2013 Quills Genre Voting

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(Raw link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oHRPMJmzBBw)

I strongly encourage you to take a minute to look through these to avoid any confusion! Thanks!

A: All registered users and authors, excepting secondary accounts, are allowed to vote. If you can see this, you can probably vote!

A: Select the item(s) you believe should receive the Quill Award or an honorable mention for the category, the items you think are best.

A: Anyone but yourself. But vote based on quality, not on whether the author is your friend or not. Be honest.

A: I'd rather you not solicit votes obnoxiously. By all means let your friends and family (and foes, if you'd like) know about your nominations, but please don't harass them too much! That said, there are more than enough mechanisms in place that even outright solicitation of votes is very unlikely to affect the final result.

An example e-mail might read something like this: "Hi! My item(s) [such and such] has/have been honored with a nomination to "The Quills"  in the Best [name] category. Voting is currently underway to select the winners in this category, and I would like to invite you to visit "Invalid Item"  and vote for the most deserving pieces, whether or not that/those is/are my own. Thank you!" You have my full blessing to use that exact wording with any appropriate changes!

A: Absolutely! The more votes we have, the more accurate the picture we get, the better we can make this event, and the more people we can bring together in the great adventure that is the Quills!

A: For each category, there will be a numbered list of nominees. You put numbers for two or more (or all) of the nominees, in order of preference. For example, my favorite item in a list of 7 is the 3rd one. After jotting down "3" on my ballot, I think the next best are 2, 4, 1, and 6, in that order. I didn't like numbers 5 or 7 at all, so I didn't bother putting them down. See how it works? If you need more explanation, watch the video above!

A: Nope. This method, called Single Transferable Vote   still gives people one vote, but it makes wasted votes less likely, so vote away! If you need more explanation, watch the video above!

A: The members of WDC will vote, and the items with the most votes per an STV system   will be the winners in their categories. If no outright winner is selected in the first three rounds (per the STV system), the eventual second-ranked item will receive an honorable mention. If no outright winner is selected after 7 rounds, the eventual third-ranked item will also receive an honorable mention, and so on every four additional rounds. This does not apply for categories with more then 8 nominees, where an honorable mention will be given to the 2nd ranked item regardless of rounds necessary. Judges will also be voting in these categories, and the two will be combined (with each judge vote counting as a regular member of the public) to choose the winners and honorable mentions.

A: Winner will be announced at the live ceremony.

A: Nope, just for 2 or more categories. Vote for as many or as few categories as you want. Vote for one, vote for all of them, whichever you would like to do!

A: No! Please make sure you've filled out your ballot completely before voting. One suggestion is to prep your preferences in your handy dandy notebook and then to transfer them all to the ballot when you're ready.

A: Yes, just not for yourself.

A: You can either not vote in that category (which will have no effect) or write in "none" in the space provided. If "none" receives enough votes, the Quill in that category will not be awarded.

A: Nope, you can check out all the categories here: "Invalid Item"  Only the genre categories are decided by the public. The rest are being judged by our panel of all-star judges.

A: We like to keep them around on the list so we know how many pieces were nominated, but obviously you don't have to vote for them at all. Sorry for the clutter!

A: No, unfortunately. Due to the logistical complexity of allowing multiple submissions, we've decided to limit everyone to just one ballot, so make sure you get it right! That said, if you seriously change your mind or filled out your ballot incorrectly, send me an email and I'll delete your response so you can vote again.

A: Since secondary accounts are not allowed to vote (as that would skew the system), we need to know who is voting. Voter rolls may also be used for statistical purposes (e.g., case color demographics). Names of voters are never released, nor are their votes or any data attached to them released at all.

A: YES! We would love your help if you want to sponsor or present an award, or even help organize the ceremony! Just fill out the box at the end of the survey or send me an e-mail!