Amazon Publishing is pleased to announce the Little A Poetry Contest, a contest dedicated to the discovery of emerging poets. The prize will be judged by a panel of established poets of critical acclaim. The winner will receive $5,000 in prize money, an advance and a standard publishing contract with Little A, Amazon Publishing’s literary imprint.
Poets who have published no more than one full-length book of poetry can submit their manuscript for consideration. Submitted collections will be judged on the quality of writing, strength and originality of content and creativity of language.
The 2015 Little A Poetry Contest will be judged by acclaimed poets Cornelius Eady, Jericho Brown and Kimiko Hahn. From November 2 - December 20, 2015, poets can submit their full-length poetry collections for consideration by following the instructions below. The winner will be announced in April 2016.
ABOUT THE JUDGES
Cornelius Eady is the author of eight books of poetry, including Victims of the Latest Dance Craze (1985), winner of the Lamont Poetry Prize from the Academy of American Poets; The Gathering of My Name (1991), nominated for a Pulitzer Prize; and Brutal Imagination (2001), a National Book Award finalist. He is the recipient of the Prairie Schooner Strousse Award, a Lila Wallace-Reader’s Digest Award, and fellowships from the Guggenheim Foundation, the National Endowment for the Arts, and the Rockefeller Foundation. He has served as director of the Poetry Center at the State University of New York at Stony Brook, and has taught at Sarah Lawrence College, New York University, City College of New York, The Writer’s Voice, The College of William and Mary, and Sweet Briar College. He is also the co-founder of Cave Canem, a nonprofit organization that supports emerging African American poets through a summer retreat, regional workshops, a first-book prize, annual anthologies, and events and readings across the country.
Jericho Brown is the recipient of a Whiting Writers Award and fellowships from the Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study at Harvard University and the National Endowment for the Arts. His poems have appeared in The New Republic, The New Yorker, and The Best American Poetry. His first book, Please, won the American Book Award, and his second book, The New Testament, won the Anisfield-Wolf Book Award and the Thom Gunn Award, and it was named one of the best books of the year by Library Journal, Coldfront, and the Academy of American Poets. He is an associate professor in English and creative writing at Emory University in Atlanta.
Kimiko Hahn is the author of nine collections of poetry, including Brain Fever (W. W. Norton, 2014), Toxic Flora (W. W. Norton, 2010),The Narrow Road to the Interior (W.W. Norton, 2006); The Artist’s Daughter (2002); Mosquito and Ant (1999); Volatile (1998); and The Unbearable Heart (1995), which received an American Book Award. Hahn is the recipient of fellowships from the National Endowment for the Arts and the New York Foundation for the Arts, as well as a Lila Wallace-Reader’s Digest Writers’ Award, the Theodore Roethke Memorial Poetry Prize, and an Association of Asian American Studies Literature Award. She is a Distinguished Professor in the English department at Queens College/CUNY and lives in New York.
ELIGIBILITY AND SUBMISSION GUIDELINES
• We accept manuscripts from poets who have published no more than one full-length book of poetry (not including chapbooks).
• Applicants must be legal US residents writing in English.
• Submissions are open from November 2, 2015 through December 20, 2015
• Manuscripts must be 60-100 pages in length, and include: a cover page listing poet’s name, contact information, and short biographical note; a table of contents; page numbers; and an acknowledgments page listing previous publications.
• Submissions must be emailed as one document in .doc or .pdf format to littleapoetry@amazon.com. Submissions received via any other means (including by post) will not be accepted.
Individual poems from the manuscript may be published in journals, chapbooks or anthologies, but the manuscript as a whole must not have been published before (including self-published books).
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
Can writers who have never before had a book of their poetry published, but have published several fiction or nonfiction books be considered?
Yes, we are excited to consider those who have not yet published their first or second book of poetry.
Is there a fee to submit or enter the contest?
No, there is no fee.
Can poets send hardcopies of their manuscript for submission?
No. At this time we only accept email submissions.
Can poets submit multiple manuscripts?
We ask that each poet submits only one manuscript for consideration.
Will the guest judges read every manuscript?
Little A editors will screen the submissions and ten finalists will be passed on to the panel of judges to select one winner.
What are the judges looking for?
The judges will be rating each entry on the following three criteria: quality of writing, strength and originality of content, and creativity of language.
When will the winner’s book be published?
We expect the book will be published in Spring 2017.
What format will the winner’s book be published in?
We expect that the winner’s book will be published by Little A in paperback and as an eBook.
Will Little A publish other manuscripts discovered during the contest?
The focus of the contest is to publish the best collection. However, we are excited about the possibility of discovering new talent and we will consider publishing and working with other poets that submit to the contest.
OFFICIAL RULES
Please read these rules before entering the Amazon Publishing Little A Poetry Contest (“Contest”). By submitting an entry, you acknowledge that you have read and agree to be bound by these Official Rules and the decisions of Amazon Content Services LLC (“Sponsor”, “we”, “our” or “us”) and the judges, and that you satisfy all eligibility requirements.
ELIGIBILITY.
Open to legal residents of the 50 United States and the District of Columbia who (i) are the older of 18 years of age or the legal age of majority in their state of residence at the time of entry; and (ii) have not previously published a full-length collection of poetry or have published no more than one (1) full-length collection of poetry (not including chapbooks). Entrants may not be members of any guild, union or other organization that may prohibit them from participating in this Contest and that would restrict, require due payment or otherwise have the right to oppose such entrant’s participation in this Contest.
Not open to employees or independent contractors, or immediate family members (spouses, domestic partners, parents, grandparents, siblings, children, and grandchildren) or those living in the same household of employees or independent contractors of Sponsor, any entity involved in any aspect of the Contest (including funding, judging or administration), and each of their respective parents, subsidiaries, affiliates, advisors, or advertising/promotion agencies.
HOW TO ENTER.
Contest entry period begins at 12:00:01 a.m. (PT) on November 2, 2015 and ends at 11:59:59 p.m. (PT) on December 20, 2015 (the “Entry Period”). To enter, during the Entry Period upload and email an original, previously unpublished, manuscript authored solely by you in .pdf or .doc format to littleapoetry@amazon.com with the subject line “Poetry Contest Submission” (the “Manuscript” or the “Entry”). Manuscript must be in English, between 60-100 pages in length, include a cover page with your complete name, contact information (with phone number and email address), and a short biographical note, a table of contents, page numbers, and an acknowledgements page listing previous publications (if any).
All Entries must be received by 11:59:59 p.m. (PT) on December 20, 2015. Limit one Entry per person. In the event any you submit more than one Entry, the first Entry received by Sponsor will be deemed your Entry. You assume all risk of lost, late, misdirected, incomplete, or unintelligible Entries.
Individual poems for the Manuscript may be published in journals, chapbooks or anthologies; however, the Manuscript as a whole must be unpublished (including self-published books). Simultaneous submission for potential publication and/or participation in other promotions or contests will be permitted; however, you must withdraw your submission immediately via the email address above if your Manuscript is accepted for publication elsewhere.
Sponsor’s (or its contractor’s) servers and clock shall be deemed the official clock for all phases of the Contest, and your proof of a submission does not constitute proof of receipt by Sponsor. Sponsor is not responsible for (i) lost, misdirected, late, incomplete, or unintelligible Entries or for inaccurate entry information, whether caused by you or by any of the equipment or programming associated with or utilized in the Contest, or by any technical or human error that may occur in the processing of Entries; or (ii) any printing, production, human or typographical errors in any materials associated with the Contest.
Sponsor reserves the right in its sole and unfettered discretion to disqualify at any time any Entry containing obscene, offensive, pornographic or sexually explicit material, or libelous, disparaging, infringing or other inappropriate content or subject matter (as determined by Sponsor in its sole discretion).
CONDITIONS OF ENTRY.
You must follow and meet the following requirements when submitting an Entry:
• You must be the legitimate and sole author of the Manuscript.
• Manuscript content must be in English and comply with the content policy and guidelines found in the Amazon.com Content Guidelines at www.amazon.com/littleapoetry, and meet other reasonable community standards.
• The Manuscript must not currently or previously have been the subject of a publishing agreement or option with any publisher or have been published via any other platform or website.
• Must be able and willing to enter into an exclusive publishing agreement with Amazon Publishing, and must not be under any existing obligation that would inhibit or prevent you from entering such publishing agreement.
By accepting these Official Rules and by entering this Contest, you represent and warrant that you (a) are the sole author of the Manuscript entered; (b) you own all right, title and interest in and to the Manuscript and all other content you submit in your Entry, including all patent, copyright, trademark, service mark, mask work, moral right, trade secret or other intellectual property or proprietary right, and such content is not defamatory, libelous, obscene, or otherwise illegal; (c) the Manuscript you submit has not previously been published in any format, other than individual poems from the Manuscript included in journals, chapbooks or anthologies; and (d) and you have received the written consent of any person (or parent or legal guardian if such person is a minor) who appears or is identifiable in any Entry. Failure to obtain or provide the consent referenced in clause (d) will disqualify the Entry. Sponsor may at any time during the Contest request proof of such consent and disqualify any Entry for which such consent cannot be provided. Sponsor may disqualify any entrant whose Entry Sponsor determines, in its sole discretion, at any time not to comply with any requirement described in these Official Rules or the foregoing representations and warranties. You agree to indemnify and hold harmless Sponsor, any entity involved in any aspect of the Contest (including funding, judging or administration), and each of their respective parents, subsidiaries, affiliates, advisors, employees, contractors, and advertising/promotion agencies (collectively, the “Released Parties”), for any action or claim brought by a person whose consent you did not obtain.
JUDGING.
First Round. From December 20, 2015 through February 15, 2016, each Manuscript will be judged based on (i) the quality of writing; (ii) strength and originality of content; and (iii) creativity of language (collectively, the “Judging Criteria”), as determined by Sponsor in its sole discretion, and ten (10) finalists (each a “Finalist”) will be selected. In the event of a tie, the tie will be broken by the tied Entries being rated based on the highest average score in the quality of writing criterion, as determined by Sponsor in its sole discretion. Sponsor will not contact you if you are not selected as a Finalist.
Final Round. From February 15, 2016 through April 1, 2016 each Finalist’s Manuscript will be rated by The Little A Contest judging panel, consisting of three judges to be appointed by Sponsor in its sole discretion, using the Judging Criteria specified above. One Grand Prize winner will be selected based on the Judging Criteria and will be notified by phone or e-mail on or about April 1, 2016. In the event of a tie, the tie will be broken by the tied Manuscripts being rated based solely on originality of Manuscript content.
In the event a potential Finalist’s Entry is disqualified, the entrant who submitted the next highest rated Entry will be selected as a Finalist, and must comply with the requirements in these Official Rules. All decisions of the Sponsor and judges are final and binding. Finalists will be notified by email only after the Grand Prize winner has been selected, on or about April 1, 2016.
PRIZE.
One Grand Prize winner will receive a Grand Prize package, which has a total approximate retail value (“ARV”) of $7,000.00 USD and includes:
• $5,000 cash prize; and
• A publishing contract with Amazon Publishing, including a $2,000 cash advance.
Upon the full execution of the publishing contract and receipt of valid tax and payment information for the Grand Prize winner in the form and manner requested by Amazon (including by setting up a payee account), Amazon Publishing will pay the $5,000 cash prize and $2,000 advance. The $2,000 payment is an advance against the royalties to be earned by the Grand Prize winner under the publishing contract. Amazon Publishing will determine the royalty rates to be paid under the publishing contract. You may not negotiate the publishing contract with Amazon Publishing, and you must sign it "as is" upon receipt of the executable contract if you wish to enter into the publishing contract being awarded. The publishing contract will be governed by the laws of the State of New York. For a brief summary of the royalty terms and conditions of the publishing contract, please see below.
Amazon Publishing Contract Summary:
Amazon Publishing is offering one publishing contract with a $2,000 advance against future royalties, which one Grand Prize winner will receive. A brief summary is available below. You will be required to accept the Amazon Publishing contract "as-is" if you are selected as the Grand Prize winner.
The following terms apply specifically to Little A Poetry Contest contestants and not necessarily all Amazon Publishing contracts.
• Territory: Worldwide
• Languages: All
• Formats: Hardcover, Paperback, E-Book, and Audio
• Primary Sales Royalties:
• Hardcover: 15% of List Price (MSRP)
• Paperback: 10% of List Price (MSRP)
• E-Book: 35% of Net Revenue
• Audio: 10% of Net Revenue
• Net Revenue Definition: Gross amounts Amazon or its affiliates receive from the sale of the Work, less customer returns, E-book transmission costs and returns of unsold stock, and excluding taxes, shipping and gift wrap charges.
Winner will be responsible for paying all costs and expenses related to the prize that are not specifically mentioned, including, but not limited to, taxes, and any other expenses that might reasonably be incurred by the winner in receiving or using the prize. In addition to executing the Amazon Publishing contract, winner will be required to submit to Sponsor his/her social security number or tax payer ID number, or other such tax filing information required by Sponsor in order to claim the prize.
Sponsor reserves the right to substitute a prize (or portion thereof) for an item of comparable or greater value, in its sole discretion. All prizes will be awarded “AS IS” and WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND, express or implied (including, without limitation, any implied warranty of merchantability or fitness for a particular purpose). Limit one prize per person.
GRANT OF RIGHTS
By submitting your Manuscript in this Contest, if you are selected as the Grand Prize winner you grant Sponsor the exclusive first worldwide publication rights to your Manuscript in all formats and all languages on the date you are selected. If you are not selected as the winner, Amazon's exclusive first publication rights to your Manuscript terminate when you are eliminated from the Contest. If you are not selected as the winner and Amazon notifies you that it wishes to publish your Manuscript, you agree to negotiate the terms and conditions of a publishing agreement exclusively with Amazon for a period of 30 days after you receive notification from Amazon. If you and Amazon have not reached agreement after 30 days, you may offer the Manuscript to other publishers on the condition that before you enter into an agreement with another publisher, you will afford Amazon the last right to publish your Manuscript on the same terms and conditions offered by any other publisher, plus an advance against royalties 10% greater than the other offer. Amazon must communicate its decision to you within five business days after you have provided written notice of the other publisher's terms and conditions. If Amazon declines or fails to act within that period, you will not have any further obligation to Amazon, and you may publish the Manuscript with another publisher.
Entries, along with the your name, may be posted on any website owned and/or operated by Sponsor or any of its affiliates (“Sponsor Site”), Sponsor’s pages on social media web sites, such as Facebook, Twitter or Instagram, and any other Web site or other online point of presence on any platform, through which any products or services available on or through the Sponsor Site are described, syndicated, offered, merchandised or advertised, in Sponsor’s sole discretion. Sponsor’s decision to post an Entry or any portion of an Entry on any Sponsor Site does not mean that the selected Entry has been selected as the winning Entry.
By submitting an Entry, you grant Amazon, and each of their respective affiliates and agents permission to use, without charge, portions of your Entry, along with your name and stated reason for writing the submitted Manuscript (if provided) for any purpose in connection with this Contest. You also grant Sponsor the right to edit the formatting and display of your Entry, and to create literary or any other types of effects in respect to your Manuscript without compensation or approval. In addition, to the extent that any moral rights (for example, the right to attribution and the right to integrity) apply, you waive (and to the extent that these rights may not be waived, agree irrevocably not to assert) your moral rights in your Entry for purposes of this Contest, including, without limitation, our use of excerpts from your Manuscript in connection with this Contest.
CONDITIONS OF PARTICIPATION.
Each Finalist and the Grand Prize winner will be required to sign and return an Eligibility Affidavit; Liability and Publicity Release or other such form as requested by Sponsor. Prior to awarding a prize, Sponsor may, in its sole discretion, require the potential Finalists and Grand Prize winner to sign such additional documents Sponsor decides are necessary to confirm eligibility, to obtain a liability/publicity release, and to award any prize. Failure to return any required document by the date requested by Sponsor will deem the winner as ineligible to receive the prize. If any documentation is not returned by the specified dates or if the potential winner is deemed ineligible prior to the prize being awarded, Sponsor may, in its sole discretion, award the prize to the next Finalist receiving the highest score.
ADDITIONAL TERMS.
To the maximum extent permitted by law, Sponsor reserves the right, in its sole discretion, to change these rules or cancel the Contest at any time, or to modify, terminate, or suspend the Contest should viruses, worms, bugs, unauthorized human intervention, or other causes beyond Sponsor’s control corrupt or impair the administration, security, fairness, or proper play of the Contest or submission of Entries, or in the event Sponsor does not receive a minimum of 100 qualified Entries from separate eligible entrants. Sponsor is not responsible for any human or other error that may occur in the processing of the Entries, nor is it responsible for any error, omission, interruption, deletion, defect, delay in operation or transmission, theft or destruction, or unauthorized access to, or alteration of, Entries, or for technical, network, telephone, computer, hardware or software, malfunctions of any kind, or inaccurate transmission of, or failure to receive any entry information on account of technical problems or traffic congestion on the Internet or at any website. Sponsor is not responsible for injury or damage to any entrant’s or any other computer resulting from downloading any materials in connection with the Contest. Sponsor reserves the right, in its sole discretion, to disqualify any individual found to be tampering with the entry process, the outcome of the Contest, or the operation of the Contest or Web site; to be acting in violation of these rules; or to be acting in an unsportsmanlike or disruptive manner or with intent to annoy, abuse, threaten, or harass any other person. CAUTION: ANY ATTEMPT BY ANY INDIVIDUAL TO DELIBERATELY DAMAGE ANY WEB SITE OR UNDERMINE THE LEGITIMATE OPERATION OF THE CONTEST MAY BE A VIOLATION OF CRIMINAL AND CIVIL LAWS, AND SHOULD SUCH AN ATTEMPT BE MADE, SPONSOR AND ITS AFFILIATES RESERVE THE RIGHT TO SEEK DAMAGES AND/OR OTHER RELIEF FROM ANY SUCH PERSON TO THE FULLEST EXTENT PERMITTED BY LAW.
MISCELLANEOUS.
The Contest and all accompanying materials are copyright © 2015 by Amazon Services LLC or its affiliates. All rights reserved. By entering, you agree to be bound by these rules. No transfer, assignment, cash redemption or substitution of prizes is permitted except by Sponsor due to prize availability and then with prizes of equal or greater value. You agree (for yourself and your heirs) that the Released Parties will have no liability, and will be held harmless the maximum extent permitted by law for any liability, loss, injury, or damage to property or to person, including death, and reasonable attorney’s fees and court costs, due in whole or in part, directly or indirectly, by reason of participation in the Contest, or by reason of the acceptance, possession, use or misuse of the prizes, even if caused or contributed to by the negligence of any of the Released Parties. Contest is governed by the laws of the United States and the State of Washington. As a condition of participating in this Contest, you agree that any and all disputes which cannot be resolved between the parties, and causes of action arising out of or in connection with this Contest, shall be resolved individually, without resort to any form of class action, exclusively before a court located in King County, Washington having jurisdiction. Further, in any such dispute, under no circumstances will you be permitted to obtain awards for, and hereby waive all rights to claim, punitive, incidental or consequential damages, including attorneys' fees, other than your actual out-of-pocket expenses (e.g. costs associated with entering), and you further waive all rights to have damages multiplied or increased. You agree that the decisions of Sponsor and the judges related to the Contest are final. By participating in the Contest, you consent to the use of your name, biographical information, Entries, images and/or likenesses in any manner and in any medium for any purpose in connection with the Contest, including worldwide, without additional compensation, except where prohibited by law.
WINNER’S NAME. After the winner is confirmed, the winner’s name will be posted www.amazon.com/littleapoetry until September 30, 2016.
SPONSOR. Amazon Content Services LLC, 410 Terry Avenue North, Seattle, WA, 98109.
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