CASH PRIZE POOL

The cash prize pool will be divided into three parts, as follows:

A big thanks to the many generous donors:

OTHER PRIZES

Thanks again to the many donors!

GIFT CERTIFICATES
A $35 gift certificate to Amazon.com, donated by Jimmy Maher.

ELECTRONICS
A new Emerson EWD-7004 DVD player. May be shipped anywhere, but be mindful of regional compatibility (it's set up for American DVDs). Donated by The Eclectic Lapidary.

BOOKS
Neverwhere, by Neil Gaiman, signed by the author, paperback, in imperfect condition with a slight crease in the spine, donated by Greg Boettcher.

SOFTWARE
Mysterious Journey II, a game requiring Windows 98/Me/2K/XP and a T&L Direct 3D-compatible video card, donated by Daphne Brinkerhoff.

OTHER
Six original sonnets by Carolyn Magruder—one inspired by the author's game, and five on topics of the author's choosing—donated by Carolyn Magruder.

The Spring Thing is finished accepting prizes for the 2005 Competition. Thanks to all the donors!

SPECIAL NOTE ON CASH PRIZES

All cash prizes, including all entry fees, will be put into a common pool, which will be divided into one or more parts, in a manner to be decided by the organizer soon after March 15. It will be divided in such a way as to reward the best entries in a way that seems fair. This cannot be decided very well before March 15 because a fair divvying up of the money depends on several factors—the number of entries, the amount of cash donations, and perhaps the number of non-cash donations—none of which will be known before March 15. When deciding how to divide up the cash pool, the organizer will not factor in the perceived quality of any games he may have seen up to that point (since games may be submitted as early as March 1).

For example, let's say there are:

• ten entrants
• a cash pool of $170 ($70 in entry fees, plus a $100 cash donation)
• four non-cash prizes (Tolstoy's War and Peace, a box of gourmet pasta, a stuffed turtle, and an Encyclopedia Britannica CD-ROM)

In this case, I'd probably divide the cash into three prizes, say $90, $50, and $30. (Note that if there had been no $100 donation, the cash would have been better divided into two prizes, say $45 and $25. That is the point behind this rule.)

PRIZE SELECTIONS

Just in case this needs clarification, in the above example, the first-place winner would have their choice of $90, $50, $30, the Tolstoy book, the pasta, the turtle, or the CD-ROM. The second-place winner would choose next, etc.

NOTES ABOUT SENDING AND RECEIVING MONEY

Sending entry fees: Authors may send money either by check through the mail, or by credit card using PayPal. If another method would be more convenient for you, please contact me. I want to make this easy for everybody, including non-U.S. authors.

Receiving cash prizes: Winners of cash prizes will receive their money in a manner to be decided by either the organizer or whoever is donating the money—either by check through the mail or else by PayPal. If the winner has a preference, he/she will have a chance to contact the organizer/donor about it.

If the cash prize is sent via PayPal, it may be subject to fees. For instance, if you already have a PayPal account that has been set to Premier/Business status rather than Personal status, there will be a small fee. Also, for non-U.S. residents, cash prizes may be subject to a currency exchange fee of 2.5% and a small withdrawal fee.
(Please don't complain to me about this, because I am already planning on personally contributing to the cash pool each time someone pays entry fees by PayPal, to make up for PayPal's fee for receiving credit card payments.)