CALL FOR ENTRIES AND CONTEST RULES!

CANVAS STORYWRITING FOR YOUNG CHILDREN COMPETITION

For a complete background on this competition, please read our previous entry by clicking here.

CONTEST RULES

1. The 1st CANVAS Story Writing for Young Children Competition is open to all Filipinos.

2. Entries must not have been previously published, and all entrants must warrant the originality of their submitted entries.

3. Writers may submit only one entry, which must be written in English.

4. The target readership is young children (age 4-6 years old).

Note: It may be helpful to see some recent examples of authors of picture books that have done well in the U.S. market for the target age group:
• Mo Willems
• David Weisner
• Doreen Cronin, and
• Jon Scieszka.

5. Manuscript entries must not exceed one thousand two hundred (1,200) words. Entries that exceed this limit will automatically be disqualified from the competition.

6. We are looking for unique and creative stories that feature a strong central character (preferably, but not necessarily, a child) who faces and overcomes a challenge or obstacle. Ideally, it would speak about a universal theme or experience, even though the story itself may reflect Philippine culture or may be situated in a particular place, province or country. The best stories stretch a young reader's imagination and speak to children in an authentic voice. They evoke real emotion, whether it is humor, love, fear, or joy.

Entries shall be evaluated based on the following criteria:

* Originality and Storyline
* Quality of Writing
* Imagery (The story should be publishable as a picture book)
* X-Factor (Judges’ discretion)

7. The top five (5) entries selected by CANVAS shall be sent to the Sandra Dijkstra Literary Agency for comment and feedback, and the overall winner shall be selected by CANVAS based, in part, on such feedback. There shall be only one overall winner, who will receive Twenty Five Thousand Pesos (P25,000.00) in cash (less applicable withholding taxes).

Finalists will be given copies of the comments/feedback received from the said Agency.

8. The winner shall grant to CANVAS all intellectual property and publication rights to the submitted story, including the right to translate, adapt and/or make modifications thereto.

In the event of publication by CANVAS of the story, it is hereby understood that the cash prize to be awarded to the winner shall include consideration of such intellectual property and publication rights to the story, and the writer shall not be entitled to any other royalties or fees from earnings, if any, that may result from future publication of, derivative works, licensing of, or other transactions on the same, except as otherwise provided by Rule 10 below.

9. By joining this competition, all entrants thereby agree that upon announcement of the final winner, CANVAS shall be authorized to post their entries on its website or blog, as CANVAS deems fit, and free from any payments, royalties or fees whatsoever.

10. By joining this competition, all entrants further agree that in the event that the Sandra Dijkstra Literary Agency expresses an interest in representing their submitted story for possible publication, CANVAS shall exercise full and exclusive control and discretion, and be the sole and exclusive representative insofar as the submitted story (including all intellectual property and derivative rights thereto) is concerned.

CANVAS shall bear all costs and expenses of such representation.

All revenues, fees, royalties and/or other earnings received as a result of such representation, if any, shall be divided equally between the author, CANVAS and the eventual artist/illustrator (who shall be selected solely by CANVAS).

CANVAS shall not have any interest or right in other stories of the concerned writers that they may later submit for consideration by the Sandra Dijkstra Literary Agency. CANVAS’ only role with regard to such other work shall be to introduce the writers to the Sandra Dijkstra Literary Agency.

As a policy, CANVAS shall not introduce any writer to the Sandra Dijkstra Literary Agency until and unless the said Agency has first expressed an interest in his/her work.

11. Entries must be submitted by email, as a Microsoft Word attachment, to storycontest@canvas.ph with the subject heading “CANVAS Storywriting for Young Children Competition.” Entrants must include a cover sheet with the title of the story, their real name, pseudonym (if any), mailing and email address, and telephone number. The deadline for submission of entries is 5:00 p.m. (Manila time), Thursday, July 31, 2008.

Entries received after the deadline, even if sent earlier, will no longer be considered for the competition. CANVAS shall not be responsible for entries which are not received, or which are received after the deadline, due to technical failure or for any other reason whatsoever.

12. The competition results will be announced by CANVAS in or around mid-September 2008.

13. While it is the full intention and desire of CANVAS to publish the winning entry, neither CANVAS nor the Sandra Dijkstra Literary Agency makes any such guarantee and reserve the right not to represent and/or publish the same for any reason whatsoever.

14. CANVAS reserves the right not to award the top competition prize in the unlikely event that the judges decide that no entry was received that is deserving of the top prize. In such event, however, CANVAS shall have no right whatsoever over all entries that were received; and shall not publish any entry, in its website or in any other venue, without the prior written consent or agreement of the author.

15. The decision of CANVAS shall be final, and no correspondence or inquiries into the same – including requests for comments/feedback on received entries that are not finalists – shall be entertained.

16. Officers, members of the Board of Trustees and Advisors, and employees of CANVAS, including the members of their immediate families are disqualified from participating in this Competition.