Laurel
Kitty Mama
- Joined
- Aug 27, 1999
- Posts
- 20,678
Hi writers!
If you are reading this website, there's a good chance you are doing so from a place that has some respect for your right to Free Speech. Either that, or you're finding a way to get around some oppressive authority's attempt to limit what you can read and what others can publish. With the state of the world today and ever increasing attempts at censorship in the name of "fighting terrorism", "protecting the children", and promoting religious fundamentalism, we felt it was time for Lit authors to chime in.
Those with power - be they politicians, corporations, religious leaders, or any number of others - will always try to make the little guy sit down and shut up. History has proven, though, that effective censorship is almost impossible - and rarely will the little guy stay quiet for long. We at Literotica are especially lucky to be alive during the rise of the Internet, as computers are much harder to burn than your average book.
This contest is intended to give Lit authors a chance to share their views on free speech and censorship. Actually, Lit authors always have that chance, but this contest will offer a little motivation in the way of cash and prizes. We don't have any idea what will be submitted in this contest, but that's part of the beauty Free Speech and the Lit community specifically. This is our first contest where entries are required to fit into the Reviews & Essays category rather than the story categories. That does not mean your entry has to be serious or structured like a term paper. Have fun with it, and good luck to all of those who choose to make their voices heard!
We will accept entries dated May 14, 2005, and we will stop accepting contest entries submitted later than June 6, 2005. We will announce the 3 winners on June 12, 2005. This contest will coexist with the usual monthly contest. Stories may only win one or the other, not both contests simultaneously.
All rules for the monthly contests are in place. The only exceptions to the rules are:
- Authors who have won in our monthly contests within the last 6 months are eligible for this special contest. However, if you have won a prize in another special/theme contest within the last 6 months, you are not eligible for this one. For example, if you took 2nd runner up in the last holiday contest, you won't be eligible to win a prize in this contest (though you are free to submit and participate).
- A story has only to accrue 25 votes to be eligible, rather than the 50 required for the monthly contest.
The following rules also apply:
- All contest stories must be submitted via our online form. If you are a WebTV user or have difficulty with the form, follow the instructions here.
- Author must put the phrase "FREE SPEECH CONTEST 2005" in the "Notes" field of the submission.
- Entries must be made into the Reviews & Essays category, and must fit the guidelines for that category.
- Submission must have Free Speech theme. That means that the essay should relate to censorship, freedom of speech, government oppression of artists, self-censorship based on peer pressure, copyright law interfering with expression, workplace Internet rules, and so on. Submission can be serious, funny, personal, informative, argumentative, or however you wish to approach the topic.
Prizes: Any essay that meets the above criteria will be automatically entered into the contest, and winners will be decided by reader input (aka votes). The prizes for the top 3 submissions will be the same as those awarded in the monthly contests.
In addition, the authors of the top 5 stories will also each receive a $50 gift certificate to an online bookstore so that you can replace any books from your collection that have been burned by censors recently.
Important Note: Once your essay is submitted, it may take 72 hours for it to be posted. We strongly suggest that you do not wait till the last day of the contest to submit your work. The sooner you submit, the better chance your submission has of accruing the votes necessary to be eligible.
As always, any cheating will result in disqualification of the story. We reserve the right to disqualify any story/author for any reason at any time.
Good luck, and have fun!
If you are reading this website, there's a good chance you are doing so from a place that has some respect for your right to Free Speech. Either that, or you're finding a way to get around some oppressive authority's attempt to limit what you can read and what others can publish. With the state of the world today and ever increasing attempts at censorship in the name of "fighting terrorism", "protecting the children", and promoting religious fundamentalism, we felt it was time for Lit authors to chime in.
Those with power - be they politicians, corporations, religious leaders, or any number of others - will always try to make the little guy sit down and shut up. History has proven, though, that effective censorship is almost impossible - and rarely will the little guy stay quiet for long. We at Literotica are especially lucky to be alive during the rise of the Internet, as computers are much harder to burn than your average book.
This contest is intended to give Lit authors a chance to share their views on free speech and censorship. Actually, Lit authors always have that chance, but this contest will offer a little motivation in the way of cash and prizes. We don't have any idea what will be submitted in this contest, but that's part of the beauty Free Speech and the Lit community specifically. This is our first contest where entries are required to fit into the Reviews & Essays category rather than the story categories. That does not mean your entry has to be serious or structured like a term paper. Have fun with it, and good luck to all of those who choose to make their voices heard!
We will accept entries dated May 14, 2005, and we will stop accepting contest entries submitted later than June 6, 2005. We will announce the 3 winners on June 12, 2005. This contest will coexist with the usual monthly contest. Stories may only win one or the other, not both contests simultaneously.
All rules for the monthly contests are in place. The only exceptions to the rules are:
- Authors who have won in our monthly contests within the last 6 months are eligible for this special contest. However, if you have won a prize in another special/theme contest within the last 6 months, you are not eligible for this one. For example, if you took 2nd runner up in the last holiday contest, you won't be eligible to win a prize in this contest (though you are free to submit and participate).
- A story has only to accrue 25 votes to be eligible, rather than the 50 required for the monthly contest.
The following rules also apply:
- All contest stories must be submitted via our online form. If you are a WebTV user or have difficulty with the form, follow the instructions here.
- Author must put the phrase "FREE SPEECH CONTEST 2005" in the "Notes" field of the submission.
- Entries must be made into the Reviews & Essays category, and must fit the guidelines for that category.
- Submission must have Free Speech theme. That means that the essay should relate to censorship, freedom of speech, government oppression of artists, self-censorship based on peer pressure, copyright law interfering with expression, workplace Internet rules, and so on. Submission can be serious, funny, personal, informative, argumentative, or however you wish to approach the topic.
Prizes: Any essay that meets the above criteria will be automatically entered into the contest, and winners will be decided by reader input (aka votes). The prizes for the top 3 submissions will be the same as those awarded in the monthly contests.
In addition, the authors of the top 5 stories will also each receive a $50 gift certificate to an online bookstore so that you can replace any books from your collection that have been burned by censors recently.
Important Note: Once your essay is submitted, it may take 72 hours for it to be posted. We strongly suggest that you do not wait till the last day of the contest to submit your work. The sooner you submit, the better chance your submission has of accruing the votes necessary to be eligible.
As always, any cheating will result in disqualification of the story. We reserve the right to disqualify any story/author for any reason at any time.
Good luck, and have fun!
