The Official Authors' Hangout Summer Lovin' 2024 Contest Support Thread

[nicksouth]

Nice. Just don't get tempted to edit it. It'll get pushed back into the review queue.

Good to know! I have an idea for Halloween so I will just start on that instead !

 

[nicksouth]

You're in! Congratulations and best of luck! Comps are always a good way to up your views, and hopefully get some new readers.

Thanks! It's my first story so I need to get writing. I do have two more drafted out and need to go edit them

 

[Wineandcheese]

Mine is Pending, with a date of 8/16, so I guess I’m ready to rock. I’ve pondered the wisdom of submitting later in the contest window. This is only my second contest, but in the last one, my scores were never higher than during the first week or so.

 

[Voboy]

Submitted.

Well. It's already approved.

Less than two hours... that's impressive!

 

[Voboy]

Mine is Pending, with a date of 8/16, so I guess I’m ready to rock. I’ve pondered the wisdom of submitting later in the contest window. This is only my second contest, but in the last one, my scores were never higher than during the first week or so.

There's a lot of conflicting wisdom about this.

I've always been a believer in submitting ASAP, since that gives you a long time to gather votes and I think it's also in better keeping with the spirit of the contest; to me, the "go live" date ought to be when all the readers can expect stories to be posted. But I know not everyone agrees with that.

The other way of looking at it, as you imply, is to wait until late on the gamble you'll get a high score with a minimal number of votes... enough to reflect the high exuberance of early voters, few enough to survive the last sweep without dipping below the threshold. People do this sometimes to be "competitive," but it's a degree of gamesmanship I find off-putting. I think a winning story is a winning story whether it's New or not.

I also know there are some who view the END of the contest window as a deadline, and can't get themselves in gear enough to stop procrastinating. Lol.

 

[Wineandcheese]

There's a lot of conflicting wisdom about this.

I've always been a believer in submitting ASAP, since that gives you a long time to gather votes and I think it's also in better keeping with the spirit of the contest; to me, the "go live" date ought to be when all the readers can expect stories to be posted. But I know not everyone agrees with that.

The other way of looking at it, as you imply, is to wait until late on the gamble you'll get a high score with a minimal number of votes... enough to reflect the high exuberance of early voters, few enough to survive the last sweep without dipping below the threshold. People do this sometimes to be "competitive," but it's a degree of gamesmanship I find off-putting. I think a winning story is a winning story whether it's New or not.

I also know there are some who view the END of the contest window as a deadline, and can't get themselves in gear enough to stop procrastinating. Lol.

Yeah, I’ve thought about it, but as you can see, I’m not waiting. I remind myself that I’m writing for fun, not for fame and fortune. I get a kick out of checking my stats daily, even if I’m not in the top three.

 

[forgotmyantidepressants]

I'm so excited for the 16th! Good luck everybody!

 

[Duleigh]

Mine is Pending, with a date of 8/16, so I guess I’m ready to rock. I’ve pondered the wisdom of submitting later in the contest window. This is only my second contest, but in the last one, my scores were never higher than during the first week or so.

Thats why I'm submitting one story early and another one later

 

[Voboy]

Yeah, I’ve thought about it, but as you can see, I’m not waiting. I remind myself that I’m writing for fun, not for fame and fortune. I get a kick out of checking my stats daily, even if I’m not in the top three.

Same. I think that's the healthiest attitude.

I, like most, am not "writing to win." I like it when it happens (of course), but I never get tangled up about placement and standings. I know some do, and I can respect that too. But the fun of this, for me, is in writing interestingly to a prompt with something original enough to be a good piece, while also being fun enough for me to enjoy writing it.

 

[Jorunn]

Worst thing to do is to rush a story, and not give it enough TLC, just so you can get it released at the 'opener'. If you want scores and followers, you will get more with a good, well-developed story. My Summer Lovin story was actually supposed to be released as my Nude Day story. But it wasn't ready for Prime Time, so I let it slip a few weeks, during which time I made it better (I hope?).

 

[MyBareTorso]

Mine is in, and already approved. Woo hoo! Super quick approval, which is always nice. A fun-to-write tale of nude ocean diving and interracial (older African-American woman and younger white Aussie man) beach sex on my fictional resort of Medika Island. A whole BUNCH of Authors Hangout name drops too, which has been amusing me to no end... I hope everyone's stories are going along nicely if they're not done already...

 

[Inkent]

Hallelujah! Finished, all 41,274 words of Benidoom. Few late nights, early mornings and a couple of days off got me there supported by a spot-on editor. Didn't think it was going to stretch that far but it did. Now I need to back track and pick up on th AI story

No rest for the wicked....

 

[SouthernCrossfire]

I'm down to the last love scene in mine. I've edited everything to this point, but I'm planning to spend at least a couple of days trimming some extraneous details before doing a final polish and submitting. It may not (and probably won't) help the score, but I'm hoping that by getting it in earlier than my last three contest entries it may see more potential readers.

 

[Not2Pervy]

Feels like there’s gonna be a huge number of entries in this contest, including mine. Counting down for 8/16!

 

[Rustyoznail]

Feels like there’s gonna be a huge number of entries in this contest, including mine. Counting down for 8/16!

Summer's always a popular competition.

 

[nicksouth]

Hallelujah! Finished, all 41,274 words of Benidoom. Few late nights, early mornings and a couple of days off got me there supported by a spot-on editor. Didn't think it was going to stretch that far but it did. Now I need to back track and pick up on th AI story

No rest for the wicked....

Nice !

 

[Omenainen]

I posted mine hours ago, now why isn’t it out yet

Kidding, kidding. I know the window opens tomorrow.

 

[JuanSeiszFitzHall]

I posted mine hours ago, now why isn’t it out yet

Kidding, kidding. I know the window opens tomorrow.

The contest will go live during your daylight hours. Pity the poor old farts in the Western Hemisphere, myself included, who misspent our youth and must shamble off to sleep before knowing what happens from the first few views. But, hey, that misspending was really great, and my wife and I still remember a lot of it, and sometimes re-enact some of it...well, we try, anyway...

 

[Wineandcheese]

I’ll be up in the wee hours to see what’s what.

The excitement is building!!

 

[TheLobster]

I just finished mine at 31k words. Still have to edit it, though.

I'll let you guys go first and sneak in after the initial rush

 

[Voboy]

If I'm running true to recent form, I'll probably forget that tonight is the go-live date, then get busy with Real Life all morning, and not check anything here until tomorrow afternoon.

Happens.

 

[nicksouth]

If I'm running true to recent form, I'll probably forget that tonight is the go-live date, then get busy with Real Life all morning, and not check anything here until tomorrow afternoon.

Happens.

Same haha. I also just submitted a story I started working on in 2022 (part 1 of 3) - hopefully this is also accepted

 

[gordo12]

If I'm running true to recent form, I'll probably forget that tonight is the go-live date, then get busy with Real Life all morning, and not check anything here until tomorrow afternoon.

Happens.

My last story posted and I forgot about it till lunchtime the next day. Embarrassing!

 

[gordo12]

I'm just piddling around with mine, making small edits, etc. 23k, it's a romance set on a western dude ranch. I threw in a tinge of the paranormal just to keep the readers awake.

Buckshot Ranch

 

[Voboy]

My last story posted and I forgot about it till lunchtime the next day. Embarrassing!

I won a contest once that I'd forgotten I'd entered. I didn't find out until I logged in here and had about ten congratulatory PMs, like two days later.

I felt stupid.