My original intent was to announce the winners of my video contest in a video, but I can't seem to get my camera working this morning -- so we'll have to do it old-school.

So, the contest is over! The contest ran for over a month, and 20 people recorded videos of themselves reading my poems -- as an artist, it's fascinating and fulfilling to see your work being read like that, and I'm excited to have fans willing to create videos of my work...even if I am bribing you with fancy electronics and gift cards. :D

Of course, you want me to cut to the chase, so let me present you with the winners of the contest!

The Winners!

The top five entries were selected by popular vote. In addition to their main prize, all winners will receive a signed copy of Ventricle, Atrium, and ebook copies of Ventricle, Atrium and Bone Fragments.

5th Place - $25 Amazon card
Kelly McLeod's reading of Ars Poetica: Davey Jones.
I'm pretty certain this was the oldest poem anyone chose to read for the contest, so it was amusing to see it appear. Kelly did a great job covering it.

4th Place - $25 Amazon card
Ayesha Zahid's reading of Retard.
Retard is one of those tough poems for me, in that it's very personal and it was a difficult one for me to write. Ayesha does a brilliant job of it, though.

3rd Place - $50 Amazon card
Jenny DeLage's reading of Beautiful Like...
Beautiful Like... appears in Bone Fragments, and it's long been one of the more popular poems on the website. Jenny brings a lot of energy to the piece in her reading.

2nd Place - $50 Amazon card
Jordan Long and Korey Pangburn's reading of A Love To Die For
This was one of my favorite videos in the contest. Jordan and Korey tailored their video to match the zombie apocalypse events of the poem, and it's a lot of fun to watch them act it out.

1st Place - A Kindle Fire!
Danielle Seevers' reading of Reckless
It's amusing that Reckless was the winning poem this time -- the last time I ran a video contest, a different contestant read that poem and won. Danielle did a fantastic job with her reading.

Random winners

I wanted to make sure that everyone had a chance of winning something in the contest, so I've selected two winners from the remaining contestants. These two were selected randomly, using Random.org.

Random Winner #1 - $25 Amazon card
Alicia Bradley's reading of Dandelion Girl
I really enjoyed Alicia's reading of Dandelion Girl -- she brings a unique poise to the poem.

Random Winners #2 - $25 Amazon card
Erica Sato's reading of Solitude
Erica was actually the last contestant to submit their entry before the contest deadline. Her reading of Solitude is spot-on.

How to claim your prize

Winners should click here to use the contact form to claim their prize. Be sure to send me a physical mailing address so I can send you the signed copy of Ventricle, Atrium. Gift cards will be sent electronically, and ebooks will be awarded with coupon codes for Smashwords.com.

Upcoming contests

I'm really pleased with the way this contest turned out, so I'll be launching an ongoing video contest in the near future -- I don't have an exact start date yet, but the contest will be a bit simpler (we're doing away with the voting aspect, and winners will be selected either randomly or by a third-party judge), and prizes won't be quite as grand. Look for more announcements soon.