Raison d'etre

It’s been just over two years since Brian came up with the idea of the InnermoonLit contests, and as I recently sat reading entries for the second annual Best First Chapter of a Novel Contest, I couldn’t help feeling like something was missing. Behind each entry is someone reaching out, sharing some piece of themselves, and for the most part, we never get to make contact with those outstretched hands.

We communicate with the winners, of course, and we get to find out who's behind our very favorite entries, but the rest of our entrants remain as mysterious to us as we probably seem to them. They may read the contest results on Brian’s website but never hear directly from us. We used to send emails confirming the receipt of entries but soon became overwhelmed and trusted that the website’s automatic confirmation page would suffice to quell writers’ worries and assure them their work hadn’t gotten stuck in cyberspace. (Judging by the number of multiple entries we get, usually sent two or three minutes apart, it doesn’t always work.) Sometimes Brian gets emails from entrants who seem to think this contest is run by a faceless computer or possibly a vast board of trustees.

So I had this urge to humanize the InnermoonLit contests—to let you peek behind the scenes a bit. I’ll admit, part of me wants people to recognize what Brian puts into this venture. He throws his considerable diligence and discipline into judging the contests, and the prizes and administrative costs come out of his pocket (and as you know, there are no entry fees). Then too, I have this accountability compulsion, probably from working for so many years as a staff person in higher education. I plan to lay bare our working methods so that you can see how we operate and possibly even provide suggestions for improvement.

So just remember, we are a mom-&-pop type outfit here. In a way, we are high tech…but just slightly so. When you email us, you’re not subscribing to some computerized mailing list or addressing a board of directors.

It’s just us, a couple of nice people who love writing and want to reach out to other writers, to give them a little pat on the back, a virtual high five, to maybe help keep them keeping on when the work gets tough and the outlook is bleak.