Official Rules to Story Contests

Entry Guide

From time to time the Plaza will run a story contest, these are usually to a theme, which you'll find in the contest pages when published.

So you've decided to enter the Story Contest

On an irregular basis we run a story contest, sometimes with a prize attached from the story sponsor, each contest is different but the rules for entry will usually remain the same, there may be some rules specific for each contest, but they will be published on the contest entry page.

 

What are the rules?

  • The stories should comply with the standard guidelines for submitting stories to Grometsplaza listed here and in the writers guide page.
  • The winning story will be decided by popular vote or judging panel. I did try to use a pit of vipers and a fight to the death but I lost too many authors...
  • Grometsplaza & the contest sponsor would reserve the right to publish, re-post/link to the stories on either website (authors retaining ownership of course).
  • Grometsplaza or the contest sponsor does not endorse the ideas or actions represented in any story, but does respect the author's right to free speech and kinky thoughts. In the real world remember to play safe, sane and consensual.
  • Grometsplaza has no control over the issuing of prizes to contestants, all prizes are the responsibility of the sponsor concerned.
  • Grometsplaza/Sponsor reserves the right in its sole and unfettered discretion to disqualify any entry.
  • There may be addition rules or conditions relating to each story contest, please make yourself aware of these before sending any stories.
  • Only the first entry you send will be admitted to the contest. (No re-edits)
  • No entries will be possible after the closing date for submission. No exceptions.
  • Stories no longer than 8-10 Word pages or roughly 6000 words long.
  • All times mentioned are now in UTC (UTC is Coordinated Universal Time)
  • By entering the contest, you certify that you have read these guidelines in their entirety.
  • That your entry does not contain any material that would violate or infringe upon the rights of any third party, including copyrights, trademarks or rights or privacy or publicity.
  • Grometsplaza/sponsors may prohibit an entrant from participating in a contest if it determines that said entrant is attempting to undermine the legitimate operation of the contest by cheating, hacking, deception or other unfair playing practices or intending to abuse, threaten or harass other entrants.
  • Grometsplaza/sponsors reserves the right, in its sole discretion to cancel, terminate, modify or suspend the Contest should (in its sole discretion) virus, bugs, non-authorized human intervention, fraud or other causes beyond its control corrupt or affect the administration, security, fairness or proper conduct of the Contest.
  • In the event that the operation, security, or administration of the contest is impaired in any way for any reason, including, but not limited to fraud, virus, or other technical problems, or any condition caused by events beyond the reasonable control of Grometsplaza/sponsors that may cause the contest to be disrupted or corrupted, Grometsplaza/sponsors may, in its sole discretion, either: (a) suspend the contest to address the impairment and then resume the contest in a manner that best conforms to the spirit of these Official Rules; or (b) award the prize from among the non-suspect, eligible entries received up to the time of the impairment.
  • Decisions of the judges, Grometsplaza or Sponsors are final and binding on all matters relating to the Contest.

 

Okay, so how do I submit my story?

How do I start? The basics...

  • Spell checker:
    First run your story through one, all stories for contest entry are posted 'as is', no editing is done at this end for contest entries.
  • Title:
    Choose a title for your story. You'd be surprised at how many stories get sent with no title.
  • Author:
    All stories entered into the story contests must be your own work, stories found to be written by another will be removed from the contest.
  • Name:
    Could you indicate what name you wish to use as author, either your own or something fictional like a nickname.
  • Contact Details:
    Could you also indicate whether you wish to use your e-mail address. Please note that by including your e-mail address you can expose yourself to praise or criticism, also be aware that 'spammers' troll the web looking for e-mail addresses to use.
  • Storycodes:
    Where possible can you include the storycodes for your story, the codes can be found here.
  • Sending:
    All stories must be sent as an attachment to an e-mail OR as an email itself. See below for more details. Please don't submit your story early and then continue to make corrections and submit your story again... and again...and again. Do not send your story more than once. We will only use the first version of the story you send in.
  • Images:
    Unless the contest specifies including images, images will no longer be accepted into story contests.
  • Length:
    You need to make sure that the length of your story isn't too long, as a rough guide the average story is about 8-10 word pages long (about 6000 words). Stories longer than this will no longer be accepted into the story contests.
  • Plagiarism:
    Please do not send stories that copy text from other stories, unless you acknowledge the story. Plagiarism means "use or close imitation of the language and thoughts of another author and the representation of them as one's own original work" (source wikipedia).
  • Submissions:
    All entries submitted to the story contest will be displayed as-is; no editing will be done other than to prepare the story to fit the standard story page format shown here on the plaza.

What Format can I send them in?

  • I use Microsoft Word & Dreamweaver to prepare stories for the site so please send in your stories in some format that I can use. (.doc; .docx; .txt; .wpd; .rtf; )
  • Or send as an email itself, just copy & paste your story into an email.
  • Please don't send stories in PDF format.
  • Please don't send me any in DAT or EXE format, due to the many viruses out there I delete these files without opening. This also goes for any unknown formats.
  • Don't forget any instructions about your material eg: no email address, forewords etc.

Where do I send my stories?

  • All contest stories should be sent as an attachment to or as an e-mail to: gromet@grometsplaza.net only
  • Emails must be marked in the subject line Contest Story.
  • Don't forget about story title, author name and e-mail address.

What happens next?

  • I usually try to send you an e-mail letting you know I've received your stories.
  • Stories will be posted around the time of the closing date for submissions, exceptions would be due to the number of entries received.
  • No entries will be possible after the closing date for submission.

Can I change my story?

  • No, do not send your story more than once. We will only use the first version of the story you send in. So remember to edit before sending.

Voting

  • This will commence after the closing date for submissions.
  • Voting is usually done via the forum or email.
  • Only one vote is permissible per person.
  • Voting will cease on the specified date and votes counted.
  • Winner will be announced via the website & email.

Complaints

  • If you feel that you've had a problem, or see a problem in any story contest, please email me straight away so the matter can be dealt with as soon as possible.
  • Once the contest closes no further correspondence will be entertained.

 

Thanks for getting this far, I hope that this information page is of some use to you. If you have any questions etc. Please just write to me and I will try to answer them.

Also check out the story code page.

 

Licence

Authors retain rights to and title to their submitted works. By sending your work, the author grants Gromet's Plaza & its websites a non-exclusive, worldwide, royalty-free, perpetual license to display the work.

Only submit a story if you are the author or explicitly have permission from the author to submit the story for display on Gromet's Plaza. Authors dislike the idea of plagiarism, so do I. Please do not remove or replace another author's or poster's attribution from a story submission.

It is not the intention of this website(s) or its administration to host or otherwise distribute any works that are prohibited from being distributed according to the author's copyright. As a host for stories sent in by others, from time to time we may have posted material in violation of the author's copyright. The plaza has done and continues to do everything possible to ensure that no works are distributed in Gromet's Plaza or its associated websites in violation of an author's copyright.

If you happen to find such a work, please notify Gromet immediately for prompt removal of the work.