Eligibility and Submission Guidelines
Eligibility:
• Authors who have not previously published a full length book (excluding self published and vanity press) are eligible to compete in the First Chapters Writing Competition.
• Manuscript submissions (hereafter the “Submissions”) must be original, previously unpublished, completed book length manuscripts in the commercial fiction genre.
• All Submissions must be in English. Submissions must not violate copyright laws; must contain properly cited material, if applicable; and must be previously unpublished (except on Gather.com or as previously noted), original material.
• Writers cannot submit more than one Submission in the Competition.
• You must be 18 or older as of January 11, 2007 and must be a legal resident of the United States or the District of Columbia to be eligible to enter.
• Submissions may not be submitted elsewhere unless and until the entrant has been eliminated from the Competition. By entering your Submission in the Competition, you hereby give Touchstone/Fireside (an imprint of Simon & Schuster) first publication rights to your manuscript until such time as you are eliminated from the Competition.
• This Competition is run only on the Internet.
• By entering this Competition, you agree that if you are selected as the Grand Prize Winner, you will sign Simon & Schuster’s standard publishing agreement within five days of receipt of the agreement.
How to Enter:
Before 11:59 PM (EST) Thursday, March 15, 2007, you must complete three (3) steps in order to enter The Gather.com First Chapters Competition:
1) Email your manuscript as an MS Word file attachment or equivalent to: firstchapters@gatherinc.com.
• The document must be delivered in complete form, drafted in 12 pt. Times New Roman font, 1 inch margins throughout, paginated and double-spaced and must include numbered chapter breaks.
• You must also break out the first three (3) chapters, sequentially, in a separate document so that they may be posted on Gather.com.
• The chapters must be clearly numbered and each be between 2,000 and 10,000 words in length. The chapters will be posted in sequential order, chapters 1 through 3 only.
• The subject of your email must read First Chapters Competition Entry.
• In the email you must include your name (first, last), email address, manuscript title, manuscript word count, brief 500-750 word synopsis of the plot, 500 word or less author bio.
• We will email all entrants to confirm receipt of their Submissions.
• If you have entered the Competition and have not received a confirmation notice of your submission within three business days, please email firstchapters@gatherinc.com.
2) To complete your entry, you must click on the link in your confirmation email to join the First Chapters Competition group on Gather.com. If you have any trouble registering for the site and the First Chapters group, please email firstchapters@gatherinc.com for help. The Competition administrator will post your entry to Gather.com within 2 business days. Submissions will not be returned.
3) If any excerpt from your Submission has been previously published on Gather.com, remove it from the site.
How The Competition Judging Will Work:
• Round 1: The first chapters of all valid Submissions will be posted by the competition administrator to firstchapters.gather.com for the community to vote on, for a period of 14 days, when members can read and rate each entry. This means that each entry will be live for 14 days from the date it was posted and entries will be posted as received through the March 15th deadline. At the end of the Round 1 submission/voting period, 20 writers will advance to the next round of competition, 15 based on the highest number of votes and ratings from Gather.com members, and 5 selected by the Gather editorial team.
• Round 2: The second chapters of the 20 remaining writers’ manuscripts are posted for a reading/voting period of three weeks. At the end of the voting period, 10 semifinalists are announced, 7 based on the highest number of votes and ratings from Gather.com members, and 3 selected by the Gather editorial team.
• Round 3: The third chapters of the 10 semifinalists’ manuscripts are posted for a reading/voting period of two weeks. At the end of the voting period, 5 finalists are announced, 4 based on the highest number of votes and ratings from Gather.com members, and 1 selected by the Gather editorial team.
• Round 4: The Grand Prize judging panel -- Carolyn K. Reidy, President of the Simon & Schuster Adult Publishing Group, Mark Gompertz, Executive Vice President and Publisher of Touchstone, Borders Group CEO George Jones and Gather.com Founder and CEO, Tom Gerace -- will select 1 Grand Prize Winner to receive a $5,000 cash prize from Gather.com, and publication of the book by The Touchstone imprint of Simon & Schuster.
Notes on Judging: Gather will monitor the Competition for irregular voting patterns and fraud, and will disqualify votes and entrants if, in the Sponsor’s sole judgment, we determine that the integrity or fairness of the Competition has been, or could be, compromised. Entrants are eligible to vote in the Competition but are expected to do so fairly and in the spirit of the competition.
The “editors’ pick” winners throughout the competition will be selected at the Gather.com editorial team’s discretion, and will be selected independent of member ratings and number of votes. The editorial team will judge entries on the criteria listed below.
All members who vote in the Competition as well as the Grand Prize judging panel must consider the following criteria equally when judging: 1) Quality of writing (including grammar and spelling); 2) Author’s ability to engage the reader; 3) Originality of the author's voice; 4) Potential of the finished book in the marketplace.
Competition Calendar:
January 11, 2007 – May 31, 2007
Round 1: 12 Weeks (approx.)
• 1/11/07: Launch of competition submission period for full manuscripts. Each valid submission’s first chapter is posted by contest administrator to the First Chapters site for a 14 day voting period by Gather members.
• 3/15/07: At 11:59 pm EST the Competition submission period closes, but voting continues for two more weeks for first chapters received on the final day.
• 3/29/07: Round 1 voting ends
• 4/3/07: 20 Round 1 winners announced
Round 2: 4 Weeks (approx.)
• 4/3/07: 20 second chapters from Round 1 winners’ Submissions go live on the First Chapters site for a three week voting period by Gather members.
• 4/25/07: Round 2 voting period ends
• 5/1/07: 10 Round 2 winners announced
Round 3: 3 Weeks (approx.)
• 5/1/07: 10 third chapters from Round 2 winners’ Submissions go live on the First Chapters site for a two week voting period by Gather members.
• 5/16/07: Round 3 Voting period ends
• 5/22/07: 5 Finalists announced
Round 4: 1 Week (approx.)
• 5/23/07: 5 Finalists submissions sent to judging panel
• 5/31/07: WINNER ANNOUNCED
Read the Complete Contest Rules & Regulations here.
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Comments: 195
Does "compromised integrity" include:
creating multiple identities with which to vote
rating friends ten stars and non-friends one star, regardless of the quality of the work
ignoring spelling and punctuation (I realize this was specified in the article, but ask for clarification since there are a number of Gather memers who maintain that these things do not matter, criticize anyone who says they do, and demonstrate little command of them in their work. Will Gather closely monitor the voting patterns of these members throughout the contest?)
If not, well there's always the old fashioned way that we should be using, anyway. Regardless, I think it sounds like fun.
Let the games begin!
sigh...
Are those that are shut out, allowed to approach Simon and Shuster directly?
Will Firstchapter help these excluded ones to be reviewed by Simon and Shuster?
It would help us tremendously. Please and thank you.
Unfortunately, I do not have a complete publication ready novel to send in and I doubt I could write an entire novel in two months.
David and Mark both have valid points, results may be a bit skewed in a "popularity contest" and hey, if you decide not to enter because of that, better chances for someone else. David has a point on the promotion and distribution too, but then again this is a chance to get your work out there. So, why not take a chance?
Obviously, it is a good idea to have an editor team be part of the decision process since they will have a good feel for what may sell in the market place. So I say take your chances and forget about all the reasons why this may or may not be a good thing.
Yea i am agree with Max Babi!!
Agent! HA! How the heck do you get one of THOSE! Ya gotta be 'known' don't cha?!!!
Writing is a pleasre but that is where it stops..... I suppose!
As for the fairness of the competition: if you can't say something nice, don't bother. You know full well that little or nothing in life is fair. Certainly nothing in the publishing world. Carping is not writing.
How sad we're all left out, just as well, maybe the competition would be far greater and less chance to win.
Maybe David Icke is right?.
I suppose I could answer this next question by researching the Touchstone imprint, but . . . it's also not stated in what form the book will be published. I imagine that the contestants will be picturing hardcover, but perhaps it will actually be trade paperback, or even mass market paperback.
To J M -- No, you don't have to be known to get an agent. I managed to get an agent at a very respectable small agency, although I had no publishing credits at all.
Is it possible to read the terms of this agreement before submitting our entry?
I've been assured that negotiations are close now for Canadians, and that Europe and Australia should be included around mid-year.
As a side note, I am a lawyer and have been for some years. I wouldn't stake my life or reputation on this, but an agreement "that if you are selected as the Grand Prize Winner, you will sign Simon & Schuster's standard publishing agreement within five days of receipt of the agreement" seems unenforceable. I know of no state where the law will enforce an agreement, the terms of which are unknown until after the parties are bound. It seems morel likely that failure to sign the agreement could simply disqualify the winner. Maybe there'll be a lawsuit out of it.
anyway, just my thoughts on the comments :)
And if they want people to start working like crazy to finish those in-progress novels that every has languishing in the drawer or on their hard drive, perhaps a longer submission period would be needed.
I have a tiny concern about the fact that some people may campaign to get their 100 friends to vote for them, and spam another 1000 to vote for them, whereas I'll just submit, sit back and see what happens. But you know what, it's a thousand or more times better than buying a lottery ticket. At least you have a chance if you have the skill.
For those of you that are so worried about the contract, the easy solution is: don't worry about it. No one is forcing you to compete. If you're so good that you feel you should be able to negotiate the contract in advance, then clearly you should be out there talking to some other publisher and giving them the opportunity to represent you on your terms. What are you doing considering such a contest as this.
Phone Voice: Mr. B., you've just won a million dollars!
Mr. B.: Um, how is that going to be delivered? Because I don't want too many large bills, and I think it should come in a stylish attache. If it's gonna be just in some kind of cheap, canvas bag or something, that's not going to be acceptable - I have standards you know, and a reputation to consider.
My viewpoint is that someone is offering me a lucky chance at my life's dream. That is one gift horse I'll take without any oral inspection whatsoever.
I think some people need to lighten up and consider what winning would mean. Your alternative is to dismiss this and wait for another one to come along that meets all of your needs, demands and expectations.
For those that are confused about the title, it's pretty simple. The publisher is looking to publish a complete book. Said books will compete against each other one chapter at a time. With a limited number of rounds to compete in, only the First Chapters will be doing the competing.
To everyone else, I wish you the best of luck - but only up until the end. :-)
1. Simon & Schuster is a very reputable publishing house.
2. As an unpublished author, I realize that even with an agent, a publishing house is unlikely to make many concessions on their contract.
3. The writing organization that I belong to, Romance Writers of America, has reviewed all the major houses' contracts, and hasn't reported any unusually ugly Gotcha's! with S&S.
4. My manuscript has already made the rounds of most publishers and is back in my desk drawer, so what the hay?
It's TWO months, not three, that you have until the deadline. Just wanting those who think they have three months to be aware they have only two.
Good luck everybody :-)
On another note, when the rules say, "Submissions may not be submitted elsewhere unless and until the entrant has been eliminated from the Competition," do they mean submitted to other publishers only, or to literary agents as well?
Also, how is the term "commercial fiction" defined? My work is a fantasy. Does that qualify?
Standard word length for commerical fiction usually between 80-95,000 words, depending on the publisher.....
Is that supposed to be the length of each chapter or of all three first chapters or of the total ms?
I wish they did this contest for nonfiction genre where submission usually doesn't require a full manuscript, but just a few chapters.
We have posted a separate article to answer some of the most frequently asked questions. We will continually update this article as new questions come in.
I have complianed about the American people loosing their imagination for far too long. It has shown in our movies. Now some of us can prove we still have it.
Good luck to all! I'll be polishing away the rough edges for the next month or so.
Could you clarify the part of the guidelines which states: "Send your Submission as an MS Word file attachment or equivalent...."
What's "an equivalent?" I don't have MS Word (I use a less common word processing program). Would a pdf be an acceptable format for entry?
Thanks for your time.
On one hand it is a wonderful oppurtunity for an unknown to get a break; getting work out there is priceless. On the other hand, I have read some very real concerns that have yet to be answered.
I see question after question in most of the comments regarding the publishing contract and just what it entails, but no answers are offered, other than the general "c'mon take a chance/whaddya got to lose" from fellow writers. Our work does have value, and this looks like a pretty sweet deal for the publisher if one of us puts a real page turner out there.
One of my ms' could probably be completed within the time frame, but I'm unsure if it fits the genre. It is based on the experiences of my father kept in a journal during his time a a B-17 crew member and POW in Nazi Germany during WW 2, therefore, not exactly fiction. Those that have read it so far say it is a very good read, but it's more a thrilling account of a horrific year in his life. Does that count? Oh well, I'm writing it in memory of him and for family, rather than for profit anyway.
I have an outline for another book, strangely enough, based on a dream I had. (no more pizza before bed...or maybe MORE if it turns out!) It centers on a cold blooded high tech killer with a lot of skeletons in his closet that the reader will actually root for. It has a definite feel of a storyline and main character(s) that would be very easy to continue into more books...exactly what publishers look for.
Of course it would be impossible to finish in time now, but I can't help but ask myself if I really want to enter a possible SERIES of books in a contest that offers little more than five thousand up front and no info otherwise. If it WERE done and I decided to enter it, I'd have to see more details before doing so.
I think I'll read the entries, enjoy them and learn from them. Good luck to all of you!! :)
Anyway...if they only plan to ever publish 3 chapters, why do they want the ENTIRE ms...?
So I say to everyone," lighten up" and enjoy the opportunity! Obviously we are ALL still in the "Unpublished Category" therefore, what do we really have to loose?
It's not JUSTabout the $$$, it's also about Self accomplishment and Recognition.
So, share your work with others and be greatful that you were given such a talent.
These instructions have me totally confused, and I would appreciate any feedback at all!
Thankx!
~~Vickie
I have entered the first chapters however dont know if i did it right.
I joined first chapters and am a member and posted my work
it is an introduction to the book which is essential to give the reader the basis feeling for the rest of the book. Is this allowed? Or do I neeed to post 1st chapter alongside the intro.
Free
Going to submit my book!