Entry Format
You may enter up to 3 times, but no more than once per category. You can only win once per entry, and will recieve the highest-level prize that entry qualified for.

Subject Line: ENTRY (Category ... i.e. Knight Artwork or Mini Fiction)

In-Game Name: (So I can award prizes more easily)
Entry Title: (This should be self explanatory)
Entry: (Link to entry, or whole entry if the category is Mini Fiction or any poetry category. Links can be to other threads or posts within the forum, Deviantart, Photobucket, Google Docs, Keep and Share, Dropbox, or any other place I can easily access. Just make sure your file sharing options aren't set to private!)
Prize Preferences: (See below. If this is not filled in and you have a winning entry, your prize will be chosen randomly from the appropriate tier.)
Participation -
1* -
2* -
3* -
4* -
5* -

EXAMPLE ENTRIES

Subject: ENTRY (Artwork: Everything Else)

In-Game Name: Tevokkia
Entry Title: Office Fight
Entry: http://i29.photobucket.com/albums/c265/Tevokkia/officefight.png
Prize Preferences:
Participation - Enamorocks, Mats (Blaze Peppers and Torchstones), 25 CE
1* - Enamorocks, Lockbox, Mech'tennas
2* - Tri-Heart Pendant, Trinket Slot, Faust Recipe
3* - Krogmo Trinket (Swiftstrike Module), Seerus Mask, Vacant Eyes
4* - Cool Cat Tail, Heat Amp, Monochrome Picture
5* - Solstice Prize Box, Fancy Valkyrie Wings, Heat Amp

Subject: ENTRY (Poetry: Short Poem)

In-Game Name: Tevokkia
Entry Title: We Assume the Knight Had Been Drinking (limerick)
Entry: An amorous Knight chased a Snipe,
'Til he tripped on a protruding pipe.
The Snipe then flew free,
As relieved as can be,
'Cause the Knight wasn't really his type.
Prize Preferences:
Participation - Enamorocks, CE, Mats (Busy Tails, Green Shards, Owlite Feathers)
1* - Goggles, Lockbox, Mats (Flame Soul, Ghost Bell)
2* - Shockburst Brandish, Weapon Slot, Monochrome Sketch
3* - Glasses, Pulsar, CE
4* - CE, Seerus Mask, Stranger Hat
5* - CR, Nemesis Box, Colored Pic

Prize Choices
Please include your top three prizes in each tier with your entry so that I know what to award you. You may edit your prize choices at any time, as I may add additional prizes or sell off unpopular prizes to buy more things that people are choosing over the course of the contest. Some items do have higher availability than others, as they are easier to acquire or I have several of them already. Examples given for artwork prizes are examples of the style and quality, not necessarily of the number of characters allowed.

Participation
Barrel Belly (Toasty, Fancy)
Maid Headband (Cool, Dusky, Toasty, Fancy, Regal)
Vented Visor (Fancy, Toasty, Dusky)
Heaband (Heavy)
Hallow Accessory (Bolted Vee, Wide Vee, Maid Headband, Mecha Wings)
Hallow Costume Armor or Helm (Excluding Flak Jacket, Draped Armor, Fur Coat, Cloak, Raiment, or Winged Helm)
Enamorocks (2)
Your choice of mats (2k cr approximate value)
2,000 CR
25 CE

1*
Iron Lockbox
Bolted Vee (Divine)
Knight Vision Goggle (Dusky, Cool, Regal)
Dusky Mech'tennas
Goggles (Dusky, Heavy)
Helm-Mounted Display (Fancy, Dusky)
Wide Vee (Heavy, Dusky)
Spike Mohawk (Dusky, Toasty)
Ribbon (Toasty, Regal, Military, Fancy)
Game Face (Cool, Heavy)
Vitakit (Toasty)
Hallow Accessory (Crest, Helm-Mounted Display, Headband, Plume, Com Unit, Ribbon)
Hallow Costume Armor or Helm (Flak Jacket, Draped Armor, Fur Coat, Cloak, Raiment, or Winged Helm)
Bomb Bandolier (Pumpkin or Hallow)
Wolver Coat
Enamorocks (5)
Mod Calibrator
Your choice of mats (5k cr approximate value)
5,000 CR
75 CE
Uncolored sketch of one character on single color background (Example)

2*
Stranger Hat (Cool, Dusky, Fancy, Heavy, Military, Regal, Toasty)
Surge Cuirass
Tri-Heart Pendant
Weapon Slot
Trinket Slot
Dusker Coat
Horned Owlite Shield (with surprise low UV)
Bristling Buckler
Swift Flourish
Iceburst Brandish
Shockburst Brandish
Electron Charge
Needle Shot (with surprise low UV)
Freezing Vaporizer Mk II (with possible UV)
Canteen (Dusky, Fancy, Military, Cool)
Helm Guards (Military, Heavy, Cool)
Com Unit (Cool, Fancy)
Plume (Heavy, Regal, Fancy)
Pipe (Heavy, Fancy, Toasty)
Mowhawk (Regal, Military, Fancy)
Hallow Accessory (Round Shades, Scarf, Dapper Combo, Glasses, Side Blade, Toupee, Vertical Vents)
Jack O Bombhead Mask
Faust Recipe
Other 3* Weapon, Armor, or Helm of Choice (excludes promo or token items)
Your choice of mats (15k cr approximate value)
15,000 CR
200 CE
Monochrome sketch of one character with single color background (Example)

3*
Eyes (Closed, Shifty)
Stranger Hat (Divine, Volcanic)
Antigua
Sealed Sword
Twisted Targe
Kilowatt Pulsar
Fractured Mask of Seerus
Long Feather (Cool)
Party Hat (Military, Fancy)
Party Blowout (Toasty)
Birthday Candle (Dusky)
Glasses (Toasty, Dusky)
Flower (Cool, Toasty)
Hallow Parrying Blade
Medieval War Helm
Shogun Helm
Imperial Tricorne
Golden Laurels
Surge Tailed Helm
4* Krogmo Trinket of choice
Silver Key
50,000 CR
650 CE
Monochrome or cel-shaded colored picture of one character with single color or gradient background (Example, Example)
Monochrome sketch of up to two characters with single color background (Example)

4*
Sniped Stranger Hat
Cat Tail (Cool or Military)
Volcanic Wings
Flawed Mask of Seerus
Heat Amplifier (7 Days)
Shadow Key
Mirrored Lockbox
150,000 CR
1,800 CE
Colored picture of one character with lighting effects and simple background (Example)
Monochrome or cel-shaded colored picture of up to two characters with single color or gradient background (Example, [I don't actually cel-shade often])

5*
Mewkat Monster Pocket
Valkyrie Wings (Fancy, Toasty, Dusky, Heavy, or Regal)
Dragon Wings (Dusky, Fancy, Heavy, Toasty)
Surge Flak Jacket
Solstice Prize Box
Nemesis Prize Box
Heat Amplifier (30 Days)
250,000 CR
3,000 CE
Lineless render of one character with simple background (Example)
Colored picture of up to two characters with lighting effects and simple background or one character and a more involved background(Example, Example)
Monochrome or cel-shaded colored picture of up to three characters with single color or gradient background, or fewer characters for a more involved background (You guys should know what this looks like by now)
One SpiralSpy model, fully re-textured (Example)

Acknowledgements

I'd like to thank Sol-Ether for putting up with me while I prepared for this contest, helping me out with crafting, not blinking an eye when I bought a little extra CE so I could hoard some of the promos, giving me piles of ragecrafted equipment, tossing his extra promo items my way, and encouraging me when the huge parade of commissions I was doing to raise money for this had me tearing my hair out. Without him, this contest would have either taken much more than the six months I spent saving for it, or have never been able to happen.

I'd also like to thank my wonderful donators for lending a helping hand. Za-Ck, Isisdelltion, Flyingninza, and Remiliaoftheearth; you guys are great friends and I love you all. Extra hugs to Isis, who played endless rounds of Blast Network just to make me happy. Also thanks to Zivo, who essentially said "Oh, you're mass-crafting heart pendants as contest prizes? Here, let me throw some enamorocks at you," even though he had just met me two minutes before in Haven.

Additional thanks to Axonio and Obsidious, who didn't realize they were being guinea pigs when I showed them my category list and were quite helpful in pointing out flaws, as well as to Mael for suggesting the video category and Remiliaoftheearth for suggesting the craft category. Also to Axonio for keeping me company during the Livestreams I ran to make sure that I finished those commissions, even at stupid hours and on days that no one else came.

Frequently Asked Questions
Or, at the very least, questions people have asked that I feel it's important that everyone see answered.

Can someone help me with my entry?
As long as that help is in the form of editing your story, making suggestions, or helping you with your technique, yes. More intense help, like writing a section of your story or doing the lines so you can color the picture, would count as a collaboration.

What are the rules for collaborations?
Collaborations can include no more than three people. The person who actually posts the entry will be considered the lead collaborator, so choose who you work with carefully; if that person manages to disqualify themselves with bad behavior, the whole entry is disqualified. This is also the person I'll send the chosen prize to if the collaboration wins, so it will be up to them to split the prizes however your group decided to split them. I'm not responsible for prizes being split incorrectly or kept by the lead collaborator once they have been disbursed.

What qualifies as 'some retouching' in the SpiralSpy category?
Little things like blurring the background to add depth of field, adding lens flare, anti-aliasing, or adding speech bubbles count. All backgrounds and characters should be created in SS, except for this retouching or any edits you have made to the textures. If I'm really iffy on whether you've retouched or retextured something, I may ask to see your edited texture file.

Does my entry need to be something new for this contest?
Yes!! If you've posted something up previously, you can't use it for this contest. I won't even be looking at things posted to the internet (anywhere - Deviantart, Tumblr, whatever) before the Sept. 1 start date, so if you finish your entry between now and then, make sure to wait until September to upload it. I'm going to be very strict about this, except in cases where you had it uploaded somewhere private, like a password-protected Google Docs link or a private Photobucket folder that would require you give someone a link for them to see it. I'll still be very disappointed if I find that someone has entered recycled work from earlier they just hadn't gotten around to sharing yet, though ... I've put a lot of work into this contest and I'd like to see some original work from you guys.

Can we write a new "bonus chapter" of a fanfic we've already written, using the same characters and setting?
Yes, as long as that bonus chapter stands alone as a full story by itself and doesn't require me or anyone else to read your other fiction for it to make sense.

If more than one winner want the same prize, how will you decide who gets it?
This is a complicated one, and the reason I asked everyone to choose their top three prizes; I have a lot of different things and want to make sure each winner gets something they actually want. If more than one person want the same thing and are entitled to a prize on that level, I'll first make an effort to liquidate a prize no one wants to get the one that both winners are asking for instead. If I'm unable to do that, I'll take a look at their second picks (and third, if necessary). If someones second choice is worth more, they're likely to get it instead of their first so they'll have a more valuable prize to make up for not getting their first choice; if I've spoken to one of the winners and they've mentioned to me that they want their second choice almost as much as their first or that they want all of their choices about the same amount and that they're in no particular order, that person will get their second choice because I know they will be happier with it than the other person would have been with theirs. Beyond that, it may end up being a lot of juggling and judgement calls on my part.

Can we use an existing drawing by someone else to base our SpiralSpy/craft/whatever entry on?
If you do base your entry on someone else's work, it could fall into two categories: 1) the entry would have to be based on work created for that purpose and then listed as a collaboration. Otherwise, it can get a little sticky with who has permission or gave credit or deserves part of the prize if the entry should win, and I'd like to avoid that by having both parties agree on that sort of thing without my involvement. Also, the contest is all about new content; directly modeling someone's armor design from last year isn't very new. Or 2) it could be a re-imagining of/homage to an existing piece that is different enough from the original to be obviously inspired by, rather than a copy of, the original. Also, you would have to get permission/give credit in regard to the original piece (although no permission needed for any of my pieces, since it's my contest.) An example of this might be to create a picture posed like my Spiral Flower piece, using gremlins or zombies or something instead of knights.

Can we edit our submissions once we've posted our entry?
Yes; I won't be giving the entries more than a cursory glance to make sure it's something new and not plagiarized before judging, so you may edit your submissions at any time until the due date by editing your original entry post.

The answers to those questions are already posted, but: No, any entries posted anywhere on the internet before the start date of Sept 1 will not be judged, and Yes, up to three times in different categories.

If you've already written it but have yet to share it with anyone, you can still use it. If you've already shared it, though, yes, you'd have to write something else.

Keep in mind that you've got until the end of November, everyone. That gives you a full month of prep, plus a full three months of actual contest time.

I've got a collection of short stories, and you can use the settings and characters for those stories. Keep in mind that that's the category I'm going to be the hardest on judging (i.e. nobody may actually win, even if there are several entries), but non-winning entries in that category will also be judged in the fiction category of the appropriate length and will have a chance to win there.

Sure, as long as I don't have to read the other fiction (if I haven't already) for it to make sense. The story can use the same characters and settings, but needs to stand on it's own as a complete story.

>.<

I wanted to see what people can make too; much of the fiction (although I'm rather behind in my reading) and nearly all of the art I've already seen, so I don't want to end up judging things that I had already decided how much I liked before the contest even started.

Don't worry; if you want to enter a short story, you have until the end of November to finish it. If you want it to be a spinoff of your current story, you can do that, too (it may save you time creating new characters and situations), as long as I don't have to go back and read your whole pre-contest story for your entry to make any sense.

Whatever you throw at me is unlikely to be so much worse than my own story, Consumption, that I am thoroughly disturbed by it.

And I'm not saying that anyone necessarily SHOULD write a spin-off, just that the option is there, since someone else had asked.

O.o Oh dear ....

... well, take your time.

That would just fall under the "models" section. If you want to make your entry a retexture as a pre-existing character, that's perfectly fine. Thank you for the suggestion, though!

Well, hopefully you'll be able to, even if it's something short. ^.^ Thanks for the interest, hon.

Answer: Yes, as long as it's set to private until the contest goes live.

I Livestream Sun-Thurs, usually starting about 9pm GMT -5. If I'm cancelling a day, Sun or Thurs are the first to go, and I may be cutting back to only streaming Mon and Wed after I finish the last of these commissions.

Also, I've seen Awesomesock on DeviantArt, where he's been fairly active, but he hasn't been posting here, really, and it's been about two weeks since he signed in to SK.

Aww, thanks hon. Even if you can't really enter, you can still pop in and play the weekly games if you want. ^.^