The Very First Ever Goldstone Wood Musical Contest!

My dear imps, even though the winners have not yet been announced for the fan art contest (don't forget to vote!), I decided that I should probably get the contest and rules for this new contest announced right away, giving everyone plenty of time to work on their submissions. So here you have it: 2014 marks the first Goldstone Wood Musical contest.

1. You are invited to compose and perform music inspired by Goldstone Wood. This can be based on lyrics found in the stories themselves, your own lyrics, or simply based on themes, characters, or settings from the books. 

2. Lyrics are not a necessity. You may do instrumental-only submissions as well. But there must be a clear correlation between your composition and the stories.

3. You must submit a performance of your work. Now for this aspect we will probably have to work together a little to figure out various methods. I know that video recordings work well on my computer, though not every voter will have the proper filters on their computers to allow viewing. I would recommend that each performer upload her or his performance on Youtube and submit links, which I can then share. But again, since this is the first year and we haven't done anything quite like this before, we can work together to figure out good solutions for everyone.

Also, you don't have to be visible in your performance. If you prefer to keep your face anonymous, feel free to use a screen with the lyrics or Goldstone Wood-related images. Just so long as we can hear your voice and/or instruments, that's what counts!

4. You must be able to tell voters--either in writing or in a verbal introduction--how your composition connects to Goldstone Wood. This will be either in a written introduction which I will post before the performance, or in a recorded introduction at the beginning of your performance.

5. If you are not a musician but are a good lyricist, or you're a good composer but not a good performer, feel free to collaborate with friends and family! If a collaborated work wins, I will send prizes to all the musicians involved in that particular work.

6. You may also (copyrights permitting) perform your own lyrics to a classic tune, just so long as the performance is your own (and the music itself is public domain). If you use a public domain piece, please include the name of the piece and the composer in your introduction.

7. The winner of this contest will be decided via fan voting!  Let me clarify what I mean by this: the voting is only open to the fans. Family members and friends who don't actually read the series or have any familiarity with the stories or characters are asked to please withhold their votes. The winner is meant to be selected by honest-to-goodness Goldstone Wood Fans who think the winning piece is the best submission for this year.

8. If you (I'm looking at you, Clara Darling) have already written and performed works of Goldstone Wood music, those pieces are still eligible for this contest. Anything that has not been submitted to a previous contest is eligible . . . and since this is the first contest year, that means anything you've done.

9. Submissions are due by  Thursday, June 12. Nothing submitted after midnight that day will be accepted into this contest.

10. The compositions themselves will go live on Monday, June 16.

11. Because this is the first year and I'm not entirely certain what to expect as far as number of submissions, I am only offering a First Place Prize. But it's a fun one:

The winner of this contest will receive one autographed print copy of the Goldstone Wood novel of her/his choice--one beautiful Goldstone Wood mug (a new style . . . none of you who have won mugs in the past have this one yet! It's super pretty)--a collection of bookmarks for all the printed books (including Goddess Tithe)--a selection of notepads, pencils, pens, magnets, and other fun Goldstone Wood paraphernalia.

So basically, a whole bundle of Goldstone Wood fun.

Exciting Alternate Prize

Oh but wait! There is more.

Talented animation artist Melanie J. Morgan is looking for a vocal music/musical number to use for an animatic (a storyboard set to sound, dialogue, and music). And she intends to pick one of the musical compositions sent in to the Goldstone Wood Musical Contest!

This animatic will be included in Ms. Morgan's portfolio, which she will be sending, as she says, "everywhere." Disney . . . Dreamworks . . . Blue Sky . . . and everywhere in between. So the winner of this prize will have her/his composition heard by quite a number of great studios!

Ms. Morgan hopes to complete the animatic approximately 2-3 weeks following the contest. And we will, of course, have a grand viewing right here to celebrate!

What a fantastic wildcard prize, am I right? I am just giddy at the idea of seeing your music set to Melanie's talented artistic vision.

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 Let me know if you have any questions at all. Because this is the first time we've tried a contest like this there might be a few little glitches along the way that we'll have to work through. So we'll all be patient with each other.

And together, I think we can put on a concert performance worthy to be performed before King Iubdan and his queen in the glorious Hall of Red and Green!