Continued

Other authors who submitted their entries to the FiringSquad Editors Challenge tried several different paths on their themes and their writing skills. We had detailed reviews of games like “Dark Messiah Of Might and Magic (single player)” by author suibhne and “Dreamfall: The Longest Journey Review” by author petewilliams, We had expert PC hardware articles like “Gaming PCs, Vista, and You: Part 1 of 3, Upgrading” by author p4l1ndr0m3. Then there were editorials that examined issues in gaming like “Wii should play together.” by ExpertPenguin. We even had personal look backs at great gaming experiences like “A look back at how the WoW juggernaut began”, composed by OldFriend. There was a ton of variety in the submitted entries and of course that kind of diversity makes judging the contest even tougher but also more rewarding.

Now that the first 15 people are moving to the second full round, its time for our second prelim round to begin. We know that many of your who are regular readers of FiringSquad have held back in submitting contest entries for the Editors Challenge to see how the first prelim round turned out and examined what articles got good reviews and why they were chosen. We also know authors who submitted entries in the first prelim but didn’t make it in the top 15 are going to try again, having learned from feedback from editors and readers on what worked and what didn’t in their first articles and applying them to their new entries. And of course there are people reading this who may have never heard of this challenge before today but realizing that they might have a shot at becoming a professional writer.

We want to encourage all of those people to join our second prelim round and take the plunge. Yes, having your writing critiqued by not just FiringSquad staff members but members of the general public can be a painful experience for many. However, it’s also the chance of a lifetime to enter a field of work that can be extremely rewarding. Above all else, the next prelim round begins with a clean slate. We don’t care if you entered the first round or not. We don’t care how well or how poorly you did in the first round if you did enter. Today you enter the second prelim round fresh.

Remember, the top 15 entries from the second round join the first15 authors from the first prelim to join the second full round of competition in early March. From that group, 10 people will be selected to move to the third round that begins in late March. From that group we will announce the finalists who will then enter the last round of the competition where they will get a chance to write a hands-on review of the Intel Core 2 Duo Extreme processor. The winner of the final round will get $1,500 cash and a $10,000 contract from FiringSquad that will let them become a editor on this web site.

And let’s not forget the video portion of the Editor’s Challenge. While this part of the competition hasn’t gotten as much attention it’s still ongoing. People can submit video reviews, features and other subjects of interest to FiringSquad readers using our Matrix feature. The winner of that competition gets $1,000 in cash along with a video editor contract from FiringSquad worth $5,000.

Whether it’s for the writing or video portion of the competition, keep in mind a few things when entering the contest. Now that the first prelim round of the writing portion has been completed you know what our readers and the staff are looking for. We want articles that are well written, interesting, and have a hook – whether it’s personality and style, or a clear and logical presentation of facts. We want features that have a subject that is both in tune to the FiringSquad audience but also examines a theme that perhaps we haven’t discussed on this web site before. We want articles that bring a writer’s unique voice and ideas to the table. That may sound like a lot to ask for but the truth is we want the best editor to join our site. This competition will allow us to find that person. Remember, submissions to the second prelim round ends on Feb. 28. We hope you will find the time to enter and have the chance to join us on our team.

Every year we see and pass by opportunities, thinking “it’s not worth it”, or “I’ll try again later”, but this really is a once-in-a-lifetime contest. The old Latin saying, carpe diem, or seize the day, applies perfectly. You have nothing to lose, thousands to win and potentially a career to launch. We are not alone in watching you on this and have friends at at least one other major site who are looking for staff. Talent is hard to find and you never know if you’ve got it or not, show confidence in yourselves and your abilities and give your dreams a shot. Good luck!

Enter here for the writing portion of the contest, or check out the rules and prizes page. Our first preliminary for the video challenge is still going!

Scoring

If you’re interested in our scoring system, it’s scored 7 ways of 100 points each, for a maximum total of 700 points. A #1 rating by a judge gives 100 points and a #15 gives 7. The four judges thusly assign 400 points. The rest of the points are up to the readers and authors to earn. The article with the most pageviews gets 100 points, every article gets a percentage of that – so if you had 80% of the top article’s page views, you’ll get 80 points. Then there are rating points, it’s a complicated formula that is weighted by total votes and the percentage of vote. Naturally then, the ambitious author will promote his own article and seek as many readers, votes, and the best votes he can. This is the only way to score points independently without bribing judges (paypal $1000 to FiringSquadBribes@We’reJustJokingOrAreWe.com)