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Amazon Contest: Win a Trip to London and Read "The Tales of Beedle the Bard"

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows
Posted by: Sue
April 09, 2008, 11:42 AM

Today, Amazon has announced a fantastic new contest that is sure to appeal to the serious Harry Potter fans. The online retailer has announced a new contest to win a trip for two to London, England for the weekend, where you will be able to read the special handwritten “The Tales of Beedle the Bard” by author J.K. Rowling. As readers will recall, the “Beedle the Bard” tales were mentioned Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, with Amazon the winner of the charity auction of one of the seven hand written Beedle books by J.K. Rowling. Until now, only photos of the book and short summaries have been revealed.

To enter this contest which is open to people ages 13 years and older from 24 countries around the world, you “must creatively write a short, English-language submission of 100 or fewer words answering one of the following three questions:

* What songs do wizards use to celebrate birthdays? * What other sports do wizards play besides Quidditch? * What have you learned from the Harry Potter series that you use in everyday life?

You may enter here at Amazon (US) or Amazon (UK). The contest is open now until April 22, and according to the press release, is open “in two age categories: 13-17 and 18 and older. The contest is open to customers in 24 countries, including the United States, United Kingdom, Germany, Japan, China and Canada.

An Amazon committee will choose 10 semifinalists from each age group based on creativity and originality of idea as well as the writing style of the submission. On May 5, Amazon will post the semi-finalist submissions from both age groups and allow Amazon customers one week to vote for their favorite entry in each of the two age categories. The winner in each age group will move on to become one of two finalists who will compete for the grand prize.” In the final stage all will be able to vote for the winner, which will be announced on May 22.”

“Customers have been anxious to see, touch and read this rare, unique, and absolutely beautiful piece of literature,” said Russell Grandinetti, vice president of books at Amazon. “We’re thrilled to be able to offer our customers a chance to head to London, don a pair of white gloves and be one of only a handful of people in the world to have read these amazing tales. And of course, given the rarity of the book, security guards are included.” A reminder for those who have not yet seen the photos and summaries of the Beedle the Bard book, you may see them via this link. GOOD LUCK to all who enter!

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77 Comments

Alexandra

OMG why couldn’t I be 13? Are you kidding me!! Sorry I just would LOVE to read the book so I’m very dissapointed…

Posted by Alexandra on April 09, 2008, 10:45 PM report to moderator
Erika

Im HORRIBLE at writing stuff…just ask my english teacher! o well i think im gunna try it out anyway! YAY!! like no chance whatsoever but i dont care!! lets get writing!!

Posted by Erika on April 09, 2008, 10:56 PM report to moderator
Shalamar

OMG OMG OMG I HAVE TO DO THIS!!!!!!! Good thing i want to be a writer, and took a creative writing class. maybeeee that will help meee…

Posted by Shalamar on April 09, 2008, 11:00 PM report to moderator
Maggie

I wonder if they’ve go Argentina matea and isabel and isis (i think your name was) i feel ya. te siento. wish me luck!

Posted by Maggie on April 10, 2008, 12:33 AM report to moderator
Wizziby

I’m so excited! I just submitted my entry. Really very difficult to write something spectacular in a 100 words or less. That’s actually awkwardly short. I had to keep rephrasing things until I had 99 words.

Posted by Wizziby on April 10, 2008, 02:12 AM report to moderator
Pobe

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAA! They forgot Poland!

Posted by Pobe on April 10, 2008, 06:06 AM report to moderator
PeterW

Sigh… there is no “correct answer” to the questions. Be creative.

Being creative in less than 100 words is a Herculean task.

From the FAQs: 3. How come kids younger than 13 cannot participate? The U.S. Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA) severely limits the nature of online contests that Amazon is able to run, where children under the age of 13 are eligible to enter. In order to comply with the law and still hold a contest that would be easy to understand and simple to enter for our customers, we decided to set the lower age limit at 13.

4. How come only certain countries are eligible to enter? Some countries are legally ineligible for these types of contests. We conducted research to determine our list of more than 20 countries, and focused on those countries where there are large English-speaking populations and where laws would permit the contest.

I guess they want English-speakers because they don’t want to translate essays.

Posted by PeterW on April 10, 2008, 06:42 AM report to moderator
PeterW

And btw, I chose option 1 and described a song with a special spell in the lyrics.

And I am so glad that there’s an HP contest for adults! (I’m 19)

Posted by PeterW on April 10, 2008, 06:46 AM report to moderator
Angela

Awesome competition Amazon. Good luck to everyone who enters and I’m looking forward to seeing the top ten entries!

Posted by Angela on April 10, 2008, 08:29 AM report to moderator
Pinefresh

Thailand’s not there :( Well, I guess that’s expected, since nobody really speaks English here. Best of luck to everyone who enters! Show them the HP spirit! AND BRING BACK THOSE GLOVES!!!

Posted by Pinefresh on April 10, 2008, 09:32 AM report to moderator
Camper

Does this mean that from the Asian continent, only people of Japan and China can enter? :(

Posted by Camper on April 10, 2008, 02:19 PM report to moderator
mary

Spanish people can’t take part!!! T.T i will cry!! I’m very sad…I want to take part!! You’re very lucy…I’m a bit jealous…but , even well…GOOD LUCK to the participants!!

Posted by mary on April 10, 2008, 08:24 PM report to moderator
s

I CANT WRITE JUST A HUNDRED WORDS!!!! SO MUCH TO SAY!!!! SO LITTLE WORDS!!!!!!!!!!

Posted by s on April 10, 2008, 08:42 PM report to moderator
s

Exactly one hundred words! but I might rewrite… I did third question.

Posted by s on April 10, 2008, 09:11 PM report to moderator
nikki

yay! im so excitied im going to enter and get my friend to enter cuz when she wins she will take me!

Posted by nikki on April 10, 2008, 11:30 PM report to moderator
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