AChat 55 Word Writing Contest Christmas/New Year

This is a new contest and is a work in progress.
Any questions, please direct to Vaughan – Director– or JessiCapri – Co Director of competition.

This is a writing contest with a difference. 
You can write a short story or poem on the theme of the prompt. This one is the Christmas and/or New Year.

1. It will be self financing. Gift 55Achat Dollars to take part but is none profit making. All this will be used to award a prize to the winner.  Initially first place will be the only prize awarded but if the contest proves popular, consideration will be given to second and third prize places.

2. Please “Friend” Saga55  in the game to find her easy and gift Saga55 the entry sponsorship.   Achat has been asked to sponsor the event again but as of today’s date, there has been no response. We will keep you updated and probably extend the prizes to 1, 2 & 3rd places.

3. Your story or poem must be 55 words—no more, no less—titles are not included in the word count. Stories not meeting this rule will be disqualified. Send only stories or poems. Poetry with line breaks / spaces will not be considered. Hyphenated words count as one word.

4. Stories and or poems must be the author’s own work and must not be published elsewhere while this contest is running

5. Up to 3 submissions per person. Each will be considered a separate entry and will attract the entry sponsorship of 55 Achat Dollars each. Each writer can, however, only win one prize which will be the highest ranking story.
Any of their other stories that make the top 3 will not be counted and the next highest ranking story by a different author or poet will take up the position.
In other words, there will be 3 different writers that will receive a prize.
The winning stories will though, still be shown in the correct rankings and will include all stories that are awarded a prize.

6. You must be a member of Achat's forum to enter. We learned through the last contest that this was much needed. Registration is free. PM your entry to Saga55 directly in Forum by midnight Eastern Standard Time the 1st of January 2021. (5am GMT 2nd Jan. 2021)  This is the only way to enter. No entries will be accepted on behalf of others.

7. The Stories will then be published anonymously by Saga55 in its own topic for voting and judging on 2nd of January 2021. The judging and public vote will be open from 2nd Jan 2021  until  28 Jan 2021.  The entries will be awarded appropriate points and the stories with the most points will be declared the winners and prizes awarded.

8. Contestants should not campaign for votes; spam; advertise or disclose to others their entry to the competition with a view to gain votes, nor should they attempt to bribe or curry favour with any judges. Any one found do be doing so will be disqualified from the competition. The competition is a writing contest not a popularity contest. It is a fair contest.

9. Judges should not advertise they are a judge in this contest nor use their position to gain any kind of advantage over contestants they may know or suspect, ie – no sexual favours, Achat dollars etc…  The judges should be fair, unbiased and judge on the writing not who writes the entry. It is a fair contest.

10. The voting will act as “The public Judge/Vote” and points awarded when voting closes. This public vote has the potential to hold a high impact and make a huge difference in the outcome.  In our last contest we had a tie in one of the positions and had either story received just one public vote, would have been the deciding factor.  So without telling your friends which story to vote for encourage them to join the Forum and vote for their favorite story!

11. Each contestant will be a judge and will be expected to put their story/poem preferences in a list. First will be the story or poem that is liked best then, in descending order to their least favourite. They cannot place their own entry but this will be awarded 40 points on receipt of their Judging List. Their list should be sent to Saga55, Vaughan and JessiCapri in PM.
If writers do not fulfil their obligation to provide a Judging list, their own story or stories will not receive their 40 points and will be disqualified from receiving a prize should they place in top 3. It would not be fair for their peers to award their story points, yet that same writer has not reciprocated.
The next highest ranking story will receive the prize instead.

12. There will also be secret Judges. If you are interested in becoming a Secret Judge in the 55 Contest, please PM Saga55, Vaughan or jessiCapri to show interest and instructions will be sent to you explaining what is expected and how to take part in judging the contest.

13. The winning story will be announced the first day of the following month along with a new prompt for the next contest. (This is dependent on interest) Saga55 will gift the winner(s) of the contest.

14. Titles are not included in the word count. Please title your short story or poem for publication.

15. By entering this contest the author agrees to abide by the competition rules and also the Terms of use for Achat’s Forum and the game. All rights revert to the author upon publication.

– Note: Be careful of word count. Hyphenated words count as one word.

– Suggestion: Think of the prompt metaphorically, rather than literally. Be original. Surprise us! Oh, and have fun!

– Depending on interest, this may be a one off contest, an occasional contest or a regular contest. It is very dependent on the response by the Achat community.

Tell your friends and we look forward to receiving, publishing and reading your stories and poems.

Vaughan & JessiCapri