  Contests & Activities
This week: Premium Contests and Activities Edited by: Leger~  
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The purpose of this newsletter is to highlight some of the current contests and activities on the site, help educate members on how to host contests and activities, and provide clues to submit quality entries to contests. Write to me if you'd like something in particular covered.
This week's Contests and Activities Editor
Leger~
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| ASIN: B01IEVJVAG |
Product Type: Kindle Store
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Amazon's Price: $ 9.99
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What makes a premium contest or popular activity?
 Contests should be challenging! If it only takes five minutes for a member to enter, did they really earn the prize? Challenging doesn't always mean complicated. It can mean the contestant has to try hard to win a prize.
Rules should be simple and easy to understand. If you have more than ten rules and each rule has more than twenty words, you've lost your contestants. Simple, concise rules make the contest easier to enter AND to judge.
Keep your format simple. Too many bells and whistles confuse the contestant. Limit the amount of images and emoticons used. 
"I don't know what kind of contest to do!" Look around the site. Try to think of a twist that would make your contest unique. I haven't seen a contest or activity based on a crossword or wordsearch item. Couldn't the clues/questions be the basis for a contest?
Prizes - the elusive winner's circle. Estimate how many members will actually enter your contest. Would a few large prizes be more enticing? Or would lots of smaller ones bring entrants?
You, as the contest host, must always abide by the rules. If the deadline is at midnight, 12:01am is NOT okay. If you're firm, there will be no squabbles about the rules.
Hosts must live up to their promises! Judge fairly, on time, and award all prizes promised. Don't offer GPs you don't have, or reviews you'll never do. This makes for a shady contest and bitter entrants.
This month's question: Which do you think is more attractive - a big main prize or a few smaller prizes? Send in your answer below!  Editors love feedback!
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Excerpt: Writing literary nonsense is not as easy as you might think. Can you write a poem with the perfect blend of nonsense words and proper English to make it sound believable?
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Go to the grocery Store and buy what you want. When you come back, post it and pay your GP's. Then build your Hoagie and write about it.
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Welcome to the Burst of Imagination Contest! For this monthly contest, I will have a prompt, sometimes a picture prompt, other times just a written prompt. Either way, the goal is for you to see the prompt and then imagine a story. The contest runs from the fifteenth of the month to the fifteenth of the next month. Second round starts March 15 and runs till April 15.
Simply write your query letter following the instructions and enter today!
The hope and aim of this auction is to generate GP's to fund our Newbie projects here on WDC.
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A new interactive story! "Sara awakens in an Oubliette. A dark, dank room littered with junk. There is no natural light and no way out. What will happen to Sara?"
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Excerpt: Welcome! The whole purpose of this raffle is to raise much needed funds for " Need Help With An Upgrade???" which helps members to obtain and/or maintain an Upgraded Membership.
Excerpt: WHO has THE BEST BIO-BLOCK on Writing.Com?
I finished the puzzle in 4:28, can you beat my score?
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Test your knowledge! |
Have an opinion on what you've read here today? Then send the Editor feedback! Find an item that you think would be perfect for showcasing here? Submit it for consideration in the newsletter!
https://www.Writing.Com/go/nl_form
Don't forget to support our sponsor!
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Product Type: Kindle Store
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Amazon's Price: $ 5.99
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This month's question: Which do you think is more attractive - a big main prize or a few smaller prizes?
Last month's question: What do you see as a common problem with contest entries?
Itchy Water~fictionandverse  replied: There are several things I can think of that appear to be common problems with contest entries, at least for my poetry contest. First and foremost, the entrant fails to double check their entry. The entry may contain spelling and grammatical errors, or if following a prompt of a specific format, the entry may contain errors with syllable count or rhyme. I suppose this could be a matter of reading the prompts more closely. Next, the simple procedure of reading and abiding by the contest rules appears to be a problem for some. One problem appears to be the {b-item} rule. I always try to help the entrant with this if they struggled entering it in. There are many more mistakes to be made,but I believe these to be the ones made the most.
rubai responded: In answer to your question: Most contest entrants submit an entry and then just forget about it (unless they receive an an email saying they won or something). I agree with you. Jotting down the closing date and a courtsey note before closing is a great idea. Reviewing other entries is also a good idea. This way you learn a lot from a contest.
Diane  answered: I find that not following the posted rules and/or neglecting to edit and polish an entry prior to submission are the most common problems with contest entries.
BIG BAD WOLF is Howling  sent: Sometimes a person forgets that they entered an item in a contest, and edit it after the "Do Not Edit" Deadline, thus disqualifying them. Me, I put items that are currently in a contest in a special folder that says, "Don't Edit until the Contest is Over." Sometimes that can be quite a while.
Good idea!
NaNoNette  adds: As a contestant, my problem is that I see so many contests I would really like to write for, but the deadline flies right past me before I came up with something I dare to show. As somebody who sometimes runs contests, I find it hard to deal with contestants who don't acknowledge reviews or prizes they received. Burns me out over time.
Dawn Embers  says: Excellent newsletter! Some great points also that I hope people follow when entering contests. I always forget about the posting in the item when it wins. Need to work on that. Thanks for the reminder.
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| ASIN: B0CJKJMTPD |
Product Type: Kindle Store
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Amazon's Price: $ 4.99
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Contests & Activities: March 28, 2012 Issue [#4957]
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