Online Article Competition Guidelines for The Zerone 2024
Continuing with our proud tradition here at The Zerone, we are excited to announce the annual Online Article Writing Competition with a prize pool of NRs. 30,000!
The prizes for the competition include:
- NRs. 8500 for the best overall literary work in each category decided by The Zerone 2024 Team.
- NRs. 4500 for the recipient of the Popular Choice Award, granted to the article with the highest count of unique claps on Medium.
The competition deadline is the 17th of December (1st of Poush) at 11:59 PM NST (UTC +5:45). The entire competition will take place online, in the Medium publication of The Zerone.
Categories
1. Dear Home
Home, the word itself emanates comfort and warmth like a snuggly blanket that keeps you safe and tucked in on a chilly winter night. The feeling of being at home extends beyond the four walls around us and the roof above us. You may find home in the embrace of your loved ones, in places where you have made memories galore. You may find home in that one person whose presence is simply enough to cure your blues, in memories which you reminisce to remind yourself what a beautiful thing life is.
What feels like home to you? Is it a person, a place, an emotion, or an entirely different thing? For home is where the heart is. For home is what takes you in with open arms when nobody else does.
2. The Harmony of Algorithms
Have you ever had to find a number in a huge phone book? Or maybe you’ve wondered how ants manage to find their way to food so efficiently? Well, both of these tasks involve using a set of steps that we call an algorithm. Whether elegant in their simplicity or intricately inspired by nature, these digital symphonies compose the very backbone of our technologies. They silently toil behind the scenes, powering our search engines and generating breathtaking works of art. If you seek to uncover the often-hidden beauty within these algorithms or craft compelling tales around them, we welcome you to this category. Whether you aim to demystify a complex algorithm for a wider audience or wish to share that ‘Eureka!’ moment when an algorithm suddenly clicked, this is your stage. Are you ready to take the step?
Step 1: Enter The Harmony of Algorithms
3. Urban Fantasy
You have read about monsters that crawl under your bed. You have wondered about the aftermath of an alien invasion of the modern world. Have you prepared your three wishes if a genie were to pop out of the Chinese teapot in your kitchen? Imagine magical creatures running wild in the busy streets, zombies creeping out from the bazaars of your hometown. Urban Fantasy lets you create magic in your boring everyday life, literally! So let your wild stories unfold in the modern world with all its supernatural elements, magic, wizards, and powers.
Steps To Participate
1. Follow the publication ‘zerone magazine’ (you cannot submit articles to our publication if you haven’t followed our magazine, so DO NOT miss this step):
https://medium.com/zerone-magazine
2. Fill out this registration form for Online Article Writing Competition 2024: https://bit.ly/ZeroneOAWC2024
3. Write your article and publish it on your Medium profile. Add the tags ‘blogging competition’ and ‘category_name’ plus any three tags of your choice.
4. Scroll to the bottom of your article, and you will see the menu. In the menu, there is an option ‘Add to publication’. You can also access this option from the top-right corner of your screen when you are editing your article or draft.
If the option to add to The Zerone is not available yet, it means you missed filling out the registration form. We need to manually add you as a writer for our Medium magazine for you to get this option. Email us at ioezerone@gmail.com if you did fill out the form, if you need to correct some details, or if you still haven’t gotten appropriate permissions to publish after 1-2 days.
5. Choose ‘The Zerone’ from the options. After you click select and continue, you will be prompted to review and submit your draft. Now your article will be submitted as a draft to the magazine. Add any additional tags you feel necessary (as you did in step 3).
6. After checking the validity of your submission, your article will be published.
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Note: Your article may fall into two or more of the aforementioned categories. It is up to you to select one. You can participate only in one category. Any form of literature (story, article, or poem) is appreciated.
Few Ground Rules
1. One participant can only submit one article in one category. You can submit your article at any time within the submission period.
2. Submission of previously published articles is strictly forbidden, including your own articles that have been published in other publications or magazines.
3. Plagiarism is strictly forbidden. If the article is found to have been copied from any external source, then the participant will be disqualified.
4. We understand that AI can assist writing in many ways, but we prioritize the authenticity and depth of human stories. So articles predominantly or entirely generated by AI won’t be accepted.
5. Direct or indirect advertisement of a particular company or profitable organization within the article is strictly prohibited.
6. You are allowed to attach images or videos within your article.
7. The language of publication for the magazine this year is English. While small snippets of other languages are acceptable, please provide a translation in a footnote or in a bracket and italicize the word used.
8. For the Popular Choice Award, only unique claps from distinct Medium accounts will be considered valid votes.
9. For the complete set of article guidelines, refer to this Medium post — https://bit.ly/articleguidelines2024
The winners’ articles will also be featured in the printed form of The Zerone magazine.
Any queries? Do comment or send an email to ioezerone@gmail.com
Happy writing season!
