Author Challenge 20: Knowing your Place

And now, to keep the lawyers happy, the fine print...

Here are the official rules of On-Board Author Challenges as developed during the previous 19 competitions, and modified once again for Challenge 20.

• These contests ARE NOT sponsored by, endorsed by, or guaranteed by Helium or any of its legal representatives
• Rules of each competition are subject to change without prior notice, as deemed fit by your host, Jim Bessey. Any rule changes will be clearly posted on the challenge zone and on the forum thread, Challenge 20 comment thread.
• Contests are open to all Helium members. Member must have an open and active account at the time the contest is concluded, in order to win
• Entry is made by recording a Comment on the matching Challenge Zone. Entries posted to the group forum thread, Challenge 20 comment thread become offiical once they are added to the Zone. All entries will be listed in Reply #2 to this thread.
• One entry per contestant.
• All articles written and submitted to the challenge must be in HELIUM TITLES,  Creative writing: Drama, essays, humor, memoirs, novel excerpts, poetry, reflections, satire, short stories, songs or Travel. Settings may be real or imagined but make them good! Entries can be new or already posted at Helium. There is, however, a ten point bonus for new submissions.
• The official starting date for each challenge will be clearly marked in the matching thread and also in the corresponding Zone.
• Zone for Author Challenge 20: Knowing Your Place.
  
• Entries are made by choosing an article posted to an Active Helium title. Any TOS or User Agreement violations contained within an entered article may be grounds for disqualification.
• Conditions for inclusion in a challenge may include the requirement to read and comment upon other authors' articles. Challenge 20 will use special guidelines for crtiques.
• Winner will be determined by adding the total of ALL POINTS awarded to each contestant in various ways. Highest point total is the Winner.

• Deadlines for submissions, for Leaping, and for finalizing the contest will be posted on the challenge zone and in the forum thread.
• Decisions of the contest host are final. In the event of a math error, any participating member may request a recount before the contest is finalized.
• Cash prizes, if included, will be awarded via PayPal only. Since Helium members must have an open PayPal account in order to receive payments, this method should be acceptable to all users. No other payment method will be employed. This is NOT an official Helium payment, and WILL NOT be shown on the member's Earnings page.
• Display of the winner's article on Helium's front page is at the discretion of staff and editors. No reason need be supplied, in the event that an article is deemed unacceptable for Front Page display. It's unlikely that pieces from the Creative Writing channel will be featured on page one at Helium.
• These rules, and any changes to them, will be displayed in the third Post Reply (Challenge Thread) and on the matching Challenge Zone.
• Additional information regarding this contest may be displayed in other areas of the thread or zone, and may also be supplied at a later time. Failure to modify these rules to include such additional information does not negate the inclusion of those conditions as part of the Challenge guidelines and rules.