Last day for entries

Just wanted to quickly remind you that the contest is still open for new entries until 11pm CST (GMT -6) on May 7th.

There are 16 up so far, and I'm hopeful that some more are on the way. If you haven't read them yet, click the graphic at left and check them out. Some pretty nice ones this time. While the number of entries is smaller this time, there is no loss of quality, and I'm sure picking favorites will be difficult for all the voters.

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Minx is a good blogfriend and author who was nice enough to mention the contest on her blog lately. She also mentioned some reasons why people take part in blog competitions in general.

She says:

Why would you want to enter a competition?

Before blogging I had only entered a few competitions. The whole fussy business of reading through the interminable rules and regs and then submitting the right type of copy to the right important person sort of pissed me off. You never knew if your submission was even read and only got feedback if your paid extra on top of the entry fee.

Blog comps are great. Not only do you get to see your work up somewhere else but you also get to link to some new blogs and make connections with writers who are all in this same mad boat. Apart from anything, even if you are writing out of genre and length they are a massive discipline (a word I loathe), they keep your fingers flexed and your mind sharp.

So even if you are toying with the idea of entering the next one I say - go for it. You have nothing to lose because it is not really about the winning, is it?

Very well said, my Minxish friend.

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Speaking of interminable rules, I feel compelled to issue this reminder: all authors are to remain anonymous until the contest concludes and the entries are updated with the author names and links to the corresponding websites on May 15. This was pretty clear in the rules, but I came upon someone today who referred to their entry by number on their website. I struggled with what to do for a good chunk of the day before deciding that the entry is no longer eligible for prizes. I'm not going to take it down, or mention any specifics, but I do ask that you make sure you have read the rules in full before participating in the contest. I believe this was an honest mistake, but a violation of the rules nonetheless It would be unfair to the other participants if there were no consequences.

My competition is not about prizes, and it exists only to encourage people to write. As I wish for the votes to be cast on the strength of the writing (without other influencing factors), I decided before hosting my first contest to make all entries and voting anonymous. In addition to making sure that people are voting for the stories they like best—rather than simply choosing their friends—it also provided some fun last time, when the entrants were all unmasked and people could see whose entries they had liked. I hope that some people found some new blogs to read through that.

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Anyway, as of this writing, you still have about 21 hours to get your entry finalized and submitted. I, for one, am looking forward to reading the rest of the entries.