Vids and vidding and waffling and waiting

[grammarwoman]

I made three Festivids!

The Pirates of Penzance:
Rock This Town, PG. DW, LJ, AO3. The Pirates of Penzance are gonna rock this town.

RPF - Chris Hadfield:
Satellite, G. DW, LJ, AO3. These are the voyages of Col. Chris Hadfield, Canadian astronaut, science educator, and generally cool dude.

Spy:
Level Up, NSFW. DW, LJ, AO3. Susan Cooper: Analyst. Secret agent. BADASS.

I am very happy with how they were received. I am super relieved that they're finished. Well, all except replying to the comments, which at this point is a crapshoot at being done.

I thought about signing up for equinox_exchange, but I was just a little burned out at that point. I think, though, my vidding well is sufficiently full again to make nefarious plans about that glorious time of year - VIVIDCON! For starters, I have a couple of ideas for Club Vivid that I need to mull over and get approved.

However! This year, I am also seriously pondering offering my services for the Auction, because every little bit helps. Buuuuuut, my anxieties about my abilities are rearing their ugly little weasel heads, so I'm flopping back and forth, and could really use some reassurance. Someone out there would pay twenty bucks for a vid from me, right? Right? And someone else out there would perhaps cheerlead or beta my efforts, yes?

UGH, brain, why you gotta be so mean?

Comments

[gwyn]

Here's what I've found about doing the auction twice. I went in expecting at most about a $40-50 bid. I'm an ancient vidder without a lot of cool tricks and I'm a nobody. But I got really good bids both times, and you know why? The fandoms I offered, and probably my letter. I made it really clear that my list of fandoms wasn't all I was prepared to vid, that I would be willing to talk with people about their interests if they weren't on the list and they were able to provide source for things I didn't have/wasn't willing to spend money on. I also made it really clear if there were hard nopes for me--topics, fandoms, etc. Being really clear helps a hell of a lot. But I offered tons of fandoms to choose from, starting with the stuff that really motivates me right now, and moving down the line. A lot of the people I saw in the auctions each year don't do that--they either offer a really limited set of fandoms, or they're unclear about what they're willing to do. They don't give people an idea of what kind of music they might like or they only mention something really specific.

You can see where I'm going with this, I'm sure--basically, the more info you give, the more you offer, the better your chances of getting not just a good solid bid but a chance to work with people you'd really like to work with. It's not fun when you get like the lowest bid, no matter what people say, it's kind of a blow. But having a good, clear, encouraging, excited letter, offering lots of fandoms and music genres, and being open-minded, will get you a lot more interest from the people looking to contribute to the auction.

I think you should try it. It's like festivids but really focused, and you don't have to limit it to small fandoms (though certainly unusual fandoms might make some bidders really excited about getting you!). And depending on what they want, it can be a collaboration, or it can be "here's the songs I like, here's the fandom, go do your awesome thing and then we'll review the draft and yay." I've been both a vidder in the auction and a bid winner, and both times I really liked the process.

[grammarwoman]

*PFFFT* on you being a nobody! You're a BNF in my book. :)

I am wallowing around in all this advice. This is wonderful stuff - thank you! I will have to go seek out your offer letter so I can study it for specifics and perhaps judiciously pilfer the contents. A lot of this articulates what was bouncing around in my brain for what to put on the offer letter, so it's great to see my vague thoughts put into organized form.

You are the best! *HUGS*

[heresluck]

You should totally offer to vid for the auction! gwyn's comments about strategy are right on, I think. And I can offer to cheerlead and to beta, for sure. (And probably to bid, actually, depending on what you offer. I am an experienced coordinator of bidding cabals!)

[grammarwoman]

Oh, bless you for the reassurance and offers! I feel ever so much more confident now. :D :D :D Thank you!

Now to spend an obsessive amount of time putting together a letter.