Write great hypno stories, win great hypno art. The goal of the contest is to highlight amazing furry hypno writers, and pair them with paid artists who can illustrate scenes from their stories. 

As we did last year, the contest will be split into short-form (2k-7k words), and long-form (7-20k words).

We’ve partnered with four artists -  thedecisivepanda,  belette,  stranger1500, and  goatuna! Contest winners (first and second in each category) will receive an illustration for their story from one of the artists. 

New this year: While we encourage everyone to participate, we hope to prioritize new authors. Therefore, if someone who has already won multiple prizes in the last two awards would win a prize this year, they will get an honorable mention instead.

Here’s how it works:

1) Between March 1st and March 31st, post a story to FurAffinity or SoFurry that:
- Involves hypnosis/mind-control as a core plot point
- Is male/male or male (solo)
- Is between 2000 and 20000 words.
- Can be SFW or NSFW
- Fanfic is allowed.

2) Register the entry with us (via a Google Form) in either the short form or long form category before March 31st (we’ll post a journal here with the link on March 1st). 

3) Between April 1st and 15th, we’ll post a list of entries and a voting link

Anyone can vote, and you’ll be able to award points based on your preferences. A voter’s first place selection will receive 4 points, second will receive 2, and third will receive 1. Voters may provide a first, second, and third place choice.

You may submit votes for either category (or both) - while there will only be one Google Form, there will be separate sections for short form and long form on the ballot.

4) In early May, we’ll close voting (we’ll try to ensure the ballot is live for at least three weeks to give people time to read all the entries). 

5) In May, we’ll announce winners and paired artists (this gives us time to tabulate votes and resolve any issues) Participating artists will be randomly assigned to each winner.

- First place in each category will receive a fully rendered picture
- Second place in each category will receive a colored picture

Extra awards may be given if the organizers feel an exceptional work was overlooked, if artists have extra capacity, and if additional funding is available. 

6) Artists have two months to deliver art, at which time we’ll post a final summary. 

Note: Artists will work with authors to illustrate a scene from the work. However, artists ultimately have final say which scene is depicted in the artwork. This is to avoid issues where an author requests a scene that has a kink the artist doesn’t normally draw, or has more characters than the provided rate would allow. 

Detailed Contest Rules:

Can I submit a work posted before March 1st?

We want to ensure that submissions for this contest were written specifically for this contest. To that end, we are only allowing submissions for work posted during the time period.

You are free to start writing before March 1st - it’s simply the work itself can’t be posted before March 1st. 

Why only male/male (or solo male) work?

The organizers of this event are gay folks who want to celebrate queer men in hypno furry fiction.

Can trans characters/non-binary characters be in the main pairing?

Transmasc characters are allowed. Non-binary characters who use he/they/it pronouns are also allowed.  If a character uses she/her, that feels like it would undercut the spirit of the contest, to create male hypno stories

What happens if a winning author or artist goes missing/stops responding?

We expect authors and artists to collaborate on the final artwork. Authors must be available to respond to artists attempting to start work on their commission. If we cannot reach a winning author for over 30 days after we post the results, the next runner up will get their allocated artist/winnings.

Similarly, artists are expected to work collaboratively with their author. If an artist stops responding for more than 30 days, the winning author may ask mods to find another artist, and the original artist’s commission will be transferred to the new artist.

Someone wrote an entry that appears to be targeted harassment, doesn’t follow the rules, etc. What can I do?

Contest mods have final say over the eligibility of a work. Works that appear to be trolling, harassing, or do not follow the requirements may be disqualified. Send the organizers a message and we’ll investigate.

In cases where there are simple rule issues (for example, if a work is slightly under the word count requirement), we’ll reach out to the author to try to get them to resolve the issue. 

Can I promote my story?

Within reason. Posting “hey, I have a story in the contest, I hope you read and consider voting for it” is fine.

However, actively whipping votes (including offering any kind of compensation or reward for votes) is against the rules. 

Can I include female/non-binary characters in my story?

All genders are welcome to be present but the central focus is meant to be men.

Can I submit multiple stories?

You can submit multiple stories, however, each author can only win one award.

So, for example, if you submit two stories and one story comes in second and another in first, you'd be awarded the first place prize, but second place would go to another author.

Can I submit a mixed-media work (story + art/music/etc)?

Submissions can only only include text - no accompanying art, music, or other material is permitted. This is to keep the contest focused on written work and authors.

If you want to post accompanying art of your story after the contest concludes (and balloting has closed), that is fine, but it cannot be posted during the contest, as it may be an unfair advantage.

Can I write a story based on existing media / can I use existing artwork as a thumbnail / can I link to my work from another work?

The contest is for written submissions only. No mixed-media submissions allowed. The mere existence of a nonwritten artwork featuring the same characters, themes or scenes is not in itself disqualifying. However there can be no cross-promotion between a written submission and related content of any other form of nonwritten creative work, including but not limited to:

- Posting a related nonwritten creative work during the submission period
- Using visual artwork as an icon for the submission in a gallery
- Including a link to a nonwritten artwork in the submission notes or description
- Publicly linking a nonwritten artwork associated with a submission in social media posts

Can I have human/furry pairings (or vice versa)?

Yes, this is allowed.

Can I post commissioned work/work I was paid to write?

No. Please do not post work that was not made for the contest. You cannot post work that you hired someone else to write, nor work you were hired to write. 

Can I use generative AI tools (like ChatGPT)?

No.

Can I use characters owned by event staff (artists or mods)?

As long as you have permission from the owner, yes, with two caveats:
- Any work which includes a staffer-owned character cannot receive a mod prize.
- If such a work wins the popular vote, and the work contains a character owned by an artist, then that artist cannot draw the prize for the work containing their own character. 

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