In this unusual time where our lives are playing out in a hide (from germs) and seek (toilet paper) fashion waiting for our businesses to reopen and our plain ole ordinary lives to return, we wanted to create a writing and cover contest for our friends in the community.  

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Our greatest joy will be to see the creativity you pour into the stories and book cover art for this contest and to learn more about you as we are forming our alliance and getting to know you. With that in mind here are the details:

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Battle of the Bards Theme: Tornado Alley

Entry Fee for Members $5

Entry Fee for non-Members $10

Scholarships Available

 

Writing Contest Details: 

• Length: Up to 1000 words

• Need to incorporate Tornado Alley in the concept, can be indirect (band name) or overt

• Format: Times New Roman, 12 points, double spaced, page # on the bottom center

• Author name, bio, and contact information on the cover page only

• Due Date for Writing Contest: 11.59 pm central time May 16, 2020

• File format Word or .doc

• Multiple submissions accepted with separate entry fees for additional submission

• No erotica, incest, or extreme violence. Stories with these elements will be disqualified from consideration. Submission fees will NOT be refunded for disqualified submissions.

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Illustrators Cover Art Contest:

• The artists will create an eBook artwork cover for the Anthology

• Due Date for the Cover Contest: 11.59 pm central time May 16, 2020

• Photography, illustrations, and any graphic

• Do not include the title or any text, we will add that portion later

• Submit in jpeg format, but create in a high-resolution file we can use for printing and online.

• Requirements are outlined here

  • ​The ideal size of your eBook cover art is a height/width ratio of 1.6:1. This means that for every 1,000 pixels in width, the image should be 1,600 pixels in height. To ensure the best quality for your image, particularly on high definition devices, the height of the image should be at least 2,500 pixels. Ideal dimensions for cover files are 2,560 x 1,600 pixels.

  • Your cover image must be less than 50MB. Try to avoid compressing your files. This can affect the quality of your cover when displayed on reading devices. For the best results, images should have a minimum resolution of 300 PPI (pixels per inch).

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Prizes:

• Cash Prize of at least $50 per category (Writing and Illustrators) for first place

• If we have at least 20 entries we will put all fees collected into first, second, and third prizes. 

• Lifelong bragging rights 

• Fancy graphic for your website and social media

• Opportunity for Publication

• Top billing in the CWIA Anthology

• Feature on the CWIA website

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Judges:

This contest will involve blind judging. Our judges have very good vision, I assure you, but they're not going to know who you are so that doesn't influence their choice.

Our writing contest judges are local published authors within CWIA.

Our illustrator's guest judge is Jody Smyers of Jody Smyer's Photography, who is the past President and current Chairman of the Board of the West Texas Photographers, the local affiliate of Professional Photographers of America and creates book covers through Blondie's Custom Book Covers, a local boutique book cover service. Jody will work with two other CWIA judges representing the illustrators, and another representing the publishing elements of book design.

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Quarter-Finalist -- Anthology Selection:

The first round of judging will cull the top portion of up to 30 entries. These Quarter-Finalists will be offered a slot in the upcoming anthology that will be for sale on Amazon.

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Contest Voting:

Each week starting on May 11 we will host a battle among five bards (AKA The Battle of the Bards) where those on our email list will be able to view that week's submissions and vote for their favorite. The top two from each week will move onto the Semi-Final Round. 

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Semi-Final Round:

The Semi-Final Round will form the final battle in two stages. The first week will pit half of the Semi-Finalists in a Battle of the Best Bards against each other leaving only two victorious.  

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Final Round:

The Finalist Round will pit the remaining four entries (two from each week) against each other into a final Bitter Bard Battle Royale leaving our final ranking from Honorable Mention to First Place. The Anthology will feature the cover artist winner, and the writing contest winner will be a featured page beginning the Anthology.  

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