The time has come to celebrate our favorite filly! The Cozy Glow group is delighted to host its first short story contest. Cash prizes in the form of amazon gift codes will be awarded to the top finishers. In addition, the first place entry will receive a work of visual art depicting a (SFW) scene of the author’s choice. Why not enter and express your devotion to the true Empress of Friendship?

Guidelines

All stories must:

-Adhere to the site rules

-Be between 5k and 10k words in length

-Contain Cozy Glow as a central character

-Not endorse or feature any specific sexual theme beyond the existing categories and tags on Fimfiction

-Be written in English

-Be written between 2 Aug 2020 12:00 AM and 2 Sep 2020 12:00 AM EDT. Post up to three entries in this folder. Stories may be sequels, but must be able to be read without knowledge of prior works.

Otherwise, there are no restrictions on content or maturity level. Stories will be assigned points based on the following:

-Narrative flow and cohesiveness – does it all work together as an organic whole?

-Quality of spelling and grammar – typos and copy/paste errors can ruin the most carefully engineered mood.

-Emotional impact – make the reader feel it.

-Relevance to the MLP universe – is there a connection to the characters, lore, and storyline portrayed in the show?

-Originality – take an old premise and add a new spin, or venture into the unknown.

-Style – speak to the reader in your own unique voice.

-X-factor – how sharp are the teeth?

Prizes

Monetary prize amounts will vary depending on the number of entries. Winners are guaranteed the following:

1^st place: An amazon gift code worth at least $25, an artist’s rendering of a SFW scene from the story (author’s choice), posting with link to story on the Cozy Glow group front page, and brief review.

2^nd place: an amazon gift code worth at least $15, posting with link to story on the Cozy Glow group front page, and brief review.

3^rd place: an amazon gift code worth at least $10, posting with link to story on the Cozy Glow group front page, and brief review.

Runner-up: posting with link to story on the Cozy Glow group front page and brief review.

****UPDATE****

Dezmo has generously offered to bump up the prizes! They will add $75 to first place, $50 to second place, and $25 to third. Paypal only. Please contact them for further inquiries.

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Tips

-“Quality of spelling and grammar” does not necessarily mean perfect alignment with accepted standards. Being incorrect can be effective when it’s intentional.

-An engaging opening paragraph is crucial to a story’s success.

-It’s A-OK to have characters behave out-of-character: you just have to show how and why they change from canon.

-Another pair of eyes can work wonders. Seek out editors and pre-readers to point out your blind spots (we all have them).

-Stories will be judged solely on their perceived merit. View and follower counts will not be factors.

Prompts

Use one of these prompts as a general starting point (or combine them if you can). The prompt does not have to appear within the story.

Slice of Life/Adventure

-That pack of study buddies is off adventuring again. Time to get some real schoolwork done.

-A one-on-one leadership lesson with Headmare Twilight would be a great way to learn about the power of friendship.

-What were those ponies thinking? The cage bars aren’t even narrow enough to hold me in here!

Sad/dark

-He showed her how to harvest the skulls, after she’d finished playing.

-They’d set her free. They’d told her she deserved another chance. She didn’t know what being reformed meant, though, in a world where the heroes crushed the wrong-doers with overwhelming force.

-After weeks of studying at the School of Friendship, Cozy made her first friend. The best part was that she could talk to her anytime. All she had to do was find a mirror.

-That weird foal was being so extra specially nice to her. Rejecting the pathetic loser was going to be just the best!

-Cozy’s got a secret! Whether or not it’s hers is for her to know and you to find out.

Choose-your-own genre

-Cutie mark yesterday, cute-ceneara today!

-Now that Twilight and her friends were out of the picture, all she had to do was destroy Tirek and Chrysalis.

About the judges

It’s always helpful to know the preferences of the judges when entering a contest. Here are some pointers to put your story over the top:

-the dobermans: prefers philosophical subtley, subtext, sad/tragic endings, deep characterization, irony and in-universe lore.

-anonymous judge(s): prefers psychological/emotional themes, comedy/horror/slice-of-life, character introspection, twist/emotional endings.

If you have any questions, please PM the group admin. Good luck!

an artist’s rendering of a SFW scene from the story

Way more excited about this one than any of the actual cash prizes. I’m in. Off to the drafting board!

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Wonderful!

7289388
Can it be an Equestria Girls story or does it have to exclusively be FiM?

Ok, seems I'm putting my other project on hiatus.

Now, what to write... what to write indeed?

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It can be Equestria Girls if you prefer, but must still address one or more of the prompts.

Alright! Les do dis! >:)

7289388
Will the art be of a scene from our entry, or can we get whatever we want?

Awesome

Yay crazy glue

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The intent was to have it be from the story to showcase the author's skills, but there might be some leeway ...

Well, I better start start doing some research. Hmm, the judges seem a bit tough for my writing style, but I shall do my best.

7289388
Why is the minimum word count so high?! That’s longer than all but one of my one shots!

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Welcome to the group, Super T! Perhaps it's best to see it as a challenge. In any case, I know you have it in you to muster at least 5k.

7289388
Will there be a new folder to put our entries into? I know that some other groups will only judge stories if they are put in a specific folder.

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Yup, it's right here.

Some questions:

Do I have to base my story around a prompt, or are they just suggestions?

Is every author limited to one story, or are multiple allowed?

Can the stories be sequels (I don't expect the prequel to be read, but if I want to tie a story to another one, is that allowed at all)?

Who is the cutest little bundle of evil? Jk, it's Cozy, of course!

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Hi! Thanks for your interest in the contest.

Do I have to base my story around a prompt, or are they just suggestions?

Your entry must address one or more of the prompts. How you interpret the prompts is up to you of course.

Is every author limited to one story, or are multiple allowed?

Let's allow up to 3.

Can the stories be sequels (I don't expect the prequel to be read, but if I want to tie a story to another one, is that allowed at all)?

Yes, but the entry should be a stand-alone.

I'll modify the guidelines so everyone can see the details.

And 100% agree, Cozy easily wins cutest pony award! None of the others comes close.

Given the existence of the tags we have on this site... what does the rule about mature content really do? *confuzzled*

Just a reminder: we're now a little more than half-way through! Hope things are going smoothly.

Made it with 23 minutes to spare!

Whoosh. Last day entry.

Fun stuff.

Not gonna be able to finish my entry (will keep working on it, but it has at least another couple of days of work before being able to be published) but I look forward to reading all the wonderful entries for this!

Well, I think I better just call it. I'm not going to make the deadline. I'm currently only at 1,500 words. Back when I committed to this contest, I had a lot more free time. A few weeks after I committed, work really started moving. Work, travel, and sleep, takes up 22 hour of my day leaving me with only 2 hours off each day, and well, after a long day at work, it is hard to be motivated to write much. Best of luck to everyone that submitted!

The contest is closed to submissions. A sincere thank you to all who put in the hard work to create a tale dedicate to the one and only Cozy Glow. Anonymous judge #1 and I will now begin reading the entries, and commit to reaching our final decisions within 2 weeks.

In addition, we received enough entries to unlock the next tier of prize amounts. The new base prizes are as follows:

-1st: $50
-2nd: $40
-3rd: $35
-Runner up: $25

This is in addition to the other rewards listed in the announcement, and the generous prize offerings of Dezmo.

We look forward to reading your stories!

7318767 I like the vibe that there is actually a user called Anonymous Judge.

I actually don't want to check to find out because I don't want the illusion to end. Please let me live my lie.

7318767
Thanks for running the contest! Really excited to see which story the judges pick!

I've added a progress list to the group front page. Check in now and then to see how things are moving along!