I have a question which may seem a little odd but actually is probably quite a serious point. Which is simply, what if the judge is familiar with the entrant's work, even subscribes, and may even have read the story before on the entrant's Substack, etc. etc. (I noticed in the rules though that the story doesn't have to have been published on Substack, but just assuming it is/has been).
Fortunately this doesn't apply to me personally this round (of course I've heard of Scoot but we don't follow/subscribe to each other), but it has done in previous rounds and doubtless will again. My question really is about what sort of effect/influence this might have, even if we don't have identifying information on the story document submitted via the form.
Hey Evelyn, this is a great question and one we've had to consider in the past, especially when it was just me judging. I was familiar with about 85 percent of the authors who submitted. In a case where a story has already been read and the author is immediately known, a judge can seek the advice of the ambassador and/or Winston for additional feedback. Either one of us can rate it using the standard criteria:
- Genre suitability
- Mastery of storytelling
- Originality
- Editorial control
And then Scoot can take it from there in terms of how that matches up with the other stories read.
Thanks Brian. I thought that might be the case - the criteria are great for objectivity.
On another note, so far I've been very moral and not considered submitting an old story from when you were doing the Lunar Awards, and you gave me a succession of runner-ups. That would seem wrong, somehow!
I’ll check with Brian and Winston if theres a more formal process, but if I recognize a piece of writing i’ll tell them and ask them to rate it. The trouble with choosing community judges is that the judge is…well, in the community.
If i don’t recognize a piece of writing, theres no other way to tell who may be the author. There’s a bit of an honor system which may not come as much of a consolation, but for my part I am determined to find some new and original fiction, some undiscovered but deserving writer, and elevate them with the recognition they deserve.
I appreciate you asking, its honestly not a problem I’d thought about but I do poke around beyond my subscriptions and its totally possible I might recognize something. Better to be aware of it and have a plan NOW than be caught by surprise.
I have a short story I'd like to submit, but I am not publishing it on Substack until next week, so after the submission deadline. Would it be ok if I leave the link section blank for now and just upload the pdf of the story? Thank you - Jacob
Hi Jacob, so long as it's published before the end of the judging period, I think that's fine. If you paste a link to your Substack home page it should allow you to submit the form.
Hey Nick, most of the stories come in with names attached and we basically leave it up to the authors at this point how anonymous they want to remain. We've had some discussions internally about this, and decided it's best to respect the author's wishes during judging, but it’s not critical for fairness.
Only one submission is allowed per round. Regardless of your standing, we ask that you publish on your Substack at least before the judging period ends. That way we can link to your story.
I have a possibly dumb procedural question, and I assume the answer is 'no', but wanted to ask anyway. If you've submitted a story before to a previous round of "Lunar Awards" can it be submitted again, particularly if it blended two genres, such as being science fiction and say, fantasy, but was not chosen in a previous round? I have a story I submitted last year that was more sci-fi than horror, but it was sent under the horror genre. Just wondered.
Hi Rachael, not a dumb question at all! It's been asked before and asking is the right approach. We've decided to be fair to everyone (including the judges) that a story submitted to any genre round is not eligible to be submitted for any future genre round.
Brian, thank you so much for being really nice about my question! I couldn't remember and as you said, better to ask. Also, makes sense and seems like a fair thing.
Rats! I want to submit my story titled "Surrender" (2,900 words) but I cannot remember if I submitted it before! Do you by any chance keep a record of what has been submitted? Sorry for the nuisance... Sharron at Leaves.
Hey Sharron, I just checked and "Surrender" didn't come up as a title that has been submitted before. You should be good to submit. Let us know if you have any other questions. Thanks for your interest in the Lunar Awards.
Sorry - a question about format. I have my story ready to submit . It is in MAC PAGES. Is that the same as .docX? Do you know? I have it also in pdf, but it is a "locked" document. Can you use that? Or does it have to be editable? If I send you a file you cannot open, could you let me know so I can try something else? So sorry to be a nuisance. Truly! The tech side sometimes eludes me.
Hi Randall, I can only speak from my perspective, and Winston may feel differently. One reason I didn't try to add the Lunar Awards to Submission Grinder originally is because it's a requirement that submissions already be published on Substack. With other publications the idea is they don't want your work to be published and that's why you're submitting. The discussion comes up from time-to-time if we want to open up beyond Substack, but that's an endeavor in itself. We're more like the Hugo Awards or Nebula Awards in that regard.
Yeah, and while they do list some contests, there isn’t a separate category for them. Depending on the specific rules for the contest, there’s a note that sometimes gets attached, “does not qualify for a full listing.” It’s meant to call out exploitive contracts, but I can definitely see where its being misapplied could be detrimental to a good-faith effort that doesn’t fit in their box.
I have a question which may seem a little odd but actually is probably quite a serious point. Which is simply, what if the judge is familiar with the entrant's work, even subscribes, and may even have read the story before on the entrant's Substack, etc. etc. (I noticed in the rules though that the story doesn't have to have been published on Substack, but just assuming it is/has been).
Fortunately this doesn't apply to me personally this round (of course I've heard of Scoot but we don't follow/subscribe to each other), but it has done in previous rounds and doubtless will again. My question really is about what sort of effect/influence this might have, even if we don't have identifying information on the story document submitted via the form.
Hey Evelyn, this is a great question and one we've had to consider in the past, especially when it was just me judging. I was familiar with about 85 percent of the authors who submitted. In a case where a story has already been read and the author is immediately known, a judge can seek the advice of the ambassador and/or Winston for additional feedback. Either one of us can rate it using the standard criteria:
- Genre suitability
- Mastery of storytelling
- Originality
- Editorial control
And then Scoot can take it from there in terms of how that matches up with the other stories read.
Thanks Brian. I thought that might be the case - the criteria are great for objectivity.
On another note, so far I've been very moral and not considered submitting an old story from when you were doing the Lunar Awards, and you gave me a succession of runner-ups. That would seem wrong, somehow!
Also it motivates me to keep writing new stuff.
I’ll check with Brian and Winston if theres a more formal process, but if I recognize a piece of writing i’ll tell them and ask them to rate it. The trouble with choosing community judges is that the judge is…well, in the community.
If i don’t recognize a piece of writing, theres no other way to tell who may be the author. There’s a bit of an honor system which may not come as much of a consolation, but for my part I am determined to find some new and original fiction, some undiscovered but deserving writer, and elevate them with the recognition they deserve.
Cheers for that. The issue is probably not as much of a concern as one might think perhaps, because I'm sure we can trust judges to be objective!
I appreciate you asking, its honestly not a problem I’d thought about but I do poke around beyond my subscriptions and its totally possible I might recognize something. Better to be aware of it and have a plan NOW than be caught by surprise.
Lol. Yeah - be prepared! Scout's motto. Hmm...
IM IN!
although its not hot and fresh...its one i baked earlier.
Ready for Lunar Awards round three :) Best of luck everyone.
Hello,
I have a short story I'd like to submit, but I am not publishing it on Substack until next week, so after the submission deadline. Would it be ok if I leave the link section blank for now and just upload the pdf of the story? Thank you - Jacob
Hi Jacob, so long as it's published before the end of the judging period, I think that's fine. If you paste a link to your Substack home page it should allow you to submit the form.
Thank you
my story was posted way back but i refreshed it. i havent re posted it recently but i do like it. not as gloomy as i usually do hehehe
I thought I saw your name pop up 😁
you might have done…. 😉
Just submitted my short story "Daughter of Xephal".
Good luck everyone.
isnt it supposed to be anonymous…?
Hey Nick, most of the stories come in with names attached and we basically leave it up to the authors at this point how anonymous they want to remain. We've had some discussions internally about this, and decided it's best to respect the author's wishes during judging, but it’s not critical for fairness.
ok. i mean i don't mind at all, I was just wondering if declan knew or not.
Are you allowed more than one separate story?
If you end up not winning are you allowed to post your own story after the contest is finished and the winners are announced?
Only one submission is allowed per round. Regardless of your standing, we ask that you publish on your Substack at least before the judging period ends. That way we can link to your story.
Good excuse to revisit and revise an older story. Let's see how this goes.
I have a possibly dumb procedural question, and I assume the answer is 'no', but wanted to ask anyway. If you've submitted a story before to a previous round of "Lunar Awards" can it be submitted again, particularly if it blended two genres, such as being science fiction and say, fantasy, but was not chosen in a previous round? I have a story I submitted last year that was more sci-fi than horror, but it was sent under the horror genre. Just wondered.
Hi Rachael, not a dumb question at all! It's been asked before and asking is the right approach. We've decided to be fair to everyone (including the judges) that a story submitted to any genre round is not eligible to be submitted for any future genre round.
Brian, thank you so much for being really nice about my question! I couldn't remember and as you said, better to ask. Also, makes sense and seems like a fair thing.
Rats! I want to submit my story titled "Surrender" (2,900 words) but I cannot remember if I submitted it before! Do you by any chance keep a record of what has been submitted? Sorry for the nuisance... Sharron at Leaves.
Hey Sharron, I just checked and "Surrender" didn't come up as a title that has been submitted before. You should be good to submit. Let us know if you have any other questions. Thanks for your interest in the Lunar Awards.
Sorry - a question about format. I have my story ready to submit . It is in MAC PAGES. Is that the same as .docX? Do you know? I have it also in pdf, but it is a "locked" document. Can you use that? Or does it have to be editable? If I send you a file you cannot open, could you let me know so I can try something else? So sorry to be a nuisance. Truly! The tech side sometimes eludes me.
Hi Sharron, the PDF does not need to be editable, so we should be good. I'll shoot you an email if we can't open it 👍
Thank you, my hero!
Thanks so much, Winston. I will edit this piece ( for the 88th time) and get it off to you on a wing and a prayer. ha ha ha! Sharron at Leaves
Along that same line, I use Submission Grinder to track these things, but you all don't have an entry there... https://thegrinder.diabolicalplots.com/
Hi Randall, I can only speak from my perspective, and Winston may feel differently. One reason I didn't try to add the Lunar Awards to Submission Grinder originally is because it's a requirement that submissions already be published on Substack. With other publications the idea is they don't want your work to be published and that's why you're submitting. The discussion comes up from time-to-time if we want to open up beyond Substack, but that's an endeavor in itself. We're more like the Hugo Awards or Nebula Awards in that regard.
Yeah, and while they do list some contests, there isn’t a separate category for them. Depending on the specific rules for the contest, there’s a note that sometimes gets attached, “does not qualify for a full listing.” It’s meant to call out exploitive contracts, but I can definitely see where its being misapplied could be detrimental to a good-faith effort that doesn’t fit in their box.
Oh! Thank you, Randall. I will check it out!