Updated March 27, 2017
WRITING COMPETITION -Terms & Conditions:
Chapter One competition is now closed. The chapter receiving the most public votes (37) was "The Letter", written by L.C.Bruce.
Chapter Two competition is now open. Closing date for submissions is 23:59 on April 28, 2017
Chapter entries to the Chapter Chain's first book is FREE OF CHARGE.
Voting for Chapter Two will open at 00:00 on April 29, 2017. Voting is FREE OF CHARGE
Chapter entries should be around 3,000 words. The entry content must be fictional but can be from any literary genre (History, Fantasy, Young Adult, Crime, Science Fiction, etc); however, we exclude and will disqualify entries that are obscene, defamatory, libellous, threatening, pornographic, racially or ethnically offensive, or encourage conduct that would be considered a criminal offence, give rise to civil liability, or violate any law. Entries must be appropriate for reading and viewing by the general public. Appropriateness will be determined by the judging panel and ultimately the Competition Sponsor, The Funding Forum Ltd.
The judging panel will be made up from a team of professional publishers, editors, published writers, book reviewers, Chapter Chain staff and the Competition Sponsor, The Funding Forum Ltd.
A summary description (maximum 100 words) is required to be submitted with each entry - this will be used on the main voting page as the snapshot to generate public interest to read your full chapter. Full chapter entries should be written in English and attached to the 'submit an entry' form or emailed directly to 'entry@chapterchain.com'. We accept Word (.doc, .docx) and pdf document formats. We do not have any requirements for line/word spacing, font type, etc., but entries must clearly display your name and email address. Multiple entries are accepted.
We welcome both unpublished and previously published authors (as long as your entry to THIS competition has not been previously published or won another writing competition). And you must be the original author of the entry - no plagiarism please.
Entries will be judged 'blind' by the general public, ie we will remove any names/identifiers from eligible entries, which will be published on the website shortly after the competition closing date. For questions about the judging process (or competition in general), please contact us at entry@chapterchain.com
All entrants agree to have their work published in the final Chapter Chain novel, in both print and digital formats. The authors accept that their work may be edited to make the published book flow for readers.
Ownership, rights/royalties: from the final published book will be the property of The Chapter Chain. All authors with a winning chapter published in the book will be credited in the Foreword of the book and will each receive 2% of the net profit from the first 12 month sales of the book. All authors retain the right to re-use their own chapter entries.
The published book will be launched at an awards event, venue in a major city in the UK, to be confirmed. However winner authors will not be required to attend the event to receive their award.
We reserve the right to use your name and story as promotional material in the future.
Sponsors: The Chapter Chain Writing Competition (the “Contest”) is sponsored by The Chapter Chain and The Funding Forum Limited Registration no. 08090518 ("Sponsors").
Contest Description: The Contest is a regular contest. The Chapter Two Contest period (the “Contest Period”) begins at 16:00 p.m. Greenwich Mean Time (GMT) on March 27, 2017 and ends at 23:59 GMT on April 28, 2017. Entries must be submitted during the Contest Period to be eligible. Chapter Chain will determine the timing of entries at its sole discretion. Chapter Chain reserves the right to modify or discontinue the Contest at any time (including modifications to these Official Rules) at its discretion.
Eligibility: An "Entrant" represents and warrants to the Sponsors that either (i) Entrant is at least eighteen (18) years of age or the age of majority in his/her jurisdiction of residence for the duration of the Contest Period, or (ii) if the entry is created by an individual younger than the age of majority in Entrant’s jurisdiction of residence, the entry is submitted with the full knowledge and consent of the Entrant’s parent or legal guardian and that such parent or legal guardian has read and agreed to these Official Rules. The eligibility of Entrants shall be determined by Sponsors at their discretion.
All competition Chapter entries must meet the following requirements: Entries may not contain material that is obscene, defamatory, libellous, threatening, pornographic, racially or ethnically offensive, or encourages conduct that would be considered a criminal offence, give rise to civil liability, or violate any law. Entries must be appropriate for reading and viewing by the general public; appropriateness will be determined by the Sponsors.
Entries must adhere to the Chapter Chain's Content Guidelines:
Entries should be approximately 3,000 words in length, not including title and author name;
Entries must be submitted using the online form or via email in .doc, .docx, or pdf formats;
Entries may focus on any literary genre (providing other criteria are met)
Entrant warrants to the Sponsors that the Story has not been published previously in print or digital format worldwide (including but not exclusively self-published, magazines, journals, websites, blogs, social network sites), the Story has not been broadcast or won a prize in another competition worldwide.
Each Story submitted will gain an Entrant one (1) entry into the Contest. The Sponsors shall determine, at its sole discretion, whether any entry meets the eligibility criteria to participate in the Contest. Sponsor’s decisions regarding eligibility and all other aspects of the Contest are final and binding. In the event of a dispute as to the identity of a winner based on an email address, social media handle, or other identifying information, the winning entry will be declared made by the authorised account holder of the email address submitted at the time of entry. “Authorised account holder” is defined as the natural person who is assigned to an email address by an Internet access provider, online service provider, the platform, or other organisation (e.g., business, educational, institution, etc.) that is responsible for assigning email addresses. In the event of ongoing dispute, Sponsor has the right to determine the identity of entrants at its sole discretion. Potential winners may be required to show proof of being the authorised account holder.
There will be a total of 'up to' twenty (20) winners chosen (the “Chapter Winners”), based on highest number of public votes received, will be chosen for publication under Sponsors' publishing imprint in both e-book and print formats, as well as included on Sponsors websites (“Chapter Winners”).
Sponsors will notify Chapter Winners by email following the voting process. Sponsors are not responsible for any delay or failure to receive notification for any reason, including inactive account(s), technical difficulties associated therewith, or Chapter Winners’ failure to adequately monitor any account. Should a Winner fail to respond to Sponsors, Sponsors reserves the right, at their discretion, to disqualify that Winner and select the chapter entry with the next highest number of votes.
Awards: The Entrants who submit the winning chapters, as determined based on the public vote will get their chapter published in the final Chapter Chain book and will be entered into the awards competition.
Award Conditions: By accepting any award, Winners agree to release Sponsors and the Released Parties from any and all liability whatsoever for any injuries, illnesses, death, losses, or damages of any kind caused by entering the Contest or for damages of any kind caused by any award or resulting from acceptance, possession, or use/misuse of any award. By participating in the Contest, each Entrant gives Sponsors permission to collect and use his or her name, likeness, email, address and biographical information without further information where permitted by law. Winners may be required to sign an affidavit of eligibility, liability release and a publicity release within ten (10) days of issuance. By accepting any award, Winners agree to allow Sponsors to use their names, photographs, prize information, and biographical information for publicity and all Contest-related purposes without further compensation where permitted by law. Notwithstanding anything in these Official Rules to the contrary, each Winner will have the right in his or her sole discretion to refuse any awards described in the “Awards” section above.
Terms & Conditions: This Contest is subject to all applicable English laws. By entering the Contest, Entrants agree to release, discharge, indemnify and hold harmless Sponsors, the Released Parties and each of their respective directors, officers, employees, shareholders and agents from any and all liability, loss, damage or injuries to any person (including death) or property of any kind sustained in connection with their participation in the Contest, or from their acceptance, receipt, possession and/or use or misuse of the awards, or for any typographical or other error in the printing, offering or announcement of the awards. Entrant acknowledges that the Contest is in no way sponsored, endorsed, administered by or associated with any third party other than the Sponsors.
Intellectual Property: Ownership of the underlying intellectual property of each Entrant transfers to The Chapter Chain. Please note that by submitting your Story to us during the Contest, you do grant us certain rights with respect to your Story. These rights are as follows:
All Entrants grant us the right to use and review their Stories to be published for public vote.
If you are a Winner, then you also grant us the right to publish, distribute or otherwise make the Story available in all print and electronic forms. We may add artwork or music to any publication that includes your Story. We may also need to edit your work to make the writing styles consistent for the book to flow for readers, but we will try not to change or modify the contents of your Story when doing so.
For the avoidance of doubt, the rights you grant to us in these Official Rules are exclusive, which means that you may not grant licenses in and to your Story, or sell your rights, to any other parties in your sole discretion. You will be credited for the original work and may publicise the fact that your work is included in the published book.
Each participating Entrant hereby represents and warrants that any entry and other materials and information provided by Entrant are original to Entrant and do not violate or infringe upon the copyrights, trademarks, rights of privacy, publicity or other intellectual property or other rights of any person or entity, and do not violate any laws, rules or regulations. If the entry or information or materials provided by Entrant contain any content or elements that are not owned by Entrant and/or which are subject to the rights of third parties, Entrant represents he or she has obtained, prior to submission of the entry and information or materials, any and all releases and consents necessary to permit use and exploitation of the entry and information and materials by the Sponsors without additional compensation of any kind.
Each Entrant represents and warrants that the entry and materials and information provided do not contain information considered by Entrant or any other third party to be confidential, and that the entry, materials, and information provided do not violate any laws or regulations. Entrant agrees that Sponsor has the right to verify the ownership and originality of all Entries and that, upon Sponsor’s request, Entrant must submit a written copy of any release or permission Entrant has received from a third party granting Entrant the right to use such property. Entrant understands and acknowledges that in the event a submission is selected as a Chapter Winner, and Entrant’s ownership, rights and the originality of the entry cannot be verified to the satisfaction of the Sponsors or is in any other way ineligible, Sponsors may select an alternate winner based on the chapter receiving the next highest number of public votes.
Use of Data: The Sponsors will collect personal data about entrants including phone numbers and email addresses in accordance with its Privacy Policy. Entrants may review Sponsor's Privacy Policy at the following link: http://www.chapterchain.com/privacypolicy. By participating in the Contest and providing this information, entrants hereby agree to Sponsor’s collection and usage of their personal information and acknowledge that they have read and accepted Sponsor’s Privacy Policy.
Exclusions of Liability: Chapter Chain, their representatives/founders and Sponsors are not responsible or liable in any manner for any user generated content. Although we include strict provisions regarding user generated content in the official rules and these terms and conditions, we do not control and are not responsible for what users/applicants put on their entries that appear on or through our sites and are not responsible for any offensive, inappropriate, obscene, unlawful, infringing or otherwise objectionable or illegal user generated content you may encounter on our sites or in connection with your use of any of our sites.
Internet Limitations of Liability: Sponsor reserves the right at its sole discretion, to disqualify any individual who tampers with the entry process, and to cancel, terminate, modify or suspend the Contest in whole or in part, at any time, without notice. Sponsor reserves the right to make Awards using all non-suspect eligible entries received as of, or after (if applicable) this cancellation, termination, modification or suspension date, or in any manner that is fair and equitable. Sponsor assumes no responsibility for any error, omission, interruption, deletion, defect, delay in operation or transmission, communications line failure, theft or destruction or unauthorised access to, or alteration of, entries. Sponsor is not responsible for any problems or technical malfunction of any telephone network or telephone lines, computer on-line systems, servers, or providers, computer equipment, software, failure of any e-mail or entry to be received by Sponsor on account of technical problems, human error or traffic congestion on the Internet or at any website, or any combination thereof, including any injury or damage to participant's or any other person's computer relating to or resulting from participation in this Contest or the downloading of any materials in this Contest. CAUTION: ANY ATTEMPT TO DELIBERATELY DAMAGE ANY WEBSITE OR UNDERMINE THE LEGITIMATE OPERATION OF THE CONTEST IS A VIOLATION OF CRIMINAL AND CIVIL LAWS AND SHOULD SUCH AN ATTEMPT BE MADE, THE SPONSOR RESERVES THE RIGHT TO SEEK DAMAGES OR OTHER REMEDIES FROM ANY SUCH PERSON (S) RESPONSIBLE FOR THE ATTEMPT TO THE FULLEST EXTENT PERMITTED BY LAW.
ENGLISH LAWS AND REGULATIONS APPLY. THIS CONTEST IS A SKILL-BASED COMPETITION.
This Contest and the rights and obligations of Sponsor and participants will be governed by and controlled by the laws of England, applicable to contracts made and performed therein without reference to the applicable choice of law provisions. Any and all disputes, claims, and causes of action arising out of or connected with the Contest, or any benefits received, or the administration of the Contest not resolved through internal adjudication shall be resolved individually, without resort to any form of class action, and exclusively by arbitration, to take place in England pursuant to the Rules then effective; any and all claims, judgements and awards shall be limited to actual out-of-pocket costs incurred, including costs associated with participating in the Contest and in no event shall Entrant by entitled to receive lawyers’ fees or other legal costs; and under no circumstances will a participant be permitted to obtain awards for and participants hereby waive all right to claim punitive, incidental and consequential damages and any other damages, other than for actual out-of-pocket expenses, and any and all rights to have damages multiplied or otherwise increased.
Winners’ List Requests: Winners name (or Pen Name) and location will be published on the Chapter Chain website. Authors real names and persoal addresses will not be made public unless the Author grants his or her permission to do so. To request confirmation of the Winners, or for a copy of these Official Rules, please send, within six (6) months following the end of the Contest Period, a self-addressed, stamped business size envelope to The Chapter Chain, 30 Austen Close, Billingham United Kingdom TS23 3GT
RULES