1. Why are there still submissions with ZERO votes?
I don’t get that. You’re allowed (and expected by me, at least) to vote for your own paragraph. If you don’t believe in your work enough to vote for it, why should anyone else? I’m off to work for several hours now, but when I come back and check this afternoon, I expect to find at least one vote for every single submission.
And, have you told your friends and relatives to come here and vote? If you want honest feedback, you probably don’t want to tell your mother/spouse/children which one is yours. But at least send them to the site to vote!
(If you get published, you need to help spread the word and the buzz about your book. This will be good practice for you.)
2. May I post comments about your paragraph?
I had fully intended to post comments about what I thought you did well and where I thought you needed improvement–after the contest ended. When someone asked me if I would do that, I went back and checked my contest post and realized I had forgotten to mention that. Ooops.
So, if you want comments about your paragraph, you will need to e-mail me and give me permission to do that. Otherwise, since I didn’t warn you in advance, I will not give you a critique.
Also, a clarification: I will only post the names of the paragraph winners (unless you requested otherwise). If you would like public credit for your paragraph, even if you did not win the contest, let me know. I will not post your name unless you tell me I may do so.