Questions about Episode Writing Contests

[Lxyi]

So I want to participate in some writing contests on Episode and I’m aware that the recent one (heroic) just finished (congrats!!) but I’m still kind of confused about these contests!

1. Who starts them and how do people know about it? Is it random people on the forums or the episode team themselves?
2. How do you know you have won?
3. Are there special things to be taken note of?
4. How do you “submit” it? Do you just publish it and the people will scroll through all stories under this contest, read it and think “Oh this is a nice story” and it’s the contest winner?
5. Do you get a “prize” or anything, or is it just your story will be featured for some time under contest winners page?
6. How do you tell from a just-for-fun writing contest and “real” “official” contests?
   (I’m just curious because I’m new to this sort of thing, sorry if the questions are “dumb” because I can’t find the information anywhere! [spoiler]I’m not trying to win or get a prize or anything either…/spoiler] )

Thank you!

[AlexandraD]

@Lxyi

Who starts them and how do people know about it? Is it random people on the forums or the episode team themselves?

Episode. There’s a whole thread dedicated to them Contests - Episode Forums

@Lxyi

How do you know you have won?

You usually get an email saying that your contest story is being considered to be featured and if you make it you get an email congratulating you and tagged in posts on Instagram and the Forums usually.

@Lxyi

How do you “submit” it? Do you just publish it and the people will scroll through all stories under this contest, read it and think “Oh this is a nice story” and it’s the contest winner?

There are always rules to contests. Take a look at the link above.

1. Winners are determined based on the highest levels of reader engagement , rubric score and fit to contest theme. Check out our Episode Explained articles on Creator’s Contests , the Grading Rubric and Reader Retention for more info on how they all work. As well, we recommend using keywords to your advantage, to help interested readers find your story quickly! For more information on how best to use Episode keywords, check this article out !

@Lxyi

Do you get a “prize” or anything, or is it just your story will be featured for some time under contest winners page?

Your prize is your story being on a very long shelf thus you as an author get more reads/publicity from Episode. And a chance to become a commissioned author to Episode. See:

Episode Explained: Commissions Program

Hello Episodians, It’s time for a new installment of Episode Explained! In this article, we’ll be explaining a new source of Episode content and what we are looking for in authors who might want to participate. This article will cover both Commissioned Stories and Commissioned Authors. What is a Commissioned Story? Commissioned Stories are the new Featured Stories. In the second half of 2021, we began releasing new & original stories written by community authors. These new stories had not bee…

@Lxyi

How do you tell from a just-for-fun writing contest and “real” “official” contests?

I’ve never seen a just-for-fun writing contest happening. It’s always from episode.

@Lxyi

Thank you!

You are welcome <3

[Lxyi]

That really helps, thanks again!
Last question, how often do they have contests? Once a year or a few months or…?

[lanafrazer_episode]

@Lxyi

how often do they have contests? Once a year or a few months or…?

every year, I suppose.

[Lxyi]

Okay thanks

[Episode_Rayna]

Episode tend to host writers contests multiple times per year! There’s usually about 3 or 4. [One every few months, but lately they’ve been running out of ideas… so it’s taken longer for them to give us new contests! I think this year they may still manage to push 4… but we’ll see!]

@Lxyi

Last question, how often do they have contests? Once a year or a few months or…?

[Lxyi]

Cool, so we can expect at least a few more this year, right?

[Episode_Rayna]

Definitely one more at least, yes!
[Two more at a push, since Episode are struggling for new ideas lately.]

[Lxyi]

Yay, thanks!