I would suggest they be separate. I would also suggest a synopsis of a story instead of a whole story as it would take less time to read for the over worked staff as it is.
Also, would you be interested in taking over those two spots?
Stories of the Month and Poetry of the Month.
I am interested by your idea of a synopsis, as I do understand it
would take a long time to read over a whole story/chapter. But, I am not completely sure of what you mean. Like, the author would have to write a synopsis of the story, or the person who nominates the story would have to write a synopsis? And I think you would have to at least read a bit of the story
as it was written in order for you to really make an accurate judgment.
Also, a synopsis, that would mean a story can only get nominated once, because a synopsis would be for the whole story, and I don't think enough new stories get started in the story section a month for that to work for a once a month thing. Plus, depending on how the story is going, it may have to reveal plot twists early in order for people to get the gist of where the story is going and exactly what it is, which would be not be good for an author. Unless you mean a synopsis for the chapter that was posted in that month. The reason why I thought they should be integrated was because there aren't that many stories in the story section, and because of that it could grow stale. But, if you add them together, there would be more options to pick from, and would make for a more interesting and diverse contest. And I don't mean that it would have two winners, there would still be only one. More like a "Writing of the Month Contest" I suppose. But, I do understand why you would want them to be separate, and either idea could work.
Or maybe, another idea, perhaps the writer could pick out a paragraph or two that they think best represents the chapter/story?
I understand that the staff doesn't have time to read all that much, I'm just trading ideas here, brainstorming and such.
And yes, I would most definitely be interested. I am assuming that if I get the position, I won't be a part of the voting process because I am not a staff member, but if I was I do have the time to read all the stories, and would be willing to.