Are you interested in bidding on a fic writer or fan artist, but don’t have a lot of money to spare? 

Have you been wondering what it would be like to work with a beta reader or a culture- or expertise-picker (hint: it’s great and everyone should do it) but nervous about taking the plunge with someone you don’t know well?

Do you want to use FTH to connect to creators in your fandom(s) that you don’t know yet, but you aren’t sure where to start?

We can help.

Back in early 2017, when the inaugural FTH auction got far bigger than any of us has anticipated, we worried that a lot of great creators were getting lost in the (in other respects, delightfully) enormous list of folks who had volunteered to participate. We also heard from a lot of bidders who wanted to use the auction as a way to connect with creators whose work they didn’t yet know, and weren’t sure how to find them.

For that reason, we came up with the term “golden needle” as a label for the less active auctions, to make them easier to find. We picked that name because finding them on the offerings blog is like looking for a needle in a haystack (or at least it would be, without the tag!) and because each of them is a treasure whose participation enriches the whole project.

So if you’ve been hesitating about placing a bid – for any reason – we encourage you to look through the Golden Needle tag on our offerings blog. Bidding on one of these auctions is a great way for you to connect with a fellow fan, to get the fanwork or fan labor offer of your dreams, and to give yourself an occasion to send some money toward one or more of the amazing nonprofits we’re supporting.

If you do place a bid on a golden needle auction, please drop us a note via email and let us know, so we can keep the tag as up-to-date as possible.