It's not that I don't sympathise, I do. I've been in exactly the same situation as you, so I know what pressures this forum's staff are under. But it can't hurt to get some feedback and ideas, even if they are unlikely to be implemented in the near future. You never know, the owner may just suddenly decide to blitz your to-do list and spend an extended time updating the site.
if that happens i will give you two hours to draw a crowd then kiss your arse on the steps of York town hall... I'm sure the spectacle will go down well with all the flying pigs, Gryphons, and Unicorns that will be in attendance
Daniel was last seen on Friday, so there's hope for arse-kissing in York yet. BTW - did the upgrade to XF2 happen? I saw mention of it in the Blogs but that was back in 2018.
How about just an occasional general reminder to the forum-at-large that the contests exist, and offer a good opportunity to work with deadlines and topics, and get more feedback.
the problem with that one is why would they? whats in it for them... a credible publisher already gets more submissions than they can handle so they don't need the publicity.. publishers (excepting vanities) point their advertising budgets at readers not writers A better option might be someone who points their adverstising budget at writers like querky writer, or scrivener etc, but tbh we arent a big enough deal to be worth their time we ran into the same issue with the hall of fame contest - it would be great to have real industry insiders judging, but the people anyone's actually heard of want paying because we don't offer sufficient prestige for them to do it free, and we don't have that kind of budget
we could create a sticky thread at the top of the lounge and general writing - but it would need regularly updating to say this contest is open, this ones open for votes etc and so forth... an already busy staff are likely to forget
I'm certainly not suggesting anyone is paid to do it. There may be charitable foundations, or perhaps a university that want to encourage new writers though. Something like this: https://societyofauthors.org/Grants/Grants-for-works-in-progress
The issue with sponsorship is a broad spectrum one that answers to the tune of control. Writingforum.org has never pursued a sponsor of any kind because sponsors don't sponsor without getting a say in your venue rules, venue content, etc. Even a temporary sich would likely only happen if our forum content conformed to whatever rules the sponsor feels are indispensable. What if we killed one of the sidebar widgets? I mean, twitter updates and status updates... do we really use either of those in a way that trumps having the contests in one of those slots instead? And if I'm not mistaken, the widget plugin allows for display areas outside of the sidebar, like in between the main nodes on the homepage. I used to use "boob threads" as advertisements for the contests, but those are a manual dynamic and anything manual is going to eventually go fallow. It needs to be automated as regards display. Just an idea...
the twitter account is deader than a dead dodo thats been run over by a truck - so that'd be the one to kill, if we can. The issue then becomes what do we put in its place and how do we keep it updated ?
If it worked the same way as New Posts widget but was limited to posts in the Monthly Contests subforum, it would automatically update.
This is one for @Komposten It sounds good in theory, but only he has keys to the wheelhouse (Daniel has the keys to the engine room - the rest of us are rearranging deckchairs and yelling holy shit an iceberg )
I just looked over the new member guide and saw the contest explanation. I would suggest that the language there be strengthened, to encourage people to use the contests as a work environment, to be sure their story is read and to get some idea of writing to an audience. Maybe a reminder that the more who participate the wider the range -- and encouraging people to read and vote even if they don't enter, because it's a good way to see other people's writing and to get ideas for your own style and technique. Just saying . . . .
Yeah you're right - that can go on the to do list along with all the competition FAQs, however iain is the main player on the staff team when it comes to competitions and hes on vaykay (real life not forum) at the minute so we'll leave that one til he gets back home
Yeah, making a stronger impression in the New Member Start guide is a great idea, @GrahamLewis . We'll await Iain's return from his overseas holiday, and get his input.
