Writing Contest for Gay Authors announcing Soon

[Lugh]

one way that would fix the editor issue is to have a contest editing team.... all stories go to the team for editing and THEY don't even know who they belong to. it wouldn't be perfect, but it would even out the playing field somewhat.

[BeaStKid]

one way that would fix the editor issue is to have a contest editing team.... all stories go to the team for editing and THEY don't even know who they belong to. it wouldn't be perfect, but it would even out the playing field somewhat.

I thought about that as well, Lugh. But then, what about those authors who need a second round of editing? I mean, as an editor, I consider all my edits as suggestion to correct some things. When an author has a question or changes something (say, for example, there was a sentence construction error and the author re-wrote the sentence), most of the times the author wants their editor to have a second look.

 

With this in mind, won't it become obvious as to from whom the story is coming from, e-mail identification....Or if the person who collected the mails is to handle this exchange, won't it be cumbersome?

[Myr]

Nah. writing is too much of a collaboration with one's editor for many authors.

[NaperVic]

From a readers POV, this is very exciting. The anonymity factor basically forces you to have to read every story (or at least start every story).

 

I'm not too concerned about editors/beta readers in the know. Many editors edit for multiple authors and these editors are going to have to make a choice when they themselves vote. Hopefully they're professional enough that they'll base their vote only on the merit of each of the stories submitted for this contest. Maybe just make the editors agree not to disclose the author of any stories they've edited for?

 

I'd be more concerned with people creating multiple GA accounts just to vote in the contest. Perhaps only allowing GA members to vote who've been members since XXX date? Or something like the sneak peek section where you need X number of posts to vote (although this would seem punitive to our large lurker base)?

 

Just some thoughts.

 

Anyhow, great idea again!

[TalonRider]

I'm not too concerned about editors/beta readers in the know. Many editors edit for multiple authors and these editors are going to have to make a choice when they themselves vote. Hopefully they're professional enough that they'll base their vote only on the merit of each of the stories submitted for this contest. Maybe just make the editors agree not to disclose the author of any stories they've edited for?

Some of the authors already acknowledge their team members publicly. We just went thru Team Recognition month back in April so it's there too. Authors and Editors should already have some kind of disclosure agreement in place.

 

It can be tough for us to vote. I've had multiple authors nominated for the same category in the Readers Choice Awards.

[Prince Duchess]

Koolies so should we start working/planning it now

[J_Ross]

I keep forgetting that the purpose of anonymity in this is so the voters won't be biased and not for the fun of guessing and exposing yourself and others to new stuff.

 

I can kind of understand what the point of having a limit on editors, though I'm a little unclear on how it'll make much of a difference as long as those that are editors keep tight lipped. The editors won't be the only people voting, hopefully. If one story has two editors more than the other stories, I'm not sure I see how it'll tip the scales any if there are other projects that the readers enjoy more. *shrug* I can see the point, I suppose, I'm just...having a hard time grasping it.

 

I'm fine with whatever, but I used to be completely unwilling to post anything without running it through three people first. That was with fanfic, and it seems kind of back asswards that I'm not the same with original writing, but...I just figured there might be others that might have issues with it. Thought I'd point it out.

 

Ugh, whatever. Seriously looking forward to it!

 

Just a quick question; any idea when this is set to start? Apologies if that question is answered somewhere.

Edited June 11, 2009 by J.Ross

[TalonRider]

No date has been set yet, but Myr did state in the original post that you'd have around 3 months to write.

[J_Ross]

*nods* I saw that. It's not about the time given to write, it's more that there are a couple of things I was going to sign up for this year, and if this is going to start soon, there are a few things I probably shouldn't get myself into if I want to do this.

[PlugInMatty]

Might be something I'd be interested in, assuming the right idea came along...

 

Incidentally, I think I have one.

[kitten]

I can kind of understand what the point of having a limit on editors, though I'm a little unclear on how it'll make much of a difference as long as those that are editors keep tight lipped. The editors won't be the only people voting, hopefully.

 

My feeling is that in a competition, especially one involving a prize, it is important that there be no reason, however minor, tenuous or convoluted, for anyone to think that there is even a possibility of unfair advantage. After all, I thought that one reason (perhaps the main one) for anonymity is that big-name popular authors won't attract votes just because their fans might read their story with a more positive attitude because they expect their favourite author to write great stuff. So anonimity helps ensure a level playing field.

 

Suppose that the winner of the competition wins by five or fewer votes and that the winner has ten members in the writing team, all of whom are allowed to vote. Maybe the author who comes second will only have to or three in the team. Now, maybe most members of most writing teams are able to read all entries in an unbiased way, even though they know which story 'their' author wrote. However, the second-placed author might feel that the margin of five votes could be accounted for by bias in the winner's team voting for 'their' author.

 

I'm not saying such a scenario is likely or even possible, but the suspicion that it might have happened could generated bad feeling. One reason to set rules in advance is to try to prevent such an eventuality by ensuring that not only are things in fact fair but also that they are seen to be obviously fair. This could be done by limiting the size of the writing team or by not allowing the team to vote. As it might be unfair to expect an author who is accustomed to a large team to 'make do' with a small team, my personal feeling would be that the better option is not to allow team members to vote.

 

BTW - I agree that anonimity has other advantages apart from 'fairness'. It encourages people to read all the stories before voting (something I suspect that they don't do with the annual Readers Awards!). It adds to the overall 'fun' as people try to guess who wrote what. Also, I have the feeling that it could be liberating for the big-name authors because they might feel more freedom to expand outside the usual type of stories that they usually write.

 

Kit

[Libby Drew]

I have the utmost faith that the competition will be organized and executed fairly.

 

I've only ever written three anonymous stories that were actually voted on (judged against others), and to be honest, even in those circumstances, it was the spirit of the fest that won me over, not being recognized as the "winner". The remainder of my anonymous writing experiences were for gift exchanges (the biggest being a recurring holiday fest that includes over a hundred authors and posts in December).

 

So with all due respect to the serious business of keeping things fair, I'm in for the thrills!

 

When can we start?

[Kia Zi Shiru]

if the team isn't allowed to vote on the story('s) they help in that would be more honest... they still get to vote but just aren't allowed to vote for their own team... a lot of competitions work that way and I think it's pretty fair like this. The stories that everybody likes will still get the most votes, just not votes from their own team....

[J_Ross]

I'm not saying such a scenario is likely or even possible, but the suspicion that it might have happened could generated bad feeling.

I hadn't even thought of it that way. I see your point. I'm not at all worried about it, but I can see where the drama might start. And, yeah, if anything can be done to avoid it...

 

So with all due respect to the serious business of keeping things fair, I'm in for the thrills!

I know, right? Ditto.

 

I've written one anon story that was voted on and the rest were gifts in exchanges. I think that's probably my issue here, I'm not used to any of these things really being an issue. 'Winning' was all well and grand but participating was the fun part. No one cared how many editors/betas anyone else had, and no one used more than they felt they actually needed. And the secret part? Not an issue. *shrug* I'm just excited to try this with original writing. Here.

 

When can we start?

I started working out a plot. But I think it might be a little too complicated to keep under the max word count for this...0.o Thank God I'm finally wrapping up IDT...

Edited June 11, 2009 by J.Ross

[TalonRider]

One advantage I can see for myself. If any of the authors I work with enter, that will be one less story I will have to read when the stories are finally posted. AND, there's always the chance that I might find something that I liked better. So there is no guarantee that any of my authors will get my vote.

 

I'm almost positive that you'll find other editors who would say the same thing. If one of my authors should ask if I voted for them, I'm saying, I'm not telling you one way or the other.

[Myr]

Actually, I'm thinking of requiring a rating system. Everyone will have to rate each story on a number of factors...

like plot, does it hook you, characters, etc.

I'm thinking of having Premium members do the ratings. That way if people want to spam it... they can. It benefits us.

[Mark Arbour]

Actually, I'm thinking of requiring a rating system. Everyone will have to rate each story on a number of factors...

like plot, does it hook you, characters, etc.

I'm thinking of having Premium members do the ratings. That way if people want to spam it... they can. It benefits us.

 

Now that's inspired!

[kitten]

Actually, I'm thinking of requiring a rating system. Everyone will have to rate each story on a number of factors...

like plot, does it hook you, characters, etc.

I'm thinking of having Premium members do the ratings. That way if people want to spam it... they can. It benefits us.

 

I think that's a great idea!

Presumably the ratings will eventually be made available, at least to the author? If so, it will provide much better feedback than just seeing how many votes the story received.

 

Kit

[Mark Arbour]

I think that's a great idea!

Presumably the ratings will eventually be made available, at least to the author? If so, it will provide much better feedback than just seeing how many votes the story received.

 

Kit

 

Good point. Except the ratings will be hidden on the web page and you'll have to root around to find the right button, just to make it a bigger challenge.

[kitten]

Good point. Except the ratings will be hidden on the web page and you'll have to root around to find the right button, just to make it a bigger challenge.

 

You know I'm not very good with such computer-web-page-challenges, so (as usual) I'll just ask for help from clever people like you!

 

Kit

[Myr]

We are finalizing the rules now. We will be announcing it very soon.

Myr