Because of that, I would recommend that the Merriweather organizers not accept previously published stories.
I think Sheila has solved the problem for me. I think my main concern - the reason I felt it important to know who the judges are - is because I'm finding it hard to understand how a judge can unbiasly (unbiasedly? is that a word?) judge a story that already has some history behind it. It just seems an almost impossible task to maintain a mutual anonymity, where the writer is anonymous to the judge and vice versa, if the story being submitted is one that has been in the archives or has been posted in the MBs or has even, perhaps, won a Kerth. Kind of like William Shakespeare entering "Romeo and Juliet" in a writing contest and expecting all of the judges to have never heard of it before. Not that I'm comparing anything in this fandom to Shakespeare, LOL! Just that some stories are well known enough that it would be impossible to keep the writer anonymous.
Sheila's idea makes sense, though. If a writer submits a new story, one that has never been posted, then the writer truly can maintain anonymity and be assured that the judges are evaluating his or her story fairly, without any prior prejudices. It would remove a lot of my doubt about the judges if I truly knew that the judges had no idea who I was and that they were judging my story 100% on its merits, not on how they might feel about me personally or what they've thought about my previous stories. And I would highly value any constructive criticism as well, knowing that it was given honestly and fairly.
Good idea, Sheila!
Lynn
