March Madness College basketball isn't for everyone. That's why Loose Id's running its own March Madness event: a short erotic romance fiction contest for writers - and readers! Writers: unleashed your imagination by writing the hottest 5000-7000 word erotic romances you can dream up. Anything goes, so long as it meets Loose Id's general submissions guidelines. You'll submit your stories to b judged by Loose Id staff, and the top sixteen stories will go on to compete for gift certificates, VIP memberships and Loose Id contracts, with the winners determined by our readers. Readers: get ready! Starting March 19, we'll be giving you short excerpts of the Sweet Sixteen stories and asking YOU to vote on them. And, to thank you for participating, we'll pick two voters at random each week and award them with a Loose Id VIP membership! Getting tired of all the hoop-la? Tune into Loose Id's March Madness. All the excitement with none of the fouls. And it all starts March 19, 2008, right here at Loose Id!   Rules Loose Id is sponsoring the “March Madness” contest  (hereinafter “Contest”). The Contest is an on-line skill-based contest in which participants will create an original erotic romance short story of 5000-7000 words that, aside from length, meets Loose Id's current publishing guidelines.  All entries must be in English.  1. Entry Requirements No purchase necessary to enter. Purchase does not increase your chance of winning. To enter, send an original short erotic romance meeting Loose Id's submissions guidelines as specified below. All entries must be received by March 1, 2008. Entries received after March 1, 2008 will not be accepted. 2. Contest Eligibility The event is open to anyone who has reached the age of majority in his or her place of residence at the time of entry.  Void where prohibited by law and in the Canadian province of Quebec. Employees of Loose Id (and/or any other sponsoring entity, if any) and its affiliates and the immediate family members and/or those living in the same household of such persons are not eligible to enter the Contest or to participate in the voting process. 3. Format; Submissions Manuscripts should be in standard formatting, 12 pt Times New Roman or Courier font, italics or underlining for emphasis. No graphics or other supporting materials should be included. Submit Manuscripts to li.marchmadness@gmail.com. No entries submitted after 12:00 am (midnight) on March 1, 2008 [edited to add: midnight between March 1 and March 2, Pacific Time] will be accepted. Covering email should include the name and penname of the author, the title of the story, its actual word count, the genre(s), sexes of the pairing/moresome, and a very brief description (200 words or less) of the story plot. Entrants may submit up to three manuscripts for consideration, but only one may be chosen per entrant. Any person who attempts to submit more than the permitted number of entries or who is suspected of trying to circumvent this requirement by any means, including establishing multiple email accounts, will be disqualified from the Contest. 4. Entry Warranties All entries must meet the following requirements to be eligible:             1. The Manuscript must be original and free from any encumbrances that would otherwise conflict with the rights granted to Sponsor under these Contest rules and procedures.  The Submitter must be the creator of the Manuscript and authorized to, and the holder of all legal rights, including all permissions necessary to include any and all parts of the Manuscript, to submit it to the Contest and to grant the rights herein granted to the Sponsor.   By submitting the Manuscript, a Submitter warrants and represents that he/she has such full legal rights.             2.  The Manuscript must not infringe upon the copyright, trademark, or other intellectual property rights of any person or entity, and must not contain any material that is libelous, defamatory, in violation of any right of privacy, or otherwise contrary to law.             3. The Manuscript must meet all specifications set forth by Sponsor and be submitted in accordance with all rules of the Contest.    Sponsor shall reject any entry not submitted in accordance with the rules of the Contest. 5. Judging After the close of submissions, the staff of Sponsor Loose Id will select those 16 entries which in their sole discretion and opinion are the best and most publishable.   Loose Id reserves the right to select fewer than 16 or to select none if entries in the opinion of its staff do not merit award.  At this stage of the contest, the opinion of the judges shall be final. Excerpts from the entries selected by Sponsor Loose Id as described above shall be published on Sponsor’s website (or a special contest site) on or after March 16.  Entries will be assigned to 8 arbitrary voting brackets, to be voted on by readers.  The winners of each bracket shall proceed in subsequent weeks to be voted on against other winners from other brackets until the final 2 entries compete for the Grand prize.  6. Voting The contest voting will be hosted off site and voting will be done via the internet. Voters will be required to register their email accounts with the polling host and will only be able to vote once per bracket. The tally will be automatic. Readers are asked to judge each of the entries on the overall quality of the writing, the likability of the protagonists, and whether or not they would purchase the story. Voting on Phase 1 (March 19, 2008 - March 22, 2008) will be on the first 250-500 words of the story. Voting on Phase 2 (March 26, 2008 - March 29, 2008) will be 250-500 words of the first kiss or other intimate encounter. Voting on Phase 3 (April 2, 2008 to April 5, 2008) will be 250-500 words from an intimate encounter or the story conflict at the discretion of the Sponsor, the same for both stories. Voting on the Final Phase (April 9, 2008- April 12, 2008) will be on all three of the excerpts previously posted, as well as the author's summary from the submissions email. 7. Disqualifications Sponsor reserves the right in its sole discretion at any time to disqualify and remove any submitted Manuscript that it believes potentially or actually infringes upon any copyright or other rights of any third party or otherwise does not meet these Contest Rules. 8. Publicity By submitting a Manuscript for the Contest, the Submitter acknowledges and agrees that Sponsor has been given the right to publish electronically (first electronic publication right) any Manuscript, in whole or in part, selected in any round as a winning entry on Sponsor’s website or any Contest site.  By submitting a Manuscript for the Contest, the Submitter further grants to Sponsor the right to use his/her name, likeness and biographical material (all as submitted by the Submitter for the Contest) in connection with the publication of the Manuscript, or for advertising or reporting on the Contest in any media now known or hereinafter invented. By entering this Contest, the Submitter waives any right of action against Sponsor, its officers, directors, employees, affiliates, and assigns, in connection with Sponsor’s use of the Manuscript (or any part thereof).  All participants in the Contest (both Submitters and Readers who vote) hereby release and hold Loose Id and its affiliates, officers, directors, employees, agents, and assigns harmless from any and all claims, demands, losses and liabilities arising out of their participation in the Contest. 9. Prizes The Grand Prize is a standard Loose Id publishing contract for the short story and an additional contract for a longer story suitable for publication by Loose Id will be awarded to the winner on or before April 16 and announced in Loose Id's spotlight panel at Romantic Times Booklover's Convention.  No substitution or transfer of prizes is permitted, except the Sponsor reserves the right to substitute a prize of equal or greater value in the event that an offered prize is unavailable.  All federal, state, and local taxes on prizes are the sole responsibility of the winners.  Second prize winner will also be offered a standard Loose Id publishing contract for their short story. The four semi-finalists will receive a VIP membership at Loose Id or a Loose Id Gift Certificate in the amount of $25 dollars in the event that they already have a VIP membership. The eight quarter finalists will receive $5 Gift Certificates for Loose Id. 10. Notification; Acceptance of Prizes All winners will be notified by email at the email address provided with the Manuscript on or before April 16, 2008. The winners may be required to execute and return an Affidavit of Eligibility/Release/Prize Acceptance Form.  The Grand Prize and Second Prize winners will receive a publishing contract.  Winners must sign the publishing contract in order to be awarded the prize. Non-compliance with these requirements or noncompliance within the specified time frame may result in disqualification and the selection of an alternate winner.  Return of Prize Notification or publishing contract as undeliverable will result in disqualification and an alternate winner will be selected.   In the event of a dispute over the identity of a winner based on email addresses, the winning entry will be declared to be the account holder authorized as such by the internet access provider online service provider or other entity responsible for assigning email addresses for the domain associated with the email address. 11. Privacy Sponsor will comply in all respects with its stated Privacy Policies with respect to all information collected as part of the Contest.  Manuscripts not selected by the judges will be promptly deleted. 12. General Loose Id shall not be held responsible for any errors in the printing of the Contest rules or administration of the Contest or announcement of any winners or for any loss, damage, or errors otherwise introduced into any submitted Manuscript.    Loose Id shall not be held responsible for any electronic transmission errors or interruptions or delays in operations or transmissions, theft or destruction or unauthorized access to any submitted Manuscripts or votes, or for any technical, electronic, or computer malfunction or overload of the website. Loose Id reserves the right to cancel, suspend or terminate the Contest in its sole discretion should any such circumstances beyond the control of Loose Id interfere with the Contest’s operations prior to the awarding of the Grand Prize. LOOSE ID EXPRESSLY DISCLAIMS ALL WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, WHETHER EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, TO THE FULLEST EXTENT PERMITTED UNDER LAW, INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO THE IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE, AND NON-INFRINGEMENT. 13. Governing Law The laws of the United States and specifically those of the state of Texas shall govern the rights and responsibilities of all participants in this Contest. 14. Sponsor Loose Id, LLC, 1802 N. Carson Street, Suite 212-2924, Carson City, Nevada 89701. 15. Modifications to these Rules Loose Id reserves the right to make modification to these Contest Rules, including requiring Entrants to submit scanned, signed copies thereof, until February 22, 2008. No modifications shall be made regarding eligibility or prizes or the legal rights of either parties. Any modifications made with respect to submissions procedures will be accompanied by an extension of the submission deadline and the right on the part of the Entrant to resubmit entries submitted prior to the modification. Any modifications made to these Rules shall be entered into the Rules in bold text, and listed in this section. Questions regarding these Rules or the Contest may be submitted to li.marchmadness@gmail.com.