2012 Forum Anthology Contests

[tmso]

It's like herding cats, I tell you...



Good question, CM. Both Hugh and Michael have come up with new stories (meaning not set in any of their well known or popular story-worlds), and Tristis may submit a re-print of a short, word-comic that is set on a post-apocalyptic world in her story-universe. For Hugh and Michael, I have no idea what the theme of their stories are except apocalyptic (which may be apocalypse or post-apocalypse).

I'm trying to allow as much creative leeway while still maintaining some sort of theme. We can always change the title of the anthology to better reflect its contents. With that said, the idea was to have stories more in the vein of THE END, as in stories set in the end of the world as we know it.

Oh, by the way, I don't like the idea of me choosing a story outright, as I know I would be tempted to play favorites.

[tmso]

I've got three left to read and then I'll vote, hopefully by the end of day tomorrow.

You are awesome.

[CMTheAuthor]

Well, my thoughts were along the lines of if they were going with the three element themes, we could divide the anthology into sections: the earth stories first, followed by the wind stories, and finally the fire ones.

Since they aren't, I guess we need to come up with some other way of organizing the stories. Probably author (last) names would be best.

[JunkMonkey]

I guess we need to come up with some other way of organizing the stories. Probably author (last) names would be best.

I can see that leading to problems. I don't know about everyone else but I tend to read collections of short stories at the beginning and work my way through to the end. Put the stories in strict author name alphabetical order and you could end up with similar stories next door to each other when they would be better separated by something contrasting. If, for example, everyone with names ending in A B and C wrote long heavy, doom-laden, dead babies on every page type stories and everyone with names ending in D E and F wrote small fluffy little funny pieces, you would end up with a very misshapen book.

[tmso]

I have to agree with JM on this one, going alphabetical is probably not the best idea.

However, I, too, thought to organize the stories by theme, with the hopes of either placing the "invited" stories in which ever section seemed most appropriate, or at the beginning or end.

But, we've got lots of time to hash that out. Let's just focus on the contests for right now.

[Gkarlives]

You should look at it like an album. Choose stories by their strengths and how well they fit together. The overall flow of the anthology should be the driving force (IMHO).

[Fung Koo]

You should look at it like an album. Choose stories by their strengths and how well they fit together. The overall flow of the anthology should be the driving force (IMHO).

Agreed -- I'm not even sure the voting process should be a central consideration for the final choices. I would think of it more like an initial vetting/quality control. I wouldn't say there was even one story submitted that doesn't need work prior to being put in a published state anyway, and the voting gives us some idea of that.

I hadn't really thought through the need for the editing phase when I made my choices initially, but I think I might've gone a different way if I had been thinking about potential with an edit, rather than quality of the current state.

Hmm...

[tmso]

Absolutely. The best of your entries are riddled with...um...uniqueness.

As editor of the anthology, I will edit (grammar (yikes!) and story clarity). ML Sawyer volunteered to proofread (spelling errors, missing commas and other punctuation, etc - she'll be using a style sheet I'll put together), but she just got married and, I think, moved, so we may want another person to help with the proofreading (any volunteers?).

How about we do it this way:

Step 1: Your story has been chosen. Woohoo! Do a happy dance.
Step 2: Fix the things you see wrong in your story and re-submit to me no later than two weeks after winning.
Step 3: Using Track Changes and Comments in Word 2003 (lowest common denominator), I'll make changes to your story and give back to you.
Step 4: You accept my changes or re-write according to my suggestions, if you agree. If you don't agree, then ignore my changes and suggestions. Send back to me.
Step 5: I will create a final proof (which may or may not over-ride what you ignored), and get that back to you for approval.
Step 6: You approval final proof, and let me know. If you don't, I knock you over the head, cut you up into manageable pieces, and bury you in the back yard.
Step 7: I send the final proof to a proofreader to catch any typos we haven't already caught.
Step 8: Once back from the proofreader, I insert into master document that will then be handed over to Chris to format.

Does that sound reasonable?

Yes, editing will happen.

For EVERYONE entering the contest, keep this in mind when you enter. You'll be signing a contract that gives me permission to edit your turd, er, I mean, masterpiece*.

With that said, don't enter drafts. The better written your story is, the more likely folks will vote for it.

* Joke, people, joke!

[tmso]

Just starting a new thread in an attempt to change the name of the old one.

EDIT: I did it!!!

[tmso]

FYI - two more days to read and vote. Please show your support for your fellow forum members!

[DailyRich]

Suggestion for the next two rounds: I know you're trying to be as transparent as possible, but I wonder if three stories being so visibly ahead in the poll might make potential voters think, "Well, that's done, no real point in voting." It would mean more work for you, but maybe have people PM their votes to you? That way knowing how the voting is going wouldn't affect the voting itself.

[Sarunus]

Suggestion for the next two rounds: I know you're trying to be as transparent as possible, but I wonder if three stories being so visibly ahead in the poll might make potential voters think, "Well, that's done, no real point in voting." It would mean more work for you, but maybe have people PM their votes to you? That way knowing how the voting is going wouldn't affect the voting itself.

Good thought actually. I like the idea of not knowing which stories are in the lead. In this case especially, the top three are pretty firmly entrenched.

[tmso]

Ha! So you all want to prolong the torture, eh?

Consider the motion seconded and approved. Excellent idea, Rich.

[norm]

I was actually thinking that myself, people might feel less inclined to vote for a story they liked if they think they're just throwing their vote away.

[tmso]

Yes, you all are right. I'm withholding my votes because I'm the czar, but if I wasn't, I would feel as if I'm throwing them away (I guess, I will be) because my choices are not the current contenders - by a long shot (I'll explain in a couple of days).