I really like a lot of the suggestions that have already been mentioned. I would like to get behind the following:
1. Posting the list of nominees in advance.
2. Posting the voting schedule in advance.
3. Extending voting times, especially given how much trouble I had trying to vote in certain races where it was saying I had already voted when I hadn’t. Maybe an extended voting time would’ve allowed for that problem to be fixed so I could vote.
4. Running books in the same sub-genre against each other instead of against another sub-genre in the first round.

Yeah, so nothing really new, but those are the suggestions I really liked.

1: had hardly heard of any of the books

2: had *absolutely NO IDEA* how a basketball tourney worked and therefore at a loss to how DABWAHA was sposed to work – there were rules, but they only apply when you know how to play the game (I dont live in the US if that helps)

But I have read Bone Crossed, and thoroughly enjoy the Mercy series, so very pleased to hear Ms Briggs won :)

I already mentioned it in some other thread, but I’d like to see longer voting times, like 24 hours. If that is too long, maybe with more matches at the same time? Since I live across the pond there were many matches I couldn’t vote in for one reason or another (particularly the ones that started around midnight over here).

I noticed that the number of votes tended to go down on matches that were during certain times, so I think I wasn’t the only one with this problem.

Oh and one thing I could never figure out: the “Configurable standings” link. I thought that might be where you could see how the standings would be if matches went in certain ways, but if so I could never manage to make it work…?

Selene

I agree with the above. And maybe changing the voting times. I’m on the West Coast and there were days I wasn’t even able to cast a vote because of the three hour time difference. Maybe there’s a way to work around that next year.

And I agree…knowing ahead of time, having the books in each genre compete amongst themselves & THEN go head-to-head w/ the other genres would probably work much better. As would the linky to amazon w/ who is who. I hadn’t even heard of 75% of the books. I guessed! :)

This was so much fun. We’d follow it at work during voting.
Iron Kissed was my pick to win (one of my favorite authors and books) but my heart is still with SML. One of the best Historical Romances EVER!

Like the idea of posting books at least a month in advance. I’d read a bunch before picking my bracket. Also the list makes a great TBR pile. I found Ilona Andrew’s books with this contest and that makes me a winner too.

There was a great link to the list of books with clicks to the Amazon bookstore, but I never could find it again. I’ll bet it was right in front of me the whole time — but I just didn’t see it.

That would be my one suggestion — make that link easy to find.

My wish is that you don’t perfect it to boredom. The little glitches and goofs are part of DABWAHA’s charm.

Seems to me, this is truly a tournament where it’s an honor to be nominated, a kick to win, and no dishonor to fail miserably — could anyone design a better tourney on purpose????

This was fun! I didn’t participate at all last year because I couldn’t figure out what was going on.

Congrats to the winners: CarolynJean, JenniferY, Patricia Briggs, Christine, Angela James, and jiffybug.

I didn't do too badly (263rd in the main tournament/tied for 24th in the 2nd chance tournament)

Good suggestions have already been made, but I would second or third the idea to post the voting schedule in advance. I actually like the round-the-clock voting in the first round as it gives everyone the chance to vote regardless of where they are in the world or what their schedule is like.

Also, the DABWAHA website was great, but maybe have more interconnected links (I know the Home page link was on every page, but a link to the Tournament main page on every page would be appreciated. I know I'm probably not explaining that very well).

Just out of curiousity, is there any rhyme or reason to how the seedings are assigned? Maybe next year if the books are announced early enough you could have a pre-contest vote where 9 or 10 books are nominated for each category (YA, Contemporary., etc), people vote for the 8 books in each category they feel should make the tournament, and the books have their seed #s are assigned based on that vote (#1 seed = book with the most votes in category, etc). You would still be able to have the books in the same categories go up against each other so that every category is represented in the elite 8 by assigning all the books from one category the seed numbers for the top of the bracket (1, 4, 5, 8, 9, 12, 13 and 16) and the books in the other category for that region the bottom of the bracket (2, 3, 6, 7, 10, 11, 14, and 15).

I know that would be even more for you all, but hopefully the software will be more automated for next year's tournament so Jane doesn't have to manually download, update the database and then upload everyone's picks.

Mad props to you ladies, this tournament was a blast! I had a ton of fun and I look forward to next year. *rubbing hands*

Why?

From your list of books, I’ve read three of them. I might have a dozen of the rest on my TBR pile, maybe two dozen. I read 188 books or novellas last year, 269 the year before. But when these contests come out, I’m always amazed at how few of them I recognize, let alone have read.

If I’d been participating, my choices would have to be made with a flip of a coin or a cover-eyes-and-point method.

Sounded like fun, though. Maybe next year I’ll pull out my lucky penny…

Major kudos and thanks to DA & SB for their hard work. :)

I would also like to see within-category competition until there is only one left standing. There doesn’t have to be the same number of books from each category, because some categories are just way deeper than others (just like the NCAA conferences). But it would be easier if they played each other until there’s only one. Then it becomes like the Westminster Dog Show, where you rate the contestants on how good an example of their species they are. JMHO.

I *loved* all the close races. Finally, a true chance to be the pivotal voter. My political science heart is all warm and fuzzy.