Here I will post the official rules for the FPSSA that's under my supervision.

There are 13 categories.

There is no maximum to the amount of stories that can be nominated for one category.

I will have anywhere from 4-6 judges a season who are in charge of judging specific categories. These judges were picked according to their strengths in these areas.

You may nominate yourself, but only if you are sure that you deserve it.

To nominate, you must start your post with "I want to nominate:" then put the title in Bold and the author inItalics. Please Underline the category in which you are nominating the story.

Nominated stories must:

-- Be found under the Supernatural category on the main page on FictionPress.

-- Be well written. A story that is well-written has very little spelling, grammar, and punctuation mistakes, is written in a constant tense (either past or present), and uses proper capitalization.

-- Have an original plot. Any stories whose plot and/or characters parallel any story or movie will not be considered. This especially applies to stories that were “inspired” by the Twilight series.

-- Be well-developed. It must have interesting dialogue, believable characters

-- Be in English.

-- Not have already been a past winner for that category.

-- Not have already been a past nominee for that category unless the story has gone under serious reconstruction.

-- Have a title and a summary.

-- Be submitted under a category that applies to the story

If you are nominating or are a nominee please include your involvement or nomination either on your homepage or in your stories.

FAQ

What is up with the old FPSSA?

The old FPSSA is no longer in use. This site was created and is maintained by the new staff.

I want to nominate someone, what do I do?

There are rules. When nominating a story, remember that the author of that story MUST be aware of your nomination. When submitting a nomination, the title must be in bold and the author in italics. Include the link to the story in parenthesis. The category should be right after the title and author and be underlined. If a category is not included, the story will not be considered.

Who can I nominate?

Anyone you feel is deserving of an award for one or more of the categories. You can even nominate yourself.

Why do authors have to be aware that they've been nominated?

There are some risks connected with your story being highly publicized. One of them is having fanatics "imitate" a story. We are not responsible if such a case happens. We will, of course, try to bring that to everyone's attention and have them boycott the "imitated" story. We are not responsible for any flames resulting from our announcement.

What are the prizes?

Prizes are not set in stone yet. Possible prizes may consist of a Banner created specifically for your story and advertisement in the FPSSA Community as well on this website. Other prizes (non-monetary) may be offered and will most likely consist of publicizing the winning stories.

When are the awards announced?

August 8th, 2009

When is the last possible moment that I can nominate a story?

July 11, 2009 11:59 PM (Pacific Standard Time). Any story submitted after that will not be considered for this season of FPSSA.

What happens if I nominate a story for the wrong category?

You can recall your nomination from that category and nominate it for another. If you don’t, and the judges come to me with “I have a one-shot in Best Story that Never Seems To End” your story will be banned from that season of FPSSA, even if you weren’t the one to nominate your story for that category.

Can I take back my nomination?

Of course, but only if you’re the author of that story. Post in the thread letting everyone know, then PM the judge of that category letting them know as well.

Why can't I ask my readers to nominate me?

We allow you to nominate yourself, feeling that you are being fair and not just using this as an opportunity to "**" your story. But we feel that if your readers think your story deserves a nomination, they will take it upon themselves to nominate you. We are just trying to keep it fair.

Where do I vote?

You don’t. Each story is read by a judge selected specifically for their strength in that category. They will objectively judge each nomination.

I don’t see my story on the Nominations page on the FPSSA website. What’s wrong?

Please let me know if you can't find a story that you know was nominated.

When will nomination be open again after the awards are announced?

???

If I have a suggestion for the website/prizes/rules, who can I contact?

Me!

I want to nominate a story that is Slash. Does it get its own category?

No. It’s still falls under romance.

I want to nominate a story that is not complete, does that matter?

No, it is just judged against other stories that are not complete.

How can I be a judge?

Please contact me.

Can I put a link to the FPSSA website on my FP homepage?

I’d be insulted if you didn’t.

What if my question isn't on here?

Feel free to PM me with whatever questions you have.

Judging

I am always looking for judges, but please don't ask to be a judge in the middle of a season. I will be accepting judging requests between seasons and up until the end of the first week of the next season.

Judges must read every story in their category. They must also maintain in contact with me or at least one of the other judges. They must include the link to the FPSSA website and this forum on their homepage. After they have read and judged a story, they must put it in the correct format on the Judged Stories thread. They will each be in charge of two categories, excepting the Judge's Pick category, which I will judge.

As a judge, you may request a specific category, but it will ultimately be up to me to decide who will judge what. You may also request to forgo reading a specific type of story if it makes you uncomfortable, in which case I will read the story instead.

Judges are allowed to judge as many seasons as they want, but they must tell me of their decision to continue at the end of each season. If a judge wishes to judge the next season, then decides against it, they must tell me before the season starts or else they are not allowed to judge that season or the next.

To apply to be a judge, you must fill our a short application that is found on the FPSSA homepage.

Hey, serious question....Roughly how long do Judges usually have to spend on things for this project? I want to do it, but I need to know how much of my time it would take up, because I'm limited as it is. Just curious, in any case.

Thanks.

I guess that all depends on how fast you read and how many stories are nominated. omgitskandice reads incredibly fast where as I with mild dyslexia go pretty slow.

Okay, I am now officially accepting job offers.

Here's the link to the judging application: http://fpsupernaturalawards.webs.com/judgingapplication.htm

But we also need a Tech Representative. And just in case you're wondering, neither of those require a lot of reading!

Please visit the FPSSA website if you would like to know more. Positions can be found on the Staff page

Dates for Season Two have been announced!

Nomination Begins: February 14th

Nomination End: April 5th

Judging Process Begins: April 6th

Judging Ends:April 24th

Awards Announced: April 30th

The Awards are announced a week after to give some judges a little extra time if they need it, but mainly to sort through and confirm the information. We also don't want a repeat of this season where three of the banners weren't ready.

So, season one has come and gone, and I'll see you guys for season two, but don't be afraid to KIT until then. And watch the forums becuase I'll be sure to post updates often.

When nomination day comes how can we nominate? Do we send you a PM or do we write it here in this forum?

You nominate in the same way that you did last time except there will be a new thread for Season 2.

Can you nominate someone for multiple catergories or are you only aloud to nominate them for one?

Say if one story is short and has hardly any reviews can you still nominate it or does it have to be multi-chaptered and have heaps of reviews? Can you nominate yourself or is that against the rules? Sorry for all the questions...this is my first time up here.

One story can be nominated for multiple categories, but only if they apply, like you cannot nominate a story that has only one chapter for the "Story that never seems to end" category. Doing so, as I believe I said before, will disqualify that story.

Reviews play no part in nominations. You can have 600 or 0, it doesn't matter.

We take only stories that are constantly being updated. Stories that haven't been updated in years or are "spur of the moment" stories that have no intention of being updated are not preferred.

It doesn't have to have multiple chapters, but it must be long enough so that it can be judged properly. A story that is only, say, 1000 words won't have much to judge.

I believe in the first post, it explains that you are allowed to nominate yourself. But again, the same conditions apply as if you were nominating any other story.

No problem. That's what this thread if for. All questions are welcome.

-Kandice

What if the story I feel like nominating has very recently been completed and won't be updated because it's finished. Can I still nominate it?

Yup. Completed stories are allowed. If there are two versions of the story, please specify which story you've nominated.

I have a small question - is there a limit among the amount of nominations you'll accept per category? Or will you acept all of them an then leave it up to the judges to sift through the nominations and pick ones to pass on through?

No there is no limit, but if a single category does become too popular, I will bring in an auxilary judge to help. If I feel that it is still too much for the judges to handle, then I would regrefully have to close the category.

But as long as the number of nominations are within reason, I leave it up to the judges to choose who gets passed on and who is left behind. Usually, though, I ask for a small justification.

Any other questions? Or maybe you have noticed sometihng I might have missed?

Nope! No other questions at present. Thank you for your prompt response!

No prob. I try to be on top of things. Plus it's either check my email or conjugate french verbs.

I just noticed this from the roadhouse and I would like to nominate myself and my story, however, I would like to get two more chapters in. May I wait till then, having a chance to review my own piece to make sure it is polished, and then ask to nominate myself?

Of course. The nomination period is open until April 5th. Take your time. The day you nominate a story has nothing to do with how it is judged.

I will be nominating a story I am currently reading and wasn't sure if I understood your last comment. Will you be judging the story the way it is from the date it is nominated or will it be judged based off of everything that is there by the time it is being read and judged?

A story is judged by the chaps available by the time the judge gets around to the story.

I noticed that one question wasn't answered very well. When nominating a story, you do it in the forum thread titled "Season 2 Nominations". There, you will find the directions of how to properly nominate a story. Remember, if it is not in the correct format, you will be contacted and asked to correct it.

If my story is in the Young Adult Category and the Genre is Supernatural, does that breach the rules? Must I change the category to Supernatural as well?

Nope, still counts. As long as one of them is supernatural. So go ahead an nominate!! Sorry to take so long to reply.

If my story has been judged and has "failed," what does that mean?

Also, are incomplete stories allowed to be nominated. I didn't see it written anywhere that they were not allowed.

It can mean that your story needs a little more work to compete with the other stories (some stories need to flesh out their characters a little more, or numerous spelling errors) or that there was nothing wrong with the story itself, but the judge felt that it was inappropriate for the category that it was nominated for (ie, a story that is only in its third chapter nominated for Best Plot when the plot hasn't been touched on yet, or Best Vampire nominee whose story actually focues on faeries). If you want a more detailed review of your story, please PM me with the title and category and I'll send it to you right away.

Also, incomplete stories are allowed. We wish we could judge them separately from complete stories, who may have ahd a little more time to go back and review and re-edit their work, but we don't have enough nominees for that.

I understand if the judge thought my story sucked, but seeing that "failed" really hurt my ego. It was nominated for Best Plot and I am guessing it must have failed for the same reason that it was nominated for Best Story That Never Seems To End. I have to decline on the detailed review, but thank you for responding.

Actually, the review wasn't bad. They said your story was very well-written. It just didn't fit for the category. But sorry, I will discuss that with Diane and maybe she can think of something else for next round when she takes over. Again, sorry. It doesn't mean that you are a failure, please don't take it personally.

Just curious, but when does the forum open up for Season 4 nominations? And are you going to signal members when to shoot off applications? I remember you saying it's not the best thing right now, since the site's switching hands and all...

Typically, once this season officially ends, then I will allow applications for next season. But I don't know what Diane will want since typically there is a one month waiting period between seasons, so I will leave that up to her. I will remind her tho, to make an announcement in the newsletter for when she wants to start accepting.

For the Season 4 Forum. I will make a new Forum for that once this season ends, but it will not be unlocked until nominations are opened officially. Sometimes you will see announcements pop up even though the forum is locked, but that will be information like judges, categories, and a summary of the rules. Right now, Diane and I are debating what to do since she is not a current mod for the Forum. But nothing is finalized until my closing announcemnets in my last newsletter. And even then, Diane reserves the right to change things as she pleases. But hopefully, she will give everyone a heads up if she does decide to change anything.

I've been searching through this forum and through the freewebs site, and none of them seem to be providing updates of what's going on with the contest. Is the 3rd season being nicely held out, or - like expressed on the nomination page on the webs site - are half of the stories still being judged?

Also, let's say you nominate one of your stories this season, but by the next season you have a rewrite of the same story. It's essentially the same thing, but with scenes and characters removed and things better written. Would you be allowed to enter it again?

well, this is a sort of lame-duck period I created so that I had some time to get together the winning banners and help judges make decisions when they are debating between two stories. Also, I've been using it to catch up and organize everything I've been falling behind on since I''ve been so constantly busy lately. Yes, we are still waiting on two judges, but we've talked about it and they will have their decisions ready by Aug 8th. I will not draw out this season again like I did last season. The date that I announce the winners is, has been, and will be, Aug. 8th. I have not changed the date. The dates for each season are posted both on the homepage of the FPSSA website and on the Nominations Thread for the appropriate season.

Yes, you are allowed to nominated your story for the same category the next season IF AND ONLY IF it has undergone drastic changes. It must be obvious that you have put A LOT of time and effort into the rewrite of the story. That doesn't meaning going back to spell check everything and that's that. There needs to be an OBVIOUS difference between the two stories. But, if you have done that, then yes, you are allowed.

Thank you very much for such a fast and thorough reply. I admire admins who are hard-working because I know how hard it is.

And yes, the story has definately been changed alot. While it's not a completely different story, unneccessary chapters and characters have been removed, chapters that were kept from the first draft have been totally rewritten, and content has - I hope - gained a lot more substance, since I know much more about the characters and story this time around. My readers from the first draft are really helping me with the second draft.

I would like to know how my review read. I know that story at that time needed a lot of work (I guess I was oblivious and hopeful all at the same time). If you still have it handy, send it my way.

Thanks

Hey, I'm havung trouble finding your story. Could you tell me who judge your story?

I just wanted to let everyone know that I have made a new forum for FPSSA now that I have taken over. (This is mainly for those who don't check the site regularly). The link can be found by clicking "My Forums" on my account page but to make things easier, here it is anyway: http://www.fictionpress.com/myforums/Dane_Vampire_Queen/599191/.

Diane

Hey, I'm havung trouble finding your story. Could you tell me who judge your story?

omgitskandice,

oh, so this was for the season 2? Well, I might, I try to save everything, but it might take a while. I meann, we're talking nearly seventy pages of emails, here. But I will try to get it to you quickly

no rush. whenever you get to it.

I noticed that not all the winners are on the winners page of the website. Where are the rest of the banners?

Yeah, my bad. I hadn't even realized two were missing until Diane emailed me this morning about them. Turned out that I had forgotten to send them to get their banners made. I emailed Diane and told her to forward the winners to Alice. Sorry, that really was my mistake. Thank you for bringing to my attention though.

~Kandice

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