The Everfree Northwest Convention, known for having one of—if not the—strongest writing tracks in the MLP fandom, is back with another great writing contest! Last year’s EFNW writing contest had over 75 entries with a combined total of 30,000 views in their first month, which we're pretty proud of. We gave away some great prizes too.

This time we're back, and we’re better than ever, ready to pit authors against each other in a friendly contest to see who can best portray friendship via the written word. We’re looking for writers who want to have fun and who enjoy winning awesome prizes.

Theme: Making new Friends

Friendships are important in MLP and in the MLP fandom. So that’s why in this contest we want to highlight friendships as they are first being formed. It can be new friendships—for a random example between Trixie and Sunset Shimmer—or the first time ponies became friends, like Fluttershy and Pinkie Pie. It can even show alternate, non-canon first friendships such as Twilight meeting Applejack in Canterlot years before Friendship is Magic. Use your imagination!

How to Enter:

Publish your story to FIMFiction and send a link to either the Everfree Northwest contest email at contest@everfreenw.com or by sending a personal message to the Everfree Northwest FIMFiction account . Publishing your story via Google Docs is also acceptable. Please include the name you use in the fandom, the name and link of your contest entry, your FIMFiction account if you have one, and the best email to contact you at.

Prizes: (‘Cause everyone loves prizes)

1st - Inclusion of full story in convention conbook after a full edit. (We will send a copy of the conbook to you if you cannot make it to the con), story featured on a site post announcing the winners of the contest, 1st place patch, custom engraved high quality pen and pen holder declaring you an award-winning author, several Everfree Northwest contest pens (for more casual use), messenger bag, interview to be posted online and featured by Everfree Northwest, $20 Amazon gift card, and an assortment of Everfree Northwest merch (‘cause why the heck not).

2nd - Story featured on a site post announcing the winners of the contest, inclusion of a brief story description in the convention conbook, 2nd place patch, several Everfree Northwest contest pens, $15 Amazon gift card, and an assortment of Everfree Northwest merch

3rd - Story featured on a site post announcing the winners of the contest, inclusion of a brief story description in the convention conbook, 3rd place patch, several Everfree Northwest contest pens, $10 Amazon gift card, and an assortment of Everfree Northwest merch.

Community Choice - Story featured on a site post announcing the winners of the contest, inclusion of a brief story description in the convention conbook, community choice patch, several Everfree Northwest contest pens, $10 Amazon gift card, and an assortment of Everfree Northwest merch.

Honorable Mentions - Story featured on a site post announcing the winners of the contest, several Everfree Northwest contest pens, and an assortment of 2014 Everfree Northwest merch.

Note: You do not need to attend Everfree Northwest 2015 in order to submit a story or be considered for prizes. Everyone is free to enter. Prizes can be shipped to the winner. Everfree Northwest will cover shipping of contest prizes within the continental United States. International shipping may not be covered.

Word Limits:

1000-3000 words

Note: FIMFiction’s word count uses a different algorithm than most word processors and we will allow some leniency to compensate for this.

Duration:

The Everfree Northwest Writing Contest will accept entries from March 1st until 11:59 pm PST on March 24th. Contest winners will be announced after a period of 2-4 weeks.

Judging:

A panel of Everfree Northwest judges from the writing events team along with assistance from the School for New Writers , and several guest judges including Pen Stroke , Gary Oak , Ocalhoun , Asylum1388 , and more. Judges will review and rate each story, optionally leaving additional comments. Ratings will be compiled and averaged to determine winners. During the judging process the community will be invited to vote on their favorite story with a poll, the victor of which will win the Community Choice award.

Note: Everfree Northwest may begin judging before the final submission deadline. This means what you submit might be graded that day, so only submit your final draft.

Additional Rules:

1) All entries must adhere to a PG rating. Submissions using elements that could reasonably be considered above a PG rating, including but not limited to adult activity, intense violence, or drug use will be ineligible for the contest. If you are unsure if your story meets these guidelines and wish to ask, please contact us at contest@everfreenw.com or PM us at our Everfree Northwest FIMFiction account .

2) Any material that violates the rights of a third party will be disqualified.

3) Submissions must follow the contest theme in some manner and be relevant to the convention’s My Little Pony theme. Any entries that do not meet these requirements will be ineligible.

4) Stories must be an original work by the author and have not been released prior to the start of the contest. Entries, once finished, can immediately be published.

5) Contestants may submit a maximum of two (2) stories for consideration. If more than two (2) stories are submitted, the submitter will be asked to select which entries they wish to enter into the contest. If the submitter cannot be reached in time for judging, the two (2) most recent entries will be used.

6) Contestants may only win once. If both entries are up for prizes, the contestant will win the higher of the two prizes. For example, if an author wins both first (1st) and third (3rd) place, they will receive the first (1st) place prize and the fourth (4th) place runner-up will receive the third (3rd) place prize. Note that if both entries would have won prizes then we will mention the quality of both stories in our posts announcing the winners.

7) Winners will be selected based on many judging criteria, including, but not limited to, technical skill, characterization, creativity, originality, impact, and use of theme.

8) Submissions must be sent either to the Everfree Northwest contest email at contest@everfreenw.com or sent as a private message to the Everfree Northwest FIMFiction account .

9) Final interpretation of the contest rules and judging criteria are left to the discretion of the Judging Panel, and their decisions are final.

10) Submitters retain ownership of their submissions, but by entering the contest the author agrees to allow Everfree Northwest to share their submitted stories on our website, social media, conbook, and/or for use in promotions.

11) Everfree Northwest will cover shipping of contest prizes within the continental United States. International shipping may not be covered.

12) Contest Judges are not able to submit a story.

13) Having proofreaders and editors help is acceptable.

That’s it folks. We look forward to your stories.