Author Topic: Lock, Stock, and 212 Smoking Barrels  (Read 37662 times)

Bdoomed

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on: September 29, 2015, 05:38:47 PM
Alright ladies and gentlemen, the stories have been counted, vetted, posted, and sorted.  October 1st is nigh and these stories are pushing at the gates, and they're hungry.

We have a lot to kill.  In total, there are 212 stories from 152 separate authors to get through.  This is incredible, more than any contest has ever received since the split of the general Escape Pod contest into three distinct contests.  We've got quite a lot of newcomers, some familiar names, and even some returning champions.  This should be a lot of fun!

That said, since the story volume is so high, and voting fatigue is yet another demon we have to fight, the schedule of story releases will be a bit different this time around.

The stories have been split into 18 groups: 14 groups of 12 stories and 4 groups of 11 stories.  These groups are also in two subdivisions, which ensures that no single author's story will be pitted against itself until the final round, should they make it that far.

In each group, pick up to 3 favorite stories to vote on.  You are perfectly allowed to vote for less than 3.

The first round of the contest will consist of all 18 groups, 212 stories.  The second round will pit the winners of 3 groups together in 6 second-round polls.  So the winners of groups 1, 2, and 3 will be in Round 2A; the winners of groups 4, 5, and 6 will be in Round 2B; etc.

Looks something like this:


I will be releasing two groups every other day.  This is subject to change, if it seems either too much or too little.  Three story groups at a time every three days makes some sense, but is most likely too many to tackle at a time.  But, tentatively:
Oct 1: Groups 1 and 2
Oct 3: Groups 3 and 4
Oct 5: Groups 5 and 6
Oct 7: Groups 7 and 8
Oct 9: Groups 9 and 10
Oct 11: Groups 11 and 12
Oct 13: Groups 13 and 14
Oct 15: Groups 15 and 16
Oct 17: Groups 17 and 18

Each group's poll will run for a week.  To keep things flowing a bit faster, Round 2A will start once Group 3 finishes, Round 2B as Group 6 finishes, etc.  That means, tentatively:
Oct 11: Round 2A
Oct 13: Round 2B
Oct 17: Round 2C
Oct 19: Round 2D
Oct 23: Round 2E
Oct 25: Round 2F

This puts the Semifinals starting on November 2nd, the day after Round 2F finishes.  The Semifinal polls will last another week, leaving the Final Poll of 6 stories to duke it out from November 10 to 17.  Finalists will be announced on November 18.

This is all somewhat tentative, because we often get tiebreaker runoff polls in the event there is a tie for 3rd place in any one group.  Runoff polls will last for 3 days.  If the runoff poll ties as well, I will cast a vote to break the tie.  That will be the only time I vote in this contest.

Moving on, here's the main rules to follow taken from the last contest, because if it ain't broke, don't fix it.

GENERAL RULES:

1. This contest is being run by me, Bdoomed, the Pseudopod forum moderator. If needed, other forum moderators may be brought in, and that will be announced. No one involved in the running of the contest will be allowed to submit entries.

2. 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place winners (and perhaps some editor's choices such as what happened over at the Escape Pod contest) will receive a contract to be bought and produced as flash fiction pieces at pro rates. Contact will be established with the winning authors at the conclusion of the contest.

3. Stories will be posted anonymously. Authors will be revealed after their story either loses or wins the contest. Please do not try to guess at the authors, at least publicly. Those posts will be deleted and the poster will be warned. As an author, please do not try to garner outside support through blogs, Twitter, Facebook, etc. We cannot stop you, but I urge you to just link to the contest in general, not your story. That said, please do tell your friends about this contest and about Escape Artists! I will be keeping an eye on any fishy business, and if I think something is up, I will take action. It is easy to find cheaters. If we discover that an author has revealed their authorship of a story before it is allowed (in the contest threads or elsewhere), that is grounds for disqualification of the story. The contest is to be won on the merits of the story, not the popularity of the author.

4. As always, constructive discussion is encouraged about all stories posted in this contest. The key word here is constructive. Normal forum rules remain in place. Be civil and respectful. That's our one rule. Rude and unconstructive negativity will be deleted or edited, and the offending poster will be warned. This goes for authors as well. You are free to comment on any story, including your own, but keep it civil and respectful. I reserve the right to kick any author and their stories out of the contest should there be ample reason.

5. Creating multiple accounts to vote for a story will get you banned from the forums and your story kicked from the contest. If you are sharing a computer, living space, or router with someone else who will be voting or creating an account, make sure to message me. Failure to do so may result in various adverse effects such as account deletion and/or banning.

6. In order to encourage more people to participate, the contest forum is currently visible to everyone, including non-forum members. However, once the submissions are closed the contest forum will be hidden and available only to registered members of the forum, and will remain so. This will ensure that the entries are not available to a general audience and prevent them as being considered as published by most markets. If needed for outside publishing purposes, an author can request a story to be deleted. Simply message me on the forums or at Brian@escapeartists.net with your concerns.


Again, always remember our one rule.  We want to keep this contest fun, constructive, and inviting.  Criticism can be tough to take and tough to dish out.  You can be harsh in your criticisms, but remain respectful to the author and other forumites and there won't be any problems.




Please read and re-read these rules before asking questions.  That all said, any questions, comments, concerns?
« Last Edit: September 29, 2015, 05:47:14 PM by Bdoomed »

I'd like to hear my options, so I could weigh them, what do you say?
Five pounds?  Six pounds? Seven pounds?


Bdoomed

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Reply #1 on: September 29, 2015, 05:58:25 PM
I'll also say it here again: Authors, when your story is posted, please notify me of any errors in formatting, should there be any.   I tried to fix any errors I found during the transfer process, but may have missed some.

You are also permitted to ask for very minor fixes to your story.  Maybe you missed a period, or misspelled a word.  Let me know!  I will, of course, not replace entire paragraphs or delete entire sentences, but a small mistake here and there is nothing to lose a contest over.

Along that same line of thinking, critiquers and voters: Vote for the story as a whole.  Small typos can be fixed before production.  Everyone makes them, and the constraints of this contest and the relatively small amount of time the authors had to write lends itself well to minor errors.  Of course, feel free to point out any errors as part of your critiques.  They're great things to catch for future reference and editing purposes.

I'd like to hear my options, so I could weigh them, what do you say?
Five pounds?  Six pounds? Seven pounds?


South of No North

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Reply #2 on: October 01, 2015, 06:22:49 AM
Before this gets too far ahead. (Thanks for all the work by the way)
I was wondering if a story was excluded for whatever reason/cause would a notification go out to the author?

"Yes, of course I can blame you. Without them, where would all of us outlaws be? What would we have? Only a lawless paradise...and paradise is a bore. Violence without violation is only noise heard by no one, the most horrendous sound in the universe." --The Chymist by Thomas Ligotti


Bdoomed

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Reply #3 on: October 01, 2015, 03:27:30 PM
Yes, the author would have received an e-mail about it.

I'd like to hear my options, so I could weigh them, what do you say?
Five pounds?  Six pounds? Seven pounds?


Moritz

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Reply #4 on: October 01, 2015, 07:14:40 PM
Got the rules.

(over the top announcer voice) Let the games begin!!!



Jaboui

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Reply #5 on: October 04, 2015, 07:13:11 AM
I think the worst part of being one of the authors is waiting for your story posted yet is if you're in one of the later groups.  As one of the authors who isn't in the first 4 groups, (Surprise out of 212 I haven't made the first 4) I can honestly say that I'm enjoying the stories and hope that the interest doesn't wane before the later groups come up. 



Ryan H

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Reply #6 on: October 04, 2015, 01:25:43 PM
I think the worst part of being one of the authors is waiting for your story posted yet is if you're in one of the later groups.

I admitted to my wife that some part of me will continue to doubt I'm in the running until I actually see my story up there. But she said the same thing you did -- 212 stories, only four groups so far.  8)

I'm really digging the process of reading through the stories and joining in the discussions. Best of luck to everybody!



Bdoomed

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Reply #7 on: October 04, 2015, 07:26:01 PM
If you submitted two stories, you're guaranteed to have one story be in one of the first 9 groups!

I'd like to hear my options, so I could weigh them, what do you say?
Five pounds?  Six pounds? Seven pounds?


Ryan H

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Reply #8 on: October 05, 2015, 12:29:36 AM
If you submitted two stories, you're guaranteed to have one story be in one of the first 9 groups!

Woo-hoo!



Portrait in Flesh

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Reply #9 on: October 05, 2015, 12:41:36 AM
Speaking theoretically, it must be (theoretically) nerve-wracking to see some stories in the early rounds that (theoretically) cover the same theme/topic that, say, you may have (theoretically) written about and submitted.

...posting this for a friend.

"Boys from the city.  Not yet caught by the whirlwind of Progress.  Feed soda pop to the thirsty pigs." --The Beast of Yucca Flats


benjaminjb

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Reply #10 on: October 05, 2015, 02:35:00 AM
You and your theories, Portrait! How does this work in practice?



Moritz

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Reply #11 on: October 05, 2015, 07:31:42 AM
Speaking theoretically, it must be (theoretically) nerve-wracking to see some stories in the early rounds that (theoretically) cover the same theme/topic that, say, you may have (theoretically) written about and submitted.

...posting this for a friend.

You wrote something about this new idea of zombies or ghosts?  ;)



Witchlander

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Reply #12 on: October 05, 2015, 10:56:22 PM
Speaking theoretically, it must be (theoretically) nerve-wracking to see some stories in the early rounds that (theoretically) cover the same theme/topic that, say, you may have (theoretically) written about and submitted.

...posting this for a friend.

You wrote something about this new idea of zombies or ghosts?  ;)

At this point, I'm guessing banshees or dolls.



Windup

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Reply #13 on: October 06, 2015, 01:09:12 AM
Speaking theoretically, it must be (theoretically) nerve-wracking to see some stories in the early rounds that (theoretically) cover the same theme/topic that, say, you may have (theoretically) written about and submitted.

...posting this for a friend.

Just suppose (hypothetically) that someone else was in the same boat. They would (I imagine) be glad that they weren't the only ones who felt that way. (So I've heard.)

"My whole job is in the space between 'should be' and 'is.' It's a big space."


Chicken Ghost

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Reply #14 on: October 06, 2015, 02:11:19 AM
I've yet to see anything similar to my submissions.  Good thing I'm a weirdo. 

I'm not sure I'm going to be able to keep up if I don't devote a much larger portion of my free time to this.  I'm already falling behind, and I don't want to vote in a group if I haven't read all the stories. 



Unblinking

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Reply #15 on: October 06, 2015, 08:50:24 PM
Speaking theoretically, it must be (theoretically) nerve-wracking to see some stories in the early rounds that (theoretically) cover the same theme/topic that, say, you may have (theoretically) written about and submitted.

...posting this for a friend.

You wrote something about this new idea of zombies or ghosts?  ;)

At this point, I'm guessing banshees or dolls.

Or men POV characters killing women for imagined or petty reasons.



Portrait in Flesh

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Reply #16 on: October 07, 2015, 01:15:19 AM
I don't know what I'm thinking anymore.  Ever since I was tricked into reading Twilight fan fic (or at least a nod thereto), it's like the world has lost all that was good and pure...which has its perks, mind you, but this time it made my cats' tails get all bushy and they left the room in a huff.

"Boys from the city.  Not yet caught by the whirlwind of Progress.  Feed soda pop to the thirsty pigs." --The Beast of Yucca Flats


Chicken Ghost

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Reply #17 on: October 07, 2015, 07:33:19 AM
but this time it made my cats' tails get all bushy and they left the room in a huff.

HAIRLESS cats' tails got bushy. 

There's a body horror premise there somewhere.



Bdoomed

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Reply #18 on: October 08, 2015, 06:36:20 PM
Update: Groups 1 and 2 have concluded voting, and author names have been posted!  Congratulations to the winners, great job to the rest!

I'd like to hear my options, so I could weigh them, what do you say?
Five pounds?  Six pounds? Seven pounds?


Jaboui

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Reply #19 on: October 09, 2015, 06:40:29 AM
Is there a problem with "The Underground" on Group 9?  Not my story but as it's two lines I want to make sure nothing is missing.



Scattercat

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Reply #20 on: October 09, 2015, 08:34:20 AM
Usually at least one person goes the extreme microfiction route in these contests.  It's normal, I'd wager. 



Bdoomed

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Reply #21 on: October 09, 2015, 01:50:38 PM
Yeah, nothing missing from that story!

I really like micro fiction.

I'd like to hear my options, so I could weigh them, what do you say?
Five pounds?  Six pounds? Seven pounds?


Ettan

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Reply #22 on: October 09, 2015, 09:49:57 PM
Looks like fatigue has set in. Less comments and less voting.
The first two groups are closed and the next two are closing soon.

Group 1 had 66 voters
Group 2 had 60 voters
Group3 currently has 54 voters
Group 4 currently has 48 voters

Is there a pattern forming here?

weirdwildart.com


Portrait in Flesh

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Reply #23 on: October 09, 2015, 11:45:21 PM
Looks like fatigue has set in. Less comments and less voting.
The first two groups are closed and the next two are closing soon.

Group 1 had 66 voters
Group 2 had 60 voters
Group3 currently has 54 voters
Group 4 currently has 48 voters

Is there a pattern forming here?


I had one of those "the hell, week, why you treating me so bad?" kind of work schedule.  I hope to get to some of the groups that have sprouted up, if'n my wee tiny overtaxed wrists can swing it.

"Boys from the city.  Not yet caught by the whirlwind of Progress.  Feed soda pop to the thirsty pigs." --The Beast of Yucca Flats


eytanz

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Reply #24 on: October 10, 2015, 12:18:27 AM
Looks like fatigue has set in. Less comments and less voting.

I'm not sure. I mean, there is a drop off in the first few groups, but I'd define fatigue as when people who are interested in the contest are finding it hard to keep up. In the first few groups, there probably were quite a few people who popped in to see what the contest was about and just didn't bother sticking around.