Escape Artists
The Arcade => Flash Contest V => Completed Contests => Flash Fiction Contest V - PseudoPod => Topic started by: Bdoomed on July 29, 2017, 12:25:57 AM
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A special Flash Fiction contest portal will open on Submittable (https://pseudopod.submittable.com/submit) at midnight EDT on 8/15 and close at midnight on 9/15. If the portal disappears, submissions are formally closed and will not reopen.
In order to be a valid submission to the contest, each story must adhere to the following rules:
1. The story must be no more than 500 words long, not including its title. Do not use the title to skirt around the word count. Word count will be determined using Google Docs.
2. The story must adhere to the general Pseudopod submission guidelines. Most importantly, it needs to be a horror story; other genres, including science fiction and fantasy, are discouraged. As a general rule, we will take a very liberal view of what constitutes horror, but authors should note that past experience shows that stories which attempt to skirt the genre restriction tend to fare badly in the voting.
3. The story must be original and previously unpublished. Stories will be posted on a members-only portion of the forum, so first publication rights will not be spent if your story does not win.
The person submitting the story must be the story's author (or acting for the author with express permission) and hold full publishing rights to the story. A story that is derived from a previous published work in another format (i.e. not a short story) is fine (assuming doing so isn't in violation of copyright, obviously).
If you are not sure whether your story counts as published or not (for example, if an earlier version has appeared on your blog but nowhere else), please write (PM or send a query to brian@escapeartists.net with the subject line "QUERY") and ask before submitting. Please do not submit stories that have been entries in a previous Escape Artists contest.
4. The story should be submitted in its final form, as the author intends it to be read by the voting public. We may or may not allow minor typo corrections if those slip in, but as a general rule, we will not allow authors to submit changes to stories, especially not after submissions are closed.
5. Each author may submit only one story.
6. Entries in the contest will be judged completely anonymously, with all authors on equal footing regardless of whether or not they are already published elsewhere or if they have any association with EA. In the interest of transparency, the following people have access to the submission portal, and can see the names of authors (and therefore are prohibited from participating): Graeme Dunlop, Shawn Garrett, Alex Hofelich, Brian Lieberman, and Dagny Paul. Note that staff on EA's other podcasts, and other forum moderators, have no access to this information and may choose to participate if they wish.
Included the body of the submission should be the title and the text of your story. Any byline will be stripped when the stories are posted in the contest, and will be revealed when either the story fails to advance, or ultimately wins. Feel free to request a pseudonym for the byline, but we will need a legal name if you win for prize purposes.
Please blog, tweet, email, send postcards, telephone, summon demons, and otherwise get the word out.
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The Podcastle competition isn't even over yet and I'm already excited about this one.
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This is a lot of fun. Like writing Cthulhu's name on a grain of rice.
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Just submitted my entry! Can't wait! ;D
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Submitted! I'm excited about this one.
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Next contest will be 250 words.
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Next contest will be 250 words.
Interesting, I wasn't aware of that.
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Entered, fresh off the PodCastle FFC, haha. Here we go again! Good luck writers!!
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Next contest will be 250 words.
Interesting, I wasn't aware of that.
One after that will be 0 words. It will be very competitive.
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Next contest will be 250 words.
Sweet Christmas.
Welp, we survived the drop from 750 to 500. Maybe we'll weather this too.
"For sale: Baby shoes, partially digested."
Hey, maybe I can make aggressive limits work for Pseudopod after all.
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Take a look at my previous work in the poll threads for past PP contests. Gaze deep into the abyss.
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AND DESPAIR.
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Next contest will be 250 words.
Sweet Christmas.
Welp, we survived the drop from 750 to 500. Maybe we'll weather this too.
"For sale: Baby shoes, partially digested."
Hey, maybe I can make aggressive limits work for Pseudopod after all.
Ha!
How about this one.
"The ever-shrinking word count: True horror."
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AND DESPAIR.
Oh Bdoomed, king of kings, ye mighty.
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So excited for this contest again! I had so much fun last time I did it.
Now, I just have to cut another 250 words ...
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There is a unlimited word count but you may only use each character once.
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Or
Without hesitation, repetition or deviation write about the creature you struggle not to become for one minute; GO!
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**Wanders off after something shiny sometime in early August. Returns and finds horror upon horror - three days to write new flash.
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Not much of a horror writer but mine is in! Is it bad that I'm hoping for less submissions than the last round? That was a LOT of submissions, ha.
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I'm in. Looking forward to a big, horrifying slush-pile!
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The fantasy one that just finished was my first Escape Artists contest, but I'm back for round two. Hopefully my horror game is at least as good as my fantasy game. Let's scare some people!
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My flash is in. Look forward to reading everyone's stories. Good luck, writers!
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Submitted my flash story. Looking forward to reading all the others!
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Done! I normally hang out in the flying castle, and now the magical theater (CoW) but this is my first trip down in the mire...
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And submitted.
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Looks like the competition is going to be fierce! Looking forward to all the stories!
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this is my first trip down in the mire...
Um, rude! The corridors of the Pseudopod dungeons are kept meticulously mire-free, thanks to the insatiable hunger of our roving swarms of maggots.
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5 hours left! We have a ton of entries and this is going to be so fun.
Cheers.
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Juuuuuuuuust squeaked in under the guillotine. This is not a genre I'm comfortable in so this was difficult but damned if I'll miss an opportunity to grow as a writer. I mean.... the kind of growth I can get without taking classes or reading writing books or all the other things serious writers do to improve. I'll never miss an opportunity.... to do the minimum effort? Because I'm a hack, I guess? That sounds less commendable the more I read it. Oh, I know, I'll just hit 'Post' then the painful introspection can go away.
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In with ten minutes to spare...
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Good luck everyone! I can't wait to be horrified. :D
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Stoked to get out of my narrator zone and write something! :D Can't wait to read everyone's submissions!
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Newbie question: I was going through past competition threads and realized there are some rules that were mentioned (ex: three votes [per group? per round?], nobody who knows the author can vote for their story), but I couldn't find a current comprehensive list of voting rules. Way back in a 2007 thread there was a link for "judging guidelines," but that's now a dead link. Is there a current link I'm (probably) missing? :)
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this is my first trip down in the mire...
Um, rude! The corridors of the Pseudopod dungeons are kept meticulously mire-free, thanks to the insatiable hunger of our roving swarms of maggots.
Yes, but what do you do when those industrious maggots transform into flies? Do you have a back up beastie?
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this is my first trip down in the mire...
Um, rude! The corridors of the Pseudopod dungeons are kept meticulously mire-free, thanks to the insatiable hunger of our roving swarms of maggots.
Yes, but what do you do when those industrious maggots transform into flies? Do you have a back up beastie?
Are you telling me that you've never once wondered why every member of Pseudopod's staff is made entirely of spiders?
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Newbie question: I was going through past competition threads and realized there are some rules that were mentioned (ex: three votes [per group? per round?], nobody who knows the author can vote for their story), but I couldn't find a current comprehensive list of voting rules. Way back in a 2007 thread there was a link for "judging guidelines," but that's now a dead link. Is there a current link I'm (probably) missing? :)
You're not missing anything. Each voting round will list the 'three votes' rule (and restrict you to that number even if you try to vote for more).
And if you know the author of another story, you must refrain from voting for it (either by skipping that round entirely if you feel it necessary, or simply by voting for other stories)
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Anyway... submissions are over! wooo.
We have 199 total submissions (wow... this is going to be fun) so I'll be posting all the stories over the next week, and we'll get this thing kicked off on September 25th.
This is a lot to tackle no matter how you cut it, so I think this is how we'll break it down.
We'll have 17 initial groups of 11 stories each, and one group of 12.
That will narrow it down to 54 stories for the second round, divided up into 6 groups of 9.
Semifinals will be 18 stories, so 3 groups of 6 which will give us 9 stories for the Final Round.
I hope you're all ready for a long journey!
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...We have 199 total submissions (wow... this is going to be fun)...
I hope you're all ready for a long journey!
Looking forward to reading everyone's work!
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...We have 199 total submissions (wow... this is going to be fun)...
I hope you're all ready for a long journey!
Looking forward to reading everyone's work!
Ditto
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Anyway... submissions are over! wooo.
We have 199 total submissions (wow... this is going to be fun) so I'll be posting all the stories over the next week, and we'll get this thing kicked off on September 25th.
This is a lot to tackle no matter how you cut it, so I think this is how we'll break it down.
We'll have 17 initial groups of 11 stories each, and one group of 12.
Whoa, that's a lot of reading! Are you going to be opening groups daily, or every 48 hours like Ocicat did for PodCastle?
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Anyway... submissions are over! wooo.
We have 199 total submissions (wow... this is going to be fun) so I'll be posting all the stories over the next week, and we'll get this thing kicked off on September 25th.
This is a lot to tackle no matter how you cut it, so I think this is how we'll break it down.
We'll have 17 initial groups of 11 stories each, and one group of 12.
Whoa, that's a lot of reading! Are you going to be opening groups daily, or every 48 hours like Ocicat did for PodCastle?
Every 48. Daily is too heavy.
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I am in! I even had to write something new because I didn't have anything unpublished in the range that hadnt been in a previous contest, first new fiction from me in over a year. I didn't even hate it! I look forward to commenting on its thread after its voted out in the first round!
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May you yet live to eat those words.
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I look forward to commenting on its thread after its voted out in the first round!
I loled at this.
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What the heck is going on in those four other threads?
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Spammers. They show up occasionally to pop out nonsense threads and advertisements.
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What the heck is going on in those four other threads?
I'm guessing it's spam of some kind based on the fact they've got links in their signatures.
More on topic I look forward to seeing what people think of my first complete piece of fiction.
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More on topic I look forward to seeing what people think of my first complete piece of fiction.
I look forward to reading it. I submitted two of my first stories to the last Pseudopod FFC (last FFC was two stories 750 words each).
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Okay, folks. Final tallies are actually in this time, taking into account some withdrawals. Ignore my earlier count, I guess I was lying to you. That's what we do here at PseudoPod towers. Misdirection.
We have 191 stories in 12 different groups. 11 groups of 16, 1 group of 15.
Groups will be posted at 6PM EDT every 48 hours. So you can expect the first group to come live right around then today. (ETA: 18 hours)
I'm excited to be hosting another one of these and I'm thrilled to have so many entries! I hope you all enjoy this as much as I do. You all rock!
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So, it'll be three rounds rather than four?
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I'd super appreciate it if everyone voted for my story even though it's not that great, thaaaaaanks. I'm just like all of you, and as I sit here whittling on this bone (could be from an animal, who knows) in my office surrounded by hundreds of photos of people the way normal people have in their offices, I think about how great it would be if my creation won. I'm just a normal, regular guy. I buy my bags of garden lime and pavement-cleaning muriatic acid down at the store with cash like anybody else, so winning would be really, really nice.
So I can't tell you anything about my story (which definitely doesn't involve whittling orbital ridges of animals (those are parts of the sockets that hold eyeballs) aka see shells down by the sea shore) and I'll just have to depend on you all to make the correct decision on your own, so please do not disappoint me.
If you don't mind, it's time to get back to work.
(scrape)
(scrape)
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GROUP 1 IS LIIIIIIVE!
Enjoy, vote your hearts out.
But no seriously, we need more hearts for the harvest.
Since each group is a bit heavy on stories, I'm keeping the voting open for 10 days per poll.
I think we're still going to do 4 rounds. First round will produce 36 stories. Second round will consist of 4 groups of 9 stories, which will produce 12 stories. Third round will be 2 groups of 6 stories, ending in a Final Round of 6 stories.
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This was a great opportunity. Expecting gripping horror tales.
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It's going to be fun reading through these.
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This should be fun. Good luck to all!
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Good luck all!
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First off: I don't like scary stories, but I love short fiction. This will be interesting and I look forward to reading my colleagues' work, sweating over mine, and generally having fun while learning something.
Thanks, folks!
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Curious--why not just do a final round with twelve stories instead of two semi-finals of six?
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Another newbie here! It's my first contest here and I'm excited! Let's read the stories of round 1!
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Can't wait to see what this competition yields!
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So excited for this
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Kind of worried I'm the only one who doesn't get how the rounds and votes work...so I think I'll stay quiet until I figure it -
oh damn
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Kind of worried I'm the only one who doesn't get how the rounds and votes work...so I think I'll stay quiet until I figure it -
oh damn
Haha, don't be afraid to ask questions -- what's puzzling you?
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Looking forward to sinking my teeth into the stories tonight. ;D
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Excited to read everyone's stories!
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So after literally a decade of lurking (... give or, more accurately, take a few years), the flash fiction contest has summoned me from the shadows. This is literally the first time I've been on time to participate in one of these contests. Looking forward to reading the entries!
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GROUP 1 IS LIIIIIIVE!
Enjoy, vote your hearts out.
But no seriously, we need more hearts for the harvest.
Since each group is a bit heavy on stories, I'm keeping the voting open for 10 days per poll.
I think we're still going to do 4 rounds. First round will produce 36 stories. Second round will consist of 4 groups of 9 stories, which will produce 12 stories. Third round will be 2 groups of 6 stories, ending in a Final Round of 6 stories.
Where is Group 1?
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GROUP 1 IS LIIIIIIVE!
Enjoy, vote your hearts out.
But no seriously, we need more hearts for the harvest.
Since each group is a bit heavy on stories, I'm keeping the voting open for 10 days per poll.
I think we're still going to do 4 rounds. First round will produce 36 stories. Second round will consist of 4 groups of 9 stories, which will produce 12 stories. Third round will be 2 groups of 6 stories, ending in a Final Round of 6 stories.
Where is Group 1?
Nevermind!
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It will be interesting to see creativity poured into 500 words. :)
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Kind of worried I'm the only one who doesn't get how the rounds and votes work...so I think I'll stay quiet until I figure it -
oh damn
Haha, don't be afraid to ask questions -- what's puzzling you?
Never mind! Figured it out...I think. Just enjoying people's stories now.
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It will be interesting to see creativity poured into 500 words. :)
You don't pour a story into 500 words. You mash it in, scrape everything off the top that didn't fit, then take it out again and pick out all the solid chunks. Then you set the blender to puree. Then you pour it back in, and realize you left out some crucial ingredient and start over.
Then you shove the remainder of what should have gone into the story down the garbage disposal, which breaks under the strain.
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Hello Everyone--I am new to this as well. I have stumbled around in here (can be clumsy a bit) and can't find the stories to read? Can some one help this stumbling fool find a a foot hold in here?
~bows with blood and guts falling out~
???
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Check now, the act of posting something is a requirement so by asking your question, you should be good now.
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Oh! Group 2 is live! Can't wait to start reading them!
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All aboard for Group 3!
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Don't blink, Group 4 is here.
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It's that we can vote for up to three stories per group, rather than being required to make three votes, right?
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I'm really enjoying a lot of these stories. However, a small constructive criticism for several would be to establish the reader in a specific location with a specific narrator early in the piece. Being vague, by using generalizations, just confuses the reader and isn't scary/horror. I find it more frustrating that I don't know what is really going on or what the author intended.
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It's that we can vote for up to three stories per group, rather than being required to make three votes, right?
Yes! You are by no means required to use all three of your votes per round.
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Hi, some great stories so far and not even ½way. Is it permitted to vote in the category that your own story appears in? Not for your own story of course (although 1 vote would be nice) but just to acknowledge stories and also to vicariously see the number of votes.
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Hi, some great stories so far and not even ½way. Is it permitted to vote in the category that your own story appears in? Not for your own story of course (although 1 vote would be nice) but just to acknowledge stories and also to vicariously see the number of votes.
You CAN vote for your own story. You just can't get anyone else to vote for it (or let anyone else vote for it, if they know you wrote it - so don't tell anyone!)
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You can 100% vote for your own story!!!
Just not more than once per round it's in.
And you can't get your friends and family to come in and vote for your story.
Your friends and family can TOTALLY participate though! They can even know which story is yours! As long as they don't vote for it in that case.
If they don't know which story is yours and they figure it out because they know your style, they also should refrain from voting on it.
Basically, don't try and manipulate the vote, but you have just as much right as anyone else to vote on your own story with one of your three votes.
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In fact it's usually recommended you *do* vote for your own story, because everyone else will, so you're operating on a handicap if you don't. I always think of it asa a way of encouraging authors to take part in the contest, and not just fire & forget the submission :)
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Oh, that sweet, sweet, sweet single vote will be mine, alll mine.
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Group 5 will be a bit late today, sorry all! Apparently dealing with workers comp claims (not me, my wife's) is a 3 hour ordeal.
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And posted :) sorry for the delay.
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Question: are we allowed to comment in the threads where our stories are posted, as long as we don't indicate or hint its ours?
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Question: are we allowed to comment in the threads where our stories are posted, as long as we don't indicate or hint its ours?
That's a dangerous game, and keep in mind that once the authors are revealed your innocent comments will be re-read with your identity in mind.
No rules forbidding it I've ever seen, but danger. Also, it's not a real Escape Artists contest without authors screaming at their screens because the readers are missing or misinterpreting pivotal details.
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In the PodCastle contest rules it explicitly said you COULD comment on your own story, and I assume this is the same. But, yeah, a bit dangerous. Probably best to bite your tongue!
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In the PodCastle contest rules it explicitly said you COULD comment on your own story, and I assume this is the same. But, yeah, a bit dangerous. Probably best to bite your tongue!
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I’ve commented on all of my stories in the past contest and never revealed myself. It’s best to comment on a bunch of others before and after though.
If I remember correctly, there was one contest where a moderator had to step in because an authour was so harsh on their own story.
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If I remember correctly, there was one contest where a moderator had to step in because an authour was so harsh on their own story.
That after-submission regret will get ya every time.
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FWIW, I suggest not commenting on your story and leaving at least a handful of other stories without comment so it won't be obvious that you're leaving only your own without comment. As was said above, it is dangerous to comment on your own in any form, but especially to clarify meaning or offer praise. Since it's intended to be a story read apart from names and reputation, I prefer to honor the contest's goal and enjoy everyone else's stories rather than focus on my own.
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I prefer to honor the contest's goal and enjoy everyone else's stories rather than focus on my own.
I definately agree with this sentiment, but I’d like to add that trying to guess whose story is whose based on comments is also very dangerous.
Most of the time you’re wrong.
I had someone tell me that they thought a story was mine based on a comment I made in a different contest.
I didn’t even submit a story to that contest.
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I'm planning just to leave feedback on stories after they've been eliminated, or after my story is eliminated. I figure it's the safest way! I definitely plan to comment on every story eventually though- I know when I entered the last contest the feedback was so helpful and encouraging, and it got me writing more. I definitely want to give a little back to all the authors who've put their hard work in!
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Just wondering... are pretty much all submissions entered into this contest or is there some longlisting exercise to choose the 191 final ones?
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All submissions received are entered unless they violate word-count rule or are withdrawn by the author prior to the contest beginning.
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Question: are we allowed to comment in the threads where our stories are posted, as long as we don't indicate or hint its ours?
No rules forbidding it I've ever seen, but danger. Also, it's not a real Escape Artists contest without authors screaming at their screens because the readers are missing or misinterpreting pivotal details.
Yeah, I know what that's like. I'm a (relatively) normal human being, in that case.
I don't see the danger if I comment on a bunch of 'em, but good to keep in mind.
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Stupid question, but it's top three from each going through right? So if you were in group 1 and close but not quite close enough to the top three, you could tell people now?
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Stupid question, but it's top three from each going through right? So if you were in group 1 and close but not quite close enough to the top three, you could tell people now?
And don't we get an author reveal for those stories that didn't make it now that the voting is closed?
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Stupid question, but it's top three from each going through right? So if you were in group 1 and close but not quite close enough to the top three, you could tell people now?
And don't we get an author reveal for those stories that didn't make it now that the voting is closed?
Because I haven't had the chance to do it yet :P
Feel free to out yourself if you didn't win!
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Group 8 is live! Author reveals and tiebreaker for Group 3 incoming.
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Group 9 is live! Group 4 closes around 11:30 tonight so author reveals might not happen until tomorrow. But feel free to out yourself once the poll ends if your story did not pass.
You all rock! We've only got 4 more groups in the first round, we can do this!
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Woohoo! Thanks Bdoomed!
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Loving the stories. Just a few of simple questions about the contest--since I can't seem to find this info. anywhere:
Does it make a difference whether a story comes in 1st, 2nd or 3rd for this round? Do all of the top three pass on to the next rounds?
Also, what happens then? How many of the final stories win? Is it only one? Winner take all?
That's that. Such a cool thing you guys are doing. Thanks!
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All the winners from each round will go to a semifinal round, and then winners from that will hit a final round. Top three finalists are published.
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Cool. Makes sense. Thanks for explaining. Much appreciated!
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Sorry for being late, but GROUP 12 IS LIVE! and Group 7 has closed!
All groups have now been posted, so if you don't see your story PLEASE speak up!
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Woohoo! Well done, Bdoomed, and well done to all the authors.
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After some deliberation, the Semifinal round will begin once all 1st round groups have finished. This way, semifinal pairings can be randomized across all winning stories and judged based on juxtaposition with all different stories from other groups.
This will also allow everyone to focus our reading efforts on the current groups as they wrap up their voting periods.
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Smart.
Geek that I am, I have been checking the number of votes as each round closes. Whether people who have been voted out have stopped voting, or we have a jaded readership, its been steadily dropping (Round 9 less than half the votes of Round 1)
Of course, that's not to say the stories in later rounds might not be better (far from it, just the interest has lagged) but for fairness, mixing all the stories up for the subsequent rounds might be best!
Bring on the semis!
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Yep, we usually see some harsh voter fatigue/dropout in the later rounds. It's unfortunate but not something we can control too much. This go-round we've been blessed by an incredibly high turnout in the first rounds, much higher than in years past! That leaves a still-great turnout for the later rounds, even if it's only half of the initial ones.
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After some deliberation, the Semifinal round will begin once all 1st round groups have finished. This way, semifinal pairings can be randomized across all winning stories and judged based on juxtaposition with all different stories from other groups.
This will also allow everyone to focus our reading efforts on the current groups as they wrap up their voting periods.
I think this is a good idea, thanks for the heads up! I really love these contests. I appreciate it’s a lot of work for you guys, though!
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Yep, we usually see some harsh voter fatigue/dropout in the later rounds.
I, on the other hand, am going to be adding a fresh set of eyes!
I regret that I didn't have time to write anything for the contest this year, and I have not had time to keep with with the first round reading.
Hopefully I will be reading in the semis, but DEFINITELY, DEFINITELY for the finals. Looking forward to seeing all the creepy things you all have passed through to the later rounds!
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Are the polls up for the semifinals yet? I can't see them, but I am excited to vote!
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Same! I see the stories but no polls. :D
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I'll join the dog pile: polls? Or is there another way to vote?
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The polls will be posted a bit later today. The stories have just been moved over so you all can start considering!
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Ah, good call, BDoomed! Thanks!
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Semifinal polls have now been posted!
Have at 'em.
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Can you put the fact that the semi-finals are up on the News wire at the top? I know I was using that to see whether the contest had moved to the next stage or not.
Also, thanks for all your work with this, Bdoomed.
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I knew I was forgetting something. Thanks!
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At the risk of asking a very obvious question ;D is it the top three stories from each semi-final round that go through? So there will be 12 in the final? I'm just wondering because with the Podcastle comp it was two, wasn't it...?
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Sticking with three all the way through. 12 stories in the final round.
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Thanks!
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Late to the party but looking forward to reading.
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How long does voting for each round -- semifinals and finals -- last?
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10 Days!
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Really excited about the finals!
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sorry for the delay, folks. The final round should be starting up within the hour!
HYPE. TRAIN.