WritingRoom’s Author Launch Contest Rules

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 March 19, 2008.  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. The WritingRoom’s Author Launch Contest (the "Contest") is sponsored by WritingRoom.com, LLC ("WritingRoom" or “Sponsor”), 30799 Pinetree Road, Number 415, Pepper Pike, OH, 44022.

1.   Contest Period.

The Contest entry period runs from 12:01 AM EST, Wednesday, March 19, 2008 to 11:59 PM EST, Wednesday, June 18, 2008 (“Contest Entry Period”). Sponsor’s computer clock governs time stamp.

2.    Eligibility.

(a) Unpublished and self-published writers are eligible to compete in the Contest.  Employees, officers, directors, agents and representatives of Sponsor and Publisher (as defined below) or any judge over the Contest, and, as applicable, their respective parent companies, subsidiaries, affiliates, promotion, advertising, design, web design, web hosting, publicity, production and print production agencies and anyone connected with the production, hosting and distribution of this Contest and, as applicable, their immediate family members (parents, children, siblings, spouse and each of their respective spouses, regardless of where they live) and members of any of their households (collectively, "Contest Affiliates") are not eligible to enter or be awarded a prize.  Void outside of the fifty United States and D.C., and where prohibited, taxed or restricted by law.  All federal, state and/or local laws, rules and regulations apply.

(b)   Manuscript submissions (hereafter the “Submissions”) must be original, previously unpublished book, 50,000 to 100,000 word manuscripts, in the Qualified Thriller Genre (as defined below) from authors who have not previously published a full length book (excluding self published and vanity press and except on WritingRoom.com).  All Submissions must be in English.  Submissions must not violate copyright laws and must contain properly cited material, if applicable. You must be 18 years of age or older as of March 19, 2008 and must be a legal resident of the United States or the District of Columbia to be eligible to enter. Submissions may not be submitted elsewhere unless and until the entrant has been eliminated from the Contest.  By entering your Submission in the Contest, you hereby give WritingRoom and its nominees (collectively, “Publisher”) first publication rights to your manuscript until such time as you are eliminated from the Contest.  A copy of your Submission may be kept for record-keeping purposes for 3 years. Writers cannot submit more than one Submission in the Contest. This Contest is run only on the Internet.  By entering this Contest, you agree that if you are selected as the Grand Prize Winner, Second Prize Winner or Third Prize Winner, you will sign a standard self-publishing agreement with Publisher within five days of receipt of the agreement, and you will permit WritingRoom and Publisher to publish your manuscript and use your image and work in marketing and promotions. 

(c) The “Qualified Thriller Genre” shall have the meaning contemplated under the definition of “thriller” at wikipedia.com located at the link: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thriller_%28genre%29 (“Thriller Definition”); provided, however that for purposes of the Contest, the following content is not acceptable (a) an Erotic Thriller (as contemplated under the Thriller Definition), and (b) any other content which the Sponsor deems to be inappropriate.  Notwithstanding the foregoing, suggestive and minimal references to sexuality and horror shall not disqualify a Submission.  The Sponsor shall have the sole discretion for determining whether or not a Submission falls within the Qualified Thriller Genre.   Acceptable types of Qualified Thriller Genre include sub-genres such as action, conspiracy, crime, disaster, drama, eco, horror, legal, medical, political, psychological, spy, supernatural and techno (military).

3.    How to Enter.  

Manuscripts will be accepted during the Contest Entry Period, which is 12:01 am Wednesday, March 19, 2008 – 11:59 pm Wednesday, June 18, 2008.  The winner will be announced on Sunday, July 8, 2008 and will have 72 hours to acknowledge and accept from the time that winner is notified through the email address assigned to winner’s account on WritingRoom.com.  If the winner fails to do so, then the second place winner will assume the first place prize, the third place winner will receive the second place prize, and the runner up will receive the third place prize.  To enter, you must email your manuscript as an MS Word file or PDF attachment to contest@WritingRoom.com.   The document must be delivered in complete form, drafted in 12 pt. Times New Roman font, 1 inch margins throughout, paginated and double-spaced and must include numbered chapter breaks.  You must be a member of WritingRoom.com.  The subject of your email must read Contest Submission. In the email you must include your name (first, last), email address, WritingRoom Screenname, manuscript title and manuscript word count.   Your email must also include a brief 500-750 word synopsis of the plot (which we can post to your profile page).  Unless otherwise posted on your profile, your email must contain a 500 word or less author bio and must include your image (in which case we can post to your profile).  If you have trouble posting any information or images to your profile on WritingRoom.com or other registering for the Contest, please email contest@WritingRoom.com.  WritingRoom will email all entrants to confirm receipt of their Submissions.  If you have entered the Contest and have not received a confirmation notice of your submission 72 hours, please email contest@WritingRoom.com. 

4.    Article Rights.

By entering this Contest, you explicitly (i) certify that you and the Submission meet the eligibility requirements as set forth in these Official Rules; (ii) grant to the Sponsor the right to use and publish excerpts from your Submission and the biographical information you provide (except street address, telephone number, and email address) during the Contest; (iii) represent and warrant that you own or have  exclusive rights to the entirety of your Submission and have the right to grant to Sponsor temporary rights to post excerpts of your Submission; (iv) represent and warrant that you have not used licensed material or any material owned by someone other than you and that your Submission will not be libelous, or infringe or violate the rights of any third parties, including but not limited to copyrights, trademarks, or rights of publicity/privacy; and (v) represent and warrant that your Submission is original, falls within the Qualified Thriller Genre and you have not copied or plagiarized the content or portions of text for your Submission from other material.  You further agree that you will not submit your Submission to any other publisher or in any other Contest until you have been notified by WritingRoom that your Submission has been eliminated from the Contest. By entering this Contest you agree that if you are selected as the Winner, you will sign the Publisher’s self-publishing agreement within five days of receipt of it. If for any reason the Winner fails to execute the publishing agreement, the grand prize will be forfeited and may be awarded to the author of the next highest scoring manuscript. 

Sponsor reserves the temporary publication rights to publish excerpts of all Submissions. Sponsor reserves the right to request that semifinalists (10) and finalists (5) engage in additional Contest related activities including but not limited to, author interviews, blog posts, recorded author readings, live chats with members, and/or video posts. 

5.    Judging and Winner Selection:

The panel of judges for the Contest shall include:

• Lindsay Preston – CEO and Creator of WritingRoom.com
• Jon Land – NY Times Best Selling Author
• Joel Pierson – Professional editor from Wordclay
• Susan Ludsin – Retired Literary Professor from John Carroll University

The following criteria will be considered equally in the judging of the contest:

• Story development
• Character development
• Authors ability to engage the reader
• Originality of the author’s voice
• Quality of writing
• Marketability

6.    Quantity, Prize, Approximate Retail Value (ARV). 

The Contest will result in one (1) First place prize.  The prize is self-publication of Winner’s Submission by Publisher as described immediately below and with an aggregated ARV of $2,000.00. 

• Copy and Content Editing
• Soft Cover Design
• Typesetting Interior
• Professionally written book cover synopsis
• 3 Year Soft Cover Channel/Retail Book Store Distribution (available to retailers)
• 1 Year Retail Return Insurance

• 20 paperback copies of your Submission will be printed.  The Submission may be modified and formatted as necessary.  
• Marketing Kit
• Press Release Composition
• Video Interview by WritingRoom.com made available for press and marketing purposes at your discretion, and which will be featured on WritingRoom.com
• 30 minute one-on-one book consultation with Jon Land
• At least one (1) National Press Release

The Contest will result in one (1) Second place prize.  The prize is self-publication of Winner’s Submission by Publisher as described immediately below and with an aggregated ARV of $1,000.00. 

• Soft Cover Design
• Typesetting Interior
• Professionally written book cover synopsis
• 3 Year Soft Cover Channel/Retail Book Store Distribution (available to retailers)
• 10 paperback copies of your Submission will be printed.  The Submission may be modified and formatted as necessary. 
• At least one (1) National Press Release

The Contest will result in one (1) Third place prize.  The prize is self-publication of Winner’s Submission by Publisher as described immediately below and with an aggregated ARV of $200.00.

• Soft Cover Design
• Typesetting Interior
• Professionally written book cover synopsis
• 3 Year Soft Cover Channel/Retail Book Store Distribution (available to retailers)
• 5 paperback copies of your Submission will be printed.  The Submission may be modified and formatted as necessary.
• At least one (1) National Press Release

All taxes are the sole responsibility of the winner; the value of the prize will be treated as ordinary income to prize recipient. 

7.    General.

Contest administration and verification will be supervised by WritingRoom, whose decisions are final.  By participating in this Contest, you agree to have your submission judged as described in these Official Rules and to be bound by these Official Rules, WritingRoom's privacy policy and the decisions of the judges and Sponsor, whose decisions are final. The submission of entries will be conducted on the Internet at www.WritingRoom.com only. Sponsor is not responsible for lost, late, illegible, misdirected, incomplete or garbled entries; for those who cannot access the Internet or cannot click-through for any period of time; for messages that are garbled; if entry is not captured correctly, or for any technical, hardware, software, telephone, Internet, virus contamination, network, human error, electronic malfunctions, Force Majeure or any other problems; and for delay, failure or malfunction for any reason. Sponsor assumes no liability for damage caused to entrant's or any other person's/entity's computer hardware, software or communications network, regardless of cause. Sponsor reserves the right to terminate/cancel or modify the online entering process or disqualify any entrant if, in Sponsor’s sole judgment, it determines that the integrity or fairness of the Contest has been, or could be, compromised or that the Contest is not capable of running as planned or fairly, including infection by computer virus, bugs, tampering, unauthorized intervention (hacking), fraud, technical failures, Force Majeure or any other cause. Should this Contest be terminated/canceled during the Contest Entry Period, judging will take place in the manner detailed above from all Submissions received up to the point of termination/cancellation. In the case of a dispute regarding the identity of the person submitting an online entry, the entry will be deemed submitted by the name on the registration form. By entering this Contest, an entrant explicitly releases, discharges and holds harmless the Contest Affiliates (as defined below) and their shareholders, successors and assigns, one and all, from any and all liability, actions, causes of action, damages, actual, incidental or consequential, claims and demands whatsoever in law or equity, including all "costs," which he/she now has or may acquire, by reason of any personal injury, death, loss of or damage to property, or any reason, occurring during or arising out of his/her participation in the Contest.  The Contest Affiliates and their respective officers, directors, employees, affiliates, related entities, partners, partnerships, principals, representatives, agents, licensees, successors and assigns (i) make no warranty, guarantee or representation of any kind concerning the prizes; and (ii) disclaim any implied warranty. The right to receive any prize is non-assignable and non-transferable and no prize substitution, extension, transfer, exchange or cash equivalent will be allowed. All federal, state and local laws and regulations apply.  Winners may be required to sign Affidavits of Eligibility and publicity, liability release forms prior to being awarded their prizes. 

As used herein the term “Contest Affiliates” is defined under Section 2(a) of these terms and conditions, and include without limitation, WritingRoom.com, LLC, Publisher and all of the judges contemplated under Section 5 above.

CAUTION: ANY ATTEMPT BY AN ENTRANT TO DELIBERATELY DAMAGE ANY WEB SITE OR UNDERMINE THE LEGITIMATE OPERATION OF THE CONTEST MAY BE A VIOLATION OF CRIMINAL AND CIVIL LAWS AND SHOULD SUCH AN ATTEMPT BE MADE, SPONSOR RESERVES THE RIGHT TO SEEK DAMAGES FROM ANY SUCH PERSON TO THE FULLEST EXTENT PERMITTED BY LAW. 

8.    Miscellaneous. 

If any provision of this Contest shall be deemed to violate any federal, state or municipal law, it shall be amended to conform to such law and all other provisions shall remain in full force and effect.  Sponsor, and all production and hosting agencies shall not be responsible for technical, pictorial, typographical or editorial errors or omissions in any marketing materials or these Official Rules. This Contest is conducted in American English.  All trademarks are the property of their respective owners. The use of certain products and services as prizes does not imply participation in, or approval of, this Contest by their respective companies.

9.    Dispute Resolution / Choice of Law.

Except where prohibited by law, by participating in this Contest, entrant agrees that: All issues and questions concerning the Contest and these Official Rules shall be governed by Ohio law without giving effect to any principles of conflicts of law of any jurisdiction. Entrant agrees that any action at law or in equity arising out of or relating to this Contest shall be filed only in the state or federal courts located in Ohio and entrant hereby consents and submits to the personal jurisdiction of such courts for the purposes of litigating any such action. Except where prohibited by law, by participating in this Contest, entrant agrees that: (a) any and all disputes, claims, and causes of action arising out of or connected with this Contest shall be resolved individually, without resort to any form of class action; and (b) any and all claims, judgments and awards shall be limited to actual out-of-pocket costs incurred, including costs associated with participating in this Contest but in no event attorneys' fees; and (c) under no circumstances will any entrant be permitted to obtain awards for and hereby waives all rights to claim punitive, incidental and consequential damages and any other damages, other than for actual out-of-pocket expenses, and any and all rights to have damages multiplied or otherwise increased.

By entering this Contest, each entrant agrees that any and all disputes, claims, actions and causes of action arising out of or connected with this Contest or the prize awarded and all issues and questions concerning the validity, interpretation and enforceability of these Official Rules shall be resolved individually, without resort to any form of class action, and exclusively in a court of competent jurisdiction sitting in Cuyahoga County, Ohio. Any and all claims, judgments and awards shall be limited to actual out-of-pocket costs incurred and never shall include consequential, incidental or punitive damages, and in no event attorneys' fees or "costs." Some jurisdictions do not allow the limitation or exclusion of liability for incidental or consequential damages, so the above may not apply to you.

10.       Use of Data.  

WritingRoom will be collecting personal data about participants online, in accordance with WritingRoom’s privacy policy. Please review WritingRoom’s privacy policy at http://www.WritingRoom.com/privacy.aspx. By participating in the Contest, participants hereby agree and acknowledge that they have read and accepted to WritingRoom's collection and use of their personal information as set out in its Privacy Policy and in these rules.

11.       Publisher. 

Entrants acknowledge that Publisher may be WritingRoom or may be designated by WritingRoom, at WritingRoom’s sole discretion.  Entrants acknowledge that Publisher and its respective parent, affiliate and subsidiary companies (collectively the “Designated Entities”) have extensive respective histories in creating, acquiring and developing literary, artistic, musical and other material, including stories, ideas, themes, plots, titles, screenplays, manuscripts, formats and other developments and other materials (collectively, the “Materials”).  Moreover the Materials which the Designated Entities may hereafter use may have originated with or may have been acquired from the Designated Entities’ employees or others and may duplicate, parallel or resemble an entrant’s Submission.

By submitting a manuscript, entrants acknowledge that they understand and agree that the Designated Entities’ use of material containing features and elements similar to or identical with those contained in their Submission do not entitle entrant to any compensation.  By entering, entrant waives any right of action against the Designated Entities or their successors and assigns in connection with the Designated Entities’ use of the Material (or any part thereof) whether or not the Material contains features or elements similar or identical to those contained in entrant’s Submission.

12.    Winner List.

For a Winners list, check the website starting July 9, 2008 at http://www.WritingRoom.com.

13.    Sponsor.

The Sponsor of this Contest is WritingRoom.com, LLC located at 30799 Pinetree Road, Number 415, Pepper Pike, Ohio 44124 

and WordClay.com located at 1663 Liberty Drive, Suite 200, Bloomington, Indiana 47403