The Cloud Writing Competition
Sponsored by TheNextBigWriter and Odin Roark
Official Competition Rules and Regulations
1. OPEN ONLY TO REGISTERED MEMBERS OF THENEXTBIGWRITER.COM
Writing Members of theNextBigWriter.com may enter by:
- Posting their work on theNextBigWriter.com site, anytime during the Contest period. The entry must include the tags "The Cloud" (entered as the_cloud).
All work posted to the sites by members is the sole responsibility of the submitting person. Entrants are entirely responsible for all content posted or otherwise made available via the sites. Sponsor reserves the right to declare any entries determined to not be in accordance with the stated terms of theNextBigWriter Member Agreement.
CONCEPT
THE CLOUD – a concept created by Odin Roark is based on a premise that challenges religion, commerce, and science, as well as general behavior in the 21st century. The plot involves reactions to a dark gray cloud that takes residence over the skies of Las Vegas in August of 2013 and is still there at the book’s conclusion in January 2014. The genre of this book is literary.
Thought at first to be just another incident of weather, the cloud ultimately becomes a concern for both science and religion, as over the course of several months, it seems to be moving only a few miles at a time, always returning to a similar position over Las Vegas. Given the seeming permanency of the cloud, science investigates, coming up with no answer as to how and why it refuses to move away or extinguish itself.
City coffers begin to suffer for lack of sunshine, and low hotel bookings begin to pose serious problems to tourism. Conventions, vacations and weekend getaways continue to be impacted, as well as the job market. Layoffs begin, casino profits plunge, and for the first in its history, concern for the bottom line compels the city to conserve energy by shutting down 30 % of their night lighting after 10 PM. (SEE ACCOMPANYING TIME LINE DOCUMENT)
REMEMBER, THIS BOOK WILL BE READ LIKE A VOLUME OF SHORT STORIES, RATHER THAN A CONTINUAL NARRATIVE AROUND A FIXED GROUP OF CHARACTERS. THE THREAD THAT TIES IT TOGETHER IS THE “CLOUD” EVENT AND ITS IMPACT ON CHARACTERS.
Submission Criteria
Each chapter you submit should be no less than 2000 words, no more than 5000. Authors can submit more than one chapter, but in deference to the book’s purpose, usually one chapter per author will ultimately be included. No author will be represented by more than three chapters (short stories). Your chapters should reflect a unique reaction to the cloud and its present and future consequences—real and imagined. Your story should take place between August 2013 and January 2014. You may take a humorous or serious approach, dominantly carried out by one to five main characters, along with appropriate supporting characters. You are not restricted to placing your story in Las Vegas, but the primary antagonistic element of the content must reflect a direct correlation between the cloud over Las Vegas and your characters, i.e., the event must be the primary cause for conflict among the characters. The book will allow for an R rating.
The plot of your story should surround The Cloud’s impact on your character’s personal lives, as well as their careers, either now or in the future if the cloud doesn’t dissipate. Such characters can be residents or visitors to the city, or as outlined above, reside in another city anywhere.
2. Judging and Winner Selection: The editorial staff of TheNextBigWriter together with Odin Roark will choose a minimum of ten winning stories. The total number of chapters will largely be determined by the quality of the writing, and ultimately, the compliance to a total word count. The site's rankings and recommendations will guide the editors but sole discretion for choosing the winners rests with the editorial staff and Odin Roark.
3. Prizes: The writers whose stories are selected as winners will receive a Publishing Contract to have their story published as part of the The Cloud Anthology. You can view the sample contract here.
No more than the stated number of prizes will be awarded. No transfer or substitution of prizes permitted. Winners are solely responsible for all applicable federal, state, or local taxes on the value of their prizes. Winners are responsible for all costs or expenses not specifically exempted herein. By accepting a prize, each winner agrees to the release of his/her name, pen name, likeness, and city and state of residence for potential publicity purposes, where permitted by law.
4. Eligibility: Void where prohibited by law or regulation. Contest is open only to registered theNextBigWriter.com members 18 years of age. The following restrictions apply (i) Void in AZ; and (ii) Contest is only open to legal residents of the United States (except residents of AZ, PR, and all other US Territories and Possessions), Australia, New Zealand, United Kingdom, India, Israel, or Canada (except the Province of Quebec). Contest is not open to employees and their families (spouses, parents, children/siblings and their respective spouses, and those living in the same household) of theNextBigWriter, LLC, its affiliates, advertising and production agencies. Entrants consent to the use of their registration information in accordance with theNextBigWriter Privacy Policy.. All federal, state, and local laws and regulations apply. All rights to any work submitted by Writing Members on TheNextBigWriter.com are retained by the submitting member in accordance with the stated terms of theNextBigWriter Member Agreement. Entries must be original and conceived and created entirely by the entrant. Sponsor may prohibit any entrant from participating in this Contest or any future promotion offered by the Sponsor, if, in the sole opinion of theNextBigWriter, LLC such entrant (i) has tampered with the entry process or the operation of the Contest or website, (ii) repeatedly shows a disregard for the rules, or (iii) acts (a) in an unsportsmanlike manner, (b) with an intent to annoy, abuse, threaten, or harass theNextBigWriter, LLC or any other entrant, or (c) in any other disruptive manner. Entrants must be a Writing Member of theNextBigWriter.com site or a registered Member of Booksie.com, as appropriate, in good standing to be eligible to win. The Contest may be terminated at any time after its commencement without prior notice; however if such termination should occur, all prizes will be awarded to winners according to the rankings at the time of Contest termination.
5. Limitation of Liability: Sponsor is not responsible for typographical errors in any contest-related materials; or for any individual's inability to enter this contest, including but not limited to unavailable network, server, telephone, or other connections; failed software or hardware transmissions; other errors of any kind, whether human, mechanical, or electronic, including lost, late, incomplete, damaged, or misdirected entries; or for any damage to any computer related to or resulting from participation. Sponsor reserves the right to terminate or modify contest if fraud or technical failures compromise the integrity of the contest as determined by Sponsor in its sole discretion. In the event that the contest is terminated, all eligible entries received before termination will be ranked. Entrants agree that the Sponsors, their promotion partners, related companies, agencies, and their respective employees or officers shall not be liable for injury, losses, damages or costs of any kind resulting from participation in this contest or acceptance of or use or misuse of a prize or parts thereof. By entering, participants agree to be bound by these official rules.
6. Winners List: For a list of winners send a postcard, only, with your name and address to: TheNextBigWriter Best Start Novel Competition Awards Winners List, P.O. Box 610383, Newton, MA 02461. Winners will also be posted on theNextBigWriter.com website as they are determined.
7. Sponsor: theNextBigWriter, LLC, P.O. Box 610383, Newton, MA 02461.
