Rule Clairification

[douglasi]

This actually wasn't something accounted for in the rules, mostly because we where not expecting this kind of response to the contest. The voting solution is something Brian and I thought up a couple of days before the window for entering was closed. The winners of the first round of stories will move onto another round of voting, and then the top 3 in that final round will be in the chapbook.

Edit: We thought this was a much better solution than putting all the stories in one vote and hoping everyone had time to read all of them and was able to pick out the one they thought was the single best out of them. This way people don't have to narrow their overall choice down till the final vote.

So the first round will be open until the 22nd? And the second round of voting will be the final round? I am also wondering if there will only be one winner from each group or are you just taking those stories with the most votes. I am still a little confused I guess, Sorry!

[Dan Hocker]

Umm I think it's the 22nd, it should say on the actual polls when they end, as they will close automatically. Only one story from each group will move to the final round of voting. The goal is to keep the final vote focused and not so spread out. This way we can take a more detailed comparison between the better stories as I know the decision is going to be tough for a lot of people.

[Steven Cox]

Hi Dan.
Just wanted to say that as far as I'm concerned, I think that you and all the guys at CD are doing a great job. In particular, this short story competition has been a terrific opportunity for all budding authors, both for the chance to submit our own work and enjoy the talents of others. Sadly, there's always one or two who have got a downer on things in general and the best thing to do is treat their often unfounded criticisms with the contempt they deserve - ban and bin! But like a couple have said before me, I bet the "discussion" between you would make a riveting read...
By the way, whilst I'm here, a big thank you to Draven for taking the trouble to post his support for my story. A man of fine taste, clearly - or perhaps questionably?
Keen up the good work Dan, so too all your CD buddies.

[johnpeters]

Thanks for the clarification. And I think splitting them into groups was definitely the right choice. Unfortunately, you could end up with the top two total voter-getters in one group, but still, that's definitely the lesser of two evils. I don't believe there's any way I could have read them all, but now I can read all in any group in which I wish to vote, and then I can definitely find time to read the 11 sub-winners. So, yeah, that was a smart move in my humble opinion.