- When VertigoArt first designed DLD it was meant to be in competition with the Gallery Moderators, who said that featuring more than one Literature piece as a Daily Deviation split the attention the DD deserved. Back then, that was perfectly true. The Lit DDs that got featured rarely garnered more than 100 faves and usually had fewer than 20 comments on them. It was still a huge deal, but it didn't have the same impact that a visual art DD had.

VertigoArt decided to do something to prove that the Lit community could be galvanized to read and respond to quality work. His vision morphed as more heads joined the huddle, so that instead of trying to compete with the GMs (now CVs) we started sending them work we featured as DD suggestions, and many of those suggestions were accepted - these days there's not a single month that goes by without at least one DLD feature moving on to become a DD.

So all that is to say that I think DLD proves that with a little leadership, a lot of teamwork, and some plain old cheerleading any community can boost itself up to become a more prominent force on deviantART. Since DLD started we've seen the literature community grow from a small, closed off portion of dA that rarely got any recognition to a powerhouse of change and motivation. While DLD certainly is not entirely responsible for that shift, I think it played a large role in proving that big things can happen if you get enough people to care about it.

- I know for me my first DLD was a huge motivator to just keep writing and start throwing myself into the community more. It was great exposure and through it I met a lot of new people and they were introduced to me. I don't know if it has that same effect on other writers, but I hope it does.

I think for a lot of people, something like a DD feels very far out of reach but a DLD is a little more do-able; making a smaller goal on the way to a bigger goal as it were. I like to think of DLD as a stepping stone for writers, especially as there aren't as many of those as there are for more visually inclined artists.

- I think that DLD has met and continues to meet its mandate of exposing literature to the general dA membership and by doing so, fosters a sense of belonging and community for writers. Poets and authors see that someone out there in dA wilderness cares about the written arts, and it seems to serve as an important symbol of artistic fellowship. And, of course, people are exposed to the pieces we feature, and those featured are exposed to the the literature community, and dA at large. The latter is often a nice surprise for many artists, and in turn, may influence them to seek out new artists to feature. This was what, ultimately, happened to me. I spent my first year or two on dA feeling a bit bewildered and isolated, being fairly inept in the social sciences. DLD was really the first bastion of meaningful dialog I had with any sort of community on dA. Back 3+ years ago, there were very few groups, especially lit groups, and they were hard to find. And those groups that did exist back then didn’t reach out to me. DLD did. I started reading their features, and they eventually featured a poem of mine. It kind of sparked an interest in me to try and connect with that feeling of belonging that I experienced. Ever since, I wanted to be a part of DLD and other literature groups. I give DLD most of the credit for my original community inspiration.

- The DLD process is a testament to the ingenuity of DLD's founders and co-founders.  The division of labor between category admins, who seek out the pieces for feature, and the general admins, who pick the best of the suggestions and publish the article, is perfectly balanced.  No one person has too much influence over the content of the article, and emphasis is placed on teamwork and community spirit.  All the work that has been put into the templates, the checks, the well defined responsibilities, and the process of group communication makes things run relatively smoothly, for the most part.  Here's a typical step by step process for publishing an article:

1.  The Category Admins (CA’s) scour deviantArt for up to 4 pieces of prose, poetry, or either genre of a foreign language to recommend for feature.  They send a special note to the group, in a particular format, and the date they want it published in the subject line.  The format that they must submit this feature request is very close to the format that ends up on the article.

2.  The General Admins (GA’s) are responsible for reading all of the suggestions sent in for the GA’s assigned day.  The GA will choose the five best suggestions to feature in the news article. Typically, GA’s will feature three poems and two prose features. However, in the event that a foreign language suggestion is sent in, there may be two poetry features, two prose features, and one foreign language feature.  These are just guidelines, and it’s up to the GA to pick the five best features for each article.  The article, as I said, has a pre-formatted template.  The GA will edit the article with the new date and features and submit the article in sta.sh. 

3.  GA’s will also choose one piece from the 5 featured for the Pick of the Day (POD).  The GA will leave a special message on the POD deviation stating that the deviation is the Pick Of the Day, as well as a link to the published article.

4.  The GA must then add the thumbnail and link to the POD and the article on the DailyLitDeviations' front page, in a special POD box.

5.  The GA will submit the POD to DLD’s sister group:  Daily-Lit-Deviations to be featured in the group’s POD gallery.

6.  The GA leaves comments on each of the other four featured pieces with a message stating their piece has been featured, along with a link to the article.

7.  The GA edits the DLD scrap deviation of the current month adding the current featured artists to the list of all DLD feature recipients for that month.  This is done so that CA’s and GA’s and even suggesters can tell who has been featured in the last 30 days.  DLD rules require that anyone featured in the current article cannot have been previously featured by DailyLitDeviations for the last 30 days.

8.  The GA then deletes all the notes containing the suggested features that were chosen for the article, and moves all notes of feature suggestions not chosen to the unused suggestion folder.  This helps with internal housekeeping.

9.  The GA then logs out of the DLD deviant account and logs into their own account, favs the news article, then goes to bed (as all this is typically done around midnight.)

- Actually, putting the articles together is easy - it's just a matter of plugging in all the variables. What's difficult is getting suggestions. I don't think many people realize just how much the staff relies on this. Ideally, every member of the staff sends in four pieces a week - even just one suggestion cuts our workload by a quarter. I personally read through roughly a novels' worth of online prose every five or six weeks just to keep up with that rate.

A lot of us also have our favorite avenues to find quality writing - we visit the same groups or galleries over and over. We rely on suggestions to break that pattern and show us the writing we miss, to find the people who don't submit to groups or have the self-confidence to promote their writing. We can't find them on our own with all the self-insert fanfic getting in the way.

- I think Shane[spoems] thoroughly explained that process. For my two cents I'll add that I rarely decide to feature a piece that I would not also suggest to one of the CVs for a feature. I think that goes for all of our CAs and GAs. We hold quality in the highest regard, and the process for joining the team ensures that no one who does not value quality most makes the cut.

- I can say that the prompt came to me on a sunny afternoon while I was contemplating how many fingers must have touched my bus money over the years. We've just about finalized all of the details and will announce the contest on June 1st. We expect it to be very exciting and hope the community will rise to the challenge as they have so many times in the past.

- It's ridiculously amusing to check the article comments for giddy reactions, especially on a piece you suggested And it's always nice when someone drops a line to say thanks for a recommendation

That aside though, DLD is a powerhouse of great writing. Everyone on staff has awesome stuff in their gallery and I do my darndest to read everything that gets featured _{even if I don't always have the time to comment}. I read more for fun on dA than I do in real life at this point, and I think that says a lot about the quality of work around here.

- Working with DLD has taught me a lot about teamwork, leadership, organization, and people skills. I've been involved in all levels of DLD's functions, starting as a CA, then working as a GA, then as a Contest Admin, and now as the group's "leader" though that term is a little awkward since I prefer to do as much as possible with the input of all the team members. I think the single biggest perk about it is finding myself surrounded by so many other passionate, interesting writers who have like-minded goals and creative ways of reaching them. It's inspiring, really.

- The best thing for me has been the sense of belonging to a group that has a worthwhile charter: that of helping others by giving back to the literature community. Of all the hobbies which I’ve taken on (or to which I’ve succumbed) this has been the most rewarding, except for writing, itself.  Being helpful is its own reward.

- I would be remiss if I forgot to beg for points. We really need donations to make the summer contest a success! So if you can, please donate on the widget on DLD's profile page. We'd also love to see donations of features, critiques, commissions, etc! Note LiliWrites if you'd be willing to give such a prize.

And a big thank you to everyone who has been part of our journey. We wouldn't matter without all of you.

- Besides the fact that HugQueen is wonderful, I have nothing else to share.

- It seems like I write less now that I'm helping out in so many groups. Don't get me wrong, I still write a lot, but I'd be lying if I said it was rainbows and sunshine all the time I know my family thinks I just sit at the computer all day, but the dA literature community is a part-time job for me (full-time now that it's summer). But unlike the millions of cubicle drones out there, I love my work