Contest: Short Story
Location: N/A
Master of Ceremonies: Tim Boothby <This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.>
Description:

One of the oldest and most revered forms of entertainment is the ancient art of story telling.  Dating back to the beginning of recorded history it has remained one of the foremost forms of enlightenment, intrigue and amusement to this very day.  While in recent years it has been somewhat supplanted by the television, as the dominant form of entertainment, the art of story telling still remains immensely popular. With this contest we attempt in our own small way to pay homage to the creative genius and intellectual flights of fancy that all writers must summon forth to fuel there creative works.

The role of the writer has changed over centuries but there is no form of fandom untouched by the pen of the writer.  The scripts of TV shows, movies and even video game plots take shape under the hands of writers.  Manga, anime, comics, are all formed first in the script and then given life by the hand of the animators.  For that matter what has science done that wasn’t first written by imaginative and creative minds?  The science and amazing inventions of today were first the words of great writers of the past.  Time progresses and the tools of the writers change but never the need for the great minds behind the stories.  With this contest Fandemonium and the Fantasy Artists, RolePlayers and Writers Guild join forces to honor the imagination and craft of writing.

Rules:

1. All contestants must be pre-registered Fandemonium attendees.

2.  To qualify for the Short Story Contest your story must meet the formatting requirements listed below. If your story fails to meet the following requirements it will be disqualified:

        * All submissions must be submitted by email, you may file attach your story to an email but only electronic submissions will be accepted.  This is due to judges being spread across the northwest and the time involved in converting paper submissions to a transmittable format.
        * Word Limit: A minimum of no less than 1,000 words, and a maximum of no greater than 5,000 words.
        * Each story must be complete, a beginning, middle and end.
        * If you have any questions please contact Tim Boothby at <This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.> or at www.farpwg.org.

3.  Your short story must have at least some relation to one or more of the  topics covered at this convention  (for example:  Sci-Fi, Fantasy,  Anime, Animation, Indie, Horror, Role-Playing Games, Video Games, Hong  Kong Action, Comics, Fandom itself, etc…). We cover a lot of topics, so if you are not sure if your story qualifies then just e-mail us and ask.  We are always happy to answer questions.

4. Submit only your own writing!

5. We accept story submissions in the following formats: Plain Text (Notepad Text File), Microsoft Word (.doc, .docx, .rtf, .wps), or PDF.

6. There is a limit of 3 Short Story entries per author.

7.  Fandemonium core staff are not prohibited from entering this contest, but they will not qualify to win prizes in any category – with the exception of Fan-Favorite. This, however, does not apply to Fandemonium volunteer staff who are permitted to enter this contest and qualify to win prizes in any category.

8. While you can still enter them in the contest, stories with excessive violence, gore, foul language, or sexual situations may not be publicly displayed.  Stories not publicly displayed will still be eligible for all applicable prizes except Fan-Favorite.

9.  While you retain ownership and all rights and privileges regarding your stories(s), by submitting them to Fandemonium’s Short Story Contest you grant us a non-exclusive license to physically and electronically display and distribute them as well as publicly read them in whole or in part, and to use them for the promotion of Fandemonium, Short Story & Fan-Fiction writing, and Fandom in General.

10. You must include the following information in your email (all information will remain confidential and even the judges will not see it) it is to verify eligibility.

        * Information to confirm eligibility must include the same information you used to register for Fandemonium:  Real Name, Ticket Confirmation Number (from your PayPal registration confirmation email,) phone number and email.
        * A list including the title of each story and the category/ies you are submitting it for, to help us keep track of which story belongs to whom.
        * A short bio about yourself that will become part of the entry when winner’s stories are posted online.
        * At the beginning of each story list the title and category or categories it’s being submitted toward (if you submit one story to three categories just list them at the top, you only have to submit each story once.)

All submissions must be in our inbox no later than July 20th, of the current convention year, the judges need the time your work deserves to read and critique and gives the time needed to attach scoring sheets to each submission before sending them off to the judges.  We no longer accept submissions at the convention due to time  constraints.

Awards will be given for the Following Categories:

        * Best Theme Work, the theme for this category is PARANORMAL ACTIVITIES/MYSTERIES, selected by 2013 winner Leif Celusta., however stories for best Theme are still eligible for all other categories.
        * Best Original Work
        * Best Derivative Work (fan-fiction)
        * Best Cross-Genre Fiction
        * Best Humorous Work
        * Most Creative Use of Cthulhu (may NOT include anything related to erotic, or sexually oriented material)
        * Fan-Favorite

All awards will be presented during the Award Ceremonies portion of Closing Ceremonies at 6:00PM on Sunday of Fandemonium.

Suggestions to participants:
Spell check.
Read your story aloud to yourself to help find grammar and punctuation errors.