MAL x Honeyfeed Writing Contest 2024 (original) (raw)

In Partnership with

About the Contest

MyAnimeList and Honeyfeed want to turn your writing dreams into reality. That's why we're back with another writing contest, to help you jumpstart your writing career—and maybe even see your work adapted by the popular WIT Studio!

Yes, you read right. "Anime Foundation Meets WIT Studio" is the 2024-25 version of the MyAnimeList x Honeyfeed Writing Contest, held in partnership with Anime Foundation and WIT Studio! If you're an aspiring writer who also loves watching anime, then this contest is your ultimate time to shine.

It all starts with submitting your anime-inspired stories to the novel writing platform, Honeyfeed, following the rules given below. Then, our panel of judges will delve deep into your creations, shortlisting the best futuristic high-tech stories that have the potential to captivate audiences worldwide. Finally, anime fans from around the globe will vote for the top three stories to win this exciting writing contest.

Are you ready to craft a futuristic world destined for anime greatness? Join this year's contest to transform your words into an unforgettable journey!

• Entry fee: Free
• Writing platform: Honeyfeed
• Voting platform: Anime Foundation

Prize

Most Voted
Alt-History Entry

$3,000

Most Voted
Harmonic Future Entry

$3,000

Most Voted
Entry by Judges

$3,000

About Anime Foundation

Anime Foundation is creating the largest open ecosystem to power global anime culture. Fueled by $MANGA, the company aims to revolutionize global anime culture through the creation of an expansive open ecosystem. Partnering with key players like Animoca Brands, Animoca Brands Japan and San FranTokyo, they're poised to leverage wide distribution, industry connections, and engaging experiences to captivate millions of anime enthusiasts worldwide.

Contest Prompt, Themes & Other Requirements

Prompt: Futuristic High-Tech World

What does the future look like to you? Whether it’s a harmonious utopia or what the world could have been had things gone differently, we’re looking for stories told from a futuristic frontier based on one of the following themes and their corresponding genre(s):

Theme: Alternative History

Genre list

• Action
• Military
• Survival
• Drama
• OR
• Psychological

What we are looking for in an Alt-History-themed novel

A story where an event in humanity’s history went differently and caused a significant alteration in how the world exists today. The world presented in alt-history-themed stories should captivate the reader through its novelty and feature technology that is different and far more advanced than what we have at present.

Theme: Harmonic Future

Genre list

• Time Travel
• Comedy
• Adventure
• Slice of Life
• OR
• Romance

What we are looking for in a Harmonic Future Novel

A story that portrays a utopia-like world, wherein the main concerns of humanity (i.e. warfare, climate change, pollution, poverty, scarcity of goods) have been solved. The highlight of the Harmonic Future theme lies in the challenges of maintaining this world and how ordinary life has evolved and thrived thanks to this world's advanced technology.

• Note: There is one single prompt for the entire contest, and that is: Futuristic High-Tech World. This means that regardless of the theme of your choosing, your story must focus on the futurism of that world and how the high technology in it makes the world outstanding. While we highly recommend that Harmonic Future stories are set in a distant future, Alt-History has the option to contain settings in the past or present as long as it follows the prompt and other requirements.

How to Enter

1

Read the entire contest page and understand the rules and other requirements.

2

Decide what theme you want to participate in.

3

After choosing a theme, pick at least one of the listed genres provided for that theme. This will be your novel’s main genre.

Example

4

After carefully reading this contest page and understanding all the rules and requirements for both authors and entries, go to the Honeyfeed site and log in.

5

Click on “Create new novel” then input your novel's title, and synopsis and set your novel's maturity rating to "All audiences".

6

In the “note from author” area, write a short message that includes the theme of your novel whether it’s “Alt-History” or “Harmonic Future”. When selecting the genre(s) make sure you are selecting one or more of the corresponding theme’s genres from the list provided on this official contest page.

7

Before saving and continuing, make sure you are not mixing and matching genres from the opposite theme. After you have confirmed your genre(s), click the checkbox located next to "Would you like to submit this novel to the MAL x Honeyfeed Writing Contest ~Anime Foundation Meets WIT Studio~?" Please read your options carefully as there may be another active contest or event.

8

After publishing your first chapter, make sure your novel appears under the newly published novels for the MAL x Honeyfeed Writing Contest section on Honeyfeed’s home page.

9

After successfully following these steps, your novel will now be participating in this year’s MAL x Honeyfeed Writing Contest.

• Note: Authors can submit more than one novel to increase their chances of winning, but only one entry per author will be selected as a finalist candidate.

Eligibility Checklist

• Your novel must be written in English. Novels in other languages will not be accepted on the Honeyfeed site.
• Only new novels created for this contest will be eligible to go through the judging process.
• Novels that have been previously published, including those posted anywhere online or published in physical book form, are not eligible for the MyAnimeList X Honeyfeed Writing Contest ~Anime Foundation Meets WIT Studio~.
• Your novel must be marked as "Completed" on the Honeyfeed site on or before January 13, 2025, meaning it should have a satisfactory conclusion (arc, volume, season) by this date.
• You are not allowed to make any changes or additions to your novel after January 13.
• Rewrites, spin-offs, fanfics, plagiarism, or stories written entirely using AI tools are not eligible for this contest. Your novel must be entirely original and created for this contest by you as the only author.
• Your novel entry cannot contain any content that has been posted to the internet, including settings, worlds, characters, designs, plot points, or story elements, that were "taken from" or "inspired by" any of your or other authors' previous novels.
• Contest entries can not be a collaboration between two or more authors. Having another person do copy editing, proofreading or artwork is not considered as a collaboration.
• Your novel must be exclusive to Honeyfeed during the contest period.
• Your novel must be suitable for ages 17+, and it should be set to the "All audience" setting in Honeyfeed. No NSFW content is allowed.
• To be eligible as a contest winner your novel must contain a minimum of 25k words and a maximum of 75k words total. 1,000 to 1,500 words per chapter is strongly recommended.
• You must be 18 years old on or before March 1st, 2025, to participate in the contest.

Judging Criteria

Judges will be using the following criteria to select novels as finalists. Skipping on complying with any of the details in the eligibility checklist and judging criteria will automatically disqualify your novel from the contest.

Presentation & Publishing

• The novel has a cover image and it's properly credited to the artist or the AI tool used in the image description.
• The word count per chapter is roughly around 1,500 words.
• Novel chapters are not posted all at once.
• The novel is updated once or more weekly or the author offers a posting schedule.
• The novel has an appealing synopsis.
• The novel has the appropriate genre labels that describe the story.

Storytelling

• The novel story progresses at a good pace and each chapter has a hook.
• The novel has good English grammar & syntax.
• The novel has good world-building and character development.
• The novel properly applied the contest prompt, genres, and themes.
• The story is relatable, easy to follow, and fun to read.
• The story's main plot is resolved within 25k to 75k words.

Public Engagement

• The author makes an effort to connect with the reader community and promote themselves in the correct promotional spaces.
• The public reacts well to the novel. (Positive comments, returning commenters.)
• The author replies to comments in a timely manner.
• The author properly follows the Honeyfeed site's and/or Honeyfeed's Discord Community Guidelines & left a positive impression.

Want more public engagement? Use your social media accounts to promote yourself (e.g. post new chapter schedules, create promos) or join Honeyfeed's Discord and interact with our community.

Voting Procedures

Judges Vote

All novel entries submitted to the contest will be read, debated, and voted on by our judging committee. Our judges will go through all the entries and choose the top 10 finalists. The judges will cast their vote between January 14 to February 19, 2025.

If you're interested in being a judge, you can apply from October 21, 2024 to December 15, 2024. Please note that there are limited spaces available for judge members.

Public & Jury Vote

Once the finalists have been selected, a jury of experienced readers will evaluate the novels and provide valuable feedback. The jury's feedback will be combined with the public vote to determine the three contest winners.

If you have a good amount of experience reading and can provide constructive feedback on the finalist novels, we welcome you to apply to our committee by filling out the application form. Please note that there are limited spaces available for jury members.

The voting process for the jury and the public will take place from February 24 to March 23, 2025, giving newcomers and the jury sufficient time to read and evaluate the finalist novels. You can cast your vote using the Anime Foundation website.

The winners of the contest will be announced on March 30th, 2025.

Application for Jury will be from December 15, 2024 to February 9, 2025.

Requirements to Become Part of the Judging Committee

• People who join our judging committee can not participate as a judge or jury under the same contest theme that they are writing for.
• All applicants must be over the age of 18.
• Applicants must have access to Google Drive (having a Google/Gmail account).
• Applicants must have time to get on a computer, tablet, or smartphone to read novels and write feedback at least once a week.
• Applicants must have time to regularly check their email inbox.
• People accepted as judges must be open to reading at least six assigned novel chapters weekly.
• Those who apply to become a judge must have a Discord account and access to the Honeyfeed Discord server. Jury applicants are not required to have Discord.
• People accepted as judges must attend the debate to choose the contest finalists. Debates will happen only via Discord.
• People accepted as Jury must be open to reading at least one assigned novel to completion weekly.

Q & A

Q 1 What is the overall prompt of the contest?

A The Prompt of the contest is a "Futuristic High-Tech World." Your story must showcase a world where advanced technology plays a central role. You can choose between two themes: "Alt-History" or "Harmonic Future."

Q 2 What are the genre restrictions for each theme?

A Each theme has specific genre restrictions:
For Alt-History, acceptable genres include Action, Military, Survival, Drama, or Psychological.
For Harmonic Future, genres include Time Travel, Comedy, Adventure, Slice of Life, or Romance.
Remember, you cannot mix genres between these two themes. Your story must contain at least one of the genres on the list. The story doesn’t need to meet all the genres listed.

Q 3 Can I submit more than one novel?

A Yes, you can submit multiple novels to increase your chances of winning. However, only one of your entries can be selected as a finalist.

Q 4 Can I change my novel cover image?

A Yes, you can change your novel cover but please have your final novel cover uploaded by January 13, 2025.

Q 5 I am not 18 years of age but I have permission from my parents to enter the contest. Can I participate?

A No. There are no exceptions to the age requirement even if you have permission from a legal guardian.

Q 6 Will I have time to make edits to my novel after the submission window closes?

A No. Any changes after the submission period will disqualify your entry. We advise you to fully proofread your chapters before submitting them to Honeyfeed. Depending on the amount of submissions, some judges may have already picked up your novel to read before your story is concluded.

Official MAL x Honeyfeed Writing Contest Rules

No purchase necessary to enter or win.

BY ENTERING OR OTHERWISE PARTICIPATING IN THIS WRITING CONTEST, ALL ENTRANTS AND OTHER PARTICIPANTS AGREE TO ABIDE BY THESE OFFICIAL WRITING CONTEST RULES, WHICH ARE FINAL AND BINDING ON ALL MATTERS PERTAINING TO THIS CONTEST.

1. Sponsors. This writing contest is sponsored by MyAnimeList Co., Ltd. ("MyAnimeList" or "MAL") in collaboration with qdopp, Inc. d/b/a Honeyfeed ("Honeyfeed") (MAL and Honeyfeed may sometimes be referred to together herein as "Sponsors"). The contest is void in whole or in part where prohibited by law.

2. Eligibility. The contest is open to individuals who are at least 18 years old and have registered accounts with MAL and Honeyfeed. The sponsors reserve the right at any time to require proof of age and eligibility to participate in the contest. Failure to provide such proof or insufficient proof may result in disqualification from the contest in Sponsors’ sole discretion. All information requested by and supplied to Sponsors for the purpose of the contest must be truthful, complete, accurate and in no way misleading. Sponsors reserve the right, in their sole discretion, to disqualify any entrant from the contest should such an entrant at any stage supply unsatisfactory, untruthful, incomplete, inaccurate or misleading information.

3. Contest Period. The period for entering the contest begins October 21 2024 and will continue until January 13, 2025.

4. How to Enter the Contest. There is no purchase necessary to enter the writing contest. To enter this contest, review and follow the Official MAL x Honeyfeed Writing Contest Page (the "Official Writing Contest Rules"), and complete the following steps during the contest period:

(a) Sign up for a MyAnimeList account (if you don’t already have one).

(b) Go to honeyfeed.fm and log into your Honeyfeed account or, if you don’t already have one, sign up for a Honeyfeed account and log in.

(c) Once logged in at Honeyfeed, click "Create Your Novel" on the top menu bar, and then the "Create Novel" button on the My Novels page.

(d) Fill in your novel's title, synopsis and set your novel's genre(s) according to the theme of your selection. Please note that to participate in this contest, the maturity rating of your novel must be "All audiences".

(e) Before saving and continuing, make sure to check in the checkbox located next to "Would you like to submit this novel to the MAL x Honeyfeed Writing Contest ~Anime Foundation Meets WIT Studio~?"

(f) In the Author’s Note section, write in the theme you want your novel to participate in from the list of available contest themes.

(g) Write your first chapter and submit it.

(h) After submitting your first chapter, please make sure your novel appears under the newly published novels for the MAL x Honeyfeed Writing Contest section in Honeyfeed.

(i) Submit new chapters to Honeyfeed as you complete them. Don't just post all your chapters at once! This is one of the judging criteria.

(j) Make sure your novel submissions comply with the "Eligibility Checklist" and with the “Contest Prompt & Other Requirements” as well as with the “Novel Submission Rules” below.

(k) After successfully following these steps, your novel and all the chapters under it will now be submitted for participation in the MAL x Honeyfeed Writing Contest.

Sponsors assume no responsibility for late submissions or submission failures due to technological or other issues.

You should also follow any other instructions or rules presented to you at the time of entry or submission.

5. Novel Submission Rules. Any novel you submit through this writing contest must comply with the following rules:

• ・Novels that have already participated in the MAL x Honeyfeed Writing Contest held in any of the previous years can not be entered into this contest.
• ・Novels must be written in English only. Novels written in other languages will not be considered and will be removed from the Honeyfeed site.
• ・Novels must follow the contest prompt of Futuristic High-Tech World, must fall under the Alt-History or Harmonic Future theme and contain at least one theme specific genre from the list indicated in the contest’s official page.
• ・Completed novels must contain a minimum 25,000 words and may contain up to a maximum of 75,000 words.
• ・Novels must be set to "Completed" on the Honeyfeed site before the entry period ends. This means your story must come to a conclusion on or before January 13, 2025.
• ・Note that changing the status of the novel or editing the novel to add content after January 13, 2025 will result in disqualification.
• ・No fanfics, collaborations, plagiarism, stolen or copyrighted content is allowed to be submitted as an entry. This includes both text and images related to your entry. Any novel you submit must be entirely your own original work created for this contest and posted only to Honeyfeed for the duration of the contest.
• ・Novels must be suitable for ages 17+ and be set to the "All audience" setting in Honeyfeed. No gore, heavy ecchi or soft porn is allowed. Your novel can not contain minors, or characters that look like/reference minors or under the age of 18 in erotic situations.
• ・Original novels that are already licensed by a literary agency and/or publisher, or are being self-published and sold on Amazon and other similar sites, are not eligible to participate in the contest.
• ・Users are not allowed to use MAL / HF sites or MAL / HF social media as a way to continuously persuade other users to read, like, comment or vote for their novel or any other user's novel (shilling, spamming). Self promoting on your own profile is allowed.
• ・Please also review the Judging Criteria as well.

Contest prompt, themes and genres

To enter the contest, your novel must have a specific prompt, theme, and genre(s). The prompt is the same for all novels and there are two themes to choose from: Alt-History or Harmonic Future. Both themes must include a Futuristic High-Tech World as the main plot point, and a theme related to either Alt-History or Harmonic Future, but not both. Each of the contest themes will have specific genres you can choose from for your novel, so please check the applicable genres according to the theme of your selection.

Prompt:

Futuristic High-Tech World

Themes and Genres:

For the Alt-History theme, you can choose the genres: Action, Military, Survival, Drama, Psychological. What we are looking for in novels that follow this theme is the following: A story where an event in humanity’s history went differently and caused a significant alteration in how the world exists today. The world presented in alt-history-themed stories should captivate the reader through its novelty and feature technology that is different and far more advanced than what we have at present and its influence on society.

For the Harmonic Future theme, you can choose the genres: Time Travel, Comedy, Adventure, Slice of Life, Romance. What we are looking for in novels that follow this theme is the following: A story that portrays a utopia-like world, wherein the main concerns of humanity (i.e. warfare, climate change, pollution, poverty, scarcity of goods) have been solved. The highlight of the solarpunk theme lies in the challenges of maintaining this world and how ordinary life has evolved and thrived thanks to this world's advanced technology.

For any novel submission, you must not submit any content that contains any elements that violate a third party’s copyrights, trademark rights, privacy rights or any other rights. Your novel submission and any other content you submit must comply with MAL’s Terms of Use regarding user content and Honeyfeed’s Terms of Service.

By submitting any novel or other content as part of this contest, you represent, warrant and agree that: (a) you are in compliance with these Official Writing Contest Rules and with MAL’s Terms of Use and Honeyfeed’s Terms of Service; (b) your novel(s) and any other content does not infringe or violate any third party rights; and (c) the novel(s) and any other content does not violate any law.

6. Contest Prizes. Prizes are available for participants who place first on each contest category. 3 Winners total for this contest. The prizes that are available to be won for this contest are the following:

One novel out of the three winning novels will be having manga adaptation by WIT Studio. WIT Studio will receive a Japanese translation of the three winning stories from this contest and may, in its sole discretion, decide to adapt one of the winning stories. If your novel is selected for adaptation, additional agreement(s) will be required in connection with the adaptation.

To receive a prize, you may also be required to provide an affidavit of eligibility.

7. Judging Criteria, Selection of Winners and Odds of Winning. Sponsors will review the novel entries for this contest and, once the entry period ends, the novel entries will be narrowed down to a total of 10 finalists before moving on to the public voting phase. To narrow the novel entries down to a total of 10, the judges will use the following criteria:

Presentation & Publishing:

• • The novel has a cover image and it's properly credited to the artist or the AI tool used in the image description.
• • Word count per chapter is roughly around 1,000 to 1,500 words.
• • Novel chapters are not posted all at once.
• • The novel is updated once or more weekly or the author offers a posting schedule.
• • The novel has an appealing synopsis.
• • The novel has the appropriate genre labels that describe the story.

Storytelling:

• • The novel story progresses at a good pace and each chapter has a hook.
• • The novel has good English grammar & syntax.
• • The novel has good world-building and character development.
• • The novel properly applied the contest prompt and themes.
• • The story is relatable, easy to follow, and fun to read.
• • The story's plot is resolved within 25k to 75k words.

Public Engagement:

• • The author makes an effort to connect with the reader community and promote themselves in the correct promo spaces.
• • The public reacts well to the novel. (Positive comments, returning comments.)
• • The author replies to comments in a timely manner.
• • The author complied with Honeyfeed Site's and/or Honeyfeed's Discord Community Guidelines & left a positive impression.

After the novel entries are narrowed down to 10 by the sponsor’s judges, the public voting phase will begin as follows:

Public voting for finals (February 24 to March 23, 2025). During this period, the 10 judge-selected novels will be posted to a special voting page.

The winners will be announced on March 30, 2025.

Odds of Winning: The odds of your novel being selected and included with the 10 novels selected by the judges are dependent upon the number of eligible submissions received by Sponsors, the above-referenced criteria and the judges’ opinions. During the voting phase, a number of people assigned as ‘Jury’ will review and rate the overall content of your completed submission. The odds of your novel being selected in the public voting phase depends on the number of votes received in this phase as well as the review and feedback of the Jury.

Sponsors may communicate with potential winners at the email address registered with the potential winners’ MyAnimeList or Honeyfeed accounts with further information and any additional requirements to accept the prizes. If a potential winner cannot be contacted within 72 hours, fails to respond to any attempted contact, is in any way not in compliance with these Official Writing Contest Rules, or declines to, does not or cannot accept the prize to be awarded, such potential winner will be disqualified and his/her entry and submission will be declared null and void.

8. Release. By entering this writing contest, you release Sponsors and their affiliates, employees, officers, directors, managers and agents from any liability whatsoever, and waive any and all causes of action, related to any claims, costs, injuries, losses or damages of any kind arising out of or in connection with this contest or transmission, failed transmission or acceptance of any prize (including, without limitation, claims, costs, injuries, losses and damages related to personal injuries, death, damage to or destruction of property, rights of publicity or privacy, defamation or portrayal in a false light, whether intentional or unintentional), whether under a theory of contract, tort (including negligence), warranty or any other theory.

9. Sponsors’ Reservation of Rights. Sponsors reserve the right, in their sole discretion, to terminate, cancel, suspend and/or revise the contest for any or no reason. Sponsors reserve the right in their sole discretion to disqualify any individual in violation of these Official Writing Contest Rules or if Sponsors discover such individual to be tampering with the entry process or the operation of the contest or acting in an unlawful or disruptive manner. Sponsors' failure to enforce any term or provision of these Official Writing Contest Rules shall not constitute a waiver of that term or provision.

10. Privacy. Information collected from you in connection with this contest will be used by Sponsors for their administration of the contest, including to verify your eligibility and notify potential winners and to fulfill prizes. In addition, Sponsors may use information collected about you to send you offers or information from us about MAL’s or Honeyfeed’s products and services, or about the products and services of our affiliates and business partners. If you do not wish to receive such offers and information, you may opt-out at any time by following the instructions at the bottom of any promotional email you receive or by following other opt-out instructions provided in the communication. Information collected is otherwise subject to and may be used and shared by Sponsors in accordance with MyAnimeList's Privacy Policy at https://myanimelist.net/about/privacy_policy, Honeyfeed’s Privacy Policy at https://www.honeyfeed.fm/privacy, and applicable law.

11. Contact Information. Please direct any questions or comments regarding the writing contest to Customer Support.

Contact Information

Please direct any questions or feedback about the event to MyAnimeList at Contact Customer Support.

*Questions about judging criteria, awards, and prizes will not receive responses.