Contest Entry Discussion

[Nik Houser]

Ditto for LaSart's comment on building a group of writing friends. Most important (not to mention rare) are the friends who've got the one-two punch of writing knowledge AND will be honest with you about what they thought worked and what didn't in your fiction. And yeah, building a list is really important. Because everybody, no matter how experienced, will see your work with some amount of subjectivity. And what might not work for them might still work for someone else. So yeah, building that list is GOOOOOD. Plus, it could lead to a good publishing connection. By which I mean an editor who wouldn't publish something because they know you, but rather, might fish it out of the slush pile a little more gingerly, and give it a more careful glance. Which can make all the difference sometimes.

[RJHubbard53]

And if anybody would like to check out my story because A: you now totally despise me and want to make sure you vote against me no matter what, or B: just wanna check out my story, I'll make it easy on ya. It's in Group 3, and is called American Inferno. Hopefully it's because you just want to read it, along with the other entries.

hey, I voted for you before even knowing who you are!

You had good advice - practice, practice, practice. I've never submitted a story until now so have no following anywhere. Frankly, I would be embarassed to ask my FB friends to come over b/c most of them aren't readers, let alone horror readers, so they'd make fun of me later on the golf course.

[Draven Ames]

And getting your writing friends to beta read your stories can be invaluable, something Kevin has done for me many times and Caren has offered. I'd love to become friends with any writers who are looking to network. As Caren said, always open to new friends and colleagues.

[C.W. LaSart]

I can attest that Caren is a great source for other writers. She's always kind and helpful. I'm glad to know her.

And I did submissions with Kevin for a while. He is a great writer, deserving of every vote. I'm glad to see both of them are doing well.

Thanks Draven I agree with Nik that being previously published won't matter much in this contest-but I do strongly recommend that everyone build a list of writing friends. It's indispensible in this field. And that's not saying you have to "befriend" me, but find some other writers who are maybe a little farther along in their careers than you, they are a valuable resources. That said, I am always open to new friends and colleagues.

[Nik Houser]

And if anybody would like to check out my story because A: you now totally despise me and want to make sure you vote against me no matter what, or B: just wanna check out my story, I'll make it easy on ya. It's in Group 3, and is called American Inferno. Hopefully it's because you just want to read it, along with the other entries.