call for entries!!

for the first annual morethangalenandmiles short writing contest!

Here is the deal: I figure that two minutes a day is a reasonable amount of time to spend looking at this blog. I decide to have a contest that is open to anyone, and what you have to do is submit the best piece of writing that takes about two minutes to read. it can be anything, from a character sketch to a gnarly story to whatever else you think is cool. i think a reasonable example of length is my gnarliest story ever, which you can find linked on the right side of this page at the bottom of the february entries.

don't be dissuaded if you don't usually write, and this is the reason why:

everyone fills out a bracket for march madness, even if you don't particularly care about basketball. then you throw five dollars into a pot and you have something to care about for the next month. maybe you win, maybe you don't. this is what you'll have a chance to do in this contest, except with your best writing instead of guessing the skills of random athletes who are in many cases younger than you.

the first sixteen people to contact me and make arrangements to send me the five dollar entry fee will be accepted. We can meet up if you're in new york, or you can mail me the money if you aren't in the city. location doesn't matter and i'll take you at your word if you send me the email, which is your agreement to pay. That gives a grand total of 80 dollars in the pot. I will take eight dollars (ten percent), which seems reasonable for the work I'll be putting in to it. That leaves 72 to be split amongst everyone else.

i will randomly pair each person off with someone, and those will be the first round of stories. I will post the pieces in these pairs, and all of the participants will vote on who should move on. There are sixteen participants and then i will have a vote. that brings the total to 17, which assures that there won't be any ties.

the people who lose in the first round won't get any money. sorry. but you had fun, just like you will when you drop 5 dollars on the tournament bracket next month. and you tested your mettle in the meantime. everyone who makes it to the second round will at least win back his admission fee. you will create a new piece for the next round, which will pair off against some else. if you make it to the next round, you get five more dollars and another chance to write something. if you make it to the finals, you submit your final entry and you get a chance to win. the winner wins 22 dollars. three runners up get 10 dollars. the other four people who made it out of the first round will get five.

don't be a wuss. email me to confirm your entry, or if you have any questions/comments. galen.dekemper@gmail.com