Rainbow Awards Cover Contest

[reviews_and_ramblings]

This is a warning and a request to play fair: I closed the poll for Round 14. For the last two months, and exactly from October 17, an internal fight started during the polls, week after week. I don't know if you realized it, but I think there were at least 2 opposite sides, and they continued to vote to have "their cover" ahead of the other one. Now if the votes were coming for all the covers, maybe more on one cover, a little less on other covers, that would be normal. But ALL the votes for only one cover and then ALL the vote for the other cover? No sorry, I see something that is not right here. Plus sincerely, I don't like that many of the accounts voting were opened right at the moment to vote for a cover and let it go through the elimination poll.

I kindly warned people and introduced the Jury to help me rebalancing the situation and those people got even more angrier... When I investigated on the reason, the only explanation I got was, "we want to support the author we like". Guys, this is a wrong answer for all kinf of reasons, first of all this is a COVER contest, not an AUTHOR contest, and you haven't to vote a cover for the author but for the artist. By the way I have the evidence, no questionable, that at least 4 accounts belonged to the same IP address, many cover didn't pass the rounds for less than 4 votes.

So sorry, but I'm really tired, and almost harrassed, and I decided to give it a stop. I closed the poll, the final 10 covers will be decided on the total amount of votes at yesterday night on ALL the 14 polls plus the votes of the Jury for the last 5 rounds. I will not invalidate votes, not even the ones from the same IP addresses since actually, I cannot determine if they maybe weren't using the same internet point. But please don't consider me a fool and if you are not right on your complaints, DON'T make them.

I ask you to play fair on the next poll: 10 covers, you can vote 3, but please vote the ARTIST, please help me in making this contest a serious thing, otherwise next year I will not host it. I will open the poll on Sunday, meanwhile, if you have question, comment here.

Comments

[girlofavalon.livejournal.com]

Oh, Elisa, I am so sorry it happened... :(

[elisa-rolle.livejournal.com]

I know that is difficult to be impartial, the love for an author can bring you to do thing that from your perspective are completely right, but they are not.

[luscious-words.livejournal.com]

I'm really sorry to hear this happened. :(

[elisa-rolle.livejournal.com]

you have not idea on how tiring this situation was, almost a nightmare. I was hoping this week was different I did everything to give them a chance to play fair, but it was impossible.

[luscious-words.livejournal.com]

It's sad that you had to take the measures you did. It's very sad that people took advantage of your poll to act like idiots and mess it up for everyone else that was playing fair.

[chris-quinton.livejournal.com]

Elisa, that is so not good. I am so sorry your wonderful idea and hard work has been marked by all that ridiculousness. I hope it doesn't put you off from running the Awards in the future.

[josephine-myles.livejournal.com]

How sad, and how ridiculous for people to even bother trying to skew the polls this way. I'm really sorry this happened to you.

I hope you'll run it again next year - I've found it has really focused my mind on what I look for in cover art.

[vashtan.livejournal.com]

That's one of the reasons why I'm not asking "my" readers to "support" me. I'm on lots of author/publisher lists and every week, at least ten authors run around rallying the troops. It's simply not fair to the others and those with a smaller fanbase. The quality of the writing/craft should come first.

[elisa-rolle.livejournal.com]

I really want to give to the "readers" the chance to be part of the Awards, since with the literary contest it's impossible, I thought that a cover contest was a good option. I don't understand why people have to behave in this way, there is no real prize if not being happy to see beautiful covers.

[elisa-rolle.livejournal.com]

I need to think how to run it without any of these again. The only option I see now is to ask people to vote through comments, since I can log the IP address. It's more work for me, but probably it's the only solution.

[elisa-rolle.livejournal.com]

I found out that not all people are like that. And believe me, I'm not against the authors promoting their works/covers, there was more than one author asking to their fanbase to behave, moreover, there were authors whose covers went out continuing to promote the contest nevertheless.

[chris-quinton.livejournal.com]

I agree, 100%. I suspect, though, this sabotage - which is what it is, even if it is unintentional, might be because some authors/readers see it as added publicity for the book, rather than a reward for the often unsung cover artist.

I've only voted for one cover throughout, using either this or my other lj account, because I truly believe it IS the best, even if by a very fine margin, from the other covers. Yet all the way through, up to and including the last round, while most of the covers have been of a consistently high standard there have been others where I've wondered how it is they're still in the running. Now I guess I know.

[kika-k.livejournal.com]

Mi spice che sia successo questo casino con i voti.
Almeno tu capisci cosa è successo...(tracciabilità, ecc, ecc)...io sono nel buio più completo! :)
Quando ci sarà la nuova votazione farò la mia scelta sulla copertina che più mi piace. :)

ciao

[elisa-rolle.livejournal.com]

Non lo so per tutti i voti, ma di sicuro c'è una persona che ha votato con 4 accounts diversi usando lo stesso computer; quando le ho chiesto spiegazioni mi ha detto che lo faceva per sostenere la sua autrice preferita. Le ho chiesto di smettere, le ho fatto presente che avevo notato che usava 2 accounts, ma non le ho detto che avevo visto anche gli altri. Mi ha scritto "offesa" dell'accusa (ma la vedo difficile da giustificare con lo stesso indirizzo ip) e che comunque, siccome l'avevo mortalmente ferita, avrebbe smesso di "promuovere" la poll e che lei non avrebbe più votato... ovviamente ha votato con gli altri 2 accounts non sapendo che li avevo scoperti anche quelli. A questo punto non posso davvero determinare se i voti per quella cover sono reali o finti, quindi chiudo la poll.

[ryan field (from livejournal.com)]

Very sorry to hear you had to experience this kind of online behavior, Elisa.

[elisa-rolle.livejournal.com]

no place can be a safe heaven, Ryan; most of the time my LiveJournal is a nice place, and I'm all for giving people the chance to behave or prove me wrong, but when it's not like that, I have to take a strong action. I'm sure there will be consequences, but believe me, i give them all the chance to behave and again and again it was like they thought I was stupid.

[slavetopassion.livejournal.com]

good lord...Elisa, I can't believe people would act so silly. Winning through cheating isn't truly winning at all.

~snuggles~

[lusiology.livejournal.com]

I'm so sorry that this has happened to you after all the work you've done to put this competition together.

I don't know if you realized it

Nope. Totally in the dark regarding this method of voting. :((

[juni-x.livejournal.com]

I'm so sorry to hear that this happened - especially given the amount of work you've put into it.

[angelabenedetti.livejournal.com]

Wow, that's really despicable. I usually think of myself as a pretty cynical person, but it never occurred to me that people would create multiple journals just to stuff the ballot box. :/

And why would anyone vote in a cover contest based on authors?? That's crazy, and completely pointless. [sigh]

Sorry you had to put up with this nonsense. Hopefully the universe will pay these idiots back. A nice flock of pigeons lying in wait somewhere would be appropriate, I think.

Angie

[elisa-rolle.livejournal.com]

It's another way to show your love I suppose

[elisa-rolle.livejournal.com]

The accounts were visible only to me, but other people complained for the strange amount of voting a cover was having just at the right time to save it

[elisa-rolle.livejournal.com]

Yes, I'm still sorry when I think to all the covers that maybe would be here. There is an artist that is probably the best out there and no cover of them will be in the final 10.

[elisa-rolle.livejournal.com]

I'm not blaming authors who promoted the contest, they did me a favor and many authors who did so, even after their covers went out, continued to promote it. It's the behaviour of some "readers" that let me perplexed, they really didn't understand that to do a favor to their favorite author they were exactly doing the opposite.

[mondhellnacht.livejournal.com]

That's lousy. Personally I'd have discounted those duplicated votes from the same IP address, but I'm just coldly rational. It isn't fair to the others who voted and isn't fair to the contest to keep in "error votes". But again, that's just what I'd do, and I'm not the one running the show. I wish you luck in handling it and I hope you can still hold the contest next year.