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Monthly Competitions:

At Grace Notes we are open to any genre in any form. We specially instruct our judges to score pieces based on artistic and creative merit rather than marketability. This enables even experimental pieces to have the same chance of winning our monthly prize as those works in more standard forms. 

We do not restrict adult themes or language here at Grace Notes but do insist that any pieces of an adult nature be clearly labeled as such with a parenthetical (ADULT THEME/LANGUAGE) in the title of the entry. Adult geared entries without this labeling will be disqualified and removed from the site. Please do not submit pornographic materials. Violence is acceptable material as long as it is an integral part of the story being submitted. We will not consider (or host) materials that glorify violence. In general, if you are not sure if your materials are suitable, contact our administrators at submissions@notesandgracenotes.com.

Entrants are permitted to enter up to two entries per category, per month. Any additional submissions will be deleted by our administrators without notification.

All entries must abide by our length restrictions as follows:

Poetry: Up to 125 lines

Fiction and Creative Nonfiction: No more than 3500 words. Works between 3500-5000 words will be considered for the Lit Mag BUT NOT the Monthly Competitions.

Historical Fiction: 1500-3000 words.

Entries exceeding these limits will be disqualified.

Entries must be posted in the proper category. The instructions for categorizing posts can be found on the right side of the box where you post your work. Entries which are miscategorized may be disqualified.

You may edit or delete an entry after it has been submitted. However, we recommend marking your submission "Revised" if you make changes so our administrators have the chance to review the changes as we will be reading entries on a daily basis as they are submitted. If you choose to delete an entry, please notify us. 

Writers must be ages 18 years and older and must own the sole rights to their entries.  Authors submitting works that are not their own intellectual property will be disqualified from the contest, their entries will be removed from the site, and they will be reported to the proper authorities. Plagiarism is a crime and will not be tolerated at Grace Notes.

In entering our contests, entrants are acknowledging these rules and understand that Grace Notes cannot be held responsible for any intellectual theft of posted works. As with any Internet writing site, there is always a risk of theft. To protect yourself, Grace Notes advises copyrighting or registering your work with the WGA .

The writer gives Grace Notes permission to forward these works to our judges and affiliates.

Notes Magazine:

ALL WORK posted on Notes and Grace Notes will be considered for the magazine as long as it follows the General Rules outlined above. Members can continue to post two works, 3500 words or under, for inclusion in the monthly contests. Postings between 3500-5000 words will be considered only for the Magazine. These postings should be tagged 'Lit Mag'. Please tag your postings appropriately, if you post more than two per month, those you wish to have entered into the contest should be tagged the SAME WAY they have always been, either SHORT FICTION/EXCERPT, CNF or POETRY. By addint the addition Lit Mag Tag you will ensure that our editors know it is being submitted for that purpose.

Again, ALL WORK will be considered for the magazine as long as it is under 5000 words.

Please direct any questions regarding the Mag or the Monthly Contests to Notes and Grace Notes Administrators.

Payment:

Yes, we are paying authors! We are authors too, and we know how nice it is to be paid for your work. Payments for future issues will be based on royalties as well as an honorarium based on available funds until we are more established and can pay more upon first acceptance. All contributors will always receive a free contributor copy as well.

Magazine Editorial Procedures:

Grace Notes prides itself on helping promising authors reach their greatest heights. With that mission in mind, we do not offer publishing oportunities only to those pieces in pristine condition but also to those who (with proper guidance) show great potential of crossing into greatness. 

Our editors may send out revisions notes to potential contributors to assist in the re-write process and to work a piece into publish-ready condition. We would rather work with a great writer to produce a perfect story than publish lesser works that are more "technically" well written.

Potential contributors retain all rights and may decline the revision suggestions made by our editors. However, this may hurt an author's chances of being published in Notes Magazine, depending on how crucial the suggested re-writes were in terms of keeping up with our high standards to produce a magazine unlike any other.

Contract:

By submitting to Notes Magazine or entering  our monthly competition you are accepting that you have read and understand our guidelines and policies regarding publication.

Judging for Monthly Contests:

Grace Notes Administrators will be reading entries on a daily basis. We will be looking for those gems that might not have gotten as much traffic as other pieces or lacked a flashy title.  It is of the utmost importance at Grace Notes that finalists truly are the best that the site has to offer; not only those who draw in hits but those who receive high scores and great reader reviews. 

Between peer feedback and our administrator's readings, ten finalists in each category will be chosen and forwarded to our professional judges who will read and rate each piece. All finalists will receive a copy of their judges' report card and judges' comments. Grace Notes staff will also be scoring each piece.

To see samples of the Judges Report Cards and gain a better understanding of the criteria your work will be judges upon, please click one of the following: Poetry , Fiction , or Creative Nonfiction.

The total number of points awarded by the judge will be added to the total number of points awarded by the Grace Notes Staff and those with the highest  total scores will be named winners. Winners will be announced one month from the end of the contest. All contests run from the first to the last day of each calendar month.

Three winners (one per category) will divide 50% of the site's total revenue for the month. Because there is no entry fee, there is no minimum prize amount. However, the more entries we receive, the more traffic the site sees, the more advertising revenue we will earn. In addition, winners will receive special consideration/products/services through our affiliates.

Winners will be posted on the Grace Notes home page one month after the close of the contest month. Prize payments will be made between 10 and 14 weeks after winners are announced.  Please note: If you feel your entry received less than an average number of views and therefore did not receive a fair chance, please write to harmoni@notesandgracenotes.com. We will review the number of views your piece received and if it did, in fact, come in below the average number of views it will be reviewed by our editorial staff. If our staff scored the piece well it will be entered as a finalist.

All contest entries in the Fiction, Creative Nonfiction, and Poetry categories will be considered for our Annual Anthology (1st Edition, Root Exposure, to be published in 2009). This volume will not be exclusive to winning entries but also to selections made by our editors independent of both professional and user based judging. Writers are under no obligation to accept this publishing opportunity but those who are selected for inclusion and accept will earn a percentage of the total royalty and receive one free copy of the book. The revenue for these volumes will be divided among the authors, editors, and a percentage will also be put back into prize money.

Policies Regarding Dividing of Revenue:

If a category does not receive more than one entry, the contest for that category will be canceled and the prize money will be divided among the remaining categories. As long as there are 2 or more entries, the contest will be continued. However, the prize amount may be adjusted to reflect a significant difference in odds between categories.