1. Eligibity

Starting 1st July 2025, all contestants are expected to have published a minimum of one story per week during the previous month in order to remain eligible for the competition.

To qualify, each story must be published under one of the following categories: Business, Entertainment, Education, Politics, or Sports.

Fictional stories are not allowed. All submissions must be based on real-world events, either current or past. Stories should reflect actual occurrences and must be reported or narrated in your own words and unique perspective.

You are expected to either break the story yourself or provide an original narrative or report based on verified happenings. Plagiarism is strictly prohibited.

Additionally, participation in certain rounds may require verification of community membership.

2. Story Submission Requirements

• All entries must be published within the same month as the competition to be eligible.
• AI-generated and plagiarised stories are not accepted. This will result in points deduction, disqualification, and a ban from contesting for a stipulated period of time.

3. Competition Format & Advancement

The contest consists of three rounds:

• Round 1: All submitted stories will be evaluated based on a qualifying score. Participants can edit their stories and re-run the story report multiple times before submitting. However, once a story is officially entered, its score is final and cannot be changed.
• Round 2: Only participants who achieve the qualifying score in Round 1 and ranked top 10 will advance to this round, where competition is more intense.
• Final Round: The five finalists who advance to this stage will be required to submit a final story for evaluation by the Blogshop Story Review Panel. The panel will assign the specific story type and category each finalist must write within. Final story submissions will fall strictly under one of the following categories: Business, Entertainment, Education, Politics, or Sports.

4. Qualifying Score & Advancement

Achieving a qualifying score in Round 1 does not guarantee a win. It serves only as a milestone that allows participants to progress to Round 2, where the top competitors will compete under stricter conditions to advance to final round submission

5. Verification Deadline

To compete in Round 2 and qualify for prizes, participants must verify their community membership by submitting an approved form of identification (e.g., student ID, faculty ID, or a stamped school charge receipt) on or before the Top 10 reveal each month.

Participants who do not complete verification by the deadline may no longer be eligible for prizes. Early verification is strongly encouraged to avoid delays.

6. Rules for Returning Champions

To ensure fair opportunities for all participants, past winners must follow these guidelines when re-entering the competition:

• If you win twice in a row (two consecutive competitions), you must wait one month before entering again.
• If you win once, you can compete in the next competition without restriction.

Entries submitted before the waiting period ends will not be eligible for the competition .

7. Tiebreaker guidelines

If two or more participants achieve the same final score, a tiebreaker writing contest will be held with a new topic assigned. This tiebreaker is used only to determine which participant(s) progress, and the original tied score (not the tiebreaker score) will be used for final ranking.

Entries in the tiebreaker will be judged based on

• Originality
• Creativity
• Clarity
• Adherence to the assigned topic

7.1. Second Tie Resolution

If a second tie occurs in the tiebreaker, the winner will be determined through community voting. To vote, members must use one token and have a minimum of 30 Blogshop points. This ensures fairness and engagement from active community members.

8. Evaluation Criteria

Final rankings from 1st to 5th place will be determined based on a combination of three key measures:

1. Story Report Score

Stories will be assessed using Blogshop’s standard story quality scoring system. Points will be awarded as follows:

• 1st place: 100 points
• 2nd place: 80 points
• 3rd place: 60 points
• 4th place: 40 points
• 5th place: 20 points

2. Poll Results

Public polls will be conducted to gather audience preferences. Poll results will contribute to the final score with the following breakdown:

• 1st place: 50 points
• 2nd place: 40 points
• 3rd place: 30 points
• 4th place: 20 points
• 5th place: 10 points

3. Story Engagement

The level of organic engagement each story receives such as likes and comments will also be factored in. Engagement rankings will be scored identically to the poll format:

• 1st place: 50 points
• 2nd place: 40 points
• 3rd place: 30 points
• 4th place: 20 points
• 5th place: 10 points

The cumulative score from these three measures will determine each finalist’s final position.