The Official Author's Hangout Earth Day 2013 Contest Support Thread

Welcome to the one and only real contest around. The Earth Day 2013 Contest.

Don't mess about with a fake contest. Go with the real thing.

I feel good that I've included an Earth Day theme to my story - but this damn story keeps kicking my ass. I re-write as a I write (not sure how many others do this), but it makes it challenging to keep track of how many words I've written vs how many wind up in the actual story. I know I've written easily three or four times its current word count of roughly 5000 words and the damn characters decided to mess with me this morning and throw me a curveball. I have two choices, scrap another 1000 words and re-write to get it submitted sooner OR keep going to see how this new plot twist works. We'll see!

BuckyDuckman said:

I feel good that I've included an Earth Day theme to my story - but this damn story keeps kicking my ass. I re-write as a I write (not sure how many others do this), but it makes it challenging to keep track of how many words I've written vs how many wind up in the actual story. I know I've written easily three or four times its current word count of roughly 5000 words and the damn characters decided to mess with me this morning and throw me a curveball. I have two choices, scrap another 1000 words and re-write to get it submitted sooner OR keep going to see how this new plot twist works. We'll see!

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Methinks you're being too hard on yourself. I think you're seeing the entire story before it's even finished. Take a chance and just write it out, to the end, then go back and look at it. You might surprise yourself.

Trying

MatthewVett said:

It seems like participation is lower than usual.

Sun_sea_sky, do you know how many stories have been entered in the most recent previous contests?

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Personally, I'm trying to come up with something but honestly the only time I ever think of earth day is on this site.

I once asked if maybe we could change up the contests a little so that we don't have the exact same themes each year, ex: maybe have a St Patrick's Day contest one year or something. It's just difficult for me to come up with multiple stories in the same theme sometimes.

Earth Day and Nude Day have always been the lowest participation contests because they have narrow, more difficult themes that aren't as mainstream as the others.

I don't have the numbers sitting in front of me, but I think Earth Day averages about 50-60 entries, with Nude Day having just a few more.

Darkniciad said:

Earth Day and Nude Day have always been the lowest participation contests because they have narrow, more difficult themes that aren't as mainstream as the others.

I don't have the numbers sitting in front of me, but I think Earth Day averages about 50-60 entries, with Nude Day having just a few more.

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Sounds about right.

Earth Day was an attempt, I think, by Laurel and Manu to introduce a theme that is more universally celebrated, as opposed to mainly Western holidays. It was a good idea, but I think the subject matter is a little sidelining for some folks.

slyc_willie said:

Sounds about right.

Earth Day was an attempt, I think, by Laurel and Manu to introduce a theme that is more universally celebrated, as opposed to mainly Western holidays. It was a good idea, but I think the subject matter is a little sidelining for some folks.

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Earth Day was and is a way to get some "Green" into the contest system. Too many people are over thinking it.

TxRad said:

Earth Day was and is a way to get some "Green" into the contest system. Too many people are over thinking it.

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Indeed. It is one of the more loosely-defined contests. At least with Halloween and Winter Holidays, there's a wealth of inspiration already at hand. Earth Day is a fairly recent (as of 1970) convention, and it's not uniformly celebrated. So all we pretty much have to go with is "okay, so it's about nature and the environment. Big deal. How's that supposed to be sexy?"

I think, with something like Earth Day which has a pretty strong political background, writers are afraid of introducing environmental issues into an erotic story.

Contest analysis - Earth Day Contest 2013

Good evening. My slave tells me that there are 32 stories in the competition to date, with an average score of 4.22 from an average of 294 votes. Stories had an average of 22,926 views, an average of 7 favorites, and an average of 6 comments. The average ratio of votes to views is 1.32%. The average number of pages is 2.4, with the longest story being 7 pages.

So far there have been a total of 8,833 votes, 733,637 views, 242 favorites and 216 comments.

The standard deviation of scores (from the average of 4.22) is 0.43 and the standard deviation of votes (from the average of 294) is 393. The median score is 4.32, the median number of votes is 155 and the median number of pages is 2. The top 25% of scores are 4.51 or above and the bottom 25% of scores are 3.96 or below.

Sweeps

Some votes have been reduced (swept) since the start of the competition. A total of 1 story has had its votes adjusted, with 1 sweep resulting in a new score that day which is higher than before and 0 sweeps resulting in a new score that day which is lower. There were a total of 1 votes swept, being an average of 1 per swept story. The maximum number of votes swept for a single story was 1. (Figures based on toplists, and may not be totally accurate).


Categories entered (alphabetic order)

• BDSM (1 story)
• Erotic Couplings (4 stories)
• Exhibitionist & Voyeur (3 stories)
• Gay Male (1 story)
• Group Sex (1 story)
• Illustrated (1 story)
• Incest/Taboo (6 stories)
• Loving Wives (1 story)
• Mature (1 story)
• NonConsent/Reluctance (2 stories)
• NonHuman (2 stories)
• Reviews & Essays (1 story)
• Romance (4 stories)
• Sci-Fi & Fantasy (3 stories)
• Text With Audio (1 story)

New stories today

• Roadtrip (Erotic Couplings) by sexnovella
• Save a Tree Become a Sex Slave (NonConsent/Reluctance) by silkstockingslover

Authors entered so far are:

AffectionateFather, Ashson, Aunay, Beelzebub72, CavyConsultant, Cndrlla69, curlyspurs, eclare, HeyAll, HottieKatie, JagFarlane (2), Jasmynn_Brown, litfan10, MSTarot, RedHairedandFriendly (2), Rutabaga72, sexnovella, silkstockingslover (2), slyc_willie (2), sr71plt, StaciRay79, Stacy469, subwryter, SusanJillParker, theravenfox, tk5555, TxRad, xelliebabex

Disclaimer

Because of the way this site works these figures will not be totally up-to-date. For a given story the score shown on the category page, the author's page, and the toplists page, can all be different. Also it appears that various pages update at different times of the day, sometimes quite infrequently.

Please do not PM me asking for more detailed information. I do not wish to skew contest results by giving a target for voting manipulation.

Contest page: Earth Day Contest 2013

HeyAll said:

Thanks again for the latest rounds of stats sunsea. It's especially interesting to see the number of postings in each contest.

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You are welcome.

as that funny little guy said on the #1 contest thread:

what the heck?

slyc_willie said:

I love james r scouries esq. and I wish I had won an A.I.R. Award. Thank you. And feel free to quote this post as often as desired. Please visit his thread and submit to a.i.r...

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I quite purposely don't go the political end in mine. I narrow it down to one element and concentrate on it.

When you get right down to it, most of the individual pieces have broad support. Nobody wants smog, flammable lakes, garbage piled everywhere, etc.

It's when you want to get "comprehensive" and mandate things that it heats people up.

Cleaning up a section of woods at the bottom of a hill that's been used as a clandestine dump to avoid disposal fees. On theme, hard to find people who will argue with it. Stopping a shady logging company from bribing local officials so they can clear cut everything and leave the area a rutted mess before moving on to their next destructive venture. On theme, and doesn't push anybody's buttons.

Find a niche where your characters can attack a single, local problem. Stay away from the broader issue of climate change, and you'll avoid riling up one side or the other.

From there, it's the same as any other situation that might bring two people together, and you get them in the sack

Has anyone ever done a Earth day contest story using this little bit of history?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ira_Einhorn

found it while reserching for the contest. Can't really think of a way right off hand but it's interesting none the less

M.S.Tarot

Only had time to finish one of the two I had planned, but that one came out well. It's on its way!

MSTarot said:

Has anyone ever done a Earth day contest story using this little bit of history?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ira_Einhorn

found it while reserching for the contest. Can't really think of a way right off hand but it's interesting none the less

M.S.Tarot

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It's a bizarre and interesting story, one I hadn't encountered when I was looking into Earth Day history. I suppose you could do a variation on the theme, making it less fatal. Say, instead of murdering his girlfriend, he causes some kind of accident that leaves her scarred for live, and 25 years alter they met up again at an Earth Day rally.

But if Earth Day is going to be as tertiary to the storyline as that, I don't know why you'd even bother to have the reference.

sr71plt said:

But if Earth Day is going to be as tertiary to the storyline as that, I don't know why you'd even bother to have the reference.

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Good point. But the FAQ on Earth Day is pretty open. It doesn't even have to mention it in the story, just so long as the backdrop or plot is relevant in some way. In my entry, Feral Heart, I mention it once and the action doesn't even take place on Earth Day . . . just around the time.

Just saying that it wouldn't really be treating Earth Day at all. Sort of cheating the theme. Yes, you could enter it, but if consideration was giving to use of theme in the voting (which it doesn't seem to be), I think this would justify down voting. Again, sort of a "why bother?"

sr71plt said:

Just saying that it wouldn't really be treating Earth Day at all. Sort of cheating the theme. Yes, you could enter it, but if consideration was giving to use of theme in the voting (which it doesn't seem to be), I think this would justify down voting. Again, sort of a "why bother?"

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To which I'd counter, "why not?"

If the rules are going to be as subjective and open as they are, why not take advantage of the fact and bring more attention to your stories? That's why we're here, right (well, some of us, anyway)?

I see we had another visit from that silly willy (our resident he-she) on the...

#1 Contest Support thread -

the Authors’ Hangout LITEROTICA/A.I.R. 2012-2015 Themed Contests Support Thread…

In fact he's posted the ssame tthing 7 times on just one page! Who does he think he is? The dumb texan?

So I guess this means (I'm sorry tiger girl) that we'll have to return the favor. As the oily one said, "what the heck?"

slyc_willie said:

I love james r scouries esq. and I wish I had won an A.I.R. Award. Thank you. And feel free to quote this post as often as desired. Please visit his thread and submit to a.i.r...

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slyc_willie said:

To which I'd counter, "why not?"

If the rules are going to be as subjective and open as they are, why not take advantage of the fact and bring more attention to your stories? That's why we're here, right (well, some of us, anyway)?

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Everything about this site is vague which leaves people to their own devices and interpretations.

Personally I try to stay on theme which is why this is the one contest I have yet to enter because I am not into the theme and can't force myself to try to be.

I think if its an Earth Day contest then that should be prevalent in the story and I think Pilot has a point about down voting.

If I read a valentine's day entry I would be disappointed if the holiday and all that is associated was never mentioned.

But as you pointed out, there are no fixed rules. Even silly ones like your story should have something to do with the name of the contest.

Having said that, lets have a new contest, a "Free for all" and everyone just enters a random story and people can vote.

Well, I've figured out what I want to do with the Baucis and Philemon story and then I go and get a rip-roaring head cold. I just loooove having an immune system that's temporarily shot to Hell.
Oh well, a hot shower and then back to the story boards........

Working on mine when I can between bouts of the young one being too loud to think.

With a week of vacation ahead of me ( despite having quite a few things to do ) I'm hoping to find enough quiet time to finish it in time. With any luck, I'll actually get it off to at least my editor before the deadline hits this time

I hate not giving a story a full 1st reader and then editor treatment, but I hate missing Earth Day even more. Maybe I'll be in the right state of mind to finish it this weekend or early in the week, providing time for both ( ML's schedule permitting. My editor is retired, with plenty of time on his hands, so if I've got at least 12 hours before the deadline, I'm good there. )

Darkniciad said:

Working on mine when I can between bouts of the young one being too loud to think.

With a week of vacation ahead of me ( despite having quite a few things to do ) I'm hoping to find enough quiet time to finish it in time. With any luck, I'll actually get it off to at least my editor before the deadline hits this time

I hate not giving a story a full 1st reader and then editor treatment, but I hate missing Earth Day even more. Maybe I'll be in the right state of mind to finish it this weekend or early in the week, providing time for both ( ML's schedule permitting. My editor is retired, with plenty of time on his hands, so if I've got at least 12 hours before the deadline, I'm good there. )

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Good luck! It wouldn't be Earth Day without an entry from you!