2010 Competition Guidelines

The Pirate's Alley Faulkner Society, Inc. opened its 2010 competition on January 31. The announced postmark deadline for 2010 is May 1, 2010. Ask us about extensions at faulkhouse@aol.com. Please note changes in both word requirements and entry fees for 2010. Winners will be announced formally at the annual meeting of the Society, which takes plac November 20, 2010. A list of manuscripts which have been designated finalists and semi-finalists will be posted on the website by September 1. Winners will be notified with plenty of notice so that they may make plans to be present to receive their awards. The Pirate's Alley Faulkner Society will publish a list of all winners and finalists on its web site by January 31, 2011.

COMPETITION DIVISIONS

Category One - Novel: Prize $7,500
Funded annually by private donors. Requirements: an original work of fiction, previously unpublished. The Society places a word limit of 125,000 words on novels within the single entry fee of $40. Writers who wish to submit longer novels of 125,000 to 175,000 must pay a $75 fee. Novels in excess of 175,000 words must pay a $125 fee. Novels in excess of 225,000 words must pay a $200 fee. Novel manuscript entries must be submitted electronically in word.doc format to Faulkhouse@aol.com. Novels submitted in other formats will be automatically rejected. The entry will consist of a contact page with author's name, address, e-mail address and phone number, category and title of manuscript as one attachment, and as a second attachment, a title page and the novel manuscript with no reference of any kind to the name of the author on any page. No hard copies of manuscripts will be accepted in this category. A hard copy of the entry form and the appropriate fee will be submitted by mail to Faulkner-Wisdom Competition, 624 Pirate's Alley, New Orleans, LA 70116.

Category Two – Novella: Prize $2,500
The Novella Prize is funded annually by private donors. Requirements: a short work of original fiction, previously unpublished. $35 entry fee. Works of fiction of more than 50,000 words must be submitted in the novel category. Novella manuscript entries must be submitted electronically in word.doc format to Faulkhouse@aol.com. Novellas submitted in other formats will be automatically rejected. The entry will consist of a contact page with author's name, address, e-mail address and phone number, category and title of manuscript as one attachment, and as a second attachment, a title page and the novella manuscript with no reference of any kind to the name of the author on any page. No hard copies of manuscripts will be accepted in this category. A copy of the entry form and the appropriate fee will be submitted by mail and postmarked by April 1 to Faulkner-Wisdom Competition, 624 Pirate's Alley, New Orleans, LA 70116.

Category Three - Novel-in-Progress: Prize $2,000
The award, created and originally funded by Edgar winner Julie Smith, is named The Evans Harrington Grant in memory of the late Mr. Harrington, a creative writing professor at the University of Mississippi. This category is open only to aspiring novelists who have not previously published novels. Requirements: highly polished outline or synopsis, and first few chapters or first 50 pages. Entry must not exceed 12,500 words, including outline or synopsis. Entries may be any form of novel, including literary, mainstream, or genre. $35 entry fee. Entries exceeding 12,500 words will not be accepted. Novels-in-progress manuscript entries must be submitted electronically in word.doc format to Faulkhouse@aol.com. Novels-in-progress submitted in other electronic formats will be automatically rejected. The entry will consist of a contact page with author's name, address, e-mail address and phone number, category and title of manuscript as one attachment, and as a second attachment, a title page, synopis, and the manuscript with no reference of any kind to the name of the author on any page. No hard copies of manuscripts will be accepted in this category. A copy of the entry form and check for the appropriate fee will be submitted by mail and postmarked by April 1 to Faulkner-Wisdom Competition, 624 Pirate's Alley, New Orleans, LA 70116.

Category Four - Short Story: Prize $1,500
TThe Short Story Prize is funded by private foundations and private individuals. Requirements: a short work of fiction of less than 15,000 words. $30 entry fee. Short Story manuscript entries must be submitted electronically in word.doc format to Faulkhouse@aol.com. Short stories submitted in other electronic formats will be automatically rejected. The entry will consist of a contact page with author's name, address, e-mail address and phone number, category and title of manuscript as one attachment, and as a second attachment, a title page and the story manuscript with no reference of any kind to the name of the author on any page.
Short-story entries must also be submitted in hard-copy format (one of our key preliminary judges refuses to read electronic submissions). Hard copies will be accompanied by a copy of the entry form and check for the appropriate fee will be submitted by mail and postmarked by April 1 to Faulkner-Wisdom Competition, 624 Pirate's Alley, New Orleans, LA 70116.

Category Five – Essay: Prize $1,000
The Shelby Foote Prize is funded annually by private donors. Requirements: limited to 2,500 words. $30 entry fee. Requirements: original work of creative non-fiction. Essays can be on any subject . Essay manuscript entries must be submitted electronically in word.doc format to Faulkhouse@aol.com. Essays submitted in other electronic formats will be automatically rejected. The entry will consist of a contact page with author's name, address, e-mail address and phone number, category and title of manuscript as one attachment, and as a second attachment, a title page and the essay manuscript with no reference of any kind to the name of the author on any page. No hard copies of manuscripts will be accepted in this category. A copy of the entry form and check for the appropriate fee will be submitted by mail and postmarked by April 1 to Faulkner-Wisdom Competition, 624 Pirate's Alley, New Orleans, LA 70116.
 
Category Six – Poetry: Prize $750
The Marble Faun Prize for Poetry, created by Adelaide Wisdom Benjamin, now is funded annually by New Orleans business woman and Society member, Catherine P. Hill, who served four years as Chairman of the Society. Requirements: single work of original poetry of not more than 750 words. $25 entry fee. Poetry manuscript entries must be submitted electronically in word.doc format to Faulkhouse@aol.com. Poems submitted in other electronic formats will be automatically rejected. The entry will consist of a contact page with author's name, address, e-mail address and phone number, category and title of manuscript as one attachment, and as a second attachment, a title page and the poem manuscript with no reference of any kind to the name of the author on any page. No hard copies of manuscripts will be accepted in this category. A copy of the entry form and check for the appropriate fee will be submitted by mail and postmarked by April 1 to Faulkner-Wisdom Competition, 624 Pirate's Alley, New Orleans, LA 70116. All questions regarding the competition must be submitted to Faulkhouse@aol.com.

Category Seven – hort Story by a High School Student: Prize $750
A prize of $250 is awarded to the sponsoring teacher. The Betty Moss Prize is funded annually by Mr. and Mrs. Hartwig Moss, III, in memory of his mother. Requirements: original work of fiction of less than 5,000 words. Entries must have sponsoring teacher or school, preferably both. $10 entry fee to be paid by school or, in case of home schooled students, by teacher. Shorts stories by High School students must be submitted electronically in word.doc format to Faulkhouse@aol.com. Entries for this category submitted in other electronic formats will be automatically rejected. The entry will consist of a contact page with author's name, address, e-mail address and phone number, category and title of manuscript as one attachment, and as a second attachment, a title page and the story manuscript with no reference of any kind to the name of the author on any page. No hard copies of manuscripts will be accepted in this category. A copy of the entry form and check for the appropriate fee will be submitted by mail and postmarked by April 1 to Faulkner-Wisdom Competition, 624 Pirate's Alley, New Orleans, LA 70116. 

All questions regarding the competition must be submitted to Faulkhouse@aol.com.

Who Can Enter?
The Faulkner - Wisdom Competition is open to all writers anywhere working in the English language regardless of race, creed, color, sex, ethnic origin, political persuasion or location of residence. Quotas as to sex, race, creed, color, ethnic origin, political persuasion or residency are not imposed. Although foreign residents are welcome to enter the competition, transportation to and from areas outside the continental United States is not paid for winners by the Society. For foreign residents, the Society will pay transportation from one of these U. S. airports of entry: New York, NY, Washington, DC, Atlanta, GA, Miami, FL, Houston, TX, Chicago, IL or Dallas, TX.

Manuscript Requirements
*All manuscripts entered must be unpublished works of fiction, non-fiction or poetry as of postmarked date of entry. Should a contract for publication be negotiated during the competition period, the entry will not be disqualified. The prize however, will be decreased by 33%, as a major goal of the Society and the competition is to help writers get work published. A work will be considered previously published if more than 50 percent has been published in any form. Self published or on-demand works will be considered published if more than 500 copies have been distributed in any way. If there is a question regarding publication by a winner selected in the competition, that person will be expected to offer proof of number of copies of a manuscript actually sold or distributed in any way. Works from which brief sections have been excerpted for quotation in literary journals, news journals, broadsides will not be disqualified. Fiction published in its entirety on the Internet is considered published, regardless of where on the Internet it appears.
*Any suspected plagiarism discovered will immediately disqualify a manuscript, regardless of when discovered, even if the plagiarism is discovered after a manuscriptﾕs author has been notified that he or she is the winner. The work of finalists is examined carefully for lack of originality.
*Collections are not accepted in any category. Please do not send us your collections and expect us to select one piece as the entry.
*Poets! Do not send us multiple poems and expect us to select one. The entry is a single poem accompanied by a separate entry form and check for entry fee.
*You may submit as many entries as you like in any category, as long as each has an entry form and check accompanying.
*Electronic entries will consist of attached material. Do no embed material in the body of the e-mail message. Attached material will include:
ﾑContact sheet with all author infoﾑname, address, e-mail address, phone numberﾑalong with title of work, number of words, category.
ﾑTitle Page and Manuscript, with no author info on any page.
*Entry forms will be submitted in hard copy format with checks for fees to
Faulkner - Wisdom Competition, 624 Pirate's Alley, New Orleans, LA 70116.

Winners
Only one prize is offered in any category. For a winning work by co-authors, the prize is divided, not doubled. For a tie, the prize is divided, not doubled. Barring extraordinary circumstances relating to health or disability, winners must be present in New Orleans at the Society's annual meeting, November 20, to receive their awards. Exceptions to this rule are solely in the discretion of the Board of Directors of The Pirate's Alley Faulkner Society. The Society reserves the right to use any presentations made by authors at awards ceremonies for future promotion of the Society and for the benefit of its projects. Transportation within the continental United States and hotel accommodations for the awards event  are paid by the Society. The Society does not make awards to runners-up, finalists, or semi-finalists and is under no obligations of any kind to any such persons. Traditionally, the awards gala, Faulkner for All, is held during the annual festival, Words & Music, a Literary Feast in New Orleans. If the festival is discontinued for any reason, the Society will endeavor, but is under no obligation, to have a stand-alone awards ceremony. If, for any reason, this is not possible, cash awards and gold medals will be presented to winners by express delivery service.

Publication Rights
Although the Pirate's Alley Faulkner Society does not guarantee publication, the Society reserves the right to publish in its on-line journal, The Double Dealer, in news releases and in limited-edition booklets or broadsides, material selected as finalists in the competition. With regard to publishing excerpts, if it's a short story, essay, or poem, we may wish to publish the entire piece; if a novel-in-progress, novella, or novel, we consult with author to select excerpts. Authors are allowed to make changes, improvements, prior to publication in our journal. We have one-time rights for publication in the Society's journal, which has an approximate annual readership of 5,000, and a planned anthology 20 Years of Winners (working title) The anthology would be a repeat of excerpts already published in our journal. The Society also publishes from time to time short excerpts of winning manuscripts of 250 to 500 words in features formatted specifically to use as an education resource for creative writing teachers. Reprints of such features are underwritten by Rosemary James and provided free to creative writing teachers. The Society also has published limited-edition broadsides for gifts to sponsors and limited sales to offset the costs of printing. The Society's earnings from such materials will be used for future literary prizes and for the Society's educational projects. No honoraria will be paid to authors.

Entry Fees
Fees offset some of the administrative  costs of the competition, including copying and deliveries to preliminary readers and judges; travel and housing expenses for winners and judges; and gold medals awarded to winners.

What Constitutes an Entry?
*An entry is a single work as defined in the contest categories.
*Each entry must have an entry form; contact/cover sheet which, like the entry form, contains the author's name, address, day and evening phone numbers, fax number, e-mail address, category and title of entry; and Title Page with title of work and category only. Author's name is not to appear anywhere but the entry form and the contact sheet. The contact sheet is a back up to entry form; it is removed before the manuscript is sent out for blind judging. The entry form contact sheets must be typed or printed.
*Each entry form must be accompanied by cash, a check drawn on a U. S. bank, a U.S. money order made out to The Pirate's Alley Faulkner Society, Inc. For entries from abroad send cash, a cashier's check, or American Express Traveler's Checks signed over to The Pirate's Alley Faulkner Society, for the appropriate administrative fee. Please do not send us foreign money orders or checks drawn on foreign banks. Each entry also must be accompanied by a completed, signed entry blank, which can be obtained by printing the entry form from the Society's web site, www.wordsandmusic.org. If you are unable to download the entry form, simply type one out yourself and send it.
*You may enter as often as you like. Multiple entries require multiple entry fees, forms.
*Entries must be accompanied by an accurate word estimate, using your computer's count.
*A major goal of the Society is to encourage literacy in the English language. All entries, therefore,  must be written in the English language. Entries may, of course, contain brief passages in other languages for creative emphasis. Foreign nationals should note that proficiency in English is a necessity to compete successfully. We do not offer translation services. We do not accept manuscripts in other languages.

Important
*No manuscripts will be returned. Do not, under any circumstances, send us the original or only copy of your manuscript! The Society is an all-volunteer operation and we cannot correspond individually with each person entering the competition. If you wish to have confirmation of receipt of your manuscript, enclose a self-addressed, stamped postcard with entry form and check. The return of the postcard will be your confirmation.
*Please do not attempt to send us entries by fax. Such entries will be disqualified.
*Winners in one competition year will not be eligible to win again in the same category. Work in different categories, however, will be accepted. Entries rejected in one competition year will be eligible for entry in subsequent years with significant revisions if accompanied by a letter explaining briefly how the manuscript has been revised.
*All winners will be posted on our web site by January 15, 2011.

Honor System
The competition is operated on the honor system. Should it become necessary to revoke a prize because rules are broken, all necessary costs will be borne by the offender. Should plagiarism be discovered after award of the prize, for instance, the offending winner will return cash prize and medal to the Society.

Judging
*Manuscripts are submitted blind for judging by professionals in the fields of editing, publishing, writing, and academics from major university English Departments. Judging is solely on the basis of writing talent, use of the language, and universality of appeal in content. Sex, race, color, creed, ethnic origin, and politics of the author are not factors in the selection.
*The Society reserves the right to reject any or all entries in a category in the event that entries submitted do not meet the standards of quality established by the Society and its judges. The precise standard is excellence in use of the English language, ready for publication.
*We strongly suggest that authors have their work read by disinterested third parties for purposes of correcting spelling, grammar, and typographical mistakes, prior to finalizing entries. We also strongly suggest that authors give major attention to beginnings and endings, dialogue, transitions, and character development, as our experience has been that these are the three areas which preliminary judges focus on when selecting work to progress to final rounds.
*After processing and copying your entries, the entries are forwarded to preliminary judges for the first round review. The judging process is as follows:
ﾑFirst Round Review. If your manuscript is not eliminated in this round, it is re-read by different judges in a second round. ﾊ ﾑSecond Round Review. If your manuscript is not eliminated in the second round of judging, you are designated a semi-finalist and your manuscript is read again.
*Third Round Review. If your manuscript is not eliminated in the third round of judging, you are designated a finalist and your manuscript is sent to the final judge, who will select a winner and runners-up.
*Preliminary judges are anonymous. Final round judges are well known writers, editors, or agents.

Announcements
Finalists are announced as each category's judging is completed, not later than September 25. They will be posted by name of manuscript only on our web site, as judging is blind. At the same time, we will post semi-finalists by name of manuscript and name of author. We announce winners publicly at our writersﾕ conference in November. Winners will be alerted as soon as we know their names, however, and we will send out an e-mail to announce winners to all who entered and who provided an e-mail address. The information also will be posted on this web site not later than January 15.

Questions?
We prefer that you do not call us. Use the phone only as a last resort. We are an all-volunteer organization with no paid staff. We, therefore, urge you to e-mail your questions.

E-Mail:  Info@wordsandmusic.org or faulkhouse@aol.com

Mail to:
The Faulkner - Wisdom Competition
624 Pirate's Alley, New Orleans, LA 70ll6.
Phone: (504) 586-1609

Remember!
Don't forget to send your check, entry form, cover sheet, and manuscript together.  Drop Dead Deadline for postmarking your entries is May 1, 2010, no exceptions.

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