Tuesday, January 13, 2009

Catching Our Breath!

Okay, that was quite a ride!

I never expected the submissions to fill up in three hours. You were all just straining at the starting line, weren't you? Wow.

There seemed to be quite a bit of angst, too, over getting your confirmation emails. For future reference: I do not have an auto-responder set up. I respond personally to each submission. In the past, I've gone through the responses and sent the confirmations, then created posts later. This time, in order to streamline, I decided to respond as I created the posts, so that I wouldn't have to go back through the entire list a second time. As a result, my response time was slower.

Also as a result, a lot of you assumed your original submission hadn't arrived, and so you re-sent. And that made things a tad more confusing. Especially since I was desperately trying to keep up with the count, since it was filling so fast. I didn't realize that some were duplicates.

(Okay, disclaimer: Perhaps I am Easily Confused. It's a distinct possibility.)

Also, G-mail has an interesting way of stacking emails from the same address. So some of you, in re-sending, ended up pushing your original submission to the back of the queue. Which made your response time even longer.

Rest assured that I'm going to keep working to streamline things! But in the meantime, please take a deep breath before you re-submit something. Because, unless your original email bounced back to you, the likelihood is high that I have, indeed, received it.

The email address for our contests is ALWAYS facelesswords(at)gmail.com.

At any rate, the entries will be posted tomorrow morning beginning at 10:00 am EST. Critting can begin immediately, and can continue through the weekend. Our winners -- and our Secret Agent's identity -- will be posted on Monday the 19th.

Okay, I think that about covers it. THANK YOU SO MUCH for your enthusiasm! As always, there's some great writing in the bag.

What an amazing group you are. I do mean that.

20 comments:

  1. Thank you for your hard work (and patience with us). I can't wait to read all of the entries.

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  2. I think you've got lots of children's writers who read your site. I've been waiting for an agent who takes MG. Thanks again. It's such an unbelievable opportunity.

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  3. I'll be waiting to read the entries!

    Good luck everyone!

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  4. I'm looking forward to seeing what everyone else entered. Thanks so much for hosting such a wonderful contest and for giving an update on when things are going to get started and when they're ending!

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  5. Can't wait to read all the entries. I'll be running (literally) home after I drop my daughter off at preschool so I can start reading.

    Good luck everyone! Hope you learn lots. I know I did last time.

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  6. I finally got home from hospital! Can't wait to begin reading and commenting, although I'll be slow.

    Thanks so much for all you do.

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  7. Thank you for your hard work -- I can't wait to read the submissions. You are an amazing asset to our industry!

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  8. I'm very excited! I love all the different works. And welcome home Sissy. How are you feeling? Well I hope.
    Thanks Authoress for all the help you lend us!

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  9. Since this is the first time I have done this (thanks to my sister) I'm not certain what the next step is. Will I get an e-mail with instructions for any actions required on my part?

    Thanks.

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  10. Next step: All entries will be posted on the blog tomorrow morning. Then the crit fest begins! All entrants are requested to leave a minimum of 5 critiques for others. And anyone can crit, whether or not you've entered the contest.

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  11. Thanks again for your hard work! Looking forward to reading....

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  12. Thanks for your efforts. I'm afraid I was the panicky fool who may have started the whole confirmation issue! Sorry.

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  13. No worries, John! Rest assured you didn't "start" anything. I think we've just experienced a hot rush of enthusiasm, 'tis all. :)

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  14. Thank You for all your efforts, Authoress.

    Certainly, everyone was awaiting this opportunity. We're so grateful you have set it up for us.

    The feedback we get here is wonderful, not to mention the fact that an agent is reading our work as well.

    Thank you again.

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  15. Thank you for hosting this literary brou-haha. I'm looking forward to participating.

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  16. Thank you for doing this! We appriciate your hard work. I can;t wait to read everyone's stuff.

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  17. I'll add in my thanks, too!

    And I'll do my crits, but we're down to just my husband's laptop (which he takes to work! AHHHH!), so I may be posting a bit later than I'd like.

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  18. Wow! This is exciting. I'm looking forward to reading and commenting on other the entries.

    Thank you so much, Authoress, we all appreciate what you're doing.

    Thank you to the secret agent too. This is a great opportunity for us all.

    I'm so glad you made it on time, Sissy.

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