Top 5 New LJ Communities

[yourlibrarian]

Although many communities had another great year, I wanted to focus on a few new ones whose forums give writers a better chance to write (and get readers).

1. random_urges This was a new community in 2006 that was set up for rare pairings in the verse. Although I don’t write fic I know that writers who write a variety of pairings often have to look around to find communities for their fic, especially if it doesn’t include one of the major characters. So a community for all those seldom seen pairings seemed like a great idea.

2. all_fics_btvs is, as its name says, a space not only for rare pairings but also gen or any other kind of fic. A central gathering place for fic of all kinds is handy for readers who like to see a variety of material. It's also nice for writers who don’t have to worry about finding the right fit for their story (especially if the story starts changing focus partway through).

3. Another great new community to get anything and everything posted (and announced) is whedonverse_nb. In addition to its general posting board there is the whedon_updates service which compiles the day’s posts and adds in news and posts from other sources.

4. lateseasonlove had a new approach, focusing on specific time periods, in this case BtVS S6 and 7. It not only brings together media on the theme but also provides a forum for essays on the topic.

5. Although writercon came back around this year and was an enjoyable well run event (which hopefully kick started a lot of writing afterwards), writerconuk began this year and may do the same across the pond. In a start, it hosted a winter solstice challenge and may become an alternate-year event to Writercon.

Comments

[xlivvielockex.livejournal.com]

Awesome! I love posts like these, being new to the fandom. It is really hard to sort through 400 comm interests entries, only to find dead comm after dead comm. Thanks. (Cause one of them, I never even saw before. :) )

[yourlibrarian]

Great! Try The Community List that's on our front page's Supplies Box. There are a variety of communities listed there as well.

[xlivvielockex.livejournal.com]

I did when I first joined. :) Just overlooked some, I think. But thanks again.

[yourlibrarian]

Ah good, a user! When lillianmorgan and I started that last year it was for the very reason you mentioned -- it's almost impossible to find a comprehensive list of what's available. I was doing a search a few months ago and found that LJ limits its results to 1000 so I was only getting maybe a third of what was out there. We hoped to get a single place started for posting but even places like all_whedonverse can't tell you what's actually still running.

[sl-podcast.livejournal.com]

Thanks for the info! :)

[yourlibrarian]

My pleasure, hope it's useful.

[hesadevil.livejournal.com]

Thank you so much for the writerconuk rec. There are plans afoot for a 'Midi-sized' (small by US writercon standards but they are American where everything is bigger) event in August. Details should be online at the end of next week.

[yourlibrarian]

Glad to. Trans-continental (or even cross-country) travel isn't feasible for many so it's great to see that there are additional opportunities for the community to get together.

[laisserais]

another great post. New to fandom as well, and found similar problems as the other folks: dead comms, unusual pairings. Also, I have much love for whedonverse_nb and dig any publicity it gets. thanks!

[yourlibrarian]

Hey it's a nifty service and I hope to see it do well. It would be great to not only have an LJ community master list but also one of verse archives.

[jans-intentions.livejournal.com]

I joined random_urges. Boy is that almost my early career writing. LOL. I still write weird pairings. Thanks for the link!

[yourlibrarian]

Glad to send it your way! BTW, I wanted to ask, does all_fics_btvs take gen fic also or only ship fic? I wasn't completely sure.

[jans-intentions.livejournal.com]

We take gen fic as well. I thought that was on our user page. Have to double check. But we've had a lot of gen folks post there since it's hard to find a place to link gen fiction.

[yourlibrarian]

Yes it is. I'm going to send someone your way and also amend my post to make that clearer.

[jans-intentions.livejournal.com]

Thank you, I appreciate that. It was set up for everyone.

[jans-intentions.livejournal.com]

Oh, and duh! I just saw it was one you reced. I'm so slow. I was so busy joining the other one I didn't see it. LOL. Thank you!

[yourlibrarian]

Hee! We've had lots of recs to read. It was a perfect fit for the post.