Sign up to compete as a writer! Click here!
Sign up to judge! Click here!
First of all, enormous thanks to the amazing Selena Kitt for sponsoring the first ever (I think) single-elimination erotica tournament! Selena has graciously agreed to lend the name that says "the cream rises" to this affair, and she's offering the winner a highlighted spot on her blog when the whole she-bang finishes up! Also, promising stories will be considered for development and publication by Excessica!
Second, this post is going to give my best stab at how the thing is going to work. I hope, since no one is going to have very much on the line, we'll all be able to take events as they come and try to solve difficulties as they happen.
I'm thinking of this event as a proof-of-concept, and I'm hoping it will be relatively low-stress for everyone involved including me. Just remember that if something goes wrong, all you've got riding on The Hot-Off if you're an author is a couple thousand words, at the very most--and those words will remain yours until and unless Excessica wants to help you develop them, and you choose to take them up on the offer.
If you're a judge, all you've got riding on it is some cool stories to read and evaluate.
If you're a reader, all you've got riding on it is the possibility that something someone writes will turn you on, and you'll discover a new author.
The easiest thing is probably to start by laying the timeline out there with some specificity:
1 October: Google forms available for sign-up of authors and judges. Sign-ups for authors will continue until 15 October or until sixty-four authors sign up. Sign-ups for judges will continue until 15 October; there will be no limit on the number of judges. See below for details on participation for both authors and judges.
15 October: sign-ups close (if we haven't reached 64 authors). The "obligatory item" for the first round (something that every story must include or be disqualified--an object or a setting, for example) is announced.
1 November: first round match-ups announced, along with any byes. Schedule for first round match-ups set and published.
8 November: first round stories due from Round 1 Match A authors. 500 word maximum.
15 November: Round 1 Match A goes up on The Hot-Off. Judging by registered judges takes place for the next five days.
15 November: first round stories due from Round 1 Match B authors.
22 November: Winner of Round 1 Match A announced. Round 1 Match B goes up on The Hot-Off. Judging by registered judges takes place for the next five days.
22 November: first round stories due from Round 1 Match C authors.
29 November: Winner of Round 1 Match B announced. Round 1 Match C goes up on the Hot-Off. Judging by registered judges takes place for the next five days.
29 November: first round stories due from Round 1 Match D authors.
etc.
Now the details:
Authors: By signing up you commit to writing a maximum of six 500 word or less erotic stories (the number of stories will depend on the number of rounds you win) to deadlines specified by The Hot-Off, beginning in November, and always with several weeks notice. You also commit to accepting it when the judges vote against you with the same shake of your head you use for bad reviews on Amazon. You grant The Hot-Off a one-time non-exclusive license to publish your stories on The Hot-Off blog.
Judges: By signing up you commit to registering your name (it can be a pseudonym, of course, but it must be linked to an email that The Hot-Off keeps on file) as a judge and to getting behind your opinion of which story in the match-ups you judge was hotter. You will have to provide at least a sentence of rationale for each of your decisions, for your vote to count. You may vote on as many match-ups as you like.
Matches with tied votes will be decided by coin-flip.
Any questions?!
