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.