contest winners, new feature announcements

I am wondering how to get any sort of feedback from the poetry I post. I would like to know if they are being read and rated like the many poems I read and rate? How do I find this out and if anyone is responding to them. Really curious to know if my poems are any good or if they are terrible.

Posted by Blake Urban on 10 July 2009 @ 10pm

I have several poems on here but can’t get to them can’t even get logged in even when I have sent fro my pass word and put in what it says it is and I knew it was to be. Now poems are not put together under my name even though I try to get this solved when it was poetry.com and now I cant even get logged on now whats up. I can’t even get to support because I can’t get logged in.

Posted by Gregory L Cook on 11 July 2009 @ 6pm

Hi Blake,
You are not alone in wanting to get feedback on your poetry. Right now, you can check the current rating of your poem by clicking the “submit your vote” button and giving the poem a rating yourself. Then, you will be shown your poem’s average rating.

We are building lots of great features for the site, which should help you to get even more feedback. Soon, it will be much easier to check your poem’s rating. Later in the year, we would like to offer reviews of poems as well.

Thank you,
Annie

Posted by Annie on 13 July 2009 @ 1pm

Hi Gregory,
I’m sorry that you are having trouble. Right now, poem editing is on hold through the end of July, while we work on improvements for editing and removing poems. After that, you should be able to edit all of your poems again. Starting in August, our support team should be able to help you combine all your poems under one account.

Please contact support by emailing help@poetry.com.

Thank you,
Annie

Posted by Annie on 13 July 2009 @ 1pm

I wanted to inform Blake that I believe I have read one written by him, and indeed you are great!
Anyhow, I was wondering Annie, how can a fair judgement be put forth when there are literally millions of contestants, unable to view pretty much the same again, though the winners I’ve read are based on the amount in votes? I have a book of poems being published by Vantage press to emerge soon, and I simply wanted to thank all whom have rated my ,few though important, votes a 10! (If any are interested all I can say is look in stores near the beginning months of 2010, I’ll inform those interested exactly when) I more than any thing wish for each of you, with your unique, strange, all so different beauty for the craft, the same chance, as well as Heaven’s success. I am unable however to decipher how much of what I have read is nothig more than how I am writting now, come on people, rack your brains, make us think about each line, then proceed. Creativity has no gate, nor closing. Believe in you, and all will soon.
For those who may not, I chalange no insulting to any, for I absolutley enjoy all in their own. However, it would appeal to me as the few I have come across to read some rather of ancient soul so to speak, who relate not upon these times. I crave to feel! embrace beneath!! holding everlasting!!! something as I have from Poe and Dickinson. Many faces belong not, so they feel, dwelling upon writing’s outlet, well tell us, describe without boundary, or gifted in sighting things which most call “Crazy,” (What’s normal anyhoo?) Open up, what’s it like to actually touch an angel’s wing, speak to that which pulsating heart, bound to life can not, (I do not mean those who commune with tarot or other, no a true God given, God accepted gift), any one sense, see actual color known as auras upon people? COme on tell us.. “Fantasy is fable not, sanity simply forgot, hither well, and hither this, WHere dwell you sacred psychosis?”….

Posted by Heidi H.L. Jones on 13 July 2009 @ 5pm

I have posted three poems on this website under the name “Sylvia Richardson”. However, after posting the first two poems, I found that there are four or five other people with the same name who have also submitted their works. I am now using my middle name as well in my posts, but am wondering how I can get all three of my poems to appear under my proper name instead of separately? I thought it would have been relatively simple to amalgamate them, as the e-mail and physical address are the same for all three poems. I await your response. Thank you.

Posted by Sylvia Evangelyn Richardson on 14 July 2009 @ 4pm

Yesterday I recieved an email informing me that I had won the poetry contest for June. I responded as instructed; but so far I have not recieved the winnings to my Paypal account. How should I proceed?
Thank you

Posted by Carolyn Carter on 14 July 2009 @ 10pm

growing pains. The new owner always comes in and says there won’t be any changes, we like the way you folks do things; then in a few months, they start eliminating the acquired staff. Maybe the old staff had a few rotten easter eggs in the programming?

My poem is currently in a non-existent anthology.

I’m supposed to be able to see my ratings, but I can’t.

Seems like you aren’t quite ready for the big time?

Paul

Posted by paul schoaff on 15 July 2009 @ 4pm

I must be doing something wrong. I type in my name and then go to my poems (in firefox or explorer). I submit my vote (which brings me to another screen, where I’m actually voting for someone else’s poem). What I get are stats on the poem I just voted for. I never see stats on my poems. What am I doing wrong?

Posted by William D. Hicks on 15 July 2009 @ 9pm

Several more questions. I would think it would be helpful to have a faqs section on how to get to view stats (and other questions writers ask). Will this be in the August updated site? Also, do poems win the contests based on how many high ratings they get–or are they picked by a panel of judges (independent of the ratings they get)? Is it possible to submit a poem one week, then win the weekly drawing several weeks down the line or do you only pick one poem from each week’s poems and never review that weeks uploaded poems again? Same question for monthly winners.

Posted by William D. Hicks on 15 July 2009 @ 9pm

I’m repeating myself here but don’t receive replies for my emails.The webpage seems to have more problems. I submitted my poems nearly two weeks ago and they stii don’t seem to be in the competition…
Now I’m stuck because I can’t delete them and submit somewhere else. It’s quite frustraiting.
Thank you.

Posted by Katarzyna Boczon-Dobbie on 17 July 2009 @ 2am

that ‘rate yourself’ business doesn’t work for me.

I am struck by a strange situation. How is it that the poems I bring up for rating today are all so much better, every one of them, that the crap I was asked to rate yesterday? After awhile I was giving 8 ratings yesterday if the poet didn’t use the expression “I love you but you don’t love me anymore and I am going to go cut myself.”

How do you arrange these things?

Anyway, why can’t I see if my stuff has gotten any ratings?

Posted by paul schoaff on 17 July 2009 @ 1pm

Hi Sylvia,
All your information has to be the same (including name) on the submission form, in order for the system to group your poems together. Right now, the system is pretty rigid, but our support team should be able to help you consolidate your poems into one account a little later in the summer.

Thank you,
Annie

Posted by Annie on 17 July 2009 @ 2pm

Hi Carolyn,
Congratulations again on winning the Monthly Poetry Contest! Prize payments are made on the 15th of the month, so June winners should get a payment on July 15th if we hear back about their PayPal information in time. It looks like we did not get your PayPal information early enough for accounting to make your payment on July 15th (our fault for not notifying you sooner). I’m so sorry for the delay, but you should receive your prize in the next payment on August 15th.

Thank you,
Annie

Posted by Annie on 17 July 2009 @ 2pm

Hi Paul and William,
It sounds like you have both encountered a strange error in the database. I am very very sorry that you are not able to see the rating for your poem. Please contact our support team at help@poetry.com for help with your individual accounts.

William, to answer your other questions:
1. Yes we should add information about ratings to the FAQ. Are there other help topics that you think we should include?
2. Poems are picked as winners for the contest both by their rating and by a panel of judges. The judges select winners from the top 10% of poems with the highest ratings and the most ratings. The best way to get your poem in front of the judges is for lots of people to vote it very high.
3. Poems are not chosen as winners based on the day they are submitted, but by the rating they get in a particular day or month. For example, you can submit a poem on April 2nd and not win for that day, but if you get lots of high ratings later your poem can win the daily or monthly contest for when they did get all those ratings.

Thank you,
Annie

Posted by Annie on 17 July 2009 @ 2pm

Annie:

Thanks for the answers. I wrote to the Help group.

I believe that all the questions most writers are asking (such as how to edit poems, how winners are picked, any judging criteria that the judges use-such as what do they base their decisions upon and how much weight they give to the ratings–would make sense for the FAQs section). Other things would be issues that people should contact Help about (such as not being able to see your stats). Your #2 and #3 answers above would make great FAQs.

I sent a bunch of friends to read my poems when I first put them up; they told me they read but couldn’t rate them via the link I sent. I had the same experience and figured this was just how the system worked. Now I’m not sure that’s the case.

Posted by William D. Hicks on 17 July 2009 @ 7pm

i want it to know if people are voting for the spanich poems and if they are voting on my poems 2 i guess i have the same ? as blake. thank you ariadne robles

Posted by ariadne on 19 August 2009 @ 6pm

Hi Ariadne,
You can check the current rating of your poem by clicking the “submit your vote” button and giving the poem a rating yourself. Then, you will be shown your poem’s average rating. We are working to improve this process and it should be easier to see your poem’s current rating after the site update later in August.
Thank you,
Annie

Posted by Annie on 21 August 2009 @ 1pm