at all of it and will do most of it, and then just act like you've always been there and tag along for the glory. It worked marvelously for me. (But no, really, in the end I think the best bet for success is go back to an exchange from any fandom you enjoyed and felt was well run, look at their set-up/timelines/rules/verbiage, and then model after that accordingly. Obviously don't copy everything directly, or if you do, credit the those organizers.)
