PUT UP OR SHUT UP CONTEST - WITH PRIZES

I do my fair share of complaining around here, and it's been a while since I've attempted to "give" to the community, so I've decided to host a cheapie contest. Hopefully this can give some people an extra reason to write something, if nothing else. As I'm calling myself out to put up or shut up - I'm also calling any participating writers to give their best effort. Also, see below for encouraged "community" involvement.


Please read all guidelines/deadlines before asking any questions.



The Subject

True to it's title, the subject is "put up or shut up." This can be taken in any way you see fit. Twist it, get creative, whatever.


Formats

All entries are to be submitted as deviations***. Both poetry and prose of all forms are acceptable. Any length is acceptable, but please keep in mind we'd like to be able to judge this in a reasonable amount of time, so if possible keep prose to say, 6 pages or less (single spaced). Also, the piece MUST be new - it can not be an old deviation, and though it is not enforcable, we'll use the honor system on it being something you specifically whipped up for the contest.

*** - There are several reasons for entries being submitted as deviations.
1) assuming you care about your gallery, you'll care about your entry
2) this eliminates questions about word processing softwares
3) I'd like to encourage you to check out your competition, and even comment on it if you have time. This is in the spirit of a good contest - visit the entries, see what you're up against, and feel free to tell the writer what you think of his/her entry. I don't care if you think it's good or completely horrid, some kind of comment would be nice. But, it's by no means any kind of requisite.


Judging

Judging will be done by a group of 5 people - 3 deviants (myself and two yet to be named) and two pairs of eyes who are writers and lit majors who do not belong to DA. In other words, spell check, people. Once I've secured the judges, I will post their names in the thread below.


Deadlines

Deadline for entry is Sunday the 15th at midnight, Eastern Standard Time, US.
Depending upon the amount of entries (I'll go out on a limb and not expect many), we hope to have the judging finished within one week. Winner will be announced as soon as we know.


Prizes

As I mentioned, I'm not putting up my Yacht for this thing, so prizes are as follows:

Winner will receive either:

a) A $15 DA store credit (print, whatever) - or a DA subscription of equal value
b) A check for twenty US dollars
c) A new hardback copy of Douglas Coupland's latest novel, JPod

Shipping is included. The runner up will receive either the book or A/B IF the winner chooses to receive the book.

Also, I will look into seeing if it is somehow possible to get a news article in our lively forum here helping to pimp the winner and runner up.

Good luck y'all.

--
Breaking entering
The dark and lonely places
Finding a big gun