DEADLINE day is almost here – the submissions box for the Sunday National’s Yessay competition will close up at 11.59pm tomorrow night.
We’ve had so many fantastic entries flowing in, and our judges will have a tough job on their hands.
Prior to this stage of the contest ending, we’ve had a few frequently asked questions, so we wanted to address these here.
Most will have received an email reply confirming that their essay has been received – but don’t worry yet if not.
We’ll be combing back through the inbox and sending out a final confirmation (the email subject will be “Yessay competition – final entry confirmation”). If you haven’t received this email by midday on Tuesday, then that’ll be the time to contact stewart.ward@thenational.scot to say so.
READ MORE: Here’s how to enter The National's £500 'Yessay' competition
We don’t mind whether you submit your Yessay in the email body or as an attachment. If we’re having any difficulty opening the file, we’ll let you know.
We’ll always try to follow up with you rather than disqualify over issues like this. Our goal here is to help sharpen up the Yes movement’s resources ahead of indyref2 – so we’re being as generous as we can with the essays!
Our judges are Sunday National editor Roxanne Sorooshian, National columnist Lesley Riddoch and University of Glasgow professor of Scottish literature Alan Riach.
We’re anticipating a three-week process of judging, ending on August 1 – but we’ll keep you updated on that.
An element of the voting will involve subscribers to our website. We’ll send out an email to those subscribers with more information in due course.
If you have any questions outstanding, just get in touch with us!
Thanks to all the entrants and to everyone who helped promote the contest.
Good luck to all!
Why are you making commenting on The National only available to subscribers?
We know there are thousands of National readers who want to debate, argue and go back and forth in the comments section of our stories. We’ve got the most informed readers in Scotland, asking each other the big questions about the future of our country.
Unfortunately, though, these important debates are being spoiled by a vocal minority of trolls who aren’t really interested in the issues, try to derail the conversations, register under fake names, and post vile abuse.
So that’s why we’ve decided to make the ability to comment only available to our paying subscribers. That way, all the trolls who post abuse on our website will have to pay if they want to join the debate – and risk a permanent ban from the account that they subscribe with.
The conversation will go back to what it should be about – people who care passionately about the issues, but disagree constructively on what we should do about them. Let’s get that debate started!
Callum Baird, Editor of The National
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules here