Submissions may only be made in or from and by legal residents of the 50 United
States and the District of Columbia and submissions originating from any other jurisdiction
are not eligible for entry. This Contest is governed exclusively by the laws of
Ohio and of the United States. You are not authorized to participate in the Contest
if you are not located within the 50 United States or the District of Columbia.
To be eligible, you must at least 18 years of age as of May 30, 2009. You
are not authorized to participate in the Contest if you are not at least 18 years
of age.
NO PURCHASE NECESSARY. A PURCHASE WILL NOT INCREASE YOUR CHANCES OF WINNING. VOID
WHERE PROHIBITED. WritingRoom’s May ’09 Poetry Contest (the "Contest") is
sponsored by WritingRoom.com, LLC ("WritingRoom" or “Sponsor”), 30799 Pinetree Road,
Number 415, Pepper Pike, OH, 44022.
There are no previous publishing requirements to enter this contest.
New or existing users of WritingRoom.com may enter the May ’09 Short Story
Contest by completing the following steps anytime during the contest's open submission
period:
- If you have not already, create a profile at
www.WritingRoom.com.
- E-mail your selected story(s) to contest@WritingRoom.com
as an attachment, in a Microsoft Word file. If you're submitting more than one story,
keep each story separate in its own file, but send only one e-mail (one e-mail with
multiple attachments).
- Clearly list your name on each page of your submission.
- Clearly list your WritingRoom screen-name on each page of your submission.
- In the subject line of the e-mail, type "May Short Story Contest."
- In the body of the e-mail, include your full name, phone number, WritingRoom screen-name,
title of the short story and e-mail address.
- You can enter a maximum of three short stories, each story must be 5,000 words or
fewer.
The Contest entry period runs from 12:01 AM EST, Friday, May 1, 2009 to 11:59
PM EST, Sunday, May 31, 2009 (“Contest Entry Period”). Sponsor’s computer
clock governs time stamp.
All of the submitted stories will be reviewed. Judges reserve the right to disqualify
contestants that do not comply with the Terms and Conditions for the contest.
Any styles are welcome as long as the submission complies with these terms and conditions.
All decisions of the judges are final. More than one story by the same writer can
advance to the next round.
While we respect the right of individuals to freely express themselves in writing,
we do not accept work that is explicitly offensive. Therefore, we ask that authors
who submit their work to our contests to be considerate of this policy.
The winners of the May ‘09 Short Story contest will be judged on the following
criteria:
- Originality
- Story development
- Author's voice
- Character development
- Quality of Writing
- Ability of author to engage the reader
All decisions of the judges are final. The finalist judges will select the Grand
Prize winner and Runner Up. Short stories by the same writer/contestant are not
eligible to win both the Grand Prize and Runner Up prize.
On June 15, 2009 the winners will be announced. Winners will be notified via
e-mail and we will post information about the winners on
www.WritingRoom.com.
One Grand Prize winner will receive:
- $50 cash
- Their short story will be the featured selection in the Anthology of the May
’09 contest entries.
- A printed and bound copy of the published Anthology.
- The Grand Prize winner of the May ’09 Short Story Contest will be entered
into a yearly contest, with the grand prize winners from each month (September’08-September
’09). The Grand Prize winner of the year will receive $250.00.
One Runner Up will receive:
- A printed and bound copy of the published Anthology.
All participants will receive:
- A certificate of achievement.
Notification: All prize winners will be notified via e-mail and posted on www.WritingRoom.com.
No transfer or substitution of prizes permitted, and no more than the stated number
of prizes will be awarded. Winners are solely responsible for all costs or expenses
not specifically exempted herein, and any and all applicable federal, state or local
taxes on the value of their prizes. Story’s by the same writer/contestant are not
eligible to win both the Grand Prize and Runner Up prize. The winners’ story will
be included in a book published through
www.PublishingRoom.com that will be available for public purchase. The contest’s
winners will be featured on www.WritingRoom.com
and www.PublishingRoom.com
and may be in the featured spotlight. By the act of entering this contest and accepting a prize, winners agree
to the release of his/her name, pen name, likeness and city and state of residence
for potential publicity purposes and use on WritingRoom's Web site, except where
permitted by law.
WritingRoom is under no obligation to publish every story that is entered and can
disqualify an entry at any time. The contestant is under no obligation whatsoever
to purchase a copy of the publication in which his or her story(s) may appear. WritingRoom
has the right, if limited there are limited entries, to combine the May entrants
in an anthology with another contests anthology.
Due to formatting restrictions within the finished anthology, www.WritingRoom.com retains the right
to reformat the poetry for size and placement. Though we will make every effort
to preserve line breaks and stanza breaks, we will not be able to guarantee retention
of format from the writer’s original file. Please keep this in mind if submitting
“concrete poetry.”
Entrants must be registered with WritingRoom to be eligible to win. Void where prohibited
by law. Federal, state and local laws and regulations apply. Contest is open only
to registered users of WritingRoom 18 years of age or older or with parental consent.
The contest is void in Arizona. Only legal residents of the United States (except
residents of Arizona, Puerto Rico and all other Territories and Possessions of the
United States), Canada and the United Kingdom are eligible to enter the contest.
An eligible writer is not eligible to win a Grand or Runner up prize in more than
one contest, nor can they win both the Grand and Runner up prize within a contest.
Employees of WritingRoom and/or PublishingRoom and their families (spouses, parents,
children or siblings and their spouses and those who share the same dwelling) are
not eligible for the contest. WritingRoom respects the privacy of our registered
users. By registering and entering this contest, contestants consent to the use
of their registration information in accordance with our Privacy Policy. The rights
to work(s) submitted by contestants are retained by the author of the work in accordance
with the stated Terms and Conditions. Submissions must be original material created
entirely by the entrant. WritingRoom may prohibit any entrant from participating
in this Poetry Contest or any future promotion offered if, in WritingRoom's sole
discretion, the contestant has: tampered with the entry process, the operation of
the poetry contest or Web site; disregards the rules of the contest; is rude or
shows poor sportsmanship; is disruptive, annoying, abusive, harassing or threatening
in any way towards WritingRoom or any other writer. The poetry contest may be terminated
without prior notice at any time after it begins; however if such a termination
should occur, all prizes will be awarded to winners according to the rankings at
the time. All those who accept a winning prize
must remain a member of WritingRoom.com for the duration of the contest
and a period of 3 months following the announcments of the winners of
the September 2008- September 2009 Poetry and/or Short Story contest.
WritingRoom is in no way responsible for any of the content or typographical errors
in any contest-related materials or published works. WritingRoom is under no obligation
to publish every story that is entered and can disqualify an entry at any time.
The contestant is under no obligation whatsoever to purchase a copy of the publication
in which his or her story(s) may appear. Due to formatting restrictions within a
published book, www.WritingRoom.com
retains the right to reformat the poetry for size and placement. Though we will
make every effort to preserve line breaks and stanza breaks, we will not be able
to guarantee retention of format from the writer’s original file. WritingRoom is
not required to pay any form of royalties associated with the sale of the anthology
to authors with story’s included in the anthology. WritingRoom is not responsible
for any individual's inability to enter this contest, including but not limited
to: failed software or hardware transmissions; unavailable network, server, telephone
or other connections; errors of any kind, whether human, electronic, or mechanical
regarding lost, misdirected, late, incomplete or damaged entries; or for any damage
to any computer, network, hardware or software related to or resulting from participation.
WritingRoom reserves the right to end or modify the contest if fraud or technical
failures compromise the integrity of the contest as determined by our sole discretion.
In the event that the contest is ended, all eligible entries already received will
be ranked. Contestants agree to the following: WritingRoom, their promotion partners,
affiliated companies, agencies and their employees are not liable for injury, losses,
damages or costs of any kind resulting from participation in this contest, or in
results of accepting or using the prize awarded. By entering the poetry contest,
participants agree to be bound by these rules.
Winners will be posted on www.WritingRoom.com
and www.PublishingRoom.com
when they are determined.
PublishingRoom.com, 1663 Liberty Drive, Suite 200, Bloomington, IN 47403 Send poem(s)
and questions to contest@WritingRoom.com.
and
WritingRoom.com, LLC located at 30799 Pinetree Road, Number 415, Pepper Pike, Ohio
44124 Send story(s) and questions to contest@WritingRoom.com
(Please, do not send submissions to this physical address).
By submitting your work, you agree to the Terms and Conditions of the contest, mentioned
herein. All work submitted must be original material written by the contestant and
is the sole responsibility of the contestant; entrants are entirely responsible
for all content submitted. WritingRoom reserves the right to declare any entries
ineligible if we determine it is not in accordance with the terms stated in WritingRoom's
Terms of Use or in the Poetry Contest
Terms and Conditions.