Now incorporating The Sudbury Hill Harrow and Wherever End Times

Monday, December 15, 2008

Competition update, December 15, four days to go

1,000 people have registered their details, 450 entries have been received, there are four days left to enter and there are stories that demand to be on the short list, whoosh straight past the long list. I don't mean recently received only - some are ones that needed close reading, from earlier. It's going to be a great anthology again, I think (there was none last time - missed a year), but we need a few more of those whooshes.

The upload link will be removed at midnight on December 19th GMT + 12 (to allow for it still being the 19th somewhere in the world). There is no grace period and no email or postal submissions. Don't miss the closing of the stargate ;-).

Ossian

9 comments:

Anonymous said...

I had no idea that good stories created WHOOSH sound effects. Darn. If you had told me, I would have listened to my story before I submitted it. I am pretty sure it made some noise but a whoosh? I just can't be sure.

Anonymous said...

Are the same people from last year making the short-list?

Ossian said...

Nothing is decided until all the entries are received and read. All is tentative and subject to change. Results won't be known till sometime in the new year, possibly February or March.

Anonymous said...

Is simultaneous submissions accepted on condition they are withdrawn if accepted elsewhere?

Group 8 said...

Whooshes are good. We like to hear about whooshes!

Anonymous said...

re. simultaneous submission question:

I am sure that you folks at the Willesden Herald have nothing better to do than to answer questions from anxious writers that are worried that their story will win too many competitions. My advice: let them stew in laurel soup.

Ossian said...

Hmm, can't comment on the rules. Not fair to others and against one of the rules as well. Sorry.

The number of entries is now over 550 and the number of people registered is heading for 1100.

I have a program (wot' Simon Moribund wrote) that sends emails to selected lists. I used it to send reminders to everyone whose emails were confirmed but who hadn't sent entries. It was clicking through hundreds the second hundred when I realised it was using my work email address. Argh! Pulled the plug and back to the drawing board.

There are a couple or three hundred who started to register but haven't confirmed their email addresses. I expect some registered only to get the newsletters, which is fair enough. I haven't created any newsletters as yet, though, just that reminder I mentioned.

Anonymous said...

does this mean that if i received a reminder to enter that your machine thinks that i have not entered (i have)...

Ossian said...

You should have gotten an email saying "Thank you for entering. Your entry has been safely received." If you got that then your entry was received. The email selection might have been slightly out of step, for example if you uploaded an entry shortly before the reminder email arrived. It could have been looking at a slightly out of date list.