Actually it's not so much the fact that my entry is rapidly dropping down the popularity scale that's bugging me, it's the fact that people are obviously rating it badly for it to be dropping and yet they are not leaving comments!!!
I understand that not everyone will like my writing - such is life - but it would be nice to have some insight into why!?
I guess the solution would be to stop checking the site every five minutes, but hey... with my obsessive compulsive nature, that's unlikely to happen :)
15 comments:
I didn't enter the contest, but I have been checking out the site, and I've noticed there are some perfectly good entries getting really low scores for no real reason. I get that taste is subjective, but when I see a grammatically and structurally sound story being rated one and two stars, it bugs me.
I feel your pain! I'm going through the same thing right now and would love to know why my score is dropping. Oh well. I don't think it counts for anything at this stage in the competition, but it still bugs me. I have stopped looking at the ratings...for the most part. OK, I haven't completely stopped looking but fully intend to ;)
I don't know how you do it! I check the site obsessively and um... last time I checked I hadn't entered yet. Maybe I should be medicated.
The ratings would drive me nuts too and there are SO many people making mistakes. I'm all for M&B ignoring the rating system (which they will except for the whole maket research thing) apparently there won't be roses in the next round so you won't have to worry then ;).
Tell me about it Rach. Dr Jax says it's all about 'regression to the mean'. Some kind of statistical thing or something. Anyway, what it means is that people's chapters will gradually go down in popularity until they hold steady somewhere about 50%. So the most low ratings are continually offset by the high. Make sense? Lol!
Glad to hear the roses aren't making a comeback though. I've made so many mistakes with those stupid things!
Rach - how annoying!! As if its not petrifying enough to enter but the rating thing is just the pits!
Hoping that as others have been saying, they don't matter all that much right now.
Elizabeth - I totally hear you. Taste is subjective but I really get the feeling some people are rating low to be nasty. So lovely to see you on my blog btw :)
Marcy - It's awful isn't it! I'm like you - one part of me knows it means nothing, the other can't stop checking to see if I've gone back up again!
LOL on the medication Lacey!! So, are you entering!?
Jackie - I THINK I understand what Dr Jax is trying to tell us!!! It's a little bit reassuring at least :)
Janette - the ratings thing has certainly caused a stir. Looking fwd to seeing your chap on the site! Hint... hint!
I think it is because people like me didn't know how to work the roses. I was busy pressing the first rose, not realising that you pressed highest first. I am not rating highly either, but my feedback is all good, so I wouldnt worry about it (she says as she rushes off to check the site again...)
I'm a bit worried that I understand what Dr Jax's 'regression to the mean' is all about. The geek hidden deep inside me is coming out again!
Not long now girls, three days and counting!
I knew from the outset the rating system would be an issue. It's part of the reason I wouldn't enter, but I think feedback it quite useful.
Rach, don't let the rating system get you down. Remember there are people who are just entering now, so many people might be voting on the newest entries. It's almost impossible to read EVERY single one, so how fair can the rating system be?
The eds will love your ms. You know they like you're writing, so there's nothing to fear. I'm sure the judges, who are the ones that count, will LOVE it!
I've been really shocked by some of the low scores. They've left me scratching my head and wondering if the scorer read the same entry. But I do agree that perhaps part of the problem is the rose system itself.
Best to ignore them but it's so very hard not to look!
I feel your pain Rach! I've been knocked down by people only giving me 10% or less yet no bad comments have been left to explain.
I think don't take it personally, it's happening to everyone it seems so it can't be a true reflection of your chapter (which was fab :-)
Hiya Rach,
You are so right.
The minute an entry - any entry - receives a high score from a few people who all leave comments, just watch and inevitably it will drop much, much lower, but the number of comments will remain the same.
Personal view? I think there are some people out there who are playing a very nasty game, particularly as the comp nears the finale.
So many entries, so little time, so I guess these people feel that by dropping the ratings like this, those books they choose to demean will be off a lot of people's radar.
Or else they are into tactical voting, which at the moment counts for nought.
Morons.
So don't worry about your entry slipping down the ratings.
The editors know its true worth.
So do I....I loved it...and I will add my comment tonight.
Cheers
Issy.
Hi Rach,
I'm not too sure how it works, but the editors have the last say. I wouldn't worry too much about ratings.
All the best Suz :)
I taste your pain. Just last Tuesday I entered two pictures into a competition that a local photography club was having. Although they gave a moderately high rating to one of my pictures, they ranked the second picture far below the most ugly and hideous shots possible! And I had spent a lot of time composing that shot - waiting for the sun to arrive in the right place, making sure nothing distracting was in the background, and so on.
So, when people give you bad ratings, just say, "I don't know what to do, but . . ." (I actually don't know how to empathize with you because my photographs are much less significant than your romance writing.)
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