Photo Contest Wrap-up.

Today I was going to wax rhapsodic about the grand prize winners. However I find myself oddly tired, pressed for time, and feeling very thick in the head. I’m too tired to be all cleverness in my word makings.

So here’s the bare bones version….

They = coolness.

Their fabulous prizes include:

1. I’ll take them all out to dinner when I’m out in Indianapolis for Gencon.

2. Signed books, maps, and college survival guides for everyone on their team who wants them.

3. An early reading copy of The Wise Man’s Fear, if such a thing would please them. If it doesn’t, then I’ll simply have to owe them a favor that they can call in at their leisure, all mobster style.

Now, before everyone gets all twitterpated and starts mewling for their own copy in the comments section. Let me just say, the book isn’t ready to read yet. I’m still tweaking, re-writing, and revising.

Also, I need to say that I’m willing to trust them with an early version of the book because I’ve actually met these folks. They took me out to dinner a year ago, back before I was all award-draped and bestseller famous. They’re cool, they’re smart, and they bought me dinner. That + winning the contest means I feel I can trust them with an early version of the book.

Now before every man-jack of you starts trying to wheedle your own copy, let me re-direct your energies to something more productive: the next contest.

I’d like suggestions for making the next one even better. How should we handle it? More rules? Less rules? Different rules?

Discuss in the comments section below….

And it’s bed for me….

pat

This entry was posted in contestsBy Pat39 Responses

39 Comments

  1. Fyorl
    Posted June 20, 2008 at 10:04 AM | Permalink

    ‘Less rules’? Surely you mean ‘fewer’. I’ll put it down to your tiredness =P

  2. Dave Bessom
    Posted June 20, 2008 at 11:26 AM | Permalink

    Actually, what I think you meant was ‘Les rules,’ as in Les Nessman, of “WKRP in Cincinnati” fame.

  3. Dynishra Shin
    Posted June 20, 2008 at 12:38 PM | Permalink

    A next-contest. Hmm. Do you want to do another photo one? Maybe you could do a prose contest. Like… best poem inspired by ‘The Name of the Wind’ or best short story likewise inspired. Of course that would entail a lot of reading on your part.I don’t necessarily mean fanart, or fanfiction for that matter. I kinda mean writings inspired by your book and it’s content. I suppose that would be called fanfiction though wouldn’t it >>’ But, heck authors do it all the time, like Neil Gaiman’s Sherlock Holmes meets Cthulhu short story ‘A Study in Emerald’ (awesome wee story btw) is one example. I donno, just splashing around ideas. Probably would be quite a hefty thing to do that though. I guess it depends on how much time you can devote to it outside your more important work, like ‘Wiseman’s Fear’.

  4. Sienged
    Posted June 20, 2008 at 2:07 PM | Permalink

    The simplicity of the last contest was its bread and Butter.Anyone and everyone who wanted to participate, could.Also the concept needs to be simple like the last one but with plenty of room to explore or just go overboard. As for Dynishra Shin’s idea of fan fiction. As great as it would be. It’s just to much. The ONLY WAY possible for Pat to accomplish any version of this (500 words or less, poetry,song,etc)Would be to appoint, pre-judges who could filter out all but the best “their favorites” for Pat to look at.My only suggestion as for judges would be the contest winners and runner ups. Pat already has their information.But how we make sure they don’t end up screening their own stuff, i don’t know. Pat could keep them out of the contest and give a couple different prizes to the judges.Most ScreeningsPerson who picked the most winners or the over all winnerBest comments-if Pat wants the screeners to give a prievew or commentsetc.But I think its best if we don’t keep anyone out. Not even Pat himself.p.s. The ‘Coolness’ should just get one or two pre copies and share. You never know when a favor from pat could come in handy.

  5. David
    Posted June 20, 2008 at 2:21 PM | Permalink

    Maybe a poetry contest. See who can generate the successor to Jackass-Jackass. (:

  6. Wildcat in Indy
    Posted June 20, 2008 at 2:42 PM | Permalink

    I say do a Limerick contest related to the book. Or a Haiku?Just some amusing suggestions!

  7. Anonymous
    Posted June 20, 2008 at 2:45 PM | Permalink

    S. Michael Burk says:“An early reading copy of The Wise Man’s Fear, if such a thing would please them. If it doesn’t”Umm, i don’t even know where to begin with that sentence. Are you seriuos? And if such a thing wouldn’t please them than they should get nothing and like it. Or we could go medievil on them with punishment and cut off thier brain.

  8. Kip, the something.
    Posted June 20, 2008 at 2:50 PM | Permalink

    My Buddy Jesus (Jesus not “Hey Zeus”) and I are already planning our response to your next book….and our plan is delicious! and it involves aluminum foil hats. you should get it once we actually motivate ourselves enough to put down our dice and controllers and actually do something constructive.Wow I completely spaced out there. Has anyone ever had a feeling of being really messed up, for just a second and been completely sober? What kind of diet coke did they put in the fridge at work.. oh gods.

  9. marky
    Posted June 20, 2008 at 2:52 PM | Permalink

    Brilliant. Another compo! I’m defo entering this time. Here’s me ideas.1. Best character look-alike.2. Best advertisement idea for TNOTW.3. Best theme tune for TNOTW.4. Best paragraph or quatrain about how great TNOTW is.5. Best Place to read TNOTW.6. Best Glaswegian reading TNOTW.7. Most copies of TNOTW lifted at once.8. Best TNOTW tattoo.9. Best Pat style beard.10. Best meal to have, while reading name of the wind.11. Best interpretation of twitterpated.

  10. gapyeargirl123
    Posted June 20, 2008 at 3:00 PM | Permalink

    <>Marky<> – <>6: “best Glaswegian reading TNOTW”<>I live in Mid Argyll – is that close enough to Glasgow to count? It’s my nearest city *g*And I think it should be another photo competition. Anything else is a bit complicated. (And plus I have a cool idea of a place to take a picture.)

  11. Mary J.
    Posted June 20, 2008 at 3:03 PM | Permalink

    I thought Haiku too- short, simple, entertaining.Also, selfishly- I thought book discussion or reading guide contributions for NOTW. You did that awhile back on the blog and it kind of petered out after a bit. I mention the selfish part because I’m leading the book discussion at my library branch in August. (to pimp the Central visit- of course!)Whatever contest, you could pull in some of the willing minions that are standing by to be mods once the uber-glorious forum becomes reality to help with the judging. OR- ooh… what about a name the forum contest? That would apply pressure to the publishing gods to make it happen. By the by, what did you name your corporation? I don’t remember the outcome of that…

  12. marky
    Posted June 20, 2008 at 4:28 PM | Permalink

    Hey Dragongirl neighbour! you certainly are close enough! what a beautiful day it is in Scotia. the sun is shining. I’m off to see Journey tonight and it’s the start of the weekend. Happy, Happy days!Mary j.-By the by, what did you name your corporation?good question. I don’t think we ever got to learn the name. maybe it’s a secret?

  13. Robert S
    Posted June 20, 2008 at 4:59 PM | Permalink

    If I had known a whole photo story was an option I might have done that. I took it to be a single photo entry thing. However, its your contest, so its completely up to you for how you setup the contest.

  14. Brids
    Posted June 20, 2008 at 5:35 PM | Permalink

    Most human scarifices offered to TNOTW…Except it wouldnt be fair because Captin Joe would win.

  15. Anonymous
    Posted June 20, 2008 at 5:53 PM | Permalink

    @SMBurkNo need to invent painful punishments in the event that they choose not to take the advance copies of Wise Man’s Fear. Your spelling is more than punishment enough. (:

  16. matt
    Posted June 20, 2008 at 6:00 PM | Permalink

    How about a 30-second video contest? – Submit electronically only (don’t mail video tapes or any physical media)– Anything longer than 30 seconds is disqualified.– Animation, live action, puppets, etc. are all welcome.

  17. Kip, just kip today.
    Posted June 20, 2008 at 6:39 PM | Permalink

    Bad matt you are getting dangerously close to my surprise.Marky: I think Dragongirl is just a small town girl, living in a lonely world. :)God I hate Journey, that’s the only song I thinkk is halfway decent.Then again I’m a metal head, and like my things alot harder.

  18. Fe2O3
    Posted June 20, 2008 at 8:45 PM | Permalink

    It’s hard to top the open-ended photo contest. It really spawned a bunch of entries hence the various submission categories. I like the Haiku idea and the 30 second video (leaves open the opportunity for entries in the Most Sexy category again).Marky #6 will only work if we can expand Glaswegian to include direct descendants of Glaswegians as well. ;) Great-grand-dad grew up in Calton then emmigrated. (Yes, I want in on the next contest, so if it can’t include me, it’s right out!)Since NOTW has had so many covers, how about an “Alternate Cover” contest?

  19. Anonymous
    Posted June 20, 2008 at 9:08 PM | Permalink

    I like the notion of an alternate cover contest. Or better yet–a cover contest for ‘A Wise Man’s Fear’-littlejigman

  20. Sam
    Posted June 21, 2008 at 12:01 AM | Permalink

    I would also love to do the alternate cover contest.

  21. **A*V*A**
    Posted June 21, 2008 at 12:11 AM | Permalink

    An alternate cover art contest would be fun… that would leave it open to people who wanted to do fanart, as well as people who can’t draw but want to do some creative Photoshop work. ^_^Of course, that leads me to brainstorm possible categories for such a contest:– Best original artwork– Best layout/design– Most presciently accurate (in the case of AWMF, which none of us have read yet)– Most creative casting of celebrities as characters……no, wait, that last one could be really scary. (Haliax’s true identity is revealed as… <>Richard Simmons!<>)

  22. marky
    Posted June 21, 2008 at 1:15 AM | Permalink

    Kip. Dude. I enjoy all music. I have been to metal gigs that would make your ears bleed, heart jump outa your chest and brains melt. Hell, I’ve rocked harder than Belgarath in Camaar. I think music, like all art, should be held in the highest esteem. Anybody that creates something that makes you feel, is truly a wonderful soul. Be it Cradle of filth giving you a set, or Peter S beagle choking you up over a spider.I guess what I am trying to babble is, that Journey is just the right amount of cheese in my spicy pickle sandwich.Fe2o3. I have checked with the clan head. Your Granda was Glaswegian. However, to qualify for nationality, you must wear a kilt for one week and find out were Donald’s troosers are!Admiral Matt. Quality idea. All sorts of weird and wonderful ideas spring to mind. I do fear however, that those clever buggers in Indianapolis would sew together a draccus and have it dance to techno, while mashed out its brains on denner.Ahh! An idea. Previous winners have to compete in a head to head to find the ultimate cool fan!?

  23. **A*V*A**
    Posted June 21, 2008 at 5:40 AM | Permalink

    @ Michael:“…a cover contest for ‘A Wise Man’s Fear’ . . . could provide you with some royalty free alternate cover art if you should choose to use it for publishing purposes. “<>NO.<>No, no, no. Nothing is “royalty free” unless it comes with a written license from the copyright holder declaring it so. Furthermore, there is a HUGE difference between royalty free and free use. Royalties have to do with continued distribution rights, not with permission to use the artwork. If I declare my artwork royalty-free (which I do, on occasion), and somebody uses it without purchasing initial usage rights from me, I’ll sue them for theft and violation of copyright! It is NOT fair game for anyone to use.So, unless the artist in question is already under contract with the publishing house, there is no way that the contest winner would have his or her artwork slapped on the next book. (Just because I post a picture on the Internet doesn’t mean I surrender my copyright — if so, I’d be shooting myself in the foot every time I advertise my art services!)Please, please do not assume that anything entered in a contest is fair game. <>Every one of the photos entered in the contest is a piece of copyrighted material.<> That also would apply to any artwork submitted, if there were to be an art contest. Unless the copyright holder explicitly surrenders his or her rights to the picture, it still belongs to the photographer or artist and can’t be used without permission.Completely apart from the copyright issues (to which, as a professional artist, I am extremely sensitive… in case you couldn’t tell!), authors have about the same chance of choosing their cover art as newspaper journalists have of choosing their headlines. (That is to say, practically zero.) So, as much as a writer may like someone’s artwork, he or she usually has no authority to put it on the published book.

  24. Captain Joe
    Posted June 21, 2008 at 6:18 AM | Permalink

    Hmm… I’m throwing my weight behind a short video contest – that sounds like a lot of fun. Heh, I’d be happy with a repeat of this contest though – perhaps for Wise Man’s Fear in ’09.

  25. Kay H. Wilson
    Posted June 21, 2008 at 6:25 AM | Permalink

    I don’t understand this comment–?“1. People were wholly ineligible who obviously were worthy of the competition.”Who was ineligible? It was stated that in those countries where the paperback was not yet available, a hardback was acceptable. The incomparable Captain Joe even won a special prize with same.“2. There were too many ambiguous categories due to the fact that there was very, very little direction.”I don’t know that we needed more direction. Pat pretty much said at the beginning that he’d make up categories as he saw the entries. I guess some left-brained people might want strict instruction in advance, but I think winging it allowed for prizes no one might have suggested, like Best Anthropomorphic.“3. There were likely many entries of poor quality that were unable to even be considered for the contest.”I really don’t understand this. If the photographer determined the photo wasn’t good enough and did not submit it, who is anyone else to force consideration?As far as paperbacks vs. hardbacks…. I already had a hardback and I bought a paperback for my entry. Hey, it’s a promotional contest to boost sales, so I did my part. I will probably now donate the paperback to a library or charity book sale, helping out both Pat and the local community. I can still keep my hardback for personal use.We have one commenter complaining that he didn’t enter because he interpreted the rules too narrowly and another who says the rules were too vague. I think that means it was just right. ;-)

  26. Laura
    Posted June 21, 2008 at 7:42 AM | Permalink

    @ Marky>> Quality idea. All sorts of weird and wonderful ideas spring to mind. I do fear however, that those clever buggers in Indianapolis would sew together a draccus and have it dance to techno, while mashed out its brains on denner. <<One of my great and abiding fears is that someone might think I take myself too seriously…. < HREF="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dfO40f2sRxY" REL="nofollow">Behold the danger of YouTube.<>(Sorry about the lighting; the makeup was actually faintly cool. Faintly.)

  27. Captain Joe
    Posted June 21, 2008 at 8:03 AM | Permalink

    Ha, Laura, the quality of Youtube videos just went up a notch. There was nothing I didn’t like about that effort.Five Pat Points to you, I think that puts you in the lead on Pat Points, seeing as how Angela would not provide video evidence of sexy pillow fights.Bravo!

  28. a
    Posted June 21, 2008 at 8:30 AM | Permalink

    I’m totally down with Marky’s beard contest, mostly because that’s something I could actually win.

  29. matt
    Posted June 21, 2008 at 11:33 AM | Permalink

    Hah… That video was awsome, laura.

  30. marky
    Posted June 21, 2008 at 1:30 PM | Permalink

    lol! superb! loved the vid Laura.Genius at work! I think I might have pee’d ma seat watching that! loved the blurring.great touch.

  31. Laura
    Posted June 21, 2008 at 7:37 PM | Permalink

    @ Capt Joe, Matt, Marky…ye gads. You people need help. /grin/In all seriousness, Pat has some cool fans. You guys are great.

  32. Nan
    Posted June 23, 2008 at 1:48 AM | Permalink

    Okay, so suggestions have been made to create a contest based on prose, or limericks, or artwork…. Why not move to another dimension of creativity and have a contest where people create songs? It could be a ballad-type thing about the book’s characters, or a funny rhyming ditty about Pat’s late nights slaving over a hot keyboard, or whatever the creators wanted to attempt, as long as it was somehow connected to the NOTW books. I suspect we’d get video links showing entrants with guitars (or even lutes?) :), entries with one lone singer or maybe with a group performing in harmony, entries with songs that tell a story or songs that just make us laugh. I can picture some guy propped up on his bed singing with his guitar, or two gals offering their lyrics acapella at the beach at sunset… but at any rate it’d be great fun to see and hear them all! I’d think you’d need a length limit in order to make it possible to view all the entries, but hey, you can get a lot done in a minute (or whatever length is chosen). YouTube may never be the same. ;-) (Hmmm… I wonder if a kazoo counts as an instrument?) :DOh, and BTW, I don’t make this suggestion because I have any talent in this area. I have no musical abilities. I just thought it’d be fun to see what songs people came up with!

  33. Anonymous
    Posted June 23, 2008 at 3:20 AM | Permalink

    I think it should be “the best work of art…. based on the story. Be it carving, sculpting, drawing, writing etc.rules for writing just b/c if it is too long pat won’t be able to read them all

  34. Pat
    Posted June 23, 2008 at 11:07 AM | Permalink

    Wow. People are using formatting and everything…. I got behind on reading comments because I was away for the weekend. But I’ll catch up and reply soon….

  35. krighton
    Posted June 23, 2008 at 1:29 PM | Permalink

    sorry to hijack the thread, but i need to preorder GENCON tickets and am planning to come on Sunday…where can i find you (at GENCON) in order to get you to sign some of your books….will you have a table for signing on Sunday? or will i just have to wait for a break in whatever panel you’ll be participating in.

  36. Kacie
    Posted June 23, 2008 at 3:36 PM | Permalink

    What about a general ‘Creativeness contest’ ?Entries could be in any format as long as they are electronically submitted. They could be paintings, drawings, songs, poems, short stories, photo stories, sculptures, absolutely anything.Maybe limit contest entries per person to one or two. Only because I suspect what ever the next contest will be, it will be larger than the one we just had.We’d also need to limit the length of any videos/songs/animations to a reasonable time. ( I have no idea what that could be as I have no experience in this area.)All entries would have to be inspired by TNOTW and/or TNOTW is included somewhere in the entry.Because of all the different kinds of media that could potentially be involved a longer running contest would be needed.A list of categories before the contest begins to guide initial creativity and for the left-brainers out there. Because of the nature of a multi-media contest some categories would be media specific such as “Best short story”, “best animation”… Other categories would be open to any media “Best character depiction”, “Best Play”…In order to maximize creativity there would need to be room for entries that no one could have anticipated. Such entries that do not fall under any predetermined categories could be entered in a miscellaneous category. Then at the end of the contest categories can be added based on what is in Miscellaneous.

  37. Fe2O3
    Posted June 23, 2008 at 4:17 PM | Permalink

    Marky – Best guess: Donald’s troosers are flying from a pole on Glasgow Green after an unfortunate disagreement with the temperance society he joined in his youth. His speech has never been the same. Also, I know all the words to “The Scotsman’s Kilt” does that count for anything?Laura – disturbing, intimidating, and totally hilarious. I think there needs to be a Masters category in the contest to give us creativity-challenged folk a chance.

  38. Valentina
    Posted June 23, 2008 at 8:26 PM | Permalink

    Here’s my two cent’s worth:Why not have a contest where you judge “best character costume?” Or “best character look-a-like?” Oh, and my favorite idea: “best fan art!” There could be all sorts of categories and rules to judge them by: most accurate, most comical, most cartoony, most *insert description here* !Personally, I love visiting your blog just to see how creative your fans can get. I’d submit fan art or what-have-you, but since I’ve known you for several years, I’d feel like I’m cheating! So I enjoy the fun unfolding here.your pal,Val

  39. Gail
    Posted June 24, 2008 at 10:41 PM | Permalink

    Whatever the contest is, it should have a sub-contest afterword. Best caption. Captions were the funniest part.

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