Greetings!

After a year hiatus, it's time to bring back a Heresy tradition! Time to begin the:

Heresy-Online Fiction Competition 2012

This is a great year for the Heresy Fiction Competition. This will be the fourth year we've done the Fiction Competition, the first year I have judged it, and the second year we've got prizes to give away! While I don't have the connections that others may have, I've still got something almost as good as stuff: Gift cards! (But we'll talk about that later...)

As with the last Fiction Competition in 2010, the same guidelines are in place due to prize inclusion:

Warhammer 40k or Warhammer Fantasy short story: you will need to writer either a 40k or Fantasy based short story. The subject matter of which does not matter. But the overall setting must be in either the 40k or Fantasy universe. we are a 40k forum after all.

4000-5000 word requirement: The monthly HOES competition is 900-1100 words, but that's only for bragging rights. This competition is a serious 40k/Fantasy short story competition and with the inclusion of prizes will therefor demand a more serious effort on the writers part.

No Public Voting: with some rampant cheating having occurred in past public voting competitions I have decided that there will be no public vote. Instead, voting will be done via PM to me as with the monthly competition, with a first place, second place, and third place recommendation. However, for a user's vote to count, they must have at least 50 forum posts. This is to prevent cheating! After the end of the submission window, there will be a 1 month long voting window to allow all the members of Heresy the maximum amount of time to vote on their favourite stories and get these votes to me via PM. In order to maintain my accountability, I will maintain in the moderator forums what users have voted and for whom they have voted. A week after the voting period ends, I will present the top three results and divy out the prizes.

Public Submissions: In previous competitions, there has been a a secret submission policy. Writers posted their stories in the Heretic Ezine/Blog Submission forum. This year, as in 2010, we will not be doing that. On the day the submission window opens, there will be a submission thread posted in the Original Works forum titled: "Fiction Competition 2010 Submission Thread". You will be able to post a link to your story in this submission thread. Your actual entry will need to be posted in its own thread in the Original Works forum using the title "Heresy Fiction Comp 2010: [Insert title here]". Then, you can post the link to your story in the submission thread. I will then compile a list of the submitted stories in the OP of the submission thread, and they will be viewable by the public.

Minimum Post Count: For entrants, there will be a minimum post count of 50 required to be considered for the competition. I will waive this on a case by case basis for new members. Why? Because this is our forum, if you're coming, we want you to stay! The post minimum will be in effect at the conclusion of the competition (i.e., must have at least 50 posts on this forum prior to December 31, 2012).

New Works only: do not submit something that has already been posted here on Heresy in the Original Works section. In order to increase the fairness of the competition, you will be required to write a new piece of fiction. It can include characters that you have already used in the past, but cannot be a story you have already written. While I will not be searching the entire inter-webs to determine if you've posted the story elsewhere, I do frequent other forums and am likely to notice. If any entrants notice an old story being submitted then please, let me know.

No Staff Submissions: Heresy Staff members will not be allowed to participate in the competition. Let's face it, they all suck anyways!

Please feel free to PM any questions you have about the guidelines to me.

Wait Boc, you said prizes, WHAT THE HELL ARE THE PRIZES????

My goodness, you are a greedy bastard aren't you! As I said, I don't have connections to get nifty limited print whatevers, but I do have access to:

CASH-FRIGGIN-MONEY

First Place: $75.00 (that's US dollars, I am American after all)

Second Place: $50.00

Third Place: $25.00

These prizes will be in the form of Virtual Gift Vouchers to Games-Workshop (which can conveniently also be used for BL books via this link!)

The Competition submission window will open DECEMBER 1, 2012 and close DECEMBER 31, 2012. Get writing!