When deciding how to judge this year’s contest, I pondered the judging dilemma quite a bit. How? What would be the most fair? I decided to go with the general public voting. Okay, I can hear a number of people saying how unfair that is.

“It’s like a popularity contest, the person with the most friends wins.”
“Those sock puppets are going to skew the voting.”
“How will people even know my entry is in there if it’s relegated the last page?”

The sock poppet concern is a very valid one and I will keep my eyes peeled for any electronic shenanigans with the voting. It’s one vote per household. I can’t do it any other way, not when the average household that owns a computer has more than one. But as for the other points, the one thing I’ve learned is that publishing, like most other endeavors, is not fair.

Can anything that is subjective truly be fair? I really don’t think so. Oh yes, we all hope that brilliance rises to the top but it doesn’t always because what’s brilliant to you might not be to me. In other words, if you’re one of those aspiring writers who has a wide network of friends you can tap to vote for your entry, you WILL do better. It’s kind of like real world publishing, you can write a great book but if you (or your publisher) doesn’t promote it no one will know it’s out there, therefore no one will buy it. So if you want readers to vote on your entry, make sure they know you have it out there to vote on. This means that it won’t matter if your entry is on the last page, people will know how to get to it–because you’ll tell them.

Don’t worry, you’ll also be able to create a ‘hookable’ blurb to pique the readers’ interest. That’s also how it’s done in the real world. As writers, we want a blurb to hook a reader so completely, they are compelled to buy and read our books.

But just in case, things in the voting process go completely awry and an entry that finals has not only me, but basically everyone scratching their head and crying foul, there will some discretionary judging going on behind the scenes to make sure voters will have 10 (ten) deserved entries to pick from. I mean if someone can’t string three sentences together, should they really make the finals…? I think not.  So for all those who hate this whole public voting thing, I hope that puts your mind at ease. 🙂

Again, you will receive some prompting on your entry October 17th, when they are posted on the website. The first is that is should be holiday themed–which means whichever holiday you celebrate during the holiday season. Leis and Kevan will supply the other prompts, which will come from books they select.  If you’re going to be doing a Romantic Suspense, you might want to check out THIEVES LIKE US by Starr Ambrose. If you’ll be dabbling in Paranormal Romance, your prompts will be coming from Zoe Archer’s SCOUNDREL. And again, don’t worry that the prompts will not squelch your creativity, they are just there to add a bit of fun and guidance to the entries. Sigh.  It feels like Avon Fanlit all over again, but this time I’m not competing. 😉

While I await the books that will be used to prompt you for Contemporary and Historical Romance from Leis, I say I give away two Berkley titles.

Click to read 9 Star Review

Comment to enter to win Kate Moore’s TO SAVE THE DEVIL and Meljean Brook’s THE IRON DUKE!

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By Giveaways54 Comments on The Season Writing Contest – Voting

54 Replies to “The Season Writing Contest – Voting”

  2. ooo — good books 🙂 I’m not a writer but will try to be a fair “judge”. good luck to those entering that contest 🙂

  3. Another great giveaway. And good observations about the contest. I will give some thoughts about entering, unfortunately, some stuff I have done is not set in the holiday season, I suppose I can always throw a yule log on the fire…

  4. Both books are awesome, but I’m especially dying to read The Iron Duke – Steampunk, yeah!

  7. hmmm I’m not a fan of polls as a way to determine the winners of a writing contest (or any contest that requires imagination, skill, expertise, etc) and I think it’s not fair since it all boils down to it being a popularity contest and not a “content” contest. But that’s just me. I just hope those in the “behind the scenes” do the proper filtering.

    Another awesome giveaway, Bev. I’m definitely hoping to win something that I don’t normally read… i.e. The Iron Duke teeeheee 😉

  8. I look forward to reading the entries. As for polls I know it can be hard to pick Just One & then it can come down to who you like more. But I believe the best writers will be noticed (even if doesn’t Win) & being put out there for people to read should still help. Right??

    nice of you to add a giveaway in here too. 🙂

  9. I agree writer will get noticed no matter how it’s done; hard to find the best way to do something like this, but you do have to have a way to get people there to notice and vote.

    Minn, just finished The Iron Duke, it sure does rock, very different and well done. Highly recommended. I haven’t tried Kate Moore yet, but does look good.

  11. Great books that I would LOVE to read! please count me in, thanks.
    I’m not a writer, although I sometimes I wish I were, but I’m looking forward to seeing the entries.

  12. Loved the sock puppet comment. Seriously, thanks for doing this for writers and the giveaway with this post. Will keep checking in to vote for sure.

    I am hoping for the Iron Duke but will be happy either way.

  14. @Karyn, you won’t be entering something you’ve already done. You will have almost a week to write a 1600 entry based on the holiday theme and the prompts set forth by Kevan and Leis.

  15. These books look great! 🙂

    And Bev, I think you’ve made a fair decision about the voting. We Avon Fanlit participants remember the pitfalls and I think you’ll be on the lookout for them. I also think the competitors need to remember a couple of things: One, writing for the contest makes us winners because we’re creating something new and people are reading our work. And two, there are thousands upon thousands of titles on the shelves–whoever wins this contest is the person whose one book is picked from the shelves. That doesn’t mean another book won’t be chosen next. 🙂

  23. Both books sound really good. I don’t really pay much attention to polls. I select a book on the storyline and not so much the author.

  25. Always hard to come up with rules. But if you want to go by popularity, voting seems to make sense. In a way, even people cheating to vote more than once makes sense. Because they must really love it. 😉

  26. When it comes to games they call me the ruleslady lol. There’s always those that try to get away with things but hopefully in the end it all works out for the best but beware those who try to cheat!! Love the covers – just gorgeous.

  27. What? No roses from authors in this contest? LOL!

    To Save the Devil is a terrific read, and there’s been so much good buzz about The Iron Duke that it tempts me to move outside my usual subgenres.

  31. This is a great giveaway. I have heard great things about Iron Duke and the other book looks good too. Thanks for the giveaway.

  32. I look forward in reading the entries, too.

    The giveaway books sound great; I look forward in reading them.

  33. Looking forward to seeing the entries….and in the meantime….great contest.

    I’m halfway through The Iron Duke and it is a GREAT read!!!!

    Valerie
    in Germany

  37. Yes, public voting might not be the best way but at least you have a fall back plan. Thanks for the great set of books, you have the best giveaways!

  41. I feel like blurbs of published books aren’t usually written by the writers because many of them are so corny and reading a blurb alone rarely manages to hook me (unless it has one of my favorite tropes like marriages of convenience, exotic settings or periods), but if these blurbs are written by the writers themselves then maybe they will reflect the writer’s style and be a good representation of the submission.

  43. AvonFanLit was a blast and I will always cherish that time for introducing me to so many great friends like you, Bev and some of the other ladies I see on The Season every day! Sounds like fun no matter what happens. And looks like you are giving away a couple of great books!

  44. Thanks for another great giveaway! TO SAVE THE DEVIL and THE IRON DUKE look like two wonderful books.

  52. I’m intrigued by the idea of a contest where everyone has the same prompt. I’m not familiar with Avon Fanlit so that’s all new to me.
    I’m interested to see what develops!

  53. I look forward to the voting. It will be interesting to read the finalists.
    You have chosen a couple of interesting books for this giveaway.

  54. Sounds like fun! I can’t wait to cast my votes. But I am thinking about entering myself now that the prompts have gone up, but I am finding it hard to stick to 1200-1600 words. I’ll do my best and let some friends read it real quick to see if it’s good enough to submit. We shall see.

    And the books you’ve chosen for the giveaway are great! I heard lots of good things about The Iron Duke, and I would love to sample something by Ms Moore. Thanks for the contest (both)

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