Tuesday, June 21, 2016

3rd Gig Book Contest - Extended

The 3rd Gig Book Contest has been extended.
The Contest Rules remain the same, the new dates are:
2017 March 4 - End of Contest
2017 June 4 - Announcement of Winners
2018 August 4 or earlier - Book Launch
2020 August 4 or earlier - Extension of Book Launch if needed.
For inquiries please email  gasfigirl@gmail.com

Saturday, January 2, 2016

3rd Gig Book Storywriting Contest


Official Contest Rules  

(Also available at http://gigbookcontest.blogspot.com)

1. The 3rd Gig Book Storywriting Contest hereinafter referred to as the “Contest” is organized and sponsored by Gig and the Amazing Sampaguita Foundation Inc. (GASFI) hereinafter referred to as the “Organizer” with business address at Suite 600 The Gregorian, 2178 Taft Avenue, Malate, Manila, Philippines.

2. The Contest starts on January 4, 2016 at 8:00 a.m. Manila time, and ends on June 4, 2016 at 5:00 p.m. Manila time. Entries received before the Contest starts, or after the Contest ends, will be ignored.

3. The Contest is open to anyone age 18 years or older, except the officers and employees of the Organizer and their relatives up to the third degree of consanguinity.

4. Entries must be stories written in English and intended for children age 6 to 12 years. The word count must be five hundred (500) words or less, and the plot and sequence must be capable of sustaining a 20- to 32-page illustrated book. The theme must be something that seafarer families, especially children, can identify with. The story must, in the judges’ opinion, resonate well with children whose fathers are mostly away at sea, and preferably promote positive human values (e.g. love, respect, honesty, compassion, care, humility, responsibility, understanding, strength, courage, resilience, etc.). Bonus points and a greater chance of winning will be given to positive, sensitive, and creatively child-appropriate stories that deal with complex seafarer family issues like relatives, in-laws, neighbors, troubled teens, money management, parental infidelity, sibling rivalry, resentment, anger, alienation, abandonment, illness, and others.

5. By entering the Contest, contestants warrant that their entry: (a) is their original creation; (b) has not been previously published; (c) has not been entered in another contest where it won First, Second, or Third prize.

6. All entries must be submitted by email to gigbookcontest@gmail.com. The subject heading must be the word “Entry” followed by a space, a dash, another space and the title of the story. Example: “Entry - My Dad Is A Seafarer.” Furthermore: (a) The main message of the email must contain the following items only: the title of the story, and the contestant’s complete name, age, mailing address, cellphone number, and landline. (b) The entry itself must be sent as a Microsoft Word attachment. It must be set in 12 points Times Roman normal (no bold, no italics, no underlining), double-spaced, with no author name or accompanying or inserted artwork or graphics or identifying marks whatsoever, on letter-size paper (8.5 inches by 11 inches) with a 1-inch margin all around. Entries that do not conform to these specifications may be accepted by the Organizer at its discretion and reformatted accordingly, or rejected outright. (c) By submitting an entry via this method, the contestants agree that the primary mode of communication between them and the Organizer will be via the email address that they used to submit their entry. The Organizer may, at its discretion, disqualify any contestant who fails to respond within ten calendar days to the Organizer’s attempts to contact him or her via email, snail mail, phone call, and/or text message. (d) Contestants may submit more than one entry.

7. A Board of Judges consisting of three or five individuals will choose up to ten winning stories. The judges will be selected by an Executive Editor/Book Designer who will also serve as Chairman of the Board of Judges. The decision of the judges is final.

8. The authors of the winning stories will receive a cash prize of P20,000.00 each, a Winner’s Certificate, and the opportunity to have their winning story published as a full-color, fully illustrated storybook.

9. Barring any unforeseen circumstances beyond the Organizer’s control, the winners will be announced on August 4, 2016. On the day of the announcement, individual winners will also be notified by email, with details regarding the Awarding of Prizes.

10. The Organizer reserves the right to declare that there are no winners if the judges decide that no entries were deemed acceptable. In this case, the Organizer will have no right whatsoever over all the entries received, and no entry will be published by the Organizer in any venue or format without the prior written consent of the author.

11. By entering the Contest, the contestants individually and independently agree that the Organizer will be the exclusive publisher of their winning story, if the Organizer decides to publish it. In this case, it is understood that: (a) the winning authors automatically grant and transfer to the Organizer all intellectual property rights to their winning story, including the right to publish it in whatever venue or format the Organizer deems fit, as well as the right to translate, adapt, and/or make modifications to the winning story as the Organizer deems fit; (b) aside from the cash prize received from winning the Contest, the winners are not entitled to any other additional payments, royalties, or fees whatsoever resulting from the Organizer’s publication of their winning story in whole or in part, in whatever venue or format; (c) the Organizer shall have full and exclusive editorial and artistic control over the publication of the winning entries, resulting books, and other derivative works.

12. Barring any unforeseen circumstances beyond the Organizer’s control, the printed books will be launched or made available for distribution on August 4, 2017 or no later than August 4, 2019. Otherwise, the Organizer forfeits its right to publish the winning stories and the winners are free to submit their winning stories to other publishers. END.

Copyright © 2016 by Gig and the Amazing Sampaguita Foundation, Inc. (GASFI). May be freely shared as long as nothing is altered or omitted.

Sunday, August 4, 2013

Gig Seafarer Children's Stories at Amazon

PRESS RELEASE: 2013 August 4

GIG SEAFARER CHILDREN'S STORIES AT AMAZON

Gig and the Amazing Sampaguita Foundation, Inc. (GASFI) is happy to announce that three books based on prize winning stories of the 2nd Gig Book Storywriting Contest are now available at Amazon.

HELLO, TATAY by Genaro R. Gojo Cruz, illustrations by Aldy C. Aguirre. For a little boy whose father is mostly away at sea, the words "Hello, Tatay!" keep cropping up his life at home while he is at play, in bed, talking to his mother, riding in his school bus, almost everywhere.

MY DAD AND I TRAVEL THE WORLD by Francesca Cielo M. Ravanes, illustrations by Tristan Yuvienco. "My dad is a seaman," says a young boy, "but we travel the world together." But then he adds: "You see . . . . " and in the end, "Someday . . . ."

WHEN YOU ARE AWAY by Charina D. Mercado, illustrations by Juan Nathaniel G Ranola III.  "When you are away, Papa, day turns into night." These are a young boy's thoughts as he sees his surroundings change in the absence of his father. "Sometimes, I imagine you on the deck of your ship."

When you read and share these books, you join an ever-expanding circle that gathers round people and things that warm the cockles of our hearts: our children, books and reading, and the strength and resilience of families----especially where the father is mostly away at sea. 

See all three books at Amazon here.

For more information, visit the publisher GASFI here. Or, send an email to gigfoundation@gmail.com.

Saturday, March 31, 2012

2nd Gig Contest Winners Announced

PRESS RELEASE: 2010 March 31

2ND GIG CONTEST WINNERS ANNOUNCED

Gig and the Amazing Sampaguita Foundation, Inc. (GASFI) is happy to announce that ten stories won the Gig Book Storywriting Contest. The authors will receive P20,0000.00 each, a winner’s certificate, and a chance for their story to be published as a full-color, fully-illustrated children’s book.

Arranged alphabetically by title, the winning stories are:

Hello, Tatay!
-----by Genaro R. Gojo Cruz
Ishmael And The Ocean
-----by Franklin P. Andaya
Junior's Diary
-----by Carlo Baltazar Ventura
My Dad And I Travel The World
-----by Francesca Cielo M. Ravanes
Postcards To Papa
-----by Raissa Claire R. Falgui
Postscript For Pio
-----by Mia Ayroso Buenaventura
The Stranger At My Door
-----by Gail Christiane Te
The Woman In Daddy's Wallet
-----by Fernando R. Gonzalez
What's Inside A Turtle's Shell?
-----by Raymond G. Falgui
When You Are Away
-----by Bella Charina Alexandra D. Mercado

GASFI, the contest sponsor, is a non-profit organization. Founded and headed by Marissa Oca Robles, GASFI is driven by three of Marissa’s passions: honoring the memory and youthful spirit of her son Gig, promoting the reading habit among children and their families, and serving the needs of Filipino seamen and their families.

The first has to do with turning the loss of a loved one into life-affirming action.

The second is about giving children and their families something that will always keep on giving: a life-long and shared love of reading. “Twenty Minutes At Bedtime” is not only GASFI’s slogan, it is also the minimum amount of time, Marissa believes, that parents should set aside everyday to read to their children.

The third means continuing and expanding the life-work of Marissa’s family, a hallmark of which is the Associated Marine Officers and Seaman’s Union of the Philippines (Amosup), the largest union of seafarers in the world founded and headed by her father, Captain Gregorio S. Oca.

Marissa plans to publish all ten winning stories as full color illustrated children's books. This time, the books might turn out to be more thought provoking and meaningful for seafarer children and their families. In the previous year, the rules specified: “The theme must be something that seafarers’ families---especially children---can identify with. The story must . . . resonate well with children whose fathers are mostly away at sea.” This year, the rules also stated that “bonus points and a greater chance of winning will be given to positive, sensitive, and creatively child-appropriate stories that deal with difficult seafarer family issues like relatives, in-laws, neighbors, troubled teens, money management, parental infidelity, sibling rivalry, resentment, anger, alienation, abandonment, illness, and others.”

All in all, the storywriting contest received more than a hundred and fifty stories. The judges were Karina Africa Bolasco, children's book author and Publishing Manager of Anvil Publishing, Inc.; Neni Sta. Romana Cruz, children's author, book reviewer, educator, and Chairman of the National Book Development Board (NBDB); and Beaulah Pedregosa Taguiwalo, children's illustrator and Regional Advisor for the Society of Children’s Book Writers & Illustrators (SCBWI).

For inquiries about the Gig book project,
e-mail gigbookcontest@gmail.com
or visit http://gigbookcontest.blogspot.com.

For inquiries about GASFI,
e-mail gigfoundation@gmail.com
or visit http://www.gasfi.com/

Wednesday, December 28, 2011

2nd Gig Book Storywriting Contest Semifinalists


As announced earlier, we will identify 35 to 75 semifinalists of the 2nd Gig Book Storywriting Contest. Here is the final and complete list of 65 semifinalists arranged alphabetically by title. The final judging will select 10 winning stories which will be announced on or before 2012 March 31.

A Homecoming Plan For Papa
-----by Ma Cecilia C. de la Rosa
A Lesson From Grandma
----- by Gay Marie M. Francisco
A Promise To Remain Nice
----- by Jon Espera Royeca
A Talk With Dad
----- by Jon Espera Royeca
A Tiny Spark Of Hope
----- by Manuel Sebastian B. de la Cruz
A Tiny Wounded Heart
----- by Jennylyn Salazar Isherwood
A Wish To The Moon And The Gentle Wind Dragons
-----by Raymund Magno Garlítos
Alaminos
----- by Carmen Rosario D. Pérez
Anchor And The Sea
----- by Hernani P. Geronimo
Ate Ela: My Sister, Mother and Father
----- by Minerva Generalao
Badong And His Binoculars
----- by Leilanee Pilar M. Gabriel
Big Slippers
----- by Gay Marie M. Francisco
Concepcion's Last Voyage
----- by Al Ponciano R. Datu
Dadiangas
----- by Carmen Rosario D. Pérez
Dad's Gifts To Me, Aileen
----- by Georgina C. Solina
Dominic's Little Story Of Love And Forgiveness
-----by Jennylyn Salazar Isherwood
Enzo's Change of Heart
----- by Rebecca S. Gerodias
Hello, Tatay! by Genaro
----- R. Gojo Cruz
Hmmphh! Says Estong
----- by Raechelle Castellon
Homemade
----- by Anna Cristina Llanera-Reyes
I'm Rescuing Santa Claus
----- by Christian Q. Salta
Ishmael And The Ocean
----- by Franklin P. Andaya
Junior's Diary
----- by Carlo Baltazar Ventura
Just Like The Hornbill
----- by Katrina C. Vinluan
Lengleng And The Doll House
----- by Premy Ann G. Beloy
Lifebreak
----- by John Thomas P. Miranda
Lily's Butterfly
----- by Eric Goden Lomocso
Little Jimmy's Monthly Journal
----- by Jennylyn Salazar Isherwood
Mac Tan
----- by Carmen Rosario D. Pérez
Magic Box
----- by Liwliwa N. Malabed
Magic Rubber Shoes
----- by Mary Gigi Constantino
Man Of The Family
----- by Alpha Luz Napatang
Manuel's Name
----- by Michaela Sarah G. Deleon
My Dad And I Travel The World
----- by Francesca Cielo M. Ravanes
My Dad Cooks On The Sea
----- by Rhodora Householder
My Invisible Dad
----- by Perry C. Mangilaya
My Precious Man
----- by Florlynn L. Bassi
My Super Father
----- by Shur C. Mangilaya
Nesto's New Home
----- by Kathleen Aton-Osias
Papa And The Pirates
----- by Franklin P. Andaya
Papa And The Pirates
----- by Romeo A. Solina
Papa's Treasure
----- by Georgianna Reyes de Vera
Pido's Dream
----- by Eunice M. Chan
Pirate No Beard
----- by Georgianna Reyes de Vera
Postcards To Papa
----- by Raissa Claire R. Falgui
Postscript For Pio
----- by Mia Ayroso Buenaventura
Rock Star
----- by Gay Marie M. Francisco
Sailor Moon And The Jeepney
----- by Ruffa J. Sebuc
Smile!
----- by Ira Chloemn B. Daylo
Sonny Boy And The Sun
----- by Jose Dennis C. Teodosio
Sula, The Sailor's Child
----- by Catherine Rose G. Torres
The Captain's Lost Son
----- by Eric Goden Lomocso
The Mermaid Sister
----- by Celestine Marie Gaspar Trinidad
The Sea Prince
----- by Nina Sheryll V. Palad
The Seafarer's Glasshouse
----- by Heidi Emily Eusebio-Abad
The Sirens of Sarah
----- by Emerson F. Bengco
The Story Of Billy The Bully And Mic The Meek
-----by Adrian John O. Ladaga
The Stranger At My Door
----- by Gail Christiane Te
The Woman In Daddy's Wallet
----- by Fernando R. Gonzalez
We Grew Up Without A Father
----- by Ariel Gaspi
What's Inside A Turtle's Shell?
----- by Raymond G. Falgui
When Papa Went Away
----- by Irma Arcega Celis
When Would Papa Arrive
----- by Jose Ma. Marko O. Sevilla
When You Are Away
----- by Bella Charina Alexandra D. Mercado
Will Papa’s Red Truck Ever Come Back?
-----by Weneven Nierra Caberte

Inquiries: Email gigbookcontest@gmail.com

Sunday, October 9, 2011

Winners to be announced 2011 November 30

Because of unforeseen circumstances beyond the organizers' control the winners of the 2nd Gig Book Storywriting Contest will be announced on 2011 November 30 instead of 2011 September 30.

Sunday, February 27, 2011

2nd Gig Book Storywriting Contest

Deadline: July 31, 2011

Official Contest Rules (also available at http://gigbookcontest.blogspot.com)

1. The 2nd Gig Book Storywriting Contest hereinafter referred to as the “Contest” is organized and sponsored by Gig and the Amazing Sampaguita Foundation Inc. hereinafter referred to as the “Organizer” with business address at Suite 600 The Gregorian, 2178 Taft Avenue, Malate, Manila, Philippines.

2. The Contest starts on March 1, 2011 and is open to anyone age 18 years or older, except the officers and employees of the Organizer and their relatives up to the third degree of consanguinity.

3. Entries must be stories written in English and intended for children age 6 to 12 years. The word count must be 750 words or less, and the plot and sequence must be capable of sustaining a 20- to 32-page illustrated book. The theme must be something that seafarer families, especially children, can identify with. The story must, in the judges’ opinion, resonate well with children whose fathers are mostly away at sea, and preferably promote positive human values (e.g. love, respect, honesty, compassion, care, humility, responsibility, understanding, strength, courage, resilience, etc.). Bonus points and a greater chance of winning will be given to positive, sensitive, and creatively child-appropriate stories that deal with difficult seafarer family issues like relatives, in-laws, neighbors, troubled teens, money management, parental infidelity, sibling rivalry, resentment, anger, alienation, abandonment, illness, and others.

4. By entering the Contest, contestants warrant that their entry: (a) is their original creation; (b) has not been previously published; (c) has not been entered in another contest where it won First, Second, or Third prize.

5. All entries must be submitted by email to gigbookcontest@gmail.com. The subject heading must be the word “Entry” followed by a space, dash, another space and the title of the story. (Example: Entry - My Dad is a Sailor and I am a Mermaid) Furthermore: (a) The main message of the email must contain the following items only: the title of the story, and the contestant’s complete name, age, mailing address, cellphone number, and landline. (b) The entry itself must be sent as a Microsoft Word attachment. It must be set in 12 points Times Roman normal (no bold, no italics, no underlining), double-spaced, with no author name or accompanying or inserted artwork or graphics or identifying marks whatsoever, on letter-size paper (8.5 inches by 11 inches) with a 1-inch margin all around. Entries that do not conform to these specifications may be accepted by the Organizer at its discretion and reformatted accordingly, or rejected outright. (c) By submitting an entry via this method, the contestants agree that the primary mode of communication between them and the Organizer will be via the email address that they used to submit their entry. The Organizer may, at its discretion, disqualify any contestant who fails to respond within ten calendar days to the Organizer’s attempts to contact him or her via email, snail mail, phone call, and/or text message. (d) Contestants may submit more than one entry.

6. The contest deadline is July 31, 2011 at 5:00 p.m. Manila time. Entries received after the deadline will be ignored.

7. A Board of Judges consisting of three or five individuals will choose up to ten winning stories. The judges will be selected by an Executive Editor/Book Designer who will also serve as Chairman of the Board of Judges. The decision of the judges is final.

8. The authors of the winning stories will receive a cash prize of P20,000.00 each, a Winner’s Certificate, and the opportunity to have their winning story published as a full-color, fully illustrated storybook.

9. Barring any unforeseen circumstances beyond the Organizer’s control, the winners will be announced on or before September 30, 2011. On the day of the announcement, individual winners will also be notified by email.

10. The Organizer reserves the right to declare that there are no winners if the judges decide that no entries were deemed acceptable. In this case, the Organizer will have no right whatsoever over all the entries received, and no entry will be published by the Organizer in any venue or format without the prior written consent of the author.

11. By entering the Contest, the contestants individually and independently agree that the Organizer will be the exclusive publisher of their winning story, if the Organizer decides to publish it. In this case, it is understood that: (a) the winning authors automatically grant and transfer to the Organizer all intellectual property rights to their winning story, including the right to publish it in whatever venue or format the Organizer deems fit, as well as the right to translate, adapt, and/or make modifications to the winning story as the Organizer deems fit; (b) aside from the cash prize received from winning the Contest, the winners are not entitled to any other additional payments, royalties, or fees whatsoever resulting from the Organizer’s publication of their winning story in whole or in part, in whatever venue or format; (c) the Organizer shall have full and exclusive editorial and artistic control over the publication of the winning entries, resulting books, and other derivative works.

12. Barring any unforeseen circumstances beyond the Organizer’s control, the printed books will be launched or made available for distribution on November 30, 2012 or no later than November 30, 2014. Otherwise, the Organizer forfeits its right to publish the winning stories and the winners are free to submit their winning stories to other publishers. END.