Bonsai Vault Article Contest Rules

Tachigi

Discuss the contest here

Contest Overview:
The Bonsai Vault article contest is a open contest to all. The contest is divided up into two categories fiction and non-fiction.

Fiction articles must have a theme that is bonsai related. Ideally incorporating educational topics that pertain to the art that are based in fact. These articles should be fun and only limited by your imagination.

Non-Fiction articles should deal with any of the following topics bonsai design, bonsai horticulture, bonsai techniques. Between these three topics literally any aspect of bonsai can be covered.

Prize Categories:
Bonsai Focus and Shady Side Bonsai sponsored the prizes for this contest. Other prizes as they are received will be posted. The prize categories are as follows:

Best over all bonsai article:
Best of Bonsai Europe 3 / Shady Side Bonsai one hundred dollar ($100.00) gift certificate / A bonsai pot from Whistling Fish Pottery

Best bonsai fiction article:
Shady Side Bonsai Fifty dollar ($50.00) gift certificate

Best bonsai non-fiction article:
Shady Side Bonsai Fifty dollar ($50.00) gift certificate

Submissions:
Article entries maybe submitted between the start of the contest March 1, 2008 and the deadline May 1, 2008. Participants may enter one article for fiction and one for non-fiction for a grand total of two articles.

Submissions must be made by email to Tachigi@aol.com before midnight May 1, 2008. Entries that are late will be regretfully disqualified.

Upon receipt of submissions, your article will be checked for proper content. Then it will be posted in the proper category to Bonsai Vault in the order that it was received.

Each submission must be accompanied by a email cover letter and must have the text as described below pasted in to the cover letter. Submissions without the required text will be disqualified.

I have read and understood the rules of the contest and agree to abide by them. I have full copyright to all text and/or photographs I am submitting and I give Bonsai Vault my full permission to use any or all of the text and/or photographs submitted by myself in a manner described by the rules of this contest. I also give my permission for future publications of any type as related to promoting, featuring, or publishing of my entry(s) to this contest as approved by Bonsai Vault. I understand that any other usage of the text and/or photographs will require further permissions from myself and that, other than permissions given here, I retain and demand full copyright to submitted materials as described.

All article submissions must also include the following:

Full legal name of entrant
Country entrant currently resides in
Any acknowledgments and credits due to outside sources
Category that the article is intended for.

Article entries not including any of the above information will be disqualified.

Article Suitableness & Acceptability

• Articles submitted to the contest must be original, and previously unpublished content.
Minimum length is 600 words on the subject of bonsai in either category. There is no
maximum length

• Articles must be created and submitted by the articles author(s)
.
• Articles may be co-authored, however, each author must agree to have the article submitted
and noted on the cover letter. Each contributor's input must be clearly stated. (example: Text
by Floyd / illustrations by Bertha)

• Articles should include your own original photographs or illustrations. If photographs or
illustrations other than your own are used you must have the owner of those images
permission and proper credit noted. It is recommend that the photos be no larger than 600
pixels. 400 pixels is the minimum size..

• Articles must be checked for spelling, punctuation, and grammar. Any submission found to be
lacking in these areas will not be returned to the author for correction before inclusion to the
contest.

• If you have questions about whether a topic is appropriate, please contact Bonsai Vault for
guidance or go here

JUDGING

Judging for the contest will be blind. Blind meaning that entrants names will be withheld until after the contest is judged.

A document will be created containing the names of the entrants as well as a numerical designation for your submission to identify the article. This document will remain hidden from the judges and the public until after the judging is completed. At this time the entrants name will replace the numerical designation and be made available to the public.

Individuals qualified as bona fide authors, editors, and authorities of bonsai who are well known and respected in the bonsai community will judge this contest. These judges will remain anonymous till the end of the contest.

Each entry will be scored and given points on a scale from 0 to 10 by the judges. The judges may, at their discretion, post comments on your article elaborating on the reasoning behind their scoring.

In the case of tied scores, a reserve judge will score the tied entries and this score will be added to the scores of the tied entrants. The resulting totals will determine the winner.

Once scored, the points of each entry will be tallied and the winners will be posted according to the stated guidelines.

PERMISSIONS, COPYRIGHTS, & LEGAL NOTICES

All content at the Bonsai Vault, and all copyrights remain with the original author or photographer. For this contest, we ask only for permission to use the text and photographs submitted to Bonsai Vault for the contest and associated threads and other contest related postings.

By entering this contest you agree to the terms of use and give full permission for use of all text and photographs for publication by Bonsai Vault. Also by entering this contest, you agree to accept the rules for the contest as posted and also agree to accept the final decisions of judges.

By entering this contest, you also agree to accept the final decision of the judges, and Bonsai Vault. You also agree to hold them harmless of any liability or damages regarding or resulting from this contest. All decisions of the judges are final. Contest void where prohibited by law.

DISQUALIFICATIONS

Entries submitted without the required text and information as described in the rules above will be automatically rejected. An email will be sent to the entrant explaining what was missing and an opportunity to resubmit will be given. Failure to resubmit with the required text and/or information will be cause for disqualification.
_________________
Tom Brown
www.shadysidebonsai.com
www.4MAAT.org