Ally Carter

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The Widget Contest

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Hey everyone,

I’ve got an important notice today and I hope it doesn’t cause too much grief and/or controversy.

As many of you will remember, for the last several book releases we’ve held a “widget contest” wherein readers have designed “countdown widgets” that have cool graphics and literally count down the days/hours/minutes until the new book goes on sale.

This, like all of our contests, has always been a lot of fun, but this one has also come with its own brand of drama.  Not because of anything you guys did!  It’s just that this contest requires using HTML and/or some more technical things and it just always results in extra work.

For example, in preparing for this year’s contest I tried and tried and tried to find examples of past winners, but the HTML code for all the old widgets no longer works so it’s impossible to show you an example of one that won before.

There is also behind-the-scenes drama related to getting the widgets to show up here correctly or featuring the code in a way that you guys could utilize it on your blogs and sites.

Not to mention the fact that the blog would get the comment “what is a widget” or “how do you make a widget” so frequently that I’m pretty sure this was something that was just pretty confusing.

So… after A LOT of thought and grief I’ve decided to hire a widget made this year and instead do some other kind of contest–ideally one that is a little easier to explain and facilitate.

I’m very sorry for those of you who look forward to the widget contest every year.  Who knows?  It may come back again in the future, but for Uncommon Criminals, at least, I can say that we will not be doing it.

What WILL we be doing?

Well, that largely depends on all of you!

I’m opening up the comments section for suggesions of REPLACEMENT CONTESTS!  What contest would YOU like to see?  Now’s the time to let us know!

 

Thanks again and happy reading!

Ally

 

ps:  The official widget should be ready within a week or two.  As soon as it is, I’ll, of course, post it and make sure you guys can share it on your sites if you’d like.

 

 

 

Comments

  1. we could create our own scenes with our own characters or we could use different characters and put the different characters together like harry potter and edward you could pick the best

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  2. a trivia contest would be fun, but that could easily end up in like a 30-something way tie b/c a bunch of ppl know the answer (and i never thought it was fair that ppl who sent it in one milisecond before someone else could win and that other person doesn’t even tho they have the same answers)
    Maybe a contest where ppl have to write something having to do with the book. nothing about the future books (b/c i know then that would make problems if ppl predicted something you might have wanted to do), but maybe like a “before the books” or even something where we write our own story, completely differnt, except have one of your characters appear in it.
    You, Ally, could always write something and turn it into some kind of riddle. Something like a mini-expert sort-of and then we have to answer a question or figure out something about it after…
    those are my thoughts šŸ™‚ any contest would be great though!

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  3. I think we should do a contest on what GG5’s title will be, and whoever gets the cloest or right on the money would win, oh and thanx for everything you do for us. =)

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  4. hey ally this is my first year so i havent seen the widget contest but i have a ideawhat is everyone made a 30-second video for one of tha gallagher girl books and for characters they could put what charcters would fit the part like me i think if thier was a GG movie i think selena gomaz would be a good macey but thats my opinon so yeah make video send it to all or give her the link and the top 10 can be shown on the website that 2 mee would beasome!

    OW AND
    HAPPY ST.PATRICKS DAY! ill find u and pinch if u dont ware green jk lol thanks!
    -alexandra

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  5. I think you should have a mystery we are all supposed to solve! There could be clues left all over the blog šŸ™‚ That way it relates somewhat to both!The final clue could take you to a prize or spell out something.

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  6. I’m not really creative with coming up with new ideas for games, but I do have some thoughts that could work, maybe. A lot of people here are really creative, and they enjoy writing (example: me, but I know that a lot of other people are also aspiring writers). So, maybe you can open a contest where people can submit a spin-off for one of your books/series. It could just be a spin-off of characters that you limit it to, if you wanted to narrow it down. But this might be too wide to judge, so it may not work.

    Another idea could be that people who enjoy drawing could draw what they think a certain character looks like. You could probably choose that character, or you could choose a list for everyone to choose from. This also may not work because not everyone has great artistic abilities, or they may not enjoy drawing. But, I thought that sharing these would be worth a shot.

    If any other ideas come to mind before you make a decision, I’ll comment again. But, good luck choosing something! I’m sure someone (maybe you) will come up with something brilliant!

    Reply

  7. I think a cool contest would be some sort of puzzle or riddle that we have to figure out. Maybe something to do with Heist Society. It could also be some sort of code that we have to crack, like in heist movies sometimes.

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  8. I really like this idea, Ally! Maybe you could give us a situation in which Kat has to steal something, and we can each write about a way to steal it, hypothetically speaking. Like a mini-con story or idea. And you can pick like the most creative one, or the craziest one.

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  9. I think a guess the painting thing would be cool. Or a story contest, another author did that on figment.com

    Reply

  11. I like the twitter background/icon designing idea, or just making Heist fan art. Lots of fun Gallagher Girl stuff too but this is about Heist, guys!

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  12. Hi Ally! I’m really okay with this not being a widget contest because I could never figure out how to make one. Maybe you could do like a fan-fiction contest of GG or Heist Society, then pick which one you like the best. Just an idea.

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  13. I would definitely have to say a writing contest. Because writing contests rock. Maybe a thing where we have to write something about our own Uncommon Criminals? šŸ™‚

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  14. some ideas for you
    #1 some kind of trivia contest but problems with that would be some people having more access to books that others and there would be no way of knowing if someone cheated or not
    #2 a writing contest? but we dont want to create any copywrite prolems for you
    #3 mabye we could do a gg5 title contest you pick a few of your fav title and that person gets a prize
    will like whatver you choose
    happy writing
    -nat

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  15. Maybe instead of a Widget fans could create and send in some sort of banner for Uncommon Criminals? Or an Uncommon Criminals poster, or fake print ad for the book (like you might see in a magazine).

    That way there’s some options for the medium, and the format and even the general concept. It can involve drawing, photography, graphic design, text, no text, pictures, whatever anyone wants to play with!

    And it’s a contest that is overall similar to the widget (as in it’s creating something visual) but without the added complications you mentionned above.

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  16. I believe we should create the Henley. We could draw, charcoal, paint, photograph, use windows paint or photoshop, sculpt, etc. Maybe the person who envisioned the museum the closest to Ally’s would win, maybe the most best representation of the Henley,(because who knows, maybe it’s better than Ally imagined), or just the best piece of artwork.

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  17. I have 2 ideas for contests.

    One, is who can plan the most imaginative art/jewelry/heirloom/ valuable object heist or most super secret Gallagher mission. For instance, someone makes up a fake blueprint (or 2, like one for Gallaghers, one for heists) of a space, with imaginative security measures and have contestants think their way in and out using their best Gallagher or Heist tricks.

    The second is a most Gallagher/Hesit Guy or girl. Contestants can dress as their favorite character and write a made-up day in the life. Or, ask them to make their own Gallagher/Heist character an make a day in the life story. They could submit their story and pic (or no pic), but it might make a lot of work for Ally and her friends to read.

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  18. I don’t want to give you any copyright issues, but maybe a writing contest? Perhaps a chapter from any GG book or the Heist Society book in a different character’s point of view? (For example: The first day of school from Liz’s point of view).

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  20. Could we have a banner contest? ‘Cuz I had already made my widget, and I could always just turn it into a banner…

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  21. i really like the idea of having to write a story that’s completely different but have a character appear in it! that would be a sweet contest!

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  22. Um… I think a fun contest would be if the artists did some fan art, and the writers did a fan fiction peice, and you chose the subject and the characters and stuff, and you chose the best picture and story, then posted it on the blog. That way the artists didn’t have to write and the writers didn’t have to draw.
    Cant wait for UC!!!
    ~AR

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  23. How about a bit of a history lesson for your readers? Heist Society involved art; from what I understand, the upcoming book involves jewels. Perhaps you could have people research the various Crown Jewels of different countries and write a paragraph telling you which one piece they’d like to own/wear, why, where it’s from, and its history. You could instead do the same thing with famous pieces of art.

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  26. What about a video/ movie maker contest? You know, like make a trailer for Uncommon Criminals or Heist Society, and the best one wins!!!

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  27. You could do something simple like an art contest or poetry contest that revolves/reflects on a reader’s feelings on Uncommon Criminals. Something simplistic won’t be as much of a hassle as writing html code. (So I would think, but either way, html is relatively easy to understand in my case.)

    ~Vixen

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  28. Ok. I love widgets, and this is my 1st year reading Ally’s work. And I fail at making them. So, I think we should make a “Heist Three” (not literally) cover for the contest! šŸ™‚ Yeah, I know, I’m not the best idea maker.
    Thanks for reading!

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  29. I think we should have an ultimate trivia contest on all your books! See who can really be the next Cammie or Kat!

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  31. ya i like the idea of a video contest. but i was thinking more on the lines of maybe making a short movie preview for one of the GG books or heist so we could all enjoy thinking of how parts of senes could look like or just enjoy the thought of making the perfect movie preview for one of our favorite books. it would be a lot of fun and you could even have your friends join in because im pretty sure making a movie preview all by yourself would be a little challenging but well its all up to how you want to interpret it. well anyways thanks for letting our imaginations run wild with ideas Ally and who knows maybe one of them will be perfect and catch on for years to come šŸ™‚

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  32. Hi Ally!!:)
    Its ok about the widget its totally not your fault!!
    As for the contest ( I saw this done with the book of Fang by James Patterson) well you probably won’t do this because then you’d have to wait until after the book was released but you could ( or the reader) pick a scene in the book that wasn’t shown and then have a writing contest to see who can make up and write the best scene!!:):):)

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  35. I love this idea! It would be fun and very feasible, with a site like figment.com or something like that. Plus, it would give those of us who are not very HTML- or art-gifted an opportunity to enter.

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  36. Oooooh! LOVE this idea! It might get boring for Ally to read the same scene, though. Of course, it will always be a LITTLE different. Different thoughts and all that. Really good idea, though. I love it!

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  37. I think that’s really cool! I like the scavenger hunt thing… But how could you tell if someone won or not?

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  38. Yes!! I loove that idea! It’s just like the widget but waay easier for people to make and submit and still let that creative juice flow. I think making a banner or something like that for the book is a great idea!

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  42. Hey i like the ideas but THINK THE CONTEST their should be one for BOTH SERIES! TWO DIFFERNT ONE BECAUSE SOME PEOPLE HAVE NOT READ H.S. AND SOME HAVE NOT READ GG like me i have not read hs but i want 2 but if their was a contest about it i could not enter so yeah two diffrent contest! onr 4 gg 1 for hs

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