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 Contests & Activities: February 05, 2025 Issue [#12966] |
 This week: It's Been Fun! Edited by: spidey   More Newsletters By This Editor    1. About this Newsletter 2. A Word from our Sponsor 3. Letter from the Editor 4. Editor's Picks 5. A Word from Writing.Com 6. Ask & Answer 7. Removal instructions   
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If you haven't hosted a contest or activity before, you can at least take a guess as to how much time and effort it's going to take you. And maybe add a bit more to your plan. Make sure you have the time it's going to take to create your contest, exposure time for people to find it, time to promote it, then time to hold the contest, judge the entries, and award prizes. It takes a lot of time, more than you might think!
Be flexible! Often the plan doesn't stick or things pop up to ruin your carefully laid plan. It helps to be flexible and able to adapt to things that pop up.
Advertise! One of the hardest parts of hosting a contest is attracting participants. Sometimes it feels like there are so many activities going on, it can be hard to stand out. Add a link to your contest to reviews and your signatures. Don't spam people with cold-messages, but you can have the name/item number in your handle and communications, post in blogs or in your newsfeed, on the many plug pages that are on the site.
Be grateful! One way to show your thanks to participants is to give a detailed review of their entry. I'm a firm believer in reviewing every entry. It shows participants that you read and thought about their work, it gives them very valuable feedback on their writing, and if it's public, it also gives them more exposure! (Plus, there are many, many benefits to you for reviewing!)
We've all been there. We've all had something disqualified because we didn't read the rules. (We all have, right? I know I have!) I guess it only takes it happening once to be vigilant about it not happening again. At least that was the case for me, so I want you all to learn from my mistake! 
