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Fourth Annual "Ripples in the Pond"

An Anonymous AU Contest
2004

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(Please use this banner to link to Ripples in the Pond.)
http://annerose.cjb.net/contests/ripples_main.html

I run contests to encourage people to write fic that I enjoy reading. Ripples has a second goal this year - to encourage feedback. Feedback keeps a fandom alive, because feedback keeps the writers writing.

If you toss a pebble into a pond, the ripples go on and on.  If you take a point in time, and change one thing, what would happen?  What ripples would it cause?

For this contest, please write a new story that contrasts an alternate universe with canon.  Take a moment in time, a decision that was made and explore what would have happened if a different choice had been made.

Toss a pebble in the water and watch the ripples.  Think about the pivotal decisions the Captain has made.  Then think about other, not so obvious moments in Voyager's history.  What if Neelix had decided to serve Pleeka Rind instead of Leola Root the night before the big battle... and Tom hadn't gotten that stomach ache, and he'd been at the helm.... You get the idea.

So, put on your thinking caps and explore those possibilities.  And now, the rules...

Rules

1. Anonymous: This year's contest is anonymous. That means nobody but your beta, your spouse, and your cat are allowed to know which story is yours. Therefore, unless you've got a story that's never seen the light of day, all stories must be new.
2. Prizes: Prize graphics will be awarded in each category as follows - 1st if there are at least 3 entries; 1st, 2nd if there are 4 to 6 entries; and 1st, 2nd, and 3rd for categories with 7 or more entries. I reserve the right to make more prize graphics if I feel like it. :-)
3. Pairings: Stories can include any m/f pairings except Emh/7 or C/7, unless you intend to break them up. I get enough pain in canon. (Anne Rose is a dedicated J/C, K/7, P/Ter. Ok, ok, I like J/P and C/T (that's Torres), but just don't squeal on me.)
4. Content/Ratings: Even though all ratings are accepted, slash, rape, bdsm, dead-babyfic, or excessive violence will not be accepted. Please warn about character deaths. Let me know if you have any questions or concerns about rating your story.
5. Categories: Each author may enter one story per category. If there are fewer than 3 entries in a category, the stories may be combined with another category. However R/NC17 will remain separate. If there are fewer than 3 R/NC17 stories, they will be posted to read only, and not combined with G-PG13 stories. (I am happy to tell you if your category has enough entries to be viable. If it isn't yet, I suggest you talk a friend into entering too.)

6. Hosting: Entering means you agree to have your story hosted anonymously at the contest site(s) during the contest and linked to the author's site thereafter. (The author needs to send me that link.) If your story is disqualified, I reserve the right, at my option, to post it to read for the duration of the contest and link to it afterwards. Many people enter contests to publicize their fic and I'm happy to help, within reason.(FYI - Anonymously means the author's name is not on the story during the contest.)

Categories

• Romance - a romance that might have been, if only circumstances had been different. (not NC17)
• Comedy - a humorous situation that occurred because of a change in the timestream or AU. (not NC17)
• Drama - drama, not angst, more like plot driven or action adventure. (not NC17)
• Other - you just always have to have an other category. (not NC17)
• Steamier Romance - Enter all R and NC17 stories in this category, only. Yes, they need to be romance or romantic comedy, not sad/angst. (For this contest, whenever I use the term R/NC17, I'm combining R and NC17.)

Contest Dates

• April 1 start submitting stories (or earlier if you like).
• Story html pages are due by Sunday April 25, at midnight. Stories may not be posted on your web, or published anywhere else before voting ends.
• Reading and voting will start May 3rd
• Voting ends June 7 at midnight gmt (4pm Pacific)
• Winners posted by June 12

How to enter - Entry Form

Entries for 2005 will open April 1st, 2005

There is no entry form this year, instead authors will take a copy of an html page from my site, format their text and email it back to me. (Or email the text to me if you don't do html.) I will host the stories temporarily, during the contest. After the contest, I'm going to take down the pages and replace them with links back to the authors' own story pages.

Voting instructions for 2004

Voters will choose their favorite stories by pasting feedback into the voting form, AND citing their favorite passage/lines from the story. For example, "I liked this line (copy of line(s)) because it made me laugh." Two bits of feedback for your first choice, one for your second choice. If you make notes as you're reading the fic, this should be really easy to do.

The voting feedback will NOT be judged, it will be tallied and then all feedback (voting and non-voting) will passed on to the authors at the end of the contest. If you can't think of anything to say, pick out your favorite lines, paste them into the voting form, and say they were your favorite lines.

There is also a feedback form on each story. This is not for voting, it's just for feedback. At the end of the contest the authors will be given all their feedback, and voting feedback will not be distinguished from regular feedback.

There were 24 new stories entered and 230 individual pieces of feedback submitted for the authors. Congratulations to all the participants!

There were 231 individual pieces of feedback submitted for the authors. Congratulations to all the participants!

See the 2001 winners. Read the stories again.
 

Prizes
The prizes will look something like these from last year:

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