Before entering our contest please read, understand, and follow these recipe contest rules so that your recipe can be judged for an opportunity to win our 1st, 2nd, or 3rd place prize.
What Can You Win?: Overall, participants can win one of three prizes as listed below. Prize winners can selection a CASH gift card from either Amazon.com, Walmart.com or Target.com.
1st prize: $150 gift card
2nd prize: $75 gift card
3rd prize: $50 gift card
In an attempt to increase early participation, an unadvertised gift will be awarded to the first 10 entries accepted into the contest. The 10 gifts and 3 prizes will only be awarded if there is a sufficient number of eligible entries. Remember to provide your email addresses, since winners will be notified by email on 7 May 2011.
Entrance Fee: NONE, we only offer free contests on this website.
Duration of Contest: This recipe contest will remain open for three months to allow for maximum participation. As such, our contest begins at midnight (12:00 am) on 1 February 2011 and ends just before midnight (11:59 pm) on 30 April 2011. All recipes must be submitted electronically through the recipe contest entry form on this website. We assume no responsibilities for entries that are unable to be processed due to service outages or delays, problems accessing the internet, or any other computer technical difficulties or glitches.
Eligibility and Conditions: This contest is open only to legal U.S. residents age 18 and over. Eligible participants are encouraged to enter more than one recipe, as long as, each recipe is submitted through a separate entry form. All local, state, and federal laws/regulations apply. Void where prohibited. Taxes, if any, are the sole responsibility of the individual winner.
How to Submit Your Recipe(s): Type your recipe and other required details into our entry form. For each recipe entry, you must provide a brief story or description (250 words or less) about the recipe submitted. Tell us how you came about the recipe, tell us what the recipe means to you, your family and/or friends. You can write about anything of interest as it relates to the recipe that you enter into the contest.
You can upload up to four pictures of the finished dish or steps of you creating the dish (Uploading of pictures is optional but highly recommend). If someone other than you is pictured in one of the photos, you must get their permission to publish the photo.
Recipes must include the number of servings and should be in standard recipe format, using standard measurements. All ingredients and quantities must be complete and listed in order of use. For a more judgeable recipe you should also include complete easy-to-follow and simple step by step preparation and cooking instructions. If they are required cooking times and temperatures must also be noted.
All recipes, stories and pictures must be original, that is, not previous published by someone else and/or copyrighted in any form. Recipes copied and pasted from other sites without modification of the ingredients and cooking instruction will not be considered or judged. When submitting your recipe all mandatory fields must be completed for YOU to be an eligible contestant. Only valid recipes will be considered, as such, submission does not automatically mean your recipe will be entered in the contest.
Click To See Example of Past Winner.
How We Judge Recipes to Pick Winners: Winners will be determined based off points obtained for submission of a recipe and the number of votes and comments left by visitors. In the event of a tie, the judges will decide the winners. Decisions made by our judges are final.
Please Note: We permit only one IP address per comment/vote, per recipe. Comments from duplicate IP addresses will be deleted and not counted as a vote.
Recipe Scoring: Each recipe accepted by our judges will automatically be awarded 10 points. You can earn extra/bonus points by sending in optional photos/pictures of your dish. The first picture earns you 20 points, and each additional picture will be awarded 10 points. Again, you can submit up to four pictures. For each picture we suggest you include a caption or brief description. You also get 40 extra/bonus points for submitting a story related to your recipe.
In theory, one recipe submitted with 4 pictures and a story will earn you 100 points, as follows:
- 10 points awarded for your original recipe
- 20 points awarded for your first picture
- 30 points awarded for up to 3 more pictures (10 points each)
- 40 points awarded for a detailed story related to your recipe
Once approved your recipes will be published on our website, so that site visitors can rate your recipes. We use a star rating system of one to five stars, with 5 being BEST. As such, you can also earn up to 5 additional points for each visitor that rates your recipe using our 5-star rating system.
Therefore encourage your friends and family, who have tried your recipe, to visitor our website and cast their vote. Once your recipe is accepted into our contest you will receive a link to a webpage that showcases your recipe. This link can be share with anyone you know so that they can visit our website and vote for your recipe. Read this related article.
Final thought on scoring, the overall rating system is purposely biased in favor of participants who send in additional information along with their recipes (.i.e personal story, photos) and also encourage their friends and family to visit our website to comment and vote.
Legal Notice: By submitting your recipe, you signify acceptance of these Official Contest Rules and except where prohibited by law, you consent to the use of your first and last name, state or province, country, and/or recipe and/or prize information, without limitation for promotional purposes and without further payment. Your email address is safe and will not be shared with anyone.
With each submission, you permit publication of your story, recipe and picture(s), and release soulfoodandsoutherncooking.com and any affiliated companies from any and all liability for any claims, costs, injury, losses, or damages of any kind arising out of or in connection with the contest. To the maximum extent permitted by law, we reserve the right to change these Official Rules at any time. Any entrant who violates these Official Rules will be subject to disqualification.
All judges decision are final.
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