Prize categories.

We've got a pet goat we're trying to give away. She eats too much and her milk tastes funny. That's the prize. Want it?

Actually, we've got a lot of great prizes and a fun way to give them to you. First, we give away three prizes in each chapter, so you've got a decent shot at prizes, regardless of what type of photos you submit. Then to make things really fun, we don't give the prize to 1st, 2nd, and 3rd like you might expect. Instead we reward different things in each chapter. There's seven ways to win (spread across all the chapters):

People's Choice. This one's as simple as it sounds. The photo that gets the highest score by votes will be given this award. We'll be picking a different winner for the Editor's Choice award, but we think you're pretty smart too, so we want to reward the photo that people like the most. You'll see this award in a few different chapters. This is also the method for deciding which photo wins the grand prize. The photo that gets the highest score wins the grand prize.

Editor's Choice. This award goes to the photo our editors determine to be the best in a chapter. Sometimes it'll be a photo that fits the chapter so well that it stands out above the rest. Other times it could be a photo that is technically excellent. Keep in mind that our head editor has a real soft spot for cute stuff, so sometimes the winning photo might be a kitten with big eyes.

Consensus Best. This is a combination of your smarts and our smarts, so it's a well-balanced and prestigious award. A complicated algorithm helps us come up with the top photos. It'd take all day to explain, but it's something like taking the photos the algorithm pushes to the top of the pile, then giving them to our editors, who determine their favorite of that batch. In essence, it's the best of the best.

Most Loves. This is a fun award given to the photo that receives the most loves. Loves has something to do with the algorithm, but not near as much as "dig it" and "nix it" votes, so this is a way to reward photos that may not get the right mix of "dig it" votes, but does get lots of loves.

Ninth Best. This award goes to the photo that garners the ninth most "Dig it" votes in a chapter. Why ninth place? We've all seen the first-place, blue, fancy-pants ribbon, and the second-place one, and third, and fourth, and so on. We've even seen an eighth-place ribbon. But we've never seen a ninth-place ribbon. Have you? We think it's time ninth place gets some recognition.

The Stable One. This award goes to the photo that stays near the top of the pile for the duration of the project. It may never be the photo with the most "dig it" votes, or the most loves, or the best score, but it's a photo that has stuck around near the top for a long time.

Secret Surprise. Every contest needs a joker. This is ours. We'd tell you what the parameters are, but we don't know ourselves. At some point a photo will jump out as the obvious Secret Surprise winner, and boom! that'll be it.

Remember, this photo contest is supposed to be fun so don't take these prize categories too seriously. Also remember that each chapter will have three ways to win. With eight chapters, three chances to win in each, and a grand prize winner, there's plenty of chances for you to win something. So jump in and get uploading.