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Best of the First Four Years Contest
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The NightsAndWeekends.com Best of the First Four Years Contest
Okay, so NightsAndWeekends.com has been around for four years now, believe it or not,
and we on the editorial staff decided that it was about time we took that big step
into the print world. So we’re holding a contest to find the best short fiction,
humor, and features from NightsAndWeekends.com’s first four years—and we’re
asking our readers to help.
During the next couple of months, we’ll be collecting nominations and voting for
the top stories on the site. Our readers’ favorites will then be published in
a book that will be available for purchase online. And the author of the readers’
favorite story will receive a free copy of the book.
So here’s the scoop:
Nomination:
Between February 14, 2006 and March 1, 2006, we’ll be accepting nominations from
those subscribed to the NightsAndWeekends.com Weekend Reminder (you can subscribe
at www.nightsandweekends.com/join/).
Each member may nominate up to ten stories (but play fair—no self-nominating!).
Nominees must be short fiction, humor, features, or humor/feature columns.
There are two ways to nominate an article:
1) All eligible articles will feature a “Nominate This Article” button at the bottom
of the page. To nominate the article, click on the button. A nomination email will
automatically be created—just click Send.
2) Nominations can be emailed to BestOf@NightsAndWeekends.com—with “Nomination” in
the subject line. Be sure to send your nomination from the same email address that
you used to sign up for the Weekend Reminder—and include your name in your nomination
email. Nominations should be listed in the body of the email and should include
each story’s title along with the author’s name.
Nominations must be received by 11:59 p.m. Eastern Standard Time on March 1, 2006.
Qualifying:
Once all nominations have been collected, we’ll compile a list of the qualifying nominees.
We’ll then contact the authors of the nominated stories and ask if they’re interested
in participating.
All participating authors must:
- Own the copyright to his or her piece. Of course, that should be the case,
since they shouldn’t have submitted it to the site if they didn’t. Authors are
responsible for their own work—and all contest winners will continue to own the
rights to their stories after publication.
- Agree to give us at NightsAndWeekends.com one-time rights to print the story
and sell it in both print and ebook format. The author will not receive payment
for the story but will receive a by-line and a bio.
- Agree to sign a disclaimer if he or she is selected for publication in the book.
Authors must respond to their participation agreement email by 11:59 p.m. Eastern
Standard Time on March 8, 2006.
Voting:
Once we’ve gotten preliminary permission from the nominees, we’ll compile a list of
eligible stories and post it on the site.
Voting will begin on March 12, 2006.
Any NightsAndWeekends.com reader may vote (but, once again, please don’t vote for your own stories).
Each voter may vote only once and for up to ten stories from our
voting Page.
He or she must also provide his or her email address at the time of voting.
Voting will end at 11:59 p.m. Eastern Standard Time on April 6, 2006.
Results:
Votes will be tallied once all ballots have been collected. The winners will be
announced on April 20, 2006, and the top stories will be included in the as-of-yet
unnamed collection.
The overall winner of the contest will receive a copy of the book in print format.
Other Rules:
Any number of stories by one author may be nominated, but the editorial staff reserves
the right to limit the number of stories by any one author to be included in the book.
In case of a tie for first place, there will be a tie-breaking vote on the site to
determine the winner.
Once the finalists have been announced, the authors of those stories will be asked
to sign and mail a disclaimer before publication. They must return the signed
disclaimer, along with a bio, by May 20, 2006. Any author who fails to do so
will not be published in this collection.
Members of the N&W.com editorial staff between February 14, 2002 and February 14,
2006 are not eligible for the first-place prize. In the case that an editorial
staff member wins first place, the prize will be awarded to the first eligible
runner-up.
Fine Print:
Only pieces published between February 14, 2002 and February 14, 2006 qualify
for this contest. Editors will determine the qualification of each nomination
before contacting authors.
Additional stories may be selected by the editorial staff to be included in the book.
Pieces published after February 14, 2006 will be eligible for a future contest.
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