The Official Authors' Hangout Halloween 2023 Contest Support Thread

[Bazzle]

My humble ghost story Eight Dates with the Dead went live in the wee hours of this morning, as did 11 others.

There are now 210 stories in the contest. Yikes. Way more than the 147 in 2022 and 154 in 2021.

Good luck to all who contributed.

It will be interesting to see if the new comers do better than those that are long lost to the list and getting no new votes! (except for 1 bombs)

 

[Unsung Muse]

definitely not gonna even *qualify* this time around

cest la !!
HAPPY HUMP DAY

 

[MillieDynamite]

So many lovely stories, and so little time to read.

 

[StillStunned]

My Halloween story, About That Night, is going live early tomorrow. I guess because I submitted so late, they only took a day to approve it.

Read it and enjoyed it. Not quite what I was expecting from a Halloween story, though!

 

[JuanSeiszFitzHall]

My secret identity is That Guy, and my superpower is 'Just sayin'.' Nobody wants to be That Guy, but somebody has to be.

What I'm just sayin' now is: Should there be a new rule in special contests, that each author can submit only one story?

Please note that I'm not proposing this for author-proposed challenges and other similar events. Only for the handful of special contests.

 

[MillieDynamite]

The contests are only judged by a minimum number of votes and the highest score meeting that criteria. So you aren't really competing against yourself. No one votes for this story first, this tale second, and so on. I think the fact it is a contest makes it easier to write several tales. I never know when I do a story if anyone will like it outside myself. So, maybe putting in the effort for two or three is just my competitive nature showing through. I don't think it serves any purpose to say, only one, make it your best, and if you write more, well, just publish them but don't enter them. How do you know which one will be the one to give you the best chance. No, I will never win, but it's still quite a lot of fun to compete.

My secret identity is That Guy, and my superpower is 'Just sayin'.' Nobody wants to be That Guy, but somebody has to be.

What I'm just sayin' now is: Should there be a new rule in special contests, that each author can submit only one story?

Please note that I'm not proposing this for author-proposed challenges and other similar events. Only for the handful of special contests.

 

[Bamagan]

My secret identity is That Guy, and my superpower is 'Just sayin'.' Nobody wants to be That Guy, but somebody has to be.

What I'm just sayin' now is: Should there be a new rule in special contests, that each author can submit only one story?

Please note that I'm not proposing this for author-proposed challenges and other similar events. Only for the handful of special contests.

It looks like there were 164 different authors entered in this contest, so it might not be very impactful to establish a bag limit, so to speak.

 

[yowser]

My secret identity is That Guy, and my superpower is 'Just sayin'.' Nobody wants to be That Guy, but somebody has to be.

What I'm just sayin' now is: Should there be a new rule in special contests, that each author can submit only one story?

Please note that I'm not proposing this for author-proposed challenges and other similar events. Only for the handful of special contests.

I don't have a problem with a 'more the merrier' approach.

Just for the record, 30 folks have tossed in more than one story, 12 have done three or more.

 

[MillieDynamite]

Guilty as charged, I have three entries, and none of them have a red H. Makes me sad. Not really. Like all geniuses, I won't be recognized in my lifetime.

I don't have a problem with a 'more the merrier' approach.

Just for the record, 30 folks have tossed in more than one story, 12 have done three or more.

 

[Smuttyandfun]

Read it and enjoyed it. Not quite what I was expecting from a Halloween story, though!

Thanks for checking it out. I'll have to take a look at yours.

 

[Smuttyandfun]

Read it and enjoyed it. Not quite what I was expecting from a Halloween story, though!

I just read your Halloween entry, Lust Demon's Orgy, and I thought it was a really fun story. Sounds like a good time was enjoyed by all, too!

 

[Kethandra]

My secret identity is That Guy, and my superpower is 'Just sayin'.' Nobody wants to be That Guy, but somebody has to be.

What I'm just sayin' now is: Should there be a new rule in special contests, that each author can submit only one story?

Please note that I'm not proposing this for author-proposed challenges and other similar events. Only for the handful of special contests.

Why, That Guy? And to clarify: are you just sayin’ or perhaps just askin’ or are you actually proposing? I’m getting a little of each here, but I couldn’t find any of the ‘why’ that often helps with proposin’ major changes.

 

[MelissaBaby]

My secret identity is That Guy, and my superpower is 'Just sayin'.' Nobody wants to be That Guy, but somebody has to be.

What I'm just sayin' now is: Should there be a new rule in special contests, that each author can submit only one story?

Please note that I'm not proposing this for author-proposed challenges and other similar events. Only for the handful of special contests.

I would not submit multiple entries to a contest. It just seems...what?...unsportsmanlike, I guess.

But that's just my personal feelings.

 

[Rustyoznail]

I have enough trouble getting one story done, but good luck to those who can get more completed.

Winning still comes down to perceived quality and a bit of luck. I picked up a third place early on when I didn't have many followers, so being popular doesn't guarantee a win.

 

[JuanSeiszFitzHall]

Why, That Guy? And to clarify: are you just sayin’ or perhaps just askin’ or are you actually proposing? I’m getting a little of each here, but I couldn’t find any of the ‘why’ that often helps with proposin’ major changes.

I'm far too passive-aggressive to propose major changes. I was hoping that other, more confident individuals would grasp this notion and run with it. It appears that this hasn't happened.

Okay, I would be in favor of it if it were adopted, but where one stands depends on where one sits. I'm not prolific enough to write many stories for a single contest, so in theory, a one-per-author rule could work in my favor (at least to the extent of narrowing the pool of stories competing for reader time and attention). That's the 'why,' by the way: fewer stories might have more readers.

Full disclosure: In the 2020 Valentine's Day contest, I had two stories. I was so much younger then, more energetic...

Also: I've never been close to winning. Twice, I had a story finish about two tenths of a point below the cashing level. To me, the benefit has always been greater readership and, sometimes, new followers and more attention to my other stories.

To follow on what Bamagan posted: to my eye, 164 stories is substantially fewer than 210. It's still quite a lot. And it could be argued that this many stories posted in Erotic Horror in a fairly short period overwhelms the time and attention of that category's frequent readers, hence the reports of sparse views. (My story isn't there.)

Anyway, a screed by someone like me, in the Author's Hangout, isn't likely to lead to major changes.

 

[MillieDynamite]

No one has ever accused me of being a sportsman or a sportswoman.

I would not submit multiple entries to a contest. It just seems...what?...unsportsmanlike, I guess.

But that's just my personal feelings.

 

[MillieDynamite]

But, not all stories are published in Erotic Horror. Erotic Horror isn't exactly a hot bed of readers on LIT.

I'm far too passive-aggressive to propose major changes. I was hoping that other, more confident individuals would grasp this notion and run with it. It appears that this hasn't happened.

Okay, I would be in favor of it if it were adopted, but where one stands depends on where one sits. I'm not prolific enough to write many stories for a single contest, so in theory, a one-per-author rule could work in my favor (at least to the extent of narrowing the pool of stories competing for reader time and attention). That's the 'why,' by the way: fewer stories might have more readers.

Full disclosure: In the 2020 Valentine's Day contest, I had two stories. I was so much younger then, more energetic...

Also: I've never been close to winning. Twice, I had a story finish about two tenths of a point below the cashing level. To me, the benefit has always been greater readership and, sometimes, new followers and more attention to my other stories.

To follow on what Bamagan posted: to my eye, 164 stories is substantially fewer than 210. It's still quite a lot. And it could be argued that this many stories posted in Erotic Horror in a fairly short period overwhelms the time and attention of that category's frequent readers, hence the reports of sparse views. (My story isn't there.)

Anyway, a screed by someone like me, in the Author's Hangout, isn't likely to lead to major changes.

 

[MelissaBaby]

The red H on my story keeps flashing on and off like a traffic light at midnight.

 

[MillieDynamite]

I have that a lot on stories for a while until it settles in just above or just below. Sigh.

The red H on my story keeps flashing on and off like a traffic light at midnight.

 

[MelissaBaby]

I have that a lot on stories for a while until it settles in just above or just below. Sigh.

Hopefully, lots of one bombs now means a nice bump up when Laurel sweeps the contest entries.

 

[MillieDynamite]

Yes, hopefully that is the case. I'm not sure the sweep will bring my transgender story for the contest up to a 4.5. It's my third story in the Just a Friendly Series (all about trans people) that hasn't gotten an H. But it is only the third one, and it's a bit close to the last one with the BDSM stuff. I mean in theme, not content.

Hopefully, lots of one bombs now means a nice bump up when Laurel sweeps the contest entries.

I need to put my dyslexia glasses on. Man, am I fucking up and having to read shit to be sure I got it rigth.

 

[JaxRhapsody]

Mine is still at 4.08.

Yes, I was wrong on what a 4.5 was.One of mine is that... just staring in my face, incentively telling me how wrong I was.

 

[Bazzle]

I must admit I am liking these rebellious 4's its interesting.

Still not going a) to have an high enough score to win or b) enough votes to even be considered!

But its been good fun...I think.

 

[Kethandra]

Usually, I look forward to the sweeps. This time, with exactly 10 votes , sweeping away only one vote will take away the red H. I should have added a single sentence to the finale and submitted it as Incest/Taboo.

 

[samhasstories]

Can someone explain what's meant by the 'sweeps'? Do these get pared down to the ones that qualify at some point?