I have to second what @elveloy said. I think you guys are doing a terrific job and every single writer participating in the ONC should be incredibly thankful for the time you are investing in this contest. However, we are in August, and with a promised announcements of the top five winners by June 20, we are well beyond this deadline now. The Watty submission season has come and gone, Ambys are about to open, and readers have moved on. It's really a shame because you are putting so much time and effort in the judging, but I'm afraid that no one will truly recognize this. While I understand that you want to do a good job and give every writer a fair chance, writers won't benefit from this since the ONC does not provide feedback or any form of transparency, which would allow participants to grow from the tremendous amount of time you invest in the judging process. Therefore, please consider altering your judging criteria for future years to still filter out the best stories but to avoid such detailed scoring to delay the results by over a month.
Please take this post as constructive criticism. I, by no means, want to minimize your efforts, nor do I want to minimize the generosity of running this contest without receiving anything in return. However, sometimes, perfection can slow you down and even accomplish the opposite, and it would be a shame if the ONC would be remembered for its delays instead of a great way of bringing writers together and celebrate great stories.
