Short films to encourage spiritual conversations, and a chance to win an iPad Mini

My friends at the Global Short Film Network are holding a contest right now to encourage people to use short films to have spiritual conversations. I asked my friend Joe Poe to send us a brief introduction to the contest and the Short Film Network. Here it is below!

In this fast-paced, ever changing culture, people are engaging their friends with new forms of technology daily. Communication and technology are intertwined in a way that has become a natural mode of conversation. Global Short Film Network provides a tool for our culture in the form of short films. We believe that the power of story, told through films, connects with the heart and provides the pathway for the gospel to be heard.

Now till the end of April, Global Short Film Network is hosting a contest to showcase using short films as a tool that connects a person’s story to the spiritual issues within the film. By doing so you have a chance to win an iPad mini. To enter, we are asking people to share a series of short films from our website to a group of friends, peers, co-workers, etc. Each film comes with discussion questions that provide deeper discussion. If you are having trouble brainstorming ways to share short films to multiple people, here is an Outreach Guide to help get you started.

Everyone is entered to win by simply filling out the submissions page on our contest website. For a complete list of rules on how to enter, please visit www.gsfncontest.com. 

New Title: Get an Advanced copy of the Imaginary Jesus audio book BEFORE IT COMES OUT!!!!

One of the greatest disadvantages for Tyndale (the excellent publishers of Imaginary Jesus) is the constant demands of the ravenous fans that this book be released early.  It really is a hardship, but they are sticking to their guns.  APRIL FIRST they have said, over and over, as people call their offices, send angry e-mails and - in one unfortunate incident -threw a brick into their office with a note on it that said "You will get REAL BRICKS once a week until I get Imaginary Jesus." 

To help alleviate the tension a bit, Tyndale has allowed Christian Audio, the geniuses who put together the audio book version, to release the audio book before the print book!  In fact, you can buy it on CD RIGHT NOW!  Or you can download it at Christian Audio and be listening to it in a few minutes.  

Despite the ignorant paragraph above, penned by ridiculous authors who think they are in the know (cough cough Mikalatos) this audio book remains unavailable.  UNLESS YOU HAPPEN TO BE ME AND HAVE A COUPLE OF COPIES RIGHT NOW ON YOUR NIGHTSTAND.  And it just so happens that I do happen to be me, and thus have copies on my nightstand.  And therefore please read the sentence in red below:

I am going to GIVE ONE AWAY THIS WEEK!

To keep things simple, I'm going to use a random number generator to pick one person at random from the Imaginary Jesus e-mail list.  So sign up here for your chance to win!  I'll announce the winner a week from today.
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That's right! Be the first to listen to the audio book!  Amaze your friends!  Shame your enemies!   Obfuscate your pursuers!  Verb your nouns!  Do it today!

Imaginary Jesus tagline winners announced tomorrow!

I have the tagline contest whittled down to the final round, and by tomorrow I will announce the winners! There are plenty of good ones to choose from, but I do have my favorites.

Stay tuned....

Imaginary Jesus tagline contest rules addendum

Sarah Atkinson, one of the acquisitions editors at Tyndale, talked with me yesterday about the Imaginary Jesus tagline contest.

She started by saying, "I have a bone to pick with you." I suddenly realized that I hadn't talked with anyone at Tyndale about my little contest. Uh-oh.

Then she said, "What do I get if I win the contest?"

I said, "The same thing as anyone else." Because she should really read the whole post instead of skimming, that's what I say.

But she pointed out that the likelihood that she would receive a signed copy anyway was pretty high since she's working on the book and I'll be crossing paths with her at various conferences and events in the future. I told her that I wasn't some pushover author that would just cave and give copies to someone just because they were pushy acquisitions editors. But she pointed out that she could probably wear me down eventually.

So I have to add this addendum to the rules: "If the winner of the contest doesn't want the other prizes listed, they may choose to receive instead an original Matt Mikalatos hand-drawn picture of a pony or unicorn. In color."

The End.

Imaginary Jesus tag line competition -- tell your friends

The Contest:

We're working on a tag line for Imaginary Jesus (coming to bookstores near you in April 2010). Basically, in this contest I'm asking you to throw out your best ideas for a tag line. I'm looking for something clever and catchy that sort of sums up everything about the book. You can see a basic "back of the book" type description here. Here are some thoughts by someone about tag lines in general. I'm looking for a quick phrase that is humorous and sharpens the reader's expectation beyond what the title implies. A few examples:

Imaginary Jesus: Real as a Unicorn

Imaginary Jesus: The best friend you never knew you had.

Or preferably something better than those.

Rules:

1) Enter by posting your tag line idea in the comments section of this post. Post as many as you like.

2) I'll need some way to get ahold of you if you win. So anonymous, contact-less entries won't get a prize even if they win. YOU DON'T HAVE TO HAVE A BLOGGER ACCOUNT TO LEAVE A COMMENT! And if you want to send me your contact info, post your comment and then write me at matt.mikalatos(at)gmail.com.

3) It has to be original and it has to be yours. So taglines like "In space no one can hear you scream" or "Plop, plop, fizz, fizz, oh what a relief it is!" don't count. I guess you can post them just to be funny though, you sick, sick people.

4) Deadline for entries is July 17th, because that's my birthday and because I say so.

5) No whining if it takes a while to announce a winner, because I'm learning that the publishing world spins a little slower than the world outside. Whiners automatically forfeit all rights except for those specifically granted under the Magna Carta of 1215.

6) All entries must be type-written.

7) It's a tag line, not a poetry contest. Keep it short. Haiku length or shorter.

The Prize:

It's a three parter. TO THE WINNER GOES THE SPOILS! ONE, your name in the acknowledgements of the book itself. TWO, a copy of Imaginary Jesus signed by the author (when it comes out of course). THREE, my gratitude. I will even write a thank you note to you.

Of course you also get bragging rights, but that goes without saying.

Now get to work, people.

Legal Stuff:

Okay, I'm not a lawyer but just so you know this contest is illegal wherever such contests are illegal, and is not sponsored by Tyndale, Barna Books, Campus Crusade for Christ or anyone associated with those organizations. Final determination of who wins goes to moi (moi = Matt Mikalatos) and whomever I might choose to include in said determination. Moi reserves the right not to use a tag line, to use multiple tag lines or to use a tag line not generated by this contest. By leaving a comment and/or tagline here you are giving permission for it to be used in the publication and publicity of all kinds for Imaginary Jesus. Forever. In the whole universe. And other dimensions. Even other dimensions where, perhaps, you are evil instead of the pleasant, reasonable person whom you appear to be here in our dimension. Please remember that in the end this is all for fun. It's not like I'm promising, for instance, to make you the poet laureate of a laureate-less state.