Hiram Grange Five Day Book Trailer Contest- Win $100!

After Author Kevin Lucia and publisher Neil Jackson both submitted book trailers for Hiram Grange and the Village of the Damned, I quickly realized that there is a wealth of creativity and talent out in the Webosphere, just waiting to be discovered

Both Kevin and Neil suggested a BOOK TRAILER CONTEST to see how much excitement people can create with a 30 to 60 second video.  I thought it was an inspired idea, and I am willing to pay people for their efforts.

Let's keep the rules simple.

1. You have FIVE DAYS starting from December 24th at 12AM EST, and ending at December 29th 12AM EST, though if you start immediately, we'll never know.

2.  Yeah, we know it's Kwanzaa, Chanukah, Christmas, Saturnalia, Solstice, time, but that's the whole point.  Make it quick, down and dirty, guerilla filmmaking!

3.  No book purchase is necessary.  There is enough information on this blog to get you started.  We are not worried about 100% accuracy.  Be creative, but try to be true to the Hiram Grange "canon" (guffaw).

4.  30 to 60 seconds in length (but don't sweat it if you go over or under)

5.  You may borrow images from Shroud, but please do so sparingly and you MUST credit our wonderful artists (such as Malcolm McClinton or Danny Evarts).  You may use these images only for the purposes of this contest.  But really folks, we'd really dig it if you went outside the box and used brand new content.  Naturally do not violate other people's copyright either.  If you do, we can't use your video.

6.  Post your entry on your own YouTube page, and email us the link from there.

7.  Please make sure your video abides with YouTube's submission guidelines.  Any discriminatory material, or anything exploitive to kids, marsupials or orangutans will be summarily discarded.  We will not be held responsible blah blah blah...

8.  I will tap the Hiram Five Authors, Malcolm McClinton (the artist) and Danny Evarts (editor/designer/artist) as judges.  Though, they do not know this yet.

Judging Criteria:

• Compelling, creative and cool;
• Viral Quality;
• True to the Hiram Grange "canon."

9. We'll announce finalists on January 2nd, 2010.

10.  Those Finalists then have five more days to generate the most user ratings on YouTube.  The entry with the most/highest ratings wins!

Prizes:

FIRST PLACE:  $100 Shroud Gift Certificate

SECOND PLACE: $30 Shroud Gift Certificate

THIRD PLACE:   $10 Shroud Gift Certificate

All Finalists will receive a copy of a Hiram grange book of their choice, and all winners will be mentioned in the Subsequent issue of Shroud Magazine.

Send all questions to us.

ready, set, GO!