My-Name-Is-Harry Writing Contest Rules

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My-Name-is-Harry Official Writing Contest Page

Saturday July 14, 2007

If Everyone Knew Your Name, But Not You, What Would You Do?

Imagine for just one moment that you are a boy, born on September 1, 1991, given the first name of 'Harry' and the last name was 'Potter'. In 1991 the first Harry Potter book was still being written. It wouldn't be published in the U.K. until 1997 and in the U.S. until 1998. And even when Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone was published, absolutely no one could have predicted the cultural icon that J.K. Rowling's Harry Potter would become. So think about the effect on your life, if during your childhood and teen years, the ages where we all struggle with our own identity, you had one of the most famous names in the world. But when people hear your name, they don't actually think of you.

Fifty-two writers stepped up to the task of crafting a story with this plot in the My-Name-is-Harry writing contest sponsored by Aboon Books and today the winners were announced. The My-Name-is-Harry writing contest is not affiliated, sponsored or endorsed by J. K. Rowling, her publishers, Warner Brothers or any other copyright or trademark holders. Contest creator, Anne Emerick, said the contest was meant as a tribute to J.K. Rowling's stories and as an entertaining look at the enormous impact they've had. As runner-up, Christina Beal wrote in her story, "I was 'Aren't you Harry Potter like The Book?' That's how they said it too. The Book in the same way you say The Bible. You don't have to say any more than that, because everyone just knows."

To get a copy of the winning My-Name-Is-Harry story and Poster Girl, click here.

Why are we distributing these the two stories together?

It's like two sides of an old 45 RPM. Someone might buy it to hear one story and find they like the other just as well or better. We didn't have time to do a complete editing and illustration of the winning story, and the author retains the copyright. So My-Name-is-Harry is simply a bonus for anyone buying (Poster Girl) directly from our website in 2007.

The winners in the My-Name-Is-Harry Writing Contest are:

First Place: Nancy Sharpe of Lakeland, Florida for her story about a Harry who was able to find an upside to his name
Second Place: Christina Beal, new writer for a very funny story about a Harry who tries to legally change his name.
Third Place: Kirstin Herrin, from Asheboro, North Carolina for the story with the most twists and turns
Fourth Place: Kimberly Morrisette, aspiring children's book author from Strafford, NH for her story about a Harry who tries several different approaches to eliminating the confusion between himself and the character J.K. Rowling created.

There are several honorable mentions. These include:
Storm Brest author of "PONDER RINGS of LOVE"
Lisa Dallessandro of New York
Annie J., of Texas, an as yet unpublished author, and a Harry Potter fanfiction writer

Disclaimer: This contest and the winning story are not affiliated, sponsored or endorsed by J. K. Rowling, her publishers, Warner Bothers or any other copyright or trademark holders. All references in the contest or story to copyrighted or trademarked characters is done for the purpose of commenting on the impact those characters have had on today's society. The works of J.K. Rowling referenced are publications of Scholastic Books (U.S.), Raincoast Books (Canada) and Bloomsbury Publishing (U.K.). Readers are encouraged to buy and read these books.

Saturday July 7, 2007

Congratulations to the following four winners of the My-Name-Is-Harry Writing Contest. I realized that the records we kept with the story only have email address and phone number (which I definitely won't publish). So I'll be sending this notice to the winning email addresses and then, with their permission, further identifying the winners.

First Place is a story about a Harry who was able to find an upside to his name. The email address that begins NASRWS.

Second Place is a very funny story about a Harry who tries to legally change his name. The email address begins CNMIB.

Third Place goes to the story with the most twists and turns. The email address begins KIZ919.

Fourth Place (which we originally didn't plan to give out) and $25 goes to a Harry who tries several different approaches to eliminating the confusion between himself and the character J.K. Rowling created. Email address of KKMORRIS.

Again thanks to all entrants for their wonderful writing (please see note below from yesterday).

Update -- Friday July 6, 2007

To all entrants:

I’m quite sorry for keeping everyone in suspense (a euphemism for ‘uninformed’) about the winning entries in the My-Name-Is-Harry writing contest. The winning entries will be announced tomorrow, Saturday July 7th and will be mailed to purchasers of Poster Girl on July 11. I apologize that both the printer (of Poster Girl) and myself are running a bit behind schedule.

Rather than offering excuses (I have them), I would like to compliment each entrant on your writing. When I set up the contest, my husband asked me, “What will you do if you have 200 entries and they all are almost 30 pages. Isn’t that a lot of reading?” I thought of entries that I’ve received as a writing conference coordinator that were destined to be critiqued by a children’s book editor and figured some of the entries would end up not getting read in their entirety. Wrong. All entries were “a good read.” Even when I had a sense that a story wasn’t quite top 3 material, I always wanted to find out what was going to happen and I read them all in their entirety. I enjoyed reading them all in their entirety. I frequently had to resist the urge to run to the computer and send an email to the writer saying “I loved your line about ‘……..’ I laughed out loud” or “This is SO true.”

But now I have to buckle down and huddle up with my writing buddies, stop hemming and hawing, and make a decision. It’s true that all entries were good, but unfortunately they can’t all win. Good luck to all of you. Thanks for making the reading enjoyable, even though it makes the final decision more difficult.

Anne

Contest Announcement, May 1, 2007

Rules

Story must begin with the following 4 sentences:
My name is Harry. I try to avoid saying my whole name because everyone laughs, even nice people who try not to. I was born September 1, 1991, seven years before the first Harry Potter book was published in the United States. So my parents, Marc and Brianna Potter were unaware that they were ruining my life when they named me Harry.

Story must be original work of the person submitting it and must be unpublished.
Story must be submitted either typed or printed double-spaced on one side of paper. Minimum length 5 pages. Maximum length 30 pages.
The story should have a running header or footer consisting of page number, total number of pages, an email address and phone number where you can be contacted. In order for judging to be impartial, please do NOT put your name on the story. In fact if you know me, the contest creator (Anne Emerick), well enough that you think I might recognize your email or phone number, please use an alternative email and phone number (a cell phone number, work phone number, etc).
Cost to enter is $5 if entry is received by May 25th, $10 afterwards. Please make checks payable to Aboon Books. Entries fees will be used towards prize money and in the event of a high number of submissions, for test administration. Mail entries to:
Anne Emerick
Aboon Books
3743 Route 32
Saugerties, NY 12477

All entries must be received by June 12 2007.
Author retains all copyrights, but grants Aboon Books the right to distribute a copy of the winning entry with each copy of Poster Girl bought by July 21st 2007 (the target date for raising $10,000 for Room to Read). The copy distributed with Poster Girl will be clearly marked as copyright material.
The main character in each story must be an original creation of each author's making. We know only his age, name, his parents' names and that he was born in the United States. We know nothing about his personality or appearance. Any entries containing characters taken from other stories will be disqualified.
Entries should be family-friendly.

Does this contest or will the winning story infringe on trademark or copyright?

No.

We do not use any trademarks, such as the full name of the main character in J. K. Rowling's books, to describe this contest. The contest is the My-Name-Is-Harry Writing Contest. The use of the phrase 'Harry Potter book' in describing the contest is considered nominative fair use, meaning it describes or identifies the product of the trademark holder.

The main character in each story must be an original creation of each author's making. We know only his age, name, his parents' names and that he was born in the United States. We know nothing about his personality or appearance. Any entries containing characters taken from other stories will be disqualified.

To repeat the disclaimer above: This contest and the winning story are not affiliated, sponsored or endorsed by J. K. Rowling, her publishers, Warner Brothers or any other copyright or trademark holders. All references in the contest or story to copyrighted or trademarked characters is done for the purpose of commenting on the impact those characters have had on today's society. The works of J.K. Rowling referenced are publications of Scholastic Books (U.S.), Raincoast Books (Canada) and Bloomsbury Publishing (U.K.). Readers are encouraged to buy and read these books.

But Why This Topic?

Like a lot of people, I greatly admire J. K. Rowling and her imaginative work. I've enjoyed reading her books with family and many of her characters are household names in our home and millions of others. The idea for My-Name-Is-Harry came when I was watching a high school sporting event and saw a boy in a jersey with the name 'Potter' on the back. "What if..." I thought and made a mental note that I'd like to write that story some day.

Then recently I learned about The Room to Read Fundraiser on Squidoo which hoped to raise $10,000 by July 21, 2007. The date was chosen by the organizer, who happens to be a big Harry Potter fan, to coincide with the release of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows (Book 7). I decided to donate $1 to Room to Read for each copy of Poster Girl purchased directly from Aboon Books and I thought of my story idea which I hadn't had time to do anything with. Why not throw the idea out as a Writing Contest? It seemed a fun way for readers and writers to spend time as we all countdown the days until July 21 2007.

Order Your Copy of the Winning Entry and Poster Girl Now