Long time listener, first time submitter here. Honestly this contest has been great even just up to this point - I had no idea I was going to submit until an idea popped in to my head about three days before the deadline, and I cranked out a draft at 6:30am that morning, before getting in to the shower. I then spent three days cutting the story down by just about 50%, and by the end it was almost like it was a story in shorthand. But I'm looking forward to the feedback and while it would be great if it goes to the finals, if it doesn't I imagine I'll still work on the sorry for submission elsewhere.
It looks like the contest is going to take at least a couple of months, which seems like an awfully long time to be sitting around biting my nails, but I guess I have 152 other stories to read in the meantime to keep me occupied. I'm looking forward to that.
My one question is whether I have to wait until I get knocked out before I submit to another publication, or if can I work up a longer version, for instance, and shop that around?