Heroes & Villains: The First Creator's Contest of 2018!

Announcements! Contests
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Hello Episode Creators,

While we wait for the results of Spotlight on Love it’s time for you all to get started on our next contest. Winners from this contest will be featured in April 2018! I give you…

heroesgif

Heroes and villains have been a part of storytelling as long as there have been stories to tell - but determining who is the hero and who is the villain is often a matter of perspective…

The specific guidelines are:

  1. Your story must have “H & V” in the title. Stories without “H & V” in the title will be disqualified. While not required for entry it is strongly recommended that you format your title like this - “H & V: Opposite Sides.” This will help readers search for your story and identify it as a contest entry.

  2. You must completely fill out this Google form after you publish your story. Be sure to include your story URL and NOT your share link. Your story URL is visible in the address bar of the web browser you use to access the Writer’s Portal and your script page. It should look something like this: https://www.episodeinteractive.com/w…_Awesome_Story. (<- this part is very important, many, many people mess it up).

In the event that you send the wrong the link or make a mistake on your entry form, please send your story title, email address and the correct link in a support ticket so we can update your entry.

  1. The primary focus of your story should be a hero, a villain or both. You can write in any genre but remember that the primary focus of your story must revolve around heroes and villains. Don’t feel like you need to be constrained by ideas about good and evil - feel free to explore the idea from any angle or side that inspires you.

  2. You may write in either Cinematic (full body, animated) or Spotlight (animated upper bodies) or a combo of the two. You can write in Classic, Ink or Limelight art style.

  3. We would love to see diverse characters in your stories! For example, characters who are people of color, non-heteronormative, or are of varying religions and socioeconomic backgrounds, just to name a few! To read more about diversity and inclusion on Episode go here.

  4. The submission window is just under 8 weeks. Your story must be published no later than 11:59pm Pacific Time on Monday, March 26th, 2018.

  5. You may NOT use or re-title a previously published story. This must be a new and original work that has not previously been published to Episode or another platform.

  6. If you are an official Episode Director or Partner you may enter the contest, but only with original work outside the scope of your contract with us.

  7. Be sure that your story follows our content guidelines and is suitable for a PG-13 audience. Stories that do not follow these guidelines or which violate our Content Guidelines may be disqualified and/or have their story banned from the app. If you are any doubts or questions about whether elements of your story fit with our Content Guidelines please contact the Episode Review team here. We are happy to help you with ANY questions you might have!

  8. Winners are determined based on highest levels of reader engagement, rubric score and fit to contest theme.

  9. There is no length requirement for this contest. You only need to have 3 completed chapters published by the entry deadline. You may not substantially alter or change your first 3 chapters after the deadline (other than to make minor corrections), but you may publish additional chapters after the submission window closes. Fixing typos and errors are allowed after the deadline for contest entries. This includes things like character or speech bubble placement, spelling / grammatical errors or typos. When in doubt ask Support before you make any changes. Story Cards (big and small) may not be changed after the entry deadline.

  10. Remember to allow at least 3 business days prior to the contest deadline for your backgrounds, overlays and story cards to be processed. This means you should plan on submitting them no later than March 21st.

Winners from this contest will be showcased in a special Heroes & Villains shelf in the Episode app and get a shoutout on our social media account! One story will be named Best Directing and Winners will be announced 3 - 4 weeks after the submission deadlines passes as the stories need time to gain reads in the app and also for our staff to review them.

Happy writing!

Love,

The Episode Team

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So excited for this contest, I really can’t wait to see what the community comes up with!

A quick question: I saw on instagram that set of ‘superhero’ type outfits / accessories had been released for limelight, however myself and what appears to be a number of other people cannot find these assets in the clothing catalogue.

I’m just wondering when we can expect to see these outfits for use in our ‘Heroes & Villains’ stories?

Thank you very much for your time! xT

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This is an awesome contest theme. I’m looking forward to the stories that will come out of it! :slight_smile:

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Hey!

The first set of super hero clothing was released last week! They should be seen in the “Recently Updated” filter. With some of the newer items, they don’t show up in the more specific filters (like pants, footwear, etc).

If not, let us know and we’ll take another look at them to ensure they’re good to go.

Thanks!

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Hello @Trinady !

Thank you very much for your reply– I filtered everything by ‘Recently Updated’ and bingo! I found the hero clothing assets.

I feel a bit silly now, but I’m glad it was that easy!

Thank you again :slight_smile: – T

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No worries! I’m glad they were found :smiley:

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I love that the contest window period is much longer than past contests! I hope you guys keep it that way! I feel like a month or less is way too short! Hopefully you’ll continue to keep it at 2 months (or at least more than a month) so authors can actually work on their stories, pace their progress and not feel like it’s a race against time with life throwing you curveballs, haha. :sweat_smile:

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Hey Trinady! I wanted to just ask if the forums are open to everyone already? Am I allowed to publicise one of my forums posts on the Epy Awards IG? Or do you wish for us TWR members to keep it on the DL until everything has been officially settled? :slight_smile: Let me know!

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This is currently the closed Beta, so only those who signed up were invited to view the site, explore and submit initial feedback.

With that said, sharing screencaps of your post is okay, but we would request that you don’t share the link (they won’t be able to view it yet) :slight_smile:

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Ahh, I see! Good to know! Thanks for the fast response, Trinady!

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I absolutely love this theme! I’m hoping I manage to get my own entry done in time, but I’m also super excited to see the kind of stories others will make. :smile:

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I’ve already published 4 chapters of my story H & V: Fire Slay the Lesbian heroine. I really love the theme of this contest and the new outfits! :heart_eyes:

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I am currently writing a story but I’m excited to see other peoples’ ideas!

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Hi @Trinady , I’m just curious, I know there’s no length requirement but how many chapters will you be reading to judge the contest? You mentioned only needing three chapters completed, so I figured that meant you’d only read the first three, but I wanted to know if this was the case or if you’d read as many chapters as are published by the deadline. Thanks!

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I started reading your story last night! I found it really cool and unique! I love how Slay works with her sister to save the world! :fire::hearts:

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Thank you so much Amelia :smiley::hugs: Im starting on chapter 5 today

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I’m so excited for this contest! I’ve just started the second chapter of my entry. Can’t wait to read everyone’s entries!

Also, will you be releasing any superhero clothes for Ink? I know towards the end of December there was a rumor that you would no longer be designing clothes for Ink, but I wasn’t sure if that was true.

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Hi, I would like to start with presenting my characters in their every day life and write the 3 episodes as a background story about how they became heroes. Is it OK? Or is it necessary to include actual “hero actions” in the first 3 episodes?
Thank you in advance.

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I think that you have to write your story the way you feel is right. Everyone writes differently and thats what makes contests like this fun. Im always for background stories, just like Marvels Captain America movies

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If there is a writing group, can they enter more than one story as long as different people work on each? Somebody please respond quickly as we want to get writing! :thinking: