Interview with Jerry Shane
Interview by Jenna Glatzer

Jerry and his wife, Melanie, are currently running an essay contest in which the prize is a Colorado mountain ranch.  Check out the contest at www.wintheranch.com. 

Where did you get the idea to have this contest and why are you running it?

Melanie and I got the idea to have this contest from other successful essay contests we had heard about.  It is a beautiful property and it seemed a shame to restrict its availability to only people with lots of money.  

Where did you find the judges?

The judges are personal acquaintances in Colorado and Arizona who have in common a love of the mountains and a love of the written word.  

I'm betting that, with a contest like this, you'll get a lot of entries that are "sob stories"-- people who'll write that they want the house for their dying grandmother or to take care of their sixteen diabetic nephews.  Is that a good tactic?  Are your judges looking for the person who "needs" this house the most?

The winner of the ranch will write the most interesting, accomplished, sincere, creative essay.  If an entrant wants to send in a "sob story," it still has to be a great essay!  

What do you hope the winner will do with the house?

Our hopes for the property really don't apply, since we are not the judges.  We just hope the winner loves the place and plans to take very good care of it.  

Was this your own personal home?

Melanie owns the property and lived there full time for 3 years before we got married last year.  

Tell me about the surrounding area.  What is there to do nearby?

The immediate surrounding area is the San Juan National Forest-- trees, trees, trees!  The nearest town is Pagosa Springs, the longtime home of Dan Fogelberg.  He certainly has found the area to be a great source of creative inspiration.  

How can writers be assured that this contest isn't "fixed?"  That is, how do they know that you haven't already picked someone you know to win the contest?

The contest is not "fixed" for a couple of reasons:  First, our family and friends have been asked not to enter-- and they have not.  Second, the essays will be submitted to the judges with only an identifying number, no name or address.  The judges will select a winning essay and the number of the essay will be matched to our database to identify the winner's name and address.  

Any idea how much the winner will have to pay in legal fees and taxes?

The winner of the ranch will take ownership with all property taxes paid.  We will pay the title insurance.  Closing costs depend on the title company, but I suspect they will be less than $1000.00.  State and federal taxes really cannot be estimated since each individual's situation would be different.  Knowing that the property appraises for around $300,000, an entrant could ask their tax professional for an estimate of those taxes.  

Have you seen any of the entries so far?  If so, what kinds of people are entering this contest?

We do pick up the entries from the post office.  They are coming from all over the world, from artists and single parents and servicemen overseas, from writers and equestrians and every kind of person.  We do not read the essays, just log the entrants into the database and assign the essay a number for the judges' use.  

Should writers put their names on their entries?

The writer should attach their contact information to their essay on a separate page. 

Do you have to be a U.S. citizen to enter?

Anyone is welcome to enter the contest, whether a resident or citizen of the U.S. or not.  We have received many international entries and we suppose they plan to use the property for investment or vacation rather than a full-time residence.  A man from Tajikistan said to us he just wanted to win the ranch so he could smell the pine trees! 

Anything else you'd like to add?

We will end the contest on August 1, provided we have received at least 3000 entries.  We are nowhere near that amount yet, so we are encouraging everyone to enter as soon as possible.  We will not extend the contest unless we are within 500 entries or less of our target.  For last minute entries, we will accept email essays and PayPal payments.  For more information about this, entrants can e-mail us at contest@wintheranch.com. We answer every e-mail personally.  
 

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