The Great Mary Sue Contest

Challenge
Name:	The Great Mary Sue Contest
Date(s):	October 8th-November 30th, 2006
Moderator(s):	Firefox News's owner: Leva Cygnet
Founder:
Type:
Fandom:
URL:
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The Great Mary Sue Contest was a 2006 writing contest sponsored by the for-profit fan site, Firefox News.

This site hosted many things, including much meta by Merlin Missy.

One of the most well-known essays was The (Original) Mary Sue Litmus Test, written in 1996.

A later essay by Merlin Missy, Mary Sue, Who Are You?, was suggested as recommended reading for fans interested in submitting material to this contest.

The second rule was "No fanfic. Parody is allowed."

The Contest

Firefox News is sponsoring a contest for short stories with a Mary Sue as the main character. This contest is intended to be fun -- it’s an excuse to create the most outrageously bad character that you can, and have a good time doing it. And the best submissions win cash prizes!

We strongly encourage you to read Merlin Missy's article Mary Sue, Who Are You? before submitting your story. Missy is amazing and it's a dang funny article besides being a great explanation of what a Mary Sue is.

The Rules

(Yes, Yes there are rules)

1. PG rated or under. Smut will be either admired or read aloud and giggled over depending on your level of writing prowess, but it will not win.

2. No fanfic. Parody is allowed.

3. Submissions must have fantasy, horror or science fiction theme(s).

4. Stories must have a plot, and must be complete. That is, they must have a beginning, a middle, and an end, and they must have a recognizable conflict and resolution.

5. 15,000 word limit.

[...]

9. Due to the expected volume of submissions, we will not be able to critique or respond to every manuscript. We will respond to each submission to let you know that it was received.

[...]

11. Winners will need to release their full legal name and contact information (for tax and record keeping purposes) to Firefox News even if payment is made via Paypal.

Compensation and Rights

Prizes:

First Place: $40

Second Place: $20

Third Place: $10

You'll also get a nifty icon to display on your web site.

Payment will be by check (US contributors only) or Paypal.

Firefox News' editor will select a minimum of three top submissions which will then be posted to the Firefox News Web site and final placing will be determined by a vote of Firefox News readers. In the event of a tie, the editor [Leva Cygnet] will cast the tie-breaking vote(s).

By submitting your story you agree to these terms:

1. Only stories that have never been published online in any electronic format that can be searched via Google or other search engines are eligible for submission. You may not publish your story in any format accessible by Google for a period of two years after publication with Firefox News.

2. You grant Firefox News exclusive worldwide electronic rights for a period of two years if your story wins. Compensation for publication is as follows: $40 for first place, $20 for second, $10 for third. After two years, you may request (via e-mail or snail mail) that the story be removed from Firefox News' archives. It will not be removed unless you make a specific request and no further compensation will be due for use of the story past the two year point. You understand that Firefox News may use your story for promotional purposes. Firefox News may also elect to remove a story from the Firefox News Web site at any point; in no way shall this be construed as an agreement that the story must be available for viewing on Firefox News for two years.

3. You agree that your sole compensation for the use of your story by Firefox News will be the prize amounts; no other payment will be made.

4. Firefox News is not responsible for lost, misdirected, or unreadable e-mails. All submissions must be via e-mail.

5. In the event that Firefox News moves to a new domain and/or operates under a new name, your story may be transferred to any one new domain and/or a new name.

6. In the event of a sale or lease of the site, the rights to your story may be transferred to the new site owner or may be retained by Firefox News' current owner and editor, [Leva Cygnet], at her choice. In the event of a domain sale where [Leva Cygnet] retains rights to the site contents for the purpose of continuing operation as a webzine under a new domain name, your story may be published on no more than one new site at any one time.

Fan Comments

From mtgat/Merlin Missy's LiveJournal on October 8, 2006:

The Mary Sue Contest has gone live! Go forth! Write your best (or worst) Sue! Win a prize! Read yet more of my rambling thoughts on same!

And most importantly, pass this along so everyone knows!

[iingaartist]: I'm utterly confused by their "no fanfic" rule.

[mtgat]: Legal issues, afaik. (Can't pay for fanfic, remember?)

[iingaartist]:

I understand they can't pay the winners for fanfic ... but that just leaves me boggling at the whole concept of a Mary Sue contest with paid winners as it seems almost impossible to imagine a Mary Sue story that isn't fanfic. (A non-fanfic Mary Sue isn't a "Mary Sue" ... it just sucks.)

[mtgat]: Dude. LOTS of Mary Sues are in canon. Wesley Crusher, Luke Skywalker, Ayla from _Clan of the Cave Bear_, any female lead from V.C. Andrews ever. They're all over the place.

[ljcygnet]: Because Firefox News is a paying zine, I have to be pretty careful about copyright issues. Parody is legally protected, fanfic is *probably* not, and there's a very fine line. I'd rather not be a legal test case. As Missy notes, however, Mary Sues are not limited to fanfiction!

djonn:

Indeed, "triumph of MarySue" stories are rapidly becoming a viable subgenre, for which see Mercedes Lackey's "Immortal Masters" series (DAW) or "Five Hundred Kingdoms" series (Luna). Lackey makes the construct work by sheer force of storytelling and liberal direct and indirect acknowledgment of the cliche factor. [The DAW series consists of quasi-Victorian retelling of classic fairy tales; the Luna series is fantasy/romance in a fairy-tale milieu where cliche is a known and acknowledged force of nature.]

[bellatrys]: by sheer force of beauty, virtue, and Spunkiness™*, who never makes a mistake or has any flaws, save as needed to advance the plot. (Or him - It's generally acknowledged that Richard in Terry Goodkind is a Gary Stu.) I've hit some real doozies, Marisa Picard worthy heroines, in bodice rippers lately. *See, this is how they get away from the charge of writing weak female characters.

[...]

altho' iirc even they have *some* things to learn and aren't instantly, instinctively good at *everything* without even taking lessons or working up a sweat. (And yes, Captain Marisa Lancet in that bodice ripper really was, and Goodkind's Richard is even more awesome.)

The thing is, some people will say "Oh, then *every* superhero or dramatic main character is a Mary-sue and so it's a meaningless definition. But Superman has his kryptonite and his secret-identity-related relationship obstacles, Buffy has her flakiness and bad temper and lack of intellectual curiosity - none of which are presented as cute or harmless in the show; Strider dithers and dithers and dithers over fear of screwing up (ie losing the Ring to Sauron and/or starting another Civil War in Gondor) until he *does* screw up; Oedipus his blind hubris; Monkey shares with Captain Jack his inability to avoid pulling pranks when dissed - every great character has quirks and failings, and often they're caused by their good qualities or superpowers.

It's the ones who are, to borrow from gaming terminology, "godboys," whose very flaws and character failings are forgivable or positive in them, but not in any other character, that are the dreadful 'Sues...

[ljcygnet]:

There's also certain archetypical characters that readers should instantly recognize. The starship captain with the toupee and his alien science officer, for example, or the FBI agents investigating the supernatural, or the Chosen Hero(ine) of any one of a hundred universes ... doesn't matter if they have different names, yes? Readers should figure it out and snicker along with you ...

[kimberly t]: Clarify this, please: "No fanfic. Parody is allowed."

Does this mean that characters from a show can be mentioned in the fic, so long as the main thrust of the story is parody, i.e. lampooning the Mary Sue with all due vigor?

And can stories already written and posted elsewhere be submitted for the contest? If so, I know a couple of authors I'll be sending that link to.

[anonymous]: Please don't mention canon characters by name. You may spoof well known canon characters, however, if you can do so by using another name.

If a story has already been published elsewhere on the web, it is not eligible for the contest. Sorry. :)