Call For Writers Comes to an End

Section: 

As the deadline for writing submissions passes, I can say without any sense of reservation or exaggeration that the response far exceeded expectations. But now that it's all over, I know many of you are anxious to know the results and I'm proud to announce that the winner is ...

... probably not even going to be decided upon until sometime next week.

This is all your own fault for sending in more than 100 funny, poignant, detailed, thoughtful and, at times, delightfully strange articles. Saturday alone we received more than 30 individual submissions, and with only one or two spots to be had there will be endless deliberation, consideration, parsing of text, hair pulling and back biting before we can even narrow it down to a field of, let's say, 10. I know it's going to seem about as authentic as Mexican food from Taco Bell when I say that the volume of talent was astounding, but hand-on-heart it's true. There's some really excellent work in here.

So, the methodology for coming up with a winner? We're going to look at a lot of things: mechanics, grammatical accuracy, originality, rhythm, quality of topic, voice, consistency, structure, logical flow. We're going to be looking for articles that seem like they would fit right up here on the front page. Some of it is intangible, much of it isn't. The truth is that we're going to have to turn down a lot of really talented writers, and I have to tell you that the thought of it ties knots in my stomach.

Which brings me to another point. I simply will not be able to provide individual feedback on articles. I know a lot of you would love to know why we did or didn't choose you and what you could have done better. With this much content populating my in-box, that is simply not in the cards.

So, as we end our submissions period and enter the intensive phase of review, I want to take this opportunity to thank everyone who participated. It was extremely gratifying to see so many people interested in writing about games and enthusiastic about what we are trying to do here. Until next time...

Comments

Well its nice to know that many people were interested. Hope all the judging goes smoothly. Good Luck to all the people who sent submissions.

I still like my idea of starting 42 new websites.

Best of luck to everyone who submitted an entry. I look forward to reading your work in the future.

If you struggle to decide there's nothing wrong with a random number generator

Yes, I have an excellent "random" number generator you can borrow

Just make sure I'm number 14.

I know you sent one out before Saturday but will there be a second round of "we've received your submission" emails?

Is it possible that we can get a sort of "Best Of"? I would love to be able to read the top ten or even top twenty submissions.

*crosses fingers*

Thanks again for the opportunity and I second the notion of posting some excerpts as a nod to those who didn't make the cut.

Were confirmation emails sent out?

4dSwissCheese wrote:

Best of luck to everyone who submitted an entry. I look forward to reading your work in the future.

Indeed.

So if you guys can't decide over a few can it just be settled Thunderdome style and recorded for our amusement?

Why don't we just make a thread and everyone post their favorite part of the submission? I think this makes sense since we won't be getting feedback from the "board" that's choosing the writers. Mini peer-reviews if you will.

I think this is a fine idea, but if you wouldn't mind waiting at least until you hear back from us one way or the other. We are well into the process of trimming down the submissions, and within the next day or so people should start hearing from us.

It says a lot that there were so many eager potentials when you consider the only reward is recognition (and fame and beauty, but they come later).

And if you're like Rabbit you get to shut down respectable print publications

As a casual reader -- yet avid podcast listener -- up until recently, I cannot wait to see the outcome. Considering the fierce competition, I'd say everyone wins regardless, to some degree or another.

Prozac wrote:

And if you're like Rabbit you get to shut down respectable print publications :)

I almost snorted coffee out of my nose. I know it's like beating a dead horse by now. But it just doesn't stop being funny. Unless you're rabbit, I suppose. Or one of the mags he wrote for.

Elysium wrote:

I think this is a fine idea, but if you wouldn't mind waiting at least until you hear back from us one way or the other. We are well into the process of trimming down the submissions, and within the next day or so people should start hearing from us.

So does that mean that no matter what, wether we go on or get trimmed out that we will hear something when that decision is made? I guess what I'm trying to ask is : Will we know when we should stop cutting ourselves or will we have to wait until the final announcement has been made?

MoonDragon wrote:

I know it's like beating a dead horse by now. But it just doesn't stop being funny. Unless you're rabbit, I suppose. Or one of the mags he wrote for. :D

And if you're one of the mags he wrote for, you are a dead horse.

Best of luck to everyone who submitted. I look forward to joining the discussions your work generates.

Good luck with the judging. You're braver than I am. I couldn't bear all the decision making, and you guys have a collective to deal with.

Looking forward to reading new voices.

I guess what I'm trying to ask is : Will we know when we should stop cutting ourselves or will we have to wait until the final announcement has been made?

I would say by mid-week we will beging sending out notices. We are deep into the process now, and have substantially trimmed the field, but I'm not quite ready to completely rule any one out at this point. I will say that considering the volume of highly impressive submissions it will take some time to cut it down to the two slots we've decided are available.

I really want to be careful at this point about giving anyone false hope or early disappointment. I will only say that most people, if not everyone, should know by the end of the week where they stand.

Elysium wrote:

I really want to be careful at this point about giving anyone false hope or early disappointment. I will only say that most people, if not everyone, should know by the end of the week where they stand.

Cool, that's kind of what I was hoping for. I get that actual critiques would be impossible due to the impressive response, but a simple basic ranking would be great — something along the lines of "you almost made it, you were in our top ten, try again next year"; or "second cut, middle of the pack"; or "your writing makes Baby Jesus cry."

I don't think we're going to get a 'you were so close!', or a 'you were in the top 10'. It's most likely we'll get a 'thanks for your submission. We didn't select you', but more along the lines of 'you were all so wonderful, it was like choosing which of my children I love most'.

Minarchist wrote:
Elysium wrote:

I really want to be careful at this point about giving anyone false hope or early disappointment. I will only say that most people, if not everyone, should know by the end of the week where they stand.

Cool, that's kind of what I was hoping for. I get that actual critiques would be impossible due to the impressive response, but a simple basic ranking would be great — something along the lines of "you almost made it, you were in our top ten, try again next year"; or "second cut, middle of the pack"; or "your writing makes Baby Jesus cry."

Can we just know that we didn't make baby jesus cry? Cause that would be too much for me

Sweet little 6 lb. 7 ounce baby jesus

I'm looking forward to a rejection letter that reads something along the lines of: Clemenstation, you have gouged my eyes irrefutably with these

[size=30][color=red]Giant red letters rambling about that one time adorable raccoons broke into your house and played Tetris[/color][/size]

You have been demoted to Coffee Grinder for all time.

harrisben wrote:

I don't think we're going to get a 'you were so close!', or a 'you were in the top 10'. It's most likely we'll get a 'thanks for your submission. We didn't select you', but more along the lines of 'you were all so wonderful, it was like choosing which of my children I love most'.

Oh, like which child gets the axe and which doesn't?

EDIT: Okay, that sounded worse in writing than in my head.

*Respect knuckles* to everyone who entered a submission! No matter what happens here, keep writing, keep reading ... skip the 'rithmatic though, that's just wrong.

SillyRabbit wrote:

*Respect knuckles* to everyone who entered a submission! No matter what happens here, keep writing, keep reading ... skip the 'rithmatic though, that's just wrong.

Verily: Numbers are for jerks.
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