1) Where did we suggest that kudos = quality? When was anything like that mentioned? You’re the only person saying anything like this. Your perception of kudos is skewed and makes little sense with the explanation we’ve already provided (and provided by AO3), which is that kudos = recognition of an achievement. You say that writers deserve kudos for publishing, but then not in this way, even though “this way” is simply helping to encourage and motivate readers of the fest to check out more of the fics and to help spread the word about the fics, which helps gain even more readers. We always encourage readers to reblog or RT fics and leave kudos, and we’re doing the exact same thing this year and promoting the fics in the same way. There is just a possible reward for those readers who go above and beyond and take the time and effort required to check out all of the fics in this fest of incredible writers.

2) People can have fun participating in a fandom event and still deserve to have people reading and enjoying their fics. Many people do join fests because it provides an opportunity to reach a new audience and receive promotion from other accounts (and there’s nothing wrong with that AT ALL, so we’re not sure why you’re acting like that’s somehow a bad thing), but considering this giveaway was just announced and nobody signed up for this fest because of it, we’re not sure how having a giveaway somehow means that people aren’t participating for fun and are only participating for kudos or attention.

3) Our anons seem hyperfixated on kudos for some reason, but more important is the reblogs and RTs, which help to spread the word about fics so that more people are able to see them and read them. Even if somebody doesn’t have time to read a fic, when they reblog it to one of their accounts, people who follow them have the chance to see it. Both of the mods of this fest are writers and we LOVE when people help spread the word about our fics because that can make a huge difference at finding more people who will read and enjoy the works we put so much effort into. We’ve never encountered authors who are upset or angry or somehow feel like they’ve been cheated because people reblogged or RTed their fics.

4) We’re in a fandom where many people read fics, but the kudos, reblogs, RTs, and comments do not always reflect that because people forget or don’t prioritize it. This giveaway is simply a way to encourage people who are already reading many of these fics to give all of them a chance in a fest where, under normal circumstances, they may skip over some in favor of prompts they were looking forward to or authors they already know. This isn’t a handful of fics that any random person would just flip through in two days so they can receive a prize. There are likely going to be 70-80 fics and they will be posted over the course of months. The people who will be participating in this giveaway are mainly people who are already interested in the fics and excited about the fest.

5) We’ve heard from numerous authors who are excited about the giveaway, and particularly newer authors who may be skipped over in favor of more well-established authors, because they feel like it gives their fics more of a chance to be seen and appreciated by people. If you’re an author in the fest who is concerned about the giveaway, you can feel free to reach out to us off anon and we can discuss it. But the decision of certain anons to make a giveaway that encourages - 1) hyping authors and 2) spreading the word about fics - into something malicious, harmful, and unfair toward authors seems rather exaggerated and not based in reality.

I know that it’s the tendency of this fandom to make everything into a debate and something to be angry and upset about it, but considering this is just a fic fest and all we’re trying to do is help our authors receive the appreciation and recognition that they deserve, this response is......bizarre to say the least. It feels like some people are misinterpreting things and intentionally twisting everything to make it into something negative.