It’s time for you, the members, to tell us what you did or didn’t like about the contest.

A brief summary of contest activity:

The theme came up in a thread (I can’t remember which.) The Patronesses decided on the rules, such as how long entries could be, that entries would be posted anonymously. Authors were given a little under three months to write their stories. Stories were posted offsite. Voting occurred by PM to a joint member account called “Secretary” to which only debbiechan, Roe and Hiroko knew the password. Members were given thirty days to read and vote on their favorite fic. An ad hoc “fun awards” poll was added to reward more fics. Nominations for the these awards came from members and were voted on in a public poll. A non-administrative member was asked to confirm voting results.

So what did you like or not like about the contest? Please be honest. This was our first contest, so I’m sure there is room for improvement! Everyone’s opinion matters, regardless of whether you entered the contest or not.

If anyone is not comfortable replying in this thread, please PM your feedback. It's important hear what you think!

I think it went well. There was ample time to write then read/vote for the entries. I think the long wait was killing everyone slowly, but it needed to be done to keep it fair.

It was a very organized effort. Very fair and square. Yes I did think the wait was long, but I guess it was nesessary. I would not change anything for the next one... great job Patroness!! :thumbsup:

It was very organized and I can't think of anything to improve. Though since you said that you felt like you missed out on guessing the author of the fics since you knew that you can have another person scan the fics and remove names from the fics in future contests before receiving the fics to be posted on the web (that is if you want to do that). That's the only sugggestion I can think of.

Ok, the kudos are great but we really want to improve. How about this--I really want to make the next contest as inclusive as possible. You have to admit a B/V contest limited our number of entrants--some people here, and not justyaoi fangurls, hate B/V (although Lady K managed to write a B/V yaoi! Brilliant!). Topic suggestions for the next fic contest are welcome too.

True that B/V may have limited applicants snce some are not fans of the story type (though it's almost tradition to have B/V fics). Perhaps next time, like say a Valentine's day fic where the contestants can use their favorite pairs whatever they may be. We can do tribute fics like that say for Mother's/Father's day. Stuff like that where the options are more open.

Something that came to mind. I know the admins and mods were used for the counting votes along with a not adminitrative member but how about instead (since some of the of the counters were in the contest) that members that had not entered the contest count instead. I'm not accusing anyone of cheating it's just an idea though I realize we are still a small community and we may not find enough members to fulfill that especially if we get a higher turn-out next time around. It's an idea.

I... I think my topic suggestion would be even more limited... :biggrin:

That "use your favorite pairing" idea is great! Although, my fave pair is not DBZ anymore, I can' still write a Kakarotto/Raditz/Vegeta fic :angel:

Just to make it clear--none of the counters were in the contest. That's why I volunteered to count, because I planned not to enter. Same with Hiroko and Roe.
We didn't enter.
But having non-administrative members count is still a good idea--although you'd have to have an administrator (also not entered) oversee, otherwise it wouldn't be a Salon contest and we couldn't legislate the fairness.
But to repeat: NONE OF THE COUNTERS WERE ENTERED IN THE CONTEST

As for suggestions for the next contest theme, I thought we would post a thread specifically for that later. Don't let's lose ideas in this thread. Let's keep this one focused on this first contest.

We (the Patronesses) had disscussed announcing a second contest March-ish, with the deadline in June. We don't want to go onto "contest overload" but I'm not sure how much time we should allow between contests. Don't want to strain anyone's creativity or bore authors to death with nothing to write for.

Oops my mistake. :blush:

:hug: aww, I didn't mean to embarrass you , Rose--I just wanted to make it clear.
Next time we have a fic contest, I want to enter so that means I can't be a counter. I think writing is definitely more fun than counting and I've done my counting duty already.....

I can't wait for the next contest. :hyper:

Don't worry about embarassing me. I just thought I saw someone's name as entered and it wasn't....I'm too young to go senile.

Of course, it's not so bad to have a "limiting" contest. Consider it a challenge for the writer.

The technical aspects of the contest was carried out without a problem. Anonymity was kept, counting was carried out without bias. There's not much to be critical of.

I liked the challenge of a limited subject. I can always write about anything I want, but in a contest, you want the stories to be somewhat similar or it would be too hard to judge. The word count limit of the stories was good, too. I'm also glad someone came up with the idea of the "extra" votings. That always makes it more fun.

(Deb -- I'm glad you liked my yaoi story. Now how am I going to explain to my mom how I placed in the "most original" category???)

I loved your fic Lady K...just ask Deb... :hug:

I bet you thought I wrote it too.

I agree with Lady K. It's good to have a theme that way it makes judging a bit easier especially since we have so many great writers here.

You either have the Miko Sense. :mellow: ..or Deb told you... :rolleyes:

EVERYONE thought Blue wrote the yaoi one--except me! I guessed Lady K! And yeah, Hiroko was crazy in love with it.
Ok, back on topic. Does anyone think waiting until the Spring for another fic contest is too long? (I think it is but I'm just itchy to write a fic for a contest! :lol: )

I think the latest should be the end of Febuary... :poke:

Specific comments: I liked the narrowing of the focus of the contest. Like was said before, you have to be able to compare apples to apples. I liked the word count. I liked the time limit being 3 months. Even thought I didn't enter, I think that I would have to have at least that much time in order to come up with something, although knowing me, I would be turning it in the night before it was due, I was a crammer in school. I liked the anonymity. I really can't think of anything I didn't like. Since I am not an artist, I think having the next contest in March is a great idea. I intend to enter this one.

I'm itching for a contest too so I think we should consult with the ones who entered this contest to see when the next good time frame should be.

I just want to say that I've entered three other contests and this is by far the best run one I've ever participated it. Kudos to our mods. who did such a fabulous job.

Ok can I be a counter for this one? I'm not going to be entering anymore B/V contests, so I'm availiable for that spot^^

Now, if we go free pairing... :angel:

Oh, don't worry BS, you may just be happy yet... :D

:takeabow: Thanks! I aim to please! I didn't think anyone else would turn in a yaoi story in a Bulma/Vegeta wedding contest, so I went with it. It was actually one of the easiest to write!

(At least Goku didn't get pregnant or Vegeta eat anyone this time!)

Yeah, that would have freaked me out... :unsure:

Alas...*stares at the Vegeta/Radditz avatars she's found on the internet*... :wub:

:blink: When is the next contest?