The 2007 Gather.com First Chapters Writing Competition is underway and members have started to ask some great questions. This article addresses questions members have asked regarding the contest. We will be adding to this article as new questions are posed to us.
Q) I want to participate in the First Chapters Contest. Where can I find all of the contest details?
A) There are several articles published to provide you with the details you need to participate in rating the First Chapters Contest. For answers on how to enter your novel into the contest, consult the First Chapters Writing Contest Submission Guidelines. Additional details on prizes and eligibility can be found in the First Chapters Writing Contest Official Rules.
Q) Please define "commercial fiction genre."
A) For the purpose of this competition, commercial fiction is being defined as fiction with broad commercial appeal.
Q) Do I need to submit an entire manuscript to be eligible?
A) Yes. While only the first three chapters will be published for community rating, a completed manuscript must be submitted for an entry to be eligible. See the Submission Guidelines for full details.
Q) Why are there formatting guidelines for the submission?
A) Formatting guidelines are necessary to ensure the competition administrator can publish all entries in a timely manner. Please be sure to follow the guidelines as described in point 3 of the First Chapters Official Rules.
Q) The rules state that you must break out the first three chapters into a separate document. Does this mean that you must submit three additional separate MS Word documents for chapters 1, 2 and 3 beside the original full length manuscript or just one additional document?
A) You should submit four (4) total documents. One (1) complete manuscript, and the other three (3) are each of the first three chapters, respectively. See the Submission Guidelines for additional requirements.
Q) Are there any word count requirements for the overall manuscript beyond the 2,000-10,000 word requirement on the first three chapters?
A) No, the word count requirements for the competition are for the first three chapters only which must be between 2,000-10,000 words each. There is no word count requirement or limitation on the full length manuscript.
Q) Can entrants resubmit their work if it doesn’t initially meet our guidelines?
A) Yes, entrants are welcome to resubmit their work as long as it is within the stated contest period.
Q) If an excerpt of the novel was published in a literary magazine, journal, etc., does this disqualify the entire novel?
A) No. As long as a majority of the novel was not previously published, the entry is still eligible.
Q) Are authors who have published non commercial fiction eligible?
A) No. If you have published any novel, excluding self published or vanity press, in any genre you are not eligible for the contest.
Q) Are entries to be judged on content alone, or is grammar/spelling a consideration in the final vote?
A) We encourage entrants to thoroughly check grammar and spelling before submitting their entry. The community will be considering the overall quality of the submission. Entries are expected to be of publishable quality.
Q) Do I need to join the firstchapters.gather.com group to submit an entry?
A) Yes, you do need to join the Gather.com First Chapters Writing Competition group at http://firstchapters.gather.com/ if you are submitting an entry.
Q) Do I need to join the firstchapters.gather.com group to vote on the submissions?
A) No. Any Gather member can vote on a First Chapters submission. We encourage all members to support your fellow gatherers by reading and rating on their submissions.
Q) Will the author’s name be included on the submission?
A) All entries will be published by the competition administrator; however, the authors name will be included at the end of the entry along with their copyright.
Q) Who will judge the competition?
A) Community members, Gather's editorial team, and a panel of judges all play a role in selecting a winner. Details on the selection process are in point 5 of the First Chapters Official Rules.
Q) How will Gather ensure the integrity of the rating/voting system?
A) To ensure the integrity of contests on Gather we have developed fraud detection systems to monitor rating/voting patterns as well as member account validity. We run the processes periodically throughout the contest and again at the end of the contest, across all entries. If we determine that certain ratings or actions are intended to compromise the outcome of the contest we will take appropriate actions which can include disqualifying the ratings, entrants and submissions. Entrants are eligible to vote in the competition but are expected to do so fairly and in the spirit of the competition.
Q) What was the final rating for my competition submission?
A) To ensure the integrity of the competition, we have developed processes that detect voting fraud and other irregularities. We run the processes periodically throughout the competition and again at the end of the competition, across all entries. If we determine that certain ratings or actions are intended to compromise the outcome of the competition we will take corrective actions. We do not answer specific questions on vote tabulation or fraud prevention because it will provide details that we do not make public to make them more effective over time. The scores shown on Gather do not reflect the full impact of our fraud control system (some steps are applied after the fact) to prevent users from testing various rating strategies in an attempt to reverse engineer our fraud identification algorithms. Therefore, rating averages can change throughout the contest even after a submission is no longer publicly viewable.
Q) Will prizes be awarded if there are less than 200 qualifying entries?
A) Simon & Schuster reserves the right to not award the publishing prize if fewer than 200 qualifying entries are received during the contest period. However, Gather Inc. will award a $5,000 cash prize to the winner regardless publication.
Q) When Borders is listed as the retail sponsor of the competition does this mean the winning commercial fiction novel will only be distributed through Borders?
A) No, while Borders will be distributing and promoting the Grand Prize Winner’s published novel, the winning novel will be available wherever books are sold.
Q) Can a submission targeted to a young adult audience be considered?
A) Yes. Novels written for adult and young adult audiences will be considered if they meet all competition requirements.
Q) What is the latest available date to send in a manuscript?
A) The manuscript entry period runs from 9:00 AM EST, Thursday, January 11, 2007 to 11:59 PM EST, Thursday, March 15, 2007. Sponsor’s computer clock governs time stamp.
Q) Is there a limit to the number of manuscripts that one author can submit?
A) Yes. Each author can submit 1 eligible manuscript. Any additional manuscripts received will be disregarded.
Q) Where should I ask friends to go to read the entries?
A) You will receive an email from the First Chapters Administrator confirming Gather’s receipt of your entry, including a link to the location of your entry on the site. You can share this link with your friends so they can read and vote on the entries.
Q) How do I know you have received my entry?
A) You will receive an email from the First Chapters Administrator confirming Gather’s receipt of your entry, including a link to the location of your entry on the site. If your entry is not eligible, you will receive an email from the First Chapters Administrator explaining why it did not meet the competition requirements. Either way, an email will be sent to you within approximately two (2) business days of Gather’s receipt of your entry.
Q) Am I eligible to enter this competition if I have submitted a novel to publishers and other contests, but nothing has happened yet?
A) Your novel cannot be submitted to the First Chapters Writing Competition if it is simultaneously submitted to other contests or publishers.
Q) My manuscript is almost complete. Can I submit the first three (3) chapters now and the complete manuscript before the end of the entry period?
A) No. For your entry to be eligible, all required documents must be submitted at once. See Submission Guidelines for a complete list of requirements.
Q) My novel starts with a prologue. Does the prologue count as part of chapter one, or is it considered a separate chapter?
A) If your novel includes a prologue, that will be considered part of chapter one. Please include the prologue and chapter one as one document.
Q) When will the first entries be posted?
A) The first entries will be posted Monday January 15th, 2007.
Q) My manuscript contains adult language and themes. Is it still eligible?
A) Entries may include adult language and themes. However, manuscripts considered “erotica” do not fit in the commercial fiction genre and will be disqualified. Valid entries containing adult language and themes will be posted with the appropriate flag for mature audiences, per Gather’s Terms of Service.
Q) I am not a U.S. resident. Am I eligible for this competition?
A) The laws governing content & copyrights vary from country to country. The
First Chapters contest is governed by the contests and sweepstakes laws
specific to the United States. Thus, we are not able to accept international
entries.
In the future, however, Gather does plan on having separate writing
competitions for specific countries with large Gather.com memberships.
Q) I'm interested in entering the First Chapters writing contest do I need to have a copyright on the material?
A) From a legal standpoint, all writers automatically have a copyright on any material they create at the moment they create it. This is often referred to as a “common law” copyright, which covers the writer for her entire lifetime plus 50 years.
Q) If my chapter/s are online and I do not win, are my chapters considered published by other publishing companies?
A) While stipulations may vary from publisher to publisher, since your entire manuscript will not be publicly available at any given time it generally would not be considered “published”.
Q) Once the contest is over, what happens to my manuscript files?
A) All non-winning manuscripts will be destroyed when the contest is over. Manuscripts will not be returned to the entrant.
Q) At the end of the competition, for all of those entrants who do not win, will they receive the standing in relation to all other competitors?
A) No. We will only be announcing the winners of each round, in no particular order. Non-winners will not be notified, nor will a complete list of standings be posted.
Q) Could you please clarify the terms around article 11?
A) Article 11 addresses the fact that Simon & Schuster, at any time in the future, may publish a work similar in nature to a manuscript submitted to this competition. This is not requiring anyone to give up the rights to their work. This article merely states that, given the fact that Simon & Schuster publish thousands of works every year, if one of their published works has a similar theme, plot, etc. to a contest entry, the contestant acknowledges this as happenstance and not as a violation of their copyright.
If you have questions that have not been addressed in the articles referenced above, please email them to support@gather.com. We will be adding to this article as new questions are posed to us. We look forward to helping you enter and wish you good luck!
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Comments: 134
A) For the purpose of this competition, commercial fiction is being defined as fiction with broad commercial appeal.
This is still pretty vague. What exactly is "broad commercial appeal"? Romance and "chick flick" sales account for almost half of paperback sales. Sci-fi and fantasy have sold enough recently to garner films or TV deals (ex. "Eragon" and "The Dresden Files").
I'm assuming, then, by "commercial" fiction, you are referring to fiction featuring original characters and not derivitive works (aka "fan fiction"). If particular genres are excluded, for example, romance, sci-fi/fantasy, westerns, could you please clarify that? It would be a terrible waste of an author's time and energy (and a tremendous let-down) to enter their "baby", only to find out later it is disqualified as "not of broad commercial appeal".
Secondly, the terms of the contest state the winner must sign the contract within 5 days. Are there *any* plans to allow the contestants to review this contract prior to winning? That way, should the author disagree with the terms, they have the option to remove themselves from the contest.
Thirdly, am I to understand that copyright of entries transfers to the publisher *regardless of whether the contestant wins or not*? If so, I think you'll find very few entries.
While I understand the necessity of vague language at times, these are times in which vague terminology is to no one's benefit.
Write on!
Question: When it comes to signing a contract as important as this shouldn't the winning author have professional help when dealing with it?
If I should win, I would be home in a heartbeat to sign any contractual agreements.
Am I eligible to enter this contest although I am not physically residing in the United States at this time?
Jerome A. Schorr (Jeremy63)
You could just say that entrants are liable for all expenses you incur if they don't actually have a full manuscript to submit when you request it.
This strikes me as a public relations explanation, not a real one.
I don't know what they mean by laws governing "content" but this novel will be putlished in the US, so what dlifference does it make where the writer is from and what the laws there say about content.
Further, the copyright laws of most countries recognize US copyright. It wouldn't be that hard to exclude countries that do not. But, again, what does the country of the writer have to do with that? These works will be avaliable on the web, so countries that do not respect US copyright can still steal them.
Please answer two questions: How does the Simon & Schuster's standard publishing agreement address film rights? Also, I am published for a non-fiction book, would I be disqualified in this contest?
Thank you, Jack
Kaz
I would very much like a clear delineation as to what you specifically mean by this vague phrase.
Also, your response above about your cure for ballot stuffing seems weak, if not impossible to implement. I recommend you have ONLY the submitters evaluate each other's works without the option to vote for their own.
Pretty cheesy, if you ask me. I think if the judging is on the first three chapters, then that is all that should be submitted. Isn't that generally all an editor or agent needs to see to determine if they want to see the rest of the manuscript? Otherwise, I feel as though S&S is fishing for ideas to suggest to authors they know will make them money.
Are there any publishing agents out there who can give us a take on this contest? I'd like to hear what an agent thinks about this.
Lax entry responses aside, the idea that S&S is out to steal your novel is ludicrous. Who'll be the author in such a scenario? I'm afraid this sort of paranoia is the sign of rank amateur uneducated in intellectual property law at even the basic level.
miss snark says:
http://misssnark.blogspot.com/2007_01_07_misssnark_archive.html#116852279665489921
Look under Recent Articles for the chapters to review. Quite a few were posted today.
According to your daily figures that's 274 total. I read a question about awarding prizes if they didn't get 200. I guess we know for sure the prizes will be awarded. There are still 7 weeks to go!
All eligible stories received prior to 1/24 are now live within the First Chapters group. You can find them by going to http://firstchapters.gather.com and click on "Recent Articles" halfway down the group homepage. We currently have almost 400 stories available for you to read and we add new stories every business day.
Thanks everyone, and best of luck to all who enter!
I've noticed problems with the appearance of some submissions, and I'm wondering if a single spaced format, with double spaces between paragraphs and no tabs would work best for the breakout chapters? Or would that screw up the conversion?
I meant for the breakout chapters, not for the ms. Looking at your sub, I noticed that some of your paragraph indents were retained, and some not. Did you use tabs in some cases and not in others?
Whatever you may think this group presents a unique opportunity for authors to re-edit based on the input from conscientious readers...so I'm wondering how am I to balance between the feedback from a digital focus group, and staying true to the author's vision, especially when he knows where the next 51 chapters are going?
I also wonder how some folks could forget about the mysterious dead body and wouldn't mind staying with the description of place and condo politics in Sixteen stories, no pets - Chapter 1 if they remembered the promise of working through the mystery.
I suspect we are all guilty of speedreading because there's so many entries to get through.
Or have I failed to recognize internet users have shorter attention spans and demand more immediate gratification than readers who prefer the printed page?
C.J. Beck
Will the final ranking score be based on the final score? What if, for example, your chapter generally ranked between a 5.8 to 6.3, but suddenly dropped at the end to 3.0 with a bomb of uncaught "one" vandals. Would your final score be 3.0, or would it take into account that you generally were between 5.8 and 6.3? What if a surge of your friends showed up on the last day and shoved you to the top with a 6.9? Would that be your final score, or where you had generally fallen before, with that 5.8 to 6.3?
Good luck to everyone who entered and hope you get picked by the editorial team.
Thanks!
You might also want to give people some idea of what the numbers mean. Like 1 or 2 means burn it, and 9 or 10 means print it etc.
Gather has come up with an interesting idea to help fix the publishing industry's problem of finding good books, but if the contest fails to let the good works bubble up due to poor scoring design, then everyone will just assume the whole idea is bad and never trust another contest like this.
Now my entry is a good story, not great, but good... I have read probably 30 other stories and have rated them all, between 5 and 7, but I did give two 10's.
My question is... I haven't bragged to anyone about my submission... I haven't asked friends to vote... I figured I would allow those of us who have already submitted to judge my work. However, what I have noticed is most entries have received around 12 - 15 votes, while others, the new ones posted, have received around 3-8… Yet once in a blue moon, you will see entries with 35 votes or more.
My question is this, is the amount of people you can get to vote on a particular entry the main focus regarding what the judges will finally vote on or physically read? Regardless of whether or not the entry is any good or not?
With over 400 entries, and a panel of 5 judges... And only three months to do the judging... How exactly is Gather and her sponsors going to sort this all out? If you do the math, each judge will have to read 80 entries in that time... Now that might not seem like a whole bunch... But that is 80 days, or almost three full months of reading manuscripts if you read and judge just one a day... And then, the judges would have to show each other which ones they gave a high score two, and then the other judges, I suspect would also have to rate the entry, and so on and so forth... It seems like a daunting task for anyone… And I love to read…
If this is a popularity contest, well then I already know I lose, and that's fine... If this is based solely on the work submitted, then I most likely won't win, but I am concerned a really great story will fall through the popularity cracks...
A little clarification would be nice... Because it would appear several of us have the same fears... I too have seen a lot of 1 bashers, and to do that to any manuscript where someone has spent countless hours creating their manuscript, to me, is just cruel... But some people will do anything if they believe it will help their chances of winning...
So Gather, if you can find the time... Please respond to my questions, or questions that have been asked with a similar theme...
Thanks in advance!
I shall post them here for easy access regarding my questions:
ROUND 1:
1/11/07: Launch of Competition: 60 day (approx) submission period for entrants to submit original, completed, book length manuscripts in the commercial fiction genre.
Chapter one of each entrant's manuscript will be posted for a voting period of 14 days for Gather members to read and rate the entries on a scale of one (1) through ten (10).
3/15/07: At 11:59 pm EST the Submission period officially closes, but voting continues on chapters received in the final days.
3/29/07: Voting period ends.
4/3/07: 20 Round 1 winners are announced, 15 based on the highest number of votes and ratings from members of Gather.com and 5 selected by the Gather editorial team.
ROUND 2:
4/4/07: 20 second chapters from the Round 1 winners' manuscripts are posted by the Competition administrator and are live on the site for a three week reading and rating period.
4/25/07: Voting period ends.
5/1/07: 10 Round 2 winners are announced, 7 based on the highest number of votes and ratings from members of Gather.com, and 3 selected by a Gather editorial team.
ROUND 3:
5/2/07: 10 third chapters from the Semifinalists' entries are posted by the Competition administrator and are live on the site for a two week reading and rating period.
5/16/07: Voting period ends.
5/22/07: 5 Competition Finalists are announced, 4 based on the highest number of votes and ratings from members of Gather.com and 1 selected by a Gather editorial team.
ROUND 4:
The Submissions of the 5 finalists will be sent to the Grand Prize judging panel on 5/23/07. 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 his/her Submission by Touchstone/Fireside (an imprint of Simon & Schuster).
The four runners up will receive $500 cash.
5/31/07: Grand Prize Winner Announced
If the Panel determines that there are no Submissions of publishable quality from the Round 4 finalists, Simon & Schuster reserves the right to review all Submissions from Round 3 (i.e. the 10 semifinalists) to determine the Grand Prize winner. In the event that the Grand Prize winner is selected from among the Round 3 semifinalists that did not qualify as one of the original Round 4 finalists, then all Round 4 finalists will be deemed runners up and each will receive the $500 cash prize.
Warm Front
Also, it hides from the Drive-by oners the real way the submissions are scored. For example, if at the end, all the ones and tens were thrown out and that was annouced all the drive-by scorers would vote 2 instead.
You just can't rule out mob mentality.
But I do like the suggestion of keeping the chapters up with the final score so at least we know what we recieved
Also, I'd like to publicly thank all those who took the time to offer constructive criticism. Your time and attention are appreciated.