Chart of HD fests 2004 - 2014: input wanted

[snowgall]

I'm interested in seeing how the popularity in HD fanfic has changed over time, and I thought one way to do that would be to look at how many fics get posted to fests each year.

I did a count for 2014 a couple of months ago, but before I can count how many fics were posted in 2013, 2012, etc. I need to know how many fests there were each of those years.

Question: Has anyone else already done this? I hope I'm not duplicating someone else's efforts!

To start with, I'm just going to look at Drarry-focused fests, not more general HP fests. I went through hp_masterlists and tried to come up with a chart of HD fests through the years. The html table is inserted below the cut. (You may have to use the slider bar at the bottom of the post to see the whole thing - I seem to have trouble formatting wide tables to fit within LJ's specifications. It's very frustrating):

Edit: screenshot here (click to enlarge). HTML table is still below the cut

 

2004	2005	2006	2007	2008	2009	2010	2011	2012	2013	2014
		hd-holidays	hd-holidays	hd-holidays	hd-holidays	hd-holidays	hd-holidays	hd-holidays	hd-erised	hd-erised
			hd-holidays (Summer)		hd-smoochfest	hd-smoochfest	hd-smoochfest	hd-smoochfest	hd-smoochfest	hd-smoochfest
		serpentinelion (Secrets and Wishes)	serpentinelion (Secrets and Wishes)			serpentinelion (Glompfest)	serpentinelion (Glompfest)	serpentinelion (Glompfest)	serpentinelion (Glompfest)	serpentinelion (Glompfest)
	Big Bang, Baby		Big Bang, Baby	Big Bang, Baby		serpentinelion (Summer kink)	hd-bigbang: erised			hd-familyfest
hd-fqf	hd-fqf		hd-inspired (Mpreg)	hd-inspired (Back to School)	hd-careerfair	hd-fan-fair	hd-relief	hd-fan-fair	hd-fan-fair	hd-fan-fair
		hd-remix	hd-remix	hd-inspired (Animagus)			hd-remix	hd-remix	hd-remix	hd-remix
	the-eros-affair (1st wave)				hd-fluff (Halloween)	hd-fluff (Halloween)	hd-fluff (Halloween)	hd-fluff (Halloween)	hd-fluff (Halloween)	hd-fluff (Halloween)
	the-eros-affair (2nd wave)		the-eros-affair (3rd wave)	hd-worldcup	hd-worldcup	hd-parallel (round one)	hd-owlpost (Halloween)		hd-writers (Tricks for Treats)	hd-fluff (Valentine's)
						hd-parallel (round two)	hd-owlpost (Christmas)	hd-owlpost (Valentine's)	hd-owlpost	hd-owlpost
							dracotops-harry	dracotops-harry	dracotops-harry	dracotops-harry
							harrydraco mpreg	harrydraco mpreg	harrydraco mpreg	harrydraco mpreg
						hd-seasons (Halloween)	hd-seasons (Lip-locked)		hd-tropes	hd-tropes
						hd-seasons (Stocking Stuffers)	hd-seasons (Stocking Stuffers)		hd-cliche	hd-cliche
						hd-birthdaybash	hd-birthdaybash (Death-Rebirth)		slythindor100	slythindor100
						hd-birthdaybash (drabble-a-thons)	hd-birthdaybash (Sex Outdoors)		hd-level-two	hd-hurtfest
							hd-canon-fest
							hd-cockbook

 

General observations:

• There were a lot fewer fests before 2010 than after. This could be because I've inadvertently left some out. If anyone has any corrections please let me know.
• 2011 had more HD fests than any other year (counting communities who put on more than one fest that year)
• 2014 had the second most fests of any year, which seems to indicate that interest is not waning :)
• I chose not to include hds_beltane, since that fest also includes fics that aren't HD
• I also chose not to include comment fests, since those are harder to make counts of, but I could be persuaded to change my mind

Of course, more fests don't necessarily mean more fics. If could be that one year had a lot of fests with hardly any fics. I won't know until I've done a count.

But that brings up another question: should I count drabbles in the overall fic count? For example, in 2010, hd_birthdaybash had a couple of drabble-a-thons which produced several dozen drabbles. If I counted each of these as a 'fic', that would probably skew the count for 2010. Anyone have an opinion on this?

And again, any corrections or suggestions are welcome. And if you can't see the full table, let me know and I'll try to fix it (or if you know how to get LJ to like my tables, that would also be helpful :)

Comments

[this-bloody-cat.livejournal.com]

That's actually really interesting... I think during the first years there used to be more HP fests than HD fests -- but since I've never actually looked this up, I may be wrong! And yes, I think most fests these days have fewer fic than the ones back then (but OTOH, they're also more specialised!) I haven't checked this either though, so I could be wrong (would definitely be interested, though!)

[cagnurit.livejournal.com]

Thank you for the hard work!
This chart is such a precious thing <3 Make it easier to follow all HD fests chronologically.

I suggest maybe post the chart as a picture, to see as a whole? :D

[raitala.livejournal.com]

I think the proliferation of fests over time is an accurate representation of a change in the structure of fandom participation. It does mean though that your picture of fandom activity will be squewed. Back in 2005-7 a lot of people just wrote the fics they wanted and shared them directly via flists and comms. There were a lot of long-running WIPs and so on. Fests were a dimension, but not the main platform for fandom activity like they are now.

So more fics being written in fests does not map on to more fics being written. I think your data will be more meaningful 2010 onwards to chart fandom activity via fests where the correlation is stronger. I hope I've managed to explain myself?

Pre-2010 data might be useful primarily in comparative terms (2005 hd hols compared to 2011 hd hols etc.) but still. The evolution from mailing list and message board culture meant that it took a while for writers to decide that profile for their work was best sought via fest participation.

[capitu]

That's really interesting!

I know vaysh has a list of H/D fest, and she had one for last year. :)

[snowgall]

I think you're absolutely right that fandom culture and fest culture have changed over time and that changes in the way people publish their fanfic may not necessarily reflect how much fanfic has actually been published, especially pre-2010 as you point out (was there anything that happened that caused the shift at that time, or was it justa tipping point sort of thing?)

The reason I thought I could use fest popularity as a proxy for fandom popularity was mostly because it's so ridiculously difficult to find other ways to count fics per year. You can count how many fics were posted to ff.net or AO3 in a given year, but many of those will be older fics being posted later to archives, and of course archive popularity changes over time too (AO3 now being more popular than ff.net, though that wouldn't have been the case in 2008).

But seeing how fandom has changed is also interesting, and getting the perspective of someone like yourself who has been part of the fandom for much longer than me is very very helpful. Thank you!

[snowgall]

Yeah--I think I may have referred to her 2013 list at some point. I have actually been putting this data together for a while, and I don't always remember where I found what (though I confirmed most of it by double checking with hp-masterlists). I'll go back and see what other lists Vaysh might have too. Thanks!

[snowgall]

You're welcome! The chart-as-picture idea is a good one. I will see if I can get a readable screen shot to add to this.

[snowgall]

The contrast between the number of HP-fests vs. HD-fests would be a interesting stat to track. It would also be interesting to see how that might synch with what Raitala was saying below - that fests in general have become a more popular way to publish fics than they used to be.

And you're right about the number of fics per fest changing too. I've already noticed that hd-holidays and hd-smoochfest used to have something like 60 or 70 fics posted each year, and now it's closer to 30 or 40! But then there are more fests now than there were back then too.

So much data to keep track of! I may have to do a lot of posts :)

[capitu]

I have some 2014 master lists here: http://capitu.livejournal.com/361445.html

Those aren't only H/D, but if one day you decided to make a list with H/D in other fests might be useful. :)

[snowgall]

This is awesome, thanks so much! And if you ever notice any errors or omisions in my charts, please let me know.

Yes, one day I would like to include other fests as well. Baby steps :)

The Daily Snitch: Friday, March 6, 2015

[livejournal.livejournal.com]

User kitty_fic referenced to your post from The Daily Snitch: Friday, March 6, 2015 (http://daily-snitch.livejournal.com/850128.html) saying: [...] • : Chart of HD fests 2004 - 2014: input wanted [...]

[vaysh]

I've made posts of all H/D Fest since 2011. The tags are
2011 hd fests
2012 hd fests
2013 hd fests
2014 hd fests
2015 hd fests
Always the last post in the year has all the information about the fests (masterlists).

You may also want to check out this post: Master Lists of the Harry/Draco Fests, Fairs, Big Bangs and LDWS (2004 - 2013). I had to discontinue the list because of time constraints and it seemed I was duplicating information with the H/D Fest Posts. But I did a lot of research to be able to incude all the fests (or early forms of what became fests). I don't think I missed any.

The main point, though, is the one that Raitala makes: Fests have only developed in the last five years or so as the primary outlet to showcase fandom activity. Before 2010 a whole lot of fic was written and art created that was simply posted in people's journals and in the then popular archives (Skyehawke, FictionAlley, Hex Files).

[vaysh]

Your post inspired me to update the Master Lists of H/D Fest over at gunshandcuffs. :) It is all updated now. :)

[vaysh]

I think that hd_relief Fest for Japan from 2011 is missing. :)

[snowgall]

I think it's there--I stuck in on the same line as fan-fair, since AFAIK fan-fair didn't have a fest that year. I was trying to keep the chart more compact and use up some of the gaps :)

Still working my way through more of the info you've sent me--thanks so much!

[snowgall]

Cool! This is such a wealth of information, thank you so much! I had a feeling someone must have collected this data before. I'll go through this and double check to see if I've missed anything. I do like seeing it all in a chart too--I tend to be a visual person when it comes to data :)

[zeitgeistic.livejournal.com]

Woah, this is super interesting. Those early days during the first Big Bang and the FQF were magical times. We were all here together in these singular fests instead of branched out into many.

[snowgall]

I'm so glad you're still writing for the fandom! It's fascinating to me to see how the fandom has developed over time, but since I wasn't there when it was first happening it's rather like participating in an archaeological dig :) I need people like you and Vaysh and others who were part of it to set me straight if I make any mistakes.

Having singular fests like you said means that those early fests often had lots more participants in them than the current fests do, though since we have more fests these days it may be that the overall fic output hasn't changed that much. That's something I'm trying to determine. We'll see how it goes!

[kitty_fic]

Hi... I was looking at this awesome chart again and wishing it was a graphic that could be seen all at once. I didn't have much luck making it pretty but I did manage to get it all on one screen.

Just in case you wanted it... here it is

http://ic.pics.livejournal.com/kitty_fic/28211487/665912/665912_original.png

(Sorry it's not pretty XD)

[snowgall]

Oh that's very nice, thank you!

But did you not see the link above to this image?:
http://ic.pics.livejournal.com/snowgall/70271450/1175/1175_original.jpg

You get there by clicking on the tiny thumbnail above the chart. Your version has nicer fonts though :)

I'm still interested in getting this chart filled in with more detail, specifically fic counts for all the various fests. (It's one of my ulterior motives for all the data gathering I've been doing! :)

So maybe in a few more months I'll be able to come back to this and add in the 2015 fests and generally make it better ♥

[kitty_fic]

OH lol! NO I totally did not see that! That one is much nicer with the solid bg! Sorry I was totally oblivious and missed that link!

This is a cool chart! I joined fandom in 2010 so it's really cool to see the fests in the years before that!

[alisanne.livejournal.com]

Oh, this is interesting.
So what happened pre 2010 you may ask. Well, the big juggernaut of a fest was merry_smutmas, and everyone who was anyone wanted to write for that. Of course it was a 'lottery' so if you didn't get chosen you were out of luck, until some enterprising soul came along and created harry_holidays for those of us not fortunate enough to win the lottery. :)
Smutmas closed in 2007, the year after I joined HP fandom, Harry Hols closed in 2010. Both had plenty of controversy surrounding them.
And that, IIRC, was when there was a huge uptick in pairing specific holiday fests. Before that it was all general with all pairings represented. As shown by your chart. :)
The only non holiday fests I remember back then were reversathon, there was a summer fest (can't recall the name), and the FQ fests.

[snowgall]

Oh thank you so much for your insight on this! I joined this fandom much much later, and so I don't know any of this stuff first hand. I just poked around on hp-masterlists and such finding info on various fests and trying to put the whole picture together.

I've only found masterlists for merry-smutmas from 2004-2007, though fanlore says it started in 2003 (?!). From what I can tell, harry-holidays ran from 2005-2010. I didn't know that harry-holidays had been a response to merry-smutmas though. Very interesting! And I admit I don't know anything about the controversy. Fanlore doesn't seem to say anything either :/

Now that you point it out, it does seem as if things began with more HP-general fests and fewer pairing-specific ones. Of course, I haven't looked at any other pairings in depth besides HD, so this is just my impression paired with your recollections.

One of these days I may try to methodically gather more info on all of the history, but it's a big job, and not one I can do properly right now. Though I definitely appreciate any info you'd like to share :) Thanks again!