Sonnet Bake-off 2014: Call for Submissions
 

Dear Eratosphereans,

Here comes this year's Sonnet Bake-Off! It will run with a new but previously tried and popular and exciting twist -- a double-blind event with anonymous judging AND anonymous submissions.

*** TO ENTER :

1. To enter, please send one sonnet per person by email to http://www.ablemuse.com/erato/images/send2bakeoffs.gif . (Note: this is not a link, it's an email address--so, don't click on it. Type the email address as indicated into the To/Recipient field of your favorite email-client program.)
   
   1. Both previously published and unpublished sonnets are welcome.
      
   2. Please, include "Sonnet Bake-Off" in the email subject line, and the sonnet itself goes in the body of the email.
      
   3. Your sonnet must be received by by midnight (U.S. EDT) on Monday, May 5, 2014.
      
   4. *NOTES *: i) If your submission is in a file attachment, make sure that your name is not present anywhere in the submission file (for blind judging!). ii) Also, if you know how, please remove your name from the author field of the document properties; if don't know how, then never mind, and I'll have to do it for you.
2. Our anonymous Host & Distinguished Guest will select about ten finalists (more or less at the DG's discretion). The DG will post the finalist sonnets, two per day, with their comments, starting on Friday, May 9, 2014. At that point everyone is welcome to join in with comments of their own. In order to allow sufficient time for comments on all ten finalists, popular voting for readers’ first, second and third choices will begin on Friday, May 16 and end at midnight (EDT) on Monday, May 19, 2014. Results will be tabulated and a popular winner will be announced as soon as the DG can manage it, at which time all ten finalists’ identities will also be divulged. The DG will also announce their own top picks.
   
3. Only then will the names of the authors be announced ... and twist twist, the identity of the Host & DG will then be revealed! So, for this bake-off, you can have some fun guessing not only the identity of the sonneteer posted, but also guessing who the Secret Distinguished Guest & expert sonneteer is!

And it's a go ... so, go ahead -- submit now! Submit one, submit all!

Cheers,
...Alex

If one sends the thing in the body of an email, that email will have one's name on it by default - yes?

And if the rules sez it must be in the body of the email, how does the bit about file attachments fit in?

But thanks for saying about not clicking on the link-look-alike this year - I fell foul of that last time!

Thank you for your patience.

Ann, see 1d above, especially the exasperated last few words.
RM

Well, good questions all around, Ann. I'll try to keep it simple -- I prefer copying the text into the body of the email, but if you send a file attachment I'll do the copying into the body of the anonymized email I'll forward to the DG myself (i.e. you'll be making more work for me, but I don't mind :) ); and ditto with leaving your name in the body of the email--whether it's there or in the email address line, I'll anonymize as necessary.

So, just submit away, and don't worry too much about what extras you leave in as I'll be doing the gatekeeper thingie, and excise anything extraneous before forwarding to the Host & DG.

Cheers,
...Alex

Alex, thank you so much for running this, and for anonymizing the submissions. (It's procedurally a good idea, and also, I appreciate the fact that you paid attention to feedback on that point by me and others.)

I completely agree with Rachel -- thanks, Alex, both for undertaking your role, and also for keeping this event a double-blind. It makes a world of difference, in my opinion.

Do I have it right, Alex?

to: "bakeoffs @ ablemuse . com" (without the extra spaces, of course)

from: (my funny e-mail address that is NOT my name)

subject: "Sonnet Bake-Off"

(body of e-mail):

Title of sonnet (you send to the judges)

Sonnet itself (you send to the judges)

Author (like "Robert Meyer" that you'd strip off, as in "leaving your name in the body of the email")

You're welcome, Rachael, Shaun -- I'm glad you like the setup and goings-on thus far!

Robert - yes, that's it and that works.

...Alex

Alex,

Just out of curiosity, will you be posting the sonnet bake-off call for submissions on Facebook like you did last year? If you recall, it lead to Gail and I receiving over 330 sonnets ! :eek:

Hi Cathy,

It will be posted to Facebook but it would be as widely promoted as that - it will only be limited to the Able Muse / Eratosphere group. Last year's call went out to several more Facebook groups and other social media websites, plus it was also broadcast to the Able Muse / Able Muse Press mailing list. That's why the response was that big. This event is more limited because it calls for both published and unpublished sonnets, whereas last year's event called for only unpublished poems given that the top three for that event also won publication in Able Muse. With all that, I estimate a lower overall submission, but higher overall quality.

Cheers,
...Alex