I was completely blown away by how many entries we had for the Go Teen Writers first lines contest. We had - are you ready for it? - a whopping
411 entries!!!
411! It's almost too big for me to comprehend. I'm not a math person, as we all know. Our first Go Teen Writers contest had, like, 32 entries or something. Which was great considering at the time it felt like we had about 12 readers. Including my mom.
Anyway. Because of the wonderfully overwhelming number of participants, here are some things I wanted to pass along to you:
- 411 entries means there are a lot of words to read. Even though it's just one sentence, we're dedicated to providing feedback to every entry, and that means this will probably take a bit longer than our other contests. Even if our judges got everything back to me tomorrow, there's a lot of emailing to be done. Please be patient with us and know that we're trying our best to work quickly.
- Instead of having a "Top 20" we'll have a "Top 41." The Top 41 will (likely) be announced on Wednesday, January 16th.
- Then the judges will be trying to decide what they feel are the top 3. That will take another few days, I would imagine, depending on their schedules.
- I will email your feedback as quickly as possible to the email address you provided on the form. If winners have been announced but you still have not received your feedback, feel free to email me and let me know.
Phew. I think that's it. Thank you SO much to everyone who entered. These contests are really fun for us, and I hope you find them to be a valuable, encouraging experience.
411????!!!! WOW! Or as my little guy would say, "Wowie zowie coppa-bowie!"
ReplyDeleteWOOOOOAAAAHHH! 411?!?!?! Top 41?!?!
ReplyDeleteI'm just sitting here with my jaw hanging open...that's incredible!!!
I just did the math, and even if you had 411 entries and each person entered 3, you would still have 137 people! Which is a ton! Thanks so much, Stephanie!
ReplyDelete~Sarah Faulkner
www.inklinedwriters.blogspot.com
I did the same math. That's a lot of entries!
DeleteWauw 411 entries, that is quite overwhelming, I'm sure, but really amazing. We will be patiently waiting for the feedback, it's always so helpful. Thank you for organising these!
ReplyDeleteWoooowwww…. Just goes to prove that you’ve got a totally amazing blog where tons of people like to participate and learn from the contests! Of course it will take you a while, don’t worry, we understand and are very grateful to all of you working on it!
ReplyDeleteYes, yes, what Aidyl said. :D
DeleteIt's only an amazing blog because of the conversations that take place here. We're appreciative of how much you all contribute :)
DeleteI didn't enter this time, but I wanted to say THANK-YOU for all of the time and hard work you put into these contests. I can hardly imagine processing 411 entries!
ReplyDeleteMuch thanks to Mrs Morrill and all of the authors who lend their time and energies as judges!
You're so welcome, Georgina.
DeleteSeconding what Georgina said. I'm new to the blog, but I am already very impressed with your encouraging, informative articles. Thank you so much for spending your precious time helping young writers find their feet. :)
DeleteWOW!!!!!!!!! That is a lot of entries there!
ReplyDeleteAnd thank YOU guys for providing them to us. I honestly can't tell you how much this site has helped me. Like, there are no words. You have really encouraged me with my writing and because of you, I am honestly taking my writing serious for the first time! I just CAN'T WAIT to get my hands on your writing book!
Yikes! Many thanks to the dedicated judges, and to you Stephanie for putting this all together. :) I always look forward to the writing contests.
ReplyDeleteA note: I asked for and recieved "The Art of War for Writers" by James Scott Bell -- it is unquestionably the best writing book I have ever read. I'm going through it with a pencil and circling and underlining...such a brilliant read! I've raved about it so many times to my family. Thank you so much for the reccomendation!
*for Christmas, that is.
DeleteI just went to "like" your comment and realized I couldn't. Lol
DeleteIsn't it wonderful? Your comment makes me itchy to reread it...
DeleteI got that book for Christmas!
DeleteYay! That is so awesome :)
ReplyDelete411... amazing.
ReplyDeleteThank you so much for getting up this contest - it might be my favorite so far. I can't wait to read the winning entries!
ReplyDeleteWoot! 411! Don't worry, Stephanie! I think it's safe to say we're a patient group. Heehee. ;D I very much look forward to see the winning first lines!
ReplyDeleteThat's an amazing number of entries. Thanks so much for hosting the contests. This will be my full year with this blog, so I'm looking forward to trying to enter all the contests.
ReplyDeleteWow. Hats off to the amazing judges! Can't wait 'till wednesday... ;)
ReplyDeleteAwesome!!!!!! :D :D
ReplyDeleteWOW! That is a lot of entries!!!! Thanks so much for doing this guys! It must be a lot of work!
ReplyDeleteThanks!! =D
Wow. That's amazing! Seriously, thanks so much for all that you guys do here!I'm excited to see the results on Wednesday!
ReplyDelete