Vote4MyStory FAQ's (frequently asked questions)

Q: How many stories get put into each e-book? How many words is the limit per story?

A: 33 stories per category into each e-book. Each story is limited to 2001 words or less, not including the title, the author’s name and website.

Q: What happens to a category after it has been filled up? Is it too late to submit a story for that category?

A: Categories start over again with a new volume after they have been made into an e-book, so you can always submit your story, even for our most popular categories.

Q: What formats do you accept?

A: We accept Microsoft Word (.doc) and Microsoft Works (.wps) documents, Adobe PDF's (.pdf) and Rich Text Format (.rtf)

Q: Can I submit photos or illustrations to go with my story?

A: No. If we allowed that, it might quickly turn into a photography and art contest. Just writing please.

Q: How do I know when my story’s e-book is available for purchase or live?

A: Once a category goes live, we will notify you with an email.

Q: How long does it take from the time I enter a story until the time the winners are announced?

A: It takes time for the e-book category to be filled and made available (or be live) for purchase. Once that happens, within 3 months or 90 days, whichever is longer, the winners will be decided and announced.

Q: If I am a winner, how long do I have to wait to receive my check?

A: Checks are paid every two weeks. You should expect your check within 21 business days.

Q: Can I buy my own e-book?

A: Absolutely. You may buy them for yourself, friends and family. They make wonderful and inexpensive gifts, plus you can ask them to vote for your story to improve your chances of winning and promoting you as an author.

Q: Who are the judges?

A: The judges are the public at large. Anyone who purchases the e-book is a judge for this contest and will have their vote in deciding the winners.

Q: How does the voting work?

A: Every time an e-book is purchased, the buyer receives a one-time password and code to vote for their favorite stories. 3 months later, the votes are tallied and the winners announced.

Q: What if there is a tie?

A: If there is a tie after the voting period, the voting will remain open for the tie to be broken - as soon as one story moves ahead of the other in votes. There will be no ties.

Q: Can I vote for my own story?

A: Yes.

Q: Can I vote for any story more than once for a single purchase?

A: No. If you would like to vote for a story more than once, you would need to purchase another copy of the e-book.

Q: Can I vote for one story and not for any others?

A: Yes, but we don’t encourage this. We’re here to support and promote authors, so we highly encourage everyone to read all the stories in a category and vote for the ones you like the most, and that includes other authors. Think of it like this - “the more I promote other authors - the more likely they are to promote me.” We believe the laws of karma and Golden Rule are in action here. What comes around goes around. Do unto others as you would like them to do unto you.

Q: How do the winner's categories and the Super Grand Story Prize work?

A: Our plan is to take winners from multiple categories and give them the opportunity to participate in winner's categories, under the same format with more prize money ($1000 for 1st and $400 for 2nd) and a slightly higher entry fee ($49.95). Those winners are then offered the Super Grand Story Prize contest. The format would again be the same, with 33 entrants, a submission fee a bit higher ($99), the same voting process and a winner-take-all format of $3,000 USD.

Q: My story has already been published. Can I still publish it on Vote4MyStory.com?

A: It is the author’s responsibly to check with any previous publishing contracts whether they still have rights to publish elsewhere. Vote4MyStory.com cannot thoroughly check every possible background of each story we receive. Therefore, the responsibility is always on the author to make sure she/he is not violating a previous contract.

Q: May I submit a story for more than one category?

A: You may, but due to the nature of the prize money and processing costs on our end, you would have to pay the entry fee for each subsequent category you wanted the story to be placed in.

Q: What if my story is much shorter than the length for the category?

A: If you have a great story at a shorter length, go ahead and submit it. Sometimes less is more.

Q: May I include personal information such as my email, phone number, company name or my website along with my author name in the e-book?

A: You may include your website or company name in the e-book, and we encourage that. After all, this is about promoting you! You may not include your email or phone number, due to the nature of spam, telemarketers and other conflicts that may arise from giving out personal information.

Q: What if more than one author collaborated on a story?

A: We cannot accept stories from multiple authors. It complicates other aspects of the process and creates potential conflicts. One author in the credits, one website gets marketed, for the price of one submission.

Q: What if I have more than one website to market?

A: We will only list one website per submission. This is partly due to keeping people from getting more than their fair share. If you really want to market more than one website, you may always pay to submit more than one story.

Q: Can children submit stories?

A: No. Sorry, but Vote4MyStory only accepts adult authors who are 18 years or older.

Q: What else do you offer?

A: At this time, we are developing a featured author’s category and links to help writers with their craft and learn about the publication business. Check back with us as our additional offers may change soon and frequently.

Q: Might things change in time? Like the prize money?

A: Absolutely. This is a brand new business, and like many new things it will evolve over time. It is the sincere hope of the Vote4MyStory owners to dramatically increase the benefits, the prize money and services as the company grows.

Q: What happens if a category is slow and never fills up to the quota? And if so, when would you make that decision?

A: We don’t envision this happening, but it is possible. If this happens, we will either make the e-book available as it is with fewer than 33 entries, or we would refund the author’s money. All entries must be either made live or the author’s money refunded within 6 months or 180 days after submission.

Q: What if my story gets rejected for some reason? And if my story is rejected, can I get a refund?

A: We will do everything possible to ensure every author’s story gets published. That’s why we’re here, and we wouldn’t be in business if we rejected stories without a just cause. If for some reason, (see reasons for rejection) we cannot accept your story, we will give the author feedback on the reason and offer them a one-time, complimentary entry for either the same story with proper modifications or a different story altogether. Sorry, but we cannot refund entry fees due to our costs of processing entries.

Q: Do you rent any contestant information to third parties?
A: No. Absolutely not! Please click here for our full privacy policy.

Our goal is to promote and serve all of our authors!