The Official Authors Hangout Winter Holiday 2023 Contest Support Thread

[Duleigh]

Me too. Pending since Friday. Nervous

I submitted a story today, lets see if that will shake them loose.

 

[Duleigh]

The days are growing shorter which means the nights grow longer, more time for us to write!
I just submitted story #4 and story #5 is being written
What can I say? I love writing about the winter. I don't like winter, but I love writing about it.​

 

[StillStunned]

I'm just about done with something else I was working on, so now I can get back to The Heart of Winter. I can't decide how dark I want it to be.

 

[AnotherOldWriter]

At the end of a story, at the very bottom, you can select between 1 and 5 stars. That's how you vote. Each person that clicks ANY star - even a 1 - is a vote. However, towards the end of the competition, some of these votes can get "sweeped away" for being malicious or trying to rig the competition, so it's better to have a few votes more than the required minimum. Best of luck!

How many votes does a winner typically get?

 

[alohadave]

How many votes does a winner typically get?

The number of votes doesn't matter as long as you have the minimum. Winners are determined solely by score.

 

[Duleigh]

How many votes does a winner typically get?

The number of votes you get is fluid and I find it depends on the category that you post in. My SciFi entry and my Romance story are a great example. Posted close to each other my Romance story has 393 votes, my Scifi story has 71 votes (and my scifi story is so much better than the romance story!)

 

[SamBomb]

I submitted a story today, lets see if that will shake them loose.

Now set to be published on 2023-11-28.

Crisis averted!

 

[StillStunned]

I'm just about done with something else I was working on, so now I can get back to The Heart of Winter. I can't decide how dark I want it to be.

Previous project finished, and plenty of time ahead of me this week. So I'll be spending quite a bit of time on this story, I hope. I think I'll go quite dark.

 

[StillStunned]

How many votes does a winner typically get?

From what I've observed in my six months or so here, the more ratings a story gets, the more the average will gravitate to 4.5. It becomes harder and harder to raise the average with a single 5-star rating. My entry for this contest has 730 votes, and for the past 300 or so it's slowly been slipping from around 4.6 to 4.53.

 

[Duleigh]

From what I've observed in my six months or so here, the more ratings a story gets, the more the average will gravitate to 4.5. It becomes harder and harder to raise the average with a single 5-star rating. My entry for this contest has 730 votes, and for the past 300 or so it's slowly been slipping from around 4.6 to 4.53.

There's one explanation for that:

 

[alohadave]

There's one explanation for that:

View attachment 2292088

It doesn't even need to be 1s. Anything less than your current score will pull the score down. It can be harder to see with high vote counts and rounding though.

 

[Priscilla_June]

Now set to be published on 2023-11-28.

Crisis averted!

Woohoo! Same!

 

[Priscilla_June]

It doesn't even need to be 1s. Anything less than your current score will pull the score down. It can be harder to see with high vote counts and rounding though.

I really wish you could see breakdown by votes for scoring. Im always sitting there trying to do complex math.

 

[Duleigh]

Woohoo! Same!

Same here too!
one more to go...

 

[alohadave]

I really wish you could see breakdown by votes for scoring. Im always sitting there trying to do complex math.

There is a formula that can give you estimates. I'll link it for you when I get home.

 

[Priscilla_June]

There is a formula that can give you estimates. I'll link it for you when I get home.

Would love that!

 

[alohadave]

Here it is: https://www.literotica.com/s/how-to-analyze-your-scores

This is a spreadsheet that has the formulas in it: https://docs . google . com/spreadsheets/d/1GMwJViOciV3GG8PqpuOR838nFFeI9OP8/edit?usp=drive_link

This is a Google Sheets file that should allow anyone to put their votes and scores in: https://docs . google . com/spreadsheets/d/1GndRiPczbRVkfro7Y38VVMKXoyhBukSigY-Yd8W1DVM/edit?usp=sharing

Let me know it either link doesn't work.

Remove the spaces from the links. Or PM me with an email address and I'll send the file to you.

 

[shakna]

Does it have to be winter-themed? Christmas in Australia is the heart of violent summer. It's sweltering, here.

 

[Duleigh]

Does it have to be winter-themed? Christmas in Australia is the heart of violent summer. It's sweltering, here.

Well, it's Winter Holiday so if you concentrate on something like a Christmas Beach Party (I live in Florida and that isn't available to me) that would be cool. We have a lot of Aussie writers here so they know what you're going through.

 

[shakna]

Well, it's Winter Holiday so if you concentrate on something like a Christmas Beach Party (I live in Florida and that isn't available to me) that would be cool. We have a lot of Aussie writers here so they know what you're going through.

Mostly asking because I've got a Christmas piece in the works, but it is very much summer themed. Guess I won't be entering it.

 

[Kumquatqueen]

24k words so far, another 2-3k to go. Aiming to be done by the end of the month, because I'm finding it surprisingly emotional. I keep writing a couple sentences then taking a break.

It's in no danger of winning anything, but I hope to pick up more viewers than a novella might otherwise.

 

[Priscilla_June]

Finally Chelsea Choo-choo is posted!

 

[Rustyoznail]

Does it have to be winter-themed? Christmas in Australia is the heart of violent summer. It's sweltering, here.

G'day Shak. Here's a snip from the official rules.

Submissions must have a Winter Holiday theme: i.e. holiday celebrations, winter weather (will be different in north and south hemispheres!), winter events and superstitions, all things Wintery. Be creative! Please don't just submit a normal story in which everyone is wearing a Santa hat.

Taking the holiday celebration line, you should be fine.

You must be north of me. We're only going to have tops of 17 for the next week.

 

[SamBomb]

My first ever entry!!!! If you want one based around Santa's daughter going to California and having a lesbian relationship while trying to grant their wish, which also includes an elf and a holiday frat party, then here you go!

https://literotica.com/s/noelles-naughty-list

 

[Priscilla_June]

Supporting all of you who still have stories remaining in the contest. My story "A Pegging for Christmas," was pulled from the contest yesterday, along with 30 of my other stories. Per Laurel's message to me this morning, the stories were pulled because they were reported by "readers." Hope none of you all have to experience this as well.

Wow thats crazy, was a great reason given?? Like what gets reported?