It's Tweener Time ! 2008
We believe it's TIME for TWEENERS to have books written especially for them.
and
We are inviting high school teenagers to write adventure books
they wish they had had!
Why high school students?
1. They're the people tweeners want to emulate the most.
2. They know better than anyone what tweeners like to read
since they were tweeners just a few years ago.
3. They are trailblazers for tweeners. Teenagers can demonstrate
that hard work and creativity can be rewarded.
What should they write?
1. It should be 10-15 chapters with a minimum of 15,000 words and nor more than 25,000.
2. It should emphasize positive values and must not be counter to Christ-centered values.
3. It should have a believable story-line.
4. It may have a religious theme, but it must not be preachy.
5. It should be an adventure.
We’re looking for fiction that’s fast-paced, action-packed, value-promoting adventures
without gore, violence, profanity, or romance. Remember your target audience is kids
in elementary and middle schools.
Send your best chapter book with a minimum of 15,000 words and a maximum of 25,000 words.
STUDENT AWARDS:
First Place Winner:
Bethel College, Mishawaka, IN is offering $20,000 scholarship ($5,000 each year for 4 years)
Scholarship Guidelines
- Students must participate in the Tweener Ministries Chapter Book Writing and/or Cover Design
annual contest in accordance with Tweener Ministries Chapter Book Writing guidelines.
- Award winners will be determined based upon the official results from the director of the
Tweener Ministries Chapter Book Writing competition recognized annually.
- Recipients must keep the award certificate and present it to student financial services upon
enrollment at Bethel College to qualify.
- If the award certificate is lost, the scholarship will not be awarded.
- Recipients must apply, be accepted and enroll as a full-time student at Bethel College to receive the award.
- The award will be credited toward the recipient’s Bethel College tuition, is not transferable;
and is bound by the Bethel College award policies in place at the time of enrollment.
- The award is renewable based upon the GPA established by the college to determine
satisfactory academic progress.
Gaither Charitable Foundation, $1,000 cash price
Baker Trittin Press will publish the winning manuscript.
FYI: The author of the winning manuscript will receive from Baker Trittin Press a standard author’s contract.
The contract states that they will publish your book, distribute it through their normal distribution channels,
and pay you a royalty on all books sold. You do not receive a royalty payment on books they give away
for promotional purposes.
Second and Third Place Winners:
Bethel College is offering a $10,000 scholarship, ($2,500 each year for 4 years)
Fourth, Fifth, and Sixth Place Winners:
Bethel College is offering a $6,000 scholarship, ($1,500 each year for 4 years)
TEACHER AWARD:
Joshua Expeditions is offering the teacher of the first place winner a 7 day guided
educational tour to Paris. The tour is directed by Dr. Phil Johnson.
OTHER AWARDS:
Everyone competing will be given a copy of the winning publication.
Every school that has a competitor in the program will receive a copy of the winning book.
Each student submitting a manuscript will receive a t-shirt with the "I wrote a book . . ." design.
Baker Trittin Press reserves the right to offer a contract to others in addition to the first place winner.
JUDGING:
There will be three rounds of judging.
Round One: the judges are teachers, librarians, and administrators.
Round Two: the judges are published authors and college professors.
Round Three: the judges are editors of Christian books and publications.
Manuscripts sent to the judges have NO indication of name, age, gender, or place of residence.
ALL DECISIONS OF THE JUDGES ARE FINAL.
CRITERIA for JUDGING:
Each manuscript is judged on these 27 criteria:
Theme:
- Does the manuscript have a clear coherent theme?
- Does the story maintain a dominating idea made concrete through the characters and their actions?
- Is the manuscript written from a well-defined point of view?
- Does the story support Bible-based values?
Characterization:
- Are the characters believable, memorable – with both positive and negative traits?
- Do the main characters respond to and influence events?
- Do characters show growth and/or change?
- Does the dialogue contribute to rich, vivid characterization so that individual characters possess unique voices?
- Does the dialogue advance the plot?
- Is the dialogue believable?
- Are the characters appropriate for the target audience?
Plot:
- Is the story line convincing and compelling for tweeners (8-12 years old)?
- Is there a clear arc of conflict, crisis, and resolution?
- Is the conflict clear and understandable for a tweener?
- Is the conflict interesting and believable?
- Is the resolution innovative and authentic?
- Does it provide entertainment with surprises and twists?
- Does the narrative flow or does it seem disjointed?
Style:
- Does the language (word choices) enhance the story?
- Do specific, definite, details appeal to your senses?
- Are sentence structures and vocabulary varied and well-chosen?
- Does the description of scenes and incidents give the tweener an ‘I am there’ feeling?
- Are spelling, grammar, paragraphing, and punctuation correct?
Impact:
- Does the story engage your emotions?
- Do you care about the characters or the outcome of the story?
- Does the novel challenge the reader’s thinking?
- Would you recommend this to a tweener?
The Tweener Time Chapter Book Competition and the Tweener Time Cover Design Competition
are sponsored by Tweener Ministries, Inc.
They are co-Sponsored by the following:
Anderson University: http://www.anderson.edu/
Baker Trittin Press www.bakertrittinpress.com
Bethel College http://www.bethelcollege.edu/
Gaither Charitable Foundation:
i-Design http://www.terryjulien.com/
Joshua Expedition http://www.joshuaexpeditions.org/
