So do I but personally I have to say I am glad its winding down. There was some shameless self promoting going on. I would a over a 100 emails a day asking me to either please read and rate or the worse offender was the writer from cold creek someplace who would publish articles with different subject lines and then provide a link that sent to to a work I had already read rated and commented on. You would think it was a Nobel Prize in literature the were competing for. It got really tiring by the end of the first round and really didn't slow up until after the second round. I hope future competitions are Oh heck I dont what to call it. Just less emails and false postings. I do a lot comments each day and it makes for a long day when a third of your gather posts are for works you've already read and rated. Thanks for letting me vent.
By my count, there were 1,677 submissions. Since Gather has said 2,500, the difference is the number of submissions received but not posted, prolly for technical reasons.
I posted this on another page, but thought I'd repost it here as it's probably more relevant to this thread:
* * *
Thank god the voting's over! As a member of the J.M. LeTurk writing team (5 of us wrote the Wave Organ) all I can say is it has been some adventure.
We entered this contest on a fluke (writing the ending literally days before the entry deadline) ... and then suddenly we were in the top 20 ... and then the top 10 ... and all we could do was look at each other and say, how did THAT happen?
And all along were the lists of typos and missed commas, and the comments from people saying they couldn't finish our chapter because it was so poorly written, and the assurances that not one of the finalists would ever appear in print because they were all crap. It kind of felt like standing naked in front of a crowd of strangers while they pointed out your every flaw ... saggy flesh here, cellulite there.
But then there were the handful of people who "got" our strange little book, and the many others who took considerable time to offer great suggestions and feedback. We have a weekend booked next month in Stinson Beach (just north of San Francisco) and we're bringing our manuscript and print-outs of all the comments we received so we can implement many of the suggestions. This contest -- while undoubtedly a little painful -- has made us look at our manuscript with an entirely new perspective, and for that we are sincerely grateful. And it's also thickened our skin -- a LOT -- for when we start sending The Wave Organ out to agents and publishers.
The very best of luck to everyone who entered the First Chapters contest. I hope you were lucky enough to take away something valuable ... and maybe have a little fun along the way, too.
Brava, Julie, for making that comment. Great idea -- hole up in a hotel & revise it together & start getting ready to submit. Thick skins. Definitely. The pain of rejection sucks, but the joy of acceptance afterwards is the best.
What a ride! For those of you who took the time to read all 10 semi-semi-finalists, I'd be very interested to hear who YOU would advance. Not who you think will advance based on highest scores, but those manuscripts you feel are most deserving of moving forward.
Anyone who has been paying attention realizes that final score/number of votes is absolutely meaningless -- it's more an indication of the effort the author put into marketing the work, and not at all a representation the quality or publishablity of the manuscript.
In one thread a commenter called this contest more "Survivor" than "American Idol." An astute and accurate observation!
Between the hundreds of students one contestant had at his disposal, another contestant's eager fraternity brothers, and of course, the weeks of hard work a few contestants spent networking (essentially, asking gather members to vote/comment -- often praising their writing/images in hopes of having the favor returned) and, sadly, what appeared to an outsider to be unethical behavior by one contestant (or someone on his behalf) (though Gather's fraud detection nipped this in the bud, half of this contestant's votes were removed throughout the contest and his score plummeted) well, the end result of these tactics is meaningless ratings. My two favorites (who, incidentally, did not appear to have used any of the tactics above) ended up in the bottom four, ratings-wise. As a matter of fact, my very least favorite manuscript in this round ended the contest with the highest score.
Disclaimer: I believe ALL of these manuscripts have potential. That is not the issue. Simply put -- some manuscripts have more potential than others. Unfortunately, IMHO, the final scores are not a representation of this.
Regardless, from a business model perspective (I've been working in the spellbinding Internet industry for about seven years, so I'm always paying close attention to new technologies and innovations/how other sites are run) I've learned a lot from this competition. It's been a very interesting beta, and quite successful in that Gather has gotten a ton of useful feedback from users on how to improve the process. Free advice. Heck, the more free advice they get, the more money the site is making (ostensibly -- given the basic laws of adsense). So in that respect, I say "Way to go, Gather!" I have no reason to believe that the Gather team is not a smart, ethical group of individuals. I'm confident that they will learn a lot from this beta and that next year's competition will be much smoother and -- one can hope -- something remotely close to fair. I'll certainly tune in to find out.
In the end S&S will select one of these top 10, and after some good, old-fashioned editing, they will have a solid, publishable final product. I definitely plan to buy the book. It's exciting. It is history in the making, after all.
So again I ask -- out of curiosity: who's in your top five?
I wanted to follow up on some of the good points Scout S. made.
I personally don't believe the score meant much in this last round. The rules state that if Simon & Schuster don't want to publish one from the top five, they can choose from the top ten. And in the end, they're going to publish what they think people will buy, not who got the most friends to vote for them.
And I'm sure they have a pretty good idea who that is by now. After all, they have ten full-length books to go through. I doubt they're going to look at them for the first time when the five finalists are announced next week. That would give them just over a week to decide their winner.
Good luck to all! The contest has affected different people in different ways. As a non-participant reader I found it an exciting event. It was also interesting to see the various reactions to the contest.
I would also like to know what other readers thought. If you read all 10, which five would you choose?
My top five, in no particular order-- Wendy & Alice Life the Way it Should Be Dream War Forty-Two Blue Name Drop Zone
Scout, even your comments are well-constructed and written to please the ear. (I like the rhythm of your writing.) I've gotten lazy in the comment sections, reducing words and thoughts to their smallest parts--gotta, gonna, and the like. No wonder acronyms have become so popular in online sites. They're writing shortcuts for weary typists.
To the ten, and even the entire 20--thanks for being the vanguard. I don't know what each of you will eventually reap from this contest, but you were out there, pushing forward. And all of us will advance in some way because of where you've led us.
Good luck, everyone! For those of you who don't make the cut, don't worry. You can always join me in the hot tub! The entire First Chapters Writing Competition Losers Committee is ready to initiate you at the address below! Come one, come all!
Now that you people know how good your story probably is, DROP OUT OF THIS SCAM! Take you quality novel to a real literary agent and let them get you the exposure, publicity, and deal you deserve. Be patient and don't let this no-name publisher scam you guys!
My top 3 are (not necessarily in order): Name Drop Zone, Dream Wars, and Fire Bells in the Night. I admit that is because they are the genres that I typically read. There were others that seemed to have equal quality of writing that I just couldn't get into the stories and I will admit it may have been my lack of range. Then there were those that had potential that needed a lot of work. And there was the one that just plain sucked.
I'd like to read more of Fire Bell in the Night. It was one of those rarities I was invited to read, and I enjoyed it. Dream War is well written, it should be in print some time, Stephen, but make that first chapter the best it can be. You could almost save that type of scene for later and start the book off with your third chapter because the setup is interesting there. Good luck.
I'm at an advantage here, knowing which chapters advanced to the final round. Still, MY top five, since you asked (in alphabetical order by title):
Dream War Fire Bell in the Night Forty-Two Blue Name Drop Zone The Wave Organ
Of my top five, my top three advanced to the finals, so I'm quite pleased.
Congratulations to all of the finalists, and good luck. It's been quite a ride, and I look forward to purchasing the winning title (whichever one wins) when it's released.
Greta I'm sorry I didn't participate as much as I wanted, I'm cover up with so much lately, but wishing you the best of luck, it is a great story! Congratulations to all!
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Comments: 31
Thanks for letting me vent.
http://www.gather.com/viewImage.jsp?fileId=3096224744117679&memberId=204865
By my count, there were 1,677 submissions. Since Gather has said 2,500, the difference is the number of submissions received but not posted, prolly for technical reasons.
* * *
Thank god the voting's over! As a member of the J.M. LeTurk writing team (5 of us wrote the Wave Organ) all I can say is it has been some adventure.
We entered this contest on a fluke (writing the ending literally days before the entry deadline) ... and then suddenly we were in the top 20 ... and then the top 10 ... and all we could do was look at each other and say, how did THAT happen?
And all along were the lists of typos and missed commas, and the comments from people saying they couldn't finish our chapter because it was so poorly written, and the assurances that not one of the finalists would ever appear in print because they were all crap. It kind of felt like standing naked in front of a crowd of strangers while they pointed out your every flaw ... saggy flesh here, cellulite there.
But then there were the handful of people who "got" our strange little book, and the many others who took considerable time to offer great suggestions and feedback. We have a weekend booked next month in Stinson Beach (just north of San Francisco) and we're bringing our manuscript and print-outs of all the comments we received so we can implement many of the suggestions. This contest -- while undoubtedly a little painful -- has made us look at our manuscript with an entirely new perspective, and for that we are sincerely grateful. And it's also thickened our skin -- a LOT -- for when we start sending The Wave Organ out to agents and publishers.
The very best of luck to everyone who entered the First Chapters contest. I hope you were lucky enough to take away something valuable ... and maybe have a little fun along the way, too.
I woke up this morning feeling sluggish but somewhat decompressed stress-wise. It's over. It's finally over! Now, as Beth said, the wait is on...
good luck everyone!
Good luck to all 10 (13) authors.
Anyone who has been paying attention realizes that final score/number of votes is absolutely meaningless -- it's more an indication of the effort the author put into marketing the work, and not at all a representation the quality or publishablity of the manuscript.
In one thread a commenter called this contest more "Survivor" than "American Idol." An astute and accurate observation!
Between the hundreds of students one contestant had at his disposal, another contestant's eager fraternity brothers, and of course, the weeks of hard work a few contestants spent networking (essentially, asking gather members to vote/comment -- often praising their writing/images in hopes of having the favor returned) and, sadly, what appeared to an outsider to be unethical behavior by one contestant (or someone on his behalf) (though Gather's fraud detection nipped this in the bud, half of this contestant's votes were removed throughout the contest and his score plummeted) well, the end result of these tactics is meaningless ratings. My two favorites (who, incidentally, did not appear to have used any of the tactics above) ended up in the bottom four, ratings-wise. As a matter of fact, my very least favorite manuscript in this round ended the contest with the highest score.
Disclaimer: I believe ALL of these manuscripts have potential. That is not the issue. Simply put -- some manuscripts have more potential than others. Unfortunately, IMHO, the final scores are not a representation of this.
Regardless, from a business model perspective (I've been working in the spellbinding Internet industry for about seven years, so I'm always paying close attention to new technologies and innovations/how other sites are run) I've learned a lot from this competition. It's been a very interesting beta, and quite successful in that Gather has gotten a ton of useful feedback from users on how to improve the process. Free advice. Heck, the more free advice they get, the more money the site is making (ostensibly -- given the basic laws of adsense). So in that respect, I say "Way to go, Gather!" I have no reason to believe that the Gather team is not a smart, ethical group of individuals. I'm confident that they will learn a lot from this beta and that next year's competition will be much smoother and -- one can hope -- something remotely close to fair. I'll certainly tune in to find out.
In the end S&S will select one of these top 10, and after some good, old-fashioned editing, they will have a solid, publishable final product. I definitely plan to buy the book. It's exciting. It is history in the making, after all.
So again I ask -- out of curiosity: who's in your top five?
I personally don't believe the score meant much in this last round. The rules state that if Simon & Schuster don't want to publish one from the top five, they can choose from the top ten. And in the end, they're going to publish what they think people will buy, not who got the most friends to vote for them.
And I'm sure they have a pretty good idea who that is by now. After all, they have ten full-length books to go through. I doubt they're going to look at them for the first time when the five finalists are announced next week. That would give them just over a week to decide their winner.
So Scout, who's in YOUR top five?
Wave Organ
42 Blue
The Way Life
4th is a tie between Wendy and Alice and Speechless ... can't decide.
All of these books need editing, in some cases heavy editing, but all of them have some special quality that appealed to me.
My top five, in no particular order--
Wendy & Alice
Life the Way it Should Be
Dream War
Forty-Two Blue
Name Drop Zone
Scout, even your comments are well-constructed and written to please the ear. (I like the rhythm of your writing.) I've gotten lazy in the comment sections, reducing words and thoughts to their smallest parts--gotta, gonna, and the like. No wonder acronyms have become so popular in online sites. They're writing shortcuts for weary typists.
To the ten, and even the entire 20--thanks for being the vanguard. I don't know what each of you will eventually reap from this contest, but you were out there, pushing forward. And all of us will advance in some way because of where you've led us.
I'd also like to see "Name Drop Zone" in print.
Those are my choices. The rest, nah..not so much.
Good luck, though, to all of the remaining finalists.
Cathy
http://www.gather.com/viewArticle.jsp?articleId=281474976995536
Thank you, Trudy and Scout, for your kind words.
lol
I'm actually starting to feel like myself again! Good luck to the others.
Good luck to all.
Dream War
Fire Bell in the Night
Forty-Two Blue
Name Drop Zone
The Wave Organ
Of my top five, my top three advanced to the finals, so I'm quite pleased.
Congratulations to all of the finalists, and good luck. It's been quite a ride, and I look forward to purchasing the winning title (whichever one wins) when it's released.
Cathy