Express Yourself
Contest!
We’ve been at this a while now and it never ceases to amaze
us just how many creative people are out there. We’d like to take a moment to
celebrate that creativity and give an outlet for it. Our contest, which will run
for a few months and if it goes over well, longer, revolves around just how
creative you can be. NO—this is NOT a talent contest for who can do the best.
It’s for who can put the most heart into it. There is also more than one way to
express yourself so we want to be sure to include them all.
Here are just some of the prizes we’ll be offering. $20.00
gift certificates to Amazon.com, signed print copies of our books, PDF downloads
of our books, bookmarks and more.
How can you be entered? That’s easy…EXPRESS YOURSELF!
The way we’d like to see (but you’re not limited to this)
is for readers to make fan-based book videos of our books. Some of the programs
for this are free to download and use. One is
Microsoft Movie Maker—it’s free and available through Microsoft’s website.
If you can
click and drag…you can do it. It really is that easy. Since we’re not
expecting Spielberg, anyone is free to play along and try their hand. We really
think these videos will, if nothing else, open a new avenue to get the word out
about our books. We’d love to share the spreading of the news with you, our
readers. We do have a few minor rules for the videos though…
- Please, no Debbie Does Dallas Porn (most free hosting
sites will yank these anyway).
- You MUST label (in title) ALL entries clearly
that this is “FAN-BASED video/artwork/etc”.
- Also, no book spoilers…these won’t be entered into the
contest. If you’re unsure what might be a spoiler, play off the blurb of the
book. That is a safe bet.
- These can ONLY have OUR books as the focus.
- Please no WRITTEN fan-fiction. Sorry, but these won’t be
included. And as always, book ideas, manuscripts and anything of the like will
not be read and will be deleted promptly. Sorry…damn lawyers and their damn
policies. Oy.
- You may enter as often as you like with new works each
time. There is NO limit to how many entries you can do. You’ll be entered into
the drawing each time for each entry.
Helpful tips: Microsoft Movie Maker is free. It’s a drag
and drop program and is easy to use. ALL of our covers can be found on our
website (Michelle
M. Pillow &
Mandy
M. Roth)
along with information about each title. Be creative!
Youtube and
Myspace are just two of
the places who offer FREE video hosting. Once your fan-based video is made, put
it up and send Michelle and I the link. We’ll check it out and get it linked
with the others for display.
You do NOT have to use your real name for this (well, you
do have to give it to Michelle and I in the event you win but we’ll keep that
between us if you’re rather have a nick or something for public).
If you cannot figure out how to host the video Michelle and
I will open a spot JUST for fan based videos. You can contact us about this
further if you have questions. We’re happy to help. We want everyone to have fun
and access to these.
~~~~By submitting the
work(s), you acknowledge that you are giving us permission to post them and use
them in a manner we see fit. Must be 18 years and older to play. Must label all
uploads/posts “fan-based video/artwork/etc”.
Michelle M. Pillow and Mandy M. Roth assume NO responsibility for
content/copyright of works submitted for contest, and ask that the work be
original/submitted in good faith.~~~~
Make a book video? What, are they smoking the good shit
again (you might be asking yourselves)…*snicker* If this just isn’t your thing
but you’d still like to enter the contest, we’d love to see other ways you can
express your “love” (know that Michelle just slapped me for writing that) for
us.
Here are some other ideas. You’re not limited to them
though.
- Fan artwork. It can be uploaded to yahoo album on
Mandy or
Michelle’s yahoo groups (both if you want). Same rules apply as video.
- Digital picture of you holding one of our print books or
a pic of one of our ebooks pulled up on your computer/reading device. (same
rules apply)
- Macaroni frame of our names….just kidding unless you
REALLY wanted to. But the point is, EXPRESS YOURSELF. Do you want to sculpt a
shrine to us out of your mashed potatoes? (Michelle makes the request you do
hers out of chocolate and send directly to her…thanks…SNORT) Do you want to
build a statue of us out of M&Ms? Do you want to send us handmade artwork from
your neck of the woods? Whatever you want to do…DO IT! The easiest way for us
to see this stuff is via the web and uploading pics to the yahoo group pics
section. MAKE sure to tell us you did and its up. If it’s handmade artwork you
want to send…you can send it to Mandy M. Roth PO Box 305, Huron, OH 44839
(Michelle’s can come to my PO Box as well. I’ll be sure she gets them.)
- Want to start a tribute fan web page for our books? A
fan club? A cult (ouch…? What? I want minions dammit…Michelle let me have
minions…you know you want them. *big grin* )
- Want to start a rock band named after us…? Pfft, only if
you let us be lead signers. Wait, I’ve heard her sing, she should be a backup
dancer or something. *grin* Watch your toes people…watch your toes!
- If you have not a lick of creative juice in your body
but still want to play along, don’t worry. We’ve got other ideas too. Amazon
allows readers to post reviews of our books. If you’d liked to be entered in
the contest…EXPRESS YOURSELF there. Same rules apply as with the others.
Also…you do NOT have to love the book. We want you to be honest. If you loved
it, that’s fine too. LOL
~~~~By submitting the
work(s), you acknowledge that you are giving us permission to post them and use
them in a manner we see fit. Must be 18 years and older to play. Must label all
uploads/posts “fan-based video/artwork/etc”.
Michelle M. Pillow and Mandy M. Roth assume NO
responsibility for content/copyright of works submitted for contest, and ask
that the work be original/submitted in good faith. If you are the legal
copyright holder of something used in a video from a fan and believe that
something in a video is being used without your permission, please email us and
we'll remove it from our site.~~~~
We just want this to be a fun,
rocking contest that lets everyone EXPRESS themselves!
Thanks,
Mandy M. Roth
www.mandyroth.com
&
Michelle M. Pillow
www.michellepillow.com
~~~~By submitting the
work(s), you acknowledge that you are giving us permission to post them and use
them in a manner we see fit. Must be 18 years and older to play. Must label all
uploads/posts “fan-based video/artwork/etc”.
Michelle M. Pillow and Mandy M. Roth assume NO responsibility for
content/copyright of works submitted for contest, and ask that the work be
original/submitted in good faith.~~~~
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Helpful Links
Microsoft Movie Maker (free movie maker program by Microsoft that is very
easy to use)
How
to Use Movie Maker
WOW, you all have been helping
us instead of the other way around. LOL. A big thanks to those of you who have
emailed with links to extras/add ons for the program. Some were certainly worth
the money! As soon as we're able to compile the list, we'll post it here so
everyone can see what else is out there.
Here is one site
that many people mentioned.
Youtube
and Myspace (two
FREE video hosting sites. All you need to do is sign up for a free account and
then you can upload videos to it)
Mandy's yahoo group where you can upload fan artwork/photos.
Michelle’s yahoo group where you can upload fan artwork/photos.
Mandy M. Roth (webpage)
www.mandyroth.com
&
Michelle M. Pillow (webpage)
www.michellepillow.com
Email Questions
Mandy
Michelle
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Examples
Express Yourself Contest WIN PRIZES
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Fan Based
Videos/Art
Pages
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
Fan Art/Videos
Hosted on the Express Yourself Contest Page. Videos are hosted on each site listed below.
YOUTUBE
MYSPACE
Daily Motion (you will need to sign up for a FREE account to view them
because they're marked as explicit)
*** Update--please do not think we're ignoring your video/pics
if you don't see it uploaded to the page right away. We're putting them up in
small batches as time permits. Thanks for understanding and have fun with
it!****
Do you need us to host
your video on the contest page as well or would you like it hosted there in
addition to your spot? If so, please email. Also, unless you tell us, we'll
leave your name off the video when uploading. We will keep track of who sent in
what.
Email Questions
Mandy
Michelle
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