Kumoricon » Kumoricon 2009 Fanfiction Contest

Kumoricon 2009 Fanfiction Contest

Last Edited: May 16th, 2009; by: Kate Fletcher

Fanfiction Coordinator: Kate Fletcher
Creation Station Manager: Ellen Klowden
Judges: Jeni Smith, Audrey Wood, and India Muncie-Jarvis

Layout for this set of Contest Rules:

General Rules

Submission Materials
Submission Ratings
Citations
Source Materials
Submission Lengths
Manga and Webcomic Submissions
Multimedia Submissions

Submission Requirements

How to Submit

Award Categories
Fan Fiction Bedtime Stories
Deadlines
“See Below” Section
Other Information of Note to Entrants

Please read through all the rules before submitting anything to the contest! Thanks!

If you have any questions about these rules please send an e-mail to fanficcontest@kumoricon.org. Please put [Kumoricon 2009 Fanfic Contest Question] as the subject. This will allow for quick response from the judges and coordinators.

No new rules will be introduced without explicit mention on the forums.

(1) General Rules

We want to be able to accept all entries, so please read and comply with all rules carefully!

All entries should be previously beta read (by someone else) or edited by the author before submission; too many errors that distract from the story, or make it unreadable, will disqualify a piece. (This includes spelling errors, grammatical errors, errors in canon simple canon material, Ex: hair and eye color, without explanation in the story or your notes, and clearly out of character representations without explanation.) Disqualification will be decided by a consensus among all the judges.

Alternate Universes, Alternate Histories, Crossovers, Fusions, Slash, Parodies, etc. are always welcome and encouraged, just make sure to make note of it in your submission so that it is clear to the judges.

Note: If your piece is disqualified, you are still welcome to bring it to Fanfiction Bedtime Stories, and are encouraged to bring it to our scheduled beta times to meet other writers and betas for help and suggestions.

We regret to say that we will not have online access in the Creation Station during the convention. Meaning that if you wish to submit anything during the convention it must be in hard copy form, on a USB Flash Drive, or burned to a CD. (If you wish to use either of the latter methods, please double check that your submission is copied correctly and can be opened on another computer before you bring it to con.)

(1a) Submission Materials

Materials that have already won prizes from Creation Station judges for the overall fanfiction/novella or manga/webcomic contests at Kumoricon (2003 – Present), Chibi Chibi Con (2007 – Present), Sakura-Con (2005 – 2007), Otafest (2008), or Anime Evolution (2006 – Present) may not be submitted for this contest.

Materials that have been written by, illustrated by and/or beta read by any of the Fanfic Judges and/or the Contest Coordinator may not be submitted for this contest.

While we encourage entries of original content for our webcomics and original content manga categories, no works of original text-only fiction will be accepted for the other categories of this particular contest. Original text-only works will be permitted for in-room events such as: Fanfic Bedtime Stories, Scenes from a Hat, and Fic-Into-Art & Art-Into-Fic contests.

Fanfic works submitted do not need to be in prose; they may be poems. Songfics and filks are also welcome.

Materials generated during programming (i.e. Scenes From a Hat or other mini contests) during this convention or any previous convention may be submitted. Materials read at Bedtime Stories or presented as part of Fanfic Theatre, but not previously submitted in this contest, may be submitted. Also welcome are extensions from prior On-Site Mini-Manga contests.

Convention and Creation Station volunteers and staff are welcome to participate in any program at the Creation Station, including these contests, as long as it does not interfere with staffing or volunteering duties, nor pose a direct conflict of interest. (E-mail us if you have a question!)

Authors may submit multiple pieces, but please limit your submissions to your best 3 pieces per category.

(1b) Submission Ratings

Kumoricon judges will be using the Fiction Rating system on http://www.fictionratings.com/guide.php. Please check the site to see where your fic falls. If you have a question about the rating of your fic, or are still unsure about what rating to give it, please e-mail us. Anything with a rating of MA cannot be considered for the general fanfiction contest. Mature rated pieces may be taken to our 18+ Adult Fanfiction Bedtime Stories if you are at least 18 years old by the night of the event.

(1c) Citations

If you use reference materials of any kind, you may cite them, which may put you into consideration for the “Best Authenticity” category. Citing your references is not a requirement, though greatly encouraged. Information on how to cite references can be found here: http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/557/06/.

If you collaborated on a piece with another person, please cite that. If your work is a parody of another’s work, please cite that. Example: Name of the fic, author name or penname, link to the website where you found the original work.

Attempting to pass someone else’s work off as your own is plagiarism and will not be tolerated in this contest. If you are writing or drawing in another ficcer’s universe, please cite the original work in your notes.

(1d) Source Materials

Acceptable source materials include but are not limited to: Anime series, movies, or OVA/ OAV; manga; manwah (Korean comics); doujinshi; Web comics; dating sims/visual novels/ren’ai gaming; anime-inspired video, computer, console, and table-top, board, RPG, LARP, or other games; and for the one non-anime category, anything with a fan base.

(1e) Submission Lengths

Works of novella or novel length will be limited to one per author. Please note that the length requirements for Novella and Novel have changed this year.

Novella: 10,000 – 39,999 words typed; about 20 – 95 pages typed (size 12, Times New Roman), or multiple part fics
Novel: 40,000+ words typed; about 95+ pages typed (size 12, Times New Roman)
If you do not have a word processor to check word count, you can put your fic into Google Docs, which has a word count feature, or use: http://www.wordcounttool.com/

For Manga or Webcomic submissions, writers/ artists will be limited to one 50+ page comic. You are welcome to submit multiple comics that are under 50 pages.

(1f) Manga and Webcomic Submissions

Fics accompanied by original illustrations, be they hand-done or computer-generated, may additionally be evaluated in the Manga category. Illustrators must also be credited.

Entries in the Manga category may be sole-person productions or team productions, but all contributors must be credited (e.g., storyboard, outlining, coloring). Art may be black and white or color, handmade or computer-generated. Format may be left to right or right to left.

Manga and webcomics which were previously entered in the overarching Kumoricon Fanfic contest may be re-entered only if they did not win when first submitted and have been substantively continued, rewritten, and/or redrawn since previously submitted.

(1g) Multimedia Submissions

Multimedia entries, if you wish, may be pre-screened by the Judges and Coordinator prior to FFBS, by arrangement, up to the beginning of Fan Fiction Bedtime Stories.

If you are submitting a multimedia entry, please bring your own computer with the proper software installed, or e-mail us to confirm that a Creation Station staff member will be able to view and/or play your submission at the convention.

(2) Submission Requirements

Submissions may be typed/printed, hand printed, or handwritten in cursive. However, they must be legible.

Include the following at the beginning of EACH submission:

Title of Entry:
Your Full Name: (your name as it will appear on your badge)
Pen Name: (as you would want it printed/announced if you are a winner)
Names of anyone else collaborating on the work:
Your Name on the Forums: (if any)
Fandom: (multi-fandom works are welcome)
Categories to which you are submitting each piece: (limit 3 per piece)
Spoilers: (Any plot or character points that may be ruined by not having seen/ read the entire series)
Rating:
Word Count:
Home contact info: (working e-mail and/or phone)
Age if minor: (for special prize for submissions from folks 16 & under)
Is this your first contest?:
Notes:

(2a) How to Submit

You may submit your entries online, in person, or by snail mail.

To submit online, e-mail your entry to fanficcontest@kumoricon.org. You may link to your fic on the internet; attach Word, Microsoft Works, or Notepad files to the email; share your GoogleDocs document with khummer@teleport.com (Kate) as a viewer; and/or copy and paste your fic directly into an email (though any special formatting you may have used most likely will not be conveyed accurately if you select that option).

To submit in person, come to a Kumoricon General Meeting prior to deadline or submit at the Creation Station at Anime Evolution, or Kumoricon (making clear whether your submission is for AE, KC, or both). See the ‘Deadlines’ section below, for more information. (Email fanficcontest@kumoricon.org to make arrangements; other possibilities may emerge.)

To submit by snail mail, mail to:
Creation Station c/o Ellen Klowden
P.O. Box 5098
Eugene, OR 97405.

Any fanfic, manga, or webcomic entries submitted during Con must be hand-delivered to the Fanfiction Contest Coordinator and/or one of the contest judges within the Creation Station. Submissions must be in hard copy (i.e. printed or hand written on paper), or saved in a .word or .rtf format for text only entries, or a JPEG or GIF format for entires with graphics, on a USB drive, or burned on a CD. Kumoricon and the Creation Station assume no liability for USB Drives or CDs left in the Creation Station unattended. To insure the return of your USB or CD please only give your submissions to the Fanfiction Contest Coordinator, or a Fanfiction Contest Judge.

(4) Fan Fiction Bedtime Stories

Any works, whether submitted for this contest or not, are welcomed at Fanfiction Bedtime Stories, where you may cosplay them, read them, or have them read for you by our volunteers. Other forms of performance are also welcomed and encouraged; it’s a great place to let loose and be creative!

If you have any MA rated materials, you may read them at Adult Bedtimes Stories, so long as you are 18 years or older the night of the event.

(5) Deadlines

We intend to uphold these deadlines. If we make any changes to these deadlines, or, indeed, to any contest rules, they will be announced immediately in the KC forums. Judges will not be obligated to accept any works submitted beyond these deadlines. If you have extenuating circumstances, please bring your situation to the attention of the Fanfic Coordinator as soon as possible: fanficcontest@kumoricon.org

Entries will be accepted from the moment these rules are posted.

Novellas and novel length fics, and any manga or webcomic submissions over 50 pages must be submitted by Saturday August 1st, 2009.

All snail mail submissions must be received by Saturday August 15th, 2009 at the latest.

All e-mailed submissions are encouraged to be sent by Tuesday September 1st, 2009 so we have time to send you a confirmation e-mail, and so we are sure we are able to open any attachments or use any links to find your submissions.

At con submissions must be turned into a Fanfiction Contest Judge by 9:00 PM September 5th, 2009. (If you will not be attending the first day of the convention and have absolutely no other way to turn in your submission, please e-mail us, and we will try to work something out with you.)

Multimedia works are welcome to be turned in until the beginning of FanFiction Bedtime Stories (Sunday Night), and will be judged by the FFBS audience.

(6) “See Below” Section

Best Newbie – For the purposes of this contest, a “newbie” is one who has not previously entered any work in any contest (online, at school, at a con, etc.). One need not be a first-time author, just a first-time competitor.

Best Authenticity – Will be awarded to the author and/or illustrator who uses their work to explain or show something about another culture. Culture can be anything from a subculture (such as the Shinjuku kids or American-style punk) to a completely different country (the most common here would be Japan, but in an AU you can put these characters anywhere). Authenticity is an essential tool for a writer’s believability, and seamless incorporation of all of your research is important.

Best Backstory – Will be awarded to the author and/or illustrator who takes the time to best explicate (a) what inspired the work; (b) how it relates to his/her personal life and/or what it meant to her/him to write; (c) how it relates to the canonic material; and (d) what the judge needs to know to comprehend the choices characters make, their interactions, their actions, and their universe. Links to canonic illustrations will be given brownie points, but will not suffice to constitute back-story.

Best Presentation – Will be awarded to an author and/or artist who takes the time to provide extras alongside her/his submission that explicate and showcase the submission in a captivating and professional light. Examples include full glossary, bibliography, etc.

Parody—Multimedia – Anyone who intends to work on such an ambitious project must alert the Contest Coordinator and/or Judges to it prior to the start of the con, but works of this magnitude will be accepted through the beginning of Fanfic Bedtime Stories (see Pocket Guide for Schedule). Any works submitted in this category will be viewed and appraised by the Fanfic Bedtime Stories audience.

(7) Other Information of Note to Entrants

Make certain your sources are either put in the notes section of the header or in endnotes. If they are in endnotes, please mention such in the Notes. If there are footnotes, please put that in your Notes.

It will not matter what you use for font, type of paper, margins, spacing, etc., so long as the judges can read your work. Please remember that, just like any form of art, presentation is an important part of writing, and visual presentation can affect how a judge feels.

Original characters, alternate universes, crossovers and fusions are welcome, but particularly for crossovers, be sure to credit all canonic sources.

While the judges will not have time to make specific notes or suggestions for every entry, you are welcome to ask the judges what they thought of your work during the convention. If you would like a piece reviewed or beta-ed after the contest winners have been announced, we will do our best to help network you with someone willing to work with you on your piece.

When we receive your entry we will send you confirmation (in e-mail form) that we received it. (If you do not have an e-mail address and would still like confirmation, please provide us with a phone number.) Please give us a few days to do this as we all have other lives that we must attend to. If we haven’t sent you a confirmation e-mail within two weeks of you sending us your submission, please e-mail us again, or PM mellonemrys and/or RemSaverem on the Kumoricon forums. (Please allow for three weeks if sending your submission by snail mail.)

We reserve the right to alter these rules at any time, in which case we will post an alter with the alterations on the Kumoricon forums.

If you have any questions, suggestions, or concerns, please e-mail us: fanficcontest@kumoricon.org or PM mellonemrys and/or RemSaverem on the Kumoricon forums.

Good Luck to Everyone! We’re looking forward to your submissions this year!
The more unique, the better!