The DCBB offers official promotion for all upcoming teams on the DCBB accounts. This guide will walk you through the basics.
Promo info will be due at the time of the team check-in on Saturday, August 26th. We are aware this is quite soon after art claims, but your info should not take more than a few minutes to put together, and your graphic is not meant to be elaborate. Authors, you can begin planning for this even before art claims have been finalized, and afterwards, please communicate with your partner to establish who will be creating the promo graphic and to ensure correct spelling/formatting of team member names.
Please note: If you don't submit promo info at the time it's requested, we'll assume your team does not wish to be promoted in advance.
For authors: What do I need to provide for my promo?
Story Title: This can be a working title. If you want to change it later, you can. If you absolutely must, you may name it Untitled but for the best promo results you should try to think of a name that people will remember.
Story Summary: This is the summary you want the public to see. This doesn’t have to be your final summary, but this will be viewed by the public to hype them up for the story.
Rating: General, Teen, Mature, or Explicit
Warnings: You are required to mention any of the four major archive warnings for AO3, but you may include additional warnings if appropriate.
Pairings: Dean/Cas, as well as any side or past relationships.
Tags: You may provide us with up to 10 additional tags you feel are relevant. If you submit more than 10, those additional tags will not be included.
Story Preview: Please provide us with an excerpt of your story that is 300 to 500 words long. This is a great chance to give readers a sneak peek at your style and themes, so choose carefully! Please no explicit content.
A promotional graphic (see below)
What are the graphic requirements?
We’re asking your team to provide a promo graphic. This is a simple graphic made from a photograph or simple illustration and should include the fic title, the name of both partners (double check with each other about spelling/formatting), and “DCBB” or “Dean/Cas Big Bang.” You can also use the DCBB square logo (see links below). Either partner may create it, but style depends on who is creating the graphic. Graphics must be safe for work. No exceptions.
If the artist has time and ability, they may choose to create the graphic. This can be in whatever style they choose (illustration, photomanipulation, etc.). There is no requirement for the artist to make a promotional graphic and authors may not pressure them to do so. It is entirely up to them if they wish to highlight their own art at this point in the challenge.
If the author is making their team’s graphic, it must be photo-based. This is because any art associated with your story should be coming from the team artist. Promo graphics made by the author may have only photographs, textures, or solid colors as backgrounds. Do not manipulate the photos beyond cropping, light editing (eg. brightening or adjusting saturation), and applying filters. Merging multiple photographs into a single image by removing backgrounds, blurring, or repainting areas would qualify as photomanipulation, which is considered art for the DCBB. Please don't do this for your promo banner. A simple rule of thumb is that if Instagram or Canva can't accomplish the task, it probably isn't allowed.
Example banner
See examples and download templates
Please note: We will reject banners that do not meet these criteria and you will be asked to submit a new graphic.
What dimensions/file type should I use?
Graphic must be UNDER 5MB and UNDER 8192px x 8192px. We recommend a width of at least 540px.
Graphics should be PNG or JPEG format.
Please, no animation.
Where can I download the DCBB logo?
We have black, white, and gradient versions of both logos available on transparent backgrounds - so many options!
You don’t have to include the logo in your graphic. Instead, you can write “DCBB” or “Dean/Cas Big Bang.”
I've never made a graphic like this before. How do I start?
If neither member of your team has experience making simple graphics, we recommend Canva. It's a free browser-based graphic design program that works on all computers—including Chromebooks. There are apps available for it as well.
You can find links and more on our Resources page.
Can the mods design a graphic for me?
The DCBB is too large for us to design individualized graphics for everyone. If neither team member is able to create a personalized promotional graphic, we have generic templates available, but they won’t be customized to your story’s content. We strongly encourage you to create your own graphic to best reflect the uniqueness of your team’s work.