Love to read stories, or simply have some voting power left to support our Steemian artists? Read on!

![Marvelous Tales contest](https://steemitimages.com/0x0/https://steemitimages.com/DQmZAHZMkSXAnhxubJzofALbftPG8NQGSWEaBfvsCsVQnFL/MarvelousTalesLogo4.png) The Marvelous Tales contest is on its 13th week now and the amount of contestants is picking up! We started off with two to three entries a week, but for the last couple of weeks, more entries have made my job a little harder. Gone are the days of rewarding every entry. I now have some tough choices to make at the end of every competition. I'm loving the extra entries and I really enjoy reading all of the tales spun by the creative minds of our fellow Steemians. We get to read awesome stories and I'm really amazed at the amount of entries and creativity that comes with this contest. I can't imagine it being easy to write a tale surrounding two words in just 5 days!

The rewards

When I started this contest, I decided to base the rewards on the payout amount of the contest post. I'm not in a position where I can put in my own SBD to sweeten the pot, so for now, this is the way the reward system will stay. We've had some okay payouts, but nothing near what the bigger contest on Steemits reward their contestants with. I know it's unrealistic to ask for a steady supporter, so I am not asking for that. To give our contestants a little extra, I'm simply asking everyone who enjoys the occassional story from our fellow Steemians to [throw the contest post an upvote](https://steemit.com/marveloustales/@playfulfoodie/marvelous-tales-contest-13-announcing-winners-and-the-next-contest). The new contest has just started, so there is plenty of time for the reward pool to grow. All it takes is a little bit of your voting power! If you want to be a steady supporter, but don't have the cash to spare (like myself), you can simply upvote the contest post weekly. Either follow me for convenience in finding the contest, or check out the #marveloustales tag once every week to find the weekly post!

The joining

Now that my humble begging is out of the way, I would also like to tell you *(again)* that the new contest has just started, so there is plenty of time to join in! There are a few simple rules *(like post title, tags and an upvote)*, with the most important one being *'follow the two given words'*. Armed with those two words, you can let your imagination run wild! __So go ahead [and join in!](https://steemit.com/marveloustales/@playfulfoodie/marvelous-tales-contest-13-announcing-winners-and-the-next-contest)__

The judging

I love reading all of the contest's entries and I really enjoy judging the contest. I'm definitely going to continue hosting it and judging it. However, I thought it might be fun to have a guest judge once in a while! For now, winners have always been based on my taste. I can judge on how much I like a story and how much it draws me in, but that might not be the same for everyone! I can also judge on a couple of basics, like a clear and clean post with good paragraph use and a consistent writing style, however, I am far from an expert in this. We've got quite a few writers on Steemit, aswell as some lovers of the written word. If any of you feel up for the task to judge one of the Marvelous Tales contest, I would love to hear from you! You can even pick your own two words of the week! I'll still be judging this week's contest, but I'm up for handing over the reigns to someone else next week. For consistency, I will still be the one publishing the contest posts, aswell as handing out the rewards, but the posts could be filled with your words and winners next time! Guest judges can make their own entry aswell, but will be excluded from winning prices in their week of judging. __Reply to this post, or send me a message on [Steemit.chat](https://steemit.chat/) if you're interested in being a guest judge.__ *Thank you very much to all of the Marvelous Tales contestants. You're the ones making this contest a success and I love the places your stories take me!* ---

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