True Story Contest

We would like to thank everyone who entered our True Story Contest. The submissions were wonderful. Please read the winning submissions on our Features sections.

Agreement

These rules govern the Good News Toronto True Story Contest (“Contest”) sponsored by Good News Toronto (“Sponsor”). The act of entering the Contest constitutes acceptance of the Contest rules and the decisions of the Contest judges, which decisions shall be final and binding upon all entrants.

Eligibility

The Contest is open to all residents of the Greater Toronto Area who have not been published in book format, in any genre, and who do not have a contract with a publisher.
Entrants under the age of 17 must mail the Parental/Guardian Consent Form to Good News Toronto. The details are on the form itself.
Employees, board members, and volunteer staff of Good News Toronto, their immediate families or anyone living with them, are not eligible to enter. Immediate families or anyone living with the judges (identified in the judges section below) are not eligible to enter.
Judging will be blind. Entrants who have worked with or attended a class, workshop, or tutorial of the judge(s) (identified in the judges section below) are eligible to enter but cannot enter a story they have written for, read to, worked on with, submitted to, or had edited by the judge(s). Judge(s) are instructed to disqualify any story they recognize.

Eligible Entries

Please carefully read the guidelines section below.
Creative nonfiction personal essays on the following topic:

A Good Neighbour

What is a personal essay?

A form of creative nonfiction, a personal essay is a personal narrative in which the author writes about a personal experience, incident or milestone that was life-altering or provided significant meaning, insight, or resulted in personal growth or development or a lesson learned.
It is autobiographical, written in the first person (using “I”), and is based on feeling, emotion, personal opinion and personal experience. The writer is honest with his/her readers offering them a glimpse into his/her life.
The writer includes detailed descriptions, imagery, characterization, conflict, plot, setting, and often dialogue. The essay makes a point. There is a lesson or meaning. It’s not just an interesting story.
It is written with a focus on language and style, but is more informal and personal than other types of non-fiction writing.
Please carefully read the guidelines section below.
To read essays by past winners click here.

2012 Deadline

The Contest begins at 12:01 AM ET on Thursday June 7, 2012 and continues until 11:59 PM ET on Sunday, September 30, 2012. EXTENDED TO OCTOBER 31, 2012
Entries must be e-mailed no later than 11:59 pm on Sunday, September 30, 2012. Late entries will not be accepted.

Entry Fee

Entrants may submit one entry with your $10 fee. Each additional entry is $5.
If using the PayPal payment option, be sure to list the author’s name and title(s) of your entry or entries in the notes section.
If paying by cheque or money order please state this in the body of your email. Your payment must be postmarked by Sunday, September 30, 2012. Submissions won’t be read if payment is not received.

Make cheque or money orders payable to:
Good News Toronto

and mail to:
True Story Contest
Good News Toronto
131 Hidden Trail
Toronto, Ontario
M2R 3S6

Prizes

First Prize

$100
Publication in Good News Toronto’s December print and online issues.
One-year subscription to Good News Toronto.

Second and Third runners up will be published in Good News Toronto’s January and February print and online issues, respectively.
All Winners will be announced in Good News Toronto’s December print and online issues and on Good News Toronto’s Facebook page(s). Only the winner and the runners up will be contacted beforehand.
Should any of the above-mentioned publication dates become unavailable due to unforeseen circumstances, the announcement and stories will run, in the order listed above, in the next available issue of Good News Toronto.
Please do not send photographs with entries. All winners will be contacted about a photograph and must agree to publication of his/her photograph.
The odds of winning depend on the number of eligible entries received and the caliber of the entries.
If the winner does not claim the prize within 48 hours of notification, the next eligible entry selected by the judging criteria set out in these rules will be contacted, and the first potential winner will have no further claim to the prize.
The Sponsor will notify the winner regarding where to claim the prize(s). The Sponsor will not mail or courier the prize and is not responsible for unclaimed prizes.
All prizes must be accepted as awarded, are non-transferable and are not convertible to cash.
The Sponsor reserves the right to substitute any prize or portion of the prize with a prize of equal or greater value. All prizes are awarded as-is.
Refusal to accept a prize releases Good News Toronto, its directors, officers and employees, of any responsibility and obligation toward the finalists.

Judges, Judging and Notification

Florence McCambridge won first place in Good News Toronto’s 2011 True Story Contest with her entry Hospital Cafeteria. Florence is a writer from Toronto who spends her days as a full-time copywriter for Holt Renfrew and the rest of her time as a freelance writer for clients and for her own projects including blogs and short fiction. You can read her blogs at: Florence in Print and Tour the Page.

The judging will be blind.
The judge will select the First Prize winner and the second and third runners up during the month of November 2012.
The decisions of the Contest judge(s) or the publisher/editor-in-chief are final in respect of any matter relating to this Contest.
The potential winner(s) will be contacted by telephone and/or email during the month of November 2012 by a representative of the Sponsor, and must reply within 48 hours to maintain eligibility. If the potential winner(s) cannot be contacted within this time period or fail(s) to respond to any attempted contact, such potential winner(s) will be disqualified, his/her entry will be declared null and void, and the Sponsor reserves the right, in its sole and absolute discretion, to select another potential winner based on the judging criteria, in which event these provisions shall apply to such other eligible entry.

Guidelines
Entries must be original and unpublished and written in the English language. They must not be submitted or accepted elsewhere for publication or broadcast, nor entered simultaneously in any other contest. Work that has appeared on the internet is considered published and is not eligible.
Pseudonyms are not permitted.
Entries must be typed (Times New Roman, 12 pt) and double spaced and no longer than 450 words. The title is not included in the word count.
The title and total word count must be printed on the top of the first page of the story. Do not include the author’s name or any contact or identifiable information on the story. The judging will be blind.
Edit, edit, edit! The Sponsor reserves the right to disqualify entries that are difficult to read because of too many spelling and/or grammar errors.
The Sponsor reserves the right to edit stories for punctuation, spelling, grammar, or something minor as they see fit, without altering the meaning of the story, and without the permission of the author.
No changes are allowed once Good News Toronto receives your entry.
Submissions should be sent by email only:
Please include in the subject line of your email: True Story Contest
Send the document as an attachment in Microsoft Word format.
In the body of the email include the author’s name, address, telephone number, email address, method of payment, a 25-50 word biography sketch, and the title(s) of your story(ies).
This is not required, but in the body of the email, kindly note where you found out about the contest.
If you are under the age of 17, print, fill in, and mail the Parental/Guardian Consent Form to Good News Toronto. The details are on the form itself. Do not mail your submission(s) with the form. All submissions must be emailed. Include a note in your email that you have mailed your consent form.

Send entries and enquiries to: contest@goodnewstoronto.ca

By entering the Contest you acknowledge that all entries become the property of the Contest Sponsor and receipt of entries will not be acknowledged.
By entering the Contest, entrants agree to allow Good News Toronto to publish their stories, names, and biographical information in all media, including but not limited to Good News Toronto print newspaper and goodnewstoronto.ca without compensation.
In connection with your submission, you affirm, represent, and/or warrant that (i) you own or have the necessary licenses, rights, consents, and permissions to use and authorize Sponsors to use all copyright, trademark, or other proprietary rights in and to your submission to enable inclusion and use of the submission in the manner contemplated by these Contest rules; and (ii) you have the written consent, release, and/or permission of each and every identifiable individual person in the submission to use the name or likeness of each and every such identifiable person to enable inclusion and use of the submission in the matter contemplated by these Contest rules.
The Sponsor reserves the right to reject and disqualify any submissions that could be offensive or inappropriate or that do not meet the terms and conditions of these rules.

Ownership and Use Rights

Entrants retain the copyright to their stories. However, by entering the Contest, you hereby grant the Sponsor a worldwide, irrevocable, perpetual, non-exclusive, royalty-free, sub-licensable, and transferable license to print, publish, use, reproduce, distribute, prepare derivative works of, and display your full name, story, and photograph in connection with the Sponsor (and its successors’) business, including without limitation in any media formats and through any media channels.

Release

Prior to receiving the prize, the potential winner will be required to show valid photo ID and to sign a declaration of eligibility and release form releasing the Sponsor and its related parties from any and all liability in connection with the Contest and/or the prize, confirming compliance with the rules and consenting to the use of his or her name and story in any and all form of media, without further compensation, in any publicity carried out by the Sponsor and/or its advertising and promotional agencies. If a potential winner is under the age of majority, his/her parent or legal guardian must also sign and return the declaration of eligibility and release form. The signed form must be received within 48 hours of notification or the prize may be forfeited and awarded to an alternate entrant.

Indemnity

By participating in this Contest, you agree to defend, indemnify, and hold harmless the Sponsor and their parent, subsidiaries, affiliates, and/or related companies, and each of their officers, directors, shareholders, employees, advisors, assignees, agents, licensees, representatives, advertising, media buyers, and promotional agencies from any and all damages, injuries, claims, causes of action, or losses of any kind (including but not limited to lawyers’ fees) arising from your participation in the Contest, your violation of any term of these Contest rules, your violation of any third-party right, including without limitation any copyright, property, or privacy right; or any claim that your submission caused damage to a third party.

Privacy

We use your personal contact information to administer the Contest, including contacting, announcing, and promoting prize winners. In addition, we may use this information to send you updates or information from us. If you do not wish to receive these emails from us, you may opt out at any time by following the instructions at the bottom of any email you receive.

Banning

The Sponsor may, in its sole discretion, prohibit any person from entering the Contest whom it believes to be abusing the rules. Such abuse includes entering false information.

Other

This Contest is governed by the laws of Ontario and the laws of Canada applicable therein and is void where prohibited by law.
The Sponsor reserves the right to cancel or modify the Contest of the Contest rules at any time without notice.
The Sponsor is not liable for any lost, late, misdirected or stolen entries or inability to process entries, or any errors, damage or negligence that may arise in connection with this Contest, including human error.
The Sponsor is not responsible for any errors or omissions in printing or advertising this Contest.