After pondering a variety of incentives with which to encourage folks to get creatively verbose about Magic, I have decided that the best way to proceed is to run a contest as opposed to just offering to ‘pay’ writers for content.
The loot:
A Box Of Current Product, split between the top 3 writers of the month.
The Deal:
1. Write an article* on any Magical topic**.
2. Submit*** it to .
3. Wait.
Once per month**** we***** will select the best three entries.
The payout:
20 Packs
10 Packs
6 Packs
(Depending upon the level of interest, we may increase the number of winners and thereby increase the prize pool to accomodate the additional slots, at a maximum payout of 2 boxes of product.)
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* Article Guidelines
An article, properly speaking, needs to be of a certain length. For the purposes of this exercise, the parameters are 1500-3000 words. Submissions below the minimum will not be rejected, but will be returned to the author for expansion. Submissions over the maximum will be accepted, but the additional material will not be a factor in determining a winner. Naturally, for the sake of quality content, we’d like to see people writing toward the maximum or more, but this is not a criteria for winning submissions.
To be as fair as possible, I will not count grammar and spelling against the contributors. If you know me at all, you will realize that this is the most generous thing I have ever said. We will take on editorial responsibilities ourselves and only rate the submissions on the quality of content.
Winning submissions will be judged according to development of thesis, organization, the communication skills and creativity of the writer and the enjoyability of the writing.
** Magical Topics
You may submit articles on any topic with the exception of Tournament Reports. I realize that you can get really creative and have a lot of fun generating a TR, but even at their best, TRs are a unique genre that tend to either be very dry or very much a narrative of everything that happened aside from the actual event.
Exception: Just because I like to break rules I just made, if you feel that you are really dang good at writing interesting and useful tournament reports, you may submit one. Just be prepared - we’ll be prejudiced against it, so we’ll be looking for extreme excellence.
Suggested topics: Analysis of sets, cards, metagames. Magic Art, the evolution of rules, discussion of Magic Online, marketplace issues, collectors’ issues, community issues. General commentaries on any of the above.
*** Submission Guidelines
The standard method is to send your submission to .
An alternative is to post your submissions to the PGI forums at gnomebase.thepgi.org - post it to the “PGI Article Contest” thread in the ‘Chatter of the Squirrel’ forum.
a. Include your name (real name, and name you wish to be published under)
b. A reliable point of contact (email is OK)
c. Date and Title of Article
d. Thesis statement or abstract of article
e. Complete article
**** Judging Schedule
We’ll accept submissions until the last day of each month. The winning articles will be posted within the following month, with the prize distribution to be taken care of around the same time.
The deadline for the first round of entries is May 31st, 2006.
***** Judges and Eligible Parties
Yours truly, the greatest literary mind presently writing this post, will be the sole judge of the submissions. Why? Because everyone else in the universe is eligible to win, thereby making outside input rather unfair.
I will be assisted, on occasion, by PGI members who happen to have not submitted content that month, but mostly, I will take the task on solo.
Indeed, everyone, including members of the PGI, can compete. No preference will be shown to PGI or non-PGI members in this contest. To sweeten this deal: non-members with other affiliations, upon winning, will be pleased to see their favorite affiliations credited alongside their name. For example: If you’re a TML regular and you win, your ‘by-line’ will read “Writer’s Name - Texas Magic League”. If you’re representing a store, the same will apply: “Writer’s Name - Madness Comics and Games” etc and so forth.
Other Legal-Sounding Crap
One final other small matter: By submitting material to this contest, you agree to have said material published in whole or in part on the website of the Psychotic Gnomes, Inc (PGI). The PGI agrees that your submitted material will be treated fairly and either published or filed for later use - but in no circumstance will said material be passed on to a third party. The PGI assumes partial copyright of the material submitted for the purposes of publication on its website. Otherwise, all rights belong to the author of the material.
