NO! Do not discourage yourself! I really enjoyed your story! I WANT TO SEE THE END OF IT.
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Thatâs a brilliant idea, actually!
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It feels like we have to beg for reads!
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But that also doesnât always work, either. Sometimes âpopularâ authors actually donât get that many reads on their contest entries.
Plus sometimes authors are followed on IG because of their editing skills and not their stories.
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It would be amazing wouldnât it! No names or fancy covers, literally just a blank cover only with the name of the story on it. I think people would be amazed by the stories they would find and how good they are when they arenât just reading it because of whoâs written it or has a pretty cover.
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I love that idea!
I guess theyâd also need to ban IG promotion as well? Or the author could just be like âHey guys, make sure you read this story.â
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I had the exact same idea about IG⊠HmmâŠ
I believe, if they created a section with each contest that would only last until the contest is over and the shelf is released where entries could choose it as their category (instead of romance, fantasy e.t.c), then there is no need for self promotion as people could just scroll through and read. It could be a peoples vote too as Episode could add a feature (similar to the star rating) where by which the reader votes for the story.
^ If Episode did that, then self promotion wouldnât be needed and entries would be judged purely by talent.
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Thank you very much! Please, share this petition with everyone!
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That would still not exclude IG self-promotion, although in itself the idea is brilliant. We just need to refine it a bit to make it perfect.
Itâs true, but that already sounds a bit more fair to me. Maybe not perfect but still⊠I believe that Episode themselves should also contribute with their own solution as so far we are just loosing way too much talent.
I understand there would be a problem with IG. Maybe if you are caught self promoting, your story is removed from participating? Iâm not sure.
I can only think with my idea, if you feel the need to self promote then do you have faith in your story? As people would only see a plain cover and not your name. Hopefully Episode see the idea and come up with a more shaped system to put in place.
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Yes, that might be a way out. Then when submitting a contest entry you would also need to submit your IG so that Episode can track you. Although it just might be difficult for them to track everyoneâŠ
On the other hand they are still a huge corporation, so why notâŠ
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And youâd somehow have to shut all your friends up too lol. Otherwise, even if youâre not promoting, if youâre a popular author with popular friends, they could promote on your behalf 
I like the idea though, Iâm just not completely sure how it would work. I guess all trace of the authors IG would also need to be removed in the story?
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What Iâd like to know is how much of the score is determined based on reader retention and how much is determined based on the rubric score. I mean, Episode do actually read all the stories (or at least the first episode I believe), so itâs not just a popularity contest. But I donât know how important the retention is when compared to the rubric score. Iâd imagine itâs 50/50 but I donât actually know.
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Yes, definitely, no IG whatsoever
Lmao, first of all, Episode needs to stop this âcalculatingâ stuff. If ya donât know what it is;
-Basically that means âOh honey, we were going to choose your story, but it has cuss words so we are scared that our young audience might be influnced by this!â Despite all the teen-pregnancy stories.
After itâs removed, we can have 10 to 15 people on the shelf, yep out of over 300 people that still isnât fair but anyways.
Then they can split it into two sections like Alex said, even though this will cause problems, itâs still BETTER than the one they have right now, which is totally, unfair.
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I also wonder if Episode could actually let us see the storiesâ retention rates, that would definitely be more helpful and make the whole judging more transparent.
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Can I just point out that I havenât completely planned out my idea? It was just a good thought that popped into my head as I was reading the original post.
I wish there was a way to make it a perfect idea but sadly, nothing perfect. It would just be nice if there was a way that everyone started off on an even playing field without the follower attachment.
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I know people whose stories were suspended a week or so before the contest winners were announced (for things like swearing). They fixed their stories then when the winners were announced, they were on the shelf.
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