Contest by vote: you rally your friends and readers to vote for your novel in the contest. I did it in the last contest I was in. Bribed them with 🍕 and 🍣, bonus chapters, promised to vote for them in the future, cried, got favors back, gift them, made co-workers vote, got friends asking friends, blackmailed people, etc. Made some of them vote in my front to make sure. Tried the same with my family members, but they know better hahaah.
So... What can I say. Even so, I didn't win (grrrr family).
Is it cheating? Rules just say more votes win.
Fortunately, my novel is doing good after the contest. It's a contest of popularity, not quality.