CONTEST RULES
1. All entries must be written in a short-story format. (By that I mean it should be written as prose. It doesn't have to have a "beginning, middle and end" like a story.) No poetry, please.
2. All entries must consist of 99 words or less. 98 is fine. Just one is okay, too! Any entries with 100 or more words, not counting title and rating, will be disqualified from the contest.
3. You may enter as many stories as you'd like.
4. As with all Work of Fiction writing, please submit a content rating along with your story. The rating explanation will not be part of your word count.
5. The title of your story is not part of your word count.
6. Numbers are part of your word count, whether written in numerics or as words. For example, Sheila has 24 mice and Sheila has twenty-four mice both contain four words. Numbers written as more than one word, such as one hundred or forty-six thousand six hundred, are still more than one word. (But the numerics 100 and 46,600 each count as one word.)
7. All hyphenated phrases and compounds count as one word. He had a child-like face and He had a childlike face both contain five words. However, ungrammatical compounds or hyphenated expressions will not cut down your word count. For example, if you write Joey grew-up in Seattle, it'll count as five words, not four.
8. Please direct all questions about the rules to moethebartender. He will make all final decisions relating to this contest, except in the unlikely scenario where contest rules or practices conflict with Gaia's Terms of Service.
ROUND 1
9. In Round 1, you will enter your story or stories. Each story should be a separate post (i.e. not part of this thread or as a reply to another story). Please include a title for every story you write. Do not add a poll to your post, as it will interfere with the voting process when Round 2 begins.
10. Round 1 begins Wednesday, June 27, and ends Monday, July 9, at midnight Monday, July 16, at midnight.
ROUND 2
11. Round 2 is the voting phase. It begins Monday, July 9 Monday, July 16 and ends Monday, July 16 Monday, July 23, at midnight.
12. When Round 2 begins, I will add a poll to each entry. We will use Approval Voting to select a winner and two runners up. This means that you can vote for a story, but you can't vote against one. Vote for as many stories as you like. (See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Approval_voting .)
13. If there is a tie for first, second or third place when Round 2 ends, we will hold a runoff election from Monday, July 16 23 to Friday, July 20 27. If two entries tie for second place, both will be declared runners-up and there will be no runoff. The runoff will take place in a separate post, with all first, second and third place entries.
14. On Monday the 16th 23rd (or Friday the 20th 27th if a runoff election is necessary), the winners will be declared. The first place winner will receive 1000 gold and a spot in the Club 99 Hall of Fame. Second and third place winners will receive 100 gold and an honorary mention.
15. Have fun!
Any entry that does not follow the above rules will be disqualified from the contest.
