The Official Authors' Hangout Summer Lovin' 2025 Contest Support Thread

[nicksouth]

Got mine in at last. Not a masterpiece at all but it's something.

Same

 

[Omenainen]

My story, which is also a Born to Run event story, came out today:

There’s Magic in the Night

Seems like there’s a lengthy list of stories already, well done everyone! Funny to think summery thoughts when we here in Finland are firmly on the autumn side already, but it is what it is.

 

[NotWise]

A hundred and eight stories this morning. I'm sure there'll be many more.

 

[ChasBozwell30]

Out of interest, there are now 79 stories published. Last year there were 139 in total.

Thats interesting. Are the themes the same every year? Maybe thats an issue, people don't want to do the same theme twice?

 

[nicksouth]

Well, "Sally's Snack Shack" is now live (finally, and I can move on)

 

[NotWise]

Thats interesting. Are the themes the same every year? Maybe thats an issue, people don't want to do the same theme twice?

Lit hosts six special contest every year: Valentine's Day, April Fools, Nude Day, Summer Lovin', Halloween, and Winter Holidays. Participation has generally grown, and some authors participate in the same contests every year.

The Summer Lovin' contest this year will probably exceed the 139 entries from last year.

edit: currently at 113, with more than a week to go.

 

[ChasBozwell30]

Lit hosts six special contest every year: Valentine's Day, April Fools, Nude Day, Summer Lovin', Halloween, and Winter Holidays. Participation has generally grown, and some authors participate in the same contests every year.

The Summer Lovin' contest this year will probably exceed the 139 entries from last year.

edit: currently at 113, with more than a week to go.

That's interesting, thanks.

 

[Actingup]

Thats interesting. Are the themes the same every year? Maybe thats an issue, people don't want to do the same theme twice?

During the Winter Holidays comp, I graphed out the rate at which stories were posted and compared the annual totals for that comp over the years. Summary below, noting that until 2006 the list included multiple chapters from the same stories.

There’s no drop off in interest in the comp. I assume summer lovin’ is similar, but somebody else can do the graph!

 

[nicksouth]

I'm definitely going to go shorter for Halloween, and stay back in my regular ~12K word length. For definite sure.

 

[PennyThompson]

My weird little supernatural Appalachian summer adventure is doing pretty well.

The score and view counts aren't anything amazing, but the feedback has been nice and I've seen a noticeable uptick in new follows since it published, so I do think it's drawing in some new readers for me

 

[NotWise]

The trend in number of Summer Lovin' stories is similar to @Actingup's graph for the Winter Holidays contest;


I started here in 2016. People who've been here longer than I tell me that for a while before 2016 there was a cadre of AHers who conspired to rig the contests, which might explain the decline in participation after 2012. Since 2016, the growth has been monotonic, but for the little bump for the pandemic year.

edit: Misspoke. I got in here 2015.

 

[Actingup]

The trend in number of Summer Lovin' stories is similar to @Actingup's graph for the Winter Holidays contest;
View attachment 2560692

I started here in 2016. People who've been here longer than I tell me that for a while before 2016 there was a cadre of AHers who conspired to rig the contests, which might explain the decline in participation after 2012. Since 2016, the growth has been monotonic, but for the little bump for the pandemic year.

Thanks for doing that! I wonder if there's a valid case to mount to increase the number of competition prize placings, say from three to five?

 

[crookedletter]

Thanks for doing that! I wonder if there's a valid case to mount to increase the number of competition prize placings, say from three to five?

I wouldn’t expect an expanded pool of prize money, but a top 10 released at the time of judgment would be interesting. As much for readers, I think, as for whoever might enjoy getting the nod.

 

[Actingup]

My weird little supernatural Appalachian summer adventure is doing pretty well.

The score and view counts aren't anything amazing, but the feedback has been nice and I've seen a noticeable uptick in new follows since it published, so I do think it's drawing in some new readers for me

Everybody should read your story, Penny!

I've enjoyed sitting back and not over-analysing this time around, but the story comments have also been nice. I recently had the one below, which is probably my favourite comment ever - it took me on a journey from authorial heartbreak to delight.

AtlantisTSkelly
I didn't expect it. Initially it was slogging through yet another trite incest relationship that just took so, so long to consummate, and remained awkward. Then, the heart-rending pain of repeated loss. And, finally, I was rewarded with a whole view of a man's lifelong romance with a woman who happened to be his sister. This story defines the phrase "She was the love of his life."

Well done, sir!

 

[NotWise]

I wouldn’t expect an expanded pool of prize money, but a top 10 released at the time of judgment would be interesting. As much for readers, I think, as for whoever might enjoy getting the nod.

I agree with this. To me, the prize money isn't an inducement. I'm motivated more by community participation, and the exposure from the contest page. The site uses the cash prize in their promotions to get more authors to participate, and I think that's the extent of their value.

It would be good to know more about how the stories rank at the time the placements are determined. I figure that the final scores are tightly clustered and ties are common, with something other than rating (like vote count) used as a tie breaker. A snapshot of the top ten would help--a snapshot of the whole ranking would help. On the other hand, I don't know if there's a great way to present the snapshot, or if presenting it might just foster troll behavior.

I used to compile the rankings every day, using the scores from the author's public profile, which were updated in the middle of the night before (my time). It was interesting, but I didn't want to post the information because someone would use it for trolling. The contest sweeps always happened after the last regular update, so I never knew what the final scores were. As other people have pointed out, those scores change immediately after the results are posted.

 

[Actingup]

I agree with this. To me, the prize money isn't an inducement. I'm motivated more by community participation, and the exposure from the contest page. The site uses the cash prize in their promotions to get more authors to participate, and I think that's the extent of their value.

It would be good to know more about how the stories rank at the time the placements are determined. I figure that the final scores are tightly clustered and ties are common, with something other than rating (like vote count) used as a tie breaker. A snapshot of the top ten would help--a snapshot of the whole ranking would help. On the other hand, I don't know if there's a great way to present the snapshot, or if presenting it might just foster troll behavior.

I used to compile the rankings every day, using the scores from the author's public profile, which were updated in the middle of the night before (my time). It was interesting, but I didn't want to post the information because someone would use it for trolling. The contest sweeps always happened after the last regular update, so I never knew what the final scores were. As other people have pointed out, those scores change immediately after the results are posted.

By chance I was watching the scores for the last one just as the placings would have been finalised and I'm pretty sure they were 4.92, 4.91, and 4.90. As you say, there would often be ties, or perhaps they use the next decimal place, but either way I think that it would probably bring too much attention to the scores and be used for gaming the system - I'd rather just know what the top 10 stories were so that we can learn from the quality of those stories and push ourselves to improve our writing.

 

[lovecraft68]

Must have had a sweep yesterday. My story went up .05 and considering I'm at 700+ votes and the last few comments have not been favorable, there's no way the story could come up that much on its own.

I commented when I submitted this story the readers were going to have issues with some of the content, and I was right, but it still makes me laugh when I see comments about "Oh, I usually like your stuff, but this one..." and its like there's an air of betrayal in the tone, 'How dare you do something different!"

I've told people before that I'm fine with posting I/Ts stories that are mostly fun and deliver what they want, but everyone once in awhile I'm do for a "Yeah, fuck it" train wreck. Have to keep them honest.

 

[TheLobster]

Must have had a sweep yesterday.

The vote count on mine have only been climbing up. If there was a sweep, it might have targeted just the newer stories.

 

[Actingup]

The vote count on mine have only been climbing up. If there was a sweep, it might have targeted just the newer stories.

Or targeted particular voters that have been causing a problem. My recent story scores haven't changed in the past few days.

 

[Soixenta]

My vote count keeps climbing, and the score keeps falling.

 

[NotWise]

Must have had a sweep yesterday. My story went up .05 and considering I'm at 700+ votes and the last few comments have not been favorable, there's no way the story could come up that much on its own.

I commented when I submitted this story the readers were going to have issues with some of the content, and I was right, but it still makes me laugh when I see comments about "Oh, I usually like your stuff, but this one..." and its like there's an air of betrayal in the tone, 'How dare you do something different!"

I've told people before that I'm fine with posting I/Ts stories that are mostly fun and deliver what they want, but everyone once in awhile I'm do for a "Yeah, fuck it" train wreck. Have to keep them honest.

Do you think the readers' expectations in T/I are more restrictive than in other categories? Most categories have their limits (I'm lookin' at Romance) but readers' limitations in T/I seem to keep the successful stories within a narrow window.

My last story before the contest was a mom/son story, but Mom was not God's most virtuous creation. Mom was also not Son's only interest--or his interest at all, really. I expected backlash from the mom/son readers to keep the story at the bottom of my catalog, and they did not disappoint.

 

[mrs_mackenzie]

My entry, Hot Yoga, Hotter Mum is up now. A very straightforward story in T/I.

Do you think the readers' expectations in T/I are more restrictive than in other categories? Most categories have their limits (I'm lookin' at Romance) but readers' limitations in T/I seem to keep the successful stories within a narrow window.

I've written a variety of couplings and styles in T/I now and not had any that did 'badly'. One of my most 'vanilla' stories had the best reaction for comments. I think the main thing is that because you get such a huge number of views and ratings compared to other categories, it can be quite difficult to get a very high score (4.8+). It just depends on what you mean by successful, I think. I'm not expecting to get a contest winner out of that category but you get a lot of views.

 

[JuanSeiszFitzHall]

Here's a chance for you folks to provide some anti-support. Yesterday I dashed off a draft of something short and silly which can be bludgeoned into the contest theme. Would it be better for all concerned (readers, writers, myself) if I stay out? I could just post this thing outside the contest, and not dilute the readers' attention within the contest. I have no desire to make the 2025 entry on the @NotWise bar chart the tallest one yet.

 

[NotWise]

2025 is on track to be the tallest bar yet, no matter what you do.

I don't see a down side to you posting your story to the contest. If there is one, then it's up to you to decide.

 

[TheLobster]

bludgeoned

If that's the right word for it, then, uhm, yeah...

Try 'nudged'. Or 'steered'. Or perhaps, at worst, 'molded'. Still fits? Then go for it; otherwise, don't try to force it and submit the story separately.