Deadline: 30 June 2012
Second Wind Publishing invites you to submit an entry to our holiday short story contest.
Entries are to be holiday stories of any genre that mention a food of some kind. (The food item can be a focus of the story or simply a prop.) The winner will be included in Second Helpings, a short story/recipe anthology to be released in time for Thanksgiving, Chanukah, Christmas, New Years. So, be thinking of holiday stories with delicious recipes. The story and recipe must be your own original work since the recipe will also be published in the anthology. Plagiarism will not be tolerated. The story must not exist in print form or in any current or upcoming anthology. The story must be no longer than 5,000 words.
The contest is open to anyone in the world, 18 or older, though the entry must be written in English. There is no entry fee. The best entries will be posted on this site for everyone to read and comment. The authors and management of Second Wind Publishing will choose the three finalists, but reader comments will be taken into consideration. Entries will be judged on originality, readability, writing skills, characterization, plot, and how well they fit in with the theme of the anthology. Spelling and grammar count. The decision of the judges is final.
Everyone is welcome to vote for the winner, which is to be chosen from the three finalists. The winner will be the finalist with the most comments.
The winning entry will be published in the upcoming Second Wind anthology, Second Helpings. (Title is subject to change.) The winner will also receive a coupon from Smashwords.com for an unlimited number of free downloads of the anthology for one month. The coupon can be sent to as many people as you wish during that month. The winner will also be able to purchase an unlimited number of print copies of the anthology at half price plus shipping costs. And the winner will receive a one year free VIP account from Angie’s Diary, the online writing magazine to help you get even more exposure for your writing. ($99 value).
All entries will be deleted once the contest is over.
The contest begins April 1, 2012 and ends June 30, 2012.
SCHEDULE:
- June 30, 2012 at 11:59 pm ET: Contest ends.
- July 1 — July 15, 2012: Judging of entries by 2W (and 2W authors) to pick top three entries
- July 15 — July 31, 2012: Judging of the three finalists by blog readers to pick the winner
- August 1, 2012: Winner announced
- October 1, 2012 Book published (In an ideal world …)
Please send your entries as a Word .doc or .docx to secondwindpublishing(at)gmail.com Be sure to replace (at) with @ and use “Holiday Contest” for the subject line.
TERMS AND CONDITIONS
1. By participating in the contest, entrant certifies the entry is original, has not been previously published, and does not contain material that would violate or infringe upon the rights of any third party, including copyrights, trademarks or rights or privacy or publicity. Sponsor reserves the right to disqualify any entry that it deems unsuitable or ineligible for the contest. The decision of the judges is final and binding.
2. Limit one (1) entry per person and per e-mail address for the duration of the contest. Winners of previous contests held by the sponsor are prohibited from entering again within a one-hundred eighty (180) day period of previous winning submission announcement. Sponsor is not responsible for lost, late, misdirected, incomplete, or inaccurate entries. In the case of a dispute as to the identity of an online entrant, the prize will be awarded to the authorized e-mail account holder.
3. Online entrants must have a valid e-mail address. Entrants agree to be bound by the terms of these official rules and by the decisions of the sponsor and judges which are final and binding on all matters pertaining to this contest. Winners will be required to sign and return a Short Story Publishing Contract within seven (7) days of winner selection, which will give Second Wind exclusive print and ebook rights for two (2) years. Failure to comply will result in selection of an alternate winner. Acceptance constitutes permission for the sponsor and its agencies to use winner’s name and/or likeness, biographical material and/or entry (including an edited form of the entry) for advertising and promotional purposes without additional compensation. By accepting prize, winner agrees to hold the sponsor, its affiliates, and anyone associated with the sponsor harmless for any injury or damage caused or claimed to be caused by participation in the promotion or acceptance or use of the prize. Sponsor is not responsible for any printing, typographical, mechanical or other error in the printing of the offer or in the announcement of the prize.
4. Sponsor reserves the right at its sole discretion to cancel, modify or suspend the contest. Sponsor reserves the right to select winners from eligible entries received as of the termination date. Sponsor further reserves the right to disqualify any individual who tampers with the entry process.
CONTACT INFORMATION:
For queries/ submissions: secondwindpublishing@gmail.com
Website: http://secondwindpublishing.com/