Whether it’s true or fictional, we want your amazing pet stories! This contest is packed full of amazing prizes with $1,000 in guaranteed prize pool plus all entrants in our non-fiction contest will receive a FREE Print n’ Play Pet Card of their pet that can be used in the Shady Pets card game!

UPDATE: Contest entry period ended October 16, 2020.

FINAL RESULTS – View Contest Winners

View contest entries and vote below:

Shady Pets Amazing Stories Contest - Terms and Conditions

Eligibility:

Anyone over 18 is eligible to enter the competition (the PARTICIPANT).  Employees of FireStorm Labs dba Shady Pets, interns, contractors, sponsors, or an immediate family member of any of the foregoing, may participate, but are not eligible to win. No Purchase Necessary. Purchase does not enhance chance of winning. Void where prohibited by law including, but not limited to Brazil, France, Russia, Taiwan.

Photos from prior Shady Pets photo contests are eligible to enter, yet must submit Non-fiction story (50-5,000 words) to be eligible (see below).

Two Contest Categories:
    1.  Non-Fiction:  True story about your pet and includes a photo of your pet (photo already submitted to Shady Pets is acceptable).
    2.  Fiction:  Any story that involves one of the Shady Pet types; Dog, Cat, Hamster or Reptile. No photo required.
Technical specifications for submitted photos:

For submission to the Non-Fiction Contest, photo(s) must be submitted as a high-resolution JPEG, PNG or GIF using the 'enter contest' link and must be under 10MB each. Entries submitted by email will be immediately deleted (and not viewed). The photo must contain the subject matter of a pet in a family friendly pose. The photo must not contain violence, profanity, sex or direct attacks on individuals or organizations. Any entries deemed offensive will be immediately disqualified.

No copyrighted images:

For submission to the Non-Fiction Contest, both the story and photo must be original creations. No copyrighted images may be entered in the contest. If you're not sure, ask yourself, did you or a family member take the photo? If so, you're good! If not, you likely do not have the copyright and can not enter that image. No exceptions! You can not grab pictures online (ie. Pinterest, Facebook) and submit. That is a copyright violation of the person who took that photo. Use photos taken from your camera, or your mobile phone's camera.  The selected winners must certify and warrant in writing that the submitted photo(s) does not violate the rights of a third party or any copyright to be eligible to win. FireStorm Labs is not responsible for intellectual property violations that might have resulted through the submissions of photos.

Technical specifications for submitted stories:

For submission to the Fiction Contest, the story must be an original creation. No copyrighted stories may be entered in the contest. You can not copy or modify a story by someone else and submit it. You must use the 'enter contest' link. Entries submitted by email will be immediately deleted (and not viewed). The story must contain the subject matter of a pet. The story must not contain violence, profanity, sex or direct attacks on individuals or organizations. Any entries deemed offensive will be immediately disqualified. The story must be at least 50 words and no greater than 5,000 words. Stories that do not meet the word requirements will be disqualified from winning prizes.

Print and Play Pet Card:

All qualified entries in the Non Fiction Contest will be eligible to receive a print and play (PDF) card made from the pet photo(s) submitted in the contest. This PnP card is designed and compatible for the Shady Pets card game. Please allow up to 7 days to have your pet card available. Only 1 Print and Play card will be made per entry or household.

The prizes:

Non-Fiction:  3 entries will be selected as "finalist" with awards as follows. Up to 5 additional entries may be selected for an "Honorable Mention" status. Cash values are designated in US Dollars.

    1. 1st place:  $250 Cash (paid via PayPal) + Kickstarter Bonus Pool Share* + Pet photo included on printed game card
    2. 2nd place:  $100 Cash (paid via PayPal) + Kickstarter Bonus Pool Share* + Pet photo included on printed game card
    3. 3rd place:  $50 Cash (paid via PayPal) + Kickstarter Bonus Pool Share* + Pet photo included on printed game card
    4. Honorable Mention: FREE Shady Pets Card Game + Throw Octopus + possible inclusion of pet photo on printed card

Fiction:  3 entries will be selected as "finalist" with awards as follows. Up to 5 additional entries may be selected for an "Honorable Mention" status

    1. 1st place:  $250 Cash (paid via PayPal) + Kickstarter Bonus Pool Share*
    2. 2nd place:  $100 Cash (paid via PayPal) + Kickstarter Bonus Pool Share*
    3. 3rd place:  $50 Cash (paid via PayPal) + Kickstarter Bonus Pool Share*
    4. Honorable Mention: FREE Shady Pets Card Game + Throw Octopus

*Kickstarter Bonus Pool:

Shady Pets II (name to be determined) along with various Expansion Packs will be placed on Kickstarter during the month September, 2020 (actually dates may vary). For every $25K that is raised via Kickstarter, the Kickstarter Bonus Pool will increase by $1,000. The Bonus will be paid out using the following %'s. The Maximum Kickstarter Bonus Pool is $5,000 USD (or $125K raised via Kickstarter. If the Kickstarter raises over $125K, there will be no additional money added to the bonus pool share).

    1. 25% to the 2 first place finishers (Fiction and Non Fiction)
    2. 15% to the 2 2nd place finishers (Fiction and Non Fiction)
    3. 10% to the 2 3rd place finishers (Fiction and Non Fiction)

Example bonus payout: If the Kickstarter funds $100,000; then $4,000 would be placed in the Kickstarter Bonus Pool. $1,000 would go the 1st place award winner of the Non Fiction contest, and $1,000 would go to the 1st place award winner of the Fiction Contest. $600 would go to each 2nd place award winner, and $400 would go to each 3rd place winner.

 

Entry Tips

Entries should contain an amazing story about a pet! Make it funny, heartfelt, sad, full of joy or happiness. Captivate your readers with your writing by using descriptive words, use strong action verbs and share feelings or emotions! Invoke an emotion response such as tears, laughs, pride, restored faith, etc. when they read the story about your pet!  Pet photo entries are not required to have shades/sunglasses on. It is OK to edit the photo and digitally add "shades" after the photo is taken. FireStorm Labs may opt to digitally add shades to your photo for inclusion in the game.

Contest period, judging and notification of selected photographers

This contest period will run from May 1, 2020 thru October 16, 2020 (actual period may change depending on Kickstarter dates). After the contest closes, the contest entries will be judged by 3 factors:  1) strength of story/writing 2) the amount of “likes” or votes the photo receives  3) adherence to rules; Votes must not be collected using robots, spam or other "black hat" methods intended to subvert this contest with gathering votes from people who do not exist.

The first round of judging will take place shortly after October 16 and will be conducted by the staff of FireStorm Labs.  The first round will determine the semi-finalist.

The semi-finalist will be sent to an independent 3rd party who is a professional in publishing/journalism or a literary agent. This person will select the finalist and award the top 3 places for each category.  The judge’s decision is final. Any attempt by a participant to break the rules of or subvert the competition will lead to immediate disqualification.

Please allow up to 30 days (by November 20, 2020) for notification and announcement of contest results.

If an entrant is unable to be contacted by email or phone after reasonable attempts have been made to do so, FireStorm Labs reserves the right to offer the prize to the next best entry.

Rights and ownership

Authors retain copyright on their stories and/or photos that are submitted in this contest and are free to use them in any other capacity. By submitting their stories and/or photos to FireStorm Labs, dba Shady Pets via this contest, participants agree to grant FireStorm Labs free of charge the right to use the story and photo in any manner and media, including without limitation, the right to publish, adapt, distribute, copy, display or translate in printed or electronic media even if they are not a prize winning entry.

Indemnification

The Participant (“Indemnifying Party”) hereby agrees to indemnify, defend and hold harmless FireStorm Labs, its parent and subsidiary companies, and their respective officers, agents, directors, employees and authorized representatives (collectively, “Indemnified Party”) from and against any actual costs, losses, liabilities and expenses, including court costs, reasonable expenses, and reasonable attorneys’ fees (“Losses”) incurred by reason of any third party claim arising out of, as a result of, or in connection with the Indemnifying Party’s copyright infringement, misrepresentation, or violation of any law, statute, ordinance, rule or regulation throughout the world in connection with any material or information provided related to this contest.

General

FireStorm Labs reserves the right to modify or cancel the contest or any of the arrangements, schedules, plans or other items directly or indirectly related to the contest, at any time and for any reason if deems necessary, including the amount of winners.

All participants agree to the Shady Pets privacy and data usage policy.

All participants are entitled to access, cancel, oppose and rectify the details about the personal data (such as names, addresses, etc.) contained in the file by sending their request by email to [email protected]

The contest period may be extended if it is deemed necessary to have enough entries to constitute a worth while contest.

Participation in the contest, including being selected to have your story or photo considered for inclusion in the Shady Pets game, in no manner constitutes an endorsement or support by FireStorm Labs of the candidates’ views or aims or of any products or services. Candidates shall not advertise or otherwise claim to have obtained any such endorsement or support. The Shady Pets name and logo are the property of FireStorm Labs and should not be used in any manner whatsoever without the prior consent of FireStorm Labs.

Contact us: [email protected]