It's time for the Third Sampler Haiku Contest!

If you can count to 7, you've got a chance at winning a lifetime subscription (well, as long as the Sampler is in business, that is) to the Sampler! Entries for the Sampler Haiku contest aren't traditional Japanese haiku, of course, but more like the simple, counting-on-your-fingers variety you may remember from high school. This time, though, the haiku are about crafting, diy and/or the Sampler.

For the purposes of this contest, a haiku will be defined as a simple, three-line poem consisting of seventeen syllables. The first line of the poem has five syllables, the second line has seven and the third line has five. Here's an example:

First line has five beats
Second line has seven beats
Third line has five, too.

Second and third-place haiku poets will also be rewarded with a three-month and single-month subscription, respectively.

- - - - - - - - - entering the contest - - - - - - - - -

Submission of entries to the Sampler Haiku Contest are open from now until Wednesday, August 30th.

To enter the contest, simply send your entry via email to Samplerstuff [@] homeofthesampler [dot] com. It would be wicked super if you could put "haiku" in the subject line.

If you have more than one haiku that you'd like to submit, please feel free to include multiple entries in the same email.

Please, no coarse or offensive language in your haiku! The Sampler is family-friendly!

- - - - - - - - - how the contest will run - - - - - - - - -

All entries will be submitted to a jury of crafters/Sampler friends for a round of preliminary judging. These preliminary judges will be asked to rate each haiku on a number scale from 1 to 10. I will record their scores and the haiku with the highest average scores will move on to the voting round. If your haiku makes it into the voting round, you will be notified via email.

In the voting rounds, haiku that made it past the judges will be posted to the Sampler website on the homepage and to the Haiku Entries page. Anyone with access to the internet will be able to view the entries and vote for their favorite on the Sampler Survey page. It will be possible to vote multiple times, but I believe the survey program will only allow you to vote once every so many hours. So, if you want someone to win, please feel free to keep coming back!

There will be three voting rounds in which entries will be posted and up for voting for an entire week. Round One will begin on Friday, Sept. 1st, Round Two will begin on Friday, Sept. 8th, Round Three will begin Friday, Sept. 15th.

The three most popular haiku from the voting rounds will go on to the final round of voting! The three finalists will be posted on Sept. 22nd and a final week of voting will be available to decide the winner. The winner of the lifetime subscription to the Sampler will be posted on Friday, Sept. 29th.

Sound like fun?! I hope you'll send in an entry! Good luck to everyone!