Hi everyone, and happy November! You may have noticed I was a bit MIA last month. My packed work schedule was turned on its head by a death in the family, and in taking time to travel for the funeral and spend time with relatives, some non-essential work duties (including this newsletter) had to be set aside. Such is life!

This month I am back with some information on an event many of you will be interested in: the annual Indie Design Gift-A-Long (or "GAL"). I did provide some information about this event last year, but since this is a time-sensitive topic (not to mention the fact that this list has grown considerably since then), I thought it was worth bringing up again. Signups run between November 14th and 16th, so be sure to check out all the information before then so you don't miss out.

And as always, I've included my tech editing availability for the coming month. Get in touch soon if you've got a pattern nearly ready for editing!

The Indie Design Gift-A-Log (GAL) 2018

What is the Indie Design Gift-A-Long?

From the GAL Ravelry group:

"What is Gift-A-Long? It’s a multi-designer promotion to help you kick your holiday gift-making into high gear!

The Indie Design Gift-A-Long is a 6 week long KAL/CAL of holiday gifts made from patterns designed by a rather extensive list of independent designers."

Basically, participants knit patterns by participating designers, share and chat about their GAL projects on Ravelry and social media, and are entered to win tons of great prizes.

I have participated in the GAL for the past 2 years as a designer, and it's been such a positive experience.

What does being a "Participating Designer" entail, and what are the benefits?

Basically, you offer between 10 and 20 of your self-published patterns at a discount during the first week of the GAL, donate coupon codes for free pattern downloads to be used as prizes, and generally participate and join in the hype and fun.

Regarding the benefits, it's a great way to expose your work to more knitters, build your audience, and enjoy a little boost in pattern sales. Plus, it's a lot of fun. Having enjoyed participating in previous years, I would be devastated to miss out!

Here are a few stats from last year to give you an idea of the scope of the GAL (taken from this thread on Ravelry):

Check out this thread for lots more stats and fun facts about last year's GAL.

How can I sign up?

The GAL doesn't begin until November 23rd for regular participants, but chat among organizers and designers in the (impeccably-run, incredibly informative) GAL Planning Ravelry group is in full swing. You can find all important dates, rules, and announcements in this thread. The most important thing to note right now is that if you wish to participate as a designer, the signup window is small and the requirements are both specific and strictly-enforced. 

In order to be included as a participating designer, you MUST sign up between 10 am (US EST) on Wednesday, November 14th and 10 am (US EST) on Friday, November 16th. See this post for all the details on how to sign up and when. There is even a checklist you can use to make sure you are ready to go when sign ups open:

While it's important to read and follow all the rules, don't be overwhelmed! The three basic things you must do before you can register are:

1. Have 10 self-published patterns in your Ravelry shop;
2. Set up the discount code for the sale period and your individual prize codes; and,
3. Set up your GAL bundle.

As long as you do these three things (following the guidelines and tutorials here) before November 14th, you'll be all ready to pull the trigger on signup day. 

If you have any questions about the GAL, please don't hesitate to send me an email! I am not involved with planning the event, but having participated in previous years, I'm sure I can help (or at least point you in the direction of the folks who can).

Tech Editing Availability

I have the following tech editing spaces remaining for November:

November 5th - 9th: 1 space remaining!
November 12th - 16th: 2 spaces remaining!
November 19th - 23rd: 5 spaces
November 26th - 30th: 5 spaces

Reply to this email if you'd like to reserve a spot!

Best,
- Allison 

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