2016 LITERARY MASTERMINDS CONTEST GUIDELINES All submissions must be received by March 1, 2016 páååé=nvpu= LITERARY MASTERMINDS CONTEST A pencil and a dream can take you anywhere. --- J.A. Meyer In partnership with Brown Girls Books Publishing Company Jack and Jill of America (JJOA), Incorporated will promote the literary talents of our children by choosing the best short stories and poem entries for inclusion in a JJOA Children s Book. This Anthology will be published and released at the 2016 42nd Biennial National Convention in Palm Desert, California. OVERVIEW We are pleased to announce the submission guidelines for the 20166 Jack and Jill Literary Masterminds Contest. These easy-to-follow instructions will provide an opportunity to showcase our children s (Kindergarten thru Fifth grade) very own written and artistic talents. Important to Note: The Web upload site will be available from February 25, 2016 until 11:59 PST, March 1, 2016. Using the Literary Masterminds entry form, all submissions must also be received by the byy March 1, 2016 deadline. We will not accept submissions by mail or email. Additionally, we will not accept changes to text or photos/illustrations once we have received your materials (this includes missing and corrupted files), so please review all submissionss before uploading them! PLEASE READ ADHERED TO. THE FOLLOWING GUIDELINES VERY CLOSELY AS DEADLINES AND SPECIFICATIONS MUST BE IF YOU HAVE QUESTIONS, our JJOA Literary Mastermind Contestss Committee will be available to assist you. Please contact Daniellee Wesley using the information below: Danielle Wesley, Literary Masterminds Committee South Central Region Dwesley16@yahoo.com SPECIFICATIONS All submissions must adhere to the following specifications/criteria. ELIGIBILITY AND ENTRY GUIDELINES This Literary Mastermind Contest is open to Jack and Jill of America, Incorporated children in grades Kindergarten thru 5th. The story or poem must promote, include or use The Power to Make a Difference theme. The story and illustrations must be the child s original work, not copy written. Previously published work cannot be entered. Stories can be fact or fiction, and prose or poetry. Each submitted story must have a minimum of one and a maximumm of three original, clear illustrations. Poems are not required to have any artwork, but may have only onee illustration. Only ONE submission per child. A maximum of two collaborative Authors are allowed per submission. (It is acceptable to have one or two Authors per story or poem). Only one Illustrator per submission. (The Illustrator may or may not be the authorr of the story). No child identifiable information can be included in story, poem, orr the illustration. Adherence to the guidelines will be enforced. Any failure to adhere to these guidelines may result in disqualification.
Page 2 TEXT SPECIFICATIONS REMINDER: A maximum of TWO Authors per story are permitted. REMINDER: No child identifiable information can be included in the story/poem. All text must be submitted as Microsoft Word.doc or.docx files. Scanned or non-editable text (including.pdf files) will not be accepted. If you do not have access to Microsoft Word, service centers (i.e. Kinko s) can assist you. Run spell/grammar check before submitting. 12 pt. font, Times New Roman. White background, black text (only). Kindergarten and First grade submissions: minimum of 50 and a maximum of 100 words. Second through Fifth grade submissions: minimum of 500 and a maximum of 2,500 words. The word count does not include the words on non-story pages such as a title page or those that enhance the illustrations. Children who cannot write may dictate their story to be typed by a designated adult. FORMAT AND ILLUSTRATIONS REMINDER: Only ONE Illustrator per submission. REMINDER: No identifiable information can be included on artwork/illustration Each submitted story must have a minimum of one and a maximum of three original, clear illustrations. Poems are not required to have any artwork, but may only have one illustration. Mixed media - pencil, crayon, ink, acrylic, water, photo, digital (digitally-drawn/computer generated artwork is acceptable, only if it is the child s original creation (altered material-taken from Internet) is not acceptable). Do not use clipart or newspaper print as a background. Black and white or color. 8 ½ x 11 inch white paper All illustrations must be submitted in.pdf or.jpg (JPEG Photoshop compression level with quality 10 or higher). No scanned reproductions of an image from another publication can be used. Do not send illustrations in a Word document. All illustrations must be uploaded individually. Resolution: 300 DPI or higher. As a general rule, the larger the image file the better it will print. ENTRY PROCESS AND DEADLINE No limit to the number of story/poem entries per chapter. However, ONLY ONE SUBMISSION PER CHILD is allowed. Each Story or Poem entry must be forwarded to the Chapter Program Director or Chapter President for official submission/upload to the contest. The CHAPTER S SUBMISSION COVER SHEET signed by the Chapter Program Director or Chapter President must be uploaded with chapter submissions Each Literary Mastermind Story or Poem entry must have the following files: Literary Masterminds Book Contest Entry Form. Do not create your own Entry Form. Literary Masterminds Book Contest Release Form with the required signature of a parent/guardian and the signature of the chapter s Program Director confirming that the story/poem and illustration(s) are original, and granting certain rights to the entry materials. (Must be completed for each submitting child) Story of Poem, Microsoft Word.doc or.docx file Illustration(s),.pdf or.jpg file. Each illustration must be uploaded individually Incomplete submissions or those that do not follow these criteria may result in disqualification.
Page 3 FILE NAMING All files must be named in the following way: If your files are not named properly they may be overlooked and inadvertently omitted from the competition! 1. LITERARY MASTERMINDS BOOK CONTEST ENTRY FORM: Chapter_State_Title_1Type_EntryForm Example, submitting a story titled The Big Apple, would be named: Austin_ TX_The-Big-Apple_1Story_EntryForm.doc 2. LITERARY MASTERMINDS BOOK CONTEST RELEASE FORM: Chapter_State_Title_2Type_Role_Last Name_First Name (Must be completed, scanned and uploaded for each participating child) Example, story The Big Apple, John Smith and Jane Doe (authors) and Johnny Appleseed (illustrator) from Austin, TX submits their story. Would REQUIRE 3 RELEASE FORM files named: Austin_ TX_The-Big-Apple_2Story_Author_Smith_John.pdf, Austin_TX_The-Big-Apple_2Story_Author_Doe_Jan.pdf, and Austin_TX_The-Big-Apple_2Story_Illustator_Appleseed_Johnny.pdf 3. STORY/POEM SUBMISSION: Chapter_State_Title_3Type Example, submitting story titled The Big Apple, would be named: Austin_ TX_The-Big-Apple_3Story.doc Example, submitting poem titled The Orange, would be named: Austin_ TX_The-Orange_3Poem.docx 4. ILLUSTRATION(s) for STORY/POEM SUBMISSION: Chapter_State_Title_4Type_Illustration# Example, submitting two illustrations to story titled The Big Apple, would be named: Austin_ TX_The-Big- Apple_4Story_Illustration1.jpg and Austin_TX_The-Big-Apple_4Story_Illustration2.pdf NOTE: Each submitted story must have a minimum of one and a maximum of three original, clear illustrations. All illustrations must be uploaded individually. Example, submitting an illustration to poem The Orange, would be named: Austin_ TX_The-Orange_4Poem_Illustration.jpg. Poems are not required to have any artwork, but may have only one illustration. SUBMISSION/UPLOAD (Chapter Program Director or Chapter President): UPLOADS ARE ACCEPTED FROM CHAPTER PROGRAM DIRECTORS AND CHAPTER PRESIDENTS ONLY. Submissions not received by the Chapter Program Director or President will not be accepted. ONLY ONE ELECTRONIC SUBMISSION PER CHAPTER. Chapter s Submission MUST include the CHAPTER S SUBMISSION COVER SHEET CHECKLIST signed by the Chapter Program Director or Chapter President. All Submissions must be completed and uploaded in its entirety to the JJOA Literary Mastermind Contest Dropbox no later than 11:59 p.m. Pacific Standard Time, MARCH 1, 2016 - Dropbox will open February 25, 2016. The web upload can be found at: https://dropbox.hightail.com/jjoa-2016literarymasterminds You will receive a confirmation email when we receive your files. Do not resubmit any information unless prompted. Please note: There is a maximum upload of 5 files per transfer. We strongly encourage zipping files and sending them in groups. Follow the six steps/instructions carefully. REMEMBER only one submission per chapter. Step 1: Prior to uploading, verify that each FILE is named correctly (see page 3 under File Naming). Step 2: Navigate to the web server to upload by going to: https://dropbox.hightail.com/jjoa-2016literarymasterminds
Page 4 Step 3: We require you to fill out the Subject and Message lines on the form even though they are marked as optional fields. Enter the following information on the webpage form: Subject field (REQUIRED): Please complete with JJOA2016LM, Chapter Name, State (e.g. JJOA2016LM Austin, TX ) Message field (REQUIRED): Please complete with Region, Contact Information (including mother s name, office, telephone and email address), No. of Entries (e.g. South Central, Jane Doe Program Director 555-555-5555 jdoe@aol.com, 3 stories 2 poems) Step 4: Click browse to attach a file, and click add another file to add more. Be sure to attach all files. We highly recommend zipping your files together to simplify the upload process. Once the file has been attached, click the SUBMIT button. Step 5: WAIT. Please be patient during this process and DO NOT close the form or click Submit again. Your submission may take a while to send depending on the size of your files you re uploading or your Internet connection speed. Step 6: You will receive a confirmation message and email when your upload has been completed successfully. Save the confirmation receipt for your records. SELECTION AND PUBLISHING CRITERIA Submissions will be judged on creativity, originality of plot and/or themes, content, quality of artwork, and compatibility of text and illustrations. The submissions will be anonymously reviewed and evaluated. All decisions of the judges are final and not subject to appeal or review. The chosen submissions will be professionally edited and included in a Jack and Jill of America, Incorporated published children s anthology. Brown Girls Books Publishing Company, owned by member, ReShonda Tate Billingsly, will oversee the review, evaluation, editorial and production process. The book will be produced in paperback format and will be available in both print and digital formats. Children whose submissions are chosen for the book will be offered the opportunity to participate in a book signing at the national convention, at own personal expense. After the convention, the book can be purchased on the Jack and Jill of America, Inc. website and at major bookstores (Barnes and Noble, Amazon, etc.) No financial compensation will be awarded to children for chosen submissions. The submissions will become property of Jack and Jill of America, Incorporated. 2016 LITERARY MASTERMINDS CONTEST CHECKLIST All submissions must be received by March 1, 2016 Please review the following checklist to be sure your submission is complete: All files being submitted are included in the upload CHAPTER S SUBMISSION COVER SHEET CHECKLIST (signed by the Chapter Program Director or Chapter President) ENTRY PACKAGE files for EACH chapter submission which includes: Literary Masterminds Book Contest Entry Form. Do not create your own Entry Form. Literary Masterminds Book Contest Release Form with the required signature of a parent/guardian and the signature of the chapter s Program Director confirming that the story/poem and
Page 5 illustration(s) are original, and granting certain rights to the entry materials. (Must be completed for each submitting child) Story of Poem, Microsoft Word.doc or.docx file Illustration(s),.pdf or.jpg file. Each illustration must be uploaded individually All image files abide by the required specifications All text files abide by the required specifications All files are properly named with the naming scheme detailed in the Guidelines Parental Release form is included for each minor appearing in the publication On behalf of the 2014-2016 National Executive Board and the National Program Committee, THANK YOU for your commitment to developing future leaders. 2015-16 JJOA LITERARY MASTERMINDS COMMITTEE Gladys M. Henderson. National Program Director Central Region: Sharon Ivy, Kansas City Missouri Chapter Eastern Region: Carmelia Taylor, Queens Chapter Mid-Atlantic Region: Helen Kimbrough, South Charlotte Chapter Mid-Western Region: Agnes Godwin Hall, Cincinnati Chapter South Central Region: Danielle Wesley, Northeast Dallas Chapter Southeastern Region: Precious Jones, Macon Chapter Publisher: ReShonda Tate Billingsley, Mid-Atlantic Region