Kindle Storyteller Writing Competition - Official Rules
Please read these Official Rules before entering the Kindle Storyteller 2018 writing competition (the “Competition”). By submitting an entry, you acknowledge that you have read and agree to be bound by these Official Rules and the decision of Amazon Media EU S.à r.l. (“Sponsor”, “we”, “our” or “us”) and the judges, and that you satisfy all eligibility requirements.
ELIGIBILITY
Open to individuals who are the older of 18 years of age or the legal age of majority in their jurisdiction of residence at the time of entry. The Competition and these Official Rules are void in Mexico, Brazil, Tasmania, Quebec and where prohibited by law, and are subject to applicable laws. Entrants may not be a national or legal permanent resident of any of the following countries: Cuba, Iran, North Korea, Sudan, Syria or Region of Crimea. Entrants may not be members of any guild, union or other organization that may prohibit them from participating in this Competition and that would restrict, require due payment or otherwise have the right to oppose such entrant’s participation in this Competition.
Not open to employees or independent contractors, or immediate family members (spouses, domestic partners, parents, grandparents, siblings, children, and grandchildren) or those living in the same household of employees or independent contractors of Sponsor, any entity involved in any aspect of the Competition (including funding, judging or administration), and each of their respective parents, subsidiaries, affiliates, advisors, or advertising/promotion agencies.
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HOW TO ENTER
Competition entry period begins at 00:00:01 (BST) on 1st May 2018 until 23:59:59 (BST) on 31st August 2018 (the “Entry Period”). To enter, during the Entry Period you must go to the Kindle Direct Publishing (“KDP”) sign-in-page (you may select the language for your region in the upper right corner of the page) and follow the instructions to upload and publish to KDP an original, previously unpublished, English-language book authored by you (the “Book” or the “Entry”), and include the exact phrase “storytelleruk2018” (without quotation marks) in the “keywords” metadata field in order for us to identify your Entry.
Entry into the Competition also requires that you have an Amazon account and a completed KDP account (to do so, visit the KDP sign-in page at https://kdp.amazon.com and following the instructions; and you have accepted the KDP Terms of Service and the Terms and Conditions for KDP Select Program.
All Entries must be received by 23:59:59 (BST) on 31st August 2018. There is no limit to the number of submissions that each Entrant can submit per account. Entrants assume all risk of lost, late, misdirected, incomplete, or unintelligible Entries.
Sponsor’s (or its contractor’s) servers and clock shall be deemed the official clock for all phases of the Competition, and entrant’s proof of a submission does not constitute proof of receipt by Sponsor. Sponsor is not responsible for (i) lost, misdirected, late, incomplete, or unintelligible Entries or for inaccurate entry information, whether caused by entrant or by any of the equipment or programming associated with or utilized in the Competition, or by any technical or human error that may occur in the processing of Entries; or (ii) any printing, production, human or typographical errors in any materials associated with the Competition.
Sponsor reserves the right in its sole and unfettered discretion to disqualify at any time any Entry containing obscene, offensive, pornographic or sexually explicit material, or libelous, disparaging, infringing or other inappropriate content or subject matter (as determined by Sponsor in its sole discretion).
CONDITIONS OF ENTRY
• Each entrant must follow and meet the following requirements when submitting an Entry:
• Entrant must be the legitimate author of the Book. The Book may have up to a maximum of two co-authors, provided the two co-authors enter the Contest together in a single Entry.
• The Book content must comply with the content policy and guidelines found in the Amazon.com Content Guidelines at www.amazon.com/contentguidelines and in the KDP Content Guidelines, and meet other reasonable community standards.
• The Book must not currently or previously have been the subject of a publishing agreement or option with any publisher or have been previously published in any format (including KDP) or in any other language.
• Entrant must enroll the digital version of the Book in KDP Select throughout the Competition, making it exclusively available through Amazon from the date of submission of the Entry until the announcement of the Finalists (as defined below), and if selected as a Finalist, until the Grand Prize winner is announced .
• Entrant must make the Book available for sale in both digital and print versions through KDP or Createspace. Entries that are submitted in one format only will not meet these conditions of entry.
• Each Book must be no less than 24 pages when in print format.
Entrant must be able and willing to (i) enter into an exclusive publishing agreement with Sponsor or any of its affiliates (collectively “Amazon”) on Amazon Publishing’s standard terms for publication of a translated edition of your Book in at least one language other than English, as determined by Amazon in its sole discretion, and (ii) negotiate in good faith with Amazon to enter into an exclusive, worldwide publishing agreement for your Book in all other languages, and must not be under any existing obligation that would inhibit or prevent entrant from entering such publishing agreements.
Each entrant, by accepting these Official Rules and by entering this Competition, represents and warrants that he/she is the legitimate author of the Book entered; he/she owns all right, title and interest in and to the content of the Book, including all patent, copyright, trademark, service mark, mask work, moral right, trade secret or other intellectual property or proprietary right, and such content is not defamatory, libelous, obscene, or otherwise illegal; and he/she has received the written consent of any person (or parent or legal guardian if such person is a minor) who appears or is identifiable in any Entry. If an entrant appears or is identifiable in his/her Entry, such entrant consents, by virtue of submitting his/her Entry to the Competition, to Sponsor’s use of the entrant’s name, likeness, photograph or image, whether in writing, audio, and/or video, for any purpose, in any media, without compensation or additional consideration to entrant. Failure to obtain or provide such consent will disqualify the Entry. Sponsor may at any time during the Competition request proof of such consent and disqualify any Entry for which such consent cannot be provided. Sponsor may disqualify any entrant whose Entry Sponsor determines, in its sole discretion, at any time does not to comply with any requirement described in these Official Rules or the foregoing representations and warranties. Entrants agree to indemnify and hold harmless Sponsor, the Prize Providers, any person or any entity involved in any aspect of the Competition (including funding, judging or administration), and each of their respective parents, subsidiaries, affiliates, advisors, contractors, and advertising/promotion agencies (collectively, the “Released Parties”), for any action or claim brought by a person whose consent entrant did not obtain.
Personal Information submitted by entrants may be processed for purposes of administering the Competition, conducting publicity about the Competition and such additional purposes consistent with the Competition goals. All information submitted in connection with this Competition will be treated in accordance with Sponsor’s privacy notice, located at www.amazon.co.uk/privacy. Sponsor will share your information with third parties that have a need to know, such as the judging panel and third parties Sponsor retains to assist in administering the Competition.
JUDGING
First Round. Each Book will be rated based on commercial viability (including, without limitation, with regards to the Book’s sales, borrows and customer feedback), as determined by Sponsor in its sole discretion, and a minimum of five finalists (each a “Finalist”) will be selected. In the event of a tie, the tie will be broken by the tied Entries being rated based on originality of Book content, as determined by Sponsor in its sole discretion. Sponsor will not contact you if you are not selected as a Finalist. Each Finalist will be notified by phone or e-mail on or about 7th September 2018.
Each Finalist will have two (2) days from the date of Sponsor’s notice to respond to Sponsor and confirm acceptance of the Finalist Prize (as defined below). If a Finalist (or any substitute Finalist) is disqualified, ineligible, cannot be reached, or fails to claim the Finalist Prize within two (2) days of Sponsor’s notice, that winner (or substitute winner) will forfeit the Finalist Prize and it will be awarded to the entrant who submitted the next highest rated Entry, as determined by Sponsor in its sole discretion. If, having attempted to contact a Finalist and the substitute winner for such Finalist, Sponsor is unable to award a Finalist Prize, Sponsor reserves the right to consider such Finalist Prize unclaimed.
Final Round. From on or about 14th September 2018 each Finalist’s Book will be rated by a panel of qualified judges selected by Sponsor using the following criteria (i) originality of Book content; (ii) creativity of Book content; and (iii) quality of writing (collectively, the “Judging Criteria”).
One Grand Prize winning Book will be selected based on the Judging Criteria. In the event of a tie, the tie will be broken by the tied Books being rated based solely on originality of Book content, as determined by Sponsor in its sole discretion. The Grand Prize winning Book will be announced by Sponsor during the first week of October 2018.
All decisions of Sponsor are final and binding, and no correspondence will be entered into. Non winners will not be notified. The name of the Finalists and Grand Prize winner and their county of residence will be provided on receipt of a written request sent to [email protected] within 30 days of the award of the applicable prize.
PRIZES
Each Finalist will receive a Kindle Oasis E-reader with Charging Cover, 6'' High-Resolution Display (300 ppi) with Built-in Light, Free 3G + Wi-Fi (each a “Finalist Prize”).
One Grand Prize winner will receive the following Grand Prize package (collectively, the “Grand Prize”):
£20,000 cash or check award to be direct deposited or electronically wired to the Grand Prize winner’s account;
A book launch merchandising package on Amazon.co.uk for the launch of the Grand Prize winning Book, as determined by Sponsor in its sole discretion;
A publishing agreement with Amazon Publishing granting Amazon the exclusive worldwide publication rights in all formats for a translated edition of the Grand Prize winning Book in at least one language other than English (and at Amazon’s option, in all other languages), as determined by Amazon in its sole discretion (the “Publishing Agreement”);
The opportunity to participate in a mentoring session with a KDP author selected by Amazon in its sole discretion.
Each Finalist and Grand Prize winner will be responsible for paying all costs and expenses related to the applicable prize(s) that are not specifically mentioned, including, but not limited to, taxes, and any other expenses that might reasonably be incurred by the winner in receiving or using the prize. Each winner may be required to submit to Sponsor such tax filing information required by Sponsor in order to claim the prize. All prizes awarded will be inclusive of any taxes Sponsor is required by law to withhold as well as applicable sales, use, gross receipts, goods and service, or similar transaction based taxes, as determined by Sponsor in its sole discretion at the time such prizes are awarded. All other taxes, costs and expenses associated with acceptance and use of any prize not specified in these Official Rules as being provided are the sole responsibility of the winners. IF TAXES ARE APPLICABLE TO THE PRIZES, IT IS THE RESPONSIBILITY OF THE WINNER TO PAY TO THE APPROPRIATE AUTHORITIES. PAYMENTS TO COMPETITION WINNERS ARE SUBJECT TO THE EXPRESS REQUIREMENT THAT THE WINNER SUBMIT TO SPONSOR ALL DOCUMENTATION REQUESTED BY SPONSOR TO PERMIT COMPLIANCE WITH ALL APPLICABLE STATE, FEDERAL, LOCAL AND FOREIGN (INCLUDING PROVINCIAL) TAX REPORTING AND WITHHOLDING REQUIREMENTS. Competition winners are responsible for ensuring that the tax documentation submitted to Sponsor complies with all applicable tax laws and requirements. If a winner fails to provide the documentation or submits incomplete documentation, the prize may be forfeited and Sponsor may, in its sole discretion, select an alternate winner.
Sponsor reserves the right to substitute any prize (or portion thereof) for an item of comparable or greater value, in its sole discretion. All prizes will be awarded “AS IS” and WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND, express or implied (including, without limitation, any implied warranty of merchantability or fitness for a particular purpose). Limit one prize per person.
In the event the Book selected for a Grand Prize winner package has two co-authors, only one Grand Prize winner package will be provided. It will be shared equally between the two co-authors.
GRANT OF RIGHTS
By submitting your Book in this Competition, if you are selected as a Finalist you grant to Amazon:
(a) the exclusive first worldwide publication rights to your Book in all formats and in at least one language other than English as determined by Amazon in its sole discretion; and
(b) the exclusive first worldwide publication rights in all formats of your Book, in all other languages, for a period of 30 days after you receive the notification from Sponsor that you are a Finalist. During that 30-day period, you agree to negotiate in good faith the terms and conditions of a publishing agreement with Amazon. If you and Amazon have not reached agreement after 30 days, you will not have any further obligation to Sponsor or its affiliates under this clause (b).
If you are not selected as a Finalist, Amazon's exclusive first publication rights to your Book terminate when you are eliminated from the Competition. If you are not selected as a Finalist and Amazon notifies you before you are eliminated for the Competition that it wishes to publish your Book, you agree to negotiate the terms and conditions of a publishing agreement exclusively with Amazon for a period of 30 days after you receive notification from Amazon. If you and Amazon have not reached agreement after 30 days, you may offer the Book to other publishers on the condition that before you enter into an agreement with another publisher, you will afford Amazon the last right to publish your Book on the same terms and conditions offered by any other publisher, plus an advance against royalties 10% greater than the other offer. Amazon must communicate its decision to you within five business days after you have provided written notice of the other publisher's terms and conditions. If Amazon declines or fails to act within that period, you will not have any further obligation to Amazon, and you may publish the Book with another publisher.
Entries, along with the entrant’s name may be posted on any Web site owned and/or operated by Sponsor or any of its affiliates (“Sponsor Site”), Sponsor’s pages on social media web sites, such as Facebook, Twitter or Instagram, and any other Web site or other online point of presence on any platform, through which any products or services available on or through the Sponsor Site are described, syndicated, offered, merchandised or advertised, in Sponsor’s sole discretion. Sponsor’s decision to post an Entry or any portion of an Entry on any Sponsor Site does not mean that the selected Entry has been selected as a winning Entry.
By submitting an Entry, you grant Amazon and agents permission to use, without charge, portions of your Entry, along with your name and stated reason for writing the submitted Book (if provided) for any purpose in connection with this Competition . You also grant Sponsor the right to edit the formatting and display of your Entry, and to create literary or any other types of effects in respect to your Book without compensation or approval. In addition, to the extent that any moral rights (for example, the right to attribution and the right to integrity) apply, you waive (and to the extent that these rights may not be waived, agree irrevocably not to assert) your moral rights in your Entry for purposes of this Competition, including, without limitation, our use of excerpts from your Book in connection with this Competition.
CONDITIONS OF PARTICIPATION
Each Finalist and the Grand Prize winner will be required to sign and return an Eligibility Affidavit; Liability and Publicity Release or other such form as requested by Sponsor. Prior to awarding a prize, Sponsor may, in its sole discretion, require the potential Finalists and Grand Prize winner to sign the Publishing Agreement and such additional documents Sponsor decides are necessary to confirm eligibility, to obtain a liability/publicity release, and to award any prize. Failure to return any required document by the date requested by Sponsor will deem the winner as ineligible to receive the prize. If any documentation is not returned by the specified dates or if a potential winner is deemed ineligible prior to the prize being awarded, Sponsor may, in its sole discretion, award the prize to the next entrant receiving the highest score.
ADDITIONAL TERMS
Within the limits imposed by law, Sponsor reserves the right, in its sole discretion, to change these Official Rules or cancel the Competition at any time, or to modify, terminate, or suspend the Competition should viruses, worms, bugs, unauthorized human intervention, or other causes beyond Sponsor’s control corrupt or impair the administration, security, fairness, or proper play of the Competition or submission of Entries, or in the event Sponsor does not receive a minimum of 500 qualified Entries from separate eligible entrants. Sponsor is not responsible for any human or other error that may occur in the processing of the Entries, nor is it responsible for any error, omission, interruption, deletion, defect, delay in operation or transmission, theft or destruction, or unauthorized access to, or alteration of, Entries, or for technical, network, telephone, computer, hardware or software, malfunctions of any kind, or inaccurate transmission of, or failure to receive any entry information on account of technical problems or traffic congestion on the Internet or at any Web site. Sponsor is not responsible for injury or damage to any entrant’s or any other computer resulting from downloading any materials in connection with the Competition. Sponsor reserves the right, in its sole discretion, to disqualify any individual found to be tampering with the entry process, the outcome of the Competition, or the operation of the Competition or Web site; to be acting in violation of these Official Rules; or to be acting in an unsportsmanlike or disruptive manner or with intent to annoy, abuse, threaten, or harass any other person. CAUTION: ANY ATTEMPT BY ANY INDIVIDUAL TO DELIBERATELY DAMAGE ANY WEB SITE OR UNDERMINE THE LEGITIMATE OPERATION OF THE COMPETITION MAY BE A VIOLATION OF CRIMINAL AND CIVIL LAWS, AND SHOULD SUCH AN ATTEMPT BE MADE, SPONSOR AND ITS AFFILIATES RESERVE THE RIGHT TO SEEK DAMAGES AND/OR OTHER RELIEF FROM ANY SUCH PERSON TO THE FULLEST EXTENT PERMITTED BY LAW.
MISCELLANEOUS
By entering, entrants agree to be bound by these Official Rules. No transfer, assignment, cash redemption or substitution of prizes is permitted except by Sponsor due to prize availability and then with prizes of equal or greater value. Competition is governed by the laws of the Grand-Duchy of Luxembourg without reference to the Official Rules governing choice of laws. As a condition of entering in this Competition, entrants agree that any and all disputes which cannot be resolved between the parties, and causes of action arising out of or in connection with this Competition, shall be resolved individually, without resort to any form of class action, and submit to the non-exclusive jurisdiction and venue of the courts of the district of Luxembourg City with respect to any claim, action or proceeding arising out of this Agreement and waives all objections to jurisdiction and venue of such courts. Further, in any such dispute, under no circumstances will entrants be permitted to obtain awards for, and hereby waive all rights to claim, punitive, incidental or consequential damages, including attorneys' fees, other than entrant’s actual out-of-pocket expenses (e.g. costs associated with entering), and entrant further waives all rights to have damages multiplied or increased. Entrants agree that the decisions of Sponsor and the judges related to the Competition are final. By entering in the Competition, entrants consent to the use of their names, biographical information, Entries, images and/or likenesses in any manner and in any medium for any purpose in connection with the Competition, including worldwide, without additional compensation, except where prohibited by law.
SPONSOR
Amazon Media EU S.à r.l., 5 Rue Plaetis, L-2338 Luxembourg.
PRIZE PROVIDERS
Sponsor and Amazon EU S.à r.l., each at 5 Rue Plaetis, L-2338 Luxembourg.
WAIVER OF LIABILITY
Neither Sponsor nor the Prize Provider(s) will be responsible or liable for: (i) any failure to receive entries due to transmission failures or other conditions beyond their reasonable control; (ii) any late, lost, misrouted, garbled or distorted or damaged transmissions or entries; (iii) any disruptions, injuries, losses or damages caused by events beyond their reasonable control; or (iv) any printing or typographical errors in any materials associated with the Competition.
GENERAL RELEASE
By entering the Competition Entrants you release the Released Parties from any liability whatsoever for any claims, costs, injuries, losses, or damages of any kind arising out of or in connection with the Competition or with the acceptance, possession, or use of any prize, except as prohibited by law.
COPYRIGHT
The Competition and all accompanying materials are copyright protected by Amazon.com, Inc. and its affiliates. All rights reserved.
This post first appeared on Seán Ó Carolan Over One Thousand Writing Competi, please read the originial post: here
