KidsWrite! San Diego Children’s Writing Contest 

OFFICIAL RULES: By submitting an entry to the KidsWrite! San Diego Children’s Writing Contest, a part of the San Diego Writers Festival (SDWF), entrants accept and agree to be bound by the official rules for participation as well as the entry requirements for their specific literature category and division. Any violation of these rules may, at KidsWrite!’s discretion, result in disqualification. All decisions of the reviewers regarding this program are final and binding in all respects. 

1. ELIGIBILITY: All writers in Kindergarten through 12th Grade who reside in San Diego County are welcome to submit. 

2. LITERATURE CATEGORIES: The three literature categories are Poetry, Short Story, and Graphic Story (illustrated story). 

• Poetry may be in any format, rhyming or free verse;
• Short Story can be a work of fiction or non-fiction;
• Graphic Story is a poem, essay, or short story told in illustrations, no more than 4 pages long, either hand-drawn and scanned or using a graphic drawing program such as ProCreate. Entries may or may not have captions or though bubbles.
• Writers may submit works in one or more categories—for example, one Poem and one Short Story—but may submit only one work per category. Please see Section 4: Entry Rules / Requirements / How-To’s, below, for more entry information.

3. AGE DIVISIONS: Writers may enter in the appropriate division for their age and ability:

• Elementary (Kindergarten through 5th Grade);
• Intermediate (6th Grade through 8th Grade);
• High School (9th Grade through 12th Grade)

4. ENTRY RULES / REQUIREMENTS / HOW-TOS: Only new pieces of literature inspired by the current year’s theme “IF YOU GET LOST,” inspired by the book by Nikki Loftin may be submitted to the following specifications: 

• Entries may not exceed 1,500 words. For visual stories, stories may not exceed 4 pages.
• Use of copyrighted material is prohibited. Plagiarized entries will be disqualified.
• Each entry must be the original work of one writer only. An adult may not alter the creative integrity of a young writer’s work. Help from an adult or collaboration with other students is prohibited.
• No AI submissions. We do not accept work from artificial intelligence ("AI") generators or similar. By submitting your entry here, you are attesting that your work was not created, in whole or in part, by an AI generator or similar. Should any portion of your work be discovered to be the product of an AI generator or similar, your submission will be immediately disqualified.
• Entries may be written in any language, however an English translation must be provided.
• KidsWrite! makes no restrictions on content or subject matter in writer submissions. However, entries judged to contain “adult” language or themes may not be able to be shared in forums that are oriented toward children.
• All entries must be submitted via our online submission portal at https://sandiegowritersfestival.submittable.com/submit.

5. HOW TO ENTER:

• There is no cost to submit.
• All entries must be submitted at https://sandiegowritersfestival.submittable.com/submit .
• Carefully read and follow the submission instructions. All entry fields must be filled out. include: 
• Name, Grade Level, and Email Address 
• Please do not use a student email address that only works at school. Student accounts frequently cannot receive incoming email.
• A brief Author’s Bio
• This is your opportunity to give the reader insight into who you are and perhaps what inspired your work. The bio should not exceed 60 words. The bio should NOT include the author's name but should include the name of the author's school;
• Title of the entry 
• Please do not include your name in your entry.
• Entries received via any means other than the official KidsWrite! submissions portal at https://sandiegowritersfestival.submittable.com/submit will be disqualified. KidsWrite! and SDWF cannot be held responsible for submissions not delivered via the portal.
• Important: When your form and entry have been completed, uploaded, and submitted, you will receive an automatically-generated email confirming that your submission has been received. If you do not receive a confirmation email, please contact kidswrite@sandiegowritersfestival.com for assistance.
• For any other questions regarding the submission process, check the FAQ page on our website to see if the answer is there. If it’s not, contact kidswrite@sandiegowritersfestival.com.

6. JUDGING AND NOTIFICATION.

• Submissions will be judged anonymously by an expert panel of authors, writers, and poets.
• Entries will be judged primarily on how well the student uses their artistic vision to portray the theme, including their originality and creativity.
• Under no condition may parents or students contact a reviewer to dispute the status or score of any entry. The panel of judges in its sole discretion will select Winners and Finalists for recognition and possible publication.

7. AWARDS AND RECOGNITIONS.

• Winners and Finalists will be posted on the www.KidsWriteSD.com website and on Instagram @KidsWrite_San_Diego.  The best-reviewed submission in each category and age division will be judged a “Winner.” Winning submissions will be recognized in a ceremony on April 6, 2024. There will also be at least one “Finalist” prize in each category and age division.
• Prizes, of an amount TBD, will be awarded to winning entrants.
• All entrants are invited to attend an Award Ceremony.

8. OWNERSHIP AND LICENSE. Ownership of any entry shall remain the property of the entrant, but entry into this program constitutes entrant’s irrevocable permission and consent that KidsWrite!, the SDWF, and Partners may display, copy, reproduce, enhance, print, sublicense, publish, distribute, and create derivative works. SDWF is not responsible for lost entries. Submission of entry into the SDWF program constitutes acceptance of all rules and conditions. 

9. PARTICIPATING ENTITIES. KidsWrite! is a part of the San Diego Writers Festival (SDWF), in association with the San Diego Memoir Writers Association. Judging of entries is performed by professional authors, editors, writers, playwrights and poets. Learn more about them on our website, www.KidsWriteSD.com. 

10. QUESTIONS Email kidswrite@sandiegowritersfestival.com. Please do not email about entry status.

Wishing the best of luck to each and every KidsWrite! San Diego Children’s Writing Contest Entrant!  Please know that our judges read and appreciate every single entry, and every one of you is a winner to them! Keep writing and creating! -- The KidsWrite! Team