Messages

Contests

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Good morning from Spain,
Are there any contest that are not Blind or Committee voted?
I feel it would be great if writers could read poems and stories and know who the writer is and vote.
Lisasview

RE: Contests

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You could make one. That's a choice you make when filling out the form for a new contest.

RE: Contests

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There are site contests that pay $100 real dollars to the winner. They are judged by a committee.

The prompts and member-sponsored contests are usually screened by a committee to see that they meet contest requirements; however, the winner is chosen by a vote of the membership, not by a committee.

As stated, anyone can sponsor a contest and they have options. Their contest can be blind or not, it can be 'winner take all' or not, and it can be sent through the screening committee or not. The sponsor has choices and can create a contest that is not 'blind.'

RE: Contests

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Yes, I know that there are contests voted by the committee .
And I do know that I can start a not blind contest myself.
So the answer to my question is NO... Fan Story does not offer any contests tat are not Blind or Committee voted.
That is too bad.
Lisa

RE: Contests

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The answer to your question is YES as I previously stated. Prompts and member contests are voted upon by the membership. A member, when sponsoring a contest, has the option to make it "not blind." Check out the voting booth and you will see what YOU can vote for this morning.

RE: Contests

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Lisa you are correct that the site doesn't offer contest prompts that are not blind or voted on by a committee. I agree, FanStory should make their daily prompts not blind. I think that would invite more participants as we all know from experience, blind contests results in fewer reviews.

Send your idea to Tom. You never know, your wish might become a reality.

RE: Contests

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All contests with cash prizes are not blind. Yes, contests that we create that have a member dollar prize are always blind. I'm not sure if having non blind contests are a good idea as I think the great majority of site members prefer them to be blind.

Thanks,
Tom

RE: Contests

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I think there is an advantage to having blind contests as there is no risk of people voting for their favourite writer. Just an opinion.

RE: Contests

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Hi, all! I?m a newbie here (few weeks old) and was attracted to the site primarily by the contests.

I, humbly, perceive myself as a fairly decent writer and was eager to match and sharpen my skills in contests with those of other writers. And I am open to constructive criticism, as well.

However, after some perusing of past and recent contest winners, both member-voted and site judged, I got this feeling that the results are??socialized.? I mean, not strictly based on the merit or quality of the entries.

I?ve noticed a certain??clique? of names usually winning 1st to 3rd place in the contests, with some of their entries not deserving such placements, in my humble opinion.

I know I can?t win every contest, and you can call me sour grapes if you like, but many of the contest wins (1st to 3rd place finishes) just aren?t up to snuff, compared to other entries.

I get the feeling that this ?clique? of winners is somehow garnering the support of ?hidden hands? at the expense of other (and sometimes clearly better) entrants. Just seems odd and fishy to me.

I don?t mind losing in contests, but would feel a lot better believing that the entries that do win?1st to 3rd?are deserving (which I know to be a subjective judgment, but still?)

RE: Contests

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There is no "clique" of winners. There are several people on the site who win a lot of contests. That's because they have been here a long time, enter a lot of contests, and tend to have very good entries.

RE: Contests

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I get the 'enter a lot of contests' part, as the more you enter, the more your chances of winning.

But how long one has been on the site shouldn't determine wins, as I could be here for a million years, writing crap, and so should never 'deserve' to win.

Also, I don't know about 'very good entries' for many of the wins. In a recently closed poem contest requiring very few words, an entry shared first place with an onomatopoeia a type of cattle makes. 'Very good entry'? I think not. Just my humble personal opinion, of course.