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reviews_and_ramblingsThis is a post in defense of the people who is voting and the authors who are competing, not in defense of me or the Rainbow Awards. I'm living probably in a pink glasses bowl, but friends I read, don't worry I read all you wrote and I pondered.
I'm looking at how people is voting and it's true, there are some books that are having a lot of votes... but then, if you go to the author's page, or read around, you see that the author is loved, and people want to help him/her. This is popularity and so yes, it's right to have that votes... I had authors tell me to not consider some votes, since they were "strange".
The authors are asking to people to vote for them? And, sorry, but what is wrong with that? How different is it from all the contest out there? Why you have to lift you nose and look upon to them? I had an author who wrote in his blog to vote for him BUT also to vote for the books above him, since they are good books: he has a slim chance to win, asking to people to vote for other books was for him like a vote "suicide". I had another author be pleased to be second in Phase 2, with few votes to the first, so with a lot of chances to be first and going to Phase 3 and she asked to vote for another book!
Phase 1 and Phase 2 of the Rainbow Awards is a popularity contest. POPULARITY. Meaning that, if an author has a lot of fan, or he/she is able to arise votes posting in a blog or a forum of twitter or facebook, good for him/her. His/her book will be first in the popularity contest and then the book will be read by the Jury, and friends, MY jury is good. So no, no fat chance for a book that it's not worth to win the Rainbow Awards. Doesn't matter if it received 1000 votes in the popularity contest, the book has to be read and judge. All right the jury is not foolproof, but almost. I'm asking to the judges to state beforehand if they are not comfortable with something, I want them to judge the book, the writing style and the story, not the content.
Please note that ONLY the first book for each category will pass to Phase 3, we have 16 Categories/SubCategories, so 16 books from Phase 1 and 2 will pass to Phase 3. You are right, if there are socket puppy votes, one, two or even three of that books shouldn't rightly be there, but I have also 20 books the Jury is choosing right know, and they are choosing independently from the popularity contest. So don't worry, all the worthy books will be in Phase 3, and no, till the end of Phase 2 I'm not saying the Jury's Choices.
Yes, things could have be done in a different way, BUT this is the first year, we are trying to build something that will last, and we are learning how to do that. Next year, maybe we will use something better than my LJ to do that, for now, this is it.
So friends, be good, vote and be happy, and remember, I'm monitoring you ;-)
I'm looking at how people is voting and it's true, there are some books that are having a lot of votes... but then, if you go to the author's page, or read around, you see that the author is loved, and people want to help him/her. This is popularity and so yes, it's right to have that votes... I had authors tell me to not consider some votes, since they were "strange".
The authors are asking to people to vote for them? And, sorry, but what is wrong with that? How different is it from all the contest out there? Why you have to lift you nose and look upon to them? I had an author who wrote in his blog to vote for him BUT also to vote for the books above him, since they are good books: he has a slim chance to win, asking to people to vote for other books was for him like a vote "suicide". I had another author be pleased to be second in Phase 2, with few votes to the first, so with a lot of chances to be first and going to Phase 3 and she asked to vote for another book!
Phase 1 and Phase 2 of the Rainbow Awards is a popularity contest. POPULARITY. Meaning that, if an author has a lot of fan, or he/she is able to arise votes posting in a blog or a forum of twitter or facebook, good for him/her. His/her book will be first in the popularity contest and then the book will be read by the Jury, and friends, MY jury is good. So no, no fat chance for a book that it's not worth to win the Rainbow Awards. Doesn't matter if it received 1000 votes in the popularity contest, the book has to be read and judge. All right the jury is not foolproof, but almost. I'm asking to the judges to state beforehand if they are not comfortable with something, I want them to judge the book, the writing style and the story, not the content.
Please note that ONLY the first book for each category will pass to Phase 3, we have 16 Categories/SubCategories, so 16 books from Phase 1 and 2 will pass to Phase 3. You are right, if there are socket puppy votes, one, two or even three of that books shouldn't rightly be there, but I have also 20 books the Jury is choosing right know, and they are choosing independently from the popularity contest. So don't worry, all the worthy books will be in Phase 3, and no, till the end of Phase 2 I'm not saying the Jury's Choices.
Yes, things could have be done in a different way, BUT this is the first year, we are trying to build something that will last, and we are learning how to do that. Next year, maybe we will use something better than my LJ to do that, for now, this is it.
So friends, be good, vote and be happy, and remember, I'm monitoring you ;-)
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no subject
Date: 2009-10-20 10:51 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-10-20 10:56 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-10-20 10:53 am (UTC)Took me hours before I was ready to vote, and even then, after I was done, I got regrets XD
Anyway, I don't mind authors asking for votes, it is only natural, and ofc they have right to advertise their works, and should do this too.
I just think that people should vote for the book, and not for the author. I had to vote against my favorite author in one category, because I enjoyed someone elses book more. This is a popularity contest, but it also should be a literature-award, like it was meant to be imo. :)
no subject
Date: 2009-10-20 10:57 am (UTC)It's both. Phase 1 and 2 is popularity, Phase 3 is literary.
And you did right voting for the book you liked against the author you love. I think most of the voters did like you, or at least I hope.
Elisa
no subject
Date: 2009-10-20 11:33 am (UTC)I find it hard to understand how you can have all the categories competing against each other for only one final award. One paranormal vs one historical, etc for just ONE award? Did I misunderstnd how this is going to work?
I would also like to ask why you have the votes public to all? Ballots are generally private and it's not fair to the voters that authors can see who we voted for. I think some people will have hard feelings or more people will choose to be anonymous to avoid having their vote choices made public.
no subject
Date: 2009-10-20 11:48 am (UTC)The 16 books from the popularity contest are 1 for each Category, only 1. It was always like that, I have never said different. At the beginning I though to have a third poll, with only the first 10 for each category competing, but it would have been again a popularity contest, and I think people is tired to vote, two time is enough. Most categories have already the first 10 positions so far ahead, that people are voting only for them.
The 20 books from the Jury are cross categories. So probably we will have more Contemporary books, since there are more books in that Category. The Jury has the chance to nominate more books in one Category. The Jury is also nominating books they know, so it's not a popularity contest for them, but a first screening: three positive vote for the Jury to be in Phase 3. It's already a judgement, and then the book will be read by other 3 judges. 6 vote in total, it's more or less the 20% of the Jury (36 judges).
We will 3 type of winners:
16 Winners from the Popularity contest (end of Phase 2)
20 Winners as Jury's Choice (end of Phase 2)
2 Winners (or more depending on the tie position), for Fiction and Non Fiction (end of Phase 3)
Elisa
no subject
Date: 2009-10-20 12:05 pm (UTC)How is the panel not their own popularity contest? If they only choose what they already know and read then they leave out lots of good books they might not know.
I believe that in the well known book contests the panel reads a group of books in each category/genre before choosing the winner of the genre.
I can see you have your own idea of how to run this but I don't reallly see how it compares at all to real book award contests. I feel like my votes don't count at all now since I didn't vote for any of the top ones. Why did you have so many books move into round 2 when only 1 is going to win? Perhaps limit to 5 or 10 would have been more realistic than 30 or even 100 as in the contemporary round.
no subject
Date: 2009-10-20 12:17 pm (UTC)> I can see you have your own idea of how to run this but I don't reallly see how it compares at all to real book award contests. I feel like my votes don't count at all now since I didn't vote for any of the top ones. Why did you have so many books move into round 2 when only 1 is going to win? Perhaps limit to 5 or 10 would have been more realistic than 30 or even 100 as in the contemporary round.
I moved to Phase 2 so many books to give a second chance also to the less popular books, the one you said you voted but weren't in the first 5/10 positions. In Phase 2 you haven't multiple choice (at least not in a group of 10). So, try to understand, if your favorite book is in group 12 of Gay Contemporary Category (the last group of Contemporary), you can vote still vote it. And at the same time, you can vote only 1 book in Group 1. Books are competing against themself, but with books with the same "strength". In this way, it's possible that a book that was last in Phase 1, gain enough vote in Phase 2 to win. I will count the total votes in Phase 1 and Phase 2, but if a book will have a good result in Phase 2, it's possible that the total count for it is positive.
Please, be sure, I studied this contest to give to ALL books the same chance to win.
Elisa
no subject
Date: 2009-10-20 12:01 pm (UTC)In all the Categories I received 569 submissions (counting also multiple submission, books in more Categories). 36 will be read. More than 5% of the book submitted. Considering that the submissions were open and free, I think that it's a good %.
no subject
Date: 2009-10-20 01:13 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-10-20 01:14 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-10-20 02:55 pm (UTC)Sometimes it's nicer to see the world through rose-colored glass, so I share in that with you.
no subject
Date: 2009-10-20 03:22 pm (UTC)You are know 10 in the Historical Category. Yes, probably you will not be the winner for that category, but Rowena, there were 55 books in that category, and you did better than 45 books! And before you there are authors like Alex Beecroft and Erastes, historical romance authors plenty known and loved... I think your result is pretty good.
What I tried to do is to give a window to ALL the authors, even the newbie.
Elisa
no subject
Date: 2009-10-20 10:37 pm (UTC)I really feel as though you HAVE given a window to everyone, and I'm blessed to have been included in the first place, so I thank you for that.
no subject
Date: 2009-10-21 07:32 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-10-21 02:42 pm (UTC)I am attempting a contemporary story now, but I've hung up on one part of it. In the mean time, the sequel to The King's Tale keeps trying to write itself in my head when I am trying to sleep. :)
no subject
Date: 2009-10-20 06:10 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-10-20 06:14 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-10-20 06:47 pm (UTC)As for asking for votes... I know many excellent writers who are very modest about asking for votes and not very good at self-promotion. And I have seen many writers who are adequate at best doing well because they promote much better than they write. But this is often the case in politics, as well.
I prefer the system used by Epic and Lambda -- books nominated by writers and publishers, and judging done by those who read the books. Running a "people's choice" category would balance it.
On the other hand, yes, this IS the first time for this contest, and first attempts are seldom perfect. I'm sure there are things you could have done better or might do differently next time, but the fact that you're doing it at all is FANTASTIC.
no subject
Date: 2009-10-20 06:50 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-10-20 08:52 pm (UTC)