“What does your avatar say about you?”

Ah, the avatar–as forum communities grow, new and creative ways of self-expression flourish. One such way is through the use of avatars, an image that reflects some aspect of the user’s personality. An avatar can either chip away at the bland anonymity of cyberspace or it can symbolize something private to the user–or both at the same time. It can deceive, invent, re-invent, encapsulate, magnify, or downplay. An avatar can relate to a forum member’s username, but it doesn’t have to. It may or may not be obvious to other members of the same forum what that avatar symbolizes.

Bibliophilia is running a contest to challenge our members to answer the question “What does your avatar say about you?” Write a fiction or non-fiction piece, or even a poem, that works with the visual component of your avatar and guides us in interpreting your avatar.

Entry is free. If you are not already a member of Bibliophilia, you can register for free, upload an avatar, and enter the contest before the November 1, 2014 deadline.

General Guidelines:

Entrants must be registered members of Bibliophorum.org by the deadline of midnight GMT, November 1; registration is free.
Entrants must have posted an avatar to their user profile by the deadline of midnight GMT, November 1, 2014 (see “Avatar guidelines” below).
Entrants must write 500 words of prose or less (exclusive of the title) or 40 lines or less of poetry (exclusive of the title) to answer the question “What does your avatar say about you?” Entries may be non-fiction or fiction prose or a poem, and must not be published elsewhere either in print or in any digital form (including online).
Entries must have a title.
Entries must include a cover letter with the entrant’s username, legal name, pen name (if applicable), mailing address, and email address, as well as a brief (2-3 sentence) bio that will be posted online with the winning entries.
Individuals may enter only once, regardless of how many user profiles they have at the forum. In the event that an individual is found to have entered the contest more than once, all entries from that individual will be deemed invalid.
Entries must be submitted by email to:
bibliophorum1 (at) gmail.com
with the required information and the text of the entry pasted into the body of the email. The administrator of Bibliophilia.org and Bibliophorum.org is not responsible for lost entries.
Judge’s decisions are final. Judge will not enter into any correspondence with the entrants.
No amendments, additions, or changes to an entry are allowed once the entry has been submitted to the above email address. You may withdraw your entry from the contest at any time by emailing us at:
bibliophorum1 (at) gmail.com
Simultaneous submissions are discouraged; please do not submit a work to this contest that is under consideration for publication elsewhere, and please do not submit your entry to this contest for consideration for publication elsewhere until the winners of this contest are announced.
Avatar guidelines:

Entrant’s avatar may not be a copyrighted image and must not be previously published in print or in digital form (including online).
Entrant’s avatar may not be blank, i.e. the entrant must upload an avatar to their user profile by the deadline of midnight GMT, November 1, 2014.
The avatar must be no larger than 120 x 120 pixels and no smaller than 100 x 100 pixels.
The avatar which is the basis of an individual’s entry must remain part of their user profile until a winner is announced.
Prizes

The top three entries will be published on Bibliophilia.org and archived on the site with unrestricted public access. By entering this contest, entrants are thereby agreeing to have their entry published on the site.
First prize: five books authored by Bibliophilia members to be delivered to the prizewinner’s mailing address by regular post. Books will represent various genres, including poetry and non-fiction.

Second prize: four books authored by Bibliophilia members to be delivered to the prizewinner’s mailing address by regular post. Books will represent various genres, including poetry and non-fiction.

Third prize: three books authored by Bibliophilia members to be delivered to the prizewinner’s mailing address by regular post. Books will represent various genres, including poetry and non-fiction.
Prizewinners will not receive copies of their own book.
Judging

The judge for this competition will be Victor Martinez (*read a note from the judge below).
Entries will be judged on the basis of expressiveness, writing skill, creativity in answering the focus question, and the degree of congruence between the entrant’s avatar and written entry.
The administrator of Bibliophilia.org and Bibliophorum.org reserves the right not to award any or all of the prizes in the event that none of the entries are judged to be of sufficient merit.
The administrator of Bibliophilia.org and Bibliophorum.org reserves the right to extend the deadline in the event that none of the entries submitted by the deadline of midnight GMT, November 1, 2014 are judged to be of sufficient merit.
Response time for the announcement of the winners will depend on the number of entries received.

If you have any questions, please email the forum administrator (bintarab) at:

bibliophorum1 (at) gmail.com
*A Note From the Judge, Victor Martinez

My name is Victor Martinez, and I have been asked to judge the Bibliophilia Avatar Writing Contest. You know how judging a literary contest can be, it all depends on how the judge feels on that particular day. I can tell you that most nights, I don’t sleep well, so I promise to take the appropriate dosage of pills the night before I get into judging mode.

As for my experience, I have written one novel, two plays, countless short stories, and a bunch of poetry. I’ve always wanted to be a writer, and as a result I spent 16 years as an English teacher always with a ton of papers to grade, developing rubrics that would be fair to all students. So, all I can hope is that I will be a fair judge to all you writers out there. I look forward to reading your entries, and most of all, to your enthusiasm.

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