What is actually awarded

The Novel-Game Prize: $500 to enter. A full novel-game build, worth $16,000 and up.

The Citadel Prize: $400 to enter. A Citadel website build, worth $9,500 and up.

The Film Book Prize: $300 to enter. A film book build, worth $7,200 and up.

The Audio Book Prize: $200 to enter. An audio book build, worth $4,200 and up.

The Open Door: no fee at all. Three motion graphic illustrations — no fee, no purchase, no coin of any kind.

Each paid build is awarded up to 60,000 words. A winner's build is made to the same standard as a paid Charter — the same casting, the same cutting, the same delivery specification. Nothing about a won build is a lesser version.

Who may enter

Any author who holds the Seal: all 23 free instruments of the Workshop, marked to their own signed-in name. The instruments cost nothing and no account is needed to use them — an account is only needed to have your marks recorded toward the Seal.

One winner in each tier, and each tier is judged only against itself. A free entry competes for the free prize; a paid entry competes only within its own tier.

How the winner is chosen

Judged on merit against weighted criteria published in the open before entries close. Nothing is drawn, nothing is randomised, and no purchase improves any entrant's chances in the free tier.

Entries close August 10, 2027. Winners are proclaimed September 10, 2027 — the date is fixed and does not move.

If you would rather not wait

The arithmetic of a paid build is published too, so you can price your own book in a minute without speaking to anyone, and the payment plans divide a build into parts tied to the build's own stages. The Prize is a door; it is not the only one.

Asked and answered

Is there a catch to the free tier?

No purchase, no fee, no coin. The only requirement is the same as every tier: all 23 instruments marked to your own name.

What happens to my rights if I win?

They stay yours. A won build is your property, made with your permission, exactly as a paid one would be.

How often is the Prize awarded?

Once a year, proclaimed September 10, 2027, one winner in each of the five tiers.