New Deadline: May 31, 2009
Official Contest Rules
(also available at http://gigbookcontest.blogspot.com)
1. The 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 9, 2009 and is open to anyone age 17 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 theme must be something that seafarers’ 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 preferrably promote positive human values (e.g. love, respect, honesty, compassion, care, humility, responsibility, understanding, strength, courage, resilience, etc.). The word count must be 1,000 words or less, and the plot and sequence must be capable of sustaining a 24-page illustrated book.
4. By entering the Contest, entrants warrant that: (a) their entry is their original creation; (b) it has not been previously published; (c) it 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 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 entrants 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.
6. The deadline for submission of entries is May 31, 2009 at 5:00 p.m. Manila time. *
7. The winners will be selected by a Board of Judges consisting of three (3) or five (5) individuals, depending on the number of entries received. The individual 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 will be final.
8. There will be five (5) to 10 (ten) winners. Each winner will receive a cash prize of PhP 20,000.00, 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 July 31, 2009.* 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 shall 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 entrants 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 winners 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 on March 9, 2010* but not any later than August 4, 2010.* Otherwise, the Organizer forfeits its right to publish the winning stories. In this case, the winners shall be free to individually and independently submit their winning stories to other publishers.
* This version of the contest rules reflects the change in the submission deadline to May 31, 2009 and new dates for Rules no. 9 and 12. For further inquiries, email gigbookcontest@gmail.com or visit http://gigbookcontest.blogspot.com
