[Catherine Chandler]

Hello Everyone!

Well, the submission deadline has passed. One entry actually arrived at 11:59 p.m. ! We received, read and re-read 339 sonnets, one entry that declined to enter a sonnet but offered to sell us some cake, and a few rants!

We are now putting our virtual heads together to decide on our ten finalists. Not an easy task. There are so many worthy sonnets! Believe me, there will be a long list of honorable mentions.

Since I will be in the US visiting my sister (who, thankfully, is improving daily!) Gail will start posting on Monday morning, along with our initial comments for each sonnet.

A huge THANK YOU to everyone who participated and to Alex for keeping the bakeoff on the front burner.

♥ Cathy

[Shaun J. Russell]

Good luck to all entrants!

All things being equal, we've each got a 2.95% chance of our sonnet being selected. Just, you know, in case you were feeling optimistic.

[Nigel Mace]

No, Shaun. Some scribblers know the odds are rather less enticing. However, it was kind of you to offer the notion; perhaps oddly, stats can be a comforting thought.

[S. A. Wyatt]

Originally Posted by E. Shaun Russell

Good luck to all entrants!

All things being equal, we've each got a 2.95% chance of our sonnet being selected. Just, you know, in case you were feeling optimistic.

Shaun, rounding up to 3% might make some feel more optimistic. . .those are better odds than playing the lotto, by a long shot.


Julie, thanks so much for the detailed explanation of the sonnet bake-off. That's the sort of thing that should be stickied or attached to the notice in the future.

Sean

[Andrew Sacks]

It was my pleasure to submit a sonnet to the Sonnet Bake-Off. Is it done yet? Gail and Cathy must stick a fork into it and decide...

[Catherine Chandler]

Andrew,
The first two poems will be online on Monday morning. The guidelines explain how we'll proceed with posting, voting, etc.
Cathy

[Tim Murphy]

Gail and Cathy, wow! During the many years I ran the event, I never received more than 140, and nobody offered to bake me a cake.

[Gail White]

I intended to post this message tomorrow, but I see a discussion has already started, so I might as well put it up today:

The results are in, sonnet fans! Cathy and Gail have winnowed through slightly more than 330 sonnets, and have come up with 10 finalists and 10 honorable mentions.

As usual, finalists will be posted at 2 per day, starting next Monday. They should be in place by 7:30 a.m. ET every day. Since Cathy is going out of town, I will also post her comments and mine.

After the voting (July 22-27), when the results and authors' names are revealed (July 30), the titles & authors of the Honorable Mentions will also be posted.

Enjoy.

[S. A. Wyatt]

Thanks to both of you - that's a lot of work in a short period of time. I'm glad to see you have chosen and will be posting 10 honorable mentions as well.

Sean

[Catherine Chandler]

Sean, For the honorable mentions we will be posting a list of the titles and their authors, not the poems themselves. Cathy