The Why and Wherefore

Submission Rules and Guidelines matter when submitting a novel to an agent or publisher, or, for that matter, even a self publisher.

Think about it as a great time to start learning to pay attention to the intricacies and idiosyncrasies of rules, guidelines, and regulations. (To put it another way, if you cannot (or will not) follow the simple rules and guidelines for this important WDC competition, how will you follow the intricate, oft times seemingly senseless and/or illogical guidelines set forth by agents and publishers?)

For the record, many agents and publishers will set up certain rules just to test a writer's attention to detail and ability to follow through on task. That is what we are doing here. (But our rules are incredibly simple.)

Understand, failure to follow the rules and guidelines in this competition will result in the same fate as your manuscript would with an agent or publisher. We will send your work to the slush pile and send you a Rejection Notice. At that point, your submission will not advance to the judging phase, and this contest, for you, will have reached its conclusion.

Some rules and guidelines clarification and reminders:

RULES for SUBMISSION

Present and former Novel Workshop members are not eligible contestants, as that would be a conflict of interests.

Submissions may ONLY be entered between: 12:01am WDC Time SEPT. 1st and 11:59pm WDC Time SEPT. 4th, 2016 to coincide with the WDC Birthday Bash festivities.

No early or late entries will be considered.
Your 10,000 GP Submission Fee must be included with your submission.
You must randomly insert the "Happy Sweet Sixteen WDC" phrase into your chapter for judges to find and mention in your review.
If there are four or fewer submissions, ONLY the FIRST PLACE prize will be awarded. (Note: First Place is 200k GPs and the PR package).
Your chapter may be submitted privately if you do not want it open to public readership.* (Remember to assign it a passkey and include it with your entry.)
Items must be rated correctly. Word limit is 5,000 and a word count MUST be included. (5,001 words will result in a Rejection Letter.)
Awarded items will be the best in the opinion of the judges, and no correspondence will be entered into regarding the results.
Your Chapters are to be submitted to our forum below, in BITEM format only. If you don't know how to do this, research it and learn. BOOK ENTRIES WILL NOT BE ACCEPTED. (Please create a static item for your chapter for the purpose and duration of this contest.)
Multiple submissions are permitted. (Each submission will require its own 10k GP entry fee.)
Only ACCEPTED SUBMISSIONS will advance to Phase Two: The Judging Circle

Reviewing on submissions will begin immediately.
ONCE THE SUBMISSION IS POSTED, EDITS WILL NOT BE PERMITTED.
ANY EDITS, no matter how trite, will disqualify the submission. Don't do it.
No exceptions can be made to this rule.

If you have your chapter permissions set on PRIVATE, please remember to adjust permissions on your item before posting,
(You may keep your novel chapter on private and add a passkey, but remember to provide it to us when you post.)
Double-check your Bitem's rating and genre to be sure they are correct.
We suggest you do a word count in both Word and on WDC to be sure you're under the limit.

* * * FYI: Results may not be available until two weeks after the conclusion of the entry cycle.

Back to the "The Chapter One Competition." 
GOOD LUCK