Urbane and incisive SL-based academic Tom Bukowski (last seen in NWN creating a virtual headquarters for a real world political campaign long before it was cool) has a contest to illustrate the cover of his upcoming anthropological exploration of Second Life, to be published by a very prestigious university press. Details after the break.
PICTURE CONTEST!
DEADLINE: TUESDAY, AUGUST 7, 5PM SL TIME
I want your picture on my book!
I (Tom Bukowski, Tom Boellstorff irl) am holding a contest to select a picture to appear on the cover of my book Coming of Age in Second Life: An Anthropologist Explores the Virtually Human, which will be published in April 2008 by Princeton University Press. This book is an anthropological study of culture in Second Life, based on two and a half years of research inworld. For the cover of the book, I would like to feature a picture taken by a Second Life resident! Here’s a chance to have an example of your picture-taking talents disseminated to a wide audience. You’ve got until August 7, so start snapping!
CONTEST RULES
1) Employees of Linden Lab or Princeton University Press are not eligible.
2) The author of winning picture will receive 2,000 Linden Dollars as a prize, and will be named in the book as the author of the picture if the picture is used. The “most popular” winner (see below) will receive a 1,000 Linden Dollars prize. The author of the winning picture can be acknowledged in the book with their real-life name, Second Life name, or both. There is a chance that in the final phase of producing the book cover, a decision will be made that a picture from Second Life will not be used; for that reason, I reserve the right not to use the winning picture.
3) To be named as winner of the contest and receive the prize, the author of the winning picture must be willing to sign over all rights for the picture to me (Tom Boellstorff), for publication by Princeton University Press.
JUDGING CRITERIA AND TIMELINE
1) Because the idea behind the book is what happens when an anthropologist goes to Second Life and treats it like a strange, exotic culture, I’m looking for some kind of picture that conveys the idea of unexplored territory or a mysterious new world. The preference is for an image that has a theme of social life. This could be community, commerce, dating, friendship, or something I haven’t thought about: surprise me! Because the book is reaching out to a broad readership, including people with no experience in Second Life, a picture that requires some familiarity with Second Life to be understood (like a Tringo game, for instance) will probably not work so well.
2) If your picture includes recognizable places or people inworld, it is your responsibility to obtain permission for those places or people to have their likenesses reproduced on a book cover.
3) Pictures should be in vertical format (like a book cover) and the highest resolution possible: ideally, 2100 x 2850 pixels. Jpg or bitmap, please. You can use the Second Life client’s own snapshot capabilities, or some third-party program like Fraps.
4) Email your pictures to [email protected].
5) The deadline for sending in pictures is AUGUST 7, 2007, 5pm Second Life time.
6) There will be a panel of 2 or 3 judges. Our first task will be to select 5 to 10 top finalists.
7) On August 14, 2007, I will display the top finalists at a gallery (location to be announced). Visitors will be able to vote for their favorite picture.
8) I’ll have an event on August 21, 2007, at 4pm, at Ethnographia (Dowden 150, 180, 48) to announce the winner! If the winning picture the judges select to appear on the book’s cover is the same picture with the most votes, the person who took the picture will receive 3,000 Linden Dollars. If the winning picture the judges select to appear on the book’s cover is not the same picture as the picture with the most votes, the person who took the winning picture will receive 2,000 Linden Dollars and the person who took the picture with the most votes will receive 1,000 Linden Dollars.
~10 bucks in real money? (assuming you win *both* prizes)
Pretty cheap way to score some cover art ;)
Posted by: Shep Korvin | Sunday, July 29, 2007 at 12:16 PM
I agree with Shep, as this cover will be used in hard copy, in real life. A cover photo generated in whatever means should be paid properly in current rates in real life.
Alternatively, for 10 bucks, the photographer should keep the rights to the photo but may grant use of it only for the use within the book cover context - almost as a gift to the author.
Even though the photo is taken via sl means, a real person in real life has to it - it is a real image the same as any image used for a book cover in real life.
Posted by: Swann Jie | Monday, July 30, 2007 at 09:21 AM
Hey, thanks for the comments - I will talk to the press and see about upping the amount I offer. Right now it's coming out of my own pocket - it's been a learning curve getting them to understand what's going on here. I'm going to talk to them today and if I can get the amount increased, I'll post the new info here in the Comments section asap and also at the Cetus Arts Gallery event tonight (July 31, 6:30pm slt).
Posted by: Tom | Tuesday, July 31, 2007 at 08:25 AM
***Please distribute to anyone who may be interested.***
PICTURE CONTEST!
DEADLINE: TUESDAY, AUGUST 7, 5PM SL TIME
NOTE! Pictures should be in vertical format (like a book cover) and the highest resolution possible: ideally, 2100 x 2850 pixels. Jpg or bitmap, please. You can use the Second Life client’s own snapshot capabilities, or some third-party program like Fraps. If you don’t know the details about resolution and format, DON’T WORRY; just send in your image and if it’s chosen as a finalist picture we can re-format it or re-take it if necessary.
I want your picture on my book!
I (Tom Bukowski, Tom Boellstorff irl) am holding a contest to select a picture to appear on the cover of my book Coming of Age in Second Life: An Anthropologist Explores the Virtually Human, which will be published in April 2008 by Princeton University Press. This book is an anthropological study of culture in Second Life, based on two and a half years of research inworld. For the cover of the book, I would like to feature a picture taken by a Second Life resident! Here’s a chance to have an example of your picture-taking talents disseminated to a wide audience. You’ve got until August 7, so start snapping!
CONTEST RULES
1) Employees and staff of Linden Lab, Princeton University Press, and Cetus Gallery District Association/Ruttan Development/Ruttan Properties are not eligible.
2) The author of winning picture will receive $50 US (about 13,500 Linden Dollars) as a prize, and will be named in the book as the author of the picture if the picture is used. The “most popular” winner (see below) will receive a 5,000 Linden Dollars prize. The author of the winning picture can be acknowledged in the book with their real-life name, Second Life name, or both. There is a chance that in the final phase of producing the book cover, a decision will be made that a picture from Second Life will not be used; for that reason, I reserve the right not to use the winning picture.
3) To be named as winner of the contest and receive the prize, the author of the winning picture must be willing to sign over all rights for the picture to me (Tom Boellstorff), for publication by Princeton University Press. In other words, the winner will need to sign a release giving us world rights to use the image--not just on the book jacket but on later paperback covers and in all promotions for the book. If you’re interested, a template permissions letter can be found on the Princeton University Press website: http://press.princeton.edu/about_pup/authors/perm_letters.html
JUDGING CRITERIA AND TIMELINE
1) Because the idea behind the book is what happens when an anthropologist goes to Second Life and treats it like a strange, exotic culture, I’m looking for some kind of picture that conveys the idea of unexplored territory or a mysterious new world. The preference is for an image that has a theme of social life. This could be community, commerce, dating, friendship, or something I haven’t thought about: surprise me! Because the book is reaching out to a broad readership, including people with no experience in Second Life, a picture that requires some familiarity with Second Life to be understood (like a Tringo game, for instance) will probably not work so well.
2) If your picture includes recognizable places or people inworld, it is your responsibility to obtain permission for those places or people to have their likenesses reproduced on a book cover.
3) Pictures should be in vertical format (like a book cover) and the highest resolution possible: ideally, 2100 x 2850 pixels. Jpg or bitmap, please. You can use the Second Life client’s own snapshot capabilities, or some third-party program like Fraps.
NOTE: If you don’t know the details about resolution and format, DON’T WORRY; just send in your image and if it’s chosen as a finalist picture we can re-format it or re-take it if necessary.
4) Email your pictures to [email protected]. You can send in as many pictures as you like.
5) The deadline for sending in pictures is AUGUST 7, 2007, 5pm Second Life time.
6) There will be a panel of 2 or 3 judges. Our first task will be to select 5 to 10 top finalists.
7) On August 14, 2007, I will display the top finalists at a gallery (with the kind support of Ruttan Development/Ruttan Properties/Cetus Gallery District). Just teleport to (Cetus 216, 6, 40). Visitors will be able to vote for their favorite picture.
8) I’ll have an event at the gallery on August 21, 2007, to announce the winner! If the winning picture the judges select to appear on the book’s cover is the same picture with the most votes, the person who took the picture will receive $50 US (about 13,500 Linden Dollars) plus an extra 5,000 linden dollars. If the winning picture the judges select to appear on the book’s cover is not the same picture as the picture with the most votes, the person who took the winning picture will receive $50 US and the person who took the picture with the most votes will receive 5,000 Linden Dollars.
Posted by: Tom | Tuesday, July 31, 2007 at 09:51 AM
As you can see above, I've gotten permission to increase the prize money to $50 US (about 13,500 lindens) and 5,000 lindens for most votes. Hamlet, if the post above is too long, just delete it and have people im me for the contest details.
Posted by: Tom | Tuesday, July 31, 2007 at 09:52 AM