Eligibility: Positively Empowered by Literature (PEBL) Summer Writing Contest is open to all students ages 8 to 18. Categories include fiction, non-fiction, and poetry and can be on any LGBTQ+ topic as long as it is not vulgar or offensive and it is the original work of the entrant and not previously published. At PEBL’s discretion, submissions may be published on the organization’s website or newsletter. Entrants retain copyright on his/her/their own individual work. All entrants must agree to the terms of the Contributor Agreement. Only one entry per person will be accepted.
Submission Guidelines: Entries must be submitted by email. Please send a PDF or MS Word attachment with the subject line PEBL SUMMER WRITING CONTEST. Fiction and non-fiction entries should not exceed 5,000 words. Poetry entries can include up to two poems. All entries should have your category, name, pronouns, email address, city, state and age listed in the upper right corner of your document.
Contest Dates: Contest opens June 1 and ends July 31.
Selection: Entries will be judged on originality, and creativity. Entries outside of the submission guidelines will not be considered.
Prizes: 6 winners will be chosen. 1 in each category for ages 8-13 and 1 in each category for ages 14-18. Each winner receives a book of their choice from the PEBL recommendations list and publication on the PEBL website.
Decisions: The panel of judges consists of members of the board of Positively Empowered by Literature and invited judges. All decisions made by the judges are final.
Copyrights: The author retains all copyrights to the submitted work. At the discretion of PEBL, winning pieces may be published online on the PEBL website. By entering the contest, you consent to the publication of your work if it is selected, and you grant permission for the foundation to print the work in future newsletters and publicity pieces, and other formats or contexts determined by, and at the discretion of, PEBL. Please note that other publications may not accept as “unpublished” work that has been previously published on the PEBL website. If you do subsequently publish your work in another publication, proper attribution must be given to the PEBL website. As a condition of submission, you will be required to agree to the terms of the Contributor Agreement specifying your rights and obligations under the contest terms.
Notification: Winners will be announced in September and will be notified by email. Names of the winners will appear on the website and in other publicity pieces, including, but not limited to electronic announcements, press releases, news articles and newsletters.
Privacy Policy: Positively Empowered by Literature (PEBL) collects personal information for the purpose of notifying contest winners. All information submitted is kept in confidence, used solely for notification purposes, and shall not be made public. Positively Empowered by Literature does not lease, sell, or share personal information collected. Minor children must have parental permission to enter the contest.
For purposes of privacy, if you are selected for publication, you will only be identified by your first name, last initial, state and age.