Note: if you haven't read the contest overview or are unfamiliar with the contest please visit the overview here.


This contest and all promotions related to it are brought to you by The Cynic Online Magazine (www.cynicmag.com) and are open to those living in the United States, Canada, or Europe who are 16 years of age or older and possess a valid email address. If entrants are under 18 they must be able to produce a parent or guardians signature if chosen for publication or prize. The Cynic Online Magazine staff members and immediate family members are ineligible to participate in contests. Mailing address will be required of contest winners. No purchase or fee is necessary to enter this contest. All winners will be paid via PayPal in amount equivalent to the listed prize amounts in US dollars. If your country does not allow access to PayPal, please do not enter the contest. Any winner who does not accept payment by March 1st forfeits their right to the prize money.


Note: Prior publication in The Cynic Online Magazine DOES NOT increases chances of placing in the contest


The entrant retains all rights to his or her work(s) and allows www.cynicmag.com the right to publish the entrant's work in the December 2008 issue of The Cynic Online Magazine. Furthermore, if an entrant's work is selected as a winner, the entrant agrees to allow www.cynicmag.com to publish their winning entry in the December 2009 issue as well. Work must be the original work of the entrant and cannot be previously published in part or in whole. No fan fiction or prior publication on the Internet of any kind, excluding personal web pages, will be accepted.


Email your entry to holidaycheer@cynicmag.com with Not So Cynical in the subject line. If entry is submitted through email then it must be sent as either a MS Word attachment, text attachment or sent in the body of the email. Do not send PDF or any other format other than the accepted ones listed above. Remember when submitting by email please be sure to check your spam folder as your provider may mark cynicmag emails as spam.





All entries MUST include the following at the top of the first page or email:


---------------


I, <Full Name (as you would like it to appear)> have read the rules of the Cynic Online Magazine's Not So Cynical Christmas contest and agree to all of the terms as listed on www.cynicmag.com/rules.htm.


<Full Legal Name & Date>


---------------


If the above statement is not included in your email/mail submission, your submission will not be accepted as an entry in the contest. Over the years we have excluded many wonderful submissions, some contest-winning worthy, given that the author neglected to include this statement with their submission.


Authors may submit up to three pieces of work for the contest. All entries must be received no later than November 15th. Winners will be notified via email on November 28th.


If you have any questions feel free to contact Mari Plante, Submissions Editor at marip@cynicmag.com.


Please note that contests rules may change at the discretion of the Cynic Online Magazine without notice. While prize values are subject to change, the value of prizes will not grow smaller for the duration of this contest.


Entries will be judged on the talent of the writer who created the work and on the ability of the work to portray an optimistic holiday message. The opinion of what is an "optimistic holiday message" is up to each judge's discretion. (Extra kudos to those that can make the judges misty-eyed)


Prize Details


Each article/story/poem will be placed in one of two categories.


1-Short Works


This category consists of anything that is shorter than 1500 words. Works can be poetry, short story or essay.


2-Long Works


This category is for any piece of work that is 1500 words or longer but less than 8000 words.


The prizes are as follows (all prize values are in US dollars):


Long Works-


First Place


$100


Second Place


$50


Third Place


$25


Short Works-


First Place


$50


Second Place (2 winners)


$25


Should either category falls shorter in the number of submissions than a predetermined number of writers; both categories will be combined into a general pool.


Prizes in the general pool:


First Place (1 winner)


$100


Second Place (2 winners)


$50


Third Place (3 winners)


$25


* Please note: if any entry is found to be in breach of the above contest rules the entry in question will be excluded from the contest.