I've been running weekly or bi-weekly contests on Steemit for a couple of months now, and it's a somewhat frustrating experience: I get very few submissions, if at all.  I am wondering if the problem is inherent to the kind of contests I want to run, or if there's something I could do to fix it.
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My contests are all book review contest, and all of them limit the books to be reviewed on at least two axes: genre, identity, publication date, content. There's a reason for that. The goal of my contests is to get people to read out of their comfort zone, to read authors and genres who they might not otherwise. And I focus on what interests me. SFF is my job. Has been, in one way or another, for much of the past 27 years. There's stuff that's lost its appeal for me, and just doesn't interest me. 

It is quite possible that the challenge requiring people to both read a novel or a story with those limitations and write a review is simply too high a bar. However, I think part of the reason for my trouble getting reviews is exposure. I don't have a massive number of followers, and many of my voters are autovoters. Which, you know, is great. It's great that folks have the kind of faith in me and the quality of my content to autovote me. But it's not so great that it means they may not feel any sense of urgency to read the content. 

I haven't used bidbots in the past. I don't feel comfortable buying votes, and prefer organic engagement. I have also been lead to understand that you tend to break even with bidbots. But maybe the improved visibility they offer would get more people to read about the contests and participate? 

I spread the word about my contests in the discord servers I participate in, but as someone who creates daily content - at the very least - I'm always cautious about that. Don't want to be viewed as a spammer. Don't want to ***be*** a spammer.

I do know this: running a weekly or bi-weekly contest with little to no engagement is too frustrating for me to keep doing it for long. Possibly at all. And these are the kinds of contests I want to run. Changing them dramatically isn't an option, because they serve a purpose. 

Getting thoughtful reviews, hearing that I got someone to discover a new favorite work or writer... these are some of my favorite things in the world. I'm a human reccing ball. It's something I'd hate to lose here on Steemit.

I would very much appreciate thoughts and suggestions about how to drive more people to see my contests and participate in them.