218, by the way, was the number in the submissions box. There have already been some disqualifications for various reasons, a misplaced submission for the general submissions box, etc. The number will most likely go down a little bit more as I continue to go through all of the submissions.
Authors, please note: If you decide to send your story elsewhere for consideration before/during the contest and it gets published elsewhere, you are required to disqualify yourself from this contest. The contest is for original, unpublished works only. We won't fault you for sending your story elsewhere. If you get it published somewhere else, congratulations! Seriously, good work, but you should remove the story from this contest.
As Fenrix said, voting is available to anyone who joins the forums and makes a post, so long as they play fair. A lot of this contest is based on the honor system, but there are ways we can catch cheaters. We encourage all of you to tell your friends about the contest and get them to come join in on the fun, just don't tell them which story is yours until that story has either lost or wins in the end. This contest is super fun when everyone plays by the rules, plays fair, etc. Even if your story loses, you should walk away with a decent amount of feedback and well wishes. Writing is brutal, and the goal here is to make that brutality at least a bit fun.
As always, feel free to contact me with any questions/concerns you have. Best way to get my attention quickly is to e-mail me at Brian@escapeartists.net.