Writing Contest Number Four *ENDED*

It has been a long time, but I'm finally graduating with my Bachelor's Degree and I figured it was about time to celebrate with a writing contest! All qualifying entrants will get a place on my whitelist and a steam key from my bundle collections! (I'll post links, but inquiries are welcome) Your works do not need to be "new", but they should meet all the criteria and be legally yours to publish (not under contract, your original work, etc.). The full rules are below.

I'll try to scrape together some prizes, but I can promise additional bundle keys of their choice to people who place in the top three (or five if there are many entrants) and the winner can call on me for a full bundle (unless I get an influx of cash, in which case prizes will increase).

Good luck, and get writing! First come first serve. The deadline is May 30th.

I know these giveaways are just for bundle games, but I hope they entice you to enter. Giveaway 1: Northmark; Giveaway 2: Deadly Premonition: DX; Giveaway 3: Civilization III Complete.

Available Keys: Steam (Humble Bundle); Other (Humble Bundle), DIG along with many Groupees keys; feel free to inquire, though I cannot guarantee the status of all Groupees keys, hence I have not posted.

The rules for the contest are:

At least 500 words per entry to qualify. No length limit, but the distinction between short and long for this contest is 3000 words. You may enter once in each category.

There is no particular genre requirement.

One entry per person. You may submit one shorter work and one longer work if you want twice the chances to win, but unless it's good, don't expect anything.

I will be looking for good grammar and spelling, and also that you don't just copy paste someone else's work. In addition, try not to just summarize or copy someone else's story. While your work can be referential, parody, etc., I value some degree of original work and thought.

The restrictions:
English language. I don't have high enough reading comprehension in any other language to weigh those entries properly, and Google Translate would not be your friend in the grammar category.

No erotica; adult elements are fine, but if your work is just smut, I'm not interested.

Preferably no "shipping" fan-fiction. If you write a fan work, it should be in keeping with the original universe and interesting as a story to someone with no prior knowledge of the setting. I live under a rock, so I probably won't get your references.

You may use works that you've written before, but remember to format them properly. For the sake of keeping the thread clean, I will not judge submissions that are simply posted in as text to the thread. The only exception is that I will not allow submissions that were in prior writing contests that I hosted.

How to submit:

Make a clickable link to a Google Document or other online storage service, which is accessible with only the link, in this thread or share the document with me using the address "squirezed@gmail.com". You can do this whenever you want, but remember that I will be judging the works based on how they are over the weekend of May 30th or shortly later depending on the quantity of entries.

LEGAL
This is not to get rights to your works so I can republish them. There are no contracts, you keep your work, I'm just interested in seeing it. I don't want to publish it (though I will contact the winners about links here if they do not post public links) or make money from it, and all rights will remain with the author. Thanks to schalart, for pointing this out. That said, your submissions should still be your original works which you own distribution rights for. Legalese is hard, so unless you are the original author of an otherwise unpublished work, please do not submit the work. Remember that posting your work publicly online can make some publishers refuse to publish your work. In case I actually muster up some prizes: If your place of residence doesn't let you win contests, tough. Not my responsibility to guarantee that you won't get in trouble. I live in the US, and I will not circumvent region locks to get you your prizes should you win.

Feel free to contact me at the email address above or via Steam message or any other arcane way you devise to contact me for clarification. I will try to respond to questions posted in this thread.

Link to previous contests: Writing Contest 1; Writing Contest 2; Writing Contest 3