I haven't actually done the math on this, so I may be completely off -- but it seems like if you'd reduce the prize amounts (say, to half, which would still be a nice amount to win), you might have enough money freed up to pay contributors at least a token amount like a half cent a word. (I don't know about the art aspect of it and what the usual pay rates are for that, though.) Just a thought, anyway.
I haven't actually done the math on this, so I may be completely off -- but it seems like if you'd reduce the prize amounts (say, to half, which would still be a nice amount to win), you might have enough money freed up to pay contributors at least a token amount like a half cent a word. (I don't know about the art aspect of it and what the usual pay rates are for that, though.) Just a thought, anyway.