Pen's Nest

I think challenges are great—a large percentage of all the fanfic I've ever written has been for challenges of one sort or another, and in popslash, the annual SeSa challenge regularly produces really good stories. And it's anonymous for a fortnight, so nobody's reputation influences the readers, which I think is also a good thing.

I also agree with you about self-nomination. Sometimes people just aren't visible to a wide circle, and it's a pity to let good stories languish unread for want of a little publicity.

It's just the prize-giving aspect that I'm uncomfortable with. People didn't write their stories as entries for a competition, but the whole thing effectively judges them anyway. Even not being nominated is a judgment, and how are the authors to know whether they were not nominated because everyone thought their stories were rubbish, or because nobody thought of them? (In either case, it's a bit depressing...) And this kind of thing is likely to turn into a popularity contest rather than an honest judgment of the stories, anyway. Meh.