So I did some research into things on whether contest reads count before or after the deadline. And I have an answer, but it depends on how you look at things. My answer is yes to both. I looked through some things by searching posts by a staff member until I came upon this.
This explains a little about how they test reader retention. After the deadline passes, a phase of testing happens for entries that earned 100 reads in the same amount of time. They look through how well each story that hits the minimum of 100 reads does over the same constant time period to make things fair. If your story has high enough retention and 100 reads, you reach the final stage of evaluation for whether or not you’ll get on the shelf. That’s where the rubric comes in as well as if your story fits the contest theme and the guidelines. So your reads matter after the deadline, so it should only be that, right? Not entirely.
GoldenWaves first asked about reads counting in this post picture below. So, that started the idea of your reads throughout the contest period counting to your 100 read requirement in order to have your retention checked.
People wanted confirmation to make sure the information was true, so Charlotte asked (pictured below).
So your reads gathered count to your 100 read requirement. If you look at what Liz said, they said after the period of retention testing, they pull the numbers for stories that have earned at least 100 reads in that same time period. This means they pull the reader retention data of stories with 100+ reads to help narrow down the selection of stories they need to evaluate with the rubric and guidelines. If you have a high enough rate of returning readers, then you move on.
You could say your reads matter before and after the contest deadline.
This goes into detail about how they measure it. Just because a story with a lot of reads has a lot of reads doesn’t mean it’ll move on if it doesn’t have a good enough retention rate. Unless something’s changed in the system, here’s how I think it works.
You publish your story, and if you get 100 reads by the time they do retention testing, then you’ll have your story’s data get pulled for examination. They look over the retention numbers during the same amount of time to make things fair and see if readers are interested in the story. Here’s a quote from the same thread under the level of reader retention they’re looking for that shows what they’re looking for.
“We like stories to keep about ⅔ of readers by then end of Chapter 1, ½ by the end of Chapter 2 and about ⅓ by the end of Chapter 3.”
So you need around at least 66% of readers to stay on your story by episode 1, keep 50% by episode 2, and 33% by episode 3. If you’re able to do that, congratulations! You’ll be entering the final stage of evaluation.
That was my interpretation, but I’d advise you to ask the support team yourself if you’re confused over the contest judgement. Don’t be discouraged because you still have time. You can still promote, do R4Rs, and more after the deadline hits.
Based on what I found, I would say reads matter before and after the contest. I say before because your reads contribute to the 100 read requirement and after is for the judgement period as well as contributing to the 100 reads too.