Official Rules
Please read these Official Rules before entering the America’s Next Author Contest ("Contest") by eBookMall. By submitting an entry, you ("you" or "your") acknowledge that you are eligible to enter the Contest and have read and agree to be bound by these Official Rules and any decisions related to the Contest that are made by eBookMall or the judges. We will select one "Grand Prize" winner of the Contest. Details of the Grand Prize and other Contest prizes are described in more detail below. The "Sponsor" of the Contest is eBookmall NV ("eBookMall" or "we").
1. ELIGIBILITY. You are eligible to enter the Contest if you are at least 18 years old at time of entry. You are not eligible to enter the Contest if you are (a) our employee or independent contractor or an employee or independent contractor of any of our affiliates; (b) a family member (spouses, domestic partners, parents, grandparents, siblings, children, and grandchildren) of our employees or independent contractors; (c) a family member (spouses, domestic partners, parents, grandparents, siblings, children, and grandchildren) of an employee or independent contractor of any of our affiliates; (d) a judge involved in the Contest, including any reviewer who participates in selecting the Nominees and finalists.
2. HOW TO ENTER. We must receive your Contest entry between September 12, 2012, 12:01 A.M. (U.S. Eastern Standard Time) and November 27, 2012 at 11:59 P.M. (U.S. Eastern Standard Time). We reserve the right to stop accepting Entries at any time during the Contest. You must register at www.ebookmall.com/americasnextauthor to enter the Contest. Once you have registered, follow the instructions on the entry form and upload: (1) the complete version of your story (“Story”); (2) a description of your Story consisting of up to 200 words (“Description”); and (3) the personal information required on the entry form. (1-3 collectively, an “Entry”). We will not accept or review any Entry that does not comply with these Official Rules.
3. ENTRY REQUIREMENTS. You must be the only author of your Story, and your Story must be between 2500 and 5,000 words. Any Story submitted as an Entry written by two or more authors will not be eligible. Additionally, poems, non-fiction works and collections of works are not eligible. Your Story and Description must: (a) be your original creation; (b) be fictional; (c) be in the English language; (d) be of interior black and white text without images; (e) not currently or previously have been the subject of a publishing agreement with any publisher (nor have been published in any way); (f) not include your real or pen name anywhere in the Story or the Description; (g) not include any information that identifies the author in any way including, but not limited to, a resume or the identity of additional works by the author, but excluding any file document properties that may identify the author; (h) be submitted digitally by copying and pasting it into the entry form. Any entry that we determine, in our sole discretion, to meet these requirements will be considered a “Valid Entry.” Our servers and clock will be the official clock for all phases of the Contest, and your proof of submission is not proof that we received your Entry. You may only submit one Entry. If you submit more than one Entry, the first Entry that we receive will be the judged Entry, and any subsequent Entries you submit will be void and disregarded. We reserve the right, in our sole discretion, to disqualify your Entry from the Contest if the Entry (x) contains obscene, offensive, pornographic or sexually explicit material, (y) is libelous, disparaging, discriminating, includes inappropriate content, or (z) does not comply with these Official Rules.
4. CONDITIONS OF ENTRY. By submitting an Entry, you represent and warrant that your Entry: (a) is your original creation; (b) has not been copied in whole or in part from any other work; (c) has not previously been published as described in Section 3(e) above; (d) does not violate or infringe any copyright, trademark, privacy or publicity right, or other proprietary or intellectual property right of any person or entity; (e) is not defamatory, libelous, obscene, or otherwise illegal; and (f) is your sole and exclusive property. You further represent and warrant that you have complete, worldwide distribution rights to your Story.
5. GRANT OF RIGHTS. By submitting an Entry you grant eBookMall the publication rights to your Entry during the contest and 12 months after the completion of the contest.
By submitting an Entry, you grant us and our respective affiliates and agents permission to use, without charge, portions of your Story along with your name and stated reason for writing the submitted Entry (if provided) for any purpose in connection with this Contest. You also grant us the right to edit the formatting and display of your Entry, and to create literary or any other types of effects in respect to your Entry without compensation or approval. In addition, to the extent that any moral rights (for example, the right to attribution and the right to integrity) apply, you waive (and to the extent that these rights may not be waived, agree irrevocably not to assert) your moral rights in your Entry for purposes of this Contest, including, without limitation, our use of excerpts from your Entry in connection with this Contest. You represent that you have received the consent of any person whose real and actual name or likeness is used or featured in any Entry that you submit. If you fail to obtain the consent, your Entry will be disqualified. We have the right at any time during the Contest to request proof of consent, and to disqualify your Entry if you cannot provide the requested proof. Your Story and Excerpts, along with your name, city, and state of residence, and portions of your Entry which relate to the submitted Story, may be posted on any website owned or operated by us or any of our affiliates (“Our Site”), any other website or other online point of presence on any platform through which any products or services available on or through Our Site are described, syndicated, offered, merchandised, or advertised. Our decision to post an Excerpt or any portion of an Entry on any one of Our Sites does not mean that the selected Entry has been selected as a winning Entry.
6. COLLECTION/USE OF PERSONAL INFORMATION. We are collecting personal information primarily to process Entries, to contact you if necessary, or for marketing and other purposes. By entering the Contest, you agree that we may share your information, in our sole discretion, with third parties that have a need to know the information, such as the judging panel or third parties that we retain to assist in administering the Contest; however, those third parties may only use the information for purposes related to this Contest. Please do not submit an entry if you do not agree to these terms.
7. CONTEST JUDGING PROCESS. All dates are in 2012 and start/end at midnight U.S. Eastern Standard Time.
Submission period (starting September 12th)
During this period, authors can submit their story and materials. Submissions will not yet be visible on the contest website, but authors will receive an email confirmation when their submission is accepted or rejected.1. Nomination Rounds (October 9th – November 27th)
During the nomination rounds, the public can read the stories and you can edit your personal information and enhance your public profile page in order to improve your chances of winning a nomination. Readers can submit written reviews or quick star-reviews.
After each of the eight nomination rounds, the best-ranked Entry will win a nomination. The name of the nominee will be announced through our site and in an email newsletter.
Ranking factors: The eBookMall ranking is determined using over ten distinct factors, including user reviews, results of reviews, positive and negative social media mentions (Facebook, Twitter) and online news articles about the Entry. Ranking will be visible on the contest website and is updated regularly.
One week before the end of the nomination rounds, the possibility to submit new stories will be closed.
2. Wildcards
During the nomination rounds, the jury will select four Entries for a wildcard. This means four stories which were not selected by the public/readers will get a nomination for the finals.
3. Finals: Battle Round (December 5th – December 11th)
The 12 Entries / nominees (eight from nomination rounds, four wildcards) will be positioned against each other in the ‘Battle Round’. The visitors of the contest website can vote for their favorite Entry / nominee. The three nominees with the highest score will make it into the Jury Finals.
We reserve the right to exclude the votes of any visitor who votes more than one time per category during the Finalist Period. We will not accept votes intended to subvert the voting process or those generated by script, macro, or other automated means. Finalists are prohibited from obtaining votes by any fraudulent or inappropriate means, including without limitation offering prizes or other inducements to members of the public. In the event of a tie, we will select the Winner(s) based on the highest ranking in the nomination rounds.
The Winners will be contacted on December 11th.
4. Jury Round (December 11th – December 18th)
Each finalist’s story will be read and reviewed by our jury. The jury will decide which author will be ‘America’s Next Author’ based on the following criteria: originality of story idea, plot, style and overall strength of the finalist's on and offline presence and presentation.
The winner of the Grand Prize and the two runners-up will be announced on December 18th 2012.
8. PRIZES. The following prizes will be available to be awarded:
A. Grand Prize. If you are selected as the Winner, you will receive a Grand Prize consisting of an amount of $5,000.00 USD.
B. First Prize. If you are selected as the first runner-up Finalist, you will receive a “First Prize.” This Prize will consist of an amount of $500.00 USD.
C. Second Prize. If you are selected as the second runner-up Finalist, you will receive a “Second Prize.” This Prize will consist of an amount of $500.00 USD.
D. General. The total of all prizes is $6,000.00 USD. ALL TAXES ASSOCIATED WITH ANY PRIZE ACCEPTANCE AND USE ARE YOUR SOLE RESPONSIBILITY. IF TAXES ARE APPLICABLE TO THE PRIZE(S), IT IS YOUR RESPONSIBILITY TO PAY TO THE APPROPRIATE AUTHORITIES. PAYMENTS TO YOU ARE SUBJECT TO THE EXPRESS REQUIREMENT THAT YOU SUBMIT TO US ALL DOCUMENTATION REQUESTED BY US TO PERMIT COMPLIANCE WITH ALL APPLICABLE STATE, FEDERAL, LOCAL AND FOREIGN (INCLUDING PROVINCIAL) TAX REPORTING AND WITHHOLDING REQUIREMENTS. You are responsible for ensuring that the tax documentation submitted to us complies with all applicable tax laws and requirements. If you fail to provide the documentation or submit incomplete documentation, the prize may be forfeited and we may, in our sole discretion, select an alternate. We reserve the right to substitute a prize (or portion of a prize) with anything of comparable or greater value. We award all prizes “as is” and without warranty of any kind, express or implied, including, without limitation, any implied warranty of merchantability or fitness for a particular purpose.
9. DISQUALIFICATIONS. If your Entry is disqualified for any reason, you will not receive a notice or explanation describing the reason for the disqualification.
10. FINALIST NOTIFICATION AND REQUIREMENTS. If you are selected as a potential Finalist, we will notify you by e-mail. Prior to awarding a prize, we may require you to sign additional documents we believe are necessary to confirm your eligibility, to obtain a liability and publicity release, and to award any prize.
11. ADDITIONAL TERMS. The Contest and all accompanying materials are copyright 2012 by eBookMall NV. All rights reserved. The Contest is void outside the eligible entry jurisdictions and where prohibited by law. You agree that our decisions related to the Contest are final and binding in all matters. We reserve the right, to the maximum extent permitted by law, in our sole discretion, to change these rules or cancel the Contest at any time. We may also modify, terminate or suspend the Contest if any viruses, worms, bugs, unauthorized human intervention, or other causes beyond our control corrupt or impair the administration, security, or fairness of the Contest or submission of Entries. If you use the name or likeness of an individual in your Entry, you agree to be solely responsible for that use. You agree that we and our affiliates, subsidiaries and advertising and promotion agencies, along with any officers, directors, agents, employees and representatives of any of them (collectively, “Released Parties”), will not be responsible for any action brought by a person whose consent you did not obtain. The Released Parties are not responsible for: (a) any human or other error that may occur in the processing of the Entries; (b) any error, omission, interruption, deletion, defect, delay in operation or transmission, theft or destruction, or unauthorized access to or alteration of Entries; (c) or for technical, network, telephone, computer, hardware or software, malfunctions of any kind, which may occur in connection with this Contest, including, without limitation, any errors or problems related to the administration of the Contest, the processing or judging of Entries, the tabulation of votes, the announcement of the prizes, or the Contest-related materials. Released Parties are also not responsible for: (y) inaccurate transmission of, or failure to receive, any entry information on account of technical problems or traffic congestion on the Internet or at any Web site; and (z) injury or damage to you or any other computer resulting from downloading any materials in connection with the Contest. We reserve the right, in our sole discretion, to disqualify any individual found to be tampering with the entry or voting process, the outcome of the Contest, or the operation of the Contest or Web site; to be acting in violation of these Official Rules; or to be acting in an unsportsmanlike or disruptive manner or with intent to annoy, abuse, threaten, or harass any other person (including actions by you) and void all associated Entries. ANY ATTEMPT BY ANY INDIVIDUAL TO DELIBERATELY DAMAGE ANY WEBSITE OR UNDERMINE THE LEGITIMATE OPERATION OF THE CONTEST MAY BE A VIOLATION OF CRIMINAL AND CIVIL LAWS, AND IF SUCH AN ATTEMPT IS MADE, WE RESERVE THE RIGHT TO SEEK DAMAGES OR OTHER RELIEF (INCLUDING ATTORNEYS’ FEES) FROM THE PERSON TO THE FULLEST EXTENT PERMITTED BY LAW.
12. LIMITATIONS OF LIABILITY. THE RELEASED PARTIES ARE NOT RESPONSIBLE FOR THE UNAUTHORIZED USE OF ANY ENTRY (OR ANY PORTION OF ANY ENTRY) BY ANY THIRD PARTY. YOU AGREE (FOR YOURSELF AND YOUR HEIRS) THAT THE RELEASED PARTIES, TO THE MAXIMUM EXTENT PERMITTED BY LAW, ARE NOT RESPONSIBLE FOR ANY LIABILITY, LOSS, INJURY, OR DAMAGE TO PROPERTY OR TO PERSON. YOU ALSO AGREE THAT WE ARE NOT RESPONSIBLE FOR ANY REASONABLE ATTORNEY’S FEES AND COURT COSTS DIRECTLY OR INDIRECTLY RELATED TO YOUR PARTICIPATION IN THE CONTEST, OR BY REASON OF YOUR ACCEPTANCE, POSSESSION, USE OR MISUSE OF THE PRIZES (INCLUDING ANY TRAVEL OR ACTIVITY RELATED TO A PRIZE). NOTHING IN THESE OFFICIAL RULES WILL LIMIT ANY RELEASED PARTY’S LIABILITY FOR DEATH OR PERSONAL INJURY CAUSED BY THAT PARTY'S NEGLIGENCE, A BREACH OF THESE OFFICIAL RULES, OR FRAUDULENT MISREPRESENTATION.
13. GOVERNING LAW/DISPUTES. This Contest is governed by the laws of Curaçao. As a condition of participating in this Contest, you agree, to the extent permitted by law, that any and all disputes which cannot be resolved between the parties, and causes of action arising out of or in connection with this Contest, will be resolved individually, without resort to any form of class action, exclusively before a court located in Curaçao. FURTHER, IN ANY DISPUTE, UNDER NO CIRCUMSTANCES WILL YOU BE PERMITTED TO OBTAIN AWARDS FOR, AND YOU HEREBY WAIVE ALL RIGHTS TO CLAIM, PUNITIVE, INCIDENTAL OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES, INCLUDING ATTORNEYS' FEES, OTHER THAN ENTRANT’S ACTUAL OUT-OF-POCKET EXPENSES (E.G. COSTS ASSOCIATED WITH ENTERING). YOU FURTHER WAIVE ALL RIGHTS TO HAVE DAMAGES MULTIPLIED OR INCREASED.
14. RIGHTS OF PUBLICITY. By participating in the Contest, you consent to the worldwide use of your name, biographical information, photographs, videos or likenesses in any manner and in any medium now in existence or later invented for any purpose in connection with the Contest without additional compensation, notification or permission, except where prohibited by law.
15. SEVERABILITY If any provision of this Agreement is found to be contrary to law, invalid, illegal or unenforceable by a court of competent jurisdiction, such provision shall be of no force or effect; but the remainder of this Agreement shall continue in full force and effect.
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