Hi everyone!
We're about to enter the voting period for the first ever Cast of Wonders Flash Fiction Contest!
We received a whopping 74 eligible entries! I think that's pretty fantastic for the first time. I am absolutely thrilled that we have also received a number of entries from YOUNG AUTHORS and first time submitters.
The stories will be randomly split into 9 groups. Seven groups will have 8 stories each and two will have 9 stories each.
You will vote for up to 3 stories in each group. You do not have to vote for any and you can vote for fewer than three, but you are limited to three votes per group. The initial groups will be released daily, from October 9 to October 17. Each group will be up for a week.
Once the stories have been voted on, there will be a second round, consisting of 4 groups, 3 groups with 7 stories and 1 group with 6. These four groups will be posted simultaneously, as most voters will have already been able to read them by then. The second rounds will also be available for a week.
We're going to be using the rules from the EscapePod contest that ran earlier this year, including regarding ties:
- If there is a two-way or more tie for third place (or for second place in round 2), both stories will ascend, resulting in an extra story in the next round.
- If there is a tie for third place in the final round, the editorial staff will offer a contract to all the tied stories; if this is considered unfeasible (say, there's a 5-way tie), then there will be a tiebreaker round.
The full schedule is posted at the bottom of this post, after the contest voting rules.
VOTING RULES:1. This contest is being run by me, danooli, Cast of Wonders assistant editor and forum moderator. If needed, other forum moderators may be brought in, and that will be announced. If one of the moderators submitted an entry, they will not use any of their moderator abilities in the contest forums without disqualifying their entry.
2. 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place winners will receive a contract to be bought and produced as a Little Wonders episode and paid at pro rates. Contact will be established with the winning authors at the conclusion of the contest. The Cast of Wonders editors also reserve the right to approach non-winning authors and offer to purchase their stories if we so wish.
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.
Please note that this contest does include authors that are young adults. Please be sure to keep this in mind when making comments on the stories. We want to encourage authors of all ages to continue to hone and improve their skills. 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 nonconstructive 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. It is perfectly fine to vote for your own story. In fact, we encourage all authors to do so because that levels the playing field. Only avoid voting for your own story if you genuinely believe other stories should win over it, not just to be polite, please.
7. The voting polls will allow voters to change their votes; sometimes, people's impressions of stories change over time and we want to allow people to revise their votes if they honestly wish. However, if we catch people voting tactically (e.g. changing a vote from a popular story to a less popular story in order to weaken the competition in a round where their own stories participate), they will be banned from further votes in the contest.
8. In order to encourage more people to participate, the contest board (where this rules post is posted) is currently visible to everyone, including non-forum members. However, the submissions themselves will be posted in sub-forums that will be hidden and available only to registered members of the forum, and will remain so permanently. 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 dani@escapeartists.net with your concerns. Note, however, that if you choose to withdraw and delete your story, we will not delete the comments made by voters in the story's comment thread.
You have to have made a comment in any thread on the forums in order to read and vote on the stories. This thread is a good place to say hi and cross that requirement off!Another thing to keep in mind when reading and voting is that Cast of Wonders is a YA podcast, so we have an audience range of 12 to 17 years old, although we aim to appeal to their older friends and family as well. 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, you can reply to this thread. This is also a great place to say hi and to "activate" your account, if you're a new forum member. (And if you are, hello! Welcome!) You can also send me a private message or an email at dani@escapeartists.net
VOTING SCHEDULE:(Note that because of external constraints, I may not be able to open all polls at exactly the same time each day. In general, I will aim for 7am EST, as the opening/closing time for polls. If they start late, the missed time will be added on to the end).
OCTOBER 09: Group 1 opens
OCTOBER 10: Group 2 opens
OCTOBER 11: Group 3 opens
OCTOBER 12: Group 4 opens
OCTOBER 13: Group 5 opens
OCTOBER 14: Group 6 opens
OCTOBER 15: Group 7 opens
OCTOBER 16: Group 8 opens, Group 1 closes.
OCTOBER 17: Group 9 opens, Group 2 closes.
OCTOBER 18: Group 3 closes.
OCTOBER 19: Group 4 closes.
OCTOBER 20: Group 5 closes.
OCTOBER 21: Group 6 closes.
OCTOBER 22: Group 7 closes.
OCTOBER 23: Group 8 closes.
OCTOBER 24: Group 9 closes, Round 2 opens.
OCTOBER 31: Round 2 closes, Final Round opens
NOVEMBER 7: Final Round closes, Winners announced