Hi General PGT Beauregard  -
At your request, I had a chance to read your item today, and have enclosed the following review for your consideration. Please keep in mind that the following is my opinion only, and you as the author have the right to use or disregard any of my comments as you see fit.
WHAT WORKED
 The Premise. With a site full of so many different kinds of short story contests, this is a refreshing premise. Not only is it historical fiction (which is an underutilized genre, IMO), but it's also specific historical fiction, encouraging a focus on a particular and dramatic time in American history. It's clear what kind of a contest this is and what kind of entries you're looking for. 
The Prompts. You offer a wide variety of prompts, sure to appeal to a number of writers. Sometimes writers will look at a prompt and be unable to find inspiration, but by including so many options, every writer is sure to find at least one prompt that speaks to him (or her).
The Rules. The basic rules are clear and concise. Writers can easily find all the guidelines they need to write their entries, see the prizes being offered, etc.
WHAT COULD BE IMPROVED
The Prompts. While a variety of prompts are great to give writers options, the prompts for the different rounds is a little confusing. You already have six images per round, but with three rounds of prompts posted, there are actually thirty-six different prompt images in the forum that potential entrants have to scroll through. Can entrants select any of the thirty-six images? It seems a bit overwhelming if there are that many prompts for a single round. If these are for multiple rounds of the contest, I would suggest maybe hiding the ones from past and/or future rounds so that only the six current prompts are visible, but the other ones are accessible to those who wish to find them. You can accomplish this by either linking to a static item where the others are posted, or even leaving them in the item itself by creating a dropnote that can be expanded if desired, but otherwise conceals the non-current round images behind a single-line text link.
Content. You mention in several places that anything is accepted other than stories in the erotica genre. I noticed, however, that there are no other requirements for the content. Are you open to extreme graphic violent content and swearing, offensive non-sexual situations, etc.? If you are opposed to any of that, you may also want to include a rating restriction, such as that items must be rated 18+ or below.
Detailed Rules. This is purely from my own experience running contests, but you may want to consider adding a specific deadline beyond "end of August" (e.g. "11:59pm WdC time on August 31st"); you may want to stipulate whether these must be newly written for the contest or if older entries that fit the prompt are allowed; and whether people can edit their entries after the deadline, as long as they submit them in the forum on time. It's totally up to you, but those are three sticking points that I've had issues with in my own contests, so I usually include something about each of them in my own contest rules, just to make sure everyone is clear.
Donations & Prizes. I feel like the prizes are just a little light in comparison to other contests for similar-length short story entries (i.e. <5,000 words). If you're interested in increasing the prizes and don't have the funds, one of the ways I've found to successfully raise some GPs is to award a MB or other prize for donations over a certain amount. Many WdC members look for ways to increase their Community Recognition or earn additional reviews, accolades for their own items, etc. By offering an incentive for them to donate a certain amount (e.g. a MB for anyone who donates 50,000+ GPs, or a mini port raid for anyone who donates 35,000 GPs), you may be able to incentivize generous donors to contribute to your contest and thus provide you with additional funds which you can use to increase the prize value, offer honorable mentions, etc.
OVERALL IMPRESSION
Overall, I think you did a great job with this contest. It's a refreshing concept and much of it is laid out clearly and concisely. I think anyone visiting the page would be able to quickly look at the forum and decide whether your contest is something they're interested in entering. Very nicely done, and good luck with the contest! 
I hope that you've found my comments useful. Thank you for the opportunity to read and review your work.
Keep up the good work and keep writing!
Best regards,
SoCalScribe
Please check out these items:
"Unofficial Erotica Newsletter Group" 
"The Dark Society"
"Blogocentric Formulations" |
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Best of luck with the Dear Me contest and, more importantly, best of luck with your writing this year. I look forward to hopefully basking in success with you! 
