Comments to the Website

Hi, all.

This is Eric your friendly neighborhood webmaster with a note regarding the comments to the WV Writers website.

When we began the WordPress version of the WV Writers website back in 2012, we made it possible for visitors to the site to leave comments on each of our site's pages and also blog posts.  Our intention in this was to allow people leave comments on a particular piece of news or add their two cents to any discussions that might be going on.  However, what the comments have primarily been used for is to ask questions to the organization regarding the annual writing contest or annual writing conferences or just any issue that might come up.  As webaster, when I've seen a question come through in the comments about something specific (contest, conference, membership, etc.) I've tried to act as the WVW switchboard and forward the question on to the appropriate officer or staff person in charge of it (contest coordinator, president, secretary, etc.).   The problem is, while the site's comment settings have been set to email the webmaster (me) each time a comment is left, those emails don't always seem to reach me (because Gmail).  And then we have situations, like today, when I visited the site to find 234 comments waiting for me with questions that required answers some weeks back, if not months, but which I've never seen forwarded to me in email, because Gmail decided they were Social media posts and filed them there where I'll never see them.  That, I think we can all agree, is no good.

The comments were never intended as a method of correspondence.  Correspondence should always be sent to someone on the WVW board of directors or to the staff member in charge of answering it (in the case of the contest), which is why we provide email addresses for the officers on the Officers and Staff page, and on the contest page itself.

As the current comment system is not working the way it was intended and is actually causing more problems than it's solving, I'm officially disabling it as of today.  I would much rather those of you with questions get them answered in a timely fashion than not, so removing the comments removes a faulty method of communication.

If you have correspondence with WV Writers or any of its officers, please visit the Officers and Staff page to find the appropriate email, or simply email westvirginiawriters@gmail.com.  If you wish to discuss things regarding the organization, I invite you to visit our WVW Facebook group page and do so there.

Thank you.

--eric fritzius (webmaster)

WV Writers Contest F.A.Q. #50

Continuing the series of Frequently Asked Questions about the West Virginia Writers, Inc., Annual Writing Competitions.  To see all of the questions, please click HERE.

Question: Hello is there a way to read the winners stories for the past years?

Answer:  Technically, yes, but probably not in the way most folks expect. Some of the winning entries from 1977-2008 have been published in five separate collections. These were done on a piece by piece basis, since WVW retains no rights to publication of the winning pieces, so even the collections do not contain ALL contest winners, but only a majority of them. The last such volume, Seeking the Swan, was published in 2008. (You can find these listed on Amazon. If you attend a WVW Summer Conference, I feel certain we can find a copy of it for you, and possibly most of the others.)

We have not published such a volume in the last 10 years, but have talked about possibly doing an online publication.

WV Writers Contest F.A.Q. #49

Continuing the series of Frequently Asked Questions about the West Virginia Writers, Inc., Annual Writing Competitions.  To see all of the questions, please click HERE.

QUESTION: I have a student interested in entering the Middle Grades Books/Young Adult Book contest, and is curious about whether she can submit a payment online or if she needs to send in a check?

ANSWER:  She can submit a payment online if she is entering via our online submission service Submittable. It’s an easy way to upload the submission and pay all at the same time. You can find the link to it at https://westvirginiawriters.submittable.com/submit. Otherwise you can submit a check along with the manuscript and contest entry form, via U.S. mail, with the 7.

WV Writers Contest F.A.Q. #48

Continuing the series of Frequently Asked Questions about the West Virginia Writers, Inc., Annual Writing Competitions.  To see all of the questions, please click HERE.

QUESTION:  Your contest rules state that entries should be stapled or paperclipped. With the stage play category, which accepts up to a 30-page sample, are writers able to submit a script that's conventionally bound, using metal brads to fasten three-hole-punched pages at top and bottom? Please let me know if the readers have a preference.

ANSWER:  The binding you write of would be just fine.  The WVW contest rules used to be real picky about the binding on stage plays and screenplays, but larger manuscripts definitely need a bit more to them than a staple or a paperclip.  (In 2013, we received a full length screenplay sandwiched between two 8.5" x 11" planks of plywood and that clued us in to what might have caused binding problems in the past.  These days, brads or a slim clear document holder are happily accepted.

 

WV Writers Contest F.A.Q. #47

Continuing the series of Frequently Asked Questions about the West Virginia Writers, Inc., Annual Writing Competitions.  To see all of the questions, please click HERE.

QUESTION:  I just received the information about the New Mountain Voices writing contest.  Can homeschool children participate?

ANSWER:  Absolutely.  We like home school as well as away-from-home school.

WV Writers Contest F.A.Q. #45

Continuing the series of Frequently Asked Questions about the West Virginia Writers, Inc., Annual Writing Competitions.  To see all of the questions, please click HERE.

QUESTION:  Regarding the Social Change (Pearl S. Buck Award), would it be appropriate to include a photo I took with a story?

ANSWER:  A photo would probably be fine to include provided it does not include images that could lead the judge to be able to identify you the author. So you should definitely not appear within it, nor, probably should anyone in your family. Chances aren't high that the judge would know anyone, but because the contest is blindly judged we like to remove all possibilities of that happening.

 

WV Writers Contest F.A.Q. #43

Continuing the series of Frequently Asked Questions about the West Virginia Writers, Inc., Annual Writing Competitions.  To see all of the questions, please click HERE.

QUESTION: I was planning on entering into your student writing contest, but I have a quick question. The guidelines say that we can enter three pieces but I was just wondering if we could submit three entries for one prompt? For example, can I enter three stories that are all my own original stories?

ANSWER:  Yes, indeed!  Feel free to submit three original pieces even if they have nothing to do with the prompts we provide.  We're just interested in the best writing, not if people use our prompts. Just be sure to get them in soon, because our first deadline is March 15.  After that we charge $1 per entry as a late fee.

 

WV Writers Contest F.A.Q. #42

Continuing the series of Frequently Asked Questions about the West Virginia Writers, Inc., Annual Writing Competitions.  To see all of the questions, please click HERE.

QUESTION:  I won 1st Place last year in Emerging Writer's Poetry.  Can I submit to Emerging Writer's Prose this year?

ANSWER:  I'm afraid not.  Once you've won a cash prize in any WV Writers contest category, you have officially emerged and the Emerging Writers categories are forever off limits.

WV Writers Contest F.A.Q. #41

Continuing the series of Frequently Asked Questions about the West Virginia Writers, Inc., Annual Writing Competitions.  To see all of the questions, please click HERE.

QUESTION:  Is photography considered “artwork”. I want to make sure that if I submit photos within my stories, it won’t be disqualified.

ANSWER:  Photography would be considered artwork and would qualify if included.

WV Writers Contest F.A.Q. #44

Continuing the series of Frequently Asked Questions about the West Virginia Writers, Inc., Annual Writing Competitions.  To see all of the questions, please click HERE.

QUESTION: I hope to send a poem for the contest previously published, but now I have added
a new, substantial quote below the title, before the poem starts. Is this permissible?

ANSWER:  I'm afraid if the poem has been previously published it would not qualify for the contest, even with an added quote.