Here's what I'd suggest: that you do the claim sometime this week (i.e., the normal claiming period after the sign-up post goes up), and then not fret about it too much. Remember, this is a regular fest and not an exchange; if you really get swamped with fandom writing and have to drop out, that's okay (and you can still add the story later, since I'm going to create a "late editions" category for those who don't even notice the fest exists for a few months *g*)