Our North Street Book Prize takes half a year to judge, so for several years now we've been sending an update to our contestants about two months after the deadline. It eases their worrying and reduces customer service inquiries. We tell them how many submissions were received, who is judging them, and when the results will be announced. We also encourage them to take advantage of the free gifts from the contest co-sponsors. These emails get high open rates—over 70% for the 2025 mailing.
We've begun sending similar updates for our other contests. An update we sent yesterday to our humor poetry contest is about to reach 65% opens. It is also generating hundreds of clicks for Chill Subs, a co-sponsor of the contest.
