Michy
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Posts: 7403
Registered: 1/15/2008
Location: Texas
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Contest Guidelines
Since I'm having to take my website down to purge the virus it received through the shared hosting with Godaddy, I'm going to put the contest
guidelines and information here on this thread temporarily for now.
......
Started in early 2008, Accentuate Services and the Accentuate Writers Forum hosts a monthly short story anthology contest with cash and merchandise
prizes, and a publishing contract - with royalties - for all winning entries. Each contest is written to a previously announced theme (see below for
2010 themes).
This is a chance for published, yet to be published, or fiction-curious writers to venture into the world of fiction writing, win a cash prize and get
a publishing contract with royalties - all for a FREE entry!
For 2010, the prizes, judging and scoring have all changed from 2009, so if you're new to the AWF Short Story Contest, or if you are a veteran
competing writing here, be sure to read and understand the changes before submitting!
In an effort to help more writers learn from entering contests and get published, we are changing how we award prizes. We know what's important to you
- the money, right? Okay, so here's the prizes!
CASH PRIZES! FREE BOOKS! FREE MERCHANDISE!
Grand Prize Winner - $100 Paid via PayPal - One Winner
* Name on the front cover of the book, title page and LOC page
* Three free copies of the anthology in which they are published
* Winner's HTML banner/button code for website or blog
* Full-page author's bio in the back of the book
* Link of your choice on the blog announcement on multiple websites
* Name included in the press releases about the anthology release
* Name included as an author in Amazon.com and B&N.com
* Book Tote with Cover Art from the book your story is printed in
* Bookmark with Cover Art from the book your story is printed in
* How to Promote Your Books & Yourself (ebook)
* Royalty contract on anthology, based on % of inclusion in the book
FIVE Additional Winners - $50 paid via PayPal
* Name listed on the title page of the interior of the book and the LOC page
* Two free copies of the anthology
* Winner's HTML banner/button code for website or blog
* Full-page author's bio in the back of the book
* Link of your choice on the blog announcement on multiple websites
* Name listed as an author on Amazon.com and B&N.com
* How to Promote Your Books & Yourself (ebook)
* Royalty contract based on % of inclusion in anthology
Michy and/or the judges are under no obligation to offer additional contracts, but reserve the right to do so when strong entries are received and are
worthy of inclusion. If there are strong entries that are publish-worthy but do not actually win the contest, these stories might still be chosen as
an 'Editor's Pick' for inclusion in the anthology. While these Editor's Picks will not receive a prize or upfront payment, they will receive one free
copy of the book in which their writing is included and will receive the standard royalty contract on the anthology.
Editor's Choice Poetry Prize includes:
* $10 cash prize payment via PayPal
* One copy of the anthology in which your selected poem appears (per poem)
* A royalty paying contract based on your % of inclusion in the anthology for each poem
* Inclusion in the hard-cover collector's poetry edition
DIGITAL OPTION:
Authors who submit quality stories to the anthology contest that do not win the contest or place in for publication in the printed anthology will be
offered an OPTION to have their story edited for free and included as a digital download product on the http://www.TwinTrinityBooks.com website. These stories will receive a digital publication contract and will require a one-year exclusive rights
share with TTM, for which TTM will share 50/50% royalty split on the actual selling price of the story, which will range from .49 cents to $2.99
depending on length and style and possible popularity of the story. This is OPTIONAL. After one year, should you accept the contract offer, your story
can remain for sell on the site if you choose, but the rights will revert back to you. More information will be provided to you when the contest
closes, after the winners are chosen. You are under no obligation to accept the digital option.
Good luck to everyone!
SUBMISSION GUIDELINES CLICK HERE.
Poetry Submission Guidelines
PAST WINNERS and THEMES!
CURRENT THEMES and DEADLINES
2010 Anthology Publishing Schedule
Contest Rules
ENTER NOW for free!
To enter for free, simply read and follow the submission guidelines.
Love and stuff,
Michy
~~Infinite Diversity in Infinite Combinations~~
Do just once what others say you can't do, and you will never pay attention to their limitations again." James R. Cook
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Michy
Boss(y) Lady / Site Owner / Admin
Posts: 7403
Registered: 1/15/2008
Location: Texas
Member Is Offline
Mood: Peaceful
|
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These guidelines must be followed, to the letter. Any entries that do not adhere to these guidelines will not be read or considered for the contest.
If you have any questions about the guidelines, visit the Accentuate Writers Forum for more information or to ask questions. Please be sure to read
the legal information about the contest rules at the end.
SUBMISSION GUIDELINES
1.) All entries must be written in MS Word as a .doc or .RTF format if you do not have Word.
2.) Please use the following standards to submit your entry:
A. 12 pt. font
B. Courier New (Absolutely no fancy fonts or font changes.)
C. 1" margins, all sides
D. Double Spacing, set as double spaced, no line breaks
E. Auto-indent, using the auto-indent feature, not tabs or spaces.
This video will show you how to set auto-indents:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jYxdYJdZbao
F. Auto-indent left, unjustified right (ragged right)
G. Do NOT double enter after paragraphs. That's why you indent.
H. Use a centered * * * between scene breaks, if necessary, not a double enter. (Be sure to remove the indent on any centered lines but ONLY on
centered lines, otherwise, they won't be centered.)
I. Do NOT tell us 'THE END' - when the words run out, we generally stop reading and assume the story is over, though sometimes, understandably, that
might be hard to tell. If it's hard to tell, you might want to consider a revision.
3.) All entries must be emailed to:
contests@accentuateservices.com
If you would like others to view and read your contest entry, opening it to critiques and feedback either before, during or after the contest, you can
also UPLOAD it to the critiques thread.
http://accentuatewriters.com/forumdisplay.php?fid=58
The password to access this thread is: password
You must be a registered member of the forum to access this section. Registration and membership is always free. I put it in the password protected
thread so that your stories are not indexed in search engines and can only be viewed by registered members and even though they win or are entered in
a contest, they won't eliminate you from selling the story to someone else!
Keep in mind that your story MUST BE EMAILED, whether you put it in the upload thread or not. The upload thread is OPTIONAL; emailing is not
optional.
Put:
Accentuate Writers Contest: THEME
in the subject of the email.
4.) You have until the last day of each month, at 11:59pm Central Time to send your submission to Michy.
5.) There is no entry and no limit on the number of short stories you can enter, but be sure to send professional work that is as close to publish
ready as possible. Include your email address, pen name and the theme for which you are submitting so you can be assigned a proper entry number for
your contest entry.
6.) After your entry is received, you will be emailed an ENTRY NUMBER on or before the close of the contest. This entry number is what will confirm
receipt of your submission and will identify it to the judges, so judging is completely blind.
ENTRY GUIDELINES:
1.) Follow the submission guidelines to create your short story submission.
2.) DO NOT put your name on your entry. Instead, put your pen name, THEME and Story Title in the body of the email.
3.) Entries must be between 1500 - 10,000 words, give or take a few hundred either way, as long the entry tells a full story with an intriguing
storyline. If your entry is outside of these limits, you'd better have a darned good story to tell and email Michy first before you submit it.
4.) Use proper grammar, spelling and style when writing the story that complements the story - sometimes, grammar does take a backseat to the story,
but you'd better know why it does if you're gonna break the rules! (yes, the gonna was intentional)
The most common mistakes are: not checking spelling (can you imagine not using spell check at the very least?), dialogue tags and proper punctuation
of dialogue, using all caps or multiple punctuation marks at the end of sentences!!!! ?! I see a lot of ALL CAPS used for emphasis. Good writers can
make sure the reader sees emphasis without using all caps, but if you must show emphasis, use italics.
THEME: 5.) All entries must use the theme.
To see the themes, go to this link:
http://www.accentuateservices.com/AS/node/15
We're not telling you what the theme means or how to use it, so don't ask. Part of what your entry is going to be judged upon is the adherence to and
creative use of the theme. The more creative it is, the better chance you have of winning. The theme doesn't have to be 'in-your-face'. In fact, it's
probably better if it's not. It can be subtle, but be sure that it's not so subtle that the judges can't clearly see you used the theme.
6.) DO NOT use headers or footers, and DO NOT number your pages.
7.) Only ONE space after the periods.
8.) Oh, did I mention to: Give us your best work!
LEGAL STUFF
YOU will retain ALL copyrights to your short story, but if you win and then choose to accept the publishing contract and include your winning short
story in the Accentuate Writers anthology, we do ask for non-exclusive, first print publication rights, North American - and we might negotiate
electronic rights at a later date. We also license rights through royalty contract to use your name, titles, snippets of your story and other things
for promoting the story and anthology, but those terms are spelled out in your author's contract, should you win and choose to accept it.
Writers who win the contest will receive an author's contract for each winning submission once the quarterly contest ends, but it might take up to two
additional quarters prior to receiving the royalty contract and paperwork. Included with the contract will be the amount of the prize, but the prize
is an award, NOT an advance on the royalties. The percentage of royalties assigned for your part of the anthology based on the final edited version of
the winning story. Once the writer reviews and agrees to the contract, returns it signed, we will release the payment for the prize to the
writer--this is payment upon publication, but it's likely you will be paid a little before publication unless there are technical problems delaying
until close to publication.
Prize winners will be notified via email and/or on the Accentuate Writers Forum threads and Michy's blog.
After the story publishes in the print anthology trade paperback book and winners have received their free copies they won in the contest, all winners
will be allowed to buy additional books at a discount off the retail price between 35-50% off the suggested retail price. The discount will differ
with each anthology and is determined in advance and is part of the author's contract. NO PURCHASE IS EVER NECESSARY. You will not be required,
coerced or expected to purchase any copies of the anthologies in which your story appears, ever. If you choose to purchase copies, you can do so at
the discounted price, either for resale, giveaways (though we do offer some giveaways for publicity for free to the authors at our discretion.)
Details and an author's packet will go out to the winning writers before the anthology goes to print.
THERE IS NO PURCHASE REQUIRED, PERIOD, EVER--not to enter, not to win!
YOU WILL NOT BE ASKED TO PAY FOR EDITING OR CRITIQUE SERVICES.
Editing is part of publishing, so all stories that win the contest will be fully edited for free by an experienced, professional print book editor who
has worked with multiple small and mid-sized publishing houses.
THERE ARE NO OUT OF POCKET REQUIRED COSTS TO THE AUTHOR, NOT TO ENTER, NOT TO WIN, NOT EVEN TO GET A COPY OF THE BOOK -- ALL AUTHORS RECEIVE COPIES OF
THE BOOK IN WHICH THEY APPEAR!
Some Notes:
Contests will be held monthly throughout 2010, with a print anthology compiled at the end of each quarter, resulting in four print anthologies per
year. However, the print anthologies are delayed, so it might take up to a year for some anthologies to go to print. The publishing schedule is
published as far in advance as possible on the Accentuate Services website (here). Accentuate plans to host these contests monthly, and close
quarterly for four print anthologies per year--we will never increase that number, since running these contests and preparing the anthologies is time
consuming and expensive, and we also want to keep the competitive nature where being published in one of our anthologies is a true competitive honor,
limited only to the best of the best of each contest.
We do, however, reserve the right to reduce the number we do each year, if enough entries are not received to make four full-sized trade standard
books. If the number of anthologies is reduced, we will merge themes and ensure all authors are published in one of our anthologies for that year, or
else the author can choose to opt out of the anthology.
FINE PRINT:
Because unlimited submissions are allowed, it is possible for one author to place/win in the same contest more than once, especially since judging is
blind. Additionally, three contests make up one anthology, so it's not unusually for one author to have more than one story accepted for publication.
However, in order to ensure the anthology stays a multi-author book, no single author will have more than FOUR stories in one book. After the fourth
winning story, they will be ineligible for future contests until the next anthology compilation begins.
Only first-place winners are guaranteed to have their names on the front cover of the book. We will make every effort to include all winners on the
cover, but make no promises we will do so anyone other than first place winners, so we can keep our options for cover design flexible for our
designers.
All authors will be listed on the interior title page, the LOC page, and will have author bios included in the back of the book, with photo and
contact information if they so choose. All author's pen names will be listed in the description field on Amazon.com and other online book retailers,
and will be included as an Amazon.com author on the book, which will allow them to create Amazon Author Central pages.
Any contest discussion should be held in this thread the writers forum:
http://accentuatewriters.com/forumdisplay.php?fid=81
If you have any questions, post them in that section, so all authors can benefit from the answer. Several authors have also suggested things to help
improve the contest. We are open to suggestions. While we can't implement all suggestions, we do listen to the authors!
For prize information:
CLICK HERE FOR PRIZES
Any questions? Better to ask than be disqualified!
Good luck!
small print
For legal and functioning purposes, we reserve the right to change these rules, guidelines and submissions at any time. We will, however, do our best
to make sure you are notified by posting in the Announcements section of the AWF board and updating the terms here.
Love and stuff,
Michy
~~Infinite Diversity in Infinite Combinations~~
Do just once what others say you can't do, and you will never pay attention to their limitations again." James R. Cook
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Michy
Boss(y) Lady / Site Owner / Admin
Posts: 7403
Registered: 1/15/2008
Location: Texas
Member Is Offline
Mood: Peaceful
|
|
To enter the Accentuate Poetry Contest, we are asking poets to submit to the themes of the Accentuate Writers Anthology Contests. However, unlike the
contests for the short stories, we will not be selecting first, second and third place winners. Instead, all poems will be considered equally, and
will receive an Editor's Choice award if they are included in the anthology.
Editor's Choice Poetry Prize includes:
* $10 cash prize payment via PayPal
* One copy of the anthology in which your selected poem appears (per poem)
* A royalty paying contract based on your % of inclusion in the anthology for each poem
But it gets even better than that!
Accentuate and Twin Trinity Media will be publishing a poetry compilation at the end of each publishing year including all the poems that won the
anthology poetry contest, as well as some of the best entries that were not included in the anthologies, for an outstanding poetry book collection, in
a hard-bound cover with an exquisite dust jacket. suitable for artistic framing!
Each poet will receive one free copy of this hard-cover collector's edition book (one per poet, not per poem) and will be able to buy additional
copies at author discounted rates (though will never be required to purchase anything!) and will receive a full page biography with a black and white
photo included in the book.
There is no purchase required to enter the contests, no purchase required to win... in fact, you don't ever have to spend a penny for anything. We
will pay prize fees, send you free copies of the books in which you are included, and showcase your writing to our readership.
In order to be considered for the hard cover collector's edition book, you must submit your poetry to the Accentuate Writers Short Story Anthology
contest, based on the themes for the short stories - we want your poetry to match and adorn the anthology stories - and then, once selected for the
anthology, you will be automatically included in the special hard-bound edition of the poetry collection. If you are not selected for the anthology,
your poem might still be considered for the hard-bound edition.
At this time, we are not accepting open poetry submissions for the hard-bound book. However, once the compilation of the winners of the anthology
poetry contests is complete, we will open for direct submissions on particular themes that need additional poems, for a limited time, so stay
tuned!
For now, you can read the guidelines to the poetry contest by clicking here.
Good luck!
Love and stuff,
Michy
~~Infinite Diversity in Infinite Combinations~~
Do just once what others say you can't do, and you will never pay attention to their limitations again." James R. Cook
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Michy
Boss(y) Lady / Site Owner / Admin
Posts: 7403
Registered: 1/15/2008
Location: Texas
Member Is Offline
Mood: Peaceful
|
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2010 Winners Announcement Schedule:
Elements of Love - EXTENDED DEADLINE
~~The Wedding - Will be announced March 10th
~~The Engagement - Will be announced March 15th
Expressions of Love - First 2010 Anthology Contest Quarter
~~Puppy Love - Will be announced March 24th
~~Unrequited Love - Will be announced March 31st
~~Endless Love - Will be announced around mid-April
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
2009 Winners
The second anthology, Elements of Time, has been released! You can order your copy now at the link or you can order a bundled package of either all
five of the Elements books or a bundle of only the two already published Elements books. Matching bookmark based on the cover art for the book.
When you order, 10% of the net profit from the sale of each book will be donated to literacy programs. Proceeds donated to these literary programs
will take place once per quarter, when sales and royalties to authors are processed. Records and receipts of donations are available for viewing upon
request. Additionally, the money gained from these books is used to turn around and invest in future writing contests. Purchasing Accentuate
Anthologies from Twin Trinity Media ensures your purchase goes to help keep authors writing, foster a love of the literary arts, and help to fund
literacy programs.
Of course, you also get a gorgeous book, perfect bound, high-gloss cover that is suitable for framing! Oh, and you know, the stories are good too!
The previous winners include:
FIRST PLACE WINNERS:
Steven Thor Gunnin
Jennifer Walker
Rissa Watkins
Lindsay Maddox
Lisa Lee Smith
Robert L Arend
Daniel Thrasher
M. Lori Motley
Nancy Smith Gibson
SECOND PLACE WINNERS:
Jennifer Walker
Lucinda Gunnin
Laurie Darroch-Meekis
Steven Thor Gunnin
Thomas Forthe
Linda St. Cyr
Tamblyn Shaye
M. Lori Motley
THIRD PLACE WINNERS:
M. Lori Motley
Jo Brielyn
George Kramer
Joan Young
Jamie Miller
Sarah Sullivan
Nancy Smith Gibson
Robert L Arend
OTHER INCLUDED and FEATURED AUTHORS:
Susan Sosbe
Opher Ganel
Nancy Smith Gibson
Linda St.Cyr
Thomas Forthe
Andi Caldwell
Christy
Texas Red
Shannon Lausch
FEATURED POET: Laurie Darroch-Meekis
POETS:
Earthbound - Laurie Meekis
When the Rain Comes - Jo Breilyn
Rise - Laurie Meekis
Flames of Love - Susan Sosbe
Mahingun - Laurie Meekis
Cicada Song - Randy Barefoot
Guilty Pleasure - Angel Sharum
The Voice of Violence - Angel Sharum
Autumnal Reverie - Laurie Meekis
Heat from the Road - Felicity (JaneElectric)
PREVIOUS THEMES:
Elements of the Soul
# ISBN-10: 0984209506
# ISBN-13: 978-0984209507
April Showers
Fire & Ice
Winds of Change
Summer Heat
Elements of Time
# ISBN-10: 0984209514
# ISBN-13: 978-0984209514
The Past
The Present
The Future
Elements of Dimension
Reality
Fantasy
Science Fiction
Elements of Life
Birth
Life
Death
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
2008 Winners
Accentuate Services, Accentuate Writers, Twin Trinity Media and Michelle L Devon would like to congratulate the 2008 winners of the Accentuate Writers
Anthology.
These authors were featured in our inaugural edition of the Accentuate Writers Short Story Anthologies, Elements of the Soul, which is on sale now.
THEMES CLICK HERE
SUBMISSION GUIDELINES CLICK HERE
Love and stuff,
Michy
~~Infinite Diversity in Infinite Combinations~~
Do just once what others say you can't do, and you will never pay attention to their limitations again." James R. Cook
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Michy
Boss(y) Lady / Site Owner / Admin
Posts: 7403
Registered: 1/15/2008
Location: Texas
Member Is Offline
Mood: Peaceful
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If you made it here from an external link or referral, thanks for visiting! The Accentuate Writers Short Story Contests have produced two anthologies:
Elements of the Soul and Elements of Time, both available an Amazon.com, B&N.com (coming soon), and other fine online and local bookstore retailers.
With distribution through several major and specialty US and Canadian book distributors, if you can't find our anthologies on bookstore shelves, you
can order it, or purchase it direct from us at sale prices!
There are three more anthologies due to be published in 2010: Elements of Dimension, Elements of Life, Elements of Love. We look forward to your
entries and best of luck to you in the contests!
For more information about our contests and the prizes, click here to read more and see our prizes. Below, you will find our 2010 themes and the
submission due dates!
2010 Accentuate Short Story Anthology Contest
Elements of Love - EXTENDED DEADLINE
~~The Wedding
~~The Engagement - Both due by last day of February - come on, you know you have a story in you!
Expressions of Love
• Puppy Love (Entry Due on or Before the Last Day of February 2010)
• Unrequited Love (Entry Due on or Before March 15, 2010)
• Endless Love (Entry Due on or Before the Last Day of March, 2010)
Expressions of Pain
• Anger (Entry Due on or Before the Last Day of April, 2010)
• Sorrow (Entry Due on or Before the Last Day of May, 2010)
• Regret (Entry Due on or Before the Last Day of June, 2010)
Expressions of Passion
• Jealousy (Entry Due on or Before the Last Day of July, 2010)
• Lust (Entry Due on or Before the Last Day of August, 2010)
• Vengeance (Entry Due on or Before the Last Day of September, 2010)
Expressions of Grace
• Hope (Entry Due on or Before the Last Day of October, 2010)
• Faith (Entry Due on or Before the Last Day of November, 2010)
• Gratitude (Entry Due on or Before the Last Day of December, 2010)
Click here to see out 2010 Publishing Schedule!
Click here to see our 2011 Publishing Schedule! (coming soon)
------------
Questions? Email Michy at contests@accentuateservices.com or visit the writers forum at http://www.accentuatewritersforum.com and your question will be answered as quickly as possible.
----------------
Hints & Tips for the best chance of winning:
Enter on time!
Follow the submission guidelines.
Proof and edit your story before submission.
Make sure it fits the theme, and that the theme fits with the other themes in the same quarter.
Each story must stand alone, and cannot be a continuation of a previous story from a previous theme. However, all stories must adhere to the
guidelines and related to the general theme of the book (three months = one book!)
Interested in erotic writing and erotic love stories? Want to submit an erotic story for publication in an erotic anthology? CLICK HERE FOR MORE
INFO!
Love and stuff,
Michy
~~Infinite Diversity in Infinite Combinations~~
Do just once what others say you can't do, and you will never pay attention to their limitations again." James R. Cook
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Michy
Boss(y) Lady / Site Owner / Admin
Posts: 7403
Registered: 1/15/2008
Location: Texas
Member Is Offline
Mood: Peaceful
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Elements of Time
ISBN-10: 0-9842095-1-4
ISBN-13: 978-0-9842095-1-4
LCCN: 2009935846
Released February 2010
Passionate Pens: RENDEZVOUS
Erotic Anthology
ISBN-10: 0-9842095-2-2
ISBN-13: 978-0-9842095-2-1
LCCN: Pending
Releases May 2010
Best of Unsent Letters
ISBN-10: 0-9842095-3-0
ISBN-13: 978-0-9842095-3-8
LCCN: Pending
POSTPONED
Elements of Dimension
ISBN-10: 0-9842095-4-9
ISBN-13: 978-0-9842095-4-5
LCCN: Pending
Releases MAY 2010
Unsent Letters to Mothers
ISBN-10: 0-9842095-5-7
ISBN-13: 978-0-9842095-5-2
LCCN: Pending
Postponed to April 2011
Unsent Letters to Fathers
ISBN-10: 0-9842095-6-5
ISBN-13: 978-0-9842095-6-9
LCCN: Pending
Postponed to May 2011
Elements of Life
ISBN-10: 0-9842095-7-3
ISBN-13: 978-0-9842095-7-6
LCCN: Pending
Releases August 2010
Horror Anthology
ISBN-10: 0-9842095-9-X
ISBN-13: 978-0-9842095-9-0
LCCN: Pending
Releases September 2010
Elements of Love
ISBN-10: Pending
ISBN-13: Pending
LCCN: Pending
Releases November 2010
Love and stuff,
Michy
~~Infinite Diversity in Infinite Combinations~~
Do just once what others say you can't do, and you will never pay attention to their limitations again." James R. Cook
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