Want To See What You're Playing For?—The 2012 Contest Prize

Left: A handmade journal from Roz, see description below, is this year's prize. Click on the image to view an enlargement.



I've been trying to streamline the administration end of IFJM. The easiest way to do that was to cut back on the need for participants to email me with jpgs and updates and contact information.

In 2012 participants must do the following to enter the drawing:

1. Post on a public blog, Flickr, or other type website 5 (five) page spreads (or pages if they are working on one side of a page only) from their 2012 fake journal.  Ideally each page spread or page represents one journal entry. Journal entries must be from different days, i.e., all 5 pages spreads cannot be created on one day. Journal keepers who are writing short paragraph entries or doing multiple small entries must post entries from 10 days.

2. Send an email with the subject line, IFJM 2012 Participant, to rozjournalrat@gmail.com. The email must include a direct link to your fake journal blog, or if you are posting on your regular blog you must include a direct link to the first post (or first Flickr post and album). (If I can't find your images I can't list you so please make it easy on me.)

Throughout the month, as entries come in, I will create a list of 2012 participants. This list will sit in the right-hand column of this blog. Readers can use this list to check up on the progress of the various participants.

It is unnecessary to send any jpgs or other links to me. There is no need to contact me whenever you post another entry. All you have to concentrate on is making the best fake journal your days allow.

You are welcome at any time to send me a note about how your project is going, or a note asking questions  about the process. I look forward to hearing from you! With reduced paper work I hope to be able to respond more quickly!

At the end of the month I will use the participants link list as the pool from which to draw the winner.

The winner will be notified and asked to send a postal address where I can send the prize. If the winner doesn't respond within 72 hours of the drawing I will draw an alternate and repeat the process. The drawing will take place on May 4 and because of the notification and response time the drawing results may not be posted until sometime early in May.

ENTRY DEADLINE: You may enter the contest any time in April, even if you only discover this project at the end of the month. My goal is to encourage as many people as possible to try this experience. You must notify me by NOON on April 30 that you have posted your 5 entries. So in calendar time you will have to start your fake journal no later than April 25 to make the five page spread (pages) entry requirement. (See item 1 above.)

The prize is a 76-page, 6.5 x 8.25 inch journal, handmade by me with Gutenberg paper. This is a 180 gs cream paper with flecks and a slight pebbly texture. The paper takes wet or dry media well. In this scan of a gouache painting in a Gutenberg journal you can see the lovely laid texture of the paper. You can see another page from one of my Gutenberg journals here. (The actual page size of the book is slightly smaller than the cover dimensions.) Retail price on the book is $80.00. (In the event of unforeseen destruction I will provide a substitute of equal value.)

This is one of my favorite papers for journaling and I know the winner of this book will have a wonderful time filling it with "real" journal entries. The size is also wonderful for carrying with you every day.

What You Are Really Playing For

Prizes are always great, but in this event what you are really playing for is some self-knowledge and a bit of understanding about your real journaling process. Time spent in your fake journal might seem unrelated to your real journaling process, but freed from your regular constraints, considerations, paper, media, etc., you will find insights into what is or isn't working in your regular journal practice.

Use this time to discover how you like (or don't like) working in a new medium; how a certain commercially available journal works (or doesn't) for you; how a new size of journal changes your perspective; or how stepping aside from yourself for a few minutes a day shuts up your internal critic.

Private Fake Journals

Every year a number of people write to tell me they have kept a private fake journal. For a variety of reasons, all of which I respect and understand (not all of my fake journals are public), they don't participate in the public aspects of IFJM. I value their contribution to the effort and am always interested to hear about such adventures.

Often the most intense and meaningful discoveries are those we make privately while we work unconcerned whether or not our work will be seen by others. If that approach suits your needs I still hope you will participate.

And if your life doesn't allow the fit of one more endeavor at the present time I hope that you'll check back here every so often and click on the list of participants to view what they are up to. Take a moment to give them some encouragement and ponder where they are headed.

The 2010 International Fake Journal Month Contest

Left: The prizes for this year's contest—two weirdly shaped journals, hand bound by me with 90 lb. watercolor paper for text pages and hand-painted decorative paper on the covers. The fabric for both books is a rich plum-purple. Each book is approximately 3.5 x 8 inches and has 60 pages—just perfect for your 2011 fake journal right? The odd shape of these journals is perfect for your "character."

Last year I held a contest for participants in International Fake Journal month. I thought it would be fun to do so again this year—but, I've changed my approach to accommodate the number of people who keep telling me they are going to participate.
This year's contest has two different portions. You can enter both contests, however, you can only win in one. I'm going to call them Contest Promotion and Contest Post.

Contest Promotion is for people who have blogs (and who may or may not actually keep a fake journal this year!):
1. To enter this contest you will need to go to Roz Wound Up and scroll down until you see the International Fake Journal Month Button in the left column: it is a blue dog on a pink background.

2. Click on this image, drag it to your desktop or put it in the folder you store your own blog information in.

3. Keep this bit of code handy, it's the link you'll need:
http://officialinternationalfakejournalblog.blogspot.com/

4. Go to the "design" page of your blog, however that is set up in your blog platform. You will need to upload the IFJM dog button up to your blog and then put it in the margin column on your blog—just as you add other buttons. Here's an example of how to do it with Blogger:
Then you want to go to your blogger dashboard and click on the LAYOUT selection for your blog.

Go to your dashboard and find LAYOUT, and then Page Elements. Click on "ADD A GADGET" in the column of your blog outline. A selection of gadgets will come up.
Scroll down to one that reads "PICTURE" and select it. You will be asked to give it a title and caption. DON'T DO THAT AS THEY SHOW UP AND MAKE IT LOOK MESSY. Instead leave those lines blank.

FOR LINK you want to enter the URL for this blog as provided above.

Next you need to click the button under Image, that says "From your computer" there is a circle that should have a dot in it when you select it.

Next hit BROWSE button next to that open box under "From your computer" and navigate to the folder on your desktop where you put that IFJM dog button/logo and SELECT that image. Follow any other instructions to upload it. It should take only seconds and you'll be back at this box where you want to be sure "shrink to fit is selected (it's the default and anyway I think my logo is about 220 pixels, don't recall). Then click save.

You will return to the outline of your blog and the new element will be in the column and you can drag it where you want it, click save and you're done.

5. Once you have posted the link button for IFJM on your blog you need to send me an email with a link to YOUR blog, so that I can go and verify that it's there. I'll check when you put up the notice. Write to me at roz@tcinternet.net, with "Contest Promotion IFJM" in the subject line.

6. To be eligible for this contest you'll need to post the button on your blog by April 10 and display it until May 3.

7. You do not need to participate in IFJM—this contest is for all those folks who are still sitting on the fence. You like the idea of participating and would love to encourage people to do so, but your circumstances don't allow you to participate this year.

If you follow these instructions and meet these criteria then your name will go into the drawing for one of the pictured journals. The drawing will be held after I have verified listings on May 3.

Contest Post—This contest is for people who are going to keep a fake journal and publish the results:
This portion of this year's contest has two ways to enter.

A. Post on YOUR OWN BLOG, at least 5 (five) journal pages or spreads (depending on how you are working), during the month of April. You will need to send me a link to your blog EACH TIME you post an fake journal image on your blog.

The email should go to roz@tcinternet.net. Subject line: IFJM MY BLOG Post # (and list the number, 1 through 5 as appropriate). You need to provide a link to your blog in the body of your message. Include your postal address with your first entry so that I can mail your prize if you win.

Please don't wait to send me notification until the end of April, as I will be putting up a weekend update with any links provided. In this way, people who arrive at this blog will find your blog and your journal pieces as you are working.

OR YOU CAN DO THE FOLLOWING:

B. Send me at least 5 jpgs (of pages or spreads) from throughout the month of April. They need to be 500 pixels wide and 72 dpi. (DO NOT send larger files, you will go in the trash folder. Each file sent must be smaller than 1.3MB and sent attached to a separate email.) The emails should come to me at roz@tcinternet.net, with "IFJM YOU POST #" in the subject line (the number being which entry you are up to, 1 through 5 of course). Include your mailing address in the first entry so I can send your prize if you win.

People participating in part B have until May 2 to send me their fifth image (this assumes they might have created that image on April 30 and not had time to scan and send it).

The drawing for the prize for "Contest Post" will be held as soon as I have 1. checked all the links sent me to people following option A, and 2. posted all the images received by May 2 (I don't know how quickly I'll be able to post things if there is a large participation in the contest).

Everyone posting his or her fake journal entries from April 2010 in either of these two ways will become eligible for the drawing for the second journal.

(And just in case you are worried, I will not use your postal addresses for anything or give them to anyone. I ask for them in your first entry because in past contests I've sometimes had difficulty tracking down the winners. I'd like to simply pop the books in the mail when the drawing is finished!)

There you have it. Two opportunities to share your fake journal work and participate in the journal give away.

I hope you'll consider helping me spread the word about International Fake Journal Month by joining Contest Promotion too!

Note: you do not have to live in the U.S. to enter. I will send these prizes out overseas.

VERY IMPORTANT ADDENDUM (3.30.10)
This year's contest is arranged differently than last year's so when I made this post I killed my sidebar instructions on submissions. I forgot to include subject matter restrictions in these instructions. Here's the deal: My taste in art is pretty wide, in styles and subject matter. If you are sending links and images for the contest that include excessive or gratuitous violence, child abuse, or pornographic elements I would rule against listing and including them. I made a distinction last year about nudity: If your character is spending all his time in life-drawing sessions those pages would probably fall within the guidelines (and there are many other instances where nudity would also fall within the parameters of posting), but if your character is involved in X-rated sexual behavior and sketching those events—probably not.

I know someone could make a fabulous fake journal about the latter, and indeed, about some of the other excluded topics—but I think to be valuable, that artist will need to explore those things in private first. Many fake journals are best not published. I feel an obligation to protect the creator who might rush to show work in the context of the month-long project, before considering aspects of exposure and privacy. That breach of the artist's personal boundaries defeats many of the positive effects of fake journaling.