I really appreciate your response for number 8, because you make a good points, that it should be based off of the stories that blow them away, rather than hitting a ‘mark’ of stories that should be on the shelf.
Do you think that it’s possible to write a hero / villain story with a focus on romance? what about horror?
I am happy that I asked number five, because it’s defs feeling that is felt with authors new & old. Speaking of stories they pick, Back during some old Contest, I called out some of the winners because they broke the contests’s rules — I may have been a bit harsh I completely agree that some stories that are on the shelf at times, make me just go like, ¯_(ツ)_/¯
Want to give an example of a scene in an entry that just blew you away?
I feel that even if big authors have the advantage of a fan base who will read all their chapters, they also have the disadvantage of too much visibility.
Being easier to find on the app means more reads, but it also means more readers deciding your story isn’t for them, quitting part way through, and lowering reader retention.
I actually thought the same thing. And I’ve often wondered if people might sabotage each other. If it’s as simple as starting a story, and exiting it… It’s horrible to say, but still possible
Admittedly, I’ve read only the first chapter of a few stories and never finished them, but not like… with the intention of giving myself a leg up in the contest. I’ve also read a lot all the way through too, though!
That’s right, but I think it’s definitely an advantage for them if their story is good. Let’s say story A has only 10 reads because it’s hard to find and story B (written by a popular author) has 10.000. Both stories are well written so there is a good chance that many people who started, will continue reading them. There is only 1 reader who quits story A, which makes 90% reader retention, but the other author can lose 1000 readers and will still have the same retention rate. (I know that the number of reads is not equal to the number of readers, but let’s pretend we are calculating only with 1 episode.)
1- They felt that they could use their creativity to create a story which fitted the theme.
2- It’s quite a popular theme - of course there’s movies about Spiderman, Batman, and all those heroes but also a lot of popular author’s Star Power entries were superhero-based too.
3/3a- I haven’t had the chance to read many, but I’ve seen lots of screenshots where you are the hero.
4- I don’t think so, the rules said it can be anything which is considered “heroic” or “villainous” - most stories featured typical heroes with powers, but a few had stories about good/bad in communities, which I find creative and amazing!
5- Definitely, but this is always the same for every contest. They have more followers on platforms such as Instagram or Twitter so their story can be more ‘advertised’.
6/6a- Hmm. I don’t think there’s any particular genre for this. Some are action stories, whereas others were romances. And comedies, and dramas, and yeah not a particular genre.
7- No, as I haven’t read any stories yet XD
8/8a- I think there’ll be 6. There should definitely be more. Maybe half of the stories should be from authors with 5K+ reads and the other half authors with 4999 or less reads.
Sometimes even if a story is good, people will quit if it’s not “their thing”, but yeah, you’re right. If story has very, very few reads, then they’re at a pretty big disadvantage. I was thinking more about writers with reads in the hundreds+, rather than the tens.
Oh my God, I’ve never thought of that… People can’t be THAT disgusting right?
I would hope not
Yeah, that’s exactly what I wanted to point out: a story with a very fews reads has no chance because it won’t attract new readers at all. If you manage to gain a couple hundreds of reads, I agree you will have the chance to get selected even over the famous authors.
I had planned to sabotage a story once, got lazy and they didn’t win anyway so it was all good. I think it was that story mentioned above which the story already had like 40k reads xd
That’s an interesting take - using read amount to make the split.
Why havent you read any stories yet? (I’m in the same boat as you, as i haven’t read any either / maybe one actually?)
Omg I’ve never heard of entries breaking the rules. 
That’s crazy! I’m not gonna lie… that would tick me off a little as well.
And hmm… I know everyone is talking about Blurred Lines but one of my favorite scenes was in The Stolen Child when the main character was reading the Irish myth, Children of Lir, (Which is actually one of my all time favorite Irish myths) and showed when one the daughters was turned from a human into a swan. It was honestly just beautiful and stunning to me!
That’s hilarious! I suppose you’d really need strength in numbers if you were really trying to take someone down, especially if their story was actually worthy
If it’s the story I’m thinking of, I don’t think you needed to sabotage it anyway lol. The stories are judged on both reader retention and rubric score and I feel like it wouldn’t have performed that well in the latter.
What kind of rules have you seen be broken?
I think it was Spring Break, or Spring Fling – (It’s the one Stardom won)? Which the story needed to be completed by 5 episodes. (Completed like COMPLETED - The End) but the directing winner and I think two more on the shelf didn’t finish. Looking back, I should of brought it up more maturely, rather than starting a mini - war on that post.
Oh yeah! I read that story not too long ago expecting it to be complete (since in the contest shelf the description says the stories are short and completed) and was super confused lol. I wondered if maybe the author had changed it after the contest but I guess not 
I haven’t read any stories because my phone broke 
That scene stuck in my head too! Loved the splash. It was so beautifully done 