Hello! Your three samples are what you think are your best pieces, while your portfolio has other additional work (as well as those three samples, if you'd like) that further showcase your skill as a creator! It's almost like a job resume—put your best foot forward and provide some back-up experience to help you out!

If you need further help or want any points explained in depth, we have Contributor Guidelines as well as an Application Walkthrough posted on our Tumblr. Thank you for your question!

No, we will not be inviting guest contributors. When planning the original concept of this project, we (Mods Anna, Finn, and Havoc) wanted to create a zine where everyone has equal opportunity to get in via applications and where newcomers are welcomed with open arms! We want Someone Even Better to be fun, beginner-friendly, and allowing of these newer contributors who may not have had the opportunity to participate in zines before a chance to create. While we're appreciative and supportive of guest contributors as a concept, sometimes guest positions can take space away from this idea!

No worries at all! Thank you for your question, and thank you kindly for your support thus far!
Contributor Apps | Apps Advice | Carrd

Hello, thank you for catching this discrepancy in the form—it's been fixed! Our guidelines, which have been available for weeks, are what we expect during applications and what we'll be following when grading. No mod will read more than 15k combined on the three submitted samples.

As for your submissions themselves, in our guidelines and our applications advice walkthrough, we say it's recommended to have at minimum one and a preferred three complete works in order to showcase your ability to write a completed fic that stays on the short side, as the zine's word count requirement will only be 1.5k-3.5k. You do not need to submit these completed works for your specific samples (which are what we look at first, since they should be the works you think are your best); including them in your portfolio is enough. We apologize for any confusion. Thank you for checking!

Hello, you've essentially said it yourself! Your samples should showcase your strengths and follow our guidelines, and they should follow those recommended word counts. Anything less than 1.5k will not let us judge your work thoroughly; all we ask is that you make sure your samples do not exceed anything egregious like 30k words combined. We may have a high turnout of applications, and we won't have the time to commit to reading more than 15k per writer!

If you need any further clarification, please check our Info + FAQ and our Applications Advice post on Tumblr. Thank you for your question!

Hello! We want to see your best work, so whatever you have to give us, we'll be happy to look at! As all mods on the team are adults and indifferent to the topic, we are okay with submissions that would be considered problematic or pro-ship. The content you engage with in your personal time has no conflict with us, as our main zine will be entirely SFW and a potential NSFW add-on is still currently in the works. However, it is highly encouraged to provide pieces that demonstrate what you could make for this project.

So, as a blanket statement, we want to say this: no one will be automatically disqualified for any type of content featured in their portfolios unless it displays any kind of hateful, racist, or homophobic/transphobic themes. Thank you for your question!