Hello!
Thank you for your interest in participating in the SOAR Write and Illustrate Your Own Book Challenge.
GENERAL INFORMATION:
The SOAR Initiative is excited to present the 2021 Write and Illustrate Your Own Book Challenge. This competition is open to anyone from Kindergarten to 12th grade and entails the submission of any form of literature, including poems, short stories, and novels - coupled with illustrations if you so desire.
There are six categories: K-3 writing, K-3 writing with illustrations, 4-8 writing, 4-8 writing with illustrations, 9-12 writing, and 9-12 writing with illustrations.
SOAR aims to encourage reading and writing through this competition, as well as to raise money to build free-standing libraries in book deserts. Please consider donating; you can do so at the following link:
https://www.gofundme.com/f/help-soar-build-free-libraries-in-book-deserts?utm_source=customer&utm_medium=copy_link&utm_campaign=p_cp_guide_do&member=15270793PRIZES:
1st, 2nd, and 3rd place prizes will be given for each of the six categories - (a total of 18 awards).
All 1st place winners receive a certificate, the incredible opportunity of having their literary work solely digitally published on Amazon and Kindle, a SOAR book trailer encouraging people to read their book, and a shoutout on SOAR's Facebook page.
All 2nd place winners receive a certificate, a SOAR book trailer acknowledging their accomplishments, and a shoutout on SOAR's Facebook page.
All 3rd place winners receive a certificate and a shoutout on SOAR's Facebook page.
JUDGING/GRADING:
We are honored and grateful to have Johanna Smith, Deborah Kearney, and Carol Scarfo as the judges for the contest.
Johanna J Smith - Ms. Smith grew up in Pinehurst, North Carolina and graduated from Appalachian State University there. Her undergraduate degree is in English, and her first career was a High School English Teacher. From there she moved to Carrollton, Georgia, and obtained an MA. in Psychology. After graduate school, Ms. Smith joined the Peace Corps and taught in Sierra Leone, West Africa. From there Ms. Smith moved to Rabat, Morocco to teach English as a second language. When Ms. Smith returned to the United States she began to specialize in Marriage and Family Therapy. Ms. Smith worked for thirty years in mental health. Now her interest is in children's literature. She has written STAR GAZER, THE HORSE WHO LOVED HISTORY and the sequel DAKOTA JOE. Her children's books stress non-violent ways to end violent conflict in the United States and around the world.
Deborah Kearney - Deborah Kearney joined Downingtown Area School District in 2007 as an 8th grade English teacher. Most recently, she served as the district’s English/Language Arts K-12 Curriculum Leader. Prior to joining DASD, Mrs. Kearney taught at the primary, middle school, high school, and university levels both in the United States and Europe. Her professional experience also includes roles as a Public Relations manager for General Motors Corporation, Public Relations Director for Widener University, and Marketing Manager at Point Information Systems GmbH (Munich, Germany). Mrs. Kearney earned her B.A. in Political Science and English from Lebanon Valley College, M.A. in Literature and Composition Theory from Kent State University, administrator certificate from Cabrini College, and Reading Specialist certificate from Widener University. She is currently working toward her doctoral degree in Education from Neumann University. Mrs. Kearney holds professional memberships in the Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development, the International Literacy Association, the National Council of Teachers of English, and the Pennsylvania Association of Elementary and Secondary School Principals. Mrs. Kearney focuses her work on developing literacy-rich, culturally responsive learning environments that support the growth and achievement of all students.
Carol Scarfo - Carol Scarfo is a professional artist and has her B.S. in Art Education from Kutztown University and did her graduate work at Indiana University of Pa. majoring in art. She has taught both commercial and fine arts in the Pittsburgh and suburban Philadelphia areas. She has worked commercially for over 25 years as a graphic designer and art director for a major national company, and holds many awards for her art and design. She currently works as a commercial artist and digital fine artist. She has taught private art classes in her own studio for over 28 years.
All submitted works will be graded on a scale of 1-50 for the writing and illustrations respectively. The total score is out of 100 for all six categories, as for categories for writing only, the score out of 50 is simply multiplied by 2 to determine the score out of 100.
Writing will be graded on the following criteria;
Requirements (5 points) - Does the submitted work meet all requirements?
Creativity (10 points) - Is the writing presented original and creative?
Organization (10 points) - Does the organization of the submission make sense? For example, if submitting a poem, be sure to separate it into stanzas.
Content (20 points) - Is the submission accurate if any factual information is provided? Is effective word choice/rhetoric used? Is the content engaging and/or interesting? Does it make the reader want to keep on reading? Is the writing focused or does it include seemingly irrelevant information? Are there gaps in content or is there too much fluff?
Grammar/Syntax (5 points) - Are there any punctuation, grammar, or syntax errors? Are there any fragments or run-ons? Any misspelled words?
Illustrations will be graded on the following criteria;
Requirements (5 points) - Do the submitted illustrations meet the requirements?
Content (25 points) - Are the illustrations relevant to the writing accompanying them? Does the use of certain images or techniques support the writing? Are they detailed and is effort clearly shown?
Color/Neatness (10 points) - Is there a lot of white space or are substantial amounts of color used? Are the illustrations neat? Does all of the color used seem to contribute to the illustrations themselves?
Professionalism (10 points) - How good is the illustration itself? Is the message and each facet of the illustration clearly conveyed? Does it seem like something that would seem professional and could be put into a book published online?
Rules:
1. Submissions must include your name, literary work (+ illustrations if you have any), and must be formatted based on requirements that will be sent to you following your completion of this google form. Submissions will also be made to said google form.
2. Submissions can be any form of writing, including nonfiction, fiction, poems, short stories, satire, novels, etc...
3. Submissions can be anywhere from 200 to 50,000 words.
4. Illustrations may be done either digitally or by hand and then scanned.
5. All writing must be done digitally.
6. You must register using this google form and will then receive a link to another google form where you can submit your work.
7. All submissions are due by January 3rd, 2022 at 11:59 P.M. Submissions after this exact time will not be considered for the competition.
8. Results will be announced on March 2nd, 2022 on SOAR's Facebook page and winners will be contacted by email once the results are released.
9. No plagiarism or assistance is allowed in the creation of your work.
10. Have fun!
WHAT IS SOAR?
SOAR(Spread of Active Reading) is an initiative founded by high school student Yajat Gupta that aims to increase global reading rates through the use of audio book trailers, similar to trailers for movies. SOAR posts book trailers weekly and has held a book drive that raised over 3,000 books for children in need. SOAR has been featured in numerous articles, including ones done by Patch News, Newzhook, the Defiant Ones Teen Magazine, and the Thai Youth World Express.
You can support SOAR's mission by giving some of SOAR's book trailers a listen - use the link below to access SOAR on whatever platform is convenient for you!
https://soarspreadofactivereading.buzzsprout.com/Please also use this link (
https://www.facebook.com/SOARspreadofactivereading/) to find SOAR's page on Facebook; we would appreciate it if you could follow/leave a like on SOAR's page. Results will be posted there.
There will be a SOAR episode on the write and illustrate your own book contest that includes a book trailer for a book published by Ms. Smith, so be sure to give it a listen!
Good luck to all participants!
Feel free to email
soar.spreadofactivereading@gmail.com if you have any questions, comments, or concerns.
