I’ve entered a contest.

Well, I think I’ve entered a contest… I sent in my story a week ago and I have confirmation that they’ve received it, but I haven’t received confirmation that they’ve accepted it. I’m pretty sure I’m in, since my understanding is that they accept any and all takers unless there’s something very wrong, such as being way too steamy (no erotica) and I’m sure they’ll turn away something that has so many errors it’s an embarrassment. Then again, the romance in the story is polyamorous, so there’s a chance they might decide that’s too kinky…

Anywho…

I was attracted to this contest because the voting structure is unabashedly a popularity contest. We are being judged not just on our story, but on how well we market ourselves, and we can see day by day what our ranking is, as well as seeing great (and devastating) reviews from readers across the web. Even if I don’t win a spot in the finals, the exposure and feedback is well worth it.

That said, I am carefully planning my strategy. There are eight week-long rounds, the second of which just closed today. Hopefully my story will be up and voteable for round three.

I’m not terribly concerned about getting tons of votes this week. I think that’s too much to expect. Also, if I bug my friends week after week to vote for me, that gets really annoying and tends to alienate people. I could lose friends and followers. The way voting works, anybody can peruse the website, read the stories (5k word limit) and click VOTE on as many authors as they like. But they can only vote for each author once per round.

I need to find a way to reach a broad audience, a large number of people, and get them all to click VOTE on my story during the same round.

I think I will plan a specific week to make a big push. 11-11-2012 will work. I’m guest-hosting for a friend one day that week already, and I can arrange to do some guest posts for other friends throughout the week. Even if I’m doing two the same day… the exposure is good! 11-11-2012 is actually a Sunday. The round starts on Tuesday, the 13th, and voting will end on Monday the 19th.

For my blogging friends

Would you be willing to have me do a guest post on any day between November 13-19? Or interview me, or just mention me for the heck of it? I would also be willing to provide silly pictures of myself, such as me wearing an aluminum foil hat, or me handcuffed to a sock monkey. Great for Pinterest!

Ideas I have for blog posts (But I’m open for suggestions)

1. The hopefulness/hopelessness of combining genres
2. Why Stormtroopers are sexy
3. How to make an aluminum foil hat (Without it ripping)
4. How to enjoy your vanilla with a little hot fudge
5. Why we blame Canada
6. The best and worst ideas for padding your novel’s word count
7. How to make it through the last half of NaNoWriMo
8. When Polyamory isn’t kinky
9. The best answers I’ve seen to certain interview questions
10. Having a child with special needs, but not letting it define either of you

Here is what I’d like to include with each post:

AmyBeth wants to be America’s Next Author! Her short story The Peanut Gallery Rebellion is in the running, but she needs your vote. The site does not require you to log in (unless you want to leave a review, which would be utterly fantastic!) and it’s just one simple click to reach the site then a second click on the VOTE button. You can read AmyBeth’s story and others on the website, and you can vote for as many different authors as you like. You can only vote for each author once per round during the entire contest. The author who gets the most votes each round (ending on Tuesdays) moves on to the finals.

The Peanut Gallery Rebellion is the story of Louisa, a young newlywed coming to terms with the onset of disability and how it places a burden on her family.

Or alternately, simply this image with a link to the site…

Both of these samples go to Cameron Garriepy instead of me, since her story is up and mine is not lol! Of course, when I’m ready to promote myself, it will be a link and images of MY story instead of Cameron’s. Meanwhile, please go vote for Cameron! She’s awesome, and she’s also this week’s interview.

Addendum: I got my confirmation! Now I have an entry page with my story (They took out all italics… that’s a problem because it denoted when the words were thought as opposed to spoken) but now I can add a picture and start promoting myself. Huzzah!

Second addendum: I thought that the phrase “Authors get a fresh start each round” meant that voting was reset to zero, but when I asked they replied that people can only vote once per author during the entire contest. They say that we’re not losing the votes from previous rounds, but I’m unsure how the previous votes count.

The shortlink to this post is http://wp.me/p1qnT4-WN