Flash pro-rate sales and contest eligibility

Although it's been discussed on the forum here and there before (and because it's not explicitly mentioned in the contest rules), because I'd had a couple of flash-length pro-rate sales in the last year, I reached out to Joni to clarify whether this would or would not affect my eligibility for the contest. In particular as the contest opened its doors to flash-length submissions since I last knew the answer for certain, I wanted to make sure that their position on what counted as a "pro" sale hadn't changed as a result.

(I also thought it was worth posting this as a topic, so it's hopefully easy to find for anyone who's searching the forum for this information in the future. And if this is you, then welcome, future person!)

I'm posting her reply here below, just in case anyone else was wondering.

"Since flash-fiction is so small and basically the entire concept of "proing out" is that the author
is well on their way to being a professional, it is such small pay for flash we make an exception in 
this case. 

So flash does not count against you.

Do share this with anyone who needs to know."

So, if you do have any flash-length stories in your pocket, you can throw them out to pro-paying markets with impunity, confident that sales at that length won't impact your future eligibility to win the Writers of the Future contest!

(Addendum -- I should also add that @jonilabaqui says "HI!!!!" to everyone on the forums!)